Episode 38
The Bloom Effect — with Dr. Jacquee Schieck
[00:00:01] 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. If you're ready to grow, lead, and bloom, let's dive in Welcome to The Bloom Effect.
[00:00:24] I'm your host Cassie Kellner, and you guys are in for a little musical treat today. Dr. Jacquee Schieck, welcome to The Bloom Effect. Thank you so much for coming.
[00:00:37] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Thank you for having me, Cassie. I'm excited for today.
[00:00:40] Cassie Kellner: Oh, me too.
[00:00:41] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yeah. Okay. I've been looking forward to it.
[00:00:42] Cassie Kellner: Can we start with what I saw on Instagram yesterday?
[00:00:45] We were just talking about this, and I feel like it needs to go on air, because it's such, a relatable mom, totally modern, what your girls were doing. Okay. So I saw on your Instagram story you were making sure that you could log in, right? Yes. To do this
[00:01:00] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Podcast. Had to practice, 'cause we had some tech issues Friday, so we rescheduled.
[00:01:03] Cassie Kellner: We did.
[00:01:04] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: We did. So I had to make
[00:01:05] Cassie Kellner: Sure it was good. So you're. Okay. So tell me, so you're, so I see your girls and I obviously had to comment because I was like, "This is so good." okay, how old are your girls, and tell the world what they were doing.
[00:01:18] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Sure. So I have four kids, but my boys, they do their own thing.
[00:01:21] The girls are with me all the time, and, they were seeing me set up. I have this mic and headphone set-up and a big boom stand on my desk, and so of course they had to try it out. So they put up, I think it's, photo album or something on the Mac, where they could see themselves and hear themselves.
[00:01:38] Yes. And they started recording these videos, and they, we lately have been very into Squishies. Listen. And it's all the rage. Everybody. It's a
[00:01:44] Cassie Kellner: Phenomenon, by the way. Yes.
[00:01:47] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: I don't love it, but
[00:01:48] It is what it is. And so we've been Squishy hunting, and they have a collection of Squishies, and so I don't know how they learned this, stuff.
[00:01:55] But my oldest, my nine-year-old, was sitting in front of the screen, and my seven-year-old was next to her with a bag of Squishies, and she would hand one up at a time to my daughter, who would then whisper, ASMR.
[00:02:07] Cassie Kellner: Oh, very.
[00:02:07] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: So she was whispering and squishing the Squishies into the microphone and recording herself, showing off her whole Squishy collection in whisper voice.
[00:02:15] So yeah. Okay. They had a lot of fun.
[00:02:17] Cassie Kellner: The best part was that your youngest was hiding under the desk as, her assistant, who was, like,
[00:02:24] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Three. Oh, she takes it seriously.
[00:02:25] Cassie Kellner: Yes. So serious. They were like. And then the last one I saw was, like, your, young how old is your youngest? She's
[00:02:31] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Seven.
[00:02:32] Cassie Kellner: Okay.
[00:02:32] Seven. So your seven-year-old, this is so relatable to my kids. I have a five and a seven-year-old. So she, shifts, shows up out of nowhere. You see her little hand, and she, hands her the butter.
[00:02:43] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yes. And, "Last-"
[00:02:45] Cassie Kellner: The butter Squishy she goes, "And last but not least, the squeezy butter."
[00:02:49] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: And she just starts squishing it into the microphone.
[00:02:53] This will be something they'll watch in 10 years and be embarrassed by, and then another 10 years and they'll just love it
[00:02:58] Cassie Kellner: Dearly the way I do. Oh, absolutely. I know. Oh, it's so good. Jacquee truly thank you. We have so many. You're welcome fun topics to talk about today. Yeah. But we're gonna start with the craziest question.
[00:03:09] Are you ready? Are you ready for this?
[00:03:10] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: I,
[00:03:10] Don't know if I'm ready for this one. This one's the hardest one.
[00:03:13] Cassie Kellner: I know. But. Okay. Hit me Here we go. Ready?
[00:03:15] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yes.
[00:03:16] Cassie Kellner: Who is Dr. Jacquee Schieck?
[00:03:20] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yeah. I really had to sit with this one, Cassie.
[00:03:23] Cassie Kellner: I love it.
[00:03:25] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: So actually, and I didn't tell you this, but today is my birthday. And, I know.
[00:03:29] And every year I reflect. I take time. Like at New Year's and my birthday, I really take time to reflect on, who am I? Who am I becoming? What's my life looking and where am I going? And so this year was. I just feel like I've been in a profound transition for the last few years, like just expansion phase of life.
[00:03:48] And so this question was hard because I don't know who I'm becoming exactly.
[00:03:53] Cassie Kellner: Oh my gosh.
[00:03:54] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: I love this. But, I, love this quote, a friend of mine introduced me to it later or earlier this year, by Walt Whitman. "I contain multitudes." And it's, it just resonated with me because it's like I'm not just one thing.
[00:04:06] Of course, I'm an orthodontist. I'm a mother. I'm a practice owner. I'm a speaker. I'm a part-time musician. I'm all of these things, but none of that is me, But the one thing that kind of ties it together, I'd say, is curiosity, optimism. I see things in the world or in myself or around me and I just, I wanna make it better.
[00:04:30] There's a lot of building in me, creativity in me resilience, adaptability. I love change. I don't see change as something to be feared. I see it as something that contains hope and growth and opportunity. I'm a learner. I love learning, and I'm always going to be learning my whole life, whether that's about me or, again, things around me.
[00:04:54] Yeah. Yeah. But I'm definitely a work in progress. Which is exciting Cassie
[00:05:00] Cassie Kellner: Yeah I had no idea it was your birthday. Yeah. You failed to mention that to me when we were rescheduling. I am honored that. Aw you are spending your morning with me This is a great way
[00:05:12] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: To spend the morning. I had I, took the day off.
