Hello and welcome to season two of Dentistry Support the Podcast with your host, the kindhearted and infectious Sarah Beth Herman. We're back for a new season and ready to pack a punch. In every episode, we'll be sharing you quick, impactful insights into the challenges our dental community and leaders in all industries face.

Expect a little bit of flair, a few laughs, and you might even recognize a friend or two. Because of you, we are the number one podcast in dentistry and number one in management and business. And we couldn't be more excited. To keep bringing you practical wisdom and leadership with a servant's heart, all delivered in just enough time for your commute or morning team huddle.

We're glad you're here. So let's get into it. Please welcome your host, Sarah Beth.  Hey there, and welcome back to Dentistry Support the Podcast. I'm your host, Sarah Beth Herman. If you're new around here, I am a business owner, a mentor, public speaker, and someone who has spent nearly 25 years leading and learning in the world of dentistry and so many other industries.

I'm also a wife, a mother, a nana, and a firm believer in leaving every space I step into better than I found it. To my returning listeners, thank you for coming back and making this podcast what it is. You inspire me to keep showing up every week with more stories, more lessons, digital downloads, And more ideas, more ways to grow together.

If you're listening today, I want you to know this episode is going to push you to think differently, not just about your business. But about how you treat the people who cross your paths. Because I'm not just here to talk about business strategies. I'm here to help you live and lead with purpose.  Today we're going to talk about something that I don't think we talk about enough.

The balance between generosity and boundaries. How do you give to others without losing yourself? How do you honor your values while protecting your time, your energy, your resources?  And most importantly, how do you leave things better than you found them? In every interaction, whether it's with a client, a patient, a customer, a contractor, or even a competitor.

I'll be sharing two stories that left a mark on me. The first is about a really stressful home project that turned into a lesson in integrity and kindness. The second is about conversations with people that you might think I should consider as competitors. But instead, they became opportunities to collaborate and to grow.

Both stories tie into the bigger picture of how we show up in the world, not just as professionals, but as humans.  And of course, I want you to stick around all the way to the very end, because I'm going to recap a few things that I know you need to take with you today.  Let's get started.  Imagine this. My husband and I are in the middle of a massive remodel in our home. 

We are working on our formal dining room, our family room, the attached casita for our property, a studio, and our entire landscaping. It has been the project of a lifetime. We started this project about six months ago. And we're still not quite finished.  We've been going all out, high end lighting, beautiful wainscoting, the works, but we're on a tight schedule.

We have now come all the way to the holiday season. Family is coming into town. I have a major photo shoot and videography session that is in less than 24 hours. And everything has to be perfect, but the timelines have been running really tight. At this point, we're about 24 hours from the videography session and the photo shoot. 

The contractor that we're using for this project is fabulous. They are very well known in higher end luxury homes in the area that I live in, and the work they do is second to none, truly. They have. And I, for attention to detail, it's exactly what my husband and I are looking for.  Somehow, the project has been stalled. 

The electrician wasn't scheduled when they should have been, paint hadn't been picked out. A lot of different things that go along with this project just were getting forgotten.  I think I knew subconsciously that things with this project were starting to go south. Because I kept trying to follow up on different aspects of it, and things just weren't getting done.

But I wasn't losing my cool, I was being very gracious, because I do respect their time. I understand that projects don't always work out the way that we want them to, but we still need them to get done. And we don't need to get upset. We can just talk through and work through whatever those challenges look like.

So that's what I'm doing.  Fast forward. We're at the point where we are right now, 24 hours from the session that's coming up.  The contractor lets me know that an electrician is, has been hired and they're going to send one of their crew members to the house at five o'clock. They're going to get all of the electrical done so that the following morning, the wall can be built, the lights can be hung.

The drywall can be done, the paint can be done. All of this is going to happen within the very narrow amount of time that we have left before this photo shoot is happening.  Five o'clock rolls around and a gentleman shows up at my home. Very young kid, very kind, very sweet.  He's subcontracted by the company that we hired.

And honestly, it was clear from the moment that he walked in, he was exhausted. You can see it in the way he carries himself. We welcome him in, show him around. He had asked several questions about where different access points were in the house. He saw we had a Red Bull fridge in our garage, and he asked for a Red Bull.

And of course, anyone who comes into my home knows that everything in my home they're welcome to. So, we hand him one. My husband, who is hands down, the kindest person I know, and yeah, I'm a little biased because he's my husband, but truly, he always goes above and beyond. And for this young kid, he did the same thing.

He went above and beyond to set this kid up for success. He shows him where all of our tools and supplies are just in case he needs something. He makes him feel comfortable and basically treats him like family right out the gate. That's just who my husband is.  No judgment. No looking him up and down, no wondering if he can handle the project.

My husband's just unassumingly wonderful.  For the next four hours, this young man works. Or at least he tries to. By nine o'clock, when he finally leaves, I walk into the dining room and I kind of felt my stomach sink a little bit. The walls are chipped and scuffed. The drywall dust is everywhere. The light switch he installed was crooked and scratched and scuffed like it had been thrown across a rocky floor and scuffed all up.

