Cassie Kellner [00:00:01]:
Welcome to The Bloom Effect. I'm your host, Cassie Kellner, former chairside assistant turned team coach and founder of Everbloom. This podcast is all about the real stuff. honest convos, leadership lessons, and the heart behind thriving orthodontic teams. If you're ready to grow, lead, and bloom, let's dive in.
Cassie Kellner [00:00:22]:
Welcome to The Bloom Effect. I'm your host, Cassie Kellner, and I am so.
Julie Varney [00:00:28]:
Okay.
Cassie Kellner [00:00:29]:
We are on site. Like, this is like. Julie.
Julie Varney [00:00:33]:
I know. We just texted. I guess Julie.
Cassie Kellner [00:00:39]:
Julie Varney is my guest, and I am so excited. Julie, thank you so much.
Julie Varney [00:00:45]:
Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Cassie Kellner [00:00:46]:
Oh, my gosh. Okay. So we are in Albany, New York.
Julie Varney [00:00:50]:
Albany, New York. Yep.
Cassie Kellner [00:00:52]:
Julie and I connected.
Cassie Kellner [00:00:54]:
Oh, my gosh.
Julie Varney [00:00:55]:
Like last year, the year before.
Cassie Kellner [00:00:57]:
Through Tiger. Yes. At Zen Supplies. Shout out.
Cassie Kellner [00:01:00]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:01:01]:
And we realized that we don't live that far from one another.
Julie Varney [00:01:06]:
No. We can meet in the middle.
Cassie Kellner [00:01:08]:
So we met in the middle, you guys. And, like, this is so real and so fun and so, Julie, welcome to the Bloom Effect.
Julie Varney [00:01:18]:
Thank you for having me. I'm glad to be here.
Cassie Kellner [00:01:20]:
Julie. We have come commonality here. We are both dental assistants. Yes. But we work in very different worlds.
Julie Varney [00:01:29]:
Yes.
Cassie Kellner [00:01:30]:
Like, very, very different worlds. Very.
Julie Varney [00:01:32]:
Yeah, very different worlds. Worlds with some similarity.
Cassie Kellner [00:01:35]:
Yeah. Yes. So I always start this podcast. Julie, are you ready?
Julie Varney [00:01:40]:
I'm ready. Throw it at me.
Cassie Kellner [00:01:43]:
Throw it at me with. Who is Julie Varney?
Julie Varney [00:01:48]:
I'm a mod podge of stuff.
Cassie Kellner [00:01:51]:
Okay.
Julie Varney [00:01:51]:
I'm like a melting pot of dental. That's what I could say. I am. I love. I'm first and foremost. I'm a dental assistant at heart. I've been doing it for 33 years. I love eat, live, and breathe dentistry, like, all the time. I. I don't ever stop, but I really am like an. I want to be someone for dental assistants. That wasn't there for me when I first started because we didn't have the days of social media. We didn't have the days of the Internet.
Cassie Kellner [00:02:26]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:02:27]:
It was just. You started a job and you learned from whoever was around you, and you didn't have this big community of stuff. As you know, it's a community now, so I've grown over the years. I'm funny sometimes. I'm a little to the point and brash. I don't sugarcoat stuff.
Cassie Kellner [00:02:49]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:02:49]:
Because I don't think it needs to be sugar coated. And I. I think people need to be upfront and foremost with whoever they're dealing with.
Cassie Kellner [00:02:58]:
Right.
Julie Varney [00:02:59]:
So I have four boys. I Have two grandbabies. Oh, I didn't know. And my baby's a senior in college, so. So.
Cassie Kellner [00:03:09]:
Oh, my gosh.
Julie Varney [00:03:10]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:03:11]:
So Julie.
Julie Varney [00:03:12]:
And my husband makes the beer.
Cassie Kellner [00:03:14]:
Oh. Oh, my gosh. Okay.
Julie Varney [00:03:16]:
My husband's a. A brewer at the Budweiser, so.
Cassie Kellner [00:03:20]:
Oh, my gosh.
Julie Varney [00:03:21]:
Yeah, he makes beer. I love it.
Cassie Kellner [00:03:23]:
Oh, this is so good. Okay, so let's go back, because I love that you say, like, you are, Julie, an advocate for dental assistants. I try to be.
Julie Varney [00:03:35]:
I try to be someone that's supportive, a good ear, because sometimes nobody has nobody. You know, someone doesn't have anybody. That's all I should say. Yeah, they don't have anybody to. To listen to them. They're not getting listened to.
Cassie Kellner [00:03:48]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:03:49]:
So it really needs. Where people start listening to each other, because that's how the profession's gonna grow.
Cassie Kellner [00:03:54]:
Right.
Julie Varney [00:03:55]:
And, you know, we get the. The last end of the stick or. Yeah, the. We're the last bottom of the fish pool or whatever you want to call it. It's just.
Cassie Kellner [00:04:05]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:04:06]:
And I think this is where our. Our stories are similar but also different. Right. Because, John, you are primarily focused on general dentistry, right?
Julie Varney [00:04:17]:
Yeah, primarily.
Cassie Kellner [00:04:18]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:04:19]:
I try to dabble and in stuff like that and learn more. I'm gonna start soon. I'm gonna be starting to take a digital journey. I'm gonna learn all the Digital aspects of 3D printing through a company. And so I'm really excited about that because they want to see how hard is it for the dental assistant to learn it. Now I know about it. I teach it, like, in school, at the high school level, but I don't have. Not really physically done it.
Cassie Kellner [00:04:43]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:04:44]:
So I'll be excited to document that journey. And.
Cassie Kellner [00:04:48]:
And when you say digital, are you talking, like, digital?
Julie Varney [00:04:50]:
What are you talking like ESSIX retainers, dentures, and learning how to make stents and models. And from a company, I'm going to be working with them and their 3D printing software. Okay, so how hard is it for a dental assistant? If a doctor was to purchase the equipment, how hard is it for them to learn it?
Cassie Kellner [00:05:11]:
Oh, well, I'll tell you right now, from an ortho perspective, not hard.
Julie Varney [00:05:15]:
Oh, no, it's not hard.
Cassie Kellner [00:05:16]:
Ortho's a different animal. Obviously, we're not making dentures.
Julie Varney [00:05:20]:
Right.
Cassie Kellner [00:05:21]:
But from a digital perspective, I mean, ortho is so incredibly digital. I mean, so is general and.
Julie Varney [00:05:27]:
And other special we do in our office. We have, you know, the Primescan, and we do SureSmile, whatever, and we. It's so simple for the dental assistant to be involved in the process, Right. It's a very. Dr. Hands off process. Yes, yes, it's very. Here it is. Here's the patient. Yep. Do this, this and that and then you scan as the dental assistant, you send it over to where it needs to be.
Cassie Kellner [00:05:51]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:05:51]:
You get the trays back, you put on all the attachments.
Cassie Kellner [00:05:53]:
Oh my gosh.
Julie Varney [00:05:54]:
You know.
Cassie Kellner [00:05:54]:
Okay, we're gonna collab more because like, I didn't know this and I can so relate so much of this.
Julie Varney [00:06:01]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:06:02]:
I also, this is where I think there's some differences is there is a ton of independence in orthodontics.
Julie Varney [00:06:10]:
Absolutely.
Cassie Kellner [00:06:11]:
As there's not as much, in my opinion in GP. But there is. There's still independence everywhere.
Julie Varney [00:06:19]:
Still independence, depending on the laws, rules and regulations. Like in my state, I'm in New York, obviously, that you have to be licensed to do ortho, right?
Cassie Kellner [00:06:30]:
Yes.
Julie Varney [00:06:30]:
Are all the dental assistants in New York state licensed? No. I know several of them that aren't, but they've been doing it for 30 some odd years. They've been doing it for 20 years and they're experts, but they just haven't gotten that licensed component. Yeah, but where you say like general. Yes. There's lots of rules, more rules and regulations where you're not as an independent. And I would say in some ortho practice, the dental assistant is almost like the provider because the dentist walks by and says, okay, do X, Y doesn't even touch the patient.
Cassie Kellner [00:07:00]:
Yes.
Julie Varney [00:07:01]:
And just a. Do X, Y and Z. And you're like, okay, got it. Thanks, boss. You know, move on to the next chair.
Cassie Kellner [00:07:05]:
Yes, yes.
Julie Varney [00:07:06]:
You know, it's very, you know, they hire good people, they train them the right way.
Cassie Kellner [00:07:11]:
Hopefully.
