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Dykema DSO podcast

Events, Podcasts April 24, 2025

The Group Dentistry Now Show: The Voice of the DSO Industry – Episode 208

Ranked the #1 DSO Podcast! Welcome to The Group Dentistry Now Show: The Voice of the DSO Industry! In this episode, we welcome back Brian Colao, the Director of the DSO…

Dykema DSO podcast

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Swell AI Transcript: Women in DSO Conversation with Dr. Aman Kaur & Brian Colao. What to Expect & What's New in 2025. undefined: Welcome to the Group Dentistry Now show, the voice of the DSO industry. Kim Larson and Bill Neumann talk to industry leaders about their challenges, successes, and the future of group dentistry. Visit groupdentistrynow.com for more DSO analysis, news, and events. Looking for a job or have a job to fill? Visit joindso.com. We hope you enjoy today's show. Bill Neumann: Hey everyone. Welcome to the Group Dentistry Now Show. Great to be back with the two guests I've had on several times. It's just amazing that we're back in a new year and we're getting ready for the DSO show season. One of the biggies that kicks things off in March is the Women in DSO event. We have Dr. Aman Kaur with us, who is the president and the founder of Women in DSO. Great to see you again, Dr. Kaur. Thanks for being back. Dr. Aman Kaur: Thank you for having us, Bill. It's always so fun to be back. Bill Neumann: It's always a great conversation too, because Women in DSO is constantly doing innovative new things. There's always something new to talk about. We of course have Brian Kaleo with us. Brian is not only the member and director of the DSO Industry Group at Dykema, but he is a founding board member of Women in DSO. Good to see you, Brian. Brian Colao: Good to see you, Bill. Happy New Year to you. Never gets old being on your show. Always one of my highlights. Bill Neumann: Thanks, Brian. It's always fun to have you on as well. And why don't we start things off? And again, most people know who Dr. Kor and Brian are in the industry, but there are probably a couple new people to the show, new people to the DSO industry. So Dr. Kor, a little bit about your background and then your role at Women in DSO. Dr. Aman Kaur: Yeah, like you said, it feels so old to talk about myself, but I have been in DSO space now almost 18 years, that despite trade, been in several roles with various DSOs, found women in DSO a few years ago, and Currently, I am leading the board and the organization as the president for Women in DSO. It's been an exciting passion project. That's how it started. But it, the mission and the gap we have been able to fill over the years, it's been exciting. And I'm really grateful for everyone who has been supporting us and great to see the impact this is bringing to the DSO industry. Bill Neumann: And Brian's been in the DSO space a little bit longer than you. And I think Brian- It's depressing. Brian Colao: Now listen, it's 2025, so I'm in my 30th year. Okay, I was hanging on to this 28, 29 years for a while, but now that it's 2025, I'm in my 30th year in the dental space. I've been in the DSO space since its very inception. of the DSO industry and, you know, I lead the group at Dykema. We represent hundreds and hundreds of DSO organizations in North America, Europe, Australia. And I'm a founding board member of Women in DSO. I've been involved from the very, very beginning and it's just amazing to be here year after year and talk about how Women in DSO has grown and all of the really exciting stuff we have in store at the upcoming event. Bill Neumann: I was just going to mention that early on when we started Group Dentistry, now Brian wrote one of the first articles ever on the website. It's still there and still actually ranks pretty highly when we look at stats. So, if you go way, way back, you don't have to go that far back. He's written stuff for us recently. some really interesting history lesson on the DSO industry from Brian. And I think he talked a lot about DSO 1.0 and the change to 2.0. And then you talk about 3.0. I don't know if we're going into 4.0 or what, but you really did a nice history lesson. I'll drop that in the show notes because it's just a lot of fun to kind of read that. Brian Colao: Well, Bill, you know, you've been here from the very beginning at Group Dentistry. Now, like I don't think Group Dentistry now is here when like the first DSO was formed in 1995, but once the market really picked up steam, you know, around 2010, 2011, Group Dentistry has been there from the very beginning of that. And I guess I wrote a couple articles back then, but we've really enjoyed the collaboration. Bill Neumann: Yep, it's been a lot of fun and a bit of a rollercoaster ride the past couple years with the industry, but yeah, it's been a lot of fun to see it mature. And Women in DSO, which is what we're here to talk about, the organization and the event, is relatively new, I guess, in the history of DSOs, but has made a really, really large impact on the people in the industry and the industry itself. So, Dr. Kor, maybe a little bit of a history lesson on women in DSO, and then we can talk a little bit about the event. Dr. Aman Kaur: You know, as I was listening to Brian and you talking, it makes me feel really, really old sometimes, because I remember when DSLs were taboo and all those things. But nonetheless, the industry has come a long way, and how we found women in DSL was As I was going through various career roles in different DSOs, I just learned that there's lion's share of work being done by women leaders. We know dental offices have always been 85% or more women employees there. It doesn't change once you come to DSOs. DSOs are predominantly women. And we can't take credit for it. I think it's not because of us. It's despite of us. Women just are really good at some of those function areas, accounting, HR. And they lead those training groups really well. And they have been part of the industry's growth. What we continue to see is they, in spite of them leading the charge in many function areas, we don't