Episode #347: Leading with Purpose: Transforming Your Dental Practice Beyond Insurance with Dr. Brett Kessler

Michael Walker: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Less Insurance Dependence Podcast, your trusted source for insights, strategies, and expert advice to elevate your dental practice and career. I’m Michael Walker, your co-host, and I’m excited to bring you another thought-provoking episode with one of the industry’s most respected voices in dentistry, Dr. Brett Kessler. On this podcast, our mission is to equip dental professionals with the tools to take back control of their practices, whether through building a fee-for-service model, optimizing patient relationships—pardon me—or shifting away from insurance-based limitations.

Before we dive into today’s episode, I wanna share an exciting opportunity brought to you by Ekwa Marketing, the sponsor of this, uh, podcast. Ekwa is offering each of you a free marketing strategy meeting valued at over $900. When you book this meeting, Ekwa Marketing will provide expert recommendations to attract high-quality new patients to your practice.

Rank number one on Google within your local community and help you grow new patient calls every month. What you’ll be able to do is visit www.lessinsurancedependence.com/marketing-strategy-meeting. Now, that’s a lot of words and letters in there. Uh, in wherever you picked up this podcast, there will be a hard link there for you to be able to click on to go ahead and get your free, uh, marketing strategy meeting.

And if you’re looking for personalized help to create a thriving insurance-independent practice, you can also book a complimentary coaching strategy meeting with Gary Takacs, and you can reach Gary at www.thrivingdentist.com/csm. And if you don’t know Gary, I encourage you to reach out to him. He has an incredible amount of wisdom about the dental practice and all the unique parameters of it. And just like our guest today, he’ll be able to provide that as well.

Michael Walker: So now, on to today’s episode. I am certainly honored to welcome Dr. Brett Kessler, a respected leader in dentistry, speaker, and a passionate advocate for purpose-driven practice transformation. I love that term, doctor. As a former president of the Colorado Dental Association and a highly experienced practice owner, Dr. Kessler has not only built a successful clinical career, but has also helped countless dentists gain clarity on what truly matters—leading with intention, creating great culture, and breaking free from external constraints like insurance plans.

I can also tell you that Dr. Kessler is the president of the American Dental Association. Congratulations on that, doctor. That’s an honor, I’m sure, and a lot of work, and it’s very much appreciated to be making that investment into your business community. But today, in today’s episode, we’re gonna talk specifically about how practicing with purpose helps you build a more independent and sustainable practice; why culture and mindset are key to reducing insurance dependence; what holds dentists back from moving away from PPOs and how to overcome it; and actionable steps to create a fulfilling practice that aligns you with your values.

Some great in-depth stuff. I know that Dr. Kessler’s gonna have some best practices for us, some great insight, and I know from us talking to him a couple minutes beforehand, some wonderful inspiration. So, Dr. Kessler, it is a privilege to have you here, and I would love if you would begin with your story. How has your leadership journey influenced your views on practice independence and long-term sustainability?

Dr. Brett Kessler: Dr. Brett Kessler: Oh, thanks, Mike. It is an absolute honor to be here, and I wanna shout out to Gary Takacs, a good friend, and he’s a big part of my journey and a big part of my success as well.

And to start out, uh, I’m a general dentist. Uh, I was a practice owner, uh, from 2003 to 2018 in Denver, Colorado. I started my practice from scratch, and, uh, I started with very few and maybe one dental insurance plan, and that quickly evolved into zero insurance plans. And, uh, we were truly a de novo fee-for-service, uh, startup. And it was, uh, very fulfilling.

And, um, it, uh, you know, the leadership part is, is, is really important because, first of all, you know, the Latin translation of "doctor" is "leader"—is "teacher," I’m sorry, is "teacher." And we have to be able to teach and lead our patients to, uh, choose our finest care.

Dr. Brett Kessler: In order to do that, we have to be showing up as our best selves. And so, you know, I had been an associate and I was in a partnership that didn’t go so well leading up to the time when I started my practice. But all that experience of eight years of practice led me to the vision of how I wanted to practice in my life. And I wanted to do it free of the encumbrances of the insurance as a stand between the relationship of my patients and myself. And so I was very clear on the vision of what I wanted to do. And then, you know, I guess I, through stupidity, resilience, or wisdom—I don’t know what it was—but resilience was definitely part of it.