Julie Varney [00:07:12]:
Yeah, hopefully.
Cassie Kellner [00:07:14]:
Okay. I love this. So can we go back as well to you decided, you know, you love this profession. It's, it's, it's like at your core, it's who you are. Right. How did dental assistants Rock happen?
Julie Varney [00:07:33]:
So actually it is The, I think 10th year anniversary, maybe 15th year. Wow. Of Instagram. And right when Instagram came out, you could only do pictures.
Cassie Kellner [00:07:46]:
Yes.
Julie Varney [00:07:46]:
You can only post one picture. That was it. So I started posting memes. Dental memes. So my very first meme is of a dental assistant. And I don't know where I got the picture. Maybe Google. But a dental assistant on the light pole upside down saying something of in my off time, I can do this or I make more money doing this. I don't know. It was something funny and I made A meme about it. Like I said, I saw her on the poll. I don't know if she posted it or whatever, but I've made a meme. And then that took off and I got a couple followers. I'm like, oh, I'll make another meme. So I made a meme of, like, the autoclave opening and say, the only time I get a spa day is the steam from the autoclave. So this was 2010.
Cassie Kellner [00:08:31]:
You're the OG.
Julie Varney [00:08:33]:
Well, of memes, maybe. But, I mean, lots of people make memes now, you know, of course. So. But so I just started making memes and, you know, a little trickle about myself or what I was doing. Um, and then, you know, Instagram changes and. Yeah, you got. Now you got reels and carousels and all this stuff from Instagram that is just crazy. And it's a good way. I realized that I could use it as a method to communicate with other assistants that maybe in another country, you know, or maybe across the. The river, you know, or just need some answers or where do they get answers? So it's been a great community. And I wanted the word, I wanted the username, Dental Assistant, but it wasn't taken. So I'm like, ah, dental assistants rock. And it's just stuck. And I. I toy with changing it. People, like, don't change the name it. Cause that's who you are. And I'm like, I don't want to be just dental in the rocks. Because people always say Rockstar Dental Assistant. They don't like that. And you get, you know.
Cassie Kellner [00:09:29]:
Really?
Julie Varney [00:09:30]:
Yeah, they don't, you know, they don't, like, frowned upon. Yeah. The Rockstar Dental Assistant or Rockstar Hygienist, you know, So I keep the. I keep the tag because I've never changed the tag, you know, I, like, never changed the username.
Cassie Kellner [00:09:44]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:09:44]:
They say.
Cassie Kellner [00:09:45]:
So you essentially. You went viral.
Julie Varney [00:09:48]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:09:48]:
And you have nearly a hundred thousand followers. I mean, you're almost up to 90K.
Julie Varney [00:09:56]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:09:57]:
And the stuff that you post is funny, but also meaningful. And I feel that the word that you're spreading about, dental assistants, is really important.
Julie Varney [00:10:11]:
It is to me, because I think at the end of this career, whenever I end. I mean, will we ever stop working? Probably not. I want us to be more valued. I want some national standards. I want dentists to know, hygienists to know the front office, to know that we're just not just dental assistants. There's a lot more. It's a team environment. You're not just a hygienist you are the hygienist. You are the clinical oral health provider. Their mouth and near the front office that provides the insurance. And without one component of the office, the other one doesn't work.
Cassie Kellner [00:10:45]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:10:46]:
You know, if the front office is not answering the phone, how are we getting patients in chair for the hygienist or the dentist?
Cassie Kellner [00:10:53]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:10:54]:
If the dental assistant is there, how is the doctor really treating that patient? The hygienist is not there, who's doing whatever they need to do on their oral health care. You know, so it. People try to single us out and break us apart.
Cassie Kellner [00:11:08]:
Right.
Julie Varney [00:11:08]:
And it's more. We are 18.
Cassie Kellner [00:11:10]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:11:10]:
And I think that a lot of times that people minimize. At least in general dentistry, they minimize the work of a dental assistant. I was recently at a meeting that was for general dentistry geared towards general dentistry. And I have to be honest, it was really out of my comfort zone. And I think that's why I did it.
Julie Varney [00:11:31]:
Like me going to the ortho convention. I mean, like, oh, this is kind of cool. That's a bracelet.
Cassie Kellner [00:11:36]:
Totally.
Julie Varney [00:11:37]:
But I know it's going on over here. Sure.
Cassie Kellner [00:11:39]:
I don't know what that tool is.
Julie Varney [00:11:40]:
But let me find out.
Cassie Kellner [00:11:41]:
Yeah, that was me and I loved it. But the exposure. I was in general dentistry for the first four years of my career, and then I went to ortho and I never went back. But I have the general dentistry experience. It's been a really long time. This is year 21 for me. So if you put me chairside in GP, I don't know know, I would. I. I would flounder. I'd be, like, looking for you in every corner, that's for sure. But what I found was I was speaking to a dentist and they said. We were talking about connection with their team, and I said. He said, yeah, we do meetings. We do, like, hygiene meetings. We do admin meetings. We do. We do meetings for our treatment coordinators, our dental. Wait, no, we don't do dental assistance meetings. And then you just kept going. I was blown away, Julie. And immediately I thought of you and I thought, this is really interesting. I haven't been in this industry in a really long time, but it isn't like that in orthodontics, because it's a different animal. Right. We don't have operatories, we have open bands.
Julie Varney [00:12:55]:
We don't have hygienists.
Cassie Kellner [00:12:56]:
Right. Unless you're in certain parts of Canada, because Canadians, they have to have hygienists.
Julie Varney [00:13:02]:
Right.
Cassie Kellner [00:13:02]:
But I thought it was really Interesting.
Julie Varney [00:13:05]:
But then he also wonders why he has high turnover.
Cassie Kellner [00:13:08]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:13:09]:
And if you're not valuing what they bring, you know, oftentimes when I go into my office every single day, I say, how you doing? You need anything? Do you need anything? Do you need anything? I'm always kind of bouncing around, but we always get left on the back burner.
Cassie Kellner [00:13:25]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:13:26]:
With meetings or productions, you're, you know, you're not. I've heard often from, you know, sometimes from hygienists. Well, you're, you don't understand. You're not a producer. I'm not a producer. I help someone produce. But there are some things that I can do that are money makers for the practice.
Cassie Kellner [00:13:49]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:13:49]:
You know, where if the person needs a denture, well, I can scan.
Cassie Kellner [00:13:53]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:13:54]:
Doctor's not scanning.
Cassie Kellner [00:13:55]:
Right.
Julie Varney [00:13:56]:
You know, sometimes some, some states, a dental assistant can try it in, adjust it, fit it. You know, like with ortho, you might bond and bracket that whole person. They just look okay. Yep. That is.
Cassie Kellner [00:14:08]:
Oh, yeah.
Julie Varney [00:14:08]:
Here's a treatment plan. But you are physically setting that patient up with the start.
Cassie Kellner [00:14:13]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:14:14]:
You know, maybe with the middle, maybe not removing the brackets, but you are, you know.
Cassie Kellner [00:14:20]:
Oh, they're doing it all.
Julie Varney [00:14:21]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:14:21]:
They're in there from beginning to end for the full 6, 18, 24 months. However long it's taking. They're doing everything. And I do think I had a really eye opening experience at that meeting because I don't find that orthodontists or orthodontic teams don't value their dental assistants, if I'm being honest. I do think there's a lot of value there. And they realize that these dentalists, they couldn't survive without it. They're seeing between 60 and 120 patients a day in an ortho world. And those dental assistants, they're rocking it, but so is the rest of the team. Right, Right. And I think that goes back to what you're talking about is, you know, how important it is to kind of look at it as a whole and not as one large production number. And I know that's difficult to say. I get it. Even as a business owner, however, if you want people to feel valued, cared for and be in a safe space, you have to.
Julie Varney [00:15:23]:
I mean, how do you not know if you're not having meetings with your dental assistant team, whether you have 2, 3, 4. How do you not know that there might be struggling with something?
Cassie Kellner [00:15:36]:
Right.
Julie Varney [00:15:37]:
They want to know more. They don't understand. Maybe they're afraid to come to you.
Cassie Kellner [00:15:40]:
Right.
Julie Varney [00:15:41]:
And now you're complaining on Facebook for forums.
Cassie Kellner [00:15:44]:
Yes, I see a lot of that, basically.
