Meet the FALL Semester Faculty

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Lois Banta

Finance Lab Instructor

Lois Banta is CEO, President and Founder of Banta Consulting, Inc., a company that specializes in all aspects of dental practice management. Lois has over 40 years of dental experience and consults and speaks nationally and internationally. She is the owner and CEO of The Speaking Consulting Network, and a member of The Academy of Dental Management Consultants (ADMC), The Academy of Dental Office Management (AADOM) and The American Academy of Dental Practice Administration (AADPA).
Kristen Brown

Leadership Lab Instructor

Kristen Brown powers up your leadership and life as an international keynote speaker and bestselling author who drives growth at organizations like Rodan & Fields, Boston Scientific, Cargill, the Minnesota Vikings, national associations and conventions, and many more.

Named a top 20 trailblazer in the industry by Meetings Today Magazine, she uses her Master’s education and 15-years of corporate leadership and sales experience working with some of the world’s biggest brands to bring researched insights and actionable results to the audiences she serves.

Her certifications and teacher training in Holistic Health, Yoga, and healing modalities also allow her to translate soft skills into solid results for her speaking, consulting, and coaching clients. Plus her personal experiences as a widowed mom add a depth of perspective to her work helping leaders maintain momentum during change and stress.

Kristen has been featured in the national media sharing insights from her bestselling books and research including Live with Kelly, Forbes, CNN, Working Mother, Psychology Today, and many more.

Kristen’s biggest faults – she’s occasionally a know-it-all and sometimes a bit of a workaholic. Her biggest loves – movies, summer, bacon, reading, naps, her dog, Boone, and most of all, her daughter, Brooke.

Angela Byrnes

Marketing Lab Instructor

Angela Byrnes loves practicality and efficiency and works to pair client goals with simple solutions. Before Roadside, Angela devoted 23+ years to the dental industry, leading high production at multi-doctor practices. Eventually, she honed in on her passion for practice management and consulting, and naturally gravitated toward Roadside due to their specialization in dental marketing.In her years with Roadside, Angela has helped transcend all previous profit margins at rates her clients have never thought possible! She problem-solves intimidating challenges with interactive, easy, and rewarding action plans. Simply put, Angela loves to share her marketing knowledge, tools, and expertise to help dentists grow their practices!
Danelle Canales

Software Lab Instructor

Danelle Canales joined Carestream Dental in 2007 and serves as a trainer for CS SoftDent, CS OrthoTrac, Windent, eServices. and Care Management Platform. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University where she refined her leadership skills as an officer in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets.

Danelle works closely with the technical support, development, and implementation teams to ensure our software and processes are up-to-date and meet our clients’ needs.

Combining humor and professionalism in her training, Danelle strives to help clients use our software to efficiently meet their practice management needs. Her hard work, dedication, and ability to learn quickly and adapt to new situations make her an asset to the training team.

When she is not training, Danelle enjoys spending time with her husband and three sons.

Teresa Duncan, MS, FAADOM

Finance Lab Instructor

Teresa is a popular speaker on managerial excellence and dental insurance. As a lifetime member and a Fellow of AADOM, she understands your struggles and celebrations. Audiences often comment she connects with the crowd because of her prior extensive experience as a manager.

She is a member of the Academy of Dental Management Consultants and the National Speakers Association. Teresa was recently named one of the Top 25 Women in Dentistry by Dental Products Report Magazine and is regularly recognized as a Leader in Consulting by Dentistry Today. Recently, she provided consulting assistance in the development of the American Dental Association’s Guidelines for Practice Success™. Teresa received her Master’s Degree in Healthcare Management from Marymount University.

