Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Join Dr. Kim Kutsch, the brilliant mind behind CariFree, as he explores the extraordinary lives of thought leaders in the dental industry, and beyond. Contrary to Ordinary explores further than dentistry - here we unravel the minds of change-makers, paradigm shifters, and world shakers.
Every two weeks, we dive into the stories of our remarkable guests—ordinary people who continually defy limits. Discover their tales of success, resilience, and self-awareness, and explore how they leverage these experiences not only to elevate dental practice and patient care but also to champion personal growth and entrepreneurship. Listen for captivating conversations with innovators who seamlessly blend art and technology, pursue curiosity, and create the truly extraordinary.
Contrary to Ordinary isn't your typical dentistry podcast—it's a vibrant community that's hit #1 in ‘Entrepreneurship,’ #3 in ‘Business,’ and #21 in ‘All Podcasts’ for a reason. We've had the pleasure of hosting inspiring guests like innovators, dental leaders, pioneering inventors, and artists, including Angus Walls, Machell Hudson, Dr. Simon McDonald, Dr. Bobby Birdi, Rella Christensen, Professor Phillip D. Marsh, Carmen Ohling, John Kois, Dr. Susan Maples, Doug Young, Colt Idol, Stephanie Staples, and many more who've graced our mic.
Each episode isn't just a listen; it's a lesson in living an extraordinary life authentically, embracing rebellion, and nurturing leadership. We dive into diverse topics, from mentoring, coaching, personal development, and work-life balance to self-awareness, emotional intelligence, leadership, storytelling, altruism, and motivation. And yes, we also cover dentistry—exploring natural dentists, dental health, dental laboratories, oral care, oral surgery, dental hygiene, caries disease, brushing teeth, and overall tooth care.
Tune in to Contrary to Ordinary for a unique blend of wisdom that goes beyond the ordinary and resonates with all aspects of life! This podcast aims to empower you to be extraordinary in your dental practice and improve not just your dental care but your overall life!
Do you have an extraordinary story you’d like to share with us? Or perhaps a question for Dr. Kutsch. Contact us on our Instagram, Facebook or Twitter today.
About Our Host:
Meet Dr. Kim Kutsch: a retired dentist with 40 years of experience, prolific writer, thought leader, inventor, and researcher in dental caries and minimally invasive dentistry, brings his insatiable curiosity to the forefront. Eager to learn from those breaking boundaries in dentistry, particularly in preventative and non-invasive dentistry approaches, Dr. Kutsch launched the Contrary to Ordinary podcast. As a keen creative and curious mind, Dr. Kutsch extends his podcast guest list to artists, entrepreneurs, and fascinating minds who have piqued his interest. He wants to learn from them and see how he can be inspired by their extraordinary ways of living and adapt his learnings into his own life and his business, CariFree.
About CariFree:
CariFree is the new model for oral health and cavity prevention. Dr. Kutsch is the CEO and founder of this business. They create cutting-edge technology and science-based solutions to common dental health concerns for the whole family, making it easy to banish cavities for good with preventive strategies over restorative procedures. Find out how dentists are using CariFree products to revolutionize their dental practices here: https://carifree.com/success-stories/.
Sheena Hinson:
If you're struggling with something and you're trying to navigate through it, I guarantee you, regardless of what profession you're in, there are other people struggling with the same thing. Right? Your pain points are someone else's out there, and maybe you don't have it all figured out, but working collaboratively with other people, just genuinely trying to help them through it, those opportunities create themselves if you're just trying to do good.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
On Contrary to Ordinary, we explore the motivations, lives, and characters of innovators who see limitless potential around them. Through these conversations, we hope to provide insight into how you can emulate the mindsets of these extraordinary people in your own life and work. My name is Dr. Kim Kutsch, and I spent over 20 years in dentistry before creating CariFree over 20 years ago. We offer a range of dental products to the industry and the public that promote the health and wellness of people suffering from the disease of dental caries.