Julie Varney [00:15:48]:
And, well, what are you doing to the problem? Oh, I can't find a dental assistant. Well, if you can't find a dental assistant, I want you better have a look in the mirror because it's. Look at your practice. Because there's no reason. Like right now we're having an issue in New York State with orthodontic assistants. We have. There's a big push for the orthodontics. The orthodontist want there to be a certified orthodontic assistant, something, some. Some type of pathway for orthodontics, but they're struggling to find people to come work in orthodontics.
Cassie Kellner [00:16:23]:
Interesting.
Julie Varney [00:16:24]:
And I said, well, why is that? Is it your place of employment? Are you not paying? I mean, I understand if you have no skill whatsoever, like myself. Okay. I have an ortho certification from DANB. I have done clear aligners.
Cassie Kellner [00:16:40]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:16:40]:
That's all. I've never done bracket or. Well, I did Six Month Smile for a while, but that's not really ortho. To me, that's not like a full comprehensive case. But if I was to come to your office, I understand there's going to be a little pay. You know, pay difference. Difference from my experience in general to ortho. I get that.
Cassie Kellner [00:17:01]:
Right.
Julie Varney [00:17:01]:
There's got to be some type of career ladder for these orthodontic assistants and. Or any assistant to help them maintain where they want. Because everybody wants to make a living wage right now. Do I want to be a holly star wage? No. I would like just to be able to afford my bills and my groceries and my lights on. So I think a lot of practices struggle with retain retention.
Cassie Kellner [00:17:25]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:17:25]:
Because they don't. They're like, well, we can't afford. Well, we all know they can afford just a little bit more.
Cassie Kellner [00:17:31]:
Sure.
Julie Varney [00:17:31]:
You know, so as one that manages overhead. I do know that.
Cassie Kellner [00:17:35]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:17:36]:
You know, and I think too. I don't know why I've never actually said this out loud. So here we go. I think that sometimes in this field, people think of dental assistants as like, oh, you just went to this, like, whatever program or you learned on the job. Like, you didn't. You didn't get a bachelor's degree to do this. You didn't. And I think that they downplay the level of knowledge that you need as a dental assistant in any field. And again, I speak to ortho, obviously, but it is a very complicated, complicated chairside you know, chairside knowledge that you have to have as an orthodontic assistant. And I think people are like, oh, well, you know, you didn't go to this much schooling and so I mean, get a, you know, you're only worth this much. And I play a big.
Julie Varney [00:18:39]:
They. I feel like they downplay just because you don't have the degree hanging on the wall. Like a two year degree. I have a two year degree. I don't mean jack if I don't know what. I don't know. Char side.
Cassie Kellner [00:18:49]:
Right.
Julie Varney [00:18:50]:
It has, you know, nothing to do with that. And the thing like you with orthodontic assisting is if you even put that bracket a millimeter the wrong way, you could twerk a tooth and not move the right way.
Cassie Kellner [00:19:03]:
Right.
Julie Varney [00:19:03]:
So you really have to be educated in why it's positioned this way. Why are they positioning way up by the gum line? Why are they, you know, are they. Whatever they're doing.
Cassie Kellner [00:19:13]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:19:13]:
But they don't understand, like. Yes, I understand that someone off the street is not going to understand that.
Cassie Kellner [00:19:19]:
Yeah, of course.
Julie Varney [00:19:20]:
It takes time to learn that and. Right. Like you said. I listened to your podcast on the way here this morning, your very first one. I listened to it.
Cassie Kellner [00:19:25]:
Oh, you did?
Julie Varney [00:19:26]:
Yes. I wanted to know a little bit more, so I listened to it this morning. Morning. But like those people that you trained with that created whatever type of bracket or.
Cassie Kellner [00:19:35]:
Oh, yes, Dr. McLaughlin.
Julie Varney [00:19:37]:
Yeah. So they taught you the proper way because they valued what you brought to their practice.
Cassie Kellner [00:19:43]:
Exactly.
Julie Varney [00:19:44]:
Practice.
Cassie Kellner [00:19:45]:
Exactly.
Julie Varney [00:19:45]:
And nowadays, do I think we have time to train dental assistants a proper way? Maybe. Depends on how busy your practice is. But when I started, you know, I had a very old school Italian dentist that loved dentistry. Loved it. And he would be like, no, mix that again. Nope, mix it again. And he didn't care if I went through a whole tube of a basin of catalyst impression material until I got that right. Nope. You didn't suck it away. Throw it out. Nope. Do it again. Nope, the X ray is wrong. Do it again. You know, so he's very like, he was trying to make me what he needed.
Cassie Kellner [00:20:18]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:20:18]:
And to be the best because he wanted someone that was going to be the best for him so that he could be more productive.
Cassie Kellner [00:20:23]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:20:24]:
And that's what I guess I don't understand, like yourself is our whole goal is to help you be more productive.
Cassie Kellner [00:20:31]:
Right.
Julie Varney [00:20:31]:
But also to kind of feel like we're involved in the process.
Cassie Kellner [00:20:35]:
Yes.
Cassie Kellner [00:20:36]:
Well, we are.
Julie Varney [00:20:36]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:20:38]:
Honestly, I mean, and again, I speak so much to ortho And I love, I think this is why you're like the, the ying and the yang of, you know, general and orthodontist.
Julie Varney [00:20:47]:
We just need an endodontist. Endodontist. And I mean a root canal specialist assistant.
Cassie Kellner [00:20:55]:
I just think that, you know.
Julie Varney [00:20:59]:
You.
Cassie Kellner [00:20:59]:
Do so much advocating for dental assistants and I feel like I have done the same and do the same on the ortho side. It's really important to me. And I say this all the time. You know, in ortho residency they got two to three years of truly understanding, like, mechanics and then you throw a dental assistant in there and we don't properly teach them. And this is why I talked about onboarding and training so much in practices and I, I, it. They will not thrive. They, everyone will just be in survival mode.
Julie Varney [00:21:35]:
Right.
Cassie Kellner [00:21:35]:
If we don't actually do something about this and, and really teach them how to do what they're doing and.
Julie Varney [00:21:43]:
Well. Yeah, well. And want to stay where they feel valued. You know, I just, I was just saying that people can't be successful if you don't give them the proper tools and set them up for success. You set them up for failure. If you do that.
Cassie Kellner [00:21:59]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:22:00]:
You can hire a dental assistant right off the street. Great.
Cassie Kellner [00:22:03]:
Okay, great.
Julie Varney [00:22:04]:
But if you don't give that person the tools and a good stepping stone and a plan and a pattern, they're going to walk away and then you're going to be back to square one again.
Cassie Kellner [00:22:13]:
Yeah, I agree.
Cassie Kellner [00:22:14]:
And this is great.
Julie Varney [00:22:15]:
If you don't invest, you know, it's like an investment. Yes, you invest in all the equipment.
Cassie Kellner [00:22:19]:
But this is what I was getting at too is I think people are not thinking of dental assisting as a career. They're thinking of it as like, oh, I'll do this for a little bit and then I'll move on. Or I mean, Julie, you've been doing this for 30 plus years at this point. I've been in this field for 20 and my route is very different and so is yours. Yeah, it's all. And I'm proud of it. I would not change it for a thing. No.
Julie Varney [00:22:49]:
And every day's not Christmas. No. There are days that I'm like, it's work. Like, listen, it's work, work, let's get it. But at the end of the day, you love what you do and you do what you love and it all, all works out. When I was young, I think the work ethic has changed with the newer generation of people. I hate to say it as one that teaches high schoolers I see it all the time. But we were taught if you want something in life, you have to work for it. You know, you want milk, you have to milk the cows. They ain't going to milk themselves. And, you know, you. You want to graduate from high school and buy a car, you have to work for it. Nobody's going to hand it to you. So it's. It's a very. And when I got a job, my grandmother always says, you treat it like it's your only thing in life. You put all your effort into it. It is a career. It's not just a job. She goes, I don't even care if you're flipping burgers at McDonald's. You love working there, and you love flipping burgers. That is your career. You flip, you know, flip burgers at McDonald's. So I've always treated it as, this is what I'm gonna be, you know, as a dental. Says it's a dental assistant career.
Cassie Kellner [00:23:59]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:23:59]:
And you get the naysayers out there. Oh, I would never. Blah, blah, blah. Well, that's your experience. You chose to have that experience. You put yourself in that experience. Right. And I'm sure you have friends that are. Were orthodontic assistants, and they're like, never. I would never be an orthodontic assistant. Yeah, but your experience is different because you chose to have a different experience with it.
Cassie Kellner [00:24:20]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:24:21]:
You chose not to put up with a dentist throwing instruments, or you chose not to make $11 an hour. Or how about 375 back in 1992?