Paul Edwards

HR/Communications Lab Instructor

Paul is the author of HR Base Camp, a blog and podcast channel for dentists and healthcare providers. He is also a featured writer for The Profitable Dentist, Dentistry IQ, and Dentaltown. He is a contributor to the ADA‘s GPS program and regularly speaks at dental seminars, conferences and CE courses across the country, including AADOM.
Andrea Gallimore

Marketing Lab Instructor

Andrea Gallimore has over 19 years of experience with Dentrix and the dental industry. She has worked as an office manager for a multi-doctor practice and also as a certified Dentrix trainer. Andrea currently works for Henry Schein One as a Product Marketing Manager, presents webinars on various Dentrix and eServices products, and presents educational dental seminars across the country. With her extensive software knowledge and real-world office management expertise, Andrea can help practices maximize efficiency and profitability using Henry Schein One Practice Management Software and eServices.
Grace Godlasky

HR/Communications Lab Instructor

Grace Godlasky has been an attorney with CEDR Solutions for over four years. She has helped CEDR members with every type of HR and employment law issues as a Solution Center Advisor, and more recently has moved into the role of Solution Center Manager. Grace graduated cum laude from Georgia State University’s School of Law. Prior to attending law school, Grace received her paralegal certificate from Emory University and worked as a paralegal for a large law firm in Atlanta, GA. She currently lives in Tucson, AZ with her husband, two children, and beloved dog, Kermit.
Mary Horvath

Software Lab Instructor

Mary’s background includes over 44 years spent in the dental industry. She has a Clinical, Administrative and Consulting background, in which she has been actively involved with Insurance, Clinical and Dental Management Seminars.

Over the last 19 years she has worked with Patterson Dental in positions such as Regional Training Advisor, Regional Technology Manager, and presently as the Corporate National Technology Advisor III, overseeing all regions with Eaglesoft and digital products. Mary has been very active as a Practice Masters’ Seminar presenter for over 17 years.

She resides in North Carolina.

Dayna Johnson

Software Lab Instructor

Dayna Johnson loves her work. During her career of managing an amazing dental practice on beautiful Whidbey Island in Washington state, she started training and consulting with other dental practices around the region and found that was her life’s work. Now with more than 25 years of experience in the dental industry, Dayna’s passion for efficient, consistent, and secure systems is grounded in personal understanding and professional expertise. With a direct, pragmatic approach, Dayna helps clients develop standardized protocols for all practice management systems. Seeing a need in the dental industry for more resources, she founded Novonee – The Premier Dentrix Online community in 2016 and helps cultivate Dentrix superusers all over the country. Dayna knows that your entire day revolves around your practice management software and the more you learn the more productive and stress-free your office will be. When she is not training, speaking or writing an article, Dayna enjoys spending time in the garden, golfing and hiking in the Rocky Mountains. Dayna is a total foodie and when on the road searches out local restaurants to support the local economy.
Judy Kay Mausolf

Leadership Lab Instructor

Judy Kay Mausolf is a speaker, author, and dental culture specialist with expertise in helping others get happier and more successful! She coaches dentists and their teams how to become better leaders, communicate effectively, work together better and deliver service with more focus and passion which result in cultivating a happier, healthier and higher performing culture.

She is Past President of National Speakers Association (Minnesota Chapter), Director of Sponsoring Partners for the Speaking Consulting Network and a member of the National Speakers Association and Academy of Dental Management Consultants and recognized as a leader in consulting by Dentistry Today. She is author of three books; “TA-DAH, Delivering W.O.W. Service, and “Rise & Shine!”, and a contributing author for many dental magazines. She also publishes a monthly newsletter entitled “Show Your Shine”.

Judy Kay lives in MN with her awesome husband Steve who makes her special coffee every morning and Zoe…it’s all about me, 7 pound Yorkie!

Dianna McHugh

Finance Lab Instructor

Dianna McHugh leads the Kleer Success Team, a group of dedicated specialists that help customers reach their practice’s dental membership plan goals. With extensive experience in support and account management, she has used her knowledge to build a team of people that are endlessly praised by Kleer’s client base.

Prior to joining Kleer, Dianna worked in progressive customer service and success roles at Iron Mountain, a global leader for storage and information management services. She developed her expertise with a range of experiences from working in call centers to directly supporting large financial clients from implementation of services through execution and management of new deals. Dianna has also participated in small focus groups to build new processes for large call centers, and she has served as a subject matter expert in multiple areas of support. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania.

Dianna spends her free time with family and friends, and she enjoys gardening and cooking.

Dave Monahan

Finance Lab Instructor

Dave Monahan is the CEO of Kleer, a cloud-based platform that enables dentists to easily create their own membership plan and offer it directly to their patients. Kleer eliminates the cost and hassle of insurance middlemen, making it easy for patients to get the comprehensive dental care they want while enabling dental practices to increase patient loyalty, visits and treatment acceptance.