This week, I'm excited to bring you part two of my conversation with the incredible Sheena Hinson, Senior Marketing Manager at Philips. In the first part of our conversation, Sheena described herself as an accidental expert, someone who let curiosity lead them into the spheres of business development and marketing. So, naturally, you might wonder, how does Sheena approach planning her next move?
Sheena Hinson:
It was certainly probably just a natural evolution/probably some sort of trauma response if we dug into it, but it wasn't by design. I think the mindset of just that desire for growth, not even just financially like, "How can I do this better? How can I grow? How can I learn more?" I don't know that I really thought it out so clearly as I was going through. It was a natural progression, and it was instead of trying to pre-define it all, it was, "This is really working well." I remember, with the consulting, I was surprised because I was so fortunate. When I first started, I had other people reach out to me and were like, "Hey, somebody needs your expertise," and then finally got to a point to where it was like, "Okay. If I'm going to grow this, I need to grow it."
It was such a hard decision because I was literally... from a clinician standpoint in hygiene, I was in my dream role. It was perfect. It was such a distressing decision to step back because I loved my team. I cried. It wasn't like it was a bad situation and I wanted something else. It was so hard to make that decision, but one thing I learned is that the things that were pain points for me that really kept me going, if you're struggling with something and you're trying to navigate through it, I guarantee you, regardless of what profession you're in, there are other people struggling with the same thing. Right? Your pain points are someone else's out there, and maybe you don't have it all figured out, but working collaboratively with other people, just genuinely trying to help them through it, those opportunities create themselves if you're just trying to do good.
I would say that's really how I stepped out there consulting, understanding like, "What did I struggle with? What were the things that... the inefficiencies I had, the ones that I had to work through?" Because if you're dealing with it, there are a lot of other people that are, and I would say regardless of where you're at from a role standpoint, always know that.
When I first started consulting another mentor of mine, I was talking to him and I said, "I don't ever want to be like accidentally say something to someone else's, their content, or their IP, or what have you." I didn't even know what IP meant when I first started, and I was like, "How do I not be that person?" He was like, "Sheena, It's like if you think of Chinese food, it's similar to knowledge. There are only so many ingredients. There's only so much knowledge in the world, but the way you create your dish that is unique to you, and your flavor, some people are going to love, some people aren't."
I think that really gave me the confidence to feel like I'm not an imposter. I know my stuff. I know that I can help people the way I got through it because I was struggling with it. It was a problem. That really made a big difference for me, just going in. I remember that same mentor. He's not even in dental, but when I had one of my first opportunities to really step back clinically, I was like, "Oh, I don't know what I should do," and he's like, "You do know what you should do," and he said... I think it was a quote. It's always quoted from Michael Jordan, but it's actually, I think, a hockey player that said it first, but it was like, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." I'm like, "Darn it. You're right. It's so simple. Why do I make these things so complicated?"
So I think having that outside perspective of people like, "Sheena, why are you stressing over this? Just keep going." But it's so surreal, especially now when I talk through how everything... and I say accidental, but I think everything falls the way it should. Right? The hard stuff, especially the hard stuff that we go through, that's what builds you. That's what shapes you. That's what enables you to support other people. It's like you said, it's not like, "Oh, everything is great." I think being authentic about it and being real about it, it was hard. I cried ugly tears, but I got through it, and you can too.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Yeah. I think being able to... Those challenges, those struggles in life create character, right? They give you the strength and confidence to realize, "Okay. I survived that. The next time I have another issue like that or run into that, I'm going to survive. I'm going to find a way through it. I'm going to figure out a solution. I'm going to work my process. I'm going to work through it and be stronger on the other side coming out."
Sheena Hinson:
Yeah.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
I love what you just talked about, the, "You miss 100% of the shots that you don't take." I always told my kids, "You don't get what you don't ask for."
