AADOM Members DISTINCTIONcast Personal Development Practice Management |53 min read

AADOM DISTINCTIONcast – Leading with Distinction: How Recognition Fuels Growth

by American Association of Dental Office Management

Last updated December 17, 2025

Join Penny Reed, AADOM’s Executive VP, for a roundtable discussion with several office managers who have achieved all three levels of AADOM’s professional designation program — FAADOM, MAADOM, and DAADOM. Panelists include Chavelle Galton-Rice, DAADOM; Erika Pusillo, DAADOM; Danielle Dailey, DAADOM; and Joanne Miles, DAADOM.

Together, they’ll share an engaging conversation about their professional development journeys and what earning these distinctions has meant to them personally and professionally. From the inspiration that sparked their pursuit of advanced recognition to the ways their leadership and communication have evolved, this discussion will highlight the real-world impact of lifelong learning and growth.

You’ll also hear how these accomplished leaders encourage others to invest in their own development—and how their distinctions have positively influenced their teams, practices, and the broader AADOM community.

Sponsored by: CareCredit

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Read the Transcript Now!

Penny: Hello, everybody. Welcome to the DistinctionCast, where AADOM showcases the best and brightest minds in the dental industry from within our Dental Management Association.

I’m Penny Reed, the Executive Vice President of Membership and Events for AADOM, and we’re so excited that you’ve joined us today.

So, the AADOM DistinctionCast is more than insights into dental management. We amplify the voices of AADOM’s Distinction holders who are the leaders in the trenches of dental management, who share their insights, inspiration, and real-world strategies to help you thrive in your practice.

So, before I introduce our rockstar panel, let’s hear a message from our sponsor: CareCredit.

CareCredit is pleased to sponsor educational content as part of our continued support of AADOM and its members. CareCredit continues to invest in the dental community with resources and technology that can make your day a little easier. In fact, CareCredit is integrated into 90+ percent of practice management software.

The integration may be a time saver and a day changer, especially batch quick screen, which enables you to see who is on the schedule, has a CareCredit credit card, and who is pre-approved, helping you have easier cost and payment conversations. CareCredit—the easy way to help patients get care.

Alright, you guys are in for a treat today. I would love for this talented group of panelists to introduce themselves to our audience today. And let’s start with Danielle.

Danielle, tell us, obviously, I’ve already mentioned your name. Tell us what part of the country you’re in and what your role is in the dental practice or dental profession.

Danielle: Thanks, Penny. Hi, I am Danielle Dailey. I am an office manager out of Edgewater, Maryland. So we’re kind of in between Baltimore and DC.

My practice is South River Dental Care. It’s a two doctor, private, single, location practice. And I’ve been in dentistry for just over 28 years.

Penny: Wow. Fantastic.Yeah, that we’ll have to tally it up here at the end. We can see how many years are represented. That’s fantastic. Thank you for being with us today, Danielle.

So, Chavelle, well, how about you go next?

Chavelle: Hi, my name is Chavelle Galton-Rice, and I am the Regional Director of Operations for our Iowa market for D4C Dental Brands. We are a dental support organization.

I currently run 9 practices, from central Iowa all the way to Eastern Iowa. And I have been in dentistry for 24 years.

Penny: Awesome. Thank you. And welcome. And I think we’re also geographically diverse a bit today as well.

So, up next, Joanne.

Joanne: Hi, I’m Joanne Miles, and I’m located in Kansas City, Missouri. And I am the lead investment grade practice business advisor for Productive Dentist Academy. And I’ve been in dentistry for 39 years and I’m a speaker.

Penny: You’ve been in dentistry for 39 years, and you started when you were four. That’s amazing!

Joanne: Yes, that’s it. I was born in a dentistry office.

Penny: Thank you, Joanne. And last but not least, EriKa.

Erika: Hi guys. I’m Erika Pusillo. I am like the dental baby amongst this group. I’ve been in dentistry for 16 years. I work as the Operations Director for a single location in Southeast Florida, called Spodak Dental Group.

We are like five-practices in one, so we have 18 operatories and 9 doctors, 9 hygienists. We’ve got, you know, a big melting pot of people here. So, looking forward to speaking to all of you guys.

Penny: Fantastic. And what did I say? A lot of wisdom in this panel.

So, before we begin our panel questions, I wanna remind everyone, the topic of today’s episode is “Leading with Distinction.” And for some of you that may be new to AADOM or are curious about the distinction programs, or maybe you’ve heard of it and you’ve thought, “Oh, I know what that is,” we wanna make sure if you don’t know that you do know, and if you think you know that you really are aware of what all of that means.

So, I’ll share with you a little bit about the Distinction programs and there will also be some information to pop up on the screen for those of you that are visual.

Celebrating Excellence Through AADOM’s Distinction Program

So, the AADOM Distinction Program honors practice administrators who exemplify excellence, leadership, and lifelong learning. Each level recognizes the dedication it takes to transform a role into a true profession. Or, as I like to think, when I first started off as an office manager, even though I had a business degree, I had no official training or certification about how to do my job well.

So, AADOM, many years ago, had the vision to put together these distinction pathways, and they are the FAADOM, MAADOM, and DAADOM distinctions. So, a little bit about those.

FAADOM is a Fellow, and this celebrates professionalism and foundational excellence. So, this is more of—this is level one.

Once you complete your Fellowship, you may then move on to get your Mastership, which is advanced education, adding in published contributions, articles, both within the AADOM ecosystem and also outside publications and leadership growth.