[00:05:14] I always have Mondays off, and, Good for
[00:05:16] Cassie Kellner: You
[00:05:16] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: I have spa time this afternoon and dinner
[00:05:18] Cassie Kellner: With
[00:05:19] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Friends tonight. Okay. So the morning is yours, Cassie.
[00:05:22] Cassie Kellner: Thank you. Yes. Truly from the bottom of my heart, from, business owner and mother to other business owner and mother, we. There's a lot going on.
[00:05:32] Yeah. Of course that question, as we get older, it, hits in a very different way.
[00:05:41] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yeah.
[00:05:42] Cassie Kellner: Yeah. Very different way.
[00:05:43] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: It does. It's not simple. It's not simple anymore. No,
[00:05:45] Cassie Kellner: It's not. No. It's certainly not. And also, it's funny, so I did a podcast just to I brought on, last November, I did, a thankful month, and I brought on my best friend. Oh, amazing
[00:05:58] Which is not. Aw, I love it normally what I do, right? And we have been best friends since kindergarten. We've grown up together. We grew up in a very small town in northern California, and so we know a lot about each other. So at the end we were like, "How would you describe me?" And so it's so funny, Jacquee because, if you ask this question to others, they would have these answers that would shock you.
[00:06:24] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yeah.
[00:06:24] Cassie Kellner: You're like, "Whoa, you view me in that " That's so interesting, right? It's like you view yourself in this way, and then they
[00:06:32] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Absolutely
[00:06:33] Cassie Kellner: It's so
[00:06:34] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yeah
[00:06:35] Cassie Kellner: Wild.
[00:06:35] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: And self-awareness is such a thing I'm passionate about.
[00:06:38] Oh. And asking others what they think of you is a big thing. And, that, and becoming more aware of how you present to others and what what you, how you come across. But I was just gonna say kudos to you for having such a long-term friendship. Thank you. I think that is such a valuable thing. Yeah
[00:06:52] And rare, and such a treasure.
[00:06:53] Cassie Kellner: Yeah,
[00:06:54] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: It really is. Some great long-term friendships as well, and I just, I really treasure those people.
[00:06:58] Cassie Kellner: Me too,
[00:06:58] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: To know you, have known you through all the phases.
[00:07:00] Cassie Kellner: Oh, the phases. Yeah. Let me tell you, the stories, it's, so embarrassing. But also, just to, touch on female friendship, because I know that you have deep female friendships as well, it's funny, in my podcast, this was not the route we were gonna go, but I am gonna go here, in my podcast with my best friend, I was like, "I'm married to a wonderful human, however, my best friend is, my actual soulmate."
[00:07:29] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Soulmate,
[00:07:30] Cassie Kellner: Like. Isn't that amazing? We connect on a level that is, it's indescribable.
[00:07:38] I can't and through all the periods of life. And it doesn't mean that you have to find a friend that's your soulmate when you're five. I, you can find these friends. How lucky you were,
[00:07:47] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yes
[00:07:47] Cassie Kellner: Yes, in all different phases of life. But
[00:07:50] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Absolutely. I,
[00:07:50] Cassie Kellner: It's true, I look now at 41 years old, and I'm like Oh, I get it.
[00:07:59] It's just really interesting.
[00:08:01] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yeah. Yeah. I'm a believer in that. As again. T-. I would never have said that 10 years ago.
[00:08:07] Cassie Kellner: No.
[00:08:07] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: My mind has just been open to, I don't know, it, everybody gives off an energy. It would make sense to me that we all give off a wavelength and you sync up with certain people because your wavelengths are the same size, And, you do. You meet these people at different points in your life that you just, you'll never be done with. No matter what. No. They will be your friend forever. You could go 10 years and you'd see them again, and you'd sync right back up again, and that's a pretty beautiful thing.
[00:08:32] Cassie Kellner: Right?
[00:08:33] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yeah.
[00:08:34] Cassie Kellner: Okay. All right. We weren't gonna go down that route. But it's your birthday and we're self-reflecting. It's your birthday. You got me self-reflecting. Okay. All right. Okay. Let's go back to, you as an orthodontist and all the things that you do and, let's get real, Jacquee. You are a true badass, okay?
[00:08:56] I'm just gonna say it. You up here like the whole music, running a practice, living this digital world. I also find that incredibly fascinating, that you are running this kind of full digital practice because while others are doing this, you've been doing this for a really long time.
[00:09:19] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:09:20] Cassie Kellner: How did you get to at what point were you like, "Oh, I'm gonna go this route"? And were you terrified, or you were like, "No, this is for me"?
[00:09:31] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yeah. Like you said, I've been. I would consider our practice fully, digital, like every patient on a digital workflow since 2020 really. Wow. So six full years of it.
[00:09:43] So we've been through that learning curve. We have shifted to the other side of it. We are seeing the payout and the payoff. But the journey for me really began. I was. I would go even back to residency. The interest in technology, how to apply technology. I never saw digital as the goal.
[00:10:02] The goal was always, how do we make it better? Better for the patient, better for me, better for the team, better for my family. And it just, again, like I said it in the, intro, I'm not afraid of change. Yeah. And so I saw these as opportunities, and I wanted to figure them out. I wanted to be able to take something new and shape it in a way that made a positive impact.
[00:10:23] And at first it was just within my own practice and my own life, and now again, it'I've had the, awakening that people wanna hear this and apply it to their own practices and their own lives. So then I've been, really thankful for the opportunity to speak and teach on it. But that was never the goal.
[00:10:37] The goal was, like I said, to start small and, again, in residency, I, was exposed to a lot of technology. My first associateship, I was the one kind of pushing and bringing this new technology into the practice. This was back in 2010. Things like the motion appliance or scan digital scanning or lingual brackets.
[00:11:00] All of that was, technology that I was interested in, that I thought could make things better and was, bringing into my associateship. And so then when I started my own practice in 2014, from day one, we were digitally scanning.
[00:11:15] And it was not a time where that was easy to do.