Sheena Hinson:
That's right.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
"And you may not get what you ask for always, but you, for sure, don't get what you don't ask for." Right? So I think asking for help... Just my own experience in my own life, asking for... and I hear this from you, asking mentors, asking people after a conference, and going up and saying, "Can you help me with this?" and people say, "Yes." It's a matter of having a confidence to go up and say, "I'm struggling with this. Can you help me with this? Have you got any ideas, or any solutions, or thoughts?" It's interesting. So what drives you? At the core of Sheena Hinson, what drives you?
Sheena Hinson:
Growth and not just for myself, certainly, not just from a financial standpoint, but just that... It sounds cliché, but that constant, never-ending improvement. I think that's... This sounds silly, but it's really a lifestyle, right? No matter what I do, whether it's the way I mother, the way I... Certainly, the way I cook could always get better or just start cooking, but I have other strengths. But just that constant desire to get better, to do better, to be better, to give back better, that's what keeps me going.
Also, it's a challenge sometimes because I like to come in, and I like to do things, and I like to do them well. Especially this transition into corporate things aren't as agile, right? You can't just snap your fingers and do something. It's certainly frustrating at times, but it's teaching me a lot. That's what drives me. That's what fuels me. Whether it's myself trying to improve, helping my kids do something better or see something differently, whether it's in business, whether it's just supporting friends, just helping people win, that gets me excited. That is what fuels my soul.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
So is this something that you feel is just innate? Were you born with that, or was that something you learned from maybe your parents, or was this something that somewhere along in your life, you made a decision like, "This is important to me. I want to continue to grow. I want to..." Where does that come from, do you think?
Sheena Hinson:
I think a lot of it was my mother had those expectations, and it was just not an option. It was like, "Hey..." I mean, it wasn't like in a traumatic way, but it was, "You can do it." Even though there were some things, my mom was like, "Oh, you can do anything," and she meant it. But I think that probably, deep down, pushed me to always improve and grow. Mom definitely pushed me to have that mindset, but it's not... When I was young, I didn't really consciously think, "Oh, I have to be better," which was a good thing and a bad thing. I was never really anxious test-taker. I never stressed out over a grade. But if it's something that I'm super interested in, I'm going to hyper-fixate on it, and I'm going to learn a whole new industry topic, right, because you just are fascinated by it.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Uh-huh.
Sheena Hinson:
I think trying to follow what does fascinate me, what does fuel me really helped, but whenever... I guess a couple years ago, I did one of those CliftonStrengths assessments, and it changed my life, really, in some ways because the ladies that I heard speak at the DO Conference, they were talking. One of the ladies was speaking, I'll never forget, and she made the comment, "If you look at the things that drain you whenever your day-to-day, odds are those are the things that aren't your innate strengths."
So I think seeing that, it made my whole life make sense, and I've really tried to live by that and practice what I preach. There are certain things you just have to do, but whenever I stay in those top strengths, the things that I'm just naturally inclined... My top one is communication, shocker, I can talk to the wall, and input. I'm like a fact-finder. I'm a hoarder of information. Then, futuristic. I like to look at things holistically and not just, "Oh, if we fix this problem, what does it do in six months or in three months? What is it like in six months? What's it going to look like in a year? Because we might fix something in the short-term, but we don't in the long-term."
So trying to really leverage that, but it's challenging in some ways too because you do have to do what you got to do to get the job done. Sometimes, because I do see things more futuristically and I know that I've gathered all the right research... I'm pretty good at communications, but I don't always excel at articulating what I see in my brain, and that can be frustrating at times because I'm like, "I know that I know." But then, having to put my brakes on and really try to clarify, and especially in corporate life, right, that's been really hard, but that's going to help me be better.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
As Sheena points out, the day-to-day demands of running a business or department often require immediate action and quick decisions. However, without incorporating long-term thinking, there's a risk of missing opportunities for innovation down the line. Harvard professor and author, Dorie Clark, addresses this in her talk Seven Strategies for Long-Term Thinking. All of the suggestions Clark makes in this video are great, but my personal favorite is the idea of creating white space in our schedules. Often, our calendars are packed with meetings, leaving no room for reflection. Clark suggests scheduling non-negotiable time for us to pause and dream. Even just 15 minutes here and there can make a big difference in helping us strategize for the future. We'll put a link to Clark's talk in this episode's show notes. In the past, Sheena hasn't left herself a whole lot of time for reflection.