Dave has a passion for creating technology-enabled businesses that improve people’s lives. He founded Kleer and championed its mission from the beginning. He designed the Kleer platform based on dentist and patient feedback, curated a passionate and hardworking team, publicly advocates for dentists and patient rights, and continuously pushes the company to innovate and be better.

Prior to joining Kleer, Dave served as the CEO of FitLinxx, where he created simple and affordable wearable devices that enabled patients to monitor and manage chronic conditions and athletes to monitor and improve their performance. He also worked at Microsoft from 1999 to 2006, where he developed and implemented new product, market and partnering strategies that helped the company and thousands of its partners grow and improve profitability.

Dave received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA in International Business from Loyola University. Dave is married, has three children, and resides in the Greater Philadelphia area.

Laura Nelson

HR/Communications Lab Instructor

Laura Nelson is the award-winning, internationally renowned founder of Front Office Rocks™, a virtual training platform for dental teams that teaches office systems and methods to help practices achieve exceptional customer service.

With her interactive and innovative approach as the leader in Dental Front Office Solutions and Training, Laura has mentored thousands of dentists and dental team members to achieve unprecedented results in growth and empowered dentists and office managers to excel at performance-based hiring. An accomplished recruiting & management coach and highly renowned keynote speaker, she is the best-selling author of Step Away from the Drill, a book that has helped dentists understand & embrace the business side of dentistry.

Laura received her undergraduate degree from Eastern Michigan University in Human Resources and her master’s degree in organizational development from John Hopkins University focusing on leadership development and success. Laura is a member of the National Speakers Association, The Speaking Consulting Network, the Academy of Dental Management Consultants, and a fellow of the American Association of Dental Office Management.

Laura is the recipient of public speaking awards from The Speaking Consulting Network and Dentistry’s Got Talent. She has also been recognized as one of Dental Products Report’s Top 25 Women in Dentistry.

Laura lives in Coronado, CA with her amazing husband, Chris. She enjoys traveling & exploring new destinations, fitness activities including Spartan races and also enjoys biking.

Julia Popovich

Finance Lab Instructor

As a Growth Specialist at Kleer, Julia Popovich works closely with dental practice office managers every day to help grow their subscription-based membership plans. She consults on all elements of membership plans from implementation and revisions, to expanding plans through marketing and community outreach. Additionally, she helps practices measure performance against KPIs and provides guidance on areas to improve. Prior to her current role, she served as a Kleer Success Manager and helped Kleer develop its Growth Services team. Before working at Kleer, Julia held a senior project manager role at Communications Test Design, Inc., a global engineer, repair and logistics company. She received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Lock Haven University, where she was part of their NCAA champion softball team.

In her free time, Julia enjoys coaching college softball, teaching hitting lessons for youth athletes, working on home renovation projects and spending time with her family and friends, especially her 1-year-old nephew Jacob.

Genevieve Poppe

Patient Management Lab Instructor

Ms. Poppe has held many positions in the dental industry over the last 20+ years. Her expertise is proven by years of success in all aspects of practice operations. In addition to many years of clinical experience and practice management experience, Ms. Poppe has architected and facilitated numerous practice acquisitions, transitions, and relocations since she co-founded Stepping Stone Dental Partners in 2009. Her valuable experience as an owner and manager of a seven-practice affiliate group refined her process and approach to practice growth and management. Her ability to develop strong dental teams with excellent patient connection and communication skills keep her in high demand in the dental industry. In addition to her transition experience, she has a thorough knowledge of dental insurance, dental procedures, equipment, industry trends and best practice standards for patient service and care.

Ms. Poppe has a unique understanding of what it takes to help dentists achieve their practice vision. She is committed to listening to, understanding, and finding solutions for her clients. She delivers a passion and level of communication that truly set her apart. From practice startup to practice transition, she has the skills and knowledge to implement systems for practice and team success.