[00:11:17] Cassie Kellner: Yes.
[00:11:18] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: 12 years ago. Oh, gosh
[00:11:19] Tech the scanners were not where they are today by any stretch of the imagination. We were, we were retracting patients, keeping them dry, putting powder on their teeth. It would take 30 minutes to capture the image. But I just knew I was not building my practice for the past. I was building it for the future.
[00:11:38] And so my lab was small. I, purchased these scanners. I felt like from day one we're doing as few alginates, as few PVS as we possibly can, and we're gonna all digital. And so that's where it started. And the technology wasn't even there to support it truly at that point. Scanning was all we could do for a few years.
[00:11:56] Cassie Kellner: Yeah.
[00:11:57] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: E-models and that, but I implemented cone beam technology. And then as things started coming on the market, obviously I was using aligners from the start, but then other, fixed options came on the market. AI support, like all sorts of things. Oh, yeah
[00:12:12] Have been coming out that we just gradually implemented over the last 12 years. Yeah.
[00:12:17] Cassie Kellner: So this is really interesting because I live in a very digital world. I, and I'm, not in practice anymore, but in helping practices, just let's get out of paper, let's get out of sticky notes.
[00:12:32] Yes. I make jokes about sticky note. Post-Its is actually
[00:12:34] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: I just saw your email about Post-Its. And I just kind Post-Its is gonna come
[00:12:38] Cassie Kellner: For me.
[00:12:40] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: I tell my team this, too. If it's on a Post-It Note, it gets lost. It's gone. It goes in your pocket. It goes through the washing machine. Nothing on a Post-It Note.
[00:12:48] No. Please, nothing on a Post-It Note. No.
[00:12:49] Cassie Kellner: And, like, how do we know it's done? We crumple it up, we throw it in the garbage, and then, someone else is "Hey, did you do that?" I, anyway. Exactly right. I could, it's, I could spend too much time here, Jacquee. I hear you. And also, Post-Its, I love you.
[00:13:03] Please don't come for me. Anyway.
[00:13:06] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: There is a place for them. Yes. It is not in the clinical task list.
[00:13:09] Cassie Kellner: Of course there is. No, no, So I, what I. Okay, so here's what I find really interesting because I'm sure you have many of these conversations of, the time it takes to be a digital practice from. Yes
[00:13:24] An owner perspective, right? Yes. Because then there's the, it takes away chair time. We, all know this, right? Yes. We train our teams. It takes away chair time. But there's the other side where people tend to push back where if they really got out of that mindset, right? Yes. Of, yes, however, now I have digital things to do even though it takes Yes
[00:13:49] Out of the chair. How are you managing that? I am sure since 2014 that has evolved in a
[00:13:58] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yes
[00:13:59] Cassie Kellner: Really, wild way. But how did you. How do you manage that currently? What does that look like for you and your team?
[00:14:06] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yeah. I actually just a few years ago named it. I was like, "There is a reallocation of work that has to happen in a digital practice." And if you're not intentional about reallocating your work, you are gonna be just swamped with things because everything's gonna stay the same in the office as far as workflows and scheduling, but you're gonna bring everything else home. Or your team's gonna feel like they have to work over the lunch hour to unpack boxes, load templates, get all of the, asynchronous communication done.
[00:14:34] And so I was very intentional about scheduling. And I would say this, the first place to start is a scheduling template.
[00:14:42] If you're not using a template, start using a template because that's how you choreograph your days. That's how you push results and, goals that you have for your practice.
[00:14:53] And so I had always been a templater, right? That was fun for me to do the Tetris and the puzzle of it. Yes. And so when we started bringing in these technologies, I would say, "Okay, what is the problem we're solving with this? What is the goal we have for this?" And I would communicate that to my team, and we would start reworking our templates.
[00:15:09] So okay, we, if I give an example, we bring in, fixed brackets, a custom fixed bracket. I know now I can delegate all of my bonding appointments. My aligner bondings are now like my bracket bondings. So instead of choreographing my day with a staggered, routine of I have to be at this chair, this chair. Yes
[00:15:30] Every five minutes, to place braces.
[00:15:32] Now I know I can delegate that appointment, so I put all of my bondings across the board in the middle of the day and right after lunch. So that becomes basically a free 45 minutes for to be able to work on the digital planning that I should be doing.
[00:15:46] So it's again, it's thinking about where do I need to be, what work am I doing that's still patient care. I'm treatment planning. That's patient care. My team taking care of background tasks that now require more time. That's patient care. So we should be scheduling it.
[00:16:03] And so I really was intentional about scheduling time for all of the new tasks. And again, it's a scale that tips. There's going to be this squeeze that you have to get through for probably a year year and a half as you're making the transition. So I was definitely taking things home, but I didn't wanna stay there.
[00:16:19] So as fast as I possibly could, I was moving my templates and my, days at work towards this freedom of having the time to do the planning at work
[00:16:29] Cassie Kellner: Yeah
[00:16:29] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Where it should be.
[00:16:30] Cassie Kellner: I think that there's such a good point here that you Oh, Jacquee, I don't think people are doing this enough.
[00:16:35] And I, hope that they hear what you're saying right now because I think that when we decide to make a big change, and we're using digital as an example, but I can talk about any type of change you wanna do in your practice, that if you don't bring your team into this change, they're boots on the ground.
[00:16:53] They're like. Oh, my goodness "Ooh, wait a minute. Okay, wait." And then all of a sudden it's like the mind mapping starts and you're like, "Ooh, yeah, this is good. I didn't think of that," right? What I have found over 22 years of doing this, me also being boots on the ground prior to what I'm doing, is if you don't do that and you don't include them, you're never going to get to the end result that you want.
