442: Dr. Sana Yusuf | Sana Dental Studio & Spa

Balancing work and home life can be tough. Making time for YOU is just as important as both!
If you are saying yes to everything, you are also saying no to many other opportunities. Keep this in mind when agreeing to obligations!
Cosmetic and spa offerings can be a big draw for your practice. Try keeping up with what patients want in addition to a dental experience.
In the US Army, Sana learned to take a conservative approach to procedures. Sometimes if a procedure isn't needed immediately, patients appreciate you working with their schedule and feelings.
Do not count on team members to stick with you forever! It is important to respect their choices and have a backup plan if another opportunity arises for them.

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Episode Transcript (Auto-Generated - Please Excuse Errors)

Michael: Sauna. How's it going? Good, how are you? I'm doing pretty good. Thanks for asking. If you don't mind me asking, where are you located?

Sana: So we are in like north suburbs of Tampa. So Wesley Chapels, specifically Wesley Chapel, Florida.

Oh,

Michael: nice. Okay. So the weather right now over there is pretty

Sana: Yeah, I was gonna say, let's see, let's check 81 degrees. It's great. .

Michael: Oh man, that's winter right there for you guys. So in summer, how does summer look?

Sana: It's like very hot, but I'm also not like a native Floridian, so for me, I'm like, oh, this feels great.

Like, I don't know, I was made for the desert, so

Michael: like it. It's made for the desert. No, that's good. That's good. I, I hear Tampa Bay, it's really beautiful. So It is, yeah.

Sana: I, my husband and I talk about it all the time, like it feels like we're on vacation. Mm-hmm. every day, and I'm like, wait, we live here.

This is kinda cool. . So like, if we go to the beach, it's not like we have to like, pack up and like go to our hotel. We're like, okay, now we just have to drive to our house. So this is cool. Yeah. So it's nice. It, it definitely is a nice, nice place to

Michael: be. Nice. Awesome. Okay, so son, tell us a little bit about your past, your present.

How did you get to where you are today?

Sana: Okay. I was like, how, how far back are we going? I was July 10th, 1991. I was born, no, I'm just kidding. , you were born

Michael: July 10th, 1991.

Sana: I was, yeah. I'm a. I'm

Michael: 30. I'm 31.

Sana: I'm 31. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Millennial as it gets, that's

Michael: millennial as it gets. Okay, cool. So then talk to us about, I dunno, you can go as far back as you want, but like, okay.

Sana: won't go that far back. It's kind of boring. Like, you know, tons of like generational traumas and like all that, like stuff that you're trying to like break through and like, whatever. So we won't go through all that stuff that's like for therapy, but like professional. Right. Okay. So I, um, graduated high school oh nine and I went straight into like, um, Seven year dental program at Detroit Mercy. So, , I did three years undergrad and then you go like automatically into dental school as long as you like D a T scores, science, gpa, all that stuff. Mm-hmm. . So, I kind of decided, I was like, Hey, like I don't wanna live in Detroit for seven years of my life.

I was born in Detroit, so that's cool. But I grew up in like suburbs of Chicago, so like I don't wanna live in Detroit. So I kind of decided, hey, I'm gonna get my bachelor's in three years so that way I can apply to any dental school I want and then I can move back home to Chicago. So that was like always the goal.

Mm-hmm. . So I took, I remember one summer I took 21 credit hours of summer school at three different community colleges,

Michael: and I was pregnant.

Sana: And you were pregnant? And I was pregnant, yes. Surprise, surprise team mom. Anyways, everybody knows that, but it's fine. Who? Whoever didn't know it now knows it.

Yeah. So I had a son when I was 19, but um, yeah, so like the summer that I was pregnant with him, I took 21 summer, like 21 credit hours of summer school. Mm-hmm. at three different community colleges. Cause I was like, no, I have to like, I have to graduate in three years. Like that's just my goal now. So I took all the like sociology and psycho, all the like required for your degree, but like not science courses all in summer.

So graduated when I was 20 from college. That was cool. That was 2012 and then started dental school immediately. And so I did get into school back in Chicago. I went to Midwestern University in Downers Grove. So I did four years there. I decided to join the Army after I got outta our dental school. So I did the H P S P scholarship.

Um, I commissioned when I was still an undergrad, so was in the army, got out. got outta dental school, became active duty in the Army. So that was four years. 2016 is when I graduated dental school. So 2016 to 2020 I was in, in the Army. I was stationed at Fort Hill, Oklahoma. So that's my, my lawyer.

Okay. Yeah, . So I was stationed at Fort Sill, so I did four years active duty, which was fun, difficult, definitely, you know, you're kind of like trying to be a soldier, but also trying to be a dentist, trying to figure out how to be a soldier. Also, still trying to figure out how to be a dentist. So it was a lot of like figuring out for four years.

and then I decided after I did my four year commitment that we were, yeah. That I was gonna get out. and I wanted to kind of explore private practice and like just being like a civilian dentist. So immediately that happened right when Covid started. So it's like a whole thing where like, . I felt like the world was ending.

I mean, I'm sure everybody did when Covid ended, right? But I was getting out of the army where like everything is guaranteed benefits, guaranteed pay. Like, oh, I'm sitting at home because everything is shut down and I'm getting paid and I have like my Tricare medical benefits for my entire family and everything is great and dandy.

And I was like giving up all of that security to like jump into like the real world where I'm like, I have to pay $1,500 a month to have health insurance for my children. what? Do you guys need it? Are you okay? Like, can you not fall down? Don't get sick. How about that? Like just, just drink your orange juice, like Rick Juice, like let's save $1,500.

Like what is And. . I remember like, so when I was getting out of the army, my husband and I were both from Chicago, so we're like, okay, like let's, we were trying to like decide like, what do we wanna do? Like, do we move back to Chicago? Do we like pick somewhere new? Do we move to Texas? Like, what are we doing?

And like, just, we were like, okay, we're gonna move to Florida. So literally we're like, Hey, now where do we move in Florida? Do we go to Miami? We're like, no, that's like two party. Party. And like, we're trying to like have a family and like kids , I don't wanna be in South Beach. Like if I'm down there, I'm gonna wanna be at South Beach and like ha like at a party.