Sheena Hinson:
Personally, I've dealt with my fair share of... separated, made all the big life changes within a couple of weeks. I think I bought a new place, moved out, separated, started a new job all within three weeks. It's like go big or go home, right? That's been a challenge, but it's also been a positive thing. I've noticed in the way that my ex and I have navigated through this, it's like, "Okay. We can do this the hard way or we can do it the easy way." Sometimes it takes us swallowing pride or going with the flow when we want to dig our heels in, but I've noticed, just talking to some of my friends, how it's impacted them. They're like, "Well, you know, Sheena and Derek are doing this civilly. They're doing it calmly. They're not traumatizing their children."
I think that's been the upside of some of the transition that I've had in my life, but I would say the biggest barriers or traumas, if you will, is sexual abuse when I was younger. I didn't realize until I was probably pushing 30 the impact that had on me, but it also... There's a concept I've dug just into enough to be dangerous, but it's like post-traumatic growth, so I'm like, "Maybe that's where it all comes from." But I think the key is we all have our hardship that we go through. You can either whine about it, or you can use it as a stepping stone, and that's what I decided to do, and how can I pull somebody else up out of it?
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Yeah. I think we always have a tendency to look at people and go, "Oh, they've got such a perfect life."
Sheena Hinson:
Perfect. Oh, Instagram. My life looks great on Instagram, right?
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Oh, right. Yeah, and if we look at people and we hold them up and think, "Oh, they've got it all together. They have it figured out-"
Sheena Hinson:
Nobody has it together.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
The reality is every human... If you have a belly button, you're going to go through hardship.
Sheena Hinson:
Yep.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Right? Everybody is, and I think recognizing that... At least in my own experience, just recognizing that about myself in my own life has made me a whole lot more empathetic, and caring, and understanding toward other people.
Sheena Hinson:
Yep.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Right? I'll run into somebody who is maybe rude, or abrupt, or whatever, and I'm thinking, "You know what? They might be having a really bad day."
Sheena Hinson:
Yeah.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
I don't know. Before, it's so easy to judge, and we are judgmental.
Sheena Hinson:
Yep, yep.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Right? We spent our entire day judging everything, right? We can be so judgmental, and sometimes it's really healthy to step back and go, "I really don't know what's going on in their life, and they could be going through some really hard stuff right now," and just to be able to give them the grace of space.
Sheena Hinson:
Just assuming goodwill. Right. Yeah.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Assuming that they're doing their best and they're having a hard time, right?
Sheena Hinson:
Yep.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Because you realize at times, you've not been at your best and have had struggles in your own life, right? So I think it makes us better human beings.
Sheena Hinson:
For sure. Hands down.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
You know?
Sheena Hinson:
Hands down.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
You know? Hands down. So what accomplishment or achievement in your life are you most proud of?
Sheena Hinson:
I would say family-wise, my children and just trying to raise them to be okay being humble, to be okay being wrong. As a mother, it's hard. You have a moment where you're not exactly shining and trying my best. Not always successfully, but to model like, "Hey, you know what? I overreacted. What you did, maybe it wasn't acceptable, but the way I reacted wasn't." When you see them model that, you're like, "My number one goal is to raise kids that are successful and that are not assholes. That is what I'm trying to accomplish in this life and to really set them up to make their difference in the world on whatever level that would be." That's what it's all about, and I would say professionally... I remember all the way back to hygiene school, our teacher's like, "Oh, if you ever want to do anything outside of clinical hygiene, you've got to have more than an associate's degree if you ever want to teach, if you ever want to be a leader, if you ever want this or that."