Dr. Brett Kessler: I was able to do it. And as I mentioned, it was very, very fulfilling. So when I started it, I had consultants, I had coaches who guided me and kept me on task to my vision. I remember I wrote a hundred-page business plan, and I had a financial guy help me with projections and stuff like that. And I went shopping it around to banks, and all they did was look at the spreadsheet. They didn’t look at the other 95 pages. And it really pissed me off, to be honest with you. And when I went to my business coach about that, he said, "No, Brett, that part—those 95 pages—were for you."

"What do you mean?"

"That was your vision of what you wanted to create. The bank doesn’t care about that. They just wanna know that you can produce it." But that was the pathway, that was the way to do it. And that only comes through a serious amount of inner work to really define not only who I wanted to be, but how I wanted to thrive and the community that I’m serving.

Michael Walker: I love the way you approach that. And I remember that in my first business plan too—thinking I had all this stuff prepared and everything ready to go—and yeah, they don’t care. I mean, I was a lender at one point, so I can still remember being told by a senior lender, he says, "Mike, you’re thinking about this all wrong."

I was thinking proactively about how many loans I could help generate. They said, "You need to think that out of the gate, you’re gonna turn down 98% of these, so you need to figure out why you’re gonna say yes to 2%."

I said, "Well, that’s no fun."

And, you know, Brenda and I were just talking—well, you know, that didn’t last long—because, you know, I just don’t get that. But I love how you focus on the vision. And I think that’s something that I see a lot in a lot of medical professionals.

I don’t know if this makes sense, Dr. Kessler, but, you know, I’ve seen this in different conversations. I do a lot of work in the medical space—from the veterinary side to the aesthetic side, dental side. And so I’m in different communities. But there’s a common denominator that most medical professionals are accidental entrepreneurs. Right?

Michael Walker: If they took a business course, it was by mistake or they just had to because they couldn’t get what they wanted. And to that exception, there are people like, probably like yourself, that had that. And so this idea of vision—it’s something I don’t think that necessarily gets… you put that word out—I just, I think I’d like to unpack that a little more.

But, you know, I think of vision as being… the question I pose to it is: What are you passionate about? Like, really—not just what you thought you should do, or what your dad did, or your uncle, or whatever that looks like. What are you passionate about? What are the underlying values that are non-negotiable for that? And what’s your unique… what do you see as your unique selling position?

And how did you see that—when you say vision—how? Because I think some of the doctors and folks look at it like, "I’ve never really thought of it that deeply. I’ve kind of just… my dad did it and my granddad did it, or I had an opportunity, or I bought this."

Maybe I’m wrong, but—I’ll throw that out to you, Dr. Kessler.

Dr. Brett Kessler: Well, I’m gonna back up to the first couple years of my career. I was suffering really bad with a substance abuse disorder. I was a drug addict, an alcoholic, okay? And when I hit my bottom in my third year of practice, went to rehab, I found a solution to that problem. And it involved mindfulness. Mindfulness training. I had to change my brain to stay on the sober path. But the same tools that I used to stay on the sober path also gave me inspiration to live my best life. Because when I was locked in my brain under the addiction mindset, I saw no future. Everything was very, very small. And when I broke free of that, I saw a world of unlimited possibilities.

Dr. Brett Kessler: And it was my world to go get, but I had to do it intentionally. I was about nine months sober, and I read the book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Habit two: begin with the end in mind. He coined it as, if you had died and many people came to your funeral, what would you want people to say about you in the eulogy? And then go live it. And so that’s what I did. And from there, I’ve been sober 26, 27 years now. Every five years or so, I write a five-year vision statement: what do I want to do in these next five years?

Dr. Brett Kessler: So I’m very intentional about it. You can’t see it, but to my right, I have a vision board that is up that allows me to keep it front and center. Because I don’t want to forget what my purpose is. I don’t want to forget what my why is. And I don’t want to forget who I am and where I’m going. So when it’s front and center with me, every decision I make in life—does that decision move me closer to that vision, or does it move me further away from that vision?

