I originally wrote this blog post on November 15, 2013. It was 2 years after I had officially quit dentistry. After blogging for some time, I met the first of many other dentists who had also experienced life after dentistry. I was so excited to meet Rick, a dentist and fellow blogger. A lot has changed since then. I no longer hide behind the screen name, Lolabees, and Rick has also evolved his own career. That is the great thing about taking that leap the first time– once you do it, you never fear changing again. Check out his guest...
Do you remember your first crush? They often don’t work out so well. Maybe you were too afraid to tell anyone, and you found your crush and your best friend holding hands. Perhaps all the other kids in class made fun of you when they found out. Or maybe your crush embarrassed you with rejection in front of the whole school. Part of the fun and part of the problem with crushes is that we create an ideal image of the other person. We project onto them who we want them to be without really knowing who they are. It’s...
Don’t you just love a good overnight success story? It could involve the dumb luck of getting “discovered” by a talent agent while being featured on a Jumbotron at a football game (yes, I’m actually referencing Pamela Anderson here on my blog.) Or it might be like the recent story of the nurse whose TikTok video lead her to a new career. After her interior design transformation of her sister’s college dorm room went viral, she decided to leave nursing to become an interior designer. No matter how it happens, when we look in from the outside, these huge leaps...
Have you ever felt like you didn’t fit in with your dental community? I felt that a lot throughout my decade in practice. Whenever I showed up to local CE or dental society events, I felt invisible. It was hard to genuinely connect with other dentists within the community, and I didn’t think I had much in common with most of the people I met. So I slowly pulled away from the social aspects of the dental community. After all, I wasn’t getting much satisfaction from it. Plus, I felt tired of eating, sleeping, breathing, and discussing dentistry all the...
Please welcome my next guest blogger. This dentist has a great story to share and, for now, wishes to stay anonymous. Which experiences described below do you relate to most? People often ask, “did you always know you wanted to be a dentist?” My answer is usually something like, “No, I did it on a whim”. Although I haven’t heard many such admissions, I think there are dentists out there who relate. We essentially winged it, or chose dentistry for some trivial reason, owing in part to limited life experience. Add to this the inability to truly gauge how much...
In 2018 I wanted to highlight more stories of dentists and hygienists leaving dentistry to create more happiness in their careers. I came up with a series of blog interviews sharing others’ amazing stories, so that you could see that change is possible for all of us. Then it dawned on me that the interviews may have been glossing over the real work involved in career change. I wrote this article to keep it real, as yet another reminder that this process can feel really complicated when you’re going through it. I hope you enjoy. I recently had a conversation...
Please welcome guest blogger, Dr. Julie Kellogg. Julie is a third-generation dentist as well as a certified professional coach, writer, investor, dog mom, skier and shoe aficionado. She lives in Walla Walla, WA with her two dogs, Mochi and JoJo. Her 5G coaching combines coaching and travel for achievers who want to get out of their head and into their senses. You can find that along with her travel blog and texture library at travelwithtexture.com Enjoy this two-part blog post where Julie shares her story in the first one and what she did about it in the second post. What...
Please welcome guest blogger, Dr. Julie Kellogg. Julie is a third-generation dentist as well as a certified professional coach, writer, investor, dog mom, skier and shoe aficionado. She lives in Walla Walla, WA with her two dogs, Mochi and JoJo. Her 5G coaching combines coaching and travel for achievers who want to get out of their head and into their senses. You can find that along with her travel blog and texture library at travelwithtexture.com Enjoy this two-part blog post where Julie shares her story in the first one and what she did about it in the second post. Can...
Did you ever want to quit because you felt so burnt out in dentistry? Three years into my dental career, I suddenly decided I couldn’t do it anymore. I hated being a dentist. I constantly worried… would my work last? Would it turn out okay? Which patients were going to get mad at me today? Was someone going to sue me? Although I always did my best, I could never guarantee that the results would match the quality of my work. I thought if I could only be MORE perfect, then I’d never have to face those consequences I constantly...
I wrote this blog post on March 14, 2013. At the time, I reflected on what worked for myself in creating change. Despite having no experience coaching at the time, these are some of the principles I use today to help others create their own path and design their career on their terms. If you’ve followed my blog over the past 11 years, you’ve had a front row seat to witness my huge and daunting career change. “Huge and daunting…” Hmm. Today I read that and am intrigued by that description from 11 years ago. Indeed, that was exactly how...