I certainly don't discount education. I think it's amazing. I think it's great. I'm not downplaying that and the value that it brings, but I think the fact that I can talk to people and say, "Look, don't let that hold you back. Yeah, you're going to have to work hard. It's not going to come easy. Nobody is just going to be like, 'Hey, here, you become a consultant too.' You've got to put in the blood, sweat, and tears." But I think letting them know like, "You can do it too. Is it going to be easy? No. But can you do it? Yes. Do you have to spend all of this time doing education?" Maybe that's not the path for them, but I think giving someone that permission that I feel like people gave me along the way, that makes me proud.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
If you could give your 25-year-old self advice, what would you say to yourself?
Sheena Hinson:
Find mentors.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Find mentors?
Sheena Hinson:
Mentors. They would change your life.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Yeah, yeah.
Sheena Hinson:
Even if you don't think they're... Nobody wears a badge like, "Hey, I'm a mentor. Pick me." Mouth of the south here, just talking to everybody. I would say my first formal mentor was one of my patients, and I'm "blah blah blah"], yapping a hundred miles an hour, but he was like, "Oh, I do mentoring." He was out of the insurance industry and just him investing that time with me. We just did some books together, but I remember so distinctly like, "Oh, I have a mentor, a real mentor." Before that, it's just this concept you hear, but you don't know anybody that actually does it, but that's what I would've changed sooner. That and reading.
I only started reading when I was like 30, and it was because my boss at the time forced me. We had a book club. It was Make your Bed. That's what it was. I hated reading. It turns out it's because I had ADHD that wasn't diagnosed. Now, I'm fascinated with that, but it would be starting to read audiobooks, whatever it is, and then mentorship. That made so much difference. Just reading literally has changed my life, and whenever I talk with some of my colleagues and mentors, a lot of what they know that's helped them be successful beyond their formal education has been what they've learned reading out of curiosity, not just out of textbook or from an academic standpoint, but, "How can I be better? How can I take this and translate it from another industry to mine?"
I feel like I've had the most success in what I've done being able to pull that here and there. I would say more recently, I've just really embraced the fact that's not how everyone's brains work. So there are things that I certainly don't thrive in. So trying to lend my strength in that to help other people, and then also finding out like, "Instead of me doing everything, how can I bring other people in to help them win? Right?" Same thing back to when you're leading a team, "How can I help them shine?" I think it is just fascinating. I don't know another word for it, the way it all just comes around full circle.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Hey, Contrary to Ordinary listeners. I want to tell you about my company, CariFree. We offer affordable science-based solutions to common dental health concerns for the whole family. Banish cavities for good, and welcome in a healthy smile and a great first impression. Visit CariFree.com for more details. Now, back to the show.
Where do you see the dental profession 10 years from now?
Sheena Hinson:
I see it a lot more collaborative. I think we've got some obstacles to overcome as far as this us-and-them mentality especially-
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Collaborative in what sense, Sheena?
Sheena Hinson:
I think in peer-to-peer within our industry like dentists, and hygienists, and assistants. But then, also, when we think outside of dental care, when we think of medical and just really value-based care, it's coming. It should be here already, right? We know that we've got this oral systemic link. Why are we not connecting it? Why are we not doing more to bridge that together? I think just within the industry, back to the first part I said, I think it's going to take this kind of... I don't know the best way to articulate it, but getting rid of that mentality like us and them, and as hygienists, us understanding like, "You know what? If we can train dental assistants to do more, why wouldn't we?" Right? There are plenty of patients, there are plenty of practices to go around. Then, same thing with hygienists and dentists, right? If hygienists can do the things that dentists can... If you can delegate something, you should, and it gives them more opportunity to grow and to do more of the... from a procedure standpoint, do more of what they probably enjoy doing.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Right.
Sheena Hinson:
I think that it's beautiful.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
And the patients win. At the end of the day, the patients win because there's-
Sheena Hinson:
Everybody wins.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Right. Yeah.