see them in leadership roles as much. So that's why women in DSO was found. And we have, what we, I feel proud of we have done in past three years is there is a lot more visibility around women leaders. They are not just doing their work in a corner office somewhere or just behind the scenes. They are out there representing their work and we are seeing more women more organization making, taking a note of it and getting them into those leadership roles. So that's been the mission and that's how we found it. Bill Neumann: So coming up March 6th through the 8th at Caesars Palace this year in Las Vegas is your Empower and Grow event. So can you talk a little bit about that event for the people that haven't attended before? Dr. Aman Kaur: Yeah, it's been really exciting to see how this event has grown. This is our fourth conference. So year one, we were only 650 people. Year two, we got a little over 700. And last year, we were around 960 plus attendees. So this year, we are expecting kind of a similar turnout, around 900,000 people. And what makes this event unique is the connections and energy of learned people bring to the event and those connections they foster and grow throughout the year for them. And it has really turned into meaningful friendships. So it's going to start on March 6th. We always try to kick it off around the International Women's Day. And then we have a lot of, it has, we have this year a little bit different. We have educational sessions on the day one and wellness is going to be a large part of those sessions. Then we are having second day is all day We have various DSO executives. It's a really impressive agenda. I'm really proud to share that. Our keynote speaker is Chief Decision Analyst from Google. She was one of the first AI executive at Google, so we are really excited to bring her. as AI is predominantly growing all around the industry. So that's going to be one of the highlights. And we are bringing something new this year. It's going to be Rise and Lead, a session committed to dental students and the deans and academic leaders for the dental industry. So that's going to be a new addition this year. And then we will have our Everybody's Favorite Empower Lounge and our bash on the final day. And that's kind of going to be, in nutshell, the event. Brian Colao: Bill, this thing's going to get over 1,000 people. I don't know. I must have misheard Dr. Rahman saying like 900 or something. This thing's going to be over 1,000 people this year. And if you think about it, for the fourth year, that's remarkable. I mean, it really is. You've heard the story of our Dykema conference and everything. We had 41 people there the first year. And this thing, we had almost 700 the first year, over 800 the second year, 960 last year. We're going to have over 1,000 on the fourth year for only four years in existence to become pretty much the top two or three conferences in the whole country. It's nothing short of remarkable. And what it demonstrates is that there's an incredible demand for women-led content. People want to see that. And this has been one of the most enthusiastic crowds I've ever been in front of. I speak at many, many events. Everybody knows it. And sometimes the crowd's into it. Sometimes they're a little more quiet. This is the most, hands down, the most enthusiastic crowd I've ever been in front of at any event. The energy and enthusiasm there is second, really, to none. Bill Neumann: Yeah, that's a great point. And I think it's a lot more than just a meeting, right? It's an organization, so there's a lot of camaraderie there. People that maybe only get a chance to see each other in person at the Women in DSO event, maybe they see them at the Dykema event as well too, but not often throughout the year. So you've got your, probably your virtual meetings that you have, but I'm sure it's nice where these people in the organization get a chance to get together and really kind of celebrate, you know, what you're doing at Women in DSO. And, you know, Brian, I forgot to mention this earlier or ask you the question, but why is Brian Kaleo on a podcast regarding women in DSO? Brian Colao: Yeah, you know, it's it's an interesting story. I mean, you know, I think we're we've all come to terms with it by now. But, you know, Dr. Rahman and Kathleen Titus asked me, I think, in 2019, you know, do you want to be a part of the organization? And, you know, I said yes, of course, because they're dear friends. But then I find out I'm the only guy with nine, you know, eight other women on the board of directors. But, you know, That's part of the journey, and this is what I said. Something I should talk about is this meeting is not just for women, okay? Lots and lots of men attend this meeting and get a ton of valuable content out of it, and we need all the guys to attend. And I think if we can get more guys to attend, forget about 1,000, we're going to have 1,500 people there. But, you know, to answer your question, it started out two dear friends, Kathleen Titus and Dr. Aman asking me to be a part of it. But then after that, I came to really appreciate the journey. that we're on here, which is providing access opportunities and mentorship to the many, many talented women of the DSO industry. You know, the DSO industry is dominated by women, but historically they've been underrepresented in leadership and even underrepresented when we started out on stage at some of these conferences. But since we've, you know, increased the visibility of, you know, women in the DSO industry. Now it's commonplace. I mean, we were proud at Dykema last year. We had just as many women on stage, you know, as men. You go to a lot of the other events that were historically all men and you see women all over the stage. So I'm very proud. you know, of everything we've accomplished. And it's been an incredible journey, one that maybe like in the first couple days, it was a little bit outside of my comfort zone. Like, you know, what am I going to do as the only male member of this board with eight other women? And, you know, what am I going to contribute? But I'm