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This is your destination for feeling empowered in building your business.
These are the real, raw stories of entrepreneurs and business owners who have built their businesses through the messy middle of $1-20 Million, hosted by serial entrepreneur Matt Tait.
Matt knows what it’s like to scale past the first million, and on this show he’ll be bringing on other serial entrepreneurs and business owners who have been there, done that (or, are currently in it) to share what’s worked, what hasn’t, and what’s next.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:00:00]:
I always say you have a dreamer. You have someone who has the vision, who has the big picture in mind, but you need somebody who can actually execute that.
Matt Tait [00:00:07]:
Right.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:00:07]:
Because sometimes that's not the same person. You could be a dreamer. You could have all these ideas, but then you have to have someone to bring you back to say, okay, these are great, but what one of these are we going to focus on? Because each of these require.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:00:16]:
And prioritize it.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:00:17]:
Prioritize and require certain steps to execute them. And we can't do them all, because if you're doing them all, then none of them are being done well.
Matt Tait [00:00:23]:
Hi, I'm Matt Tait. Founder of Decimal and host of After the First Million podcast. And like you, I've taken the leap not just to start a business, but to scale and grow it. I've hustled from zero to that first million, and now I'm building for the next 50. I know firsthand what the messy middle looks like. And we need more than just numbers. We need strategy, we need community, and we need real conversations about what growth takes. In our line of work, scaling beyond a million means going beyond the spreadsheet. This is where you learn how to grow. This is After the First Million.
Matt Tait [00:01:20]:
Welcome to today's episode of After the First Million. I am excited today to talk to Dr. Christian Johnson, because of a couple of reasons. Number one, she runs an amazing orthodontic practice out of Atlanta. She did go to the second best school on Tobacco Road. She's a Tar Heel from UNC.
Matt Tait [00:01:21]:
But what she's done in her practice is a great example of how to be a great doctor, run a great business, and I would say probably balance life and work. It is relatively well on a decent basis.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:01:33]:
Yes.
Matt Tait [00:01:33]:
So, Dr. Johnson, thank you so much for joining me today.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:01:36]:
Glad to be here today. Looking forward to our talk.
Matt Tait [00:01:38]:
So I already let the cat out of the bag about UNC.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:01:41]:
Yes.
Matt Tait [00:01:41]:
And we've been laughing about it to start. But tell us a little bit about your journey and how you got to being an orthodontist.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:01:49]:
Absolutely. So I grew up going to dentist, went to my orthodontist. Love the experience that I have. My orthodontist, the interesting part about it is that he was actually very quiet. Actually had more interactions with this team than I did with the actual orthodontist. But somehow that inspired my journey. And so after I finished high school, my dentist, my general dentist, said, you know, if you're interested in dental school, why don't you come work at the office this summer? So that summer, before I went to college, I worked at that office.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:02:13]:
This was pre digital charts, computers, all that. So it was paper charts. There was still a dark room for developing X rays. So I essentially was like a glorified, you know, sterilization technician. I pulled charts, I developed X rays in the dark room, I turned rooms, and then I would do period charting for the hygienist. But from that experience, I was like, I really like this avenue of healthcare because I wasn't quite sure that I was convinced that I want to do medicine. Okay? But I was like, I really like dentistry. So went to dental school, as you said, to UNC, Go Tar Heels.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:02:43]:
And while I was there, still just never shook the idea of going to dental school. But I ran track in college. So because I was a track and field student athlete, by the time I got ready to graduate from undergrad, I hadn't taken all of the requirements for dental school to be able to take the DAT my junior year. So I couldn't take the DAT until after my. After I graduated. So I took a gap year. So during that gap year, I took the dat, applied to dental school, and then ended up back at UNC for dental school, which was an awesome experience. I always tell people the gap year was the best year that I took because it gave me a break from school.
Matt Tait [00:03:16]:
Oh, yeah.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:03:16]:
But it also helped me to really kind of hone in on, is this truly what I want to do? Is this my passion? And so that's how I ended up back at UNC. But I went to dental school thinking I was going to be an orthodontist. I was like, I'm going to dental school for the direct purpose of becoming an orthodontist. But got to UNC. We had a very heavy curriculum in pediatric dentistry and in orthodontics, and we had a lot of dual trained faculty that were at UNC. And so I really kind of got to see how pediatric dentistry and orthodontics, how they just marry together so well. You're treating this population that's in this transitional phase. And pediatric dentistry simply leads into orthodontics, typically for most children.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:03:50]:
And so that's kind of where that first interest was like, well, maybe I could consider dual training. And so kind of shift up gears completely. Went into the pediatric industry straight out of dental school at Ohio State, and then got to a crossroads where I was like, am I still going to do a second residency in orthodontics, or is it time for me to work because I'm accumulating all of this debt that Goes, okay, I'm accumulating all this debt. I need to work. And I'm sure my parents are probably like, are you going to work? I mean, are you going to be an eternal student? Are you going to work? And so then I finished pedo residency, worked for a year as a pediatric dentist. And during that time that I worked as a pediatric dentist was when I applied to orthodontic residency and then ended up back at UNC for orthodontics. So that's kind of been my journey into dual training as a pediatric dentist and an orthodontist.
