#awinewith Dr Bethany Fisher
MEET Dr Bethany Fisher, Founder of Dr Bethany's Tooth Tales
You can find them here:
Transcript
Danielle Lewis (00:05):
Oh, let's do it. Bethany, welcome to Spark tv.
Dr Bethany Fisher (00:09):
Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
Danielle Lewis (00:12):
I'm so excited to be here. We have talked over the years, just we have randomly about all of the things, so it's so nice to have you on the show and actually get to dive deeper into your business.
Dr Bethany Fisher (00:23):
Thank you. Especially in this Christmas time that we both seem excited to be working in. It's great.
Danielle Lewis (00:29):
Totally, totally. Oh my gosh. All of the things to do before the end of the year. We're recording just before the break and this will be out in January, so yeah, if anyone's listening in January, they're like, okay, it's over. Stop talking for Christmas already. I love it. Let's kick things off by telling everyone who you are and what you do.
Dr Bethany Fisher (00:49):
Well, my name is Bethany. I am a dentist and I run dental education programs in early learning centers. My program, Dr. Bethany used tooth Tails is what I do every day. So I know we hear teeth and we think I hate my teeth or I hate the dentist, or we don't like talking about it. But what I do is I really try to make the dentist fun and looking after our teeth fun. So we sing, we dance, we play games, and it's all about breaking down a lot of the stigma around the dentist and getting kids excited about looking after their teeth, which is what I love. Oh,
Danielle Lewis (01:24):
It is so good. I mean, it's just so important and I think that there is, I don't know, you've got to start these practices and habits early so that it's just second nature when you grow up. That's
Dr Bethany Fisher (01:39):
Right.
Danielle Lewis (01:39):
It's so important. How did you even get into this?
Dr Bethany Fisher (01:43):
Well, I was a dentist and I worked as a dentist for seven, eight years and I was really devastated by how many teeth I was taking out in four year olds.
Danielle Lewis (01:55):
Wow.
Dr Bethany Fisher (01:56):
It sucks. Let alone for the 4-year-old in the chair and the parent that's filled with huge amounts of guilt and me who would do it, and I work well with kids, so I'd see a lot of kids and would make it as positive an experience as I could, but I didn't like it either, and I felt that I was just being a bandaid in the clinic. By the time families were seeing me, it was too late and it's so common. The statistics are just devastating, the rates of tooth decay in children and they're not getting better, and I felt that I was dealing with these parents that wanted answers and didn't know where to get the answers from. And in such a short amount of time that you have in these appointments, we just weren't getting the breakthroughs that we needed. So I took a step back from dentistry actually.
(02:49):
I had been accepted to specialize in pediatric dentistry, which was all I had thought that I wanted, but realized that that was just going to make me a bandaid for longer. So I decided in 2020 of all years that I was going to take a year off and we all know what 2020 turned out to be, which was actually a really wonderful time for me just to realize that intervening in the clinic for me and I studied to be a teacher and I went back to uni online as we did in 2020 and studied. And then at the end of 2020 decided to start a business. I decided that I wanted to help families and I loved to teach and I loved to teach about teeth. So I said, I'm going to do it, and started in 2021, worked for five days and then everything got shut down for six months, but then picked back up at the end of 2021. And it's just been strength to strength ever since. And I feel like I can make so much more difference. I can have so much more of an impact working the way I work now than I could when I was in the clinic, which I love.
Danielle Lewis (03:58):
Oh my God, it's so incredible and just such a different path. I think that having that realization, so many of us go to school think this is the career path, and then you kind of get there and you're like, oh, this isn't what I thought it would be. I'm not having the impact that I thought I could have. That's kind of why I love businesses because you actually get the power to reach the people whose lives you are actually trying to impact.
Dr Bethany Fisher (04:24):
Absolutely. And I love, it's so nerve wracking when you go out and you do something on your own, but I go, I chose dentistry for a reason. I didn't love it, but I've now found the part of my job that I do love that gives me so much purpose and brings me so much joy and it's there. If we can look for it, we can find it.