[00:17:20] No. Because first of all, let's talk about this, you and I didn't know this about you, but I'm very similar, I love a good change. I'm like, "Ooh, let's, try it." Let's go. "Let's do it." and like to a fault, probably my impulsive nature is, I have a very good team that keeps me grounded 'cause I'm like this crazy visionary who's like. Okay, "Guys, let's do this." They're like, "Okay, Cassie, but, can we finish this first?" I'm like, "Oh, yeah, wait. Okay. All right. I get it," But I think the point of this is, bring them in and have this conversation and map this out with everyone instead of holding it all as an owner
[00:18:00] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Exactly
[00:18:00] Cassie Kellner: Right
[00:18:01] It's, you're never gonna be able to execute the way you wanna execute
[00:18:04] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: No. You're gonna get the resistance and the pushback. They're gonna see it as a challenge instead of an opportunity. When I teach on digital transformation, it's always so hard to fit it into a 45-minute or an hour-long lecture. Sure.
[00:18:18] Because there's so much context that I wanna provide. Because leadership and delegation is a huge part of making that transition successful. And I, use a couple of quotes, but "Work expands to fit the time it's given."
[00:18:31] And so even the best teams, if you give them an hour for a bonding, they're gonna continue to take an hour to bond.
[00:18:37] But we all know when patients show up 15 late, 15 minutes late, suddenly we can get it done in 45 minutes. Oh. Yes. We're good. And so if your goal of bringing a technology in is to reduce the bond time so that your patient experience is better, or so that you have more capacity you need to push for that.
[00:18:53] But you can't just suddenly change the template on your team and expect it to be okay. Yeah. They have to understand the why. They have to be supported in it. They have to be given an on-ramp into getting to that goal, celebrated for hitting the goal, incentivized for hitting the goal, whatever it may be.
[00:19:09] Yeah. Yeah. But there's a big factor of the team. It's, you're not gonna. It's like we're riding. I, not to relate the team to an elephant, but there's a book called The Switch about change management. Sure. And it's like the rider and the elephant and the path, right? We're the rider for the most part, the leaders of the practice.
[00:19:25] Yeah. The team is the elephant that we're, that we are relying on to get us down the path. And so we have to treat them gently and with respect, and open, transparent communication. Yeah.
[00:19:35] Cassie Kellner: Yeah. Absolutely. I think it's also fascinating that. From a digital perspective, right? I know we're going so hard on digital, but you're so good at this.
[00:19:46] But I think you have gone through, I am sure, growing pains. Oh, yeah. And I have found, I am sure you, have found this as well, I have found that if things don't work quickly, then we're reverting back to what we once did because it was, it's safe, right? It's safe. And. That doesn't mean it's better
[00:20:08] It's hard
[00:20:09] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: To be, it's hard to be a newbie when you've been a master. Yes. That's also a big part of this is, for the doctor of course, but also for your team. You're really good at what you're currently doing and it's working, and now you're trying to just uproot everything and change this, happy place that you've been in.
[00:20:27] Nobody wants to disrupt something that's working unless there's a clear end goal. Yeah. And yes, like you just said, it's, a, journey. You're in it together. But, yeah. The, to reduce the resistance. And to not see resistance as, opposition that's negative.
[00:20:46] 'Cause I also think our teams have really good perspective on what works and what doesn't work chair-side for them.
[00:20:52] Cassie Kellner: Yes.
[00:20:53] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: So it's, things that I recommend as far as, getting through that resistance, getting through that learning curve, it's having frequent meetings. We had huddles sometimes even three times a day
[00:21:06] For a few years, right? As we were building this thing. We would have a morning huddle, we'd have a before lun or a right after lunch, before aft afternoon schedule huddle, and then we'd have an end of the day wrap-up.
[00:21:16] And that was so important as we were, building systems, changing things, talking about how it was going.
[00:21:22] We have, weekly meetings that we block out lunch for. Yeah. That we can have an open dialogue around.
[00:21:28] Cassie Kellner: Yeah.
[00:21:29] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Quarterly meetings, check in after 90 days. Okay, we're not changing anything for 90 days. Yes. We are doing this for 90 days. But at the end of that 90 days, we're gonna get an opportunity to modify and figure out. Yes
[00:21:40] If it's working or not. And just again, it's these little milestones along the way so that you don't just slip back into safety when it gets hard. Yeah. Yeah. And you push through that, 'cause it's that, really highest friction point that's right before the breakthrough. Absolutely
[00:21:54] Cassie Kellner: In anything. Yes
[00:21:55] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: And. In life in anything. In life. And if you stop right there, right before you expand your comfort zone, you have missed it. Yeah. And you're gonna just, it's gonna be another three years or whatever it may be.
[00:22:06] Cassie Kellner: Absolutely.
[00:22:07] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: It's, really something I talk a lot about.
[00:22:09] Yeah. And, I try to support doctors through it because it is, not everybody loves change the way we do, Cassie. Yeah.
[00:22:15] Cassie Kellner: Absolutely. I get
[00:22:16] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: That. It takes effort. Yeah.
[00:22:17] Cassie Kellner: Yeah.
[00:22:17] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: And fear.
[00:22:18] Cassie Kellner: I think it's really important too that you said that you I In the fast-paced world of orthodontics. Yes
[00:22:26] Right? We forget to connect, right? We're just like, we're going. The minute those patients hit, it's like the door opens, morning's wild, and then 3:00 PM when schools start here we are again, we're going through it, and we forget to connect. And I have found, and I feel, deep about this.
[00:22:48] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yeah.
[00:22:49] Cassie Kellner: If we are not connecting on a consistent basis, then the game of telephone can be incredibly dangerous in your practice.
[00:22:56] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Absolutely.
[00:22:56] Cassie Kellner: We start. We are human, right? We start creating stories in our head about whatever and we're just living in that gray area. Gray is wildly dangerous because then they'll communicate with one another without leadership.
[00:23:14] Yeah. And the next thing we're like, "Wait, what? That was not actually anything or a thing," and now it is. And so if we stop connecting, we create stories, and that can be really dangerous.
[00:23:28] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yes. You're so right. I feel like every conflict that's ever come up in the office has been solved by a come to Jesus talk.
