Episode 38
[00:00:00] Cassie Kellner: 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.
[00:00:16] If you're ready to grow, lead, and bloom, let's dive in.
[00:00:22] Cassie Kellner: Welcome to The Bloom Effect. I'm your host, Cassie Kellner, and you guys are getting a little inside scoop today. So you should feel like this is forbidden fruit β like we're on another level, Shantal. They're getting inside stuff from Everbloom.
[00:00:44] Shantal Terry: Seriously, though.
[00:00:46] Cassie Kellner: Oh my gosh. Okay. Shantal Terry. Let me give a little blurb about Shantal. I don't normally do this, but I'm going to, because she is an angel. Let's just start there. Okay. Shantal Terry runs operations here at Everbloom, and when I say runs, I mean this woman keeps my life and my world and Everbloom going.
[00:01:16] Like, all the things. We don't even have enough time for me to express how much I love you, how brilliant you are β Oh β how well you keep me managed. 'Cause let me tell you, this brain I have is incredibly wild and chaotic, and you ground me. And you know this. Do not shake your head. You know this is true.
[00:01:41] Shantal, you're a dream. Thank you so much for agreeing to join me on The Bloom Effect.
[00:01:48] Shantal Terry: Oh, of course. We complement each other so well.
[00:01:51] Cassie Kellner: Oh, so well. Oh, do we. Okay, Shantal, I start this with everyone. It's the question, and we're going into it. Are you ready?
[00:02:03] Shantal Terry: I'm ready.
[00:02:04] Cassie Kellner: Okay. Who is Shantal Terry?
[00:02:10] Shantal Terry: Feels so deep when you say it like that.
[00:02:12] Cassie Kellner: I know.
[00:02:13] Shantal Terry: I think first and foremost, I am a mother of two sweet girls. And every single thing that I do revolves around that β my schedule, my life. But professionally, I have been in dentistry for 16 years now and sat in about every seat in the office. So I started in clinical dentistry β chairside assisting β into front desk, management, multi-practice management, regional management, operations, now dental coaching.
[00:02:43] So I feel like I have been in every little caveat in the office. And I think that if you had told my 18-year-old self, when I stepped foot in the dental practice for the first time, that there were so many opportunities in this dental field, I would not have believed you.
[00:02:58] Cassie Kellner: Same. Right? It's crazy. Isn't it crazy?
[00:03:01] Shantal Terry: Yes.
[00:03:01] Cassie Kellner: It's crazy to think of the journey and all the steps that we take to then land wherever we are. You're so right. Like, 18-year-old self to β
[00:03:13] Shantal Terry: Yes. And I try to tell that to every 18-year-old assistant or front desk person that I meet. I'm like, "You have no idea where this can take you." No. It's so, so big.
[00:03:24] Cassie Kellner: It's so big. Okay, so you are a director of operations here at Everbloom.
[00:03:30] So you are the woman answering the questions and doing all the things, and you are also a dental division coach. You and I speak very different languages when it comes to teeth, okay? We do. You live in that general dental space.
[00:03:46] I live in the ortho space. And we went on site, actually. I wasn't planning on talking about this, but we went on site together. Shout out Baker Rollins β Dr. Baker Rollins at Rollins Orthodontics. I was doing an on-site there, and you came with me just to get a peek into the ortho world, right?
[00:04:03] Shantal Terry: Yes.
[00:04:05] Cassie Kellner: And we had so many aha moments of how vastly different these β
[00:04:14] Shantal Terry: Yes β
[00:04:16] Cassie Kellner: spaces are.
[00:04:16] Shantal Terry: It's a different language. Totally. I felt like there's enough there that I can connect and make it work, and there is still so much there that I had to be like, "Hey, Cassie β"
[00:04:25] Cassie Kellner: Right?
[00:04:25] Shantal Terry: "What is this? What are you talking about? What are those letters?"
[00:04:28] Cassie Kellner: Right. Yeah.
[00:04:29] Shantal Terry: Like, crazy.
[00:04:30] Cassie Kellner: It's really interesting. And also β I thought about this too β it gives perspective on when general dental assistants decide that they're gonna go into ortho.