in my fourth, you know, fourth year of this. And I've really gotten quite comfortable and quite enthusiastic about it. And it's been one of the highlights of my career, really. Bill Neumann: Well, that's great to hear. And I, you know, beyond the meeting, because we focused on that a lot, there are membership opportunities. So, you know, Dr. Korb, maybe talk about it from the perspective of a woman in DSO, why they, you know, what are some of the benefits becoming a member, and then also for industry partners, companies. Dr. Aman Kaur: Yeah, and thank you for asking. And, you know, Women Empower Grow is one part of what we do. It's our annual summit. But we have grown, and how we all started was with the mission of really giving women all those opportunities and necessary tools for them to grow. And so we have, as a part of members, If any, I was looking back in my career and I was thinking I wish I had this access what women in DSO has provided to others in my career. It would have been much easier. So, the biggest thing people get access to is the community of over 1,000 DSO executives. That is unlike anywhere. And one thing we are very proud of at Women in DSO is the culture we have among the members, among the team members, board members, advisory board members. It is truly empowered culture. There is a lot of transparency, a lot of desire to genuinely help each other. So you get access to this abundance of resources. That's the first thing you get. And as you mentioned, Bill, throughout the year we have a lot of educational content. We have a particular series that is dedicated to sharing business best practices. And these business best practices are being shared by people who do these things on a daily basis, day in and day out. So you learn what are the nuances, what are the changes happening in the industry and how to navigate them. And then we have another series that is dedicated to professional development. So that's been a very popular session, and we talk about conflict management, managing up, leading others. A lot of those topics are covered in that. And we have been bringing a lot of global DSL leaders to those sessions. Those are the education series that members get access to. In addition to that, we have a strong focus on wellness. We have all Wednesdays dedicated to Wellness Wednesdays. There is a huge community of DSO leaders, industry partners, and dentists. It's a large community of people who are really focused on wellness. And our pillars of wellness are financial wellness, professional development, mental and physical health, and relational joy. So we focus on each quarter on these areas. So those are kind of some of the highlight features, but of course there are a lot of discounted rates working with different industry partners. They, so as dentists or any DSO organization, you get this tremendous access and premium access to a lot of industry benefits. And what industry partners get access through this program is A, they get to have tools to promote women leaders and retain those women leaders within their organizations because As a part of their membership, there are tools that are being made available to those women executives they have within their organizations. So that's been a huge part, and I cannot value that enough. It has been a strong tool for, employee retention, and even employee recruiting, because like we mentioned, this industry is women-dominated. But in addition to that, they have access to people who are really decision makers, and not just one time a year at a conference, throughout the year. There are several, several opportunities every month where they have direct access to those decision makers, and it helps them make their products better, They can have those focus groups where they can test a few things. So it's been really good to elevate the industry by working on both sides. Bill Neumann: And I mentioned earlier when we started the conversation, there's always something new to talk about at Women in DSO. A couple things that I noticed last year, you started a publication called The Lead Magazine. Maybe we could talk a little bit about that. You mentioned it earlier, Ryan. Brian Colao: I've got a couple featured articles in it, Bill. We could certainly talk about that if you want. I mean, I don't know if that's what you had in mind. Bill Neumann: We could certainly drop the links to those in the show notes, Dr. Korr, but we want to make sure people register for the event first, right? Brian Colao: Let me say this. The Lead is a really exciting publication that, you know, Women in DSO began, I believe, the second quarter of last year or third quarter. And we've gotten just incredible enthusiasm around it. People want to be featured. You know, we've got a lot of thought leaders in the DSO industry. Yes, I wrote a couple articles, but tons and tons of folks, you know, that are highly regarded as thought leaders in the DSO industry are putting articles in there. And it's an incredible way for organizations to get visibility. It's a quarterly publication. And it's been terrific for me to collaborate on certain articles and put them in there. And it's a magnificent publication. It just looks unlike anything else that's out there right now. Bill Neumann: Yep, that is for sure. Publication is beautiful. I mean, it's well put together, and not inexpensive to do that coming from the publishing business. So, kudos to you for doing that. Brian Colao: All of my suggestions for the layout were rejected, and all of Dr. Aman's suggestions were accepted, and that's why it looks magnificent the way it looks right now. Bill Neumann: There you go. Well, it does look magnificent. And, you know, importantly, the most important probably is the content inside, right, and supporting the organization and telling the stories about different women leaders in the industry. So that's, that's something relatively new. We talked about Rise and Lead. And then, you have a global focus this year in 2025. So maybe just cover a couple of these new initiatives that you have going on, Dr. Kaur. Dr. Aman Kaur: Absolutely. And I thank