Sheena Hinson:
I think right now, there's, "Oh, we can be profitable and not have to have these hygienists," but it's like you can be very ethically profitable with a hygiene department without capping compensation, but you've got to open your eyes to it. Right? You've got to know that you may not own the market, own all the great ideas, and really, why do you hire smart people if you don't let them engage in their strengths? I think it's not even a generational thing. I think it's just a mindset. Really, people stay within their bubble, right, whether it's some of my fellow hygienists, whether it's some dentists, whether it's maybe just a practice as a whole.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
We all find our comfort zone, and we tend to want to stay there.
Sheena Hinson:
Yes. Yeah.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
I think that's human. We hate change. I think that's part of human nature, and so the change agents really upset the cart for a lot of people, right?
Sheena Hinson:
Yeah, and it's hard.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Uh-huh.
Sheena Hinson:
I never considered myself really a disruptor, and I think maybe one of my mentors described me as that, and I was like, "Yeah, you're right," but I'm like, "Why is it so damn hard? I'm trying to disrupt for the greater good." It forced me to really assess how I communicate. So, yeah, it's quite interesting, but we have to have that really open mind and really, always explore the contrarian aspect. I think I'm right. I feel pretty confident I'm right, but what does it say about me if I will hear the other side of the argument? Because we're not going to go anywhere personally or as a whole, as an industry, or even outside of industry if we don't hear each other out. Even politics, people are like, "Oh, you should never talk about politics, or this, or that." It's like, "Do you realize how warped that is? Shouldn't we all be civil and respectful enough to agree to disagree, right, whether it's politics, whether it's industry?" It's insanity.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
That is right, but as a society, be able to have the hard conversations.
Sheena Hinson:
Yes.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Because we need to have those. We're suffering.
Sheena Hinson:
You have to. It's not going to self-resolve.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
We're suffering, and we're making it worse by not talking about it, right?
Sheena Hinson:
Exactly.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
By not having the conversation.
Sheena Hinson:
One of my patients described it so well, and this is relevant whether you're thinking politics or really anything that there's disagreement, but he was talking, really, politics. But if you think go into a really nice entryway, and there's this beautiful ornate area rug with tassels on either end, that rug can be immaculate. But if those tassels on either end are in disarray, your eyes go straight to the tassels. Most of us are in the middle big part of the rug, but you've got the crazy-ass tassels on either end that really create a lot of the upheaval. We've got to embrace the fact that you know what? We may disagree. Yeah, maybe there are the crazy tassels, but I am strong enough and confident enough in what I believe. I'm not going to get emotional about it.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
When we sit down and have those conversations, we discover that we agree on so much more than we disagree on.
Sheena Hinson:
Yes.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
I think we all want the same things, and maybe we just have different ideas about how to go about and accomplish it, but we all want the same things, right?
Sheena Hinson:
You're so right, and it's like you can... I could dislike. I could really, really dislike 20% of you. But if we were in line 80% out of a hundred, we could still be friends. Right?
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
Sheena Hinson:
I think it's really that mentality even when it comes into professional stuff like, "Yeah. Maybe we don't agree, obviously, with dental assistants being able to do some of the hygiene roles, or hygienists being able to do restorative, or so on." I think really taking a step back and like, "Okay. Do we have more commonalities than differences? If not, how can we work through this to where we can make it a win-win, even if we don't perfect..." You don't have to go 100% to one side or the other. Finding that compromise that makes sense.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
If we have a common goal and our goal-
Sheena Hinson:
Exactly.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
... and our goal is to provide care and access to care to the public, how we get there, we can compromise, and we can figure it out, right?
Sheena Hinson:
Exactly, and you've got to have a certain level of humility to be able to approach those conversations, but I think... You see on social media, people are like competition is at the ground level. The people at the top are collaborating.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
Sheena Hinson:
There are companies that have very different beliefs on the way business is done and anything, but they still can work through and work around differences. I think even on a basic level, even within a solo practice, you've got to find those commonalities and focus on those more than the differences.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
So what are your goals for the future? What does Sheena Hinson's life look like 10 years from now?