And last, again, but not least, the DAADOM—the ultimate distinction, the Diplomat, which honors mastery mentorship and influence across the dental profession.

And, I know, I speak for not only myself, also the AADOM—all of AADOM leadership and the entire a AADOM team: We want every dentist to want their office manager to be a distinction holder, like to seek that out when they’re looking to bring someone in or have someone that they’re really wanting to help with their professional development.

And you’ll hear more, in a few moments, about what this has meant to the 4 individuals that we have with us today. So, this not only helps show their leadership, strengthen their leadership, it helps dentists have that trusted partner that they look for, especially if it’s a solo practice or a small group of practices, you can feel like you’re out there on an island on your own. So having someone with this level of training and education really means a lot.

So, behind every AADOM distinction is a story, one of perseverance, of learning, of community. And today you’re going to hear from some of the best and brightest distinction holders that we have. You’ll hear their story. You will hear what this journey has meant to them.

And, so, we’re going to—I’ve got several questions. We’re going to kick off with the first one here in a moment. And, we won’t necessarily go in order, exact order every single time, so we can give all of you a chance to be first at answering one.

What Inspired Your MAADOM/DAADOM Journey?

The first question is: What originally inspired you to pursue your MAADOM or DAADOM, which, by the way, for those of you tuning in, everyone here is either a MAADOM or a DAADOM. And you can share which one you have when you answer this question. And how has this journey influenced your professional growth?

So, I actually would like to start with Erica for this one.

Erika: Yes. You know, I wanna actually tell a brief little story about the Fellowship, the FAADOM first, because I started off as a dental assistant in sterilization. And, you know, so there wasn’t like, I didn’t have any formal training. I didn’t have a formal role or degree to become an office manager.

And so, really what happened was I came across this network, this group through Patterson, my supplier. They came, they said, “Hey, there’s a, you know, an event in Boca. We really think that it would be great. It’s for office managers.”

And at that time I was nobody. I didn’t have any title. I was a dental assistant, but I had an interest in being a leader and I had interest in helping the practice more, but I just didn’t really know that side of things.

And so, when I came to the Conference and I saw all these people in these blue gowns, cap and gowns, walking across the stage and being recognized, I was like, “I must know about this. Like, this is the coolest thing ever.”

And, you know, it gave me hope and inspiration to say, you know, not only do I have the knowledge to do my job well, but that I can be recognized on a national level, on a national stage. And I think that that lends a lot of credibility.

So, to answer your question, what made me reach out and want that distinction was: one, just wanting to learn and wanting to better myself and have a different, you know, job description within my practice.

And then after the Fellowship, going to the MAADOM, the Mastership, when that came out a few years ago, I was like, “This gives me an opportunity now to go beyond my four walls in my practice and to again, be recognized where relatively a few amount of people hold that distinction, but many people, industry-wide, know exactly what that means.”

And then again, you know, I’m like, “I’m not gonna stop at MAADOM. Of course I’m gonna go to DAADOM,” because right now that’s the only recognition office managers have. And it’s a way for us to say, “Not only am I good at my job,” but we have this level of education that sets us apart from everyone across the country.

And I know you guys even have international people as well. And so, it was a constant pursuit of just being my best version of myself. And then also to be recognized in the industry on a national level.

Penny: I love that. I love that story. And listen, when you said you were nobody—oh, you were somebody. You had to figure it out, right? You had to figure out who. So, I love that story. Thank you. Thank you for being humble and for sharing that.

So, Chavelle, let’s hear from you next. Again, what inspired you to pursue your MAADOM or DAADOM, and how has that journey influenced your professional growth?

Chavelle: Yeah, so, very similar to Erika’s story. I actually, I started out as a front office coordinator almost 24 years ago and worked my way up. I think in dentistry, you know, starting out as someone at the front office or clinical, you know, there’s so much more opportunity for growth.

I mean, I’m sitting in my office and I’m looking at, you know, the piles of, you know, dental assisting certificates that dental assistants are able to earn. And there wasn’t anything, you know, that I knew of for managers.

So when I became a manager, it was like baptism by fire. You just had to learn how to be a manager, based on, you know, what you learn as a, you know, receptionist or front office coordinator, learning about insurance, things like that.

And so, when I thought to myself like, “Gosh, there has to be something more.” I mean, I love assisting. I love, you know, growth and development, but I want more in my career.

And, of course, from the financial aspect too. I mean, let’s, I’ll be real as far as, you know, like the next step from the financial aspect is, you know, being able to earn more money is you either become a hygienist or, you know, you can go into management.

And so, you know, to be able to kind of, I think back, my knowledge and feeling like, “Okay, I can do this and I wanna show,” like Erika said. Erika said, “Credibility,” FAADOM was, you know, the first opportunity to be able to do that and to have kind of like that formal training and distinction, you know, to be able to say, “Okay, I’ve got some skin in the game in this. I’m gonna do whatever I can to be the best manager that I can by being a part of the organization that provides that type of training.”

And then from there, it just kind of picked up. I mean, I did take a little bit of a couple year’s time in between from my Fellowship because of just life and work. But then it really motivated me to keep going and to earn my MAADOM, and then just recently, earn my DAADOM.

So, I’m super excited and honestly, yeah, I’m so excited and I, again, I’m like, I’m so proud. I know all of the ladies, like, I’m just so proud of like being able to, you know, have something. I mean, I know like the knowledge will always, you know, be here and in our hearts of like what we know and how much, you know, effort and time we put into earning this.