Matt Tait [00:04:36]:
Well, that's really cool. I'm interested because I find that so many people that have the, I would say, like, varsity college athletic backgrounds.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:04:44]:
Yes.
Matt Tait [00:04:45]:
They carry the drive that it takes to get that far into their career. And it sounds like that was your path because most people don't say, and it's like, you and I are old enough to the old Deion Sanders commercials with the Cowboys, like Jerry Jones, like, you want 15 million or 20 million? And Deion's like, both, Both. And so you, you did the same thing with, with dentistry.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:05:05]:
Yes. And so I will say too, when you bring up, like, when I think back on my college days as being a varsity student athlete, it required a lot of discipline because during our off season, our off season was in the fall. Well, we would have two a day practices. We'd have practice in the morning before class, then you would go to class and you'd have to come right back after and go back to practice. And so I was one of the college students that had to take 8am classes. There was no choice because I had to be done by a certain time and time for our afternoon practice. But I will say, those early lessons, when you're 18 years old, 19 years old, of like really learning time management and deciding, you really learn discipline. And you learn that even when you feel like you're at your absolute limit, there's usually just a little bit more in the tank.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:05:44]:
I can do one more thing. And then you look back on it and be like, all those things that I thought were so hard, I overcame. And so it's always like when you take on a new project, it's like, let me apply those same principles I had then.
Matt Tait [00:05:54]:
Now, as much as I give UNC a hard time, it's really just around the athletics because it is a phenomenal school.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:06:01]:
Yes.
Matt Tait [00:06:01]:
And so it wasn't like you were playing sports and not going to a very good college at the same time. And so you had to balance a lot.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:06:11]:
Absolutely.
Matt Tait [00:06:12]:
And it sounds like that has really carried you through to your practice today.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:06:17]:
Absolutely. So when I think about even the transition, because I started my career as an associated practice and I still am there a couple of days per week, but when it came to kind of juggling the two as far as like, still working my associate job, but then also doing the startup practice, just the time commitment, because you're working eight to five. Well, those are the business hours for everyone else that I need to talk to as I'm doing this startup practice. And so just finding the time between the two, whether it meant, you know, Friday afternoons on the weekends, but you just find time and you're like, okay, I need to make this decision today. This decision can wait till next week. But just those kind of skills as far as time management, juggling things, and then looking at, you know, decisions. Okay, what are the pros, cons, and what are my options?
Matt Tait [00:06:57]:
Well, and would you say, too, it's also the intentional desire to work hard at decimal 110 employees. And a lot of times I'll talk to kids and I'll be like, hey, you can choose some years, maybe you want to work 40 hours a week. That's awesome. It's a great balance for you. If you want to eventually have my job or your job, sometimes you have to make the decision that. I can't remember the last time I worked.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:07:21]:
Oh, yes, yes. Sometimes I tell people the work life balance, that's sometimes a myth. Depending on what you want to do, there are going to be times that you make sacrifices where work is going to outweigh your time spent with life and family. And a lot of us, for most of us, we spend more time at work than we spend with our families at times. And so that work life balance, you have to decide what is it that I actually want and am I willing to make sacrifices now to get to where I want to be, understanding that the balance will shift over time. But there are times when it's out of balance and there is no balance. But it's what you said is that you have to have that drive and that commitment that I'm going to do what I want to do, because this is the goal that I set for myself. Yeah.
Matt Tait [00:07:57]:
And I would say to buy in from the people around you.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:07:59]:
Oh, absolutely.
Matt Tait [00:08:00]:
I've got an amazing wife who's got a way cooler job than I have and three kids and that buy in from everybody and sometimes to balance between the people in your lives and saying, hey, this is my couple of months, next couple of months is yours. And understanding how to do that, I think is. Is tough.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:08:17]:
And not only the balance, but also empowering those around you because there are certain things that you're not going to be able to do anymore that you're going to have to trust somebody else to do. And even that's whether that's in your personal life or even in your work life where we can't do it all, we have to learn to be able to delegate. When you delegate, I think the biggest thing is that did you train well enough? Is that when you delegate, they're able to take the role and make their own and trust them to do it. Yes. And not micromanage around that.
Matt Tait [00:08:41]:
Well, that balance is a great segue because something else that, that you and I talked about earlier that I think is really hard in services. Dental, orthodontic services, professional services. As a lawyer, I know that when I went to law school, I was trained to be a lawyer, not to run a business. I've now spent a career running a business, so I've had to learn. But it's the same in orthodontics and in dentistry. You go to school to be an orthodontist, to be a dentist, and yet you've expanded beyond that. Talk about how you've learned how to balance. I'm sure maybe made some mistakes on the business and balance side to make the decision to grow beyond what I mean, most orthodontists have a nice good practice, they make great money, but they don't try to grow beyond that.