[00:04:46] Shantal Terry: Absolutely.
[00:04:46] Cassie Kellner: And you're like, oh, they have some experience. And the reality is the experience they have is just knowing the mouth, knowing the teeth. Yes. Not necessarily that the tooth number is correct anymore, right? No. But knowing chairside manner and things like that. That, we get it. We know that they can handle saliva. We know that they're not grossed out.
[00:05:10] We know they know sterilization. We know these things. But the actual mechanics and the chairside assisting from general dentistry, or even other specialties, to ortho β
[00:05:23] Shantal Terry: She can tell. Oh, it's night and day. And I think that before I went on site with you into that ortho practice, when I used to hire β if I had hired an orthodontic assistant, I would have thought that they did not need the same kind of training that a new dental assistant needs. And so it really brought a lot of awareness to me that they need training too. And I was not aware of that, 'cause I just think, an assistant. Yeah.
[00:05:52] Cassie Kellner: And I don't think that, after our time together there, I realize that I don't think we are giving these assistants enough credit or enough guidance when they join these practices.
[00:06:09] There's no way. You've been in this field for 16 years. If you walked into an orthodontic practice now, you'd be starting from scratch. You know financial, insurance β you know all of those things, right? You know management. You know how to lead. However, it is like speaking French.
[00:06:26] Shantal Terry: Yes, and you would have to learn that language quickly.
[00:06:32] Cassie Kellner: It's really wild. I'm so glad that we did that. We did it for many different reasons, but I think what was brought out of it was we realized that when I decided to go, okay, I live in the ortho space, it's time to bring on a dental division β because I realize that other specialties within the dentistry industry as a whole are lacking in the things that we're providing.
[00:06:59] What I didn't realize was how really different these things are.
[00:07:04] Shantal Terry: Yes. It really is night and day, and I did not realize that at all.
[00:07:09] Cassie Kellner: It's so crazy. So that kind of brings me to what we're gonna talk about today.
[00:07:15] We build, here at Everbloom, playbooks β practice playbooks for teams, right?
[00:07:21] It's one of the biggest things that we do for practices. And we build SOPs. We get rid of the dusty binders. We do all the things. We take every single system and put it into a playbook. We use a program called Trainual. We will work with people who do not have Trainual, so I don't want that to be a deterrent.
[00:07:44] But we use Trainual because it is actually built for small businesses to create a playbook, right? And so we're giving you today an inside scoop β tips and tricks on what your SOPs should look like. I think it's a really daunting experience for people. I mean, how many discovery calls have we had, Shantal, where they're like, "I don't have anything"?
[00:08:10] Oh. And we're like, "That's okay."
[00:08:11] Shantal Terry: So many. And it is okay. Right? But it can be so overwhelming to have to say that, too.
[00:08:18] Cassie Kellner: Yes.
[00:08:19] Cassie Kellner: And for years, they'll be like, "Oh, I have stuff, but we haven't touched it since 2017, 2016, or 2000." Yes. Like, I have things that maybe I took over from another owner, from another dentist, from another orthodontist.
[00:08:38] Or startups.
[00:08:41] Shantal Terry: Yes.
[00:08:41] Cassie Kellner: Oh, man. Startups. Let me tell you, if you're listening to this right now and you are a startup β start now. Shantal, we're working with a startup right now, and he's a wonderful human. You're his dedicated coach, and I think what we're doing by setting a foundation for him right now β think about where that's gonna take him.
[00:09:12] What are your thoughts on doing this as a startup and being able to run with this as they continue to grow?
[00:09:20] Shantal Terry: Oh, I think it is so fantastic, because his goals are to double in size, and the fact that he is getting a handle on this right now is great. And so my biggest focus with them has been: it does not have to be perfect.
[00:09:36] Just start getting things out there. We can help you make this prettier or better, but I just need the basics. Just start getting it out there, and then it starts to flow a lot easier.
[00:09:46] Cassie Kellner: Absolutely.
[00:09:47] Shantal Terry: I'm really excited to see where that goes.