But it just means so much to, you know, be able to have something, you know, to show for all of the effort that we put into it. So, yeah, I’m so proud.

Penny: I love that and I love that you mixed in a little show and tell. I have to remember that for the next prep sheet. Just, like to bring, not, but it truly, well deserved for all of you. And I love that you’re proud because you absolutely should be.

So, Joanne, let’s hear from you next. What inspired you to pursue your MAADOM/DAADOM, and how has that influenced your professional growth?

Joanne: Yes, very similar to Erika. I started as a dental assistant. And I really, I have always been a voracious learner and I need to know the answers to all the why’s. And I’m very curious, drove my parents crazy as a child, I think.

But, and so I never saw a ceiling for myself in dentistry. I knew, I just knew instinctively, that there was more, and that I was, I had to pursue that.

And similar to all the stories, worked your way up, chair to chair right in, within the office. And then the next thing you know, you’re baptism by fire. You’re the office manager. Mine was because the previous one embezzled money and all of a sudden I became the office manager.

And, but there was no education out there at the time. And then AADOM came along and I was, I got my FAADOM in the first year it was available. So that was just of like, “Okay, this is here. I’m getting it,” cause this is how I’m going to continue to learn and grow.

And then, I think there was a—I don’t know how many years between when they finally, I think we all kept asking, “Okay, what’s the next step? What’s next? We want more.”

And then they brought up MAADOM and then DAADOM. And so, and that’s the beauty about AADOM, is that they, it’s really driven by the members. We asked, we need more. Okay, we’ve hit this threshold. What’s next? What other level of education and development can we have?

And so, at that point, I just said like, I’m gonna finish what I start. I’m going to continue learning. I’m gonna continue growing. And, then receive the MAADOM, and just like all the rest of the panel, and Chevelle, and she’s like, she got it last—I think it was this year you got it, right?

Chavelle: Yeah. It was there.

Joanne: Cheering you on with the pompoms. But, it means something. It has a status. I work with a lot of dentists as a consultant and I constantly recommend one of the first things on my mouth is, “Is your manager a member of AADOM?”And then the next is they have to go for their distinctions.

And it is getting traction out. There is meaning behind those, this acronym, behind our name now. One doctor I just onboarded said, I’ve heard about AADOM. Whatever you say. I know that’s a really strong organization and those are really high quality managers. So, yes, I’m gonna send my manager to the conference.”

So, it’s just there is no ceiling. That’s what I wanna say. And AADOM has given us a path to continue to develop inside of a dental ecosystem that didn’t have anything for managers or administrators for that matter.

Penny: Administrators, that’s true. That’s true. That is so awesome.

And, Danielle, what inspired you to pursue your, uh, distinctions and how has this influenced your professional growth?

Danielle: So, similar to all you other ladies, I started in dentistry at 17 years old. I was a chart filer, you know, that’s how I started after school every day. That’s what I did. And I slowly worked my way up the chain.

And I became a member of AADOM in 2006. So, right after it started. So, I’ve been with them since the beginning. And similar to Joanne, I got my Fellowship in 2010.

I was one of the inaugural FAADOM recipients, so that was exciting, cause you know, it has become what it has become and it’s been, I can, I love that I can look back and say I was one of the first ones. You know, I was one of the first ones to walk across that stage long before there was photographers or anything like that. And we didn’t have fancy photos. We just had us and people taking photos of us.

But having that be available to me is just invaluable. Like, it has helped strength and grow my career and given me the confidence to not only, you know, believe in myself, but to believe in that I can lead my team and I can do all of these things.

When the Mastership came about, it wasn’t the time for me to pursue, but I also have imposter syndrome, so I didn’t think I was good enough to write these articles to, you know, do the OSAP, to do any of that. I was, you know, hindered a little bit.

But with the strength of the community and the team around me, I was encouraged to just do it, girl, just do it. So, I did it. I got my Master’s in 2024 and I got my diplomat this year with Chevelle.

I can’t explain what it felt like walking into that room in the black and gold and knowing that I did it like I did it. You know, I wrote all these articles. I, you know, did, you know, everything that was required of me. And now here I am, amongst this elite group across the country. And it is just amazing and it just, it feels amazing and it has made me a better person, a better leader, a better friend.

Everything that I’ve learned at AADOM over the last 20 years has made me better in my life, not just in my career, in my opinion. So I wanna thank AADOM for that.

Penny: That is so awesome. That’s so awesome. And I love all of your stories.

And I also wanna say for the audience, if anyone is curious what a chart filer is. You know, there used to be paper cards in the office and they had to be filed an alphabetical order. Color coded stickers so you could find them. There was an arc to it. There were a few people in the office I worked in that weren’t very good at it, so thank goodness for the color coded. Just a little fun here along the way.

How Earning a Distinction Transforms Leadership and Communication

Alright, so fantastic. Second question: How has earning your distinction changed the way you lead, communicate, and show up in your role? So, how’s it changed the way you lead, communicate, and show up?

And, Danielle, as a treat for going last, last time, I’ll have you take that one first.

Danielle: Great. So, thank you. So, I will continue with what I was previously saying. It has helped me learn that I am good enough and it has made me a better leader by believing in myself because, you know, I put so much effort into getting these distinctions that it just made me—it made me know that what I say matters and it has given me a newfound respect in the community and in my office.

You know, my doctors and my team are super supportive. You come back to a celebration after you receive these distinctions. Because every year we always make plans for the following year. You know, everybody have any, not necessarily, New Year’s resolution, but just things you wanna accomplish in the next year. And the last two years has been: Get my MAADOM, get my DAADOM, get these things done. And I think out of everybody, I’m like, I’m the only one that actually completed what I wanted to do.