Matt Tait [00:09:27]:
You've made a conscious decision to go beyond that. Talk about how you balance that and run business.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:09:33]:
That's a great thing. And even going back to the initial part that you introduced this with in terms of you go to school to learn, like basically a trade or a skill. So you learn to be a dentist and you learn to be an orthodontist. As a part of that curriculum. There are a few courses that you get on practice management, building a practice, but at the time, a lot of the information is so high level over your head, you're like, what are you even talking about? And then on top of that, the profession and the business aspect of it changes from when you were in school to where it's evolved to now, because orthodontics as a whole has changed over time just with the advancement of technology. So when it came time to open a practice, one of the first things is like, where do I start? Where do I even start to build my team? I was like, I know there are key players I need for my team. But then once you build that team, you're like, okay, now I have this team around me.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:10:14]:
How do I actually open this business? How do I run this business? And then what are the metrics I'm looking at to make sure this business is actually a business and doing well? And so what I would say is that comes from, number one, surrounding yourself with great mentors, people who you desire to emulate, that you've seen, okay, they've been successful. Let me kind of observe them, Let me see what they did, how did they meet, how did they do that, how were they successful? And then take it from that and not to duplicate it, but to make it your own. Say these are some core foundations in terms of, these are things that I have to do and have in place make this business successful. But then how am I going to differentiate it? To say, this is me, this is Christian Johnson, this is my practice, and this is what I want to be known for. It's a lot of just mistakes. There are things that I can tell people. I'm like, so this is what I did. You shouldn't do that.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:10:56]:
If I had to do all over again, I would maybe look at it differently from this standpoint. Even from the early stages of doing the build up of the practice, to, you know, getting all the systems in place at the practice, to hiring employees, there are just things that you learn along the way. But the good news is that all of the mistakes are typically recoverable. You're not going to be doomed to the end if you're like, oh, I wish I hadn't done that. But I think the biggest thing that we always hear is that you learn from those mistakes. Those mistakes are what make you better. Looking forward, so.
Matt Tait [00:11:22]:
So sports was a big part of my life and it helped me get into college. What I learned through, through sports being a big part of my journey was resilience and the ability to be okay with failure.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:11:34]:
Yes.
Matt Tait [00:11:34]:
And I think it's so hard. We live in a world and social media and all that stuff is made perfect. Seem attainable.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:11:40]:
Yes.
Matt Tait [00:11:41]:
And it's not. And yet I think failure is the greatest thing that you can have in business because like you said, it's all recoverable, even the things that you think aren't. And that resilience carries you through. And it seems like that's also something that. That has underlined your, your growth and your journey as well.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:12:00]:
Yeah. And so I think not only the resilience and Failures. But even sometimes in practice, because anytime you work in a service industry and you have people who are consumers who are purchasing something, when someone tells you no, you feel this feeling of like, oh, they rejected me. What did I do wrong? Where am I insufficient? Why did they not choose me? And then it's not necessarily that. It maybe just means they found something that was a better fit because maybe it was closer to where they worked, where they go to school. Or maybe it was just a feel. It was a feel of like, I just jive with this person better. But then you have to remind yourself of, but let me think about all the parents, patients and families who have chosen me rather than looking at this one rejection or failure.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:12:37]:
But also too sometimes when you have that nor that rejection and you follow up, wanted to maybe find out, well, can you just tell me why? Maybe you chose a different office or chose a different practice. And hearing that feedback also makes you a better business owner, a better practitioner. There were things that you didn't even pick up on that maybe the family was expressing that you're like, now that you say that, oh, let me take a pause for a moment and see. How can I be better? Exactly. You learn from those and you grow from those mistakes or those quote unquote rejections.
Matt Tait [00:13:03]:
Well, and you also learn too. And I'm sure this happens in dentistry and orthodontics is there are sometimes bad patients as you grow and as you mature in your practice. You're like, that's not going to be good for me. We'll refer that we got somebody would be great for you. Yeah, but this is like the core of what I'm looking for growth.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:13:22]:
Absolutely. So we kind of call it, we term it red flags. What are the red flags that you see that maybe jukes eyes just aren't compatible. And that doesn't necessarily mean always, you know, even though we like to label them the quote unquote bad patient. But it's just one of those things. You know what? I don't think that I'm going to be able to meet your expectations or what you're looking for in a practice. But there are so many great orthodontists or colleagues in the area or pediatric dentists that I think might be a better fit. But I think also too is something that I learned early from one of my mentors was like, every patient isn't your patient for various reasons.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:13:52]:
Whether it's not my personality fit, their personality fit, what they need from a scheduling standpoint. Are you open on weekends? No. I'm not, you know, just those different things. But I think being comfortable and being confident, knowing this is our population, this is who we want to treat, this is who we're trying to attract to our practice.
Matt Tait [00:14:08]:
Right.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:14:08]:
Because that's also going to attract more like minded patients and parents because they're going to go tell their friends. And so you're going to kind of create this population of patients with a certain personality, with a certain culture that you're like, this is what we want our practice to be.