The mounts for our high end lights, they were completely off, which ruined the symmetry of what the design would be for the next morning. And he didn't clean anything up. He needed me to clean it up. Our living room looked like a construction zone, and while I understand that is part of what it looks like when you're doing a job, there is just a certain amount of respect that you always hope other people will have in your home.

My husband and I were exhausted, too, because by the time we cleaned everything up and helped the guy to his car and sent him on his way. It was nearly 10 o'clock. I was frustrated, um, and we were really running out of time because I had so many other things that were lined up and going on and this timeline was so narrow that we didn't have time for mess ups.

And yes, it's just a remodel job, yes, it's just a house, yes, it's just a contractor, yes, it's just electrical work.  Tensions get high when there are deadlines to be met. Even though we were exhausted, instead of getting angry, my husband hands him 500 for a job we were charged 460 for. Why? Because my husband always wants to acknowledge the effort that people put in.

Even if their effort doesn't match our expectations, He's always willing to go above and beyond. And this young man, he put in the effort. It wasn't perfect, but that's just the kind of guy my husband is. I immediately went into our formal dining room as soon as the gentleman left. And I took the pictures that were then sent to my contractor.

And I just wanted them to understand the scope of where everything was at this point. They were fully planning on someone that would be there the next morning to repair drywall. They were fully planning on  putting in the accent wall and the wainscoting. And they were fully planning on painting. And all of those things, I didn't see how that would be possible given the condition of the wall and the work that was undone. 

He had even stood on my buffet and the countertop had separated from the wall, so now that needed to be repaired. There were so many things that they needed to understand because it was now 10 o'clock at night, and the time is still ticking.  The next morning, the actual owner of the electrical company showed up with, the crew from the contracting company.

When I explained what had happened he shook his head and he was frustrated but he got right to work. And he fixed the wall, he hung the lights the right way, the contractor was able to get their things done. He let me know that the total for the day was 460.  And I said, Oh, we actually paid in cash last night.

We gave the gentleman that was here 500.  Immediately, you could see his face change, his head bowed down.  He said,  That explains why he's dodging my calls.  Turns out this guy pocketed the money and disappeared, wouldn't return his, you know, You  know, it would have been really easy to be upset. But then the owner shared his story.

He hires people in recovery, individuals fighting to rebuild their lives after addiction. He gives them jobs, stability, and a second chance.  My husband and I talked about it and decided to pay the 460 again, this time directly to the owner.  And not because we had to, but because it was the right thing to do.

A few minutes later, I got a text from him and it said, wow, best customer ever.  That wasn't my intention. We just wanted to honor his work and his mission.  About four minutes later, my contractor called me completely unprompted. He sent me half of the payment that I sent the electrician. He sent it back to me. 

They decided that they wanted to share the cost and make things right together.  And I think that's what happens when you lead with generosity. It inspires other people to do the very same thing.  Because maybe that contractor was thinking,  um, I'm not covering the electrical work.  They already paid for it.

This guy's going to have to go track down this kid.  But instead he partnered with me. He worked with me when it wasn't his responsibility. And no, it wasn't my responsibility to double pay for work. No, it wasn't.  But maybe for some reason that kid needed the money more than I did. Or maybe he needed it for a different reason than I did. 

Or maybe it's just the way it needed to work out.  I don't know.  I don't know.  Last week, I had two calls.  They left such an impression on me.  One of them was with an owner of a dental billing company, and the other was someone who was running an online dental school. Both started really cautiously. They actually couldn't believe I was taking their calls.

And the reason they couldn't believe I was taking their calls is because if you don't know my background, you wouldn't know this, but I own multiple companies. I own Dentistry Support, which is a virtual admin company. I own Dentistry Support Academy, which is an online dental school. I own another company that provides virtual assistance for anyone, anywhere.

I own a mentor company. I'm an author. I have a podcast. I have a lot of different business ventures,  but I always take the call.  And both of these calls that I took, they weren't the only ones this week, but they were two of the calls I took this week. And these two calls. Both of them said in one way or another, aren't we competitors?

I can't believe you're taking my call.  You know, I don't see competition the way most people do. I believe that what's meant for you will always find you.  I don't think that anyone can take what's meant for you.  So I listen and I ask questions.  And I got to know both of these women, not just their businesses, but them as people. 

And by the end of each call, I asked the same thing. Well, what can I leave you with today that would help you?  What could I help you with  in one small way  that could leave you better than I found you?  Both calls ended with gratitude, not just on their part, but mine too.  It reminded me why I do what I do.

Collaboration isn't just working together. It's not just attaching a famous name to mine and saying, we worked together, you should trust me now. For me, it's about building a community where everyone rises.  I don't just want you to know my name, and I don't want you to just know my name attached to a popular name,  and I don't just want you to know your name next to my popular name.

I want us to all get there together.  Collaboration doesn't mean overextending yourself. It means finding ways to add value while protecting your energy.  I want you to learn to set clear expectations in your world. I don't want you to be afraid to say no when something doesn't align with your values. 