And I also my mom, and so I have kids so I can, that I, okay, we can't go to Miami. Miami is off the table. So, okay. How about Orlando? And I'm like, no. Like I hate traffic. And also like, it's very touristy. So like, okay, we're not moving to Orlando. And so we're like, all right, let's move Tampa. Like, Tampa's like up and coming.

Like I was like, it's like the Austin of Florida. Like that's like the way I had like term, I was like, it's the Austin of Florida. Yeah. Cause my like, best friend lives lives in Austin and so we like moved here and this is like before Tom Brady was here.

Michael: Cause I thought you were following Tom Brady, but nevermind.

Sana: Yeah. I was like, before selling Tampa, like we were here just like, so I didn't move here cause everybody's moving here. We literally picked it and we're like, we're gonna go there. So, yeah. So we moved here like June of 2020. So it's like, what the height of Covid, like the middle of Covid.

Mm-hmm. . And as I'm like moving, so my husband got, my husband's a high school teacher, so he like got a job. He was like ready to go. And then I had a job, like as an associate everything's shut down. And so like we're moving here in June and in April they're like, Hey, like by the way, we have to pull your contract.

Like, sorry, you can't work here. And we're like, what? I'm like, wait, hold on. Excuse me. like I just can't work here for like the month of April and May because I wasn't gonna be there anyways. Like it's fine. Yeah. And they're like, no, never like until we figure out what's happening with Covid. I was like, people still need dentists during Covid.

It's fine. I'll wear a mask. I need a job. You need a dentist? I'm coming. that didn't happen. That didn't happen. So they pulled my contract and I was like, in my head I was like, do I just like stay in the army? I was like, oh, so I should just stay in the army. Like that's like my logical thing.

I was like, pull my packet. Like I'm sit, captain Yiv is staying, guys, don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. I'm still here. Don't worry. Like not leaving. But my husband's like, no, I have a job in Florida. Like, we're moving. Like, it's fine. We'll figure it out. My husband's like very, like, we'll figure it out. And I'm like, no.

Like we must plan. Like I must have a plan for my plan for the backup plan. Like that's how I am. So we're like very opposite and he just is very like, go with it. So like in my head, like, we're moving here. I was like, we should like rent a place, get the lay of the land, like figure it out. Like, and my husband's like, no, I don't wanna move twice.

Like, we're just gonna, we should just buy a house when we get, we should just buy a house. And I'm like, dude, like it's covid. Like we have, we haven't, we can't fly there to look at house. We don't need to look at it. They can FaceTime us. is that? What happened?

Michael: Yes. ,

Sana: My husband was like, no, it's fine.

They can just FaceTime us. That's fine. So the realtor literally like FaceTimed us. We like saw this house. She sent us some videos and we're like, all right, like let, yeah, let's, okay, let's buy it. Sure. Cool. So like we bought this house site, zine, site unseen.

Michael: Is it better than what you expected or worse?

Sana: Yeah, I'm like so grateful. I'm like I said, a prayer. My husband actually, like, I was still like filing out, so I couldn't leave Oklahoma as soon as he could. Cause I still have to do like all my paperwork and whatever with the army. And we like got a call like, Hey, your furniture's gonna get delivered on Monday.

And we're like, wait, what? Like you guys said it was gonna take two weeks. So like we're all planning like two weeks. Like it'll be perfect timing. So, Once it goes into storage, like, I don't know, I'm sure like everybody who's listening who has done like a military move understands like, do not put your stuff in the storage if it is gonna get delivered straight to your house.

Like you accept it, you accept the shipment to your house and you drive 19 hours without stopping to Florida to get your household goods. Otherwise you'll see it in 90 days. Yeah, because once it's a storage, it's gone. So literally my husband and my son got in a car and drove from Oklahoma to Florida.

Saturday they left and then Monday our stuff got delivered and they were there to accept the shipment. So anyways, and my husband like calls me, he's like, wow, babe. The front hall's actually a lot bigger than it looked like in the video. And I'm like, I'm so glad that's unthankful .

Michael: Really? This is the one thing I wanted

Sana: It's like I'm so glad that it's like a welcoming the entryway. This is so good. Yeah, so it's so funny. But yeah, so we moved here 2020. Thankfully I like found an associate position. literally in May, we got here in June and like in May, I was just like submitting my Indeed application to like everybody and their mom.

And I was like, oh, like you would like somebody at this nursing home to check people's dentures. Of course, yes. Please take my application. Yes, I will come do that. That's what you need. I will do that. . It was, I literally, I think I submitted my, I think people are still responding to my Indeed applications like three years later.

we found a great position for you. I was like, not interested, not looking. Thank you. Stop. Stop. S t stop. Unsubscribe, . So yeah, I literally applied to everything that I could think of. So got a job that was cool. Started my first associate position like two weeks after I moved down here. And so at that point it was,

It's like culture shock. Like all of a sudden I'm like a dentist in private practice and it's very different than being a dentist in the military. And all of a sudden you're like, oh, like people have to pay for the things that I'm telling them. Like it's just not all free and included. Yeah. And then they don't trust me.

Like they think I'm just trying to make money off of them. And I'm like, no, like I'm telling you this because like, you need this, right? Like you need these fillings or you need this crown. And they're like, like, you just want me to pay for your Mercedes. I was like, dude, I drive a Volkswagen, but thank you.

Michael: But I would like a Mercedes. So

Sana: yes, those are expensive. Tell me about it. How do I ? So if you do this, actually you know what? You should let your tooth fall out. So then you need a, an extraction and then auto the input. And that'll help me pay.

Michael: That'll help pay. Yeah.

that was like a culture shock then,

Sana: It was very like sticker shock and like, honestly, okay, coming from the military, like that was my first experience as a dentist was like dental school where everything's like $5 and nobody cares how you do it because you're a student and you're just trying to learn. And then it's the military where it's like everything's free because they're all soldiers and we're like serving the soldier.

We're like getting the soldiers ready for going down range and like being deployable and whatever. and this is gonna sound really bad, but I'm gonna tell you guys the truth. I'm gonna say the truth. in the Army, I got paid exactly the same if I did a filling or I did a crown, or if I watched Game of Thrones in my office.

Like, if I told you you needed a filling, it's because you really needed it. I would've preferred to be watching something in my office, I'm getting paid to like sit here and like type some things and like eat my food and like watch Netflix on my phone. I got paid the exact same.