Dr. Brett Kessler: And a lot of times, if it’s moving me further away and I continually move away from that vision, maybe the vision is wrong—and I can change it. And that’s okay. But I tell you, living with intention, most of the things that I’ve written in those 25 years—or the five times I’ve done it—have come true.

Dr. Brett Kessler: And I’ll even say, when I turned 50, that was 2018, that was the year I decided to ask myself midlife questions. Not midlife crisis, but midlife questions. What do I want to do with the second half of my career? What do I want to do with the second half of my life? And so that was the year I decided to sell the practice. My wife and I had been talking about it for a couple years. She’s an orthodontist. And we’d been talking about selling it because it was hard. It was a lot of work, and I was getting burned out. And I was rising in the organized dentistry world and leadership world. So that was the year we decided to do that. That was the year—as I said—I turned 50. That was the year.

Dr. Brett Kessler: I was 20 years sober. That was the year I decided to do my very first Ironman. And I got to do the World Championships that year. And so it was a heck of a year, but it was a year to reinvent myself completely—not really change it—but just, like, you know, take a little right turn and build my new life and the next chapter of my life on all the experiences I’ve had up till then.

And I can go back to the vision statement that I had. I never, ever put, "I’m gonna be ADA president" on my vision statement, okay? What I put is, "I’m gonna maximally contribute to the profession that has given me so much." And then doors just started opening. And that’s what happens when you put it out there like that—doors start opening. And then you can decide if you want to walk through that door or not. But once you walk through that door, you shut that door and you keep going forward.

Michael Walker: Thank you, doctor. I hope—as listeners—I think, again, this is… I told you there’d be an inspirational part and best practices part. You know, I hear you saying vision is intentional—meaning it’s not something like, "I’m thinking of doing this, I’ll make a little note of it and get to it when I have time." Vision is actually doing something and executing. When you get off of this podcast.

Vision is also dynamic. It’s not a one-and-done; it’s a flow. But I think the most important part, really—and the fun part—for… and I actually am 31 years sober, doctor, so I get where you’re coming from. So congratulations.

The reality is that the third piece is vision is celebrating the wins and seeing where you’ve been. In the world of 12 Step, it’s called the Ninth Step Promises. And it’s a reality. There’s opportunity there. But it’s just about living your best life—not somebody else’s.

Dr. Brett Kessler: Right? And the treatment that we’ve been through for this, it really forces us to be introspective on how can we show up as our best selves. And when I ended up in the rooms, that wasn’t going to be the end, the most—the highest—achievement I would ever do. It’s the foundation of everything I do. But it was a diving board into life—and beautiful. And I wanted to seize every minute out of every day. I love it.

Michael Walker: That’s how I…

Dr. Brett Kessler: …live.

Michael Walker: Love it. Yeah.

Dr. Brett Kessler: Yeah.

Michael Walker: Exactly. I can’t tell you how comfortable I am being so out of control—because I’m not letting other things define me, right? I’m defined by relationships that are important to me.

Let’s go. But we’re—we, I knew this was gonna happen, doctor—so we can… Let’s pull it back, because we wanna talk about—okay—lessen dependence on insurance. That’s part of what folks want to get here.

But I’ve got the next question I’ve gotta throw out here: What unique challenges do women in dentistry face when striving to lead practices that are less dependent on insurance? That really intrigues me as a question, and I’m intrigued to hear the answer. I have no idea.

Dr. Brett Kessler: Boy, I hope my wife isn’t around. No, just kidding.

Dr. Brett Kessler: So, I remember early on in our career—we were dental school classmates—and one of our mentors asked her why she wanted to be an orthodontist. And I was gonna be a general dentist. I had these great opportunities in front of me. And this mentor thought that by her pursuing her orthodontics, it would hinder my growth. And he basically said, "Well, you’re just going to raise kids and work part-time anyway."

She didn’t like that very much, and nor did I. There’s still that sexism and stigma—that women aren’t gonna work as hard, they’re not gonna be as good, they’re not gonna get paid as much. And I don’t buy into that.