Cassie Kellner [00:24:31]:
Oh, yeah. I mean, when I started, I made $12 an hour.
Julie Varney [00:24:37]:
I started 375. $3.75.
Cassie Kellner [00:24:40]:
Maybe it was lower than that, but I remember hitting 12 and being really excited.
Julie Varney [00:24:45]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:24:46]:
And then, you know, going from there. But I think that the work that you're doing and how you're speaking up. I love dental assistants Rock. I love it. I love what you're doing.
Julie Varney [00:24:59]:
Fun.
Cassie Kellner [00:24:59]:
I also am. Like, how do you know how to do this stuff, Julie?
Julie Varney [00:25:03]:
Like, truly, I don't. I don't. I follow a lot of. What do they call them? Not content creator. Well, I do follow content creators, but I follow a lot of people that teach Instagram or teach you how to do this and teach you how to do that.
Cassie Kellner [00:25:18]:
I like it.
Julie Varney [00:25:19]:
I follow. I. You know, like when Tick Tock came out, I wish I would have invested in Tick Tock like, five years ago. You know, I just dabbled in it.
Cassie Kellner [00:25:27]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:25:27]:
And then it skyrocketed when COVID hit and I was like. And I should have been, you know, pumping out videos then because you could have millions of followers now. It's a little bit harder to grow on tick tock. But I follow this lady she's got called the TikTok mothership Helen. And she teaches you how to do all that stuff.
Cassie Kellner [00:25:44]:
Oh, my gosh.
Julie Varney [00:25:45]:
She. She will do the video and then the next video will be the lesson on how to do the transition or how to put words on the screen. And it's great because a lot of. And she's older. She's in her later 60s. I want to say she's super nice. She's based in New York City. I met up with her one day when I was down there for a board meeting and we did. She made me dance in the street. It was hilarious. I never dance in public. And she's like, yep, we're doing a tick tock right here. Come on, you gotta get over that fear, you know? So it's great because for someone like her who's in production and she does a lot of actually Sensodyne commercials. She works with Sensodyne. So it's so funny. I'm like, I need to be in that commercial, Helen.
Cassie Kellner [00:26:25]:
You know? Right.
Julie Varney [00:26:26]:
But she teaches our age people, older people, how to do tick Tock. And I think it's a community, you know, the social media is.
Cassie Kellner [00:26:35]:
Is.
Julie Varney [00:26:35]:
Is a big community as long as you use it the proper way.
Cassie Kellner [00:26:37]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:26:38]:
I'm a big advocate for using it the proper way, not for the wrong way. But I think it brings people together that might be lonely in a profession like dental assisting.
Cassie Kellner [00:26:48]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:26:49]:
And not know. Or they're just starting out and they come across an X ray video, you know, and it is hard. It is. I do say that some of the comments that you get, sometimes I just have to scroll by because I'm like. I'm like, not be a keyboard word today, Julie. Do not be a keyboard warrior today. Keyboard warrior?
Cassie Kellner [00:27:08]:
Is that what you're saying?
Julie Varney [00:27:08]:
Yeah. Don't be a keyboard warrior.
Cassie Kellner [00:27:12]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:27:13]:
So I just kind of put my typing hands away and I just, you know, because people tend to. Instead of saying, oh, thanks, that was a helpful video, they'll be like, oh, you didn't do this or you wore this or.
Cassie Kellner [00:27:25]:
Yes.
Julie Varney [00:27:26]:
That's not the way you do it.
Cassie Kellner [00:27:27]:
Yes.
Julie Varney [00:27:27]:
Like, you literally my favorite thing to do is put a video out about plastic up or paper up. Watch the world explode.
Cassie Kellner [00:27:35]:
Right.
Julie Varney [00:27:36]:
Watch it explode. Because people do not read the instructions for use of their machines.
Cassie Kellner [00:27:40]:
All right. And you're talking about putting bags in the auto. Yes.
Cassie Kellner [00:27:44]:
Yeah, yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:27:45]:
Wait, what is the rule?
Julie Varney [00:27:46]:
Well, it depends on your machine.
Cassie Kellner [00:27:48]:
Okay.
Julie Varney [00:27:49]:
So if you have a Midmark, it's plastic up.
Cassie Kellner [00:27:51]:
Okay.
Julie Varney [00:27:51]:
If you have Alexa, I think it's paper up. Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:27:55]:
And that's like a battle machine.
Julie Varney [00:27:56]:
It's right in there and then it starts to fuse. But it's a battle because people like, oh, we always do paper up. Because. And I'm like thinking if you turn plastic upside down and there's water droplets coming down, that water's not going to go anywhere. Like, you know, so there's a whole science. But it's just so funny. And I love the social. I love the social media because I think it's just, like I said, it brings people together and it's also an outlet, like, for yourself to kind of de stress. Like, right now, I'm cataloging my last 185 days of teaching.
Cassie Kellner [00:28:28]:
Can we talk about this?
Julie Varney [00:28:29]:
My high school teaching.
Cassie Kellner [00:28:30]:
Yes.
Cassie Kellner [00:28:30]:
How long have you been teaching?
Julie Varney [00:28:32]:
So I taught adults for 10 years.
Cassie Kellner [00:28:34]:
Wow.
Cassie Kellner [00:28:35]:
And then in a dental assisting program.
Julie Varney [00:28:38]:
Yes. Okay. Yep. I had a licensed trade school in an office that I worked at for 24 years.
Cassie Kellner [00:28:45]:
Okay.
Julie Varney [00:28:45]:
And when I decided to go out and sew my oats and coaching and speaking, I retired from that office. So the school closed. But I did it for 10 years.
Cassie Kellner [00:28:54]:
Okay.
Julie Varney [00:28:55]:
And it was adults. And then I have been in my current practice for eight years. And about two years ago, I saw an ad on indeed for high school dental assistant. I'm like, I've always thought, like, this gives people opportunities if they don't want to go to college. Like, I love the trade fields.
Cassie Kellner [00:29:15]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:29:15]:
Welding, electrical, auto mechanic. Because there are not people that are not going to go to college.
Cassie Kellner [00:29:20]:
Right.
Julie Varney [00:29:21]:
They don't want to go to college, but they're good with their hands. And if you're good with your hands, you can learn anything.
Cassie Kellner [00:29:25]:
Well, and that's what I was talking about earlier is like, because. Just because, you know, my husband has a medical degree, I don't.
Julie Varney [00:29:33]:
Right.
Cassie Kellner [00:29:34]:
We just be. My husband is. Is a very intelligent man. That doesn't mean I am less intelligent.
Julie Varney [00:29:44]:
Right.
Cassie Kellner [00:29:44]:
And nowadays everyone is talking about how, like, we don't have any plumbers, we don't have any welders. Like, we need these trades. And also, you're still learning a skill.
Julie Varney [00:29:56]:
Right. Just because some of those skills, they get paid a lot of money to do.
Cassie Kellner [00:30:00]:
Yes. Oh, yes.
Julie Varney [00:30:01]:
You know, my son's in engineering school right now. He's gonna about. I Have a hundred thousand dollars in debt. He better get a job that makes more than that.
Cassie Kellner [00:30:08]:
Right.
Julie Varney [00:30:08]:
He better get a job, you know, but he wanted to be a mechanical engineer, you know.
Cassie Kellner [00:30:13]:
Yeah. But also good for him.
Julie Varney [00:30:15]:
Right?
Cassie Kellner [00:30:16]:
You do it. Do your thing. I think that's, you know, my. My niece is 20. She's turned 25, and she is a dental assistant in the orthodontic field. Now. My brother is 25 and he's an electrician. And, like, I'm just so proud of them. Like, you know, and they're hustling and they're doing really well, and I just. I don't. There's nothing wrong with that.
Julie Varney [00:30:44]:
No. Like my. My older two, Anthony, he lives in Hawaii.
Cassie Kellner [00:30:49]:
Oh, that's fun.
Julie Varney [00:30:50]:
It's fun, isn't it?
Cassie Kellner [00:30:51]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:30:51]:
He lives in Hawaii and he has a great job and, you know, he supports himself. He didn't go to college, but he lives there with his, you know, girlfriend and their two babies. And he's figured it out, you know. You figured out, you know, my one that's 24, he works at a burn dairy. It's like they make the creamer and stuff. And he makes more than some of the dental assistants out there.
Cassie Kellner [00:31:14]:
Sure.
Julie Varney [00:31:14]:
And he's got full benefits. He's got a pension.