So like, yeah, for me, like that's kind of where I got my like treatment planning philosophies was like, oh, you absolutely need, like, you need this and so we're gonna do it. And I think that's, I mean, of course all dentists do that, right? Like, you need this, we're gonna do it. Some people are a little bit more aggressive on the treatment planning side.

Some people are a little bit more conservative. I'm very conservative. Like, I would like to give you the benefit of the doubt. Like let's watch if we can. And if I'm like, no, like we can't watch 86 things like you, you need fillings. Sorry. Mm-hmm. . But I think that was kind of. . The switch for me was like, I'm telling people they need these things because they really need them.

I wanna be watching tv. You need these fillings. I'm doing these fillings for you. So now I'm in the real world and people are like, well, you just want me to pay for your car. But I'm like, no, but you really just need these fillings. you're not paying for my car. I don't understand what's happening right now.

And so it was, it was like a very like, weird, like and it was like, also like covid. And everybody's like, well, can you put your mask? I was like, I have two masks on. Thank you. what do you want from me? I don't understand what I'm a yellow banana suit. I have three masks on. I don't, I don't get it.

Like, and you don't want this filling, and I don't want to do this filling. So I'm gonna get covid because I'm doing this filling on you. yeah, yeah. I have the short end of the stick here, guys. I don't want $26 and 15 cents from Humana for this filling, but you need it. So here we are. And like, yeah.

So that was like deep dive, like into like private practice. , and I mean, I technically worked for like a corporate office mm-hmm. , and it was a, it was a different type of like, corporate, it wasn't like corporate, corporate, it was just like, like more private practice feel, but still corporate. I don't know if that makes sense.

But Yeah. I mean, and there were some like really great things about it and some knots. So really great things about it. I did find myself, and maybe it's like my, innate leadership ability, I guess, if you wanna call it, or like my four years in the Army where I was like forced to be a leader.

So now I'm always just like thinking of like, how can we do things better? How can we do this more productive, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, whatever. So I'm over here like, just turning this dude's practice around basically like a mini like owner. Like, okay, like guys, like, we need to like really hone in on our ordering.

Like, why are we ordering 86 different types of composite? We don't need that. Like, we use two things. So let's like stick to those two things. Mm-hmm. , like whatever, like, just like really streamlining things and like, Switched the whole practice around. Everybody's like, wow, we like patients, staff.

Everybody's like, we just love coming here. It's so great. And I'm like, oh, you're welcome guys. I'm And yeah, so then at that moment I was like, wait, I'm like doing this for somebody else. So like why don't I do this for me? And that's kind of like where like the whole like switch happened a little bit where I was like, well, I should, I could, I could do this for myself.

Okay. So I'm also like very like squirrel brained. So like all of this is gonna connect, I promise this will all connect. It's connect. Yeah. It's connected. Yeah. So I'm gonna pause that story for a second. I'm gonna tell another story and then I'm gonna connect the two stories. Okay. Okay. So whoever, maybe if somebody like from the Texas State Board can like message me on Instagram and tell me how this happened, feel free.

But when I was in the military, so I was in Oklahoma, which was right above Texas, and so I had my Texas license and my Oklahoma license. . I got my Texas license in 2017, just like for reference of timeframe. I got my Texas license and then all of a sudden I get a call from somebody and they were like, Hey, where from blah, blah, blah.

Like real estate company. Like are you interested in like opening up your own practice? And like, and so, you know, we'd love to help you like find some space, whatever. Actually I think I can just say it like, it's fine. Cuz they helped me. This is why I ended it was Excite Realty. a, a healthcare realty firm or whatever.

So they have an office in Texas. They have an office in Florida. So, calls me, this guy calls me, what was his name? Tristan, Tristan called me and I was like, no, Tristan, I'm in the Army. Like I am not looking to open my prac.

Like, I'm literally like active duty military. Like I'm not opening a practice. Like, thank you. And I'm like also not very like. , please don't call me. Stop calling me. I was like, yeah, like, not right now. Tristan, thanks for calling. Like have a great day, whatever. Okay. He's like, all right, sounds good. I guess he like kept me on his list.

Mm-hmm. , because he literally called me every October until 2021. Oh man. Yeah, he was like very persistent. Tristan was very persistent and so it's like 2017 all the way, 2021. So like at this point, so he calls me in 2021 and this time I was like, yo, I'm not even in Oklahoma anymore, bro. I don't even have my Texas license anymore.

Like, so I like, at this point I was like a little bit more assertive also, I had an eight month old baby, so I was like probably sleep deprived. just all the things like, yeah, you know what? So I just was like, Kristen, stop calling me. So this was the first time in like, what, five years that I said it to him, Hey Tristan, listen, I'm not in Oklahoma.

I'm not in Texas. I'm not gonna open a practice in Texas. Like I just, what? Can you take me off the call list? Like, thank you so much. He's like, oh doctor, real quick. Where are you? I was like, I live in Florida now. I live in Florida. And he was like, oh, we have a branch in Florida, bro. What? ?

Michael: Yeah. I

Sana: was like, Christine.

I was like, and so, okay, fine. You know what? I was like, literally, and I remember this, I literally remember this because I was so, I was like nursing my daughter, she was eight months old. I'm sitting in the car at the outlet mall, like, so I don't remember my mother-in-law, somebody was in the mall and I was like, I'm just gonna sit in the car nurse her, like, just leave me alone.

So, and I answered the phone to tell him, please stop calling me. And then he's like telling me like, well we have a, we have a location in Florida. And I'm like, Tristan, . Okay, what do I have to pay you? Like, let's just start there. Like what does this cost me? Like you keep telling me like, what does this cost me?

And so this is like at that junction where I'm like doing all this for this other guy, like building up his practice and I'm like, I should do this for myself. Then Tristan calls me and I'm like, well, okay, maybe I should like entertain it. Like, okay, Tristan, how much does it cost? And he is like, oh, you don't pay anything.

The landlord pays for it. I was like, this is Bri. Why did you start with that in 2017? Dude? open with that. Open with this doesn't cost you anything. Like maybe I would've been nicer for the last five years. Who would've thought? Yeah, so, okay, all right. I was like, all right, okay, let's give this the shot.