Dr. Brett Kessler: Women have it, I think, a little bit harder because of the culture that we’re in. And that’s not fair. It’s absolutely not fair. So, I see so many successful women in dentistry. I see them successful in practice. I see them successful as practitioners. I see them successful in leadership.

In fact, I followed a very strong female as president of the American Dental Association—Linda Edgar. And I see them breaking the glass ceilings and moving up, as they should. You know, we are who we are, and that’s how we are.

I don’t care if you’re male, female, if you’re gender-neutral, transgender. I don’t care what color your skin is. I don’t care what style of practice you are. If you’re a dentist and you’re contributing to the profession, I want to hang with you. And that’s the bottom line.

Michael Walker: Yeah. That’s, um—as we know—addiction doesn’t have any preferences. Everybody’s eligible.

Dr. Brett Kessler: Right?

Michael Walker: The next question I have for you, doctor, is: How can developing leadership skills, both personally and professionally—you kinda started touching on some of that—help female dentists take greater control over their practice models and their long-term goals?

Dr. Brett Kessler: Not sure why we’re going down the female dentist thread, but I’ll try and answer that. As a male, leadership is agnostic to sex, as far as I’m concerned. When I started my practice, I dove into a self-directed leadership continuum. I started reading leadership books. I hired coaches and consultants who helped me build my leadership skills.

And it’s a journey. It’s never a destination. I’m always looking to grow my leadership in every way that I can. And it makes me more effective as a human being. It makes me more effective as a dentist, as a business owner, and as a leader.

Michael Walker: Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, I just—I think the, um, trying to just kind of cover all the bases. We tend to get focused—the two guys on a conversation—and I like to try and bring in a little bit of…

I work with a lot of female dentists on these, and I hear some interesting viewpoints. But I wanted to go back to a question here: As a longtime practice owner—obviously a leader in organized dentistry—what mindset shifts do you believe are essential for dentists looking to reduce their reliance on insurance and take control of their practice model?

Dr. Brett Kessler: So that’s a courageous step. I would say 95% of practicing dentists in North America are providers with some kind of insurance network. They’re aligned with some kind of insurance. 100% of them dislike it—I’ll say that right up front. But it does drive people to the dentist, and it is a part of who we are.

Even though my practice was fee-for-service, most of my patients had some kind of benefits, and we would try and get them all the money they could out of their plan. So if you decide to not be a participating dentist, I applaud you for a very courageous decision.

It will involve your front desk—whoever answers your phones—having to answer that question 40 to 50 times a day. Every single patient that comes into your office will ask it. It will require that you have to answer that question, and you have to answer it in a very confident way.

Dr. Brett Kessler: My way to answer that was, "I’m not aligned with any insurance plan. My goal is to have a relationship with you one-on-one, because I view the doctor-patient relationship as a sacred vow. And I want to include you in every aspect of care and the decision-making in your care. And I don’t want a third party to be in between, telling you what’s best for you when they’ve never seen you before."

That tended to attract a certain clientele to my practice, and it turned off a certain clientele from my practice. And that’s okay. I live in Denver, and I would always say to my team—to remind them, because it takes a lot of teamwork, and you have to have an amazing team to be able to do this and thrive in it—there are 3 million people in Denver. We only need about 750 of them in our practice. We don’t have to be the dentist to everybody.

Dr. Brett Kessler: And we were okay when people chose not to use us because of insurance. We knew what we could provide as what we thought were the best possible options for our patients. And it wasn’t for everybody—and that’s okay.

But another paradigm that was really difficult to accept was that, leading up to going out-of-network, we had busy, busy schedules—20 to 30 patients in a day. And when I went to non-par, it was five or six patients a day. And some days there were only two or three patients.

I wasn’t as busy, but I was about three times more productive. I was working smarter, not harder. And it was much more fulfilling because I got to lead my patients along the line so they could choose their best care. It wasn’t me telling them what to do—it was them along for the ride with the decisions.

And it was—and I still—I would give my patients my cell phone number, and I still get calls from my former patients on a regular basis asking advice on their care.

Dr. Brett Kessler: Because we truly had a relationship—human-based focus. L.D. Pankey—who I’m a big, big fan and follower of, Pankey Dawson—Pankey always said, “I never had a tooth walk into my office. It was always attached to somebody.” Treat that somebody, and you may get to treat their teeth and their oral condition. And I took that to heart.

