The Power of AADOM – Find Your Tribe & Bring on the Hype
In a world full of chaos, when life brings challenging events and we feel exhausted, we must learn to turn to those closest to us for support and encouragement. Let them fill us up and help replenish our souls so we can keep carrying on.
I like to think that over the years, I have found these friends and my dental tribe. Some people I’ve known for years, and others are newer, but all play a role in my life.
The Importance of Finding Your Tribe
Those of us lucky enough to be a part of the dental community and a member of AADOM can even say this group is our tribe, and I am happy to say AADOM is indeed part of my tribe! I’ve been fortunate enough to meet amazing people through AADOM, some of whom I call a dear friend now.
When work seems to be getting the upper hand on you, or you have a patient who thinks they can tell you how to do our jobs better than us, or even when we need help with something work-related and need to bounce ideas off someone, we have our dental tribe at our fingertips to reach out to for assistance to help us through whatever we need at the moment or even to listen to us.
The dental world can be overwhelming, and we can feel alone in our jobs, but know you are never truly alone when you have AADOM behind you, pulling and rooting for you!
The Difference That AADOM Provides
I distinctly remember sitting in my first AADOM conference in Orlando on Friday during lunch, watching the graduates cross the stage and the office manager of the year getting his award, and I thought…”I want to do that!”
From there, I talked with many fellow AADOM members to figure out what I needed to do to succeed and walk the stage myself.
During the process, those I’ve met locally through our old chapter or those I’ve met only at conferences have encouraged me to better myself, do better, and keep striving to push forward in my career, and man, do they bring the hype when I need it!
I love the AADOM tribe because we push each other to be better, are willing to help everyone with any situation we need assistance with and encourage and uplift each other when we have a down day or feel discouraged. These people walk our lives with us in the background and sometimes in front of the stage, shaking their pom-poms at each other as they walk the stage with their next level of distinction.
The love and absolute joy our fellow members share with us is the fuel that helps replenish us on the days we need it and gives us the hype to bring to our offices and team members.
Share the Hype with Your Team
Since we are the leaders of our offices, it’s essential not to keep that hype to ourselves but to share it with those we work with daily.
I love to celebrate all I can with my team members:
- New certificate to further your career, celebrate!
- Birthdays, work anniversaries, or even a holiday we celebrate!
- Recognition week for each position; celebrate!
- The whole team hit our goals, and we celebrated!
Just because we think you are doing an excellent job and we want to recognize your hard work and dedication, let’s celebrate!
As much as we need someone to hype us up and fill our cups, it’s essential to be that person to those around us. Let us never forget to ‘Leave Our Ladders Down’ and encourage those following our footsteps to remain their best selves!
So, if you haven’t found your dental tribe or still want to add members to your circle, know there are so many willing to be your hype person, and we would love to meet you and join arms with you!
About the Author
Heather McCann, MAADOM
Heather was on the mission field during college when she became interested in the dental field. After she finished her internship in Haiti, she returned home to complete a dental assisting course and began my dental career in 2005 as an assistant.
In 2007, Heather returned and earned her expanded functions dental assistant certificate. Over the next few years, she cross-trained herself to learn insurance, billing, and all the front office ins and outs.
Heather is a lifetime member of AADOM and received her FAADOM in 2021 and MAADOM in 2023. She will earn her DAADOM in 2024.
She is passionate about helping people in all aspects of life and giving back to the community.