Cassie Kellner [00:31:17]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:31:17]:
He's, you know, working. So I think the trades, and I know they don't. I don't want them to. I don't like that they classify dental assisting as a trade, but it is because you work with your hands and it's very skilled.
Cassie Kellner [00:31:29]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:31:31]:
So when they said that, you know, oh, you want to teach high schoolers? I was like, oh. So they converted their adult ed program to a high school program. And it was going to be two years because I have them two and a half hours a day.
Cassie Kellner [00:31:42]:
Okay.
Julie Varney [00:31:44]:
From September to June. And now the teacher said this teacher schedule is kind of nice. I like having my summers up, although I didn't go back into my office here and there. But I was like, oh, this is nuts. I wonder why people want to be teachers. But there's a lot of politics with teaching.
Cassie Kellner [00:31:57]:
Sure.
Julie Varney [00:31:58]:
And I know, I understand why a lot of teachers get burned out because they don't have support, they don't have, you know, they're dealing with kids that don't want to be there, don't want to be in school. They're dealing with a lot of kids that have, you know, issues, trauma issues and stuff like that, so. But I've had a good class. My first class graduated last year. I had seven. Six of them were in the National Technical Honor Society. One's gone to dental school right now. One's going to hygiene. Three got jobs right out. So it was a very lucrative program for me. Very successful to me, I guess.
Cassie Kellner [00:32:36]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:32:37]:
But I didn't have good numbers for enrollment because I don't know why, you know, I don't know why the younger generation. You know what? You know what? What can we do to get the younger generation to be dental assistants? I don't know. So this year I have nine left to graduate. So I'm going to finish out this year and then be done. And I don't know what the future holds. You know, like, I have a solid backup, you know, job that I go to, and I love that office. And they are great people to work with and great. But I don't know what the future, you know, future holds. I'm going to work there, of course, till I retire, Dr. Pugh. So don't forget. But I don't know, like, I don't. I don't want to be like, if somebody wanted something like here today. I was like, oh, this is a whim. Let's just do it. Let's go meet. You're like, oh, I'm like, I don't want to call like. And I thought you were in Texas.
Cassie Kellner [00:33:26]:
I know. You know what? Everyone thinks I would come to Texas. I'm not. I'm not in Texas. I'm in Connecticut. Everyone thinks I'm in Texas.
Julie Varney [00:33:34]:
And like, how far are you from Albany? Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:33:36]:
This is so perfect. Okay, Julie, I'm going to ask you, are you ready?
Cassie Kellner [00:33:39]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:33:41]:
If you could go back and give your younger self one piece of advice about surviving in this profession, what would it be?
Julie Varney [00:33:49]:
Don't put up with a. O.
Cassie Kellner [00:33:53]:
O. I love this.
Julie Varney [00:33:54]:
Don't put up with a from anybody and even from yourself. Like, don't self doubt yourself. If you want to make more money, figure out a way to do it. You want to be good at ortho, Figure out how to do it.
Cassie Kellner [00:34:08]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:34:08]:
You want to be an office manager, figure out how to do it. Things are not going to be handed to you in this profession. You have to work for them.
Cassie Kellner [00:34:18]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:34:19]:
You want to be a hygienist, get good grades, get into a hygiene program.
Cassie Kellner [00:34:23]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:34:24]:
Don't say, oh, it's so tough to get in. That's an excuse. Because you're never going to get in if you use that excuse.
Cassie Kellner [00:34:31]:
Yeah, you can do it.
Julie Varney [00:34:33]:
You can do it. You just have to not put up with the. From yourself and other people.
Cassie Kellner [00:34:38]:
Did you put up with a lot of.
Julie Varney [00:34:40]:
Yeah, I did. But I also was very strong willed and have a mind of my own. To speak a lot like a lot of. I remember when I worked for Dr. Procopio, he liked to swear all white from head to toe. Now you work in a bloody environment.
Cassie Kellner [00:34:56]:
Why are we wearing white scrubs?
Julie Varney [00:34:58]:
And shoes.
Cassie Kellner [00:34:59]:
And shoes. Okay.
Julie Varney [00:35:00]:
Yeah. Everything had to be white. Lab coat, everything. And I remember, I remember wearing colored underwear. Oh. And he'd be like, you got colored underwear on today? And I'm like, yep, I do. I was like, you can see. I'm like, I don't care. I go, we cannot wear white. So when the new guy took over, I was like, can we please now wear white? And do you know, I don't know if they were what he let us wear, whatever. But you know, so I've never worn white. Sense. But he always wore, you know, the old style. Very though it's zip up. Yes. You know, that's what the very professional.
Cassie Kellner [00:35:40]:
The lab coat, you're covered all white head to toe.
Julie Varney [00:35:43]:
White does not belong in dentistry.
Cassie Kellner [00:35:44]:
Yeah, Very good point.
Julie Varney [00:35:46]:
Does not belong anywhere in the health care profession.
Cassie Kellner [00:35:50]:
What would you say to somebody, a dental assistant in the profession right now that's really unhappy in their practice?
Julie Varney [00:35:58]:
Do what makes you happy. If that if I understand, like leaving is hard.
Cassie Kellner [00:36:05]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:36:06]:
But if you are working in a toxic environment or the hours aren't conducive to your lifestyle or you don't like what you're getting paid, there are other offices out there that will find. You can find and will pay you or have better hours or make, you know, have benefits for you. There are the offices out there. You just have to find them.
Cassie Kellner [00:36:28]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:36:29]:
And those are the ones that aren't hiring because people aren't leaving.
Cassie Kellner [00:36:32]:
Yeah. Yes.
Julie Varney [00:36:33]:
You know, the ones that are always like in my area, I look, you know, every day I'm on indeed looking, you know, and the ones that are same hiring. Why are you still hiring?
Cassie Kellner [00:36:45]:
I think people forget that too. That we are. Let's get real. Okay. I'm 41 years old. I am a detective. Okay. Like if my girlfriend starts dating somebody, I'm like, who's this guy? I'm like looking him up. I know it's his doctor on Facebook.
Julie Varney [00:37:00]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:37:01]:
I know what his ex girlfriend looks like. I can go and do all the things. And I think it's the same thing in, in, in any profession, not just ours.
Julie Varney [00:37:12]:
Right.
Cassie Kellner [00:37:13]:
Like if you're in an industry and you're like, oh, that company keeps hiring over. And it's not that they're expanding or growing, because that's a different. That's a very different animal. But if they're like, it's a constant, right, People, I talked about this recently and I don't remember the podcast because they're all blurring together now. But I was like, people talk and people know. Yeah, people know. When you are constantly putting out an ad and you're getting. And you can blame.
Julie Varney [00:37:40]:
You can only the dental assistant. So long. Like, it was a dental assistant. It was a dental assistant. It was a dental. No. Or was. You know, it could be the. It could not be the dentist. It could be the manager.
Cassie Kellner [00:37:51]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:37:51]:
Hygienist. It could be just the environment. It could be the type of. Whether it's corporate or private practice, or maybe it's endodontics or oral surgery. You don't like to be in that field.
Cassie Kellner [00:38:02]:
Right.
Julie Varney [00:38:02]:
But if I had to say to anybody that's just starting out one, learn all you can. Learn all you can read, learn, study, pick up. I just picked up an implant book. It was up in my cubby at work. And I said, what's this here for? She's like, I don't know. He put it up there. I go, I'm taking home and read it. She's like, why? I said, well, because I love doing implants, but obviously bought this book for me. Hasn't even opened it yet, you know, but you have to learn all you can, even if it doesn't pertain to your job.
Cassie Kellner [00:38:33]:
Yeah, I agree.
Julie Varney [00:38:34]:
And if you're not happy at one job. I remember I, the, I started, I actually started at Aspen, but it was upstate and Bob Fontana, I think Bob owned one or two and it was upstate and I worked there for like two months. It was the worst experience of my lifetime. I said, I'm going to work here a couple months and I'm going to get my experience and the minute I find another job, I'm going to leave. So then I went up, I found another job. I went up the road. I think they paid me like a dollar more an hour.
Cassie Kellner [00:39:03]:
Sure.
Julie Varney [00:39:03]:
I was like, woohoo, dollar more.
Cassie Kellner [00:39:05]:
Right, right.
Julie Varney [00:39:06]:
And I was trained by Rilda. So if you're ever listening, Rilda, she was from the Philippines. She was a dentist in the Philippines, but she couldn't be a dentist in New York State. She was an amazing dental assistant. She taught me how to hold instruments. She taught me about the instruments. She taught me how not to speak, how to speak how to. You know, she just taught me so much about dentistry. But the guy wasn't that great to work for. He was super nice, like, paid well. The other team was great. He just, you know, sometimes Dennis has fits and they're all quirks and stuff like that, but. So then I was hit by a drunk driver, and I had my left hand broke.