So that was pretty cool. But, it just has made me more assertive. It’s taken a lot of the fear away from, like, I don’t like confrontation, that it scares me. But it has forced me to go outside of my comfort zone and to do things that I normally would just back away from and not want to do at all.

So, like I said with the previous question, it has forced me to do better in my whole life, not just my career.

Penny: Yeah. That’s so awesome. And I don’t know many people that truly, if they’re being transparent, wouldn’t say that they’d like to have more confidence and belief in themselves, right?

I mean, like, at our core, I think that is, it radiates from you, and I’m sure it’s impacted your team. So, I think, way to go, way to show up and, way to inspire other people. That’s, that’s awesome.

Okay, so I’m gonna think that they’d like to have more confidence and belief in themselves, right?

Okay, so I’m gonna move along here. I’m going to now go back to Erika. How has earning the distinction changed the way you lead, communicate, or show up in your role?

Erika: Yeah, you know, I look at it from the perspective of providing opportunity for my team as well. Because, you know, in our office as a leader, we set the bar and it’s always followed the leader. And so I have my distinctions, you know, I printed out my certificate, I’ve got them and a nice beautiful frame, and I’ve got my beautiful little glass, you know, trophies, as I would say are plaques there behind me.

And when people come in, one: a lot of people don’t know that there is something beyond what they can have in the practice that it exists, you know, until they learn about AADOM, which they learn about these distinctions. And it’s a way for me to have conversations about inspiring growth to other people.

So when it comes to leadership, it’s like leadership by example. I actually send many of my team members to AADOM, whether they have a formal job description or not, because you know, it’s about learning what you didn’t know you didn’t know.

And I think that that was so incredibly impactful for me going through the series because, you know, I had a certain degree of what I was certain, these were the things I didn’t know. And then taking these courses, or writing these articles or having to do some of the things, the criteria just really allowed me to say, “There’s a lot more learning that I need to do.”

And well, there’s actually a lot that I do know and I need to give myself credit, and that does give me the confidence, you know, like Danielle was saying.

And I think that, again, the confidence, it spills over into your team and how they perform and how they act. So this really has allowed me to not only grow, but to inspire my other team members to actually wanna pursue more for themselves, which I think provides fulfillment and satisfaction in their careers as well.

Penny: Yeah. Well, that’s awesome. I’m sure it’s not only inspiring, it is a whole lot. I don’t wanna say it’s not easy, but it is easier when you’re asking others to grow if you’ve provided an example. And that’s exactly what this is. So, thank you Erika.

Chavelle, how about you? How has it changed the way you lead, communicate or show up in your role?

Chavelle: Yeah, so actually, the role that I am in right now, I just actually was promoted to at the beginning of last year. So, I’d already had my MAADOM and then I recently got my DAADOM while in this new Director of Operations role. And so, I think for me, you know, it is, like Danielle and Erika said, of course it builds, you know, more confidence, especially in being, you know, a an operator and a manager to others.

You know, inspiring them on how to develop themselves, that there is something, you know, to reach towards. And you know, I think the biggest thing is that, you know, as their new leader or newer leader, the question is asked, you know, “What are opportunities for me to grow and to develop?”

And this is something that, you know, I’ve been a part of AADOM for I think now over 10 years. And it’s something that I was so excited to share with them. You know, like, “Okay, if you want to, you know, grow and develop, this is a great way to be able to do that.”

I mean, our company does a great job of, you know, providing training, in certain aspects. But, you know, within our company guidelines, which is great, but I know there’s always like more to learn outside of just our company.

And so, I was so excited to be able to, with the help of the vendors at the last conference, to gift the managers that are under me that I lead a one year membership to AADOM, which is awesome.

So, I’m super excited to see, you know, what they do with it. Of course it is in everyone’s own hands of, you know, what they do with it. But by motivating them and, you know, getting them excited about their growth and development is something that is really important.

But as far as for myself, I mean, just building that confidence of, you know, feeling like I can empower people and, you know, let them know that there is, there’s so much more, you know. We’re forever students and if you feel like you already know everything, then this may not be the right field for you because there’s always gonna be something new to learn and people to learn from and to grow.

And it’s even inspired me to go even more outside of my comfort zone with, you know, getting in front of legislation for our state to kind of fight for, you know, some different rights for, you know, dental assistants and joining different organizations, you know, outside of AADOM that, you know, help or actual organizations that may partner with AADOM that, you know, can, you know, help with just getting people more comfortable with getting themselves out there and, you know, wanting to learn more, so…

Penny: That’s so awesome. And I love, I’m not going to sing, but as you were saying that I wanted to sing, “This girl is on fire,” right? I mean, that’s all of you, so far. And I know we’re about to hear from Joanne.

It’s when you have that level of enthusiasm, which Dale Carnegie, if you haven’t heard of him, I’m sure everybody has, even though he was around many, many years ago, says, “Enthusiasm is the number one secret to success.”

And I think, you know, there’s the excitement that fades. Everything that I’m hearing from you all so far really echoes that, you know, enthusiasm that’s like in your core.

So, Joanne, tell us, how has earning your distinction changed the way you lead, communicate and show up in your role?

Joanne: Yeah, there’s several areas where that has influenced me greatly. Number one, it’s like when you, as you continue to develop and become a manager and a leader of others, and then you earn a distinction—we are representative of AADOM.

