It’s a Small World After All …
In a world of nearly 8 billion people, isn’t it great that we have all found one another in AADOM? Even within AADOM, which is a large organization and continues to grow, you can find connections everywhere.
Back in September 2021, I walked into the Grand Caribbean Ballroom at the Loews Sapphire Falls Resort, ready for my second AADOM conference. I walked in alone and found an open chair, ready to take in the morning keynote session. Seated next to me was an office manager from Ohio. She had a couple of team members with her but was great at including me in their conversations. By the end of the conference, we had exchanged numbers and made plans to help each other study and work toward our FAADOM designations by the following year in Scottsdale. She was a fast friend, and her youngest daughter was finishing up her senior year of high school, looking forward to playing soccer at Division 1 (D1) school the next fall.
The day before the opening session, at one of the best pre-conference days ever, I had met my mini-tribe – a group of (gasp) spouses that were all involved in some aspect of our respective dentist-spouse’s practice. Some ran the offices, some were on the periphery, but we all shared an immediate and instant bond and connection because of where we all were. Out of this mini tribe bloomed another instant friendship with a great office manager that ran her husband’s dental practice in Texas. Instantly standing out to me, she wore her Texas A&M pride on her sleeve (literally, as every social media post I saw was about Texas A&M) because her son, who worked with the women’s tennis team, was a senior there.
Throughout the next few months, I would learn that my Texas friend’s son would be accepting a job at Michigan State University in 2022. Around that same time, I learned that my Ohio friend’s daughter would be playing on Michigan State University’s D1 soccer team in 2022. WOW! No matter what happened next, I knew I had to introduce these Texas and Ohio moms because they might soon cross paths in Michigan. Fast forward to late spring 2022. Ms. Ohio and I were both geared up to wear blue in Scottsdale, and Ms. Texas would be wearing maroon (fitting, considering her strong A&M roots).
Now, if this wasn’t already serendipitous enough, it gets better. By the time Texas mom’s son hit the ground in Michigan with his assignment, we all quickly learned he would be working as a sports director with the women’s soccer team. Yes, you guessed it – the same women’s soccer team where Ohio mom’s daughter would be playing. Are you kidding me? Could this be any more perfect? Of course, a Facebook introduction was made along the way, and the best was the real-life introduction (and hugs – lots and lots of hugs) at the 2022 Annual Conference in Scottsdale. Both Texas and Ohio moms are also members of a Michigan-based AADOM chapter because what else can a busy mom do but join more chapters?
The fall of 2022 was filled with lots of Michigan State FB posts coming from both Texas and Ohio moms and lots of shared photos of these two AADOM sisters that I helped introduce. I cannot wait for our next reunion because though the mountains divide and the oceans are wide, it’s a small world, after all!
Pictured from left to right – Christine Weertz Soulis (Ohio mom), Yvette S. Medellin, Tamara Cannon Whitley (Texas mom)
About the Author
Yvette S. Medellin, FAADOM, graduated from Pepperdine University in 1998 with her MBA. Prior to her life in dentistry, she was a business consultant in the entertainment industry for more than 16 years. Yvette has spent the last eight years helping her husband, Joe, build their dental practice, OrthoGrace Dental, along with their newly minted dental lab, 4M Dental Labs. She earned her Fellowship in 2022 and is a board member of the DSBN AADOM Chapter. When she isn’t in the office, Yvette spends her time volunteering as an Uber so she can cheer from the sidelines of her kids’ basketball and soccer games, tennis tournaments, and cheer competitions.