Cassie Kellner [00:39:48]:
Julie.
Julie Varney [00:39:49]:
So during my off time, I was like, you know what? I really could use a change. Like, you. You know, you said you needed a shift.
Cassie Kellner [00:39:57]:
Yep.
Julie Varney [00:39:58]:
And something in you is just like, it's time for a change. Yep. And I saw an ad in the paper, and I still had my hand in a cast, and I went to Dr. Procopio, and he's like, well, when do you get that thing off? And I said, two more weeks. He's like, all right. He's like, you're hired. And I was like, oh, okay. And I went from 375 to $12 an hour. And I was like, yeah, I just won the lottery. And then he was like, and I'm off. He was off. Like, he'd work two weeks, be off a week, because he had a house in Florida. So he'd work two weeks, be off a week, but we get paid for the week.
Cassie Kellner [00:40:31]:
Okay.
Julie Varney [00:40:32]:
I was like, I'm not gonna lose pay. No. If you just, you know, make sure you come in, do a little couple things, and my wife leaves you the tech. And, I mean, they were just the nicest people to work for. Nicest people. But he taught me a lot about dentistry and what I want and what I didn't want in dentistry, you know, and. And like I said, nowadays, it's too fast paced. I think some offices, you know, cramming people in and, you know, that the dental assistant can really learn. But I. I think sometimes they're set up for failure. So if. If you're just starting out and you get into an office and it's. You just in your gut, you don't feel it's right, it's time to go. It's time to figure out what you want, and if you get into it and you don't like it, go find something to do. And I tell my students that all the time. I said, if you get into the dental office and you don't like it, it's okay.
Cassie Kellner [00:41:17]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:41:17]:
Because the skills I gave you, I gave you a lot of people skills and a lot of how to do things. Skills like you learn how to go from A to B, like yourself, you know, processes and working well, with others you can go work anywhere.
Cassie Kellner [00:41:30]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:41:31]:
I said, but at the end of the day when you put your pillow down on your head or your head down on your pillow.
Cassie Kellner [00:41:36]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:41:36]:
You need to be happy with what's going on in your life. I said, you know, I have one student right now, she wants to be a wrestler.
Cassie Kellner [00:41:43]:
What do you mean? She wrestles, like girl wrestles like a professional wrestler?
Julie Varney [00:41:48]:
No, no, not a professional wrestler. She wants to be like a wrestler, like at a D1 school and stuff. And I'm like, well, how are we gonna get there? I have one that wants to score. She's got 800 points and she wants to score, you know, a thousand points. I'm like, well, how are we getting there? You know, one that wants to be a pilot and go to this pilot school down in Florida. How are we getting there? How are you gonna get there? Yeah, you can do it, but how are you gonna get there? And don't ever self doubt yourself. Just put the tools in place. You know, I have one that wants to go to hygiene school. I said, well, you better get good grades and let's get on it, you know, and stuff like that. So it's just, I think people don't believe in themselves when they go into this profession and because they get beat down or they get a doctor that says, this is not how you do things. And yeah, instead of being okay, well, yeah, effed up, how are we gonna fix it?
Cassie Kellner [00:42:36]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:42:36]:
You know.
Cassie Kellner [00:42:37]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:42:38]:
And I think too, in this, I wouldn't even say generationally, because I think it's just today, right. That self reflection is a really, really, really big thing. And I think that as humans, the more we do that for ourselves, the better we become and grow in all aspects. I'm not just talking in, in, in, I'm not just in the workspace or professionally. I'm talking personally. Professionally growth, you name it. Motherhood, like, you know, we just, you have to self reflect and go, okay, is this really for me? And if it is, great, what are we gonna do to get there?
Julie Varney [00:43:20]:
Right.
Cassie Kellner [00:43:21]:
You know that.
Julie Varney [00:43:22]:
And I, I feel sometimes we tend to fix other people's problems.
Cassie Kellner [00:43:27]:
Yes, I'm guilty of that.
Julie Varney [00:43:29]:
Julie, you need to be a problems. You don't need to be a problem solver for other people. You need to have, help them solve their own problems.
Cassie Kellner [00:43:36]:
Yeah, I, I, as a consultant for years, especially in 2020, it's very, and as a consultant and a coach, I was like, okay, tell me everything and then we're going to work through it. And I'm going to help guide you. And that's my job too. Right. But it became too much where I was becoming almost like a therapist. And this is what I talk about too, when I implemented DiSC, the behavior assessment, because I wanted to get to know people more at their core.
Julie Varney [00:44:05]:
Right.
Cassie Kellner [00:44:06]:
I am not a therapist. I do not have a degree in psych or, you know, and so I had no right in some of these situations. I was just really a third party that was like, okay, here's what I see on this end and this end. And here's how I think you guys. Bridge, Bridge. Whatever is going on here. But I had no business giving this therapeutic advice to anyone. And that's a big, big self reflection that I had and had to really work on myself.
Julie Varney [00:44:40]:
Yeah, because people want you to, as a consultant or a coach, people want you to fix their problems. They don't want to realize that one, they are the problem, and two, how are they going to fix themselves? Yeah, you can give them the tools or the plans, the instruments or whatever you want to call them, but if you don't utilize them, you know, I worked for a consultant junkie. That's what I call.
Cassie Kellner [00:45:00]:
Oh, yeah, there's plenty of those out there.
Julie Varney [00:45:02]:
I know that they think everybody is their next.
Cassie Kellner [00:45:05]:
We'll go to the next one.
Julie Varney [00:45:06]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:45:07]:
I mean, when I get on calls sometimes and I'm like, you know, have you ever used a consultant before? And you're like, yes, I need all the ones out there.
Julie Varney [00:45:13]:
And you're like, whoa, okay, goodbye. See you later.
Cassie Kellner [00:45:16]:
Okay, so what would you like me to help you with?
Julie Varney [00:45:19]:
You know, because I do everything that you've had in the last 13. What am I going to, you know.
Cassie Kellner [00:45:24]:
Yeah, yeah.
Julie Varney [00:45:25]:
My biggest thing is like right now in my office, I'm like the business manager, office manager assistant, kind of like wears all the hats. But I don't manage my team. I tell them they are their own leaders. You need a day off, fine. Figure out how to make it happen. Sure. You get a sick kid, great. We'll move the schedule. Because that's important to them that those types of things. And I think people that micromanage, like, what are you doing this for? What are you doing that for? Why are you doing that for? And it very hard is, you know, assistants, you know, like, we got a wonderful new assistant at our practice and it was very hard for me.
Cassie Kellner [00:46:04]:
She said, oh, I cleaned this.
Julie Varney [00:46:05]:
I changed that. I'm like, okay. Like, it's very hard for you as an assistant. Be like, okay, you know, like. Right, because you want to go in and like, like. No, but this is her space. I got to give her her space to do things. And I'm like, oh, where do you want this now? You know, like, couldn't find this, you know, so it's. It's very hard to. You have to be adaptable to change.
Cassie Kellner [00:46:23]:
Oh.
Julie Varney [00:46:24]:
As an assistant, if you're not adaptable to change this place, this dentistry is not for you.
Cassie Kellner [00:46:28]:
Yeah, I agree.
Julie Varney [00:46:29]:
That's what I say.
Cassie Kellner [00:46:30]:
Agree.
Julie Varney [00:46:31]:
Because doctors change their mind. Like they change their underwear.
Cassie Kellner [00:46:35]:
Yeah. Every.
Julie Varney [00:46:36]:
Every single day, whether it's a female dentist or a male dentist, they change their mind of how products, procedures, instruments.
Cassie Kellner [00:46:44]:
Yeah. Policies, whatever it is, Systems as a whole. Okay, here we go. Ready? If you could leave dental assistants everywhere, one message of encourage, what would it be?
Julie Varney [00:47:01]:
Hmm. Message of encouragement. If you're doing your best to your ability, then you've done enough. If you're doing your best for your ability, you've done enough.
Cassie Kellner [00:47:14]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:47:15]:
Yeah. And then, you know, you go home and in yourself, you would know that you're. You're the best dental assistant.
Cassie Kellner [00:47:23]:
Yeah. Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:47:25]:
And don't ever second guess it or have someone put doubt in your mind. And I think that's what happens a lot.