And so it, on its own just, I think naturally it’s gonna elevate how we behave, how we present ourselves, and, and we want to mirror the professionalism that these distinctions deserve and gave us. And we wanna mirror that and to light the path for the people that we lead, the people that are just in our hemisphere that we can show through mirroring and show that, “Hey, this is possible.” That there is no limits to what you’d like to do. It’s just you have to dream it and then believe it.

And I absolutely can relate with Danielle. I think if we’re all honest, we all have some form of imposter syndrome. You know, we’re like, I, you know, you watch someone else, and one of my quiet, private dreams or goals was I wanted to be a speaker because I wanted to help others develop.

And, I don’t know how many years, probably at least five years ago—five, six years ago—I said I wanna speak at AADOM. And two years, I think it was two years ago, I was able to lead a big breakout. I had 220 people sign up for my class. And you know, that’s the frightening thing, because you throw yourself out there and you’re like, “I hope I have at least 10 people in my room.”

You know, like, you know. And then this last year I was able to do another breakout. So, and it was just the—it’s rewarding to be able to give back.

And I would say that, yes, these distinctions do give you the street cred. But I think it’s more than that. It does give you the confidence. It does, it does allow you to have—because not only, yes, we have the education, we have the development, but we have this network of support around us of our alumni, if you will.

And, at PDA, we have a saying that the more successful you are, the more support is required. And this is a supportive body of amazing individuals that we’re all like-minded, and we have this open heart to just light the path for others.

Penny: That’s so awesome! Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you for that.

How These Leaders Inspire and Mentor Others in Their Professional Growth

So, how do you encourage, this is the next question. How do you go about, because we’ve talked about it, encouraging or mentoring others to invest in their own professional development.

So, maybe it’s a private conversation that you have or maybe it’s a pep talk, you know, that you’ve given at a team meeting, or maybe it’s even been if you’ve had a growth conference with someone that hasn’t quite been showing up the way that, you know, that they could.

So, let’s see. Let’s start with Joanne. Let’s start with you on this one.

Joanne: Yeah, again, it kind of dovetails into what I was just talking about. It’s about mirroring the behavior you wanna see.

I’ve done a lot of other developmental, you know, courses around managing others, soliciting the best out of others, and it really does come down to creating psychological safety for your team and allowing them to see, to just talk and say, “This is what I want.”

And, I’ve learned the power of the pause. You know, you ask the question and then you’re quiet. And you watch. You actually listen. You’re not formulating what you’re gonna say next. You’re truly just present with that.

So, I think that helping others discover their brilliance and then helping them find the tools and the avenues with which to develop is probably the most important thing. Culture is important.

And then the other area, if you want, like the other half of this is like, when you think about it, like Chavelle is the director of a region. So, she’s running, I don’t know, maybe $25 million or something like that. You know, multimillion dollar region. This is a business. We are entrepreneurs in a sense.

Yes, we don’t have our name on the door, but we’re partnering with the person who owns the practice. And a lot of times dentists don’t have the business development that we actually now have that access to.

So, I try to remind managers, it’s like you’re not just a manager. You’re running a multimillion dollar practice. It’s a business.

And there’s development in that. Like, you can do this. Like, are you aware that this is what you’re doing already? Imagine if you’re actually doing this intentionally now.

Penny: That’s awesome! I love that. I love that. And, we’re going to, the next question will touch a little bit more on cultures. I love how you led into that a little bit. So, that’s awesome.

Erika, how do you encourage or mentor others to invest in their own professional development? You talked about that a little bit already. Do you wanna give another example?

Erika: Yeah, I’ll give a tactical one here. You know, a lot of times people don’t grow because they don’t know what’s next.

And so at our organization, it is an internal marketing campaign with your team to make sure that your team does know what’s possible as far as, “Hey, there’s a team leader, there’s an office manager, there’s a location leader, there’s, you know, you can actually champion the growth and training program,” whatever it happens to be, whatever those opportunities are.

I think we know it because we do it every single day or we created the position, but we don’t do as good of a job communicating to our team the things that we know. So, one: it’s making sure that they know what is possible, and then two: making sure that, you know, what is their motivator because everybody’s motivated by something different.

I think a lot of times practice owners or leaders will just assume and default that it’s money and it isn’t actually, most oftentimes, it’s not the primary driver.

So I like to ask questions to my team. We do frequent check-ins with them. We don’t just do the one annual review. So, we meet with our team members every three months.

And part of that really is not just to talk about their performance, but to also get to know them and what they want for themselves, what they want personally and professionally, what excites them, what are some of the responsibilities and things that they do that they actually wanna do more of. What are some of the things they wanna do less of?

And, you know, in our role, really we are a problem solver to help other people get what they want out of their lives. And the ultimate motivation comes from there. What works for me, what drives me is not necessarily what it is for that team member, but I work for them. We work for them.

And so when we come from that mindset of like, “I work for my team and I need to help them problem solve for the problems they have, not the ones that I made up for myself,” because I know.

I know when they grow, they make more money. I know when they grow, they have more fulfillment. I know when they grow, it’s not a boring routine job.

But for some people, and I’ll say, ’cause I was there, you know. As a dental assistant and you know, when I said like ‘a nobody,’ and what I meant by that was coming into a large organization when essentially you may feel like a ghost because, you know, you haven’t shown yourself yet. You haven’t stood out yet. You’re just kind of a part of the crowd, you know.

And in some ways, you kind of feel a little less, like I’m kind of disposable at that moment. You’re in survival mode. And many of our team members are just trying to survive.