And this was like kind of when my startup journey like began, oh no, sorry, this is October of 2020. So this is, yeah, 20, 23 years. Three years there. Mm-hmm. 20 17, 20 20, yeah. October of 2020. So I was like, okay, fine. Entertain me. That's fine. Let's see. So I gave him like what my like. to do my list was like what?

Like what I want. Perfect practice, whatever. And like the place that I live is very like up and coming, so it's not like established. And there's a lot of like families coming in here. So like everybody from like California and New York. everybody that's like coming down here from there is like now moving to Wesley Chapel. So it's very like up and coming. So this is also where I live. And so I was like, Hey guys, like I want a practice like where I live.

Okay. Like in retrospect, maybe I shouldn't have done that, but that's a whole other story. But I was like, I want something like close to home, like two minutes from my house, I can go home for lunch. Like this is great. Like that's what I want. So it's very specific. Is

Michael: it right now two minutes from your house?

Sana: five minutes from my house. Yeah. Oh man. Yeah. Yeah. Like we can't be that.

so I gave him like this like list where I was like, this is like finding a unicorn, they won't be able to do this.

Mm-hmm. . And I took, I was like, look, I really like my position. I'm making good money. I'm happy in what I'm doing. The thought has crossed my mind if the stars in the moon align, like, yeah, maybe I'll do it. So off you go, do your homework. Bye. So obviously like this area's up and coming, there's no practice acquisitions because everybody is a millennial dentist, so they're not retiring.

Mm-hmm. , or they're like too young to be retiring. So there's no nothing to acquire around here. So it's all like, it has to be a startup. So we're looking, looking, looking. We found a few places like, you know, and so like the type of person I am, I'm always like prepared for like the other shoe to drop, right?

So I told Tristan, all right, yeah, dude, put me in touch with your Florida guy. Let's do it whatever. Florida dude contacts me and then give him his homework. And I'm like, he's not gonna find anything, but that's fine. So I'm just waiting, like at some point I was like, this entire process will end somewhere.

it won't ever complete because they won't find a location, we won't find the lease, the construction budget will be out of wac, like whatever, right? Like something's just not gonna align and then it won't happen. Mm-hmm. . So we started this search October of 2020 for reference. I signed my lease in July of 2021, October, 2020 to July of 2021.

So, and we started like Lois and stuff in March of 2021. . So it took me a while. Mm-hmm. for us to like really just like get things together. and again, like I said, the entire time I'm waiting for like the other shoe to drop. So, yeah. So we like found a place, it was this really awesome, like in an ortho building, and I was like, oh, this is perfect.

Like there's an orthodontist in this building, there's this like endo, there's perio, and then like, I can be here. Like this is cool. Like everybody I would refer to is like just right around me. Anyways, like that was the first LOI I put in, and that didn't go anywhere because the guy decided to like, keep it for himself.

I'm like, bro, why would you waste my time? Like, yeah, it's fine, whatever. So then we put in like an L LOI at another place, which I had a feeling like it wasn't gonna work at that place, but I just like rolled with the punches. I'm like, all right, yeah, whatever, whatever. So we put in our l o I and in there in my head, like I had already put in there that I wanna have like cosmetic procedures.

potentially Botox, fillers, whatever, that type of stuff. I wanna be able to do it at some point. Mm-hmm. . And they were like, yeah, no, you can't do that. Like, there's an ALTA in this plaza so you can't do cosmetic procedures. I'm like, what?

Michael: Isn't Alta like just like hair? Or let's

Sana: make up, I was like, I was like, because the, because they do free makeup if you buy $50 worth of makeup.

And that's considered called is. Is that what like, wait, I have no idea. He like, wouldn't give me any insight. I was like, bro, what? Like literally I was just like, what? I was so confused and so like, I tried like a little bit to negotiate this leave. Mm-hmm. and I was like, ok, fine. I can look past that. Like this is like on the second floor and Okay.

Like everybody knows how complicated dental plumbing is. Right? So the first floor, like whatever was below that space, was already like built out. Mm-hmm. . So we had told them like we would need to go through their ceiling. to do our plumbing, but we'll do it like after hours on the weekends. Like we will not disrupt business hours.

And the landlord's like, Nope, not allowed. We're like, can we like ask the the person else it? I was like, no. He was like, no, not allowed. We're like, all right, well here's your l o I. Here's your lease. Bye. Like, okay, this. So like at that point I'm like, see guys, like this is why I'm not committed to anything.

Like, cuz I knew what was gonna happen. Yeah. I already lost like two places at this point. I've spent like $5,000 on lease reviews to go nowhere. I'm like, well this is just really stupid. I'm like, this is a lot of money. And I was like, now I need to go work extra hours at my job. Like, this is dumb. Yeah. So then I found this.

and we're like, okay, so we're doing the lease review. And like the landlord here, same thing was like, there was just like so much back and forth. They have never like leased out to a dentist. So they just trusted nothing because we don't have, like, I don't have like a solid business plan. It's like me, my word document that I made with all my projected things that I'm like, I can accomplish all of these things because I believe in myself and here's my business plan and this is what most dentists do and this is what's projected.

And here you go, enjoy. Right? And they're like, yeah, no, that's like not real. Like this is all made up. And I'm like, you're right, it is. I made it all up. It was really great . And they're like, great. I made all that up. It's so great. I made it up on my kitchen table, so it's fine. Yeah. Um, yeah. And so that was very difficult for them to like, trust us.

Like, trust me. Mm-hmm. , they're like, you won't be able to pay your rent. I was like, I mean, your rent's a little high, so, Couldn't

Michael: negotiate that down a little bit. Negotiate, you're probably right.

Sana: Little high's a little high, but whatever. so, yeah. So we ended up negotiating that lease and it worked out and I signed my lease July of 2021 and that was it.

And then we signed the lease and we were here. Okay. So that's like one pause, that's like one story. We're gonna pause right there. Okay. Okay. So I have three kids by the way. Okay. So I, three kids. I have a 12 year old, I have a three-year-old and I have a nine month old. Yeah. So, yeah. So after my second, yes, so after I had my first two kids, I was like, yeah, like I'm not having, I'm not having any more kids.