[00:09:49] Cassie Kellner: Me too. And we have clients that have been in practice for 15 years, and we have clients like him who have been in practice for 11 months.
[00:09:58] And I think we're guiding them along the way to make it way less scary, because it is scary. And the reality is, it's incredibly time-consuming β
[00:10:12] Shantal Terry: Oh, absolutely.
[00:10:12] Cassie Kellner: People are so afraid, because they're like, "I want this," right? We know we need this for the modern learner.
[00:10:20] However, I don't have the time. I'm seeing patients, I'm running a practice. My team is running this practice with me. They're also seeing patients. But I do think, genuinely, Shantal β and we can speak to this together β there is a true cost for individuals who decide not to do this. Don't you agree?
[00:10:43] Shantal Terry: Oh, absolutely. Just the time spent doing things more than once β oh, gosh β in the training, over and over. And we all know that turnover is huge in the dental field right now. But that just makes it so much harder when you do not have these things in place for when these people come in.
[00:11:00] You cannot just plug and play. It is starting all over from scratch every single time, and I just think it is such a time suck.
[00:11:08] Cassie Kellner: I agree. I would like everyone listening to this to just think about the person who quit your practice recently, or had to resign, or moved away, and all of the knowledge that went with that individual when they left β because we didn't have this written down.
[00:11:26] We didn't have a video on how to do this. And I think that's what we're solving. Absolutely. That's the main focus of what we do, Shantal β get this out of people's heads and somewhere. This also cannot live in a binder. Yes. We're done.
[00:11:45] Shantal Terry: So that's my favorite thing, actually, about Trainual: I am a huge living-document person.
[00:11:51] Once something is printed, it's static. And when it's static, you can't change it, and that is one of my least favorite things. I know. So working in Trainual is amazing, because it continuously reminds you to update things. You can constantly change information, update materials that you use if you change your new-patient process.
[00:12:10] It just continues this living document that is constantly being edited and cannot sit on a shelf.
[00:12:17] Cassie Kellner: Yeah, I know.
[00:12:18] Shantal Terry: It is not printed.
[00:12:19] Cassie Kellner: It's crazy. I'm creating β you know this, 'cause you know my whole world β but I am doing a lecture for the Bulletproof Summit coming up. The Bulletproof Summit will have passed by the time this podcast comes out, but β
[00:12:33] I'm talking all about the dusty binder, and how to get things out of the dusty binder. But it's funny β I created a slide, Shantal, you don't even know this. I created a slide that says, "Digital dust is also real." Because it is. Yes. We can create things. People have Google Drives. We see it. They have Google Drives.
[00:12:52] They have digital content, but there's no way to update these things and then send it back out to your entire team. And I think that's the difference in creating a playbook within Trainual, which is what we use. But again, if people are using other things β just put it into a digital playbook, where I can then say, "Hey, please send me a reminder in one year to look at this and make sure we're still doing it this way."
[00:13:21] Shantal Terry: Yes, you just need a system. And I do feel like we see Google Drives too, where people do write these things down or make digital copies of things β they do β but then you have years and so many copies of it, and little changes, and it's so hard to weed out and pick out what is current and what we use now.
[00:13:38] And so we see good intentions like that too in Google Drives.
[00:13:42] Cassie Kellner: Yeah, for sure. Okay, let's talk about SOPs, and what we're doing with SOPs, and let's give some advice to people out there who are building SOPs right now. So for those of you who don't know, because this is real β SOP stands for standard operating procedure.
[00:14:00] So you have SOPs in your practice. It can be a process. It can be a policy. It can be a company policy or process or protocol. The SOP is the big umbrella where everything falls into. And what I've said for years is: bullets. Bullet format is where it's at, right? And, like, you and I read.
[00:14:23] We're readers, right? We love a good book club. Let's get real β we're both in one. Oh my gosh, how old are we that we're both in book clubs? I know.
[00:14:32] Shantal Terry: And that we love it.
[00:14:33] Cassie Kellner: I love it. We love it. Can't we talk about the books we're reading? Yeah. All right. But the reality is, when you're reading a process or protocol β even, and this is awful, but even for me, if someone's writing me a crazy-long email that doesn't have bullet points in it β
[00:14:46] Shantal Terry: I know.