[00:23:34] Cassie Kellner: Yes.
[00:23:34] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: We just get in the same room, and we talk it out, and we get back on the same page again, and all is well, right? And, we do that as soon as possible. As soon as we feel like there are rumblings, that's what we're going to be doing. Yeah, I think it's, a huge. I'm just, I'm thinking.
[00:23:50] You brought something up. Sorry, I'm gonna pause just for a second 'cause you said something, Cassie.
[00:23:56] Cassie Kellner: Connection, meanings, telephones.
[00:23:58] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Rumblings, telephone it's gone. I don't know. But yeah, I just love what you were saying about grumblings and getting people on the same page.
[00:24:08] Cassie Kellner: Yeah. And, that's true, right?
[00:24:10] If you don't communicate, for all of you listening, if you are in your car right now and you have not had a team meeting with your team or had any sort of connection, schedule it right now. Yes. Because I think that's. Oh, go ahead. Did you remember? I
[00:24:23] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Remembered.
[00:24:23] Cassie Kellner: Okay, go.
[00:24:24] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: So from the beginning of my practice, I knew that communication was a huge
[00:24:29] It's a value of mine. I knew that I needed to have that with my team. And so back to the templating, that is big part of where I start in my templates. I am going to prioritize meetings. I'm gonna prioritize huddle time, and then fill in the schedule around it. Because if you don't plan for that time, it's gone.
[00:24:44] Yeah. And that's what you were saying. It's just, we, get there and the hustle starts, and boom, we're off and running. And obviously we do it a lot less now because we're pretty established with things, so it comes in seasons. But during this transition, we were absolutely meeting very frequently, and in the startup phase of training and just. Of course
[00:25:01] Getting everybody on the same page. And that ties in too to core values, and I think that can feel overdone sometimes. People hear that word and kinda tune out. But I will say that has been an absolute game changer in my practice, to have them in writing and have them in front of the team, and to know that we are all rowing in the same direction and can speak to those values instead of just assuming that we're all feeling the same way about what we're doing and why we're doing it.
[00:25:28] Cassie Kellner: Yeah, absolutely. I really agree. Okay, we're gonna pivot. We're gonna talk about your career. You were very clear that this was not the vision. The. I'm sure you've been playing music for a long time, but the travel, the coaching, the lecturing. How did this. Even come about. Tell me your journey.
[00:25:53] I'm fascinated by this. Yes.
[00:25:56] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: I, how to wrap it up in a podcast here. So
[00:26:01] I would say, yeah, you're exactly right. That's, this was never the intention, right? When I opened my practice, that was my goal, was to have this beautiful practice in this community that I live in, and off we went, right?
[00:26:15] And this is where I'll be. And then, like I said, as I started to grow in entrepreneurialship and realize how much I loved running a business
[00:26:24] I would get out into these conferences and realize, "Oh, that's not something that all orthodontists love," right? They don't look at their PNLs. And so I could see that was a strength and a unique strength of mine.
[00:26:35] And same thing started happening with change and leadership and delegation. And the more conversations I was having, the more I could see a need for people to, get these messages out and these tips and tricks that I was doing in my practice. And so you build your awareness again, the self-awareness, but also you start to realize your strengths as you get older.
[00:26:56] Cassie Kellner: Yeah.
[00:26:57] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: And then the opportunity did come to start speaking on a small scale. And I had, like you said, I had done performance, right? I had done theater and music my whole life. So the stage didn't scare me in any way.
[00:27:10] Cassie Kellner: Yeah.
[00:27:10] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: And I saw, and I had done some teaching. I was faculty at the University of Minnesota.
[00:27:15] And so it was just this thing that felt good and sounded purposeful
[00:27:21] Cassie Kellner: Yeah
[00:27:21] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: And that I felt like I had a skill in. And so the more speaking I did, the more, opportunities came, and the more it grew. And I think it was right place, right time, right person. All of that synergy worked out where I had a message that people needed to hear.
[00:27:35] I enjoyed delivering it. Companies needed me to help support this and spread the word about how I had how I had made that transition, how I had done it and start teaching other doctors how to do it too. And the more I've done it, the more I have loved it. It's. So where I wanna kinda pause on this is it's a lesson in all the things in my life where. I've learned that if something feels good to me, I'm gonna say yes to it
[00:28:01] Until it doesn't anymore, And just leaning into things that are in alignment, which again requires you to know yourself and to know and how to listen to yourself and trust yourself, and I'm still working on all of that. But when I, get an opportunity, I really think "That sounds fun.
[00:28:18] Yes." "I'm in." I will do whatever it takes to do my best at this, to, embrace it, to be grateful for it, and go. And so that's what's led to this career. I did not set out to be anything other than an orthodontist. But how grateful I am that I get to be all of these other things because of my orthodontic career.
[00:28:40] Cassie Kellner: Yeah.
[00:28:41] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: And, all of these things really feed me and, are things that I love doing.
[00:28:45] Cassie Kellner: Yeah.
[00:28:46] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: So I just feel really fortunate.
[00:28:48] Cassie Kellner: It's really funny, Jacquee, that you say all this, 'cause I like feel all the feels in what you were saying. A very paralleled, a story too, but, honestly for me, entrepreneurship was never the goal.
[00:29:04] It just wasn't, it wasn't even something I even thought about, right? And then something shifted for me and, I. There's something really interesting for me personally that when I hit my 40s as a female, something shifted entirely for me, and I don't know that everyone feel this, feels this way.
[00:29:27] I get it, but there was like this almost silent empowering, something happened in mindset in growth, in self-awareness in the F it's, where I was like, F it." "I'm gonna do it."
[00:29:44] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yep.
[00:29:44] Cassie Kellner: Or, "F it, I'm not gonna do that." That is not, that's not where I wanna put my energy. Yes. There's something in femi. I, and I'm
[00:29:52] I don't know if males feel this, but I'm just talking about my own personal experience where I went like, "Okay." Yep.