Like I can't. Maybe t m i, but whatever, like real life here it is. Like I had fertility problems, so like mm-hmm. , having my daughter was very difficult. And like after going through that, my husband are like, okay. Yeah. Like, okay, we're good. Like we got one boy, we got one girl. Like, it's good. Like we're done.

Yeah. Okay. So like, that's fine. Right. Okay. Tell me why. Like August of 2021, I found out I was

Michael: as soon as you, when did you sign the, in July of 2021. And then in August. How were you, talk to me about that thought process when that happened. Like how were you thinking in the sense of like, why me, why now? Or were you like, this is great, this is fantastic.

Sana: No, I was like, so how do I get outta his lease

I was like, wait a minute. Ok. I was like, it's fine. Right? It's fine. We can get out of it. Like, dude, I signed a 15 year lease. it's a very long lease. Yeah. So, yeah, no, I was like, what? That can't be right. That's, that's not true. That's not true life. And it was, it was a very true life. And I remember when my, when I started with my consultant, he told me two things, do not make any big purchases and do not get pregnant.

Who is your consultant? Mike Ncio. Next level consultant. Okay. Yeah,

Michael: yeah, yeah. How do you like

Sana: working with them? Oh my god, he was amazing. Awesome. I think I referred like everybody to him and he is awesome. So everybody who's watching this should also go call Mike because he is literally amazing. And all of this would not be here if it wasn't for him.

because he got me through a lot of crap, like a lot like dude, I was like a hormonal person, right? Like my diapers are really

Michael: expensive. Diapers are, they still aren't really expensive. They're expensive. And

Sana: I just sleep trained My eight month old or how old is she? No, she's a year and a half. Oh God, no.

My son now is nine months old. Kidding. Everything confused. Like that's how discombobulated I am. But yeah, no, Mike really helped me through a lot of stuff. And so I called him and I was like, Hey Mike, I have to tell you something. And I remember this like, he was the, besides my husband, who also didn't believe me that I was pregnant.

Mike was the second person that I told that I was pregnant. And he also didn't believe me. He like thought I was joking. Yeah. And I was like, no, I'm not. Like I'm, I'm serious. I'm so serious. p my entire like buildout, I was also building a human inside my body. That was kind. Yeah. So, yes.

Michael: That's pretty intense. Mm. That's

Sana: okay. And so we opened in March of 2022. My son was born on four 20 of 2022.

Michael: Yeah.

Sana: Wait, did you catch his

Michael: birthday April? Oh, oh, okay. I was like, I thought just a month later, I don't get it, but No, yeah, yeah, I get it.

Sana: But yes, it was a month later, literally, so like I opened and it was, I was like literally nine months pregnant when I opened.

And then I had my son a week a month later, and then two weeks after I had him, you better believe I did 17 fillings on my first day back, man.

Michael: Yeah. So, okay. So you opened your practice, right? Yeah. And we can talk about, like, a little bit about the whole part of, uh, opening up. I actually wanted to go back a little bit and talk about that generational trauma, but we can do that another episode or something like that.

But when it comes to the opening up the practice and now you're, how many months or years open now?

Sana: so 11 months open now.

Michael: Okay. And has, how does the trajectory look? Has it been like

Sana: okay, so it was like this, okay, so we are like hyping up to like open, like open, and then it's like give birth, boom,

Okay, cool. So it's like, okay, so, so we're here like, oh, everything's really cool. People like this pregnant dentist. Like, okay, she's so cute. Oh my God, you're having a baby. Oh, practice. We're so proud of you have a baby. Literally like rapid decline. And then I came, so I came back from maternity leave, like I came back from maternity.

Okay. Just two weeks count as maternity leave. No, it doesn't. I came back from giving birth. Yeah, right. 10 days later. Okay. I was like, I'll be back from vacation guys. I'll be our B. Just, yeah. Don't let anything break when I, you know, until I get back. Literally. . So then when I got back I was only seeing patients like once a week because I was like, guys, I just had a baby.

Like I need to heal a little bit. So like

Michael: need to heal. You just gave life, you need to heal a little bit.

Sana: Also some stitches like, don't mind me, but like I, you know, one day a week. Yeah. So came back one day a week and then in, so that was like all of May. I was here for one day a week and then in June is when I came back, like came back from maternity leave.

So that was like three days a week. And then in May I'm just like trying to like build this back up like very slowly to like get ready for June. So we're like building back up. And then my hygienist, cause I hired a hygienist cause I hate h sorry, hygienist, but like, it's probably like for the benefit of my patients that everybody doesn't get a deep cleaning.

Cuz if I see them, that's what they would get. Oh. Because it's I don't have the hands of an angel. So. . I have a hygienist against all the things that everybody says for startups, you don't need it, do your own hygiene, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. Anyways, I got a hygienist, so literally as I'm like recovering from birth giving, she gives me her notice cuz she's like, Hey.

Yeah, right. Freaking heartland. She was like, Hey Doc, like I need benefits and this Heartland office is gonna like give me medical insurance for my kid. And I was like, you know, like I respect that. Mm-hmm. and I like, can't be mad at you for it. So thank you for the couple of days that you gave me. Good luck.

I'll send you your W2 next year. And, uh, how many

Michael: employees at this time have you had?

Sana: okay. I feel like I have a lot of employees. Again, another topic for another day because against all startup things, I think I have like, I'm like, just like way overstaffed, but like in a good way. How many do you have right now?

Oh my God. Okay. Lemme count. I'm my office manager, Diana. I have my treatment coordinator who is like double serving as my assistant right now because long story short, my assistant quit last week, so that was kind of cool. Anyways, so my treatment coordinator Casie, so it's two.

Mm-hmm. . Then I have my hygienist, three, I have my life assistant. That's a whole other topic for another

Michael: life assistant you said? Yes. Okay. And she works at the practice?

Sana: Yeah, she does like things for me here and then she would like do things for me, like all the errands that I would need to do, like all like a bunch of like admin stuff that like, it's not like office manager stuff, it's just like more like me stuff, but like, I just like responding to emails and like she runs my social media and like just that kind of stuff.

Okay. But now since last week we've had a lot of changes, so now she's at the front desk, so she's. receptionist also now. Okay. She's like, my life is slash office receptionist. That's four. And then I have a nurse practitioner because I'm also a med spa. So that's a whole other topic. Yes. So five. And then my nurse practitioner has a medical assistant, so that's six.