As a result, I was a sought-after dental professional in the southwest part of the country. And it was very fulfilling, both for me and for my patients—and for my team. My team loved it. They absolutely loved it.

Michael Walker: Wow. I’m curious—to make that transition, the time—how long did it take for it to really take hold enough that the numbers made sense?

Dr. Brett Kessler: Well, I started it with only one plan. So I started with zero patients. And within a year, year and a half, I was non-par. And it actually was driven by my office manager, because she knew my vision. And she’s like, “Brett, let’s just do it. Just cut it and see what happens.”

And it pissed off some of our patients—it did. But the ones that stayed truly appreciated what I could provide for them, and they wanted that.

And I’m not saying this to be critical, but in the years since—I worked at another office. I’m not currently in practice right now. But the last couple years, I worked for a friend of mine that had a heavily insurance-based practice, and it was a totally different clientele. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Dr. Brett Kessler: But it does drive people to the dentist. And we’re in a culture where patients expect they can only get care if they have insurance. And to break that is really tough to do. But like I said, we weren’t for everybody—but we were there for the ones that truly wanted it and appreciated it.

So it was an easy fix because my team drove it. I didn’t have to—they knew what my vision was. I just wasn’t ready. I wasn’t courageous enough to pull it on my own. But that’s the beauty of building the team.

And that’s, again, where we go back to leadership training. You know, there’s gotta be a leader of the team. And that leader has to inspire a preferred future for that team—to go after things, to make the world a better place. And that’s what we did.

Michael Walker: Thank you, doctor. And you mentioned vision there—I mean, I think that’s the key—you had a vision, and you knew what you were going after. And everybody else could line up with that vision and buy into it. And then it’s everyone pulling in the same direction.

And I think that’s just such a… again, if you don’t have the vision, if you’re just trying to make a transactional shift, then you’re going to have all kinds of pushback—relationally. And I think that’s what I’m hearing you say.

But let’s go—just talk a little—let’s talk about purpose-driven leadership, because that’s something you’re passionate about. How can having a clear mission and values help dentists transition to a more independent fee-for-service model?

Dr. Brett Kessler: So, wow—that’s a great question. Tough to answer. It starts with me, personally, as the leader of the team, defining myself—what my purpose is, what is my vision for what I want to do. So I’m a dentist, but that’s not who I am—it’s what I do. Dentistry affords me the opportunity to live this great life. But I want to do the best dentistry I can. So yes, a big part of my life is dentistry—absolutely.

And once I’m clear on who I am and what I stand for, then—back to Covey’s Seven Habits—he talks about core values in the context of figuring out who you are and what you stand for. Core values are key. And he recommends that your first and most important core value is courage. Because you can have a core value like honesty, but if you’re not courageous enough to act honestly, then it’s not a core value—it’s a platitude.

Dr. Brett Kessler: So, become really clear on your core values. My mission statement tells me how I want to show up in all the roles I play in my life on a regular basis. I’m not perfect by any means, but it helps me set the intention. When I’m clear on who I am, what I stand for, and where I want to go, then I can express that to my team.

And it will attract a certain type of person to want to work with you. It will attract a certain type of patient who wants to do business with you—because there’s a values overlap. They’ll see those values expressed in me and my actions, and it gives them the freedom to express theirs, which are aligned.

When I developed our mission statement, I knew exactly what I wanted to say, but I led a discussion—and my team created an amazing mission statement and core values for our practice. They did it. I guided them along the way. And we connected through shared values.

Dr. Brett Kessler: Not everyone will have the same values, and that’s okay. Like I’ve said before, we’re not for everybody, and everybody’s not for us. People do business with businesses where there is a value crossover—sometimes that value is financial, sometimes it’s purpose.

And in our case, it was both.

Going to another great book—Good to Great by Jim Collins—was pivotal for me as I built the practice. There were a thousand dental offices in Denver. How do I stand out? How do I be the one that creates a niche?

So, we looked at: What drives our economic engine? What can we be the best in the world at? What are we passionate about?

And our big, hairy, audacious goal (BHAG) became: Focus on relationships.