Danielle Lewis (04:44):
Oh, I love that. And I mean it's really interesting finding the parts of your job that bring you joy. I even feel like we need to do that in business sometimes because when we start our business we think, okay, we'll do this and we'll do this. Or maybe you were something, you had a job and now you're kind of consulting in the same job and people kind of build these businesses around what they think it needs to look like. And at this time of year, it is a really nice time to kind of go reflect and figure out what parts of the job bring you joy, what parts of the business bring you joy so that you can align the mission and align the path forward to those parts.
Dr Bethany Fisher (05:20):
Absolutely. It's the why. Coming back to why we do something when we are in business, especially when we are starting and we're building a client base and we're growing the business, we are very much wanting to do everything we can to help everyone within our abilities. But you then reach a point where you go, well, I'm actually not doing as much of the things that I really wanted to do, the things that I'm really good at, the things that are my specialty. And it's great at this time of year when things do slow down to really refocus and whenever things feel like they're getting a little bit out of control, go, why do I do this?
Danielle Lewis (05:54):
And
Dr Bethany Fisher (05:54):
What brings me joy? And really recentering and refocusing that because we work for a really, really long time and we want to love it. We want to be able to be excited to get out of bed in the morning. And I love that I can say that that's true in the work that I do.
Danielle Lewis (06:11):
It's so true. And so you obviously studied to be a dentist then obviously studied to be a teacher and then started the business. What was it like going from career and then actually launching a business? What was that transition process like for you?
Dr Bethany Fisher (06:27):
It was a little bit strange, but I think the benefit that I had was the time that came with Covid that it almost gave me a little bit of an excuse to not be in the clinic because a lot of dental practices where I am in Victoria, we were completely shut or mostly shut bare bone staff for a couple of years. So for me, I had a lot of time to explore almost privately and build the business, and I knew that it was there. I knew that this was something that I wanted to do and I knew that I wanted to do it right and I wanted to build strong foundations, so I started to build people around me. I did business coaching from the very beginning of my business, which is such a big gamble when you're starting a business because it's expensive and you feel like you really have to back yourself to do it. But I think because I had the time and I had had a year to reflect and recognize where I really wanted my path to go, it almost gave me permission to then sort of step in 2021 to exploring that and really giving myself the opportunity to grow the business and do it how I wanted to do. And I'm so grateful that despite everything that came five days after I started working, that I was able to continue and to pull through and then to go from strength to strength after. That's been incredibly wonderful.
Danielle Lewis (07:58):
Yeah, it's really interesting, even that comment about business coaching. I mean, I think sometimes we hesitate to invest in ourselves and think that yes, it's a bit of a risk, is it the right time? But I've just reflecting on my time in business, investing in myself and investing with people who've done what I want to do has always worked out. You're backing myself and getting the expertise in has always been the right thing to do. I think that there's some kind of power in not trying to figure everything out ourselves
Dr Bethany Fisher (08:36):
Because there's so much that we don't know until we know that we don't know. I thought I needed a logo, but I needed a brand and I never would've thought about that. And I still love the branding that I had done all of those years ago. I think it was exactly what I wanted and it helped me step into the role and into the business, and there were so many things that I never would've thought. And being in business alone can be quite isolating and it can be very easy to doubt yourself and very easy to feel like it's all for nothing at times. So having others around you is such a wonderful, wonderful way to help you grow and to build community because the women in business community is so incredibly supportive and I'm so grateful to have made so many wonderful connections through this and collaborations and supporting people and learning new things. It's just been the most joyful ride and I wouldn't change it for
Danielle Lewis (09:40):
Anything. Oh, I love that. It's so good. So now since Covid has left us and you could go out there and promote your business and connect with people, how have you grown the business? What have been some of the things that you've done over the past non lockdown years to actually get the brand and your name and the business out there?