Michael: Okay. So you have six employees in total. Why'd you decide to become a med spa? How did you like H? How's that coming along? The med spa

Sana: part? Oh my god. It's like a whole other story. Okay. Okay. So we'll back up. So when I was making this like concept, right? Mm-hmm. , people hate the dentist. People love the spa.

So I was like, oh yeah, like we'll make this like dental experience, very spa-like that was like the goal spa-like dental experience. So then I'm doing my branding and all this stuff, so I'm like, oh yeah, dental studio and spa. So like in my head when I'm like, it's a spa dental studio. There's aromatherapies, you get fuzzy blankets, you get noise canceling headphones.

Like all the millennial stuff, right? Like all the millennial things. Yeah. And that's what, that's what it was in my head. And then I started like doing all this, like marketing and stuff and people are like, so what's the spa? And I'm like, it's the fuzzy blanket. and this. Branded Chapstick,

Oh, you wanted a facial? Yeah. I don't have that. Sorry. Oh,

Michael: okay.

Sana: Oh, you want a massage? Yeah, we don't do those here. Sorry. that's how it started. I was like, okay, so people are respecting a spa, like, okay, sounds good. So like, eight months pregnant, opening a scratch startup, and people want a freaking spa.

So I'm like, what the heck? What? So I had like, I have four, I had four empty ops. Cause so my office has seven ops. I got equipment for three, and then I had four empty ones. I was like, all right, we're gonna rent one of these out to an esthetician. There you go. Wesley Chapel, here's your facial. Come and get one.

There you go. Yeah. , I rented it, I rented out a room to an esthetician and then, so that was whatever, like, I'm, I wasn't like really in charge of anything. Like she did her own thing. It was just like rented space. And I was like, oh, thanks for like the $500 for my super expensive rent. Yeah. Put that

Michael: towards that as one.

Wait real quick. Put a timeout. How much is

Sana: rent? Oh my God. Stop. We really wanna know. It's like $8,000.

Michael: How many, how many ops do you have? Seven. Are they all plumbed and, oh, okay.

Sana: But that's just my rent. Like I'm just paying this guy to pay his mortgage.

Michael: Was there any free rent? Six months. What was your tie?

Sana: Allowance?

Oh my god. What was it? 72,000. Not a lot of thousands. Not

Michael: enough . Not a lot of thousands. I'm looking to be a millionaire. Not a thousandaire. What is wrong with that man? Like, what is

Sana: this? I was like, dude, I was like, I'm signing a 15 year lease, 15 years. I was like, the baby that's in my stomach will be 15 years old.

Oh yeah. Like he'll be getting his license. That's how long this lease is. Okay, thank you.

Michael: So here's showing 2000. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So un paused back to the, the spot.

Sana: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So then I got the esthetician and then people were getting facials and that was cool. And then I was like, oh, I wanna do Botox and fillers and like I had taken a course for it, but I'm the type of person, like I'm a perfectionist, like, I don't wanna do it.

but I know people want Botox and fillers. I kind of nervous, so I got a nurse practitioner. I was like, ah, like one day a week, just like, come, like, Botox these people up. Mm-hmm. , we started doing that. And then I guess like all the laser reps in the United States, just, I, I don't, I don't understand, like, do they have like a, oh, this person advertised that they do Botox.

Let's go attack them with our sales rep, Venus Literally they would like just, they would just show up. They would just show up at the front desk. this is before my therapist taught me that I have to put boundaries. Okay. So like, I've, I've done a lot of therapy in my life. Hang out again.

Michael: Pause you going, you going to therapy? Hell yeah. What, when did you start going?

Sana: So I was in therapy before When I went through like all the oh my god, there's like so much you don't know about me, but , , there's a lot. I just met you right now. just met me.

There's so much you don't know about me. But, so I went through like all this stuff, like in high school, like in college, whatever, like teen mom, like okay, like all this like traumatic, traumatic stuff, right? So like, just like a synopsis, like I'm a survivor of like domestic abuse and sexual assault, right?

So like that's like a lot of my traumas. And so I was going to therapy before, but I was like lying in therapy and like just F y I, if you lie in therapy, it doesn't work. So I was lying in therapy and it didn't work very well. So I stopped going to therapy and then I restarted therapy last year maybe.

Yeah, I started restarted therapy last year and now I have this really awesome therapist who's like a mom therapist. and she just like understands like working moms. Anyways,

Michael: my therapist what, real quick, what made you want to start therapy?

Sana: as you can tell, I have the brain of a squirrel and I have a lot of things I need to talk about.

And my husband doesn't understand anything about dentistry. He also doesn't understand anything about owning a business. He also is not a mom. And I just like, I basically talk to patients. I talk to my staff, I talk to my kids, I talk to my husband and that's it. I was like, I need an outlet.

Like also I have all of these like negative coping mechanisms and I have zero boundaries, so I literally gotta get my together. negative coping mechanism is basically like, , I'll just like let people just do whatever and I like, don't, I just like, I'm like, OK, sounds good. Like I'm very like PE people pleaser. Even if I'm like, no, like I don't wanna do that. Like, or I'm like always just like preparing for the worst. So like, I'll be like in this like really great like celebratory moment and I'm like, I need to prepare for like the apocalypse.

And it's like, dude, we're literally just eating Taco Bell. Can you relax? Yeah. And well, no I can't, I can't celebrate this Mexican pizza comeback right now. . I'm afraid that the Mexican pizza will also then be taken off the menu. So the

Michael: Mexican pizza combo, , it didn't get taken off. Didn't it again? Or, I dunno.

It's

Sana: not taken off. Okay. Then it came back and now. , I'm supposed to celebrate this comeback of the Mexican pizza, but in my head I know that they will take it away again.

Michael: Okay, . So those are the negative coping mechanisms. What I mean, ok, I

Sana: get you, I get you Like very, more like dramatic, like other types of things, but that's just like me trying to again, like deflect and make something a joke, like that's another negative coping mechanism.

I just make all this serious stinky stuff a joke all the time and I'm like, it's, it's fine. It's ok. It's ok. I like, you know, like that meme where it's like everything's on fire around

Michael: other guy. Like, it's fine. This is fine. This is fine.