Sheena Hinson:
Mm, that's a great question. Well, I've learned not to be too prescriptive based on what we've discussed prior to this. Never say never. I've learned that, for sure. I'll never forget the first time. It was Ann Duffy. She was like, "Why aren't you in marketing?" and I was like, "I'm not a marketer." She was like, "Yes, you are." I would say in 10 years, it's stronger than I am, helping more people come up alongside me or even go ahead of me. Then, I know the rest just works itself out, right? I think if I help other people thrive, then I'll thrive and just do the right thing. Leave everything a little bit better than you found it authentically and just... I want to be growing something. I can promise you I'll be doing that.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
That's awesome. So what do you do for fun? I'm assuming it's not cooking from our conversation.
Sheena Hinson:
No, it's not. It's not. There are other things I'm good at. I really love messing with my flowers, and planting flowers, and digging in the dirt, and that kind of stuff.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Gardening.
Sheena Hinson:
Gardening.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Has that been a lifelong thing for you?
Sheena Hinson:
No. Actually, I remember when I was young, my grandmother had about 16 or 17 acres, and I spent a lot of time with her and my step-grandfather. She would just walk around the yard and look at her flowers, and I just remember thinking, "My gosh, is this all you do?" Then, here I am living her best life, and I'm like, "Oh, look at that flower. Oh, let me go out there today and see if it's bloomed." But it's therapeutic, and I think it might be my neurodiversity. It's something that's engaging enough that I'm doing something, but it's not so much that my brain is tired because you're focused enough to be distracted, but not so much. You have to focus. That and thrift shopping. I love my designer bags. I love nice things, but it's like this thrill of the hunt, like this dopamine triggering something.
Those are things that I enjoy doing. Obviously, I enjoy spending time with my kids, and I love the coast and traveling, exploring more of the world, and trying new things. I feel like this year has really been an opportunity to create my life by design, and still learning my way around that and what that looks like, but trying to be a lot more intentional with what I do. There are days where I waste a whole Saturday, and then I'm like, "Darn it, I should have done this. I said I was going to play pickleball or I was going to do this, that, and the other," but trying not to beat myself up too bad about it and just do something the next day, force myself out.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Allow yourself to be.
Sheena Hinson:
Yes, yes.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Be a human being that-
Sheena Hinson:
It's so hard though, especially when... Just the way my brain is built, "Oh, no, down time is not allowed. Oh, you just wasted a whole day," but it's like, "No, you spent a day recovering, relaxing." I think just the culture and really, my personal self-imposed beliefs that every minute's got to be productivity of some kind. I'm trying to be a little more relaxed about that, but... Yeah.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
We've covered a lot of ground, and this has been fun. Anything that you want to add?
Sheena Hinson:
I would just say if you're struggling with something, put it out there that you're struggling. Don't try to act like you've got it all together, and this is as an individual, just professionally, or as a company, reach out because there are people out there that want to help you. Right? Now, sometimes that's as a business. That's obviously what they're doing as a service, but there are some people that just want to help. They will help. It's a dopamine hit for them to help, right? Always reach out, right? Whether it's on an individual or on a larger level, just do it. If you're not certain if something is right for you, show up. Ask the questions. Be okay with saying, "I'm struggling." Be okay with saying, "This sucks the life out of me." Be okay with saying, "I'm really good at that. Let me help you." Stay authentic. That's just what I want everybody to do. Nobody wants a Stepford wife, right? Just be you, and be you 100.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Cool. Well, thank you so much, Sheena. This has been awesome.
Thank you so much Sheena Hinson for joining me today, and thank you for going on this inspiring journey with me. Around here, we aim to inspire and create connections. We can't do it without you. If this conversation moved you, made you smile, or scratched that little itch of curiosity today, please share it with the extraordinary people in your life. If you do one thing today, let it be extraordinary. Bye for now.