[00:29:59] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Same. Okay. Late 30s for me, it just was this kind of you get tired The same things that have been like the same patterns, you start to recognize these patterns in your life, and you're just like, I have no patience for that anymore."
[00:30:14] I think about, being in our 40s, right? It's also, we have to really think in our diets about every calorie being as high protein and high fiber as it possibly can.
[00:30:25] Cassie Kellner: How much more protein? What
[00:30:27] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: I know, and it's like you can only eat so many calories, let's make them worth it.
[00:30:31] It's the same thing for time. I think the older we get, it's I want my minutes to count. Oh. I want to make sure that, I am investing in things that, you know, my time, my energy, my money are being put towards things that bring me joy and, are in alignment with me. And I think there is something about that when you get older, that you just don't have as much time, and you can start to see it in a different way, and. Yeah
[00:30:54] You also have more, Chutzpah, you know to say no.
[00:30:59] Cassie Kellner: Yes.
[00:31:00] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: And to choose. Yes. Yes.
[00:31:01] Cassie Kellner: Yes.
[00:31:01] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yeah, that is a, it's a true journey. I've, I hear it from many of my friends. I think it's all very real.
[00:31:06] Cassie Kellner: It is real. For us, yeah. And I think there, it's so empowering. It's also really, empowering, powerful to hear other other females talk about it as well. And then you go, "Huh, I had that shift too." Whether that was 35 or 55, doesn't matter. There's like this innate shift that happens where. And, even, as a mother and, an entrepreneur, like that hits on a whole other level of, I want my kids to see their mother do all Yes
[00:31:45] These really incredible, amazing, scary challenging things, I don't always live in my comfort zone. Are you kidding me? But I'm like, "Okay, let's go."
[00:31:55] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yes. Absolutely. Cassie. I love, and like meeting, you. I have so many women within the profession, like you, we talked about, again, tying back to female friendships.
[00:32:04] But there are so many amazing women who are in this generation, in this era, having this same journey, And I, all of us have been at, I've had orthodontist friends for over a decade, right? Yeah. Through my whole career. And we have gone on this journey. So I always think about the women that are just starting, that are in the thick of it.
[00:32:22] Oh. I talk with them a lot because they're hungry for this balance, which is exactly where I was 10 years ago. Yes. I knew I needed something to shift.
[00:32:32] Cassie Kellner: Yeah.
[00:32:33] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Because the traditional model was not going to work for me, and I could see it happening. Yeah. And I could see my burden growing, and the weight continuing to get heavier. Yeah
[00:32:41] As family grew, as practice grew. And so I always I wanna just, hold these women and, tell them like, "You're doing the right things." Because the fact that you're even thinking about it, that you're talking about it, that you're connecting with others about it, that's more than I was doing at the time.
[00:32:56] I had my close friends, but there's so much opportunity now to, ask for help, to get support, to learn from those that have gone before. I, it's, a changing world, and it's really exciting to be in it. I think it's a great era of orthodontic profession. Oh. I'm, so excited for the profession. Me too
[00:33:14] And where we are. Me too. And there is a, wonderful group of men and women, but specifically we're talking about women and my female friendships, that can support that journey. Yeah. And continue to support it moving forward.
[00:33:27] Cassie Kellner: Yes, absolutely. So I
[00:33:27] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Feel, yeah, really fortunate.
[00:33:29] Cassie Kellner: So
[00:33:30] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Talk This podcast included.
[00:33:32] Yeah. Truly.
[00:33:34] Cassie Kellner: Thank you. It's a,
[00:33:34] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Gift. Yeah.
[00:33:35] Cassie Kellner: Thank you. Talk to me a little bit about, now that we're talking about mentoring, mentorship.
[00:33:43] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yes.
[00:33:44] Cassie Kellner: What journey have you been on in the coaching, mentorship kind of realm? And how did it, help you? And when did you decide like, "Okay-" It's time to, bring this in and have these conversations to feel more supported than ever.
[00:34:03] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yes. Again, my whole life I've been somebody who wants to learn from others, right? And take a little bit from here and a little bit from here. Whether it's what to do or what not to do. Yeah. Like I'm a synthesizer.
[00:34:15] Cassie Kellner: Yes.
[00:34:16] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: And so that has always been a part where I've been open to growth and feedback in that way. When I opened the practice is really where it started for me. Probably. I shouldn't say that. Two or three years after I opened the practice, I went to a strategic planning group course, and it was led by a small business leadership coach.
[00:34:37] Cassie Kellner: Okay.
[00:34:38] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: And she was starting a mastermind group, which I had never heard of before. But mastermind group for other business owners in my community.
[00:34:44] Cassie Kellner: It
[00:34:44] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Doesn't,
[00:34:45] Cassie Kellner: And you weren't, it didn't have to be dental, ortho, nothing.
[00:34:47] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: No, it wasn't. It was actually. Love that. Yes. And so I, signed up for this mastermind group.
[00:34:52] I started meeting monthly with this group of other business owners and this coach. I soon found out my business is very different and unique, right? An orthodontic practice, being the doctor and the business owner is a very unique role. Yes. And so I started working with her instead one-on-one. Yeah. And left the mastermind at that point.
[00:35:11] Not that I didn't learn a ton, but it was just, I needed more of the support of what specific challenges I was going through.
[00:35:17] She opened me up completely to, through the Enneagram. We did a lot of Enneagram work. But that's really where I would say the self-awareness for me as a leader started, and as a person.
[00:35:30] And I wasn't ready for it in some ways. 'Cause I thought, you know I'm a great leader. I'm just looking for these little tips and, trying to solve the conflicts and the drama that comes up every now and again. And learn how to be a really great leader. But she really took it in a different direction with me.