Sana: It's, it's fine. Yeah. That's like me as a person.

Michael: Okay. Okay. Okay. So un pause, fast, fast forward back

Sana: to the, the med spa and the laser reps and having no boundaries.

Like, I would be like, oh yeah, if somebody wants to like, come talk to me, like, yeah, just let them know. Whatever. Right? So I'm like getting pulled out of the operatory. They're like, oh, doc, so and so wants to talk to you, so and so called for you. And I'm like, oh, cool. Ok. And I'm like, wait, I can't talk to all these people.

Like I just, I can't do it. And I'm also really bad at saying no. So somehow these guys come in, then they convince me with all their sales preppiness that I need a Morpheus machine. And I'm like, yeah, you're right. I wanna get rid of my double G. So, you're right. Let's get a amorphous, it's fine. Let's do it.

Okay. That's a lot of thousands of dollars. Okay. Sounds good. Did you get it? Yeah, I, I got it.

Michael: Man, their sales preppiness is good. Huh?

Sana: Or my boundaries are lacking. Yeah. Right. Yeah.

Michael: Like that's true. You could have just been so looking at IT app, but what have you improved that or what, what's going on with

Sana: that?

Yeah. No, I've improved it. I stopped buying stuff. I've been cut off, so I'm not buying things anymore. Mm-hmm. , but I've also. . I was just, I just was looking like, where is, how is society going? Like what's like on the up and on, the up and up and it's med spas that is on the up and up, right?

Mm-hmm. , everybody wants to be in aesthetics and cosmetics and this and that and whatever. And so I'm like, all right, well people are expecting a spa, so we're gonna make it a freaking spa and we're gonna become a med spa. Like, that's it. We're doing it. I don't wanna be like, oh yeah, come get your facial.

Like, no, you can go down to the salon suite down there. Go get your facial over there. Mm-hmm. , we have lasers here. We have a medical director that's this, this person is the medical director. Like we do medical things here. So it just like was a really quick, like all of a sudden it started as Botox and fillers.

Then all these reps are coming in and they're like telling me about all this like, cool stuff. And I'm like, wait, like why aren't we incorporating this? Like that just like makes natural sense, right? And then my practitioner, she used to work at another med spa, she had all that experience and I was, I was like asking her, I was like, well, what could we do to like build this side of the office?

So July of 2022, the med spa officially opened and that was it. And we started like booking data and now we're like, I mean we're doing really great. I'm so grateful for it, but it's hard. Like basically, what I've been doing is like, that's why I'm like, I don't know what the numbers are. I feel like they're kind of skewed, like we are trying to market a new dental office and a med spa, but they're totally different business models and totally different businesses, under one brand, if that makes

Michael: sense.

Yeah, like an umbrella kind of thing, right? Like a, yeah, exactly. So it's been hard,

Sana: but it's like, it's good. It's like a good, hard,

Michael: the spa and the like the lasers and stuff like that alone. How much would you say. you're making with that

Sana: profit? Like I would say like if we're looking at like what the production is for the month, that's probably like 20%. And like the dental still pays, like dental pays the bills. Okay.

Michael: And so then production and collections for last month was what? 1

Sana: 0 4. Let's see. 1 0 4. And then let me pull up my calculator. Let's calculate every

Michael: month. Has it been going higher and higher or have you had some months that has been like, oh my gosh, we did fantastic and another months you're like, oh, we dipped.

Sana: I mean it's been like consistently going up. Mm-hmm. . So I just did the math. So, and as this is, this is again, like, this is the hard part about like running a report. Like did everybody post the things under the correct provider? Like that's question number one. Mm-hmm. . So given, if they did, it shows that the Med Spa produced 22% of last month's.

production. So 22%?

Michael: Yes. Like about what you said. Okay. Awesome. And then new patients right now, how many are you getting? Last

Sana: month we got but that's just dental new patients. So like how many med spa new patients did I get last month also? So like that's how I have to look at practice, like, I mean new patient acquisition because now in that budget that I've spent, I am acquiring dental patients and med spa patients.

So if you look at it like, oh my God, you spent that much money and you got 44 patients, that's terrible. Yeah, I agree. It's like very terrible. But then when I look at like how many med spa patients did I get with that money and dental patients, then it kind of like balances out to normal.

Michael: Hmm. I guess what are you doing for marketing and advertising then?

Sana: So right now we are doing like Facebook ads. I have transcendental running my Facebook ads. I'm in like a bunch of like local publications. So there's like three magazines or two magazines and a newspaper that I'm in. I have a little ad, and then I am for the, one of the magazines. I'm an expert contributor.

So for like the, they'd already had a dentist expert contributor. So I'm the med spa expert contributor. But basically I just like give them articles like three times a year about whatever I wanna write about. Mm-hmm. . And so LA like I did the New year new you article. It was kind of cool. I wonder if I have a copy of it.

and I just talked about like what our office does and like, what's a dental office and a med box. Everybody's like, is this a scam? And I'm like, no.

Michael: They ask you that. Is this a

Sana: scam? People will see like our Botox ad on Facebook, and they literally will be like, is this a scam? And I'm like, not a scam.

You're talking to a real person. It's me. I'm feeding my children dinner as I respond to this Facebook message So, a, not as scary. Very real. Thank you. So, and then, but people come and they're like, oh my God. Like, I think a lot of what we've been getting recently is word of mouth because Oh, our staff, like, we are all, we all work so well together.

we all, like, the patients can sense it. They come in here and they're like, wow, this feels like comfortable. I feel like I'm in, I'm at home. Kind of like, they're not like uncomfortable, like in this like, medical setting, just like mm-hmm. . I mean, we do it, it's a medical setting. Everything is nice and sterile and clean, but like the people that they're interacting with and the way that we vibe off of each other and the conversations we as staff are having, and then we like include the patients.

Like it's really just by word of mouth. and so we throw events here too, like at the office. So like, we're literally doing somebody's birthday party next month. Oh, cool. Yeah. So it's like a little like Botox party for their birthday. And they're inviting like. What 15 of their friends were getting like charcuterie, Prosecco, we're gonna have like balloons, cake, all that stuff.

And she's throwing her party here at a dental office. That's cool though.