Matt Tait [00:14:22]:
That's brand too. Sometimes I think in certain industries that word can feel negative. It can, but it just is who we are. We as people have a brand of. That's how we attract friends, that's how we engage with our family and work is the same thing. And particularly when we start businesses, that business starts to mirror us too. And that just becomes an extension of our brand. And I think that's really cool.
Matt Tait [00:14:48]:
So I want to pull this back to taking orthodontics out of it. You run a business, how do you run that business separate from being an orthodontist?
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:15:01]:
So I think about just my interactions with my team and what I want to empower my team with. I had a mentor once tell me that he always told employees that you have an end date here at this job, whether you move, whether you decide to go somewhere else or just with life circumstances. And so with that same advice, when I'm interacting with my team, I always tell my team, especially a new hire, I said, what. What my goal is while you're here is number one, that you feel empowered, that you feel respected, and that you feel like you've learned something by being here at this practice. I don't want you to come to this practice with skills that you brought in here and you leave with that same set of skills, but that you leave feeling like I've learned something new, I've gained more skills, whether it's leadership, whether it's communication, whether it's just learning a new skill in orthodontics or pediatric dentistry. But I think the biggest thing as far as a leader in a business and being able to take the business to the next level and skill, it is that you can't have one person, as my dad used to tell me, all the knowledge is not in one head and it never will be. And so you have to be willing to allow your team around you to support you, be open to their ideas, but also to empower them because it's going to take all the pieces moving in one direction. For the ship to go in the right direction.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:16:01]:
You can't have people going in different ways, and your ship's just staying stagnant. We want the ship to keep progressing. And so that's one of my big things, is just really kind of empowering people, finding out where their strengths are, but also encouraging them and their weaknesses. I know you don't like to do this, but I'm going to push you to do it so that you can grow, because you can use these skills at this job, maybe, and a social club that you're in, maybe. You know, if you decide one day that you want to start a business or you go work somewhere else, I want you to feel like you've been empowered and you've learned something since you've been here. So I think that's a big part of it is just. And then for me, I realize probably most dentists and orthodontists are very type A, and it's kind of hard for us to let go.
Matt Tait [00:16:39]:
Maybe a little bit.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:16:40]:
It's a little bit hard to let go. But what I found out is that when I let go and I allow people to be empowered in their positions, they think of ideas and ways of doing things that wouldn't have crossed my mind because I think about it from A to B, and they may be thinking about it from A to C, and so they've skipped B. But that may be more efficient for them to do it that way. It may actually help the practice.
Matt Tait [00:16:58]:
You know, one of the things I've found is as I grow businesses, one of the most important things is looking in a mirror and giving a very honest assessment of what I'm good at and what I'm actually really bad at. And I found the bigger businesses grow in scale, the more honest I have to be with myself and hire. And I look at every business like a puzzle, and there are certain puzzle pieces that I can do, but there are also others that I can do poorly, and there are others that I'm really terrible at. I started a business in accounting, and I can't do it, period. So all the doing of accounting was there.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:17:35]:
Yeah.
Matt Tait [00:17:36]:
But then I also needed somebody to basically run the business. I always joke that I'm really good at convincing people to jump off a bridge. I can't get them to line up.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:17:44]:
Yeah.
Matt Tait [00:17:45]:
I needed to fill those gaps. And it. It sounds like that's also conceptually how you view your business and your practice is finding those core skill sets and people that fill your gaps.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:17:58]:
Absolutely. Because I always say you have a dreamer, you have someone who has the vision, who has the big picture in mind, but you need somebody who can actually execute that. Right? Because sometimes that's not the same person. You could be a dreamer, you can have all these ideas but then you have to have someone to bring you back to say, okay, these are great, but what one of these are we going to focus on? Because each of these require prioritize and require certain steps to execute them and we can't do them all because if you're doing them all then none of them are being done. Well, what can we focus on right now as far as those dreams? So I absolutely, I think that you have to have a visionary, you have to have a leader, but then you empower those around to kind of take on these like leadership roles under kind of like the main leader of the main visionary so that you can actually execute or achieve that big dream revision.
Matt Tait [00:18:39]:
One of my biggest struggles is I'm not known for my patience. I'm good at the dreaming and, and then I've got great teammates that are the execution and I'm like, tomorrow, right? Like next week, Are we ready? I'm like that, yeah. I have three kids at home, two ten year old twins and an eight year old daughter. I love them to death, but a car ride with them if I don't give them an iPad. Are we there yet? Are we there yet? And I feel like that's who I am. How do you deal with that?
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:19:05]:
That is a great question. Number one. I think that we have to realize that when you're the leader, when you're the visionary, you have to also understand that the passion and drive that you have behind it may not be mimicked 100% in those around you, although they're committed to it. I think that's where our patience comes into play because we have to also understand we want it tomorrow, but they may not be running at the same pace. I do think what's reasonable though is to set deadlines to be like, let's circle back to this, we're going to meet again in two weeks. At this point in time, these are the expectations for what I expect to be completed at this point in time so that we all have a clear understanding. Yes. In my mind I probably actually wanted it done yesterday, but you know, I just told you today, right? So we're going to go back to that.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:19:44]:
But I also think that you have to also keep your team motivated and encouraged because if you come down too hard with too many demands and too Many deadlines, they can almost feel demoralized or feel like I'm never going to be her expectations. I'm never going to attain what she wants me to do because she's too hard about it.