[00:35:42] Because if you don't know yourself, you can't know how you're presenting to others, like we talked about. And so that's where it started, was probably 2017. And I started working with her really regularly, and a ton of growth in that four or five years that I worked with her. And then I pivoted to another coach.
[00:36:01] I don't know if I can name drop, but Tarryn McCarthy. The Business of Happiness.
[00:36:06] She is an orthodontist who is now a full-time coach. Wow. And she also just took me to that next level of understood my world. Totally knew the high achieving burnout risk that all of us face. Yes. I, or most of us anyway face.
[00:36:22] And so then she opened my eyes to more, like, nervous system regulation. Journaling, slowing down. Like things that are really challenging for me. And again, still struggle with. She, that's my default. And she had always warned me. She's like, "Jacquee, you've done all this work to open up all of this time in your schedule.
[00:36:39] You have to be very careful that it won't just fill back in again."
[00:36:43] And I remember that piece of advice, and I tried for probably three months to just have open days. And as I, offloaded, as I delegated, as I truly got days off in my life.
[00:36:54] Cassie Kellner: Yeah.
[00:36:55] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: But I haven't kept them. But I have filled them.
[00:36:58] This is where the music comes in. This is where the fulfillment, friendship, spa days, music. Speaking. Like all of that now. Has filled those days that used to be filled with obligations and, demands that didn't bring me joy and didn't, weren't in alignment with what I knew were my strengths and my interests.
[00:37:15] And so yeah, I don't know if that helps. It's a long-winded answer, but
[00:37:18] Cassie Kellner: No,
[00:37:19] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: It's so good it's been a journey of multiple coaches. And within the practice, I brought in consultants in the same kind of way. What do I need right now? Where is the pain point for my team or for me?
[00:37:31] Cassie Kellner: Yeah.
[00:37:31] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Where can we use support?
[00:37:32] And so we've had multiple consultants that we've worked with, for one or two years at a time, that have come in and really changed a certain specific problem that we were having, and I'm a huge proponent of it. Yeah. Because it's like, you can do it. I'm sure you can do it by yourself. Sure. But if you can do it easier, if you can do it better, if you can do it faster, why wouldn't you?
[00:37:52] Cassie Kellner: Absolutely.
[00:37:52] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: And so it's a, great return on investment.
[00:37:56] Cassie Kellner: I just wanna go back to the happiness part of this, Jacquee, because I don't know that people are even focusing enough on this in this very wild 2026 fast-paced world that we live in, where we, there's just, mass consumption of all the things all the time.
[00:38:15] Yes. Whether that's any kind of social media outlet, and now we have the world of AI, where it's like, I can do it faster, quicker. I can have multiple things running at once, where. And my creative brain is, on absolute fire 'cause I'm like, "Ooh, ooh, next." It's so fun. Next. Right? Agreed, yes.
[00:38:37] It's like, boom, here, there. And then I'm like, oh, I can't see straight, and what, my nervous system at the end is Yeah. Because I'm taking it all in, and I wanna do all the things all the time. Yes. And so I have learned, I have been in therapy for 10 years. I, couldn't live without my therapist, if I'm being honest.
[00:39:01] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yes, I love my therapist too. She's the best. Ooh,
[00:39:02] Cassie Kellner: She's And she'll be like, "Okay." It's worth
[00:39:05] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Finding a good one. "Ugh." If you've tried therapy and you haven't enjoyed it or felt like it's worthwhile, you don't have the right therapist. That's right. Continue searching.
[00:39:14] Cassie Kellner: Oh, gosh, this woman.
[00:39:15] Yeah. When I moved from California. I currently am in Connecticut. We've been here seven years. We have a wonderful life. We're not going anywhere, but I grew up in California. My mom knows this, so I'm gonna say this, 'cause she'll probably listen to this. But, I was more sad to leave my therapist than I was to leave my father.
[00:39:35] Because I was like, "My
[00:39:36] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Your
[00:39:38] Cassie Kellner: Mom doesn't cross state lines, yeah. Yes, my mom's a teacher. Yeah. She comes out. She does all the things. Yeah. But, so anyway, I, As an adult, as a human, to get self-reflection, to look inward, as you're saying is very difficult to do. It's one of the reasons why in 2020 I do disc behavior sessions.
[00:40:00] Yes. The tears, the, fact. You just. It doesn't even matter what it is, Jacquee, just for you to get something on paper and go "Oh, this is why I am the way I am, and now I get to self-reflect on it," is huge. That's everything,
[00:40:16] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: If you're open to self-reflection. Which I'm also aware a lot of people in this world aren't.
[00:40:22] No. They like to stay in the bubble. They like to keep the blinders on. But I just, again, same as you, it has absolutely opened my whole world to so much more fulfillment, And it doesn't come without challenge and
[00:40:35] Cassie Kellner: No, of course
[00:40:36] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Grief of leaving, whether it's relationships or people, friendships.
[00:40:41] As you grow, there will be change, right?
[00:40:44] Cassie Kellner: Yes.
[00:40:45] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: But it's so worth because you are going towards a healthier version of yourself, which is only beneficial for those that you love around you. Yeah. And I deeply believe that. And so it's just been. Yeah, it's been a slow progress progressive journey, through the coaching.
[00:41:01] But I love what you're talking about as far When I can just remember these light bulb moments of my coaching experience where she would look at me sometimes and she'd say, "Jacquee, not everybody does that much in a day." 'Cause I'd, relay my days to her, and she'd be like, "You know that's not normal for you to have to do that much in a day."
[00:41:21] And I was like, "No, I don't, know that," because I'm surrounded by my, colleagues and other high-achieving professionals. That's my peer group, right? And like, taking the blinders off slowly and having these little. I think Oprah calls them aha moments, right? Yes. Oh, yes.
[00:41:36] These little aha moments of, now I have to actually sit with that and think about what does that mean? And if I'm not as productive in a day, am I still valuable? Am I still. Oh. What am I bringing to the world then if I'm sitting. And you I don't know if you can see it, but I have a jigsaw puzzle going right now.