Dr Bethany Fisher (10:05):
Initially it was a lot of cold emailing a lot and a lot of cold emailing, which is such a deflating, heart, heartbreaking way to do it. But that's how I used to spend my evenings on the couch. I'd schedule a whole bunch of emails to go out the next day and that was where it started. And then from there, the last year especially, I've really seen a big shift to word of mouth and two years of consistent cold outreach has really paid off because I'm now seeing that I don't have to put those hours in on the couch in the evening as much anymore because the word of mouth is out there and the website, the more I'm learning about SEO and Google and all of that, it starts to help and you start to build a little bit of momentum, which is wonderful because it's so reassuring and heartwarming when you hear from people, oh, such and such said that you came to visit their kindergarten and they loved you and we'd love to have you come and visit our kindergarten. So it really helps the mindset and it's very validating and really helps keep everything going on the days when you're just about ready to throw in the towel.
Danielle Lewis (11:29):
I love, I love that cold outreach was one of your strategies. As an ex sales person, I'm always telling people to do cold email outreach or cold LinkedIn outreach depending on where their customer is. But I know because it's so funny, I'm like, of course no one knows about you if you don't tell them. And I know that feeling of, oh my God is so demoralizing is the wrong word, but it feels like that sometimes it's deflating. But I love that you said two years of consistent outreach and
Dr Bethany Fisher (12:07):
Follow up as well,
Danielle Lewis (12:09):
And it's turned around and people know you and you've got that word of mouth. I just think when you're starting out, it is so powerful, even to reframe it and just think about, my job is to let every person know that I exist.
Dr Bethany Fisher (12:24):
That's right. And someone, I've not seen the David Becker movie, but I believe that in that movie they went around looking for someone that hadn't heard of David Beckham. And it's the reminder that if there are people in this world that do not know who David Beckham are, there are people that want your business that don't know who you are.
Danielle Lewis (12:43):
It's so true. I talk to people every day who don't have any idea who I am in any of my businesses. My other business I've run for 12 years and I still have people find me through an ad or they've searched and they read a blog article and they're like, oh, I didn't know that we could do this. Or they're completely new to the service because I've been in influencer marketing for a decade, I think it's old and everyone knows about it, but there are still brands and businesses on the planet that have never tried it before. And so to sit there and kind of go, oh, well, I'm done. Maxed out on all of the things would be a great way not to grow the business. So I do love that you dedicated that time to reaching out to the right people. I just think it's so admirable and so what you need to do when you are starting out.
Dr Bethany Fisher (13:37):
That's right. It's like the letterbox drops, which I did also do at one point as well, but Oh really, I love that. I did. I sort of wrote letters to all the centers in my area and I went around and did letterbox drops at one point in time. And it is about letting people know, and there are great ways that we can do that these days with the internet and with lots of other things, but I guess the power of a personalized email to the right person does sometimes do everything you need it to do.
Danielle Lewis (14:12):
And that thinking differently. I love the letterbox drop because I think in today's day and age, we are obsessed with the perfect Instagram reel or TikTok, but it's like, why don't we surprise people and delight people and do something
Dr Bethany Fisher (14:27):
Personalized? Yes,
Danielle Lewis (14:28):
Absolutely. Go old school. I think that's genius.
Dr Bethany Fisher (14:31):
Oh, thank you. It was a fun day. I mean, I didn't walk. I drove around in my little car and Dr. All my letters off in letter boxes and it converted, which was great. And it takes a little while. So ties to here. I don't think everyone always checks their letter boxes regularly as one thinks they do. I do not. But you just have to try, just have to try different things. And sometimes they stick and sometimes you go, well, I wouldn't do that again. But you still learn something from it at the end of the day. And so much of what we do in business is learning, and it's not just learning what works, but it's also learning what doesn't work and what's not right for your business because that helps you find what is and what serves you best, which is just as valuable.
Danielle Lewis (15:15):
Oh, that is so good. I love it. Now people will be listening at the beginning of the year if they're listening in real time. So tell me, what are you bringing into 2025? What kind of vibe for the year do you have? What things are working that you're bringing into the year? Is there anything that you are focused on?
