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Nobody tells you how personal leadership is going to get. That your entire team can read your mood before you've even opened your mouth. Or that leaving a job might be easy compared to leaving the people you've spent years working alongside. Welcome to I Didn't Know What I Didn't Know, a new six-part Back in 10 series where Jen and Savanah are sharing the unexpected lessons, uncomfortable realizations, and moments that changed how they lead. Because some things you just can't learn from a leadership book. You have to live them. In this first episode, we're getting into the emotional side of dental leadership. Savanah shares the moment she realized her silence, facial expressions, and energy were influencing the entire practice, even when she thought she was hiding her stress. Jen opens up about something nobody prepared her for: realizing that the hardest part of leaving a job wasn't walking away from the position. It was saying goodbye to the people who had become such a big part of her life. We're talking about emotional awareness, taking accountability for the energy you bring into a room, and why missing your team doesn't mean you made the wrong decision by leaving. Because leadership changes the people around you. But those people change you, too. Here's something to think about: What do you want your team to feel when you walk into a room, and what do you hope they'll remember when you leave it? This is Back in 10. Ten minutes off the clock for success on the clock. ----more---- Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media! ----more---- More ways to stay in touch! Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/

"You're not a hygienist. You don't understand." Oh, we're going there. You're responsible for the entire dental practice. Scheduling. Team performance. Patient experience. Profitability. But the moment you try to address an issue with a clinical team member, suddenly your authority is up for debate. Sound familiar? In this episode of Back in 10, Jen and Savanah tackle a question that might ruffle a few feathers: Should dental office managers have authority over clinical team members, even if they've never worked clinically? Jen brings her clinical background. Savanah brings her years of nonclinical practice leadership. And surprisingly, they're on the same page. There's a BIG difference between clinical authority and operational leadership. From hygienists consistently running behind to doctors expecting office managers to fix problems without giving them the authority to do so, we're talking about accountability, workplace expectations, and why a clinical license doesn't exempt anyone from being part of a team. Because you don't have to know how to perform someone's job to know whether they're meeting expectations. And as Jen puts it, if you're a manager without authority, you're not a manager. You're a messenger. So where should the line be drawn? Let's talk about it. ----more---- Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media! ----more---- More ways to stay in touch! Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/

Business travel sounds glamorous until you're exhausted, dehydrated, living out of a suitcase, and wondering why you didn't pack your own pillow. And apparently, Jen doesn't travel without TWO. In this Off the Cuff episode of Back in 10, Jen and Savanah are taking you behind the scenes of life on the road. Between dental conferences, speaking engagements, and industry events, they've learned that maintaining your routines while traveling isn't just about staying organized. It's about taking care of yourself. We're talking protein coffee, healthy snacks, hotel room rituals, packing hacks, and why a little preparation can make a big difference in how you feel when you're away from home. You'll also discover why Savanah travels with a bag full of treats, why Jen steams every piece of clothing the moment she arrives, and how one very special ass pillow is apparently changing lives at 30,000 feet. Because traveling for work shouldn't mean abandoning the habits that make you feel your best. And sometimes, the best travel advice comes with a really good laugh. What's the one travel essential you refuse to leave home without? We'd love to hear it! ----more---- Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media! ----more---- More ways to stay in touch! Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/

The phones won't stop ringing. Recall is falling behind. Your front desk is overwhelmed. And someone inevitably says, "We need to hire another person!" But do you? In this episode of Back in 10, Jen and Savanah challenge one of the most common reactions to an overwhelmed dental practice: adding another employee before figuring out what's actually broken. Is your team truly understaffed? Or are outdated workflows, unclear responsibilities, manual processes, and inefficient systems creating more work than necessary? From Savanah's legendary color-coded Post-it Notes to Jen's absolute horror over sticky-note chaos (and her eventual confession that she used them, too), this conversation gets into the messy reality of running a dental practice. They talk about decision fatigue, accountability, technology, and why even the best employees struggle when the systems around them aren't working. And no, this isn't an anti-hiring episode. Sometimes you genuinely need another team member. But before you add another salary to payroll, do a little detective work. Because hiring another person won't automatically fix a broken process. It might just give you one more person working around it. The question isn't always whether you need more people. Sometimes it's whether you're giving the people you already have what they need to succeed. ----more---- Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media! ----more---- More ways to stay in touch! Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/