Cassie Kellner [00:47:31]:
I agree.
Cassie Kellner [00:47:33]:
And I think that. That that's what you're doing such a beautiful job with your social media. And. And what you're doing is you're really advocating for these individuals that are really in their own group. And. And I think it's really, really important. And I hope.
Julie Varney [00:47:54]:
I hope it helps one person be better or decide, hey, this is not for me.
Cassie Kellner [00:47:58]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:47:59]:
And I can do whatever I want to do, you know, I'm not stuck. No one's stuck anywhere.
Cassie Kellner [00:48:04]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:48:04]:
You know, like, even if your husband works in medical and he says, you know what I really hate?
Cassie Kellner [00:48:09]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:48:09]:
Doing what I do.
Cassie Kellner [00:48:10]:
Yes.
Julie Varney [00:48:11]:
Okay. We'll figure out. Go do something else.
Cassie Kellner [00:48:13]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:48:13]:
Because we're not stuck.
Cassie Kellner [00:48:15]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:48:15]:
We're not stuck in anything, doing anything. We're not stuck being a dental assistant. We're not stuck being a hygienist.
Cassie Kellner [00:48:20]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:48:21]:
So we're not stuck here doing this podcast.
Cassie Kellner [00:48:23]:
I know, but this is really fun.
Julie Varney [00:48:25]:
This is really fun.
Cassie Kellner [00:48:25]:
Okay, well, let's do some rapid fire fun.
Julie Varney [00:48:27]:
Okay.
Cassie Kellner [00:48:28]:
Okay.
Julie Varney [00:48:28]:
Get your mirror. Okay, guys.
Cassie Kellner [00:48:30]:
Are you kidding? Look at this. Those of you that aren't watching, we have these massive mouth mirrors. This is hysterical. I'm going to act like this is my microphone. Oh, my gosh, this is so good.
Julie Varney [00:48:41]:
Okay.
Cassie Kellner [00:48:42]:
Okay. Ready?
Julie Varney [00:48:43]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:48:44]:
Favor. And. And this is rapid fire. So just get one word, Julie.
Julie Varney [00:48:47]:
Okay. One word.
Cassie Kellner [00:48:48]:
Okay, ready? Your favorite dental instrument that you couldn't live without.
Cassie Kellner [00:48:54]:
Oh.
Cassie Kellner [00:49:00]:
Can I Rapid fire, Julie.
Julie Varney [00:49:03]:
Thinking I. The OptraSculpt instrument.
Cassie Kellner [00:49:11]:
I don't even know what you're saying.
Julie Varney [00:49:12]:
So it places composite, has a little rubber pad on it.
Cassie Kellner [00:49:15]:
Okay.
Julie Varney [00:49:15]:
And it's great. Nothing sticks to it.
Cassie Kellner [00:49:18]:
Okay. So mine's a Weingart.
Julie Varney [00:49:20]:
What's that?
Cassie Kellner [00:49:20]:
Do you know what that is?
Julie Varney [00:49:21]:
No.
Cassie Kellner [00:49:21]:
Oh, my God, I love this so much.
Julie Varney [00:49:24]:
I probably have it in my book somewhere.
Cassie Kellner [00:49:29]:
I can't live without a Weingart.
Julie Varney [00:49:31]:
Whatever that is. Sure.
Cassie Kellner [00:49:32]:
It just. It helps me get the wire in and out. Like, I use it for literally everything.
Julie Varney [00:49:38]:
Is it that little thing? With a little thingy like this, they're connect.
Cassie Kellner [00:49:42]:
They're closer together. They pull a wire out. It's serrated. It kind of looks like they're like this, like, hemostatic. No.
Julie Varney [00:49:50]:
Oh, okay.
Cassie Kellner [00:49:51]:
Nope.
Cassie Kellner [00:49:51]:
That's a master.
Julie Varney [00:49:52]:
Check that out.
Cassie Kellner [00:49:52]:
Okay.
Cassie Kellner [00:49:53]:
Okay. This is really good. If you weren't in dentistry, what career would you have chosen? You can't say teaching, because you're already doing that.
Julie Varney [00:50:01]:
No.
Cassie Kellner [00:50:02]:
Okay.
Julie Varney [00:50:05]:
And if I wasn't in dentistry, what I've done. I always want to be a dancer.
Cassie Kellner [00:50:08]:
Ooh, what kind? You told me today that you don't dance in front of people.
Julie Varney [00:50:13]:
But I dance everywhere else.
Cassie Kellner [00:50:15]:
What?
Julie Varney [00:50:16]:
I spend hours in my office doing TikTok dances.
Cassie Kellner [00:50:20]:
And do you post them?
Julie Varney [00:50:21]:
No.
Cassie Kellner [00:50:23]:
What is going on?
Julie Varney [00:50:24]:
I master TikTok dances.
Cassie Kellner [00:50:26]:
And then what?
Julie Varney [00:50:27]:
Just nothing. What I do, I spend hours. I know how to shuffle from the shuffle mamas.
Cassie Kellner [00:50:34]:
I don't know what you're saying. I'm not on TikTok. I can't. I don't have enough time because I know myself. I'm already addicted to Instagram. I'm watching TikTok on Instagram.
Julie Varney [00:50:45]:
I told my students the other day I doom scroll for an hour after I teach because I just need to dig.
Cassie Kellner [00:50:50]:
Totally. It's awful. I doom scroll.
Julie Varney [00:50:53]:
I try to learn TikTok dances so that I don't know. I just like to hip hop dance.
Cassie Kellner [00:50:58]:
But yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:50:59]:
Can you post one?
Julie Varney [00:51:01]:
No.
Cassie Kellner [00:51:01]:
Why?
Julie Varney [00:51:03]:
I will have to need a choreographer. Is there any choreographers out there? Julie, I'm not posting a TikTok. I think I've posted one or two.
Cassie Kellner [00:51:11]:
You should have told me. I could have learned it and then we could have done it here.
Julie Varney [00:51:14]:
Yeah, maybe we can.
Cassie Kellner [00:51:15]:
No, I can't learn that fast. Plus, I'll be sweating. Let's get real. My nieces made me do tiktoks on our vacation, and I did tiktoks on my alt meet.
Julie Varney [00:51:24]:
There's one where you have to jump, like, 30 times, and then you clip it all together and it makes you look like you're. It's really cute. We should do that one.
Cassie Kellner [00:51:30]:
What? Okay, wait, what's the next one? Wait. My career. Are you ready?
Julie Varney [00:51:36]:
Oh, yeah. Yeah. What would you. What would your career be?
Cassie Kellner [00:51:38]:
I think I'd be a teacher.
Julie Varney [00:51:40]:
Oh, I think you'd be good at it.
Cassie Kellner [00:51:42]:
I would love it.
Julie Varney [00:51:43]:
I think dental assistants are good teachers at heart.
Cassie Kellner [00:51:45]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:51:46]:
Because we have to teach patience. We have to have patience.
Cassie Kellner [00:51:49]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:51:50]:
I. I really. I mean, my. My. My life's not over. Maybe at some point I'll teach something I'd love to teach orthodontic assistants.
Julie Varney [00:51:57]:
There you go.
Cassie Kellner [00:51:58]:
I would love it. Okay, wait, really quick. My daughter is 5 and she's in hip hop class. I just need to say that. So. And she's, like, learning actual moves, and she comes home and practices them.
Julie Varney [00:52:09]:
And I literally, in my mind, I'm doing the dances just like.
Cassie Kellner [00:52:13]:
That is so good. Okay, ready?
Cassie Kellner [00:52:15]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:52:17]:
What is a snack that gets you through a long workday?
Julie Varney [00:52:20]:
A tub of anything that's peanut butter and chocolate ice cream.
Cassie Kellner [00:52:25]:
Really?
Julie Varney [00:52:25]:
Like a little pint.
Cassie Kellner [00:52:27]:
Do you want to know fun facts?
Julie Varney [00:52:28]:
I used to eat Ho Hos, but they. They changed the recipe.
Cassie Kellner [00:52:31]:
What? They changed the recipe of a Ho Hos. Change the recipe. What is happening right now?
Julie Varney [00:52:41]:
They change the recipe. So they suck. I. They're terrible.
Cassie Kellner [00:52:45]:
I love.
Julie Varney [00:52:45]:
I would eat a whole box sometimes. What?
Cassie Kellner [00:52:48]:
Julie.
Julie Varney [00:52:51]:
My practice is an hour from my house, so I can eat a whole box.
Cassie Kellner [00:52:54]:
Oh, my God, I love this. Okay, wait.