Dr Bethany Fisher (15:37):
2025 is going to be a really exciting year of change for me. In fact, as you were asking the question, I should have picked my word of the year, and I think I may have, my word for next year may be change. My word for this year was growth. And I think my word for next year will be changed because I'm very excited. I am pregnant with my third bar. Congratulations, which is super, super exciting. So I will be halfway exactly Christmas day, so I'll be over halfway by the time this comes out that I will be 20 weeks exactly Christmas day. And so for me, being in a business that's very much me leaving the house and going to two centers, 20, 25, naturally we'll see a shift in that for me. And it's come with a lot of emotional, mental questioning and development and growth and things like that in that my business is who I am and it's excited to be a mom, but it's also who am I without my business.
(16:42):
But it's given me opportunity to explore other avenues that still serve the same purpose. It's still part of my why. So I'm looking, I will be releasing my first children's book, which is at the illustrator at the moment, and hopefully at the printers by the time this comes out. So I have my first children's book coming out, which I love it. I'm so proud of the book. I have my first oral health education products coming out. So I'm looking at moving from my income stream, being reliant on me leaving the house and educating, but other ways that I can help parents. I can help early learning educators move into different ways of income that then will allow me to stay home and be with Bob, which I'm really excited about.
Danielle Lewis (17:35):
Oh my God, that is so cool. And it's just like, I love how you connected it to this is my why, and I can make the impact in different ways. And to me, I feel like you can actually reach more people in this way. This is so much more scalable. And it's not like you can't go back to that when you want, when you're ready, if it serves you, but you won't skip a beat products. That's so
Dr Bethany Fisher (18:02):
Cool. I'm really excited. And part of me was a bit, I was like, well, what do I do when I'm not going to centers? And I have a wonderful assistant that comes with me to a lot of my sessions and I reached out to her and I was like, would you be interested in running sessions while I'm on leave? And she was so excited. And then I was like, what will centers sink? Because it's Dr. Bethany's Tooth Tails does it work without Dr. Bethany? But centers have been really happy to book anyway, which again is really validating that the program is really good, what I've built. And sometimes it feels so silly to say that, but when you go, well, it's not just me, it is everything that I've built altogether in the program that is valuable. And that's really wonderful to see.
Danielle Lewis (18:52):
Oh my God, it is so amazing. You should be so proud of what you have built. I think it's just, you're right when it becomes bigger than you, it is almost now it's the brand like we talked about. It's not that logo, it's the brand. It's like this is everything that you're known for and how amazing that you can leverage that, bring in somebody else, create these products. I just think that's the wildly amazing thing about businesses when they get to this point. Yeah, congratulations. It's just, thank you. Incredible.
Dr Bethany Fisher (19:23):
And that's why I love this time of year because we have time to explore the avenues that we otherwise wouldn't get a chance to because we get busy, we get bogged down in the business and we love being in the business at times, but times like this when we can slow down a little bit. And yes, we're on holidays, but for me holidays is exploring the projects outside of the day-to-day running of the business. And that's really exciting too.
Danielle Lewis (19:50):
Oh, so good. Now, I always love to wrap up these podcasts with one last piece of advice. So reflecting on your time in business, what would be one piece of advice that you would give to another woman on her business journey?
Dr Bethany Fisher (20:06):
I think the most important thing to remember is that starting a business takes time and it takes sacrifice and it takes money and it takes a lot of self-doubt. And it also takes a community, even if you are on your own, working with other people, having, even when we do the monthly goal planning and things like that, having other people, knowing that other people are on the same journey as you is wonderful. Because it can take a long time to get to a point where you don't have to sit on the couch for a couple of hours every evening, sending cold emails, and the word of mouth is taking over, but you can get there. It's just if you can persist, put in the time, work through the self-doubt that comes with it initially, the rewards are there. But it's a little bit of a longer journey that I probably initially thought when I came into it, but I'm so grateful that I had the time. And covid for me, really was a lifesaver because it gave me permission to take time that I possibly otherwise wouldn't have. And the rewards are there when you can put in the work over time.
Danielle Lewis (21:22):
I could not agree with you more. Bethany, you are absolutely incredible. Thank you so much for coming on the show and sharing your journey and sharing your wisdom. I know everyone in the smart community would've gotten a lot of value out of that. So thank you.
Dr Bethany Fisher (21:36):
Thank you for having me. It's been wonderful.
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