Penny Reed

Leadership Lab Instructor

Penny Reed is the founder and president of the dental coaching company – Penny Reed & Associates. She works with dentists and their teams to increase their focus, improve their systems, and accelerate their results. As a professional speaker, she shows dental teams how to reach their goals through greater communication and focus. She has actually written “the book” on practice growth titled, Growing Your Dental Business. In addition, she is the host of the podcast, The Growing Your Dental Business Show, on iTunes. As a result of her work, her clients are more focused, have more income, and have happier teams. On a personal note, Penny is a major Disney fan. It’s her happiest place on earth – and she is always plotting her next Disney adventure with her family.
Doug Sligting

Marketing Lab Instructor

Douglas Sligting is the founder and CEO of Ascent Practice Growth Strategies. Doug has spent his entire 25-year career in marketing, working for national advertising agencies in addition to owning his own agency for 10 years prior to creating Ascent. He has worked with national clients such as Costco, Wal Mart, Henry Schein and 3Com. Now in its 10th year, the vision of Ascent is to realize potential through sustainable growth. This is accomplished as specialized teams apply their mastery of proven marketing systems, comprehensive planning and dynamic creativity, with consistent improvement through analytics.
Whitney Speir

Marketing Lab Instructor

With more than 15 years in marketing and design, Whitney Speir is the Marketing Director for Roadside and LOVES helping practices nationwide learn how to implement simple marketing strategies that get BIG results. A self-described “marketing nerd” (glasses and all), Whitney is passionate about helping dental teams discover real-world strategies that can help grow their referrals, reviews, rankings, and overall revenue.
Tiana Starke

HR/Communications Lab Instructor

Tiana Starke is an HR Professional with almost a decade of experience specializing in employment-based immigration advisement and HR Compliance. She was certified by the Society of Human Resources Management as a Certified Professional in 2016, and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Central Missouri.

A Kansas City native, Tiana has worked for two leading hospitals in the Kansas City-area in an HR capacity, so it was a dream for her to move to sunny Tucson and be able to provide HR consultation to many of our dental and medical providers. Tiana is an active member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and was a SHRM Advocacy Captain, representing her former congressional district on Capitol Hill three years in a row, lobbying for employment law reform to help both employers and employees find fair common ground. She currently resides in Tucson, AZ and enjoys drumming her heart out as a Pound Fitness class instructor and exploring the natural beauty of the desert in her spare time.

Gary Takacs

Patient Management Lab Instructor

Gary is recognized as one of the most significant Influencers in Dentistry today. He created the very first dental podcast; called the Thriving Dentist Show in 2011. That podcast is the #1 dental podcast on iTunes and Google Play with listeners in 185 countries. Gary is also the Founder of the Thriving Practice Academy and Co-Owner of Life Smiles Dental Care, a premier dental practice located in Phoenix, AZ.

Gary Takacs is a world-renowned dental practice Coach. He has 40+ years of experience in coaching 2,200+ dental practices around the world. He brings deep knowledge of the individual elements of business success together with genuine compassion for the challenges that Dentists face in today’s changing practice environment. As the host of a couple of podcast series, Gary guides dental professionals to a healthier practice style that lets them deliver an impeccable quality of care in a relationship-driven manner.

He is a published author, classic rock fan, biker, surfer, runner, businessman, and a family man – Gary Takacs always has unique perspectives to share.

Dana Watson

Patient Management Lab Instructor

Originally a high school science teacher, Dana has spent over 16 years in the dental field as a practice manager. Currently actively managing a 2-doctor practice in Nashville, Tennessee, Dana still finds time for consulting, speaking and teaching.

Dana brings her hands-on approach of teaching to the dental field for workshop-style trainings. Her greatest passion is developing confident leaders out of dental spouses who work in the practice–helping them find their role and have confidence in their management and leadership skills.

Dana is a life-time member of AADOM and achieved her Fellowship status with AADOM (FAADOM) in 2016. Dana is also a member of the Speaking and Consulting Network and the Academy of Dental Management Consultants.

Rita Zamora

Marketing Lab Instructor

Rita Zamora is author of the book Get Found, Get Liked, Get Patients – Making the Most of Social Media. Known as Dentistry’s Social Media Expert, she and her team offer highly customized “done for you”, as well as “done with you”, social media programs and services. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Colorado with a bachelor’s degree in business and marketing and has over 20 years experience in the business of dentistry.