[00:41:51] If I just sit and do a puzzle, is that okay? That doesn't feel okay. That's not how I was raised. That's not how I've been groomed. That's not how I've been trained.
[00:41:57] Cassie Kellner: Yes.
[00:41:57] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: But yes, it is okay. Because I need that. And
[00:42:01] Cassie Kellner: Yeah
[00:42:02] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: And learning that's okay has been a, really a gift. Yeah. But it starts with self-awareness, and being open to hearing it, and even if it causes pain, even if it causes embarrassment, vulnerability, being willing to look at yourself and change.
[00:42:19] Cassie Kellner: Absolutely. I, Oh, man. It just full circle here of, creating a life of, a, an intentional life, right? Yes. Beautiful, intentional, feeling grounded. Not always feeling grounded. Yeah. Don't get me wrong. Let's get real. Feeling grounded, and then the ultimate, just based on what you're talking about, is, happy.
[00:42:45] Feeling happy. Yeah.
[00:42:48] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: And happy is an interesting word, right? Totally. I have debates with friends about this. Is that the goal? Is it contentment? Is it gra. Like, what happy can be defined in many ways, but I keep coming back to alignment. It's like knowing yourself and then finding the things that are in alignment with that person.
[00:43:05] And I look at my future self, I reflect back on the past. And again, not too much navel-gazing. We can't just only look inward, of course. You have to have a purpose in life and, know what that is as well. But there is such a, a journey to be done if you're willing to look inside.
[00:43:23] Yeah. And it's, a, it's an ongoing journey.
[00:43:27] Cassie Kellner: Absolutely.
[00:43:28] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yeah.
[00:43:28] Cassie Kellner: Absolutely. I think, you know. Here we are in 2026. If we have another conversation in 2028, that can also look very different because we're just constantly moving and growing and changing and doing all of the things. But it's so incredibly profound, Jacquee, that in 2014 you had this vision, and you were just know you were in the trenches.
[00:43:55] Think about what you were scanning with at the time and what you were doing, and now here we are in the age of AI. 10 years ago, we never could have imagined what this could look like, and now here we are thinking, "Okay, what does, 2036 look like?" Yes. It's just so really incredible, and I think I to just wrap this all up too is, being able to say yes or no to things that really fulfill you, is the ultimate, it's the ultimate goal in life.
[00:44:37] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yeah. I agree. We only have one life. YOLO, you only live once. And I wanna be my best self for my kids because I want them to be their best selves. Yeah. There's always a pay it forward in this for me. There's always a purpose in the work I do on myself because it's, setting an example for those around me, whether it is my team, like I bring a lot of this to the team when I was learning and growing, or if it's to my kids, my colleagues when I teach.
[00:45:11] It's just, I hope that it makes a positive change. Everything that I've done has been for those around me, Whether that's for my team, I bring a lot of the work that I have done with the, my coaches, and obviously the consultants we bring to the team too, so they can apply it to their own lives and their own relationships.
[00:45:29] I do it for my kids. Like I said, I want them to feel like they can do anything and not be, back to the very first question, like not be defined by what they do, but more by who they are. Like what are your strengths? What are the values that you have? Who do you wanna be as a person in this world?
[00:45:46] Not, what do you want to do? I think that's an important lesson, and yeah, I just. Back in 2014, I had no idea that 2026 would look like this. I have no idea what 10 years from now will look like, just like you said. I get excited about that. That doesn't scare me at all. Hearing about AI, hearing about things that are changing the profession or the world, it's, there's opportunity in that.
[00:46:12] Cassie Kellner: Yeah.
[00:46:13] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: If you stay true to your values, if you treat people well, if you look for the areas that bring fun and joy, I think there, the future's wide open to having an amazing life and using those tools and those technologies only to improve, not to harm. And I hope that's true for a lot of people.
[00:46:31] I hope that the world can start to see it that way too. I can get really, I can pontificate on this stuff. I can get really big when I start thinking about all of this, but
[00:46:40] Cassie Kellner: Same
[00:46:41] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: But yeah, it's, exciting for me, and I hope that, people that are listening today really do take that as just start small.
[00:46:49] It started small for me. It started with a word of the year. What's, what am I gonna focus on this year? And just starting with one thing to just keep bringing it back to that for me, for alignment. This year is about, for me this year is authenticity. But I've had compassion, self-compassion for like. Yeah
[00:47:07] Two years in a row I had to have that as my word of the year.
[00:47:10] Cassie Kellner: Yeah.
[00:47:11] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: And it's not been just a whoop, off I go and running. Not thou. It's been a thoughtful progression through many years to get to this point, and I'm very grateful.
[00:47:22] Cassie Kellner: Oh, Jacquee.
[00:47:23] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Yeah.
[00:47:23] Cassie Kellner: Dr. Jacquee Schieck, happy birthday. Thank you.
[00:47:28] Let's just start there. Thank you.
[00:47:30] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: You just
[00:47:30] Cassie Kellner: Made it so
[00:47:31] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Great. Oh. This was an amazing conversation. I didn't know I was going in this direction
[00:47:35] Cassie Kellner: At all. Me neither. And I loved it. That's why I love this so much. Thank you for joining me. Thank you for being vulnerable and authentic, and joining me on your birthday.
[00:47:46] I'm so-. I'm full of gratitude right now. You just made my entire day. I truly, thank you for joining me and agreeing to do this. You're so welcome. I, can't wait to see you at the next meeting in person somewhere. I'm sure I'll be there. Oh, yeah, me too. I, truly thank you for joining. It's my favorite place
[00:48:06] Joining me today. I really appreciate it. Thank
[00:48:08] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: You
[00:48:08] Cassie Kellner: For
[00:48:09] Dr. Jacquee Schieck: Having me, of course. Thank you, Cassie. Thank you so much.
[00:48:13] Cassie Kellner: Yeah. 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.
[00:48:30] 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.