And I think what happens when they have that mindset is that when we ask them a growth-minded question that they can’t even see beyond what’s happening today. And we can’t fault them for that. And so that’s all is us being able to say, “Here’s what exists and here’s how I can help you get to those moments and partner with you.”

And if you don’t even know what that looks like, I’m gonna keep asking you questions and we’re gonna problem solve this together.

Penny: Yeah, I love that. I love that. I think that’s wonderful. And I would say as a sterilization tech, that’s a pretty accurate description about being in survival mode. I mean, in a really busy organization. So, thank you for sharing that.

So, Danielle, how do you encourage or mentor others in their own professional development?

Danielle: Um, so it’s kind of twofold for me. So, one being in my office, and then also I’m a DPLN leader. So, I encourage on that aspect as well.

But within my office, being that I, you know, I’ve invested so much into my continuing education into my growth, I want to make sure that everyone understands how important that is.

Like, for example,my two administrative team members: one’s very new to dentistry, one has been in dentistry for about four years, and she’s been with us for about a year. Thankful that AADOM and the sponsors, I was able to come back and gift them their one year free membership. They’re also gonna become members of my DPLN.

And I wanna see them get to where I am now, cause obviously, you know, we’re the same age, but not really. But, I could be their mother, just saying.

So, they, I want them to be where I am and ’cause I see the passion that they have for dentistry on the administrative side. Like I see myself in them and I want to like bring them up as if they were, you know, my babies. I wanna bring them up and encourage them to pursue the career, if that’s the direction they wanna take.

My clinical team, obviously I’ve never worked clinical, but for my clinical team I’ve always encouraged them, ou know, “You have your radiology,” you know, you wanna move forward and do this. And my doctor’s fully supportive with continuing education, which is helpful, cause we work as a team when we’re trying to build up and encourage that growth with the whole office.

From the hygienist taking countless CE over the wintertime, you know, the assistants are always going to different classes. We have like all the newest technology in our practice.

And it’s always learning and growing and I think it helps being partnered with my owner doctor because we do have the same mindset when it comes to that side of it. It’s like, you know, a lot of offices, you don’t know what you don’t know because there’s no encouragement for that further learning.

And I’m blessed to have that within my office and my community here. And then as a DPLN leader, I feel like I wanna bring in everyone in my area and I want to encourage them to know what I’ve known, like, cause not everyone knows about AADOM, so we’re sharing not only the knowledge of AADOM, but the knowledge, you know, that we have learned.

And I just want to encourage everyone, wherever you are. You have to drink the Kool-Aid. So, just being constantly supportive and knowing that, letting them know that you’re on their side and that you want to see them grow.

And it’s kind of like a baby bird leaving the nest. Like you don’t wanna hold anyone one back. You want to see them succeed. And it’s just, you know, it’s been amazing to be able to be a part of that and to encourage others as I was encouraged throughout my entire career.

Penny: I love that. And Danielle, I’m thinking, and for those of you tuning in, you will think, “Where did she get this?”

Here’s what I know about Danielle. She loves a good hoodie, right? Well, I don’t know the rest of you can also chime in on whether or not you love a good hoodie.

And then when you talked about drinking the AADOM Kool-Aid, I’m thinking AADOM should have a, I mean, we can’t call it Kool-Aid, right? Because that’s trademarked. I now have an idea for next year’s conference. Like we need an AADOM sugary, non-carbonated beverage. We’ll let you guys dream up what flavor that should be.

So, alright. So, Chavelle, how do you encourage or mentor others to invest in their own professional development?

Chavelle: So, I think for me, it’s more conversational, you know, with this new role that I’m in. I primarily meet with my managers and my managers then meet with their team.

But I have had the opportunity to actually meet with some of the team members in offices where, you know, they have come to me and have mentioned, you know, like, “Hey, I really wanna grow. I know previous leadership. I’ve talked about it and it just kind of fell through the wayside.”

And that’s the part that kind of hurts my heart a little bit. And I talked to some of the doctors, you know, in our region that, you know, it’s difficult when people are given empty promises of things.

And so, for me, like I really wanna make sure that as a leader I’m following through, finding out, you know, what are people’s whys. You know, why are they here?

And especially working in pediatric dentistry, you know, takes special people to work with children every day. And, you know, so finding out their whys and really just then working with their managers to find out, you know: what does their growth and development look like? You know, what does, you know, communicating with them and touching base with them.

Like, I meet with my managers, I have one-on-ones weekly with them, you know. Let’s do the same with our team members, even if it’s not each week. But, our company encourages quarterly to kind of sit down and do, you know, just like a meeting of, you know, like, “Hey, where are we at with like, your growth and development,” and really like, put together a plan, but then actually following through and making sure that, you know, we’re helping them and guiding them.

It doesn’t always necessarily mean that, you know, as a company, we pay for everything. I mean, I wish, I know as a company we would love to be able to do that, you know, for everybody.

But I also believe, you know, I’m speaking as myself as a leader, that you kind of have to put some skin in the game. I mentioned before, that, you know, we’ve had some team members where they, you know, they invested the money to go get their like sealant certification. And then that gives them the opportunity to be able to say like, “Hey, Chavelle, this what I did.”

Now when it comes to their, you know, annual review, we can then look and see, “Wow, by you investing in yourself or by us helping invest in your continuing education, ’cause we do that as well, team members have the option to be able to allow our company to help with some of that.

That we can then have those conversations for those that, you know, do want to see an increase in pay, increase in responsibilities. And I think it’s just being there for them and actually scheduling the time and keeping up with the promises that we make to them.