Dr. Brett Kessler: It started with the patients we had. They became missionaries for our practice and referred others. And when those people were referred in, the first thing they did was check our website. That website had to be consistent with what they’d heard from their friend or family member.

If it was, and they were ready to work with us, they’d make that first phone call. That first call had to match that experience. And when they came in for that first appointment, that face-to-face interaction had to also follow that same message and value alignment.

Every step—every single day—we had to live and express our values in all of our actions. And that’s why it was not only successful but fulfilling—for me, for my team, and for the patients who chose us.

Michael Walker: Yeah. And you can feel it—it comes out of you, right? Thank you. We call it… we focus on developing what we call influential leaders. Influential leadership is defined as giving someone something they didn’t even know they needed or wanted. Once they have it, they can’t imagine living without it—and then they can’t wait to give it away. That’s you all day long. It’s just beautiful. So thank you for being an influential leader.

Dr. Brett Kessler: Well, thank you. I thank God every day for the mentors who saw things in me that I didn’t see in myself. Oh my goodness. Who pushed me along this path. Because I’m a result of the village. Absolutely.

Michael Walker: I love that. "Result of the village"—I like that line. That’s good.

So, as we get close to wrapping up here, doctor, for dentists who feel stuck in the insurance cycle—what are the first two or three strategic changes they could make today that will move them closer to a more fulfilling and financially sustainable practice?

Dr. Brett Kessler: I work with a lot of young dentists. I mentor a lot of them, and we talk about this. They ask, “What job should I take, Brett?” And I say, “Well, where do you want to be in five years? If your dental life were the best it could possibly be, what would that look like?” And I make them draw out a vision statement—literally draw it out and start there.

As for initial steps—like I said, I had a very relationship-based practice. My first appointment was about an hour and a half long, and sometimes we never even made it to the clinical side of the practice. It was a discovery session—something I learned from the Pankey Institute and the Dawson Academy—to really get to know the patients.

Dr. Brett Kessler: In a high-volume practice, that’s really hard to do because you’re constantly churning and burning. So, the first thing I would do to start that transition is this: at your next hygiene check, sit your patient up, look them eye to eye, and introduce yourself—if it’s your first time. If it’s not, just say, “Hey, I wanted to talk to you really quick. I’m trying to slow things down in this practice so I can be more effective in getting what you want. What would you say your goals are for your teeth or for your oral health? What do you want to accomplish?”

Sometimes they’ll go off on a diatribe—“I want whiter teeth,” or “I want this tooth fixed,” or “I just want a cleaning”—and that’s okay. You’ve started a conversation. It sparks a culture shift—not only between you and the patient but also within your team. They start to see, “Hey, this dentist really cares about the person, not just the teeth.”

Dr. Brett Kessler: To have a truly fee-for-service practice, there has to be a value proposition that is palpable to the patient—for them to consciously take money out of their pocket and give it to you without an insurance company paying for it. You must provide value, and this is the first step.

If they really get into the conversation, you can say, “Hey Mrs. Jones, this is a great conversation. I have another patient to see. Can we make another appointment? I see some things going on in your mouth, and I want to take a deeper look at them. I just don’t have the time to do it right now. Can we set up a time to continue this?”

That’s how you slowly start to transition your practice to a relationship-based, whole-health-focused style. You’ll see that you’ll slow down, you’ll do a lot more work on fewer patients, and everyone—everyone—will be happier as a result.

And that key question: “What are your goals for your teeth?” That’s a powerful one.

Michael Walker: Yeah. So—vision statement, supporting values, add personal and relational value to the conversation, and then ask for the next appointment. It’s like in sales—I was always told I could sell anything. But when I worked for a friend at his car dealership, I realized I had never learned to ask for the sale. And that’s really what this is—asking for the appointment.

And I hear this a lot in the aesthetics practices—they talk about lifestyle wellness. And I think that’s what we’re… it’s lifestyle—it’s not… it’s holistic in the standpoint. It’s transactional what we do and how we do it, but it’s relational about who we are and why we matter.