Talk to business owners every week. And there are three main mistakes that I see them make all the time.  One, people overcomplicate the next step.  They think the next step is a lot of different steps that equal one step. They think that it's so many twists and turns and discovery and learning and investigating that they never actually take the next step because they think it's so impossible and out of reach. 

Every time I have a new idea, I never actually have the whole idea at first.  It's little parts of it. Little parts of it that I know are going to amount to something, but I have to see the whole process all the way through. I have to learn as I go. I have to keep creating as I'm on the path.  Two, I see people not investing in their own growth. 

Now, it doesn't necessarily always mean money,  but it does mean money sometimes.  I talked to a friend of mine who owns a small business. And she said, you know, sometimes people will message me and they will say, how did you find that supplier or who is your supplier for X, Y, Z? She's in a completely different industry than me.

And she said, sometimes she tells them, you know what, I don't have that information right now, but you can Google it. You can look it up.  And I said, well, why do you say it like that? And she said, because what people don't know. When they ask me how I have that supplier, they don't know that I paid $3,000 to find that supplier, and now that supplier saves me thousands of dollars, but I had to pay to find that.

Nothing is free in business, and I don't want someone thinking they can always come to me and get the answer. They don't know how hard I had to work to get it.  You've got to learn to invest in yourself. Invest in yourself for people that think differently than you. People that can help you get somewhere that you need to be. 

I don't offer all of my time for free. I don't just talk to people for fun. Obviously I want to make money and obviously I'm a for profit business in all of my ventures.  But I will take one call. I'll take one call and I'll get to know you and we'll chitchat together and my goal is to leave you better than I found you.

And all of that stems from when I was younger. Whenever I would leave the house and I would go to my friends or I would spend the night somewhere or we would visit family,  my mom would always say, you leave it better than you found it.  Somehow, those words just came into every business that I own.  It came into every way that I talk to people and I listen to people and I work with people. 

Now, do I make every decision right?  Have I made mistakes over and over and over again? Yes. Yes, yes I have, and I'll keep making mistakes because I am not a perfect human,  but I'll tell you that my goal is always to lead you better.  The third mistake I see small business owners make is failing to build relationships. 

You see, I want to make you better because I believe that building a relationship is good for us both.  It teaches us both that there are more people in this world that are just on the same path as me. The same path as you. We're all going there. We're all trying our very best.  I'm constantly on a mission to create, to establish new boundaries and new places and new moments and new groups and new surroundings that other people can feel really comfortable in. 

And so I've done it again. You've heard it on the last couple of episodes. My program, Blueprint to Breakthrough,  I created it for businesses, for businesses of all sizes. It doesn't matter where you are. It doesn't matter how much money you make right now or how much money your business doesn't make right now.

It doesn't matter if you have not made a single dollar or if you are at seven figures a year. It is a group for you because it's about collaborating. It's about working together. It's about everybody talking and being in a room together. And yes. You're going to have to invest in yourself. You're going to have to pay to be in certain rooms because you want to be in a room with higher caliber people,  free rooms.

They only offer so much.  It's true. It might sting to hear that, but free rooms only offer so much.  This group, it's designed to simplify your next steps, help you shed your limiting beliefs. Build a true blueprint that allows you to think, to grow, and to understand how to actually take the next step.  You get access to all of my playbooks, my digital downloads, my resources.

We have weekly sessions, an entire training platform.  A workbook that literally will define and design your business, even if you've already established so many best practices in your business and you have no idea how this could ever do that for your business because you're just so far above that,  you have no idea what you're missing. 

This group  is everything that you need to go from where you are right now to where you were meant to be.  Our that's good moment for today.  When you choose to lead with generosity, you create ripples. But generosity isn't about giving endlessly or losing yourself in the process. It's about aligning your actions with your values, protecting your energy, and leaving every interaction better than you found it. 

I've got a digital download for you, and the link is in the show notes.  I'm giving this one to you for free.  So next to that link, you'll see a code that you'll need to enter in when you go to checkout. https: TheBusinessProfessor. com This will include tips that I have for you on balancing kindness with accountability, scripts for navigating tough conversations,  and reflection exercises to assess your relationships and your energy.

I want you thinking differently.  We're heading into a new year.  We're heading into new movements, new energy, new spaces, places that you were designed to be in, but you just haven't figured out how to get to it yet.  I'm ready for you to get to your next level. And I know that you'll get there, but you got to be in the right room. 

You've got to be in the right room.  Thank you for spending time with me today.  If this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who needs to hear it.  And remember that together, we are building something better, one step at a time. One story, one breakthrough at a time.  Until next time, stay generous, stay grounded, and keep leaving the world better than you found it.

I'll catch you on the next episode. Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of Dentistry Support, the podcast. If you want to get in on the conversation or have something to share, join us on our Facebook group, The Dental Collaborative. Looking to connect or to be a guest? Head over to DentistrySupport.

com. Or if you'd like to learn more about your host, Sarah Beck, or maybe you're thinking of Of starting your own podcast or looking for mentorship opportunities, well just visit sarah beth herman.com. If you've got just a sec, remember to rate, subscribe, and leave a review for the podcast. That helps us keep growing.

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