Matt Tait [00:20:01]:
Right.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:20:01]:
So I think it's taking a step back to say, okay, what's a reasonable time frame and a reasonable deadline and a reasonable expectation? That's one thing I'm also very big on, is setting clear expectations of. This is what happened, but this is what I want to happen.
Matt Tait [00:20:15]:
One of the things I do with my team is I encourage them and let them build a plan. And with that plan, I want timeframes and deadlines. I let them present the whole thing. And if they say, hey, I'll have it in six weeks, I ask, why can't we have it in three? Why not? It's not a you have to. It's why not? Walk me through why not? What I often find is that we end up somewhere between 6 and 3. Because I feel like they give themselves an extra buffer because they want to play it safe. I always very intentionally pick a shorter time frame, but then it pushes them back and I feel like it hones their ability to say, like, this is what is really important and get to the.
Matt Tait [00:20:57]:
Because you can get caught in the details too much rather than the core pillars and foundational elements of things. And I found that to be a good way to kind of push the team forward. So one of the things I've found with. With my business and one of the things that we do at Decimal is we focus a lot on expertise and finding partners who have true expertise. Because sometimes in your business you can trust your team. Other times you also have to find partners.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:21:24]:
Oh, absolutely.
Matt Tait [00:21:25]:
And finding partners that have a very good expertise towards your vision and your business seems to be a really important thing. Is that something that you found to be important as you also expand your business and scale is finding that expertise from outside as well as from within?
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:21:43]:
Oh, absolutely. Because there's just certain things that are, like you said before, are not my strong suit or not my skill skill set, or I don't have the time to gather all the data on it to know what actually works and what doesn't work. And so I think that comes in through your partnerships with either dental companies, consultants, even other, you know, social media kind of groups where people kind of post as far as what they've done is that you create this network where you're like, what are you doing? Or how are you doing this? Or what's been your experience with this. And even when I go back to, like, the process of starting the practice, that's simply what you've done. Because you get a commercial real estate agent, you get an attorney, you get an accountant, you put all of these pieces together because it's like. And none of those subject matters, am I an expert, I can do orthodontics, I can do dentistry, I can do that all day long. But all of those other things is that you do have to draw on that. Because the other thing is that they've become subject matter experts in that field.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:22:31]:
So why not pick their break? Why not let them contribute to that? So you can make sure you're getting the best of the best as you try and move forward with that.
Matt Tait [00:22:38]:
And so you rely on your network to find those experts.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:22:43]:
Absolutely.
Matt Tait [00:22:43]:
And then vet them yourselves.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:22:45]:
And vet them yourselves. I always was, even when I was going through the process, I would always kind of have a rule up. Let me interview two to three people that are subject matter experts in this. And then after that, after I go through those two interviews, see what they're offering, see what the feel is like, what's the personality like, how do we mesh, how do we dive together? Well, and then making a decision from there. But you absolutely have to have a network. I mean, you can't do it on your own because you're only going to go so as far as yourself, you're never going to take to the next level if it's always dependent on just you.
Matt Tait [00:23:11]:
Oh, big time. Speaking of network, you have so much that you're growing and you have so much that you're doing, and yet you also decide to take a leadership role in the industry, which throws that balance off just a little bit. But talk about why that's so important to you.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:23:28]:
Yes, that's so important to me because that's also just expanding my network and also keeps me from keeping my head in the sand as far as, like, what I'm doing. But to make sure that the profession as a whole is represented well and that you protect our profession. It started for me from I had a mentor for my residency program that said, you should do this leadership development program that the SAO offers. Offers. I was like, okay, I'll do it. So I did it. It was a lot of fun. We got to go to different cities, we read a book, we did a project.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:23:53]:
I was like, well, I've been a lot of fun people. This was great. But from that one leadership course, that's what's opened the doors to all of my other leadership positions started out at the state level. Would you serve as the director? Sure, I'll do it. That led to a position with the SSO, which was our constituent level, which then led to a position on the national organization with the AAO. But through all of these transitions, it just was a matter of being available, saying yes and being willing to volunteer. And I've met so many great people just from those experiences. But also it's just been an opportunity to hone leadership skills once again.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:24:27]:
Network, find out what you're doing here. But the biggest thing too is just making sure that we're also advocating and protecting the profession of dentistry, of orthodontics, of pediatric dentistry. Because we've all worked so hard to get here, we're experts in these fields and we just want to make sure that we're protecting it so that we can also take care of our patients as we want to take care of them and not have that dictated by someone else.