Michael: That's nice. Like that should be promoted like a bajillion, you know what I mean? Like make a bunch of content out of it and stuff like that. Yeah. Well we

Sana: interested content. So you were asking like what else we do for promotions, like for marketing?

Mm-hmm. . So we literally just did two days of content creation, like yesterday and today. And so we do that, like, we do like just a bunch of content stuff and then like edit and do all that stuff and then have that like for three months at a time. So like yesterday, the team, like, we all got our makeup done professionally and we were just like, it was just like a fun like team building type of day.

So like everybody got their makeup done. We were all like, we all have purple scrubs. We all wore pink dresses. We took like fancy pictures, we took funny pictures, we made funny reels like just.

Michael: That. Yeah, that's good. Awesome. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay. And then, so I know you mentioned a couple companies, XITE, Michael Ncio, right.

Next to Level practice, you mentioned Transcendental. Right. what have been some of the worst companies you've worked with since the moment you decided to do your startup to now

just companies that didn't, vibe with you, I guess, or like, you know what I mean? You're like, you know what, let's just stop kind of thing.

Sana: Yeah. Honestly, I don't think anybody, I'm serious. Everybody that I've started with, I have stuck with and I referred like potential clients too.

So like, for example, um, M V P Mail House, I used them for my mailers when I first opened, and I like, love them. So have sent tons of people there. Transcendental. I've referred a few people there. I didn't start with transcendental, like they, I didn't start with them from day one, but, since I've started with them, I have like nothing but great things to say.

They're awesome. Um, who'd you start with from day one? Um, so, and I'm still working with them. Art of Dental Marketing, Sean Hamel. Okay. Okay. Okay. Uhhuh. . Yeah. Yeah, so they like, so they did my webs and like, so they never did Facebook ads for me. So, so like what Transcendental is doing is nothing that they've ever done for me.

It's just like something I decided to add on. But, um, so Arta Dental Marketing does, like, they made my website and so they like manage like my website and all that stuff and everybody always comments on how great my website is. So thank you to Stephanie who designed it cuz she's the bomb.com, but yeah, so that's my website. And then I'm trying to think like, I don't, I don't know like what other vendors. do people normally use I use B of A for banking, which is fine. They were, yeah, I did the, the startup practice thing. okay. That was good for equipment. They were great. Yeah. Yeah. I used, I, oh, I used Renew Digital for my C B C T and my p mm-hmm.

That was awesome. Okay. That's good. Yeah. So I feel like I've happy with all the people I've chosen so far.

Michael: Okay. Yeah. Awesome. So the, one of the last questions I want to ask you is, how is all of this affecting your personal life? Oh my

Sana: God. Okay. Hello. I've added therapy. I'm kidding. ,

Michael: when you just talked about therapy, Michael.

Oh, I wasn't joyful with the Taco Bell, Mexican pizza. Come on,

Sana: let's talk about that. So, no, I'm, but honestly, it, it's hard. Like, you know, I have a husband, I have three kids. I have a teacup Yorkie who needs more attention than my husband and three kids all together, like, It's a lot, you know, and I have, and I tell my husbands all the time, like, I need to find something for me.

Like, and I have not done that yet. you know, my husband, he plays soccer, for example. Mm-hmm. , he likes to watch sports and fantasy football and whatever that type, whatever that March madness. Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . Well, he likes that stuff. So that's like what he does for himself. He is like, with his friends, like doing that.

He goes and plays soccer and like, that's great. And I, and I'm happy for him that he has that, but I'm like, dude, what do I have? I literally clean teeth, not, I don't clean teeth. I do a bunch of fillings and crowns and other stuff. Argue with people about their dental insurance that they picked. It's not my fault.

I don't wanna tell you about that. Tell them how they're not paying for my Mercedes. That it's literally a Volkswagen. And also they need the filling. and then I come home and then I argue with my 12 year old because he is going through preteen stuff, so That's cool. Yeah. And I argue my three year old who doesn't want to go to bed,

And then my eight, my, well, he's actually, oh my God, he's 10 months now. Sweetest little boy ever. But yeah, so him and I just, we just hang out. He, he doesn't argue with me thankfully. But, you know, so I'm like, I just, I'm like at work or I'm at home and then like, that's it. Or I'm talking to my therapist, so I'm like, I need something for me. So I think that's been some, that's been the one thing that I have really been missing since this whole journey started is like that time for myself and that thing for me, like, I really wanna start working out again. That's like one of my goals, but that's because I enjoyed doing it and I just haven't, I don't have time.

Like, where's the time? , I finished all the clinical stuff and it's like, oh, gotta run payroll. Hey guys, sorry, told about to run payroll. So would you like your check like paper or do you want it direct deposited on Monday? I forgot to run payroll. So it's like those types of things, like if I'm not doing like clinical stuff, I'm doing all this admin stuff and if I'm doing admin stuff, I'm doing mom stuff and then like, where's the like me stuff, you know?

So I think that's the one thing that has kind of affected my personal life is like I just don't have time to do anything that I wanna do. And I, and you know, you open a business thinking like work life balance, this is great, but I think as a startup, like that's probably not a realistic expectation, especially like when your significant other is not in the same field or like a part of the practice, in some sort of like administrative capacity, you know?

my husband's a high school teacher and he loves what he does and he. Does not have time to do anything here because he has 160 students that he has to teach and grade and plan for, and he comes home. And then we have three kids. If I'm here late at night running payroll and putting up Indeed ads, cause I have to hire an assistant, guess what?

He's at home with the kids so he can't be here to help me. You know? And so that's kind of the, the thing, it's, it's a very like fine line I guess. You

Michael: kind of do, you kind of feel sounded like what about me?

Sana: Yes. Kind of thing. Yeah. This is becoming like a serious therapy session and I'm there for it because it would be good to have it twice.

I mean, this week I had to skip it cuz we had content day yesterday. So , it feels like at that point where I do need my therapy session and I'm kind of happy so. I do wonder what about me? What about me? If you

Michael: skipped it for your content day. Yeah. I mean, uh, that and stuff like that happens, righ

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Los Angeles, California

The Dental Marketer Podcast

The Dental Marketer

442: Dr. Sana Yusuf | Sana Dental Studio & Spa

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