Whether it is meeting with them, talking about their goals, helping out with, you know, the direction of where they need to go, cause, you know, like the other gals said, you know, sometimes people just don’t know where to start.

And, you know, for someone like me who, again, you know, I’ve learned things along the way, but I also had amazing people that helped guide me that I wanna be that person, you know, because eventually, you know, they’re gonna be the next leaders of dentistry.

And so, you know, I wanna make sure that, I guess my purpose, I feel like in the dental industry is yeah, to bestow all of the knowledge that I have and just be there for people because, you know, like the other lady said—I do have a couple team members that are brand new to dentistry and they are very gung-ho. Like, “I wanna know everything about everything.”

And I’m like, “And you can,” just, you know, like be a sponge, soak everything up, it’s gonna take time. You’re not gonna learn it in a month, you know.

But everything that I’ve learned over the last 24 years, like I will do whatever it takes to help you learn, as long as you’re willing to take the time to learn, so…

Penny: That’s awesome. And what I’m hearing from all of you is this spirit of wanting, you know, wanting to build others and wanting to be helpful. And I think that’s awesome. I think it speaks volumes for, you know.

The AADOM community is really about our members. It’s speaks volumes for, I’ll say the DNA of the membership.

How Earning a Distinction Elevates Team Culture and Inspires Growth

So, I wanna end with one final question around what impact has your distinction and the fruits of you earning it, right? So, what you’ve learned, the community that you’ve been a part of.

What impact has that had on the practice or on your team, on the culture, and maybe even from the standpoint of what might someone else, what might your doctor say? Or if you’re no longer in a practice, what might a teammate say.

So, what has been the impact of your distinction on your team and on the culture of your practice or organization?

So, Chavelle, it’s your turn to go first.

Chavelle: So, this is gonna be very strange. I don’t know yet because there are people that I think are very, like, intrigued and have asked me, you know, about, “Well, tell me what AADOM is.”

And, of course, you know, when I talk about it, I do think that now by getting my DAADOM and especially being in the role that I am now in operations, that there’s going to be more, or at least on my end, there will be more discussions about being involved on, you know, on a different level of just that growth and development.

I’d really love, and I know I’m speaking more future than like now, but I’d really love it if I can get my company to have the expectation, you know, kind of like some of the other gals have said, like the expectation that all of the managers, you know, go through the, you know, being a member and then going through all of the distinctions. I mean, I think that would be amazing to be able to see.

So, more to come. I wish I could answer that question maybe a little bit more.

Penny: That’s great. You know, I think you did answer the question. I don’t think—I think there’s more than one right answer there. So, thank you.

So, Joanne, what impact do you think that your distinction has had on your practice culture when you were still in a practice or on your team, those that you work with now?

Joanne: I feel like I’m in a dream position at this point, cause this is what I wanted, his was sort of not the pinnacle. I still want to go up, but it was definitely a huge milestone was to become a consultant and a speaker.

And the distinction, I got my DAADOM while working here at PDA. And, first of all, the entire team encouraged me, which was terrific because anybody who knows me knows, like I really did not think I was a writer at all. Like that was one of the things that it really unlocked for me was like, “Oh, I actually, I got something to say and I can actually write it.”

But the biggest difference I would say now today is that because I have such a belief that everybody, that there’s no ceiling, that I’ve had been able to start an emerging leaders program within our coaching. So it’s part of our coaching package if you will, that all team leads and all managers come once a month to this mastermind and it’s called Emerging Leaders.

And so, it’s paying it forward. It’s helping develop the next generation as all the ladies have talked about. This is about—dentistry has been amazing for me. It has given me so much.

And the one thing is I don’t want it ever to get diluted. I want to continue to have the bar raised and if I am able to leave it in better condition than when I got here because I was able to contribute to that, then I’ve done my job.

So, I would say that these distinctions have elevated me to be able to help now go out and help others do the same. And again, you get the level of education and confidence that you’re like, “I can do this.”

Penny: Yeah. I love that. I love that. What an inspiration.

Danielle, what would you say that your distinction, what impact has it had on your team or your practice culture?

Danielle: Similar to Chevelle, I just got my DAADOM and my MAADOM was just last year, so I’m sure there’s still a lot more to come with all of that.

My team—I love my team. Um, I do have a younger generation team. So they’ve been super supportive. They’ve like, you know, they say, “Oh my gosh, we have a VIP working with us now.”

You know, so they’ve just made me feel so special about all of my accomplishments. And that just again, boosts my level of confidence within myself to know that, you know, maybe people do wanna hear what I have to say.

Cause like Joanne, like I didn’t think I was a writer. That scared me to death. Like that was my biggest block. I did not think I could do it.

And after doing it for MAADOM and then again with DAADOM and then actually re-reading my own articles, going, “Wow, like that is pretty cool. Like, I did do a good job, like, you know, good for me.”

And then giving myself that encouragement. It has helped. And just the sense of pride I have within myself. Just to know that it’s unstoppable. Like Joanne says, there’s no ceiling. There is no ceiling.

You know, in 28 years I’ve been doing this and it’s been a constant step. It’s like every year there’s more and more and more that comes out. Things evolve, things change. AI is very big in dentistry right now. So that, you know, evolving into that and then, you know, us having to learn all these things and then bring it back to our team and then let them know, you know, it’s okay to make change. You know, a lot of them are stuck in their ways.