Matt Tait [00:24:47]:
So one of the things I think that'd be interested in your take On, I have two daughters, okay, 10 and eight. And my wife is a lawyer. She's a lawyer in a very niche industry. As you look at the future of the profession, inclusivity has to be something that has been hard for you, but also got to get better and hopefully is.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:25:06]:
Oh yeah, so even one of the speakers, and I mean we hear it all the time. The demographics in dentistry as a whole is changing. It used to be that it was a male dominated field, but now when you look at enrollment in dental schools, it's weighing heavily, more towards a more than 50% female. Even in my residency program, we're six residents. Our year was the first year that there were more female residents than male residents. So my class was four females, two males. So we were the first year where the, the scales tips where there were more women. So in general, like when you look at the trending numbers, when you look at the profession as a whole, it's still a very much male dominated feel.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:25:40]:
But when you look at where the profession is going, the next 10 to 20 years, the scales are going to, yeah, it's going to even out because you have so many more women enrolling in dental school, you have so many more women enrolling in residencies to become specialists. And I think also it also reflects our population, that the population demographic is changing. And there are some instances when families may want either a male or a female provider or just someone maybe from a cultural standpoint or a religious standpoint, that they want Someone that affiliates or aligns up with them that they may feel more comfortable with. Not that there is any, you know, lesser care being provided or better care being provided, but it's just a matter of. This is someone who I feel maybe understands me, listens to me, and I feel like I can actually express my concerns as a patient. But in general, yes, it's changing, and I think it's a great thing, because what it does is it brings, you know, different ideas, it brings different thoughts, you know, and it just helps the profession not to stagnate because we're like, hey, let's bring some more people to the table and talk about what can we do to be better.
Matt Tait [00:26:38]:
Well, I think one of the things I talk a lot about is each industry and each kind of company becomes its own echo chamber.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:26:45]:
Absolutely.
Matt Tait [00:26:47]:
The more you get out of that, the better everything becomes.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:26:50]:
Everything. Yeah.
Matt Tait [00:26:51]:
And look, so much of the feel, it doesn't matter if you're in accounting or law or dentistry and orthodontics, there is always the emotional feel aspect to things.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:27:00]:
Absolutely.
Matt Tait [00:27:01]:
People don't make rational decisions. They make emotional decisions that have some rational basis occasionally. It's so important. And it's probably, too, where dentistry and orthodontics is becoming a bigger part of more of society's life.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:27:17]:
Absolutely.
Matt Tait [00:27:17]:
In a big way. Which means we need to find a way to make people comfortable with their emotional decisions.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:27:24]:
Yes. It's funny that you said it, because I just finished reading the book Emotional Intelligence. As I was reading the book, and I was applying it just to, like, kind of my everyday life. And like, sometimes I look back and I'm like, oh, that was an emotional response. That was an emotional hijack. I did not use my rational brain to make this decision. And I made it very quickly. And it was just talking about in the book how our emotional brain, our emotional system spawns, responds so much quicker than our rational brain.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:27:47]:
But you have to be able to think on your toes quickly, because like you said, dentistry, even orthodontics, I would say, 56 years ago, orthodontics was only for a very select part of the population. You had to have the finances and resources to do it. But now, over time, Orthodox has become more accessible to more families, to more the population. And so, in doing so, because you've kind of expanded that net of who's going to be, you know, seeking orthodontic care, you also have to be able to read the room because essentially, I tell parents and patients all the time, of course I can. You know, Rally off all the benefits of orthodontic treatment. But I always tell parents and patients, no one's ever died of crooked teeth. You're not going to die because you didn't have orthodontic treatment. So there are consumers, they're looking to purchase something.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:28:29]:
And what they're looking for is they know that the orthodontist get their teeth straight. They're also looking for an exception experience. What's the experience like? What's the, are the appointments going to be easy? Are the appointments going to be as long as they told me they were going to be, am I going to be seen on time? And so with all of those things, the emotional aspect of it comes in, the feel of it comes in. And so you have to kind of give weight or, you know, thought to both of those things. The clinical skills, but also the experience for the patient.
Matt Tait [00:28:53]:
Oh yeah, yeah. Well, I think that's so great because so many of the opinions about healthcare and in dentistry and orthodontics is part of healthcare, is that the experiential side is really poor sometimes. And we've all, we've all dealt with it. Yes, you go to the emergency room with an eight year old at five o'clock at night.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:29:10]:
Yeah, it's bad.
Matt Tait [00:29:13]:
No matter what, but then you get to the pediatric side and they get hugs and stuffed animals. Oh, they love it, their arms, they're happy. That experience side I think is so important. That's also what helps that brand, all of those things go into creating that brand. And that experience which helps you create the end that you want, the, the lifestyle business, the growing business, whatever your choice is, it gives you that flexibility.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:29:38]:
It does. And the other thing too, I think that plays into what you've just described as far as you got to the pediatric side and it was just amazing. We also live in an age where you have Google reviews, you have Facebook groups, you have Instagram. And so it's not the days of you just did what the doctor said. You didn't really have a choice. They referred me here, I have to go here. But now people have much more. They have options, people research, people look for that brand.
Matt Tait [00:30:00]:
For good or bad.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:30:00]:
For good or bad, the good read the five star reviews and you go back and you read the one star reviews, you know, you want five and one. Like where is this? Because really the truth lies somewhere in between these two.