[00:14:46] Cassie Kellner: my brain cannot compute.
[00:15:00] Shantal Terry: Oh, I'm the same way.
[00:15:00] Cassie Kellner: Right? And I think that due to social media, and due to the quickness that's happening, and we're getting mass consumption at a rapid rate β let's not even throw in AI at this point, right, and how fast things are moving β that is just the modern learner. Don't you agree?
[00:15:20] Shantal Terry: Oh, absolutely. I think pictures, bullet points β ugh β little excerpts of information that you can just quickly retain is the way that you have to go now. Agreed. I cannot see a paragraph.
[00:15:31] Cassie Kellner: No. And also, if someone's creating an SOP and the video is 15 minutes...
[00:15:37] Shantal Terry: Also no.
[00:15:39] Cassie Kellner: It's a no. No.
[00:15:41] Yes. No paragraphs, no 15-minute videos. If you have a process that is 15 minutes, then we're gonna break that up into two-minute increments and say, "This is what we do first. This is what we do second." Yeah. "This is what we do third." Because no, we can't retain that anymore. And I know this sounds crazy to people.
[00:16:01] It sounds crazy to me, to be honest. But it's just not the way that it works anymore.
[00:16:07] Shantal Terry: Not at all. I need to see, like you said, shorter videos β even a screenshot. Throw me some screenshots of what you need me to do and accomplish, and I retain that so much differently.
[00:16:16] Cassie Kellner: Same.
[00:16:16] Shantal Terry: So much differently.
[00:16:17] Cassie Kellner: Absolutely same. So: bullets, no paragraphs, videos under two minutes. These are huge. Screenshots, snapshots, images. A lot of the people we work with will do, like, what they set up chairside, right? I want a photo of that chairside tray.
[00:16:40] Shantal Terry: Absolutely.
[00:16:41] Cassie Kellner: And we can have a bullet in there. Don't get me wrong β you can list out all the things that you need, so if somebody needs to look at it. But I also need a visual.
[00:16:50] I feel like back in the day we used to break up learners into different categories, right? Visual, auditory, kinesthetic β where they need to watch a video.
[00:17:01] But don't you agree that's kind of shifted β the old way has kind of shifted, and we are all very visual now because of the world that we live in?
[00:17:15] Shantal Terry: I agree. I think that those learning styles have completely dissipated. Yeah. It's like you have to see those visuals, and you have to get your hands in there.
[00:17:22] Cassie Kellner: You do.
[00:17:23] Shantal Terry: Yeah, and everyone is like that now.
[00:17:25] Cassie Kellner: I agree. I mean, you and I both have young kids. Your oldest is obviously older than my children, but I feel like they are the modern learner, and who's gonna come into this workforce. Yes. And if we do not get our stuff together, they're gonna be like, "What the hell is this?" I know.
[00:17:47] Shantal Terry: And how they take notes and study now is so different. My 13-year-old brought home her study notes, and they write down these just single quotes. She's coloring in β certain colors are helping her reference certain things. It almost looks like a big, beautiful page of information. It is never how I would've taken notes.
[00:18:05] No. But it's interesting to see, because it so correlates with what we are doing with our SOPs.
[00:18:12] Cassie Kellner: Absolutely. Okay, Shantal, any advice on β if a practice owner wants to start, where should they start in creating their SOPs?
[00:18:24] Shantal Terry: Honestly, my biggest suggestion in starting is: just start talking about it.
[00:18:29] So record yourself. Record β as a dentist, or whoever you're having put these together β what do you expect for that assistant to have in that room for you? What would you like for them to do? What is your expectation? And getting that into... it's easier to say than type. I think when you start to type, you start to overthink it.
[00:18:46] You start trying to figure out how to organize it and work it out. So if you could just verbally put that into the world and then take that transcript, that would be step one for me.
[00:18:56] Cassie Kellner: Yeah, absolutely. I also want to encourage anyone who's listening to this that they really should bring their team into these processes.
[00:19:06] Shantal Terry: Absolutely.