You’re on PTO. So why are you checking your work email? Somewhere along the way, many of us started confusing great leadership with endless availability. We answer the text. Check the email. Solve the problem. And convince ourselves the team needs us. Jen once processed payroll while IN LABOR. Savanah admits she checked her work email first thing in the morning while recording this episode… on PTO. So yeah. We need to talk about boundaries. In this episode of Back in 10, Jen and Savanah get real about personal and professional boundaries in dental leadership and why being responsive is NOT the same thing as being constantly accessible. They talk about protecting PTO, after-hours communication, setting expectations with your team, social media boundaries, working from home, and what happens when your team becomes so dependent on you that you can’t actually step away. Because if everything requires you, you may not have a boundary problem. You may have a dependency problem. Start small. Decide what your boundaries actually are. Communicate them. Build systems that allow people to function without you. And then comes the hard part: Respect your own boundaries, too. Want more conversations like this? Comment BOUNDARY and let’s keep talking. ----more---- Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media! ----more---- More ways to stay in touch! Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/

Breaking up is hard to do. Especially when your PPO is helping fill the schedule. But is it actually helping your practice? In this episode of Back in 10, Jen and Savanah talk about the leadership and business side of knowing when a PPO relationship may no longer make sense. Before you panic about empty chairs, it's time to look at the actual numbers. How many patients really have that plan? What are you writing off? Which procedures are taking the biggest hit? And is that PPO keeping your practice profitable or simply keeping it busy? They also talk about what happens after you make the decision. Your team needs to understand the change, know how to talk about it, and feel prepared for patient questions. And your patients deserve thoughtful communication about what going out of network actually means for them. Because you're not breaking up with your patients. You're changing your relationship with their insurance company. And sometimes, that's exactly what a financially healthy practice needs. ----more---- Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media! ----more---- More ways to stay in touch! Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/

Your title says Office Manager. But your responsibilities? They might look a whole lot more like COO. Hiring and firing. Managing payroll. Reviewing the P&L. Negotiating with vendors. Implementing technology. Leading the team. Making operational decisions. Turning the doctor's vision into actual execution. So where exactly does office management end and executive leadership begin? In this episode of Back in 10, Jen and Savanah don't completely agree on the answer. And that's kind of the point. They go back and forth on what should fall under an Office Manager's role, what crosses into COO-level responsibility, and why the lack of a clear industry standard makes this conversation so complicated. But they do agree on this: if you're being held accountable for the success of the business, you need the authority, trust, skills, and compensation to actually own what you're being asked to do. Maybe the question isn't whether you deserve a different title. Maybe it's whether your title, responsibilities, authority, and paycheck actually match. ----more---- Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media! ----more---- More ways to stay in touch! Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/

What does it actually take to become a Practice of the Year? Back in 10 went LIVE from the Henry Schein One booth at AADOM for a very special conversation with the newly crowned Dentrix and Dentrix Ascend Practices of the Year. Savanah and Jen sit down with Betsy Cord, Kym Page, and Melissa Floyd to talk about what happens behind the scenes of exceptional dental practices and, spoiler alert, technology alone isn't the answer. They talk about using technology to create efficiency, getting the entire team involved, the importance of ongoing training and cross-training, making the move to the cloud, and finding ways to make everyday workflows easier for both the team and the patients they serve. But when we asked these leaders what they were most proud of, the answer wasn't a feature, a workflow, or even the award. It was their people. This episode is a celebration of what can happen when great technology supports great leadership and a team that's committed to getting better together. Congratulations to the Dentrix and DentrixAscend Practices of the Year, and a huge thank you to Henry Schein One for inviting Back in 10 to be part of such a special moment. ----more---- Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media! ----more---- More ways to stay in touch! Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/

Your schedule is full. Your team is busy. Production is up. So... why is there less money left at the end of the month? In this episode of Back in 10, Jen and Savanah talk about the financial squeeze happening inside dental practices and why increasing production doesn't automatically mean increasing profit. Payroll goes up. Supplies and lab costs go up. Overhead increases. Insurance write-offs take their share. And sometimes, the expenses we cut in an attempt to save money end up costing the practice even more. They also tackle a conversation more practice leaders need to be having: Should your office manager understand the P&L? And how can they help protect profitability if they don't have the full financial picture? Because production tells you how busy you were. Profit tells you whether the business is working. The goal isn't simply to do more dentistry. It's to build a financially healthy practice while doing great dentistry. ----more---- Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media! ----more---- More ways to stay in touch! Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/