Matt Tait [00:30:11]:
Exactly.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:30:12]:
And so with that in creating that branding and that experience is so important because to medicine in general, you know, we hate to say it, but it's true. It's becoming more boutique. If you have the means to spend it, you can have MDVIP because you know that when it comes to this is something that's important to you and you're willing to invest your time and money into it. Because I want to make sure my child's getting the best.
Matt Tait [00:30:33]:
Yeah.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:30:33]:
And that's what parents want these days, too. They're like, if I'm going to invest my time and money because it's time off from work for the parents is taking the child out of school and then it's the time driving to your office and then they're also paying for it. That it wants to be this experience. And I think too, the thing we have to remember about the experience is that you don't want to swallow the elephant and choke on the tail. Where at the end of the experience, something happens in the office where the parent is like, we had such this great experience, but this one thing went wrong. And that what they remember is the. And then they don't remember all of the big things that went so well. So I think that you always have to be on your toes on a daily basis to be like, how can we make this experience special for our patients?
Matt Tait [00:31:09]:
Well, you have to teach and train every member of your team.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:31:12]:
Yes.
Matt Tait [00:31:12]:
And the other thing is just making sure that your team is okay, making mistakes, but knowing how to respond and to own them and continue the experience. Because it's going to happen.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:31:23]:
It's going to happen. We're all human.
Matt Tait [00:31:26]:
But understanding how to play into that, how to respond correctly, that I think is also a really important thing that we don't hear a lot of training on, but is key.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:31:37]:
Yeah. And I think the biggest thing is that it comes from the leader modeling that. So you model it internally. That if one of your team members makes a mistake just within that it would only really affect the team. That it's not a blast that you just say, hey, these are things you're doing really well. But this one point, we need to do this a little bit better so they can understand that when they make a mistake, they're able to come to you and say, hey, I made this mistake. This is what happened. And you can help them come to a solution because then that projects to how you interact with your clientele.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:32:04]:
Because sometimes the clientele, when they come in, they're, you know, in a bad mood. It has nothing to do with anything that happened to your office. It has everything to do with what happened before they even got to your office. But It's a matter of how can we become a bright point in this patient's day? Or if they're frustrated about something, how can we deflate the situation? How can we bring it back down to zero and get everybody back on a level playing field to say, okay, let's think about this rationally.
Matt Tait [00:32:26]:
You know, something that I do occasionally with our team is we'll do an all hands, get the whole company together. I will do a session about my mistakes lately. Oh, yeah, I'll talk about it. And I'll own the dumb things that I did. Because I find that that makes it. If I. I'm able to admit my mistakes, then everybody else can.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:32:44]:
Yeah.
Matt Tait [00:32:44]:
And I found that just normalizing my mistakes and talking about them too helps everybody else.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:32:50]:
Yeah, and it shows that you're accountable, that you don't just hold them accountable, but you also hold yourself accountable. 100 and when you, when you acknowledge your own mistake, that makes your team know I'm also human. I'm not holding you to this unattainable standard. I understand that sometimes mistakes are going to be made, but I want to also tell them is that. But if we made a mistake or if we did something incorrectly, I always say, well, what system maybe is missing? Or how can we tweak our system to maybe not make that mistake again? Understanding that we're never going to be perfect, but let's always be on the journey to be better.
Matt Tait [00:33:18]:
Oh, I think that's great. So as you look at your journey and as you look at the industry, where are you planning on going?
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:33:27]:
Oh, yeah.
Matt Tait [00:33:27]:
Where do you see the future of the industry going?
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:33:29]:
For me, I think they're both the same answers that, number one, Orthodontics medicine, pediatric dentistry, number one, are going to this very boutique bill. Nobody wants mass customization anymore. They want to feel like this is a personalized treatment plan. You came up with this plan with me in mind. Number two, what we can already see is that we're going in the direction of technology. We're going in the direction of AI. We're going in the direction of how can I be the most efficient? And what that does is that when you're using these customized treatment options, when you're using AI or use technology in your practice, number one, it creates more time in your practice, big time. It creates less time or bits that the patient has to come to your office because that's what's expensive.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:34:06]:
It's the chair time that's expensive. It's the more time the patient has to come to you in your office, and you have an employee there, you have the lights on, and you're seeing them. That creates a greater expense. Plus, parents and families love that. Everybody wants. We want everything quick. And so I think the industry in general is moving towards custom treatment plans, personalized, efficient treatment plans. And then also, I mean, we have our phone in our hand at all times.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:34:29]:
We want to know that is our practitioner also taking advantage of any technology that's there to improve or enhance the treatment or the experience that you have in the office. So that's the direction I think it's going well.
Matt Tait [00:34:39]:
And I think one of the things that I see with AI and technology, too, and with the. The boutique field is just because everybody feels unique doesn't mean that every aspect is. You make them feel like a snowflake. Yeah, but you're really making 90% of it.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:34:58]:
Right.