[00:19:07] Cassie Kellner: You know β office managers, leaders, director of operations, the doctor. You know your processes, but your team knows their processes. Yes. And I found, too β we just did this with an orthodontic practice that we're building a playbook for right now.
[00:19:29] I sent their clinical SOP portal, where they had to fill in the blanks for us to create SOPs. I sent it to the orthodontist, and I sent it to the clinical lead, and it was very mapped out beautifully when they both returned it to me. But there were some gaps. And so it's like β do these exercises.
[00:19:46] We have the framework, right? We've done the work to be able to send these to our clients to create true playbooks. But do these exercises with your team, to go, "Hey, this is how I envision it." And your team comes back and goes, "What? I haven't been doing X, Y, or Z. I didn't know." And then the doctor's like, "Oh, well, maybe we can skip that step."
[00:20:08] Having these conversations and creating SOPs for the people who are actually doing the work β
[00:20:15] Shantal Terry: Game changer. Absolutely. And they have to be a part of it, because everyone has to decide together what is realistic, what is necessary, where does this make sense in the process? And so I think putting it all out like that just helps bring up that conversation.
[00:20:27] Cassie Kellner: Absolutely. I absolutely agree. Okay. Anything else that you wanna leave all of these people listening about building a playbook, and what that can actually do for their practice?
[00:20:40] Shantal Terry: Oh, it can do so much. And I genuinely think getting started is absolutely the hardest part.
[00:20:45] Cassie Kellner: I agree.
[00:20:45] Shantal Terry: But once you get that started and get rolling on those first couple of SOPs and building that bank β it's front-loading effort. So you're putting all that effort in right now to make your life so much easier with every hire, with every training. Maybe you do monthly meetings or office meetings where you just go back over the processes and the steps. It's just front-loading effort. So I think it's huge for practices.
[00:21:09] Cassie Kellner: I agree. And what I would say to people before we end this is: if you don't have those connection points, I really encourage you in 2026 β and if you're mapping out 2027 right now β to make sure that you really are putting those team meetings and connection points in for your team, so that you can connect and talk about all of these things.
[00:21:32] Because if you are just doing patient work all day, every day, and you have not allocated the time to connect with your team, you're never going to be able to build things like this for true growth, right? As you said, you're working with this practice right now, and he plans to double. Well, in order to do that, he has to be able to connect with his team and build out a true playbook, which is what he's doing, right?
[00:22:01] Shantal Terry: Yes.
[00:22:02] Cassie Kellner: But I think without that, it would be really difficult to do.
[00:22:07] Cassie Kellner: Modern learners β we skim, which is awful. Think about it.
[00:22:14] Shantal Terry: We're just trying to be efficient. It's efficient.
[00:22:17] Cassie Kellner: I know. It's not awful. I know. You're right. It is efficient β thank you. Thank you for that, for my brain, 'cause you know I scan. But yeah. So, everyone listening: we are also here for you. But to get started on your own, I would go in, I would look at every single department in your practice, and I would start with the top three. What are people coming and asking you every day, every other day, every week?
[00:22:43] It's the same question over and over. That's the first thing that you should be mapping out.
[00:22:48] Shantal Terry: Oh, absolutely. Pick a pain point. And I'm sure that anybody listening knows that there is a pain point. It's either a process that you guys have talked about over and over again β it's brought up at every meeting that you have.
[00:22:59] Just pick a pain point. And that should be pretty easy to get you started.
[00:23:03] Cassie Kellner: Yeah, absolutely. Shantal Terry, thank you for joining me. Oh, thank you for having me. You are simply the best. Oh, my gosh. She'll be on again, guys. Let's get real. She's gonna be here often as my guest host, doing all the fun things, talking about all the fun things.
[00:23:17] But thank you so much for joining me, and I'll see you in our team meeting.
[00:23:22] Shantal Terry: Sounds great.
[00:23:24] Cassie Kellner: 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 β an idea, a shift, or just a reminder that you're not alone β take a second and share it with your team or a fellow ortho leader.
[00:23:40] Be sure to subscribe so you never miss 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 discovereverbloom.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.