"I'm exhausted." "I hate this job." "We're understaffed." "I'm doing the work of three people." "I need a vacation." We've gotten really comfortable calling all of it burnout. But is it? In this episode of Back in 10, Jen and Savanah dig into what burnout actually means and why labeling every hard season, stressful week, or frustrating workplace experience as burnout can keep us from identifying the real problem. Is it burnout? Bad leadership? Broken systems? Lack of accountability? An impossible workload? Or have you simply outgrown the job? Because burnout isn't just being tired. It's what can happen when chronic workplace stress goes unmanaged long enough that exhaustion turns into detachment and you start wondering whether the work you're doing even matters. And for leaders, calling it "burnout" isn't enough. We have to get curious about what's causing it. Before you plan the pizza party, fix the problem. ----more---- Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media! ----more---- More ways to stay in touch! Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/

This one wasn't planned. What started as an off-the-cuff conversation about expectations and accountability quickly turned into Jen sharing her own experience working within a DSO and what can happen when performance goals, KPIs, and financial pressure start driving the conversation. This isn't an episode about what every DSO gets right or wrong. It's one leader's experience and an honest conversation about what she saw from the inside. Jen and Savanah talk about what happens when high-performing practices are continually asked to do more, whether goals are always as attainable as they look on paper, the pressure that can land on practice and regional leaders, and why focusing only on financial KPIs can cause us to lose sight of the people behind them. Because yes, the numbers tell a story. But are we paying attention to the right numbers? No agenda. No perfectly packaged lesson. Just an off-the-cuff conversation that went somewhere we didn't expect. ----more---- Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media! ----more---- More ways to stay in touch! Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/

You know the conversation needs to happen. But what if they quit? In today's hiring market, that's the fear many dental leaders carry every single day. You know someone isn't meeting expectations, but the thought of losing another team member makes accountability feel impossible. In this episode of Back in 10, Jen and Savanah unpack one of the biggest leadership challenges in dentistry: how to hold people accountable without leading from fear. They discuss: Why accountability has gotten such a bad reputation How fear changes the standards leaders are willing to uphold Why clear expectations should always come before consequences How to approach accountability as a conversation—not a conflict The importance of giving your team the tools they need to succeed Why protecting your culture sometimes means having the conversation you're trying to avoid Because accountability isn't about catching people doing something wrong. It's about helping great people succeed by making expectations impossible to misunderstand. ----more---- Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media! ----more---- More ways to stay in touch! Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/

Your career is made up of thousands of little decisions. This episode is all about picking a side. In this edition of This or That, Jen and Savanah tackle some of the biggest career questions dental leaders face: • Mentor or coach? • Networking or skill building? • Job security or growth opportunity? • Work smarter or work harder? • Personal brand or company brand? What starts as a fun round of quick choices turns into a deeper conversation about career growth, professional identity, and one question every leader should ask themselves: If someone asked who you are… would you describe yourself, or where you work? Grab your favorite drink, pick your side, and let us know where you land. ----more---- Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media! ----more---- More ways to stay in touch! Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/

The doctor knows there's a problem. The team knows there's a problem. You know there's a problem. ...but no one is making the decision. In this episode of Back in 10, Jen and Savanah tackle one of the most frustrating realities of dental leadership: what happens when you're expected to lead the practice, but the doctor avoids the tough conversations and final decisions. They discuss why avoidance is still a decision, how indecision quietly damages culture, what office managers can do to influence without overstepping, and how to stop losing credibility when you're caught in the middle. If you've ever found yourself saying, "I'll have to talk to the doctor," while wondering if anything will actually change, this episode is for you. Because great leadership isn't about avoiding conflict. It's about having the courage to make the decision. ----more---- Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media! ----more---- More ways to stay in touch! Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/

Leadership decisions, but make them fast. In this quick round of This or That, we’re picking sides on some big leadership questions with very little time to overthink them. Lead by example or lead by vision? Accountability or empathy? Respected or liked? Tough conversations or tough decisions? Unlimited time or unlimited money? And yes, Jen immediately tries to choose both. Because apparently that’s how This or That works now. This one is short, a little chaotic, and definitely not a leadership masterclass. Just two friends comparing how they lead, where they agree, and why some choices are harder than they look. Quick episode. Big opinions. Let’s go. ----more---- Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media! ----more---- More ways to stay in touch! Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/