And I’m hearing that is the bridge that you’re talking about. So as one last thought, as we kind of wrap up, is there anything you’d like to leave with in terms of, becoming a more independent, fee-for-service model for someone looking at that? What would be a—a word of inspiration you’d have for them as they kick this off?

Remember we talked about intention with doctors? So I hope you’re capturing something today that you can say, okay, I’m gonna do this, and I’m gonna start with this. This is gonna be my next right step.

But inspirational thought for our listeners, Dr. Kessler?

Closing Thoughts

Dr. Brett Kessler: You don’t have to do it alone. That’s the one thing I hope you take away—you don’t have to do this alone. Invest in yourself by getting a coach, getting a consultant. Find a successful dentist in your area—or another area around the country. Call that person up and ask them, “How did you do it? What were the challenges you faced? What were the fears you faced as you went this way? How did you overcome those fears? Can you help me?”

People who are successful want to pay it forward. They want to mentor others—because they were mentored. I promise you, no one got there on their own. And there are so many people who genuinely want to see their colleagues succeed.

When you give it away—when you help others—you grow too. I get asked to mentor people all the time, and I usually say yes if I have the time. And I grow as a mentor, I grow as a person when I get to do it. So you’re not bothering the person who’s ready to share with you. It’s actually very satisfying for them.

So don’t do it alone. We’re all there to help.

Michael Walker: That’s great—thank you, Dr. Kessler. And I think we’ll land it right there. When you receive that mentorship, that coaching, that support, it just clicks in a way that makes you want to give it away. That’s what we’ve found with our influential leadership coach model—giving it away is even more fun than getting it.

Dr. Brett Kessler: Yeah. Think about it—if everyone chooses your best work, think about their lives and how much better they’ll be. You’re changing the lives of thousands of people in your practice over the course of your career—because you’re giving them the best. You’re giving them the best you have to offer. And you can only do that if you find that path. And you don’t have to do it alone.

Michael Walker: Beautiful. Thank you, Dr. Kessler. Thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your thoughtful insights on leading with purpose and transforming a dental practice beyond insurance. It’s possible—you’ve proven it. It can be done.

There’s hard work, yes—but also, as you said, being intentional with some clear steps and getting started. But most importantly, like Dr. Kessler said, not doing it alone. This is not a lone ranger activity. You need a team. You need to surround yourself with people who get what you’re passionate about.

Clearly, your experience and passion for helping dentists align their careers with their values has been super valuable for our listeners. We’re so grateful for your time. I hope today’s episode has inspired all of you listening to think more intentionally—using Dr. Kessler’s word—about your practice, your leadership, and the steps you can take to gain more control over your business.

Here are two great ways to take action today:

First, if you’re ready to grow your practice by attracting better-fit, high-quality patients, schedule your complimentary marketing strategy meeting with Ekwa Marketing. Their experts will show you how to reduce reliance on PPOs through strong SEO strategies. If SEO is new to you, it stands for search engine optimization—it’s the behind-the-scenes mechanism that helps your website get found. Google makes over 6,000 changes a year to their search engine, and you need a strategy that keeps up. 

Visit: lessinsurancedependence.com/marketing-strategy-meeting. A clickable link will also be available wherever you picked up this podcast.

Second, if you’re looking for coaching on how to reduce insurance dependence, boost profitability, and lead a practice that aligns with your vision, go ahead and book a complimentary coaching strategy meeting with Gary Takacs at: thrivingdentist.com/csm.

One of these focuses on marketing—the front-of-house aspect. Did you know that up to 48% of website activity happens after hours? That makes this more important than ever.

And the other focuses on business operations and practice transformation. Gary is a superpower when it comes to navigating that complexity.

Both resources are completely complimentary. No hooks. No tricks. Just expert help to move you toward the thriving, independent practice you deserve.

If you found value in today’s episode, please share this podcast with a colleague or friend who could benefit from taking back control of their practice. The more we share, the more practices we can help move forward—beyond insurance.

Thanks again for spending your time with us today. We deeply value your time and the privilege of sharing it with you. I look forward to connecting with you again on the next episode of the Less Insurance Dependence Podcast.

On behalf of Dr. Kessler—until then—keep moving forward toward a thriving independent practice. Thanks, all. We’ll see you next time.