So, you wanna make sure that you’re encouraging them. And by us having all this extra education and encouragement from each other, it helps, you know, make these evolutions within your practice.

And, I also goal of mine, I do want to speak. I do want to lead others outside of just managing a practice. Not that I ever wanna leave the dental office life, because I really like the interaction with the patients. I don’t ever wanna give that up.

But I do see something more for myself in the future. I don’t know when that’s gonna be, but that is a goal of mine. So, similar to where Joanne has gotten herself, I wanna be like you.

Joanne: No, I got your back.

Danielle: I’m not saying it, nothing I’ll do next year. I’m not saying it’s something I’ll do in five years, but like maybe on the tail end of my management career, maybe that is something I’m move into. I don’t know.

But I know that I can do it because I do have all these tools in this gigantic support system. Not even, you know, not just my family, my office family, but throughout the dental community and throughout the AADOM community with everyone that I’ve met over the last 20 years. I’m fully confident that I’m capable of it.

Penny: Yeah. I love that. I love that. Thank you.

And Erika, bring us home. What impact would you say that you earning your distinction, what you’ve learned, has had on your team and on the culture of your practice?

Erika: Yeah, you know, I agree with everybody that has spoken and you guys are also smart. And I’m inspired just listening to you talk and just in awe of how put together and professional you guys are and hearing your journeys. It’s just very humbling.

And I would say, I think maybe at this point I can kind of summarize and that is, you know, your culture is a mirror for who you are. And so, every single time, the positive things in your culture, you can probably trace it back to the actions you’ve made. And some of the things that really need to change in your culture can probably be translated back to either actions you’ve done or things you’ve avoided.

And this is a tool to show your team that you know, if we are asking them to grow, to learn more and to be more, that we also have to show we’re willing to do the same. And that’s what this is here, you know?

And, not only earning it, but even having it somewhere public where the team can see that as a reminder or maybe we forget to talk to them about it or there’s a new team member that comes in.

And that’s not the first thing that I lead to. Like, “Hello, my name is Erika and I’m a DAADOM.” Maybe I should start that.

But, it’s a conversation starter. And I think that’s what it’s about too, is like, let’s have more conversations about what we can do to evolve.

And so, as it shapes the culture, it’s shaping a culture of a community of people that just wants to be better than who we were the day before.

Penny: I love that. I love that. And thank all of you. Not only for your time, I hear not only inspiration. I’m inspired. I do hear what I’ll call healthy self-confidence, the humility. There’s a servant’s attitude, a servant’s heart, and it really gives me a sense of pride to be associated with you guys. And, and I know many other individuals in our group like you. So thank you so much for your time, for sharing your story, your talents.

Continuing Your Journey with AADOM

And as we conclude, just a reminder to everyone. You’re more than welcome, if you want to learn more about distinctions, what that means, joining AADOM, there’ll be information at the end of this segment.

And again, thank you guys for not only your time today for all of the investment of time that you put into earning your distinctions and for being such a wonderful example for and of the AADOM tribe.

So thank you again for partnering with AADOM to educate other managers and leaders and letting them know what’s possible.

If you’re new to hearing about AADOM, please be sure to follow us on all social channels—so Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram. We don’t have a TikTok yet. You know, I never say never. It could happen.

Most of all for today. Thank you again, Chavelle, Danielle, Erika, and Joanne. Very much appreciate you guys. And now we’ll hear another word from our sponsor.

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Learn About Our Presenters:

Penny Reed is the Executive Vice President of Memberships and Events at the American Association of Dental Office Management (AADOM). A former dental office manager with over 30 years of industry experience, she has worked as a coach, speaker, and consultant dedicated to elevating the role of dental leaders.

Penny is the author of Growing Your Dental Business and has been recognized annually as a Dentistry Today Leader in Dental Consulting since 2007. She is passionate about empowering office managers through education, leadership, and community engagement.

Chavelle Galton-Rice, DAADOM has been committed to the dental industry for over 20 years. She aims to be a servant leader and difference-maker, empowering people to follow their dreams. Chavelle has been a member of AADOM since 2015 and received her AADOM Fellowship in 2020.

She enjoys finding new creative outlets through various arts and crafts in her free time. As the opportunity presents itself, she loves traveling back home to Hawaii with her husband Chuck and their three children, Isabella, Joshua, and Jacob.

Erika Pusillo, DAADOM has dedicated over 16 years to the dental industry, bringing expertise in leadership, operations, and patient experience. She serves as the Operations Director for Spodak Dental Group, where she helps lead a world-class team focused on innovation and exceptional care.

Erika is a proud DAADOM (Diplomate of the American Association of Dental Office Management), a Green Leader Award recipient (2023), and was recognized as a Practice Administrator of Distinction for her excellence in practice leadership and culture.

Danielle Dailey, DAADOM is the Office Manager for South River Dental Care in Edgewater, Maryland, and has been a lifetime member of AADOM since 2008. She received her FAADOM with the inaugural class of 2010 and is currently working on her MAADOM with hopes to cross the stage in 2024.

She also serves as the President of the Dental Education Leadership League of Baltimore/Annapolis, Maryland, also known as the BAM Leadership League. Danielle didn’t choose dentistry, it chose her!

Joanne Miles, DAADOM is one of Production Dentist Academy’s investment grade practice business advisors, sometimes referred to as the Swiss Army knife of dentistry. As an experienced dental practice growth leader with decades of experience nationwide, Joanne is passionate about sharing proven methods that help dentists and their teams grow.

In addition to business operations, she strongly focuses on team building, patient experience, and leadership development.