Matt Tait [00:34:58]:
But it doesn't mean you don't make them feel. Feel like they're special.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:35:02]:
Absolutely.
Matt Tait [00:35:06]:
And like it's unique and all this stuff, and you just happen to be putting pieces all together.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:35:06]:
Exactly. So that's the small tweaks that make it, like, universal. But the foundation of it is, you know, like you said, it's pretty much the same, but we do these small little tweaks to make it personal. And I've heard someone say the best thing someone hears is their name. I mean, just calling somebody by their name when they walk through the door. You might have just looked down at the chart really quickly, but because you have your screen up, you can see them. Oh, hey, Emma, how are you today?
Matt Tait [00:35:27]:
Making sure that you actually can systematize that.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:35:29]:
Yes.
Matt Tait [00:35:30]:
Went into a doctor's office a couple of weeks ago with one of my kids, and I actually asked them and confirmed they are required to say the patient's name five times.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:35:39]:
Oh, wow.
Matt Tait [00:35:40]:
Christian, it's great to see.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:35:42]:
Yeah.
Matt Tait [00:35:42]:
Christian, how are you feeling?
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:35:45]:
Yeah.
Matt Tait [00:35:45]:
Christian, are you good here?
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:35:45]:
Yes.
Matt Tait [00:35:46]:
Have a great day.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:35:49]:
Have a great day.
Matt Tait [00:35:49]:
And you hear it like four or five times, and all of a sudden.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:35:49]:
You think they're talking to me.
Matt Tait [00:35:50]:
You really don't. They have to be looking up and it says, say Christian one more time, right?
Matt Tait [00:35:55]:
Guess what? It makes you feel special. And that's how you make that training easier. And systematized is just because you're doing it doesn't mean you have to do it the hard way.
Dr. Christian Johnson [00:36:05]:
No, you don't make it easy. You can make it easy and create those systems. Absolutely. And like you said before, it's like 80% of. It's probably kind of the same foundation. But how do I make these small tweaks to make them feel? This is for you.
Matt Tait [00:36:17]:
I really appreciate you. And I really appreciate you coming on.
Matt Tait [00:36:27]:
Growth doesn't stop at the first milestone or the first million. It's about what comes next. Build your firm as if you've already passed that first million and you're going to keep going. In every episode, I'm going to pull out the key lessons that I learned to help you grow after the first million.
Matt Tait [00:36:46]:
So here's what stood out to me from my conversation with Dr. Christian Johnson. First, the reason that I wanted to talk to her was not only because she's an amazing person, But because as we all look at scaling a firm, verticalization, having good clear verticals is so important to scale. It helps us become more efficient.
Matt Tait [00:37:08]:
It helps us become and sell better. And generally, it is just a really good thing. You don't have to work with orthodontists. You could work with construction companies or doctors or really any other industry. But I wanted to talk to somebody within a vertical that Decimal works with so that you could really see how important that is.
Matt Tait [00:37:27]:
So as I look at Dr. Johnson's takeaways, number one, and I think this is important for accountants too, technical skills do not equal business success. I went to law school. They taught me absolutely nothing about how to run a law firm. It's the same with accountants. You learn how to be an accountant, but not necessarily how to run a business.
Matt Tait [00:37:46]:
So it's important to really focus on both. You can be good at being a technical accountant, and you have to figure out how to be good at running a business. Christian Johnson had to learn that. She had to learn how to think like a business owner and not just an orthodontist. And it was really cool to hear her talk about how she's done that.
Matt Tait[00:38:05]:
The future of all services industries is a mix of how we run our business, how we are technicians, and how we mix in AI to complement both. Second, most important thing I learned from Dr. Johnson is delegation isn't optional. It's necessary. If you want to scale your business, if you want to scale your firm, you have to empower people to do other things.
Matt Tait [00:38:28]:
It's so important that you generate trust and you build a team that you can train to take over and take work away from you so that you can step back and actually run that business. Think about what the future looks like. The other thing is you can't micromanage growth. You have to build a system that works even when you're not there.
Matt Tait[00:38:49]:
You have to think, Hey, if I go on a one month vacation, is my firm still growing? And is it still operating? That's something I really took away from Christian Johnson. Finally, understanding finances and efficiency is important. I can't tell you how many accountants and accounting firms I run into that do a really good job for their clients, but don't actually think about and apply that to their own business.
Matt Tait[00:39:14]:
You have to figure out how to do it well yourself. Implementing technology and AI is no longer a luxury, it's a necessity. You have to figure out the right ways to balance technology, client experience, and internal efficiency. You also have to make sure that you document. No single person should know everything.
Matt Tait [00:39:34]:
And finally, build out a network of partners of people that can help you. I learned so much from my conversation with Dr. Christian Johnson. I hope you did too. Not just about how to run a business better, but why verticalization and becoming a specialist is so important.
Matt Tait [00:39:51]:
Thanks so much for listening. After the First Million is presented by Decimal. To listen to more episodes and find tips to help make running a business easier, visit decimal. com slash AFM. Want to join the conversation? Reach out to me on LinkedIn and let's explore the messy middle.