Julie Varney [00:52:56]:
So what's your favorite.
Cassie Kellner [00:52:57]:
Wait, what was your favorite snack again? But not Ho Hos?
Julie Varney [00:53:00]:
No, ice cream.
Cassie Kellner [00:53:01]:
Oh, ice cream. Peanut butter and chocolate used to be.
Julie Varney [00:53:03]:
Hoes, but they changed the recipe.
Cassie Kellner [00:53:04]:
Do you want to know a fun fact? This is embarrassing. I cannot eat ice cream with chocolate chips in it. Okay, I know, like, mint chocolate chip. People love it. Yeah, because the chocolate chips get stuck in my occlusion and I freak out. So when I was younger.
Julie Varney [00:53:24]:
Well, fun fact. I really don't eat the chocolate ice cream. I eat the strips of frozen peanut butter in it.
Cassie Kellner [00:53:28]:
Okay, fine. All right. That makes you feel better.
Julie Varney [00:53:31]:
So my husband really, like, where's all the peanut butter?
Cassie Kellner [00:53:34]:
It's gone.
Julie Varney [00:53:35]:
I just took the peanut butter. Ow. I just want the frozen peanut butter. I don't want the ice cream. Oh, my God.
Cassie Kellner [00:53:39]:
Okay, my favorite snack. This is also embarrassing. And actually, my best friend. Friend and I were talking the other day, and she was making so much fun of me. I eat an unhealthy amount of string cheese.
Julie Varney [00:53:51]:
Oh, I like string.
Cassie Kellner [00:53:53]:
And I buy it for my kids. But, like, in between my zooms, I'll run downstairs, let my dog. I have a golden retriever named Carl. I'll let him out, and then I'll grab a string cheese, and then I let him in, and I run back upstairs, and she's like, what do you mean? Why aren't. She's like, we have kids the same age. And she's like. It's like you're, like, sucking on, like, an apple piece sauce pouch. Like, how old are you? And I'm like, listen, string cheese. I don't even know what it is or how it's made, and I don't want to know. Okay, next one. You ready?
Julie Varney [00:54:21]:
Huh?
Cassie Kellner [00:54:22]:
What's a song that puts you in a good mood?
Julie Varney [00:54:26]:
Any Eminem song.
Cassie Kellner [00:54:27]:
What? Ho ho's and Eminem and Julie. I'm learning so much.
Julie Varney [00:54:34]:
Any Eminem song. It's my dream concert to go to, and I don't care how much the tickets will be. I will be in the front row. What? I don't care if I have to.
Cassie Kellner [00:54:43]:
Mortgage my house to see him, Julie. Okay, Fun fact Shake.
Julie Varney [00:54:48]:
That is my favorite song.
Cassie Kellner [00:54:52]:
Wait, okay.
Julie Varney [00:54:53]:
Not my favorite song.
Cassie Kellner [00:54:54]:
This is why I feel like I love you so much. From the minute we spoke, Eminem was, like, everything to me. When I was in high school and I went to an Eminem and Limp Bizkit concert.
Julie Varney [00:55:07]:
Oh, that'd be a good concert.
Cassie Kellner [00:55:08]:
And, yeah, I had, like, a post poster of him above my bed. Like, this was real. My mom was probably really worried. My boyfriend in high school, like, looked like Eminem.
Julie Varney [00:55:18]:
So what is your favorite song that you would listen to if you had to decompress?
Cassie Kellner [00:55:22]:
Okay, Right now, crash out, as my.
Julie Varney [00:55:25]:
Kids call it in high school. It's called crashing out.
Cassie Kellner [00:55:27]:
Decompress means crashing out.
Julie Varney [00:55:29]:
Crash out. I'm going to crash out.
Cassie Kellner [00:55:31]:
Okay.
Cassie Kellner [00:55:32]:
All right.
Cassie Kellner [00:55:33]:
Right now, in this current moment, I am obsessed with Alex Warren's Ordinary. Yeah, that's a nice song, but it's a live version with Luke Combs. Okay. Like, when I'm in my car. Can you play this on your way home today? When I'm in my car, my kids aren't in my car. Like, I am. Like, I think I sound like them. It's embarrassing. Like, I start coughing. I'm I'm singing so loud. But that's like, right now, I would say, like, I, I play kids songs or whatever with my kids, and then once I drop them off, like, I love a good, like old school salt and pepper.
Julie Varney [00:56:09]:
Oh, Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:56:10]:
I like that. 90s, early 2000s, Dr. Dre. Like, I, I, oh, man.
Julie Varney [00:56:17]:
So, you know, you have to follow her. She's on Instagram and TikTok. Her name is Chrissy Punch or Chrissy Allen, but it's. I think she's called C. Ca Punch. CS Punch. But she does all old school and she's a dentist in California and she's got, like millions of followers. But she does the funniest Tik toks and Instagram reels with all old school music.
Cassie Kellner [00:56:40]:
Oh, okay.
Cassie Kellner [00:56:41]:
I'm going to follow her today. Okay. Last one. You ready?
Julie Varney [00:56:44]:
Yep.
Cassie Kellner [00:56:46]:
One word you'd use to describe the dental assisting profession. Oh, stumped.
Julie Varney [00:56:55]:
I know one word. Evolving. Oh, I like evolving. Yeah, it's evolving.
Cassie Kellner [00:57:02]:
I agree.
Julie Varney [00:57:03]:
What would, what would be your word?
Cassie Kellner [00:57:05]:
Oh, I don't know, but I really. Can I steal that?
Julie Varney [00:57:07]:
Sure. I, I, that's, I really think it's evolving.
Cassie Kellner [00:57:10]:
It is. I think that, and I think it's a whole fast pace.
Julie Varney [00:57:13]:
Yeah. The whole industry is evolving.
Cassie Kellner [00:57:16]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:57:16]:
To be hopefully better.
Cassie Kellner [00:57:18]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:57:18]:
For patients and for providers.
Cassie Kellner [00:57:20]:
Yeah.
Julie Varney [00:57:21]:
And to elevate the dental assistant. It needs to evolve. It can't stay the way it is.
Cassie Kellner [00:57:28]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:57:29]:
So, Julie, thank you.
Julie Varney [00:57:32]:
Oh, you're welcome. Thank you for having me.
Cassie Kellner [00:57:34]:
This is funny. Cheers with our meals. Cheers. Julie Varney, you are the absolute best. I cannot thank you.
Julie Varney [00:57:42]:
I'm not the best. I'm just myself.
Cassie Kellner [00:57:44]:
That's what makes you the best.
Julie Varney [00:57:46]:
I'm just my friend.
Cassie Kellner [00:57:46]:
You're authentically you and I love it. You and your love for Eminem and your love for Ho Hos and your love for dental assistants, and you're advocating. Truly, I can't thank you enough for joining me and for doing this in person. Are you kidding me?
Julie Varney [00:58:02]:
It was great.
Cassie Kellner [00:58:03]:
Oh, gosh. Thank you.
Julie Varney [00:58:04]:
What a weird suggestion. Like, hey, let's just meet.
Cassie Kellner [00:58:07]:
Yes. I love it from the bottom of my heart. I truly can't thank you.
Julie Varney [00:58:11]:
You're welcome. Thank you for having me. I'd love it.
Cassie Kellner [00:58:13]:
Oh, gosh.
Julie Varney [00:58:13]:
This is fun. I can't wait to.
Cassie Kellner [00:58:14]:
And this isn't the end of us.
Julie Varney [00:58:16]:
No, this is.
Cassie Kellner [00:58:16]:
Is amazing. We have fun stuff coming.
Julie Varney [00:58:18]:
Yes, we do have some fun stuff coming.
Cassie Kellner [00:58:20]:
So.
Julie Varney [00:58:20]:
Yes.
Cassie Kellner [00:58:21]:
Everyone. Julie Varney. Thank you.
Julie Varney [00:58:22]:
Oh, you're welcome.
Cassie Kellner [00:58:25]:
Thank you for joining me on the bloom effect, where we keep it real, keep it growing, and always keep it team first. If today's episode sparked something for you, an idea, a shift, or just a reminder that you're not alone, take a second and share it with your team or a fellow ortho leader. Be sure to subscribe so you never missed a convo. And if you're loving the show, leave a review. It helps more practices. Find us and join the movement. And if you're ready to bring this kind of energy into your practice, visit DiSCover everbloom.com to learn more about working together. Until next time, keep leading with heart, keep building with intention, and keep blooming right where you're planted.