you for all the kind words for the LEAD publication. And I want to kind of share, it's a platform. And why we launched this platform is we learned that there are a lot of great leadership. Among the, you know, our current leaders are, they are men. They are male leaders. They're leading industry, leading charge. We do want to hear from them. We don't want to leave them behind. So LEAD publication is for the bold, for the bold organizations, for the bold leaders, men and women. And it's a platform. We launched this with that initiative. It has only three publications that we will be launching every year. First one was launched last year at Empower and Grow. Second one was at Dykema Conference. And third one was at SmileCon Conference. So it gives a lot of exposure because all these conferences are now almost 1,000 attendees. So all the attendees have access to that print publication in addition to the digital platform. null: Subs by www.zeoranger.co.uk Dr. Aman Kaur: But with our digital platform, we are, if you ever go to the leadmagazine.com, you will see there is a C-suite section. So we are building that C-suite section, and then we are going to build a lot of clinical leadership topics. So this is, our goal with this publication platform is to truly blend clinical dentistry with the executive minds across the industry, across the globe. So that's what this publication is set out to do. And fortunately a lot of those articles we will be able to showcase women leaders doing those things because they have been doing a lot of work. So this is going to further women in DSO's mission because we want people to see these women and men right side by side doing the work, sharing their thoughts. So there's no, so we're not always hearing from one gender of the leadership teams. So that's what that platform is for. And then Rise and Lead is an initiative under that LEAD platform where we are engaging dental school students. Because we know dental schools, they do a tremendous job with the education, the education, clinical education in the United States of America at dental schools. is the best in the world. But there are opportunities for leadership, education, and mentorship, and from people who are doing it in real life. So that's where we are going to bridge that gap, working with those schools, and like I shared with the executives who are running large organizations. And this year is, our goal is to deepen our impact and expanding our mission. So that's all the initiatives are surrounded around. Rise and Lead is part of that because we want to bring dental students, make sure that as they graduate, we know more than 50% of graduating dentists are women. We don't want them to feel alone. in their journey, and then we want to expand it globally because we know DSOs are growing in other countries, Europe, Canada, and we want those women leaders' career trajectory to be a little different than what it was in the United States of America. So if we could give them tools right out of the gate as DSOs grow, we want to see women leading the charge there. Bill Neumann: So as we wrap things up here, we want to make sure that everybody understands the Empower and Grow event is coming up shortly, March 6th through the 8th. It's going to be at Caesars Palace, so you want to make sure you get your hotel reservations locked in as well, because once those that special pricing's gone, it's gone, and good luck. You never know what the prices are going to be like in Las Vegas for hotel rooms, so make sure you get that. Brian Colao: I just want to make clear, and you followed this, we've talked about this, Bill, how, you know, there's lots and lots of events, but lately it seems like the industry has consolidated where there's really three or four sort of can't miss events that you just can't miss, but have huge turnout, huge networking opportunities, huge return on investment. And then, you know, some of the others, you know, just haven't been able to quite get there. This is one of those that's just can't miss. You know, if you're looking at your budget and you're saying, hey, we can only attend a couple meetings, you know, this year, this is one that you absolutely have to attend. Bill Neumann: I think that's an important point. And in fact, I just saw a poll on LinkedIn yesterday that somebody was asking a question about what do you find most valuable at a DSO or a dental meeting? And one of the options, so you've got obviously the content and you kind of go down the list and networking's on there as well. And networking by far pretty much was maybe 20% more important than anything else on that list. So, to have a larger network, big event like this, like Dykema, like some of the others, is super important. So, obviously, great networking opportunities. And what I would say about women in DSO, which I found unique, is that it's not the same attendees that you might find at other DSO events. It's a lot of people that this might be the only meeting or DSO meeting certainly that they go to all year. So, it really is a great opportunity. Dr. Kor, how do people find out about the event? What's the URL of the website that they have to go to? Dr. Aman Kaur: It is simplewomenanddso.org. And once you go there, there is a, I think, pop-up banner that takes you right to the website to register for the event. And Bill, thank you for saying that. There are people who, you know, look forward to this event. So we have different DSOs. They have registered around 20-plus people. And these are the people they get to come once a year. to women in DSO, so that's been, that's kind of like the highlight they look forward to all year. So yeah, I look forward to seeing all those clinicians, field management, and we have been very proud to say that most 60 to 70% of our attendees are director level and above, which shows that there are women leaders growing within organizations, and that makes us feel like we are doing what we were set out to do. Brian Colao: You know, Bill, the reason some of this is so important, though, from a networking opportunity is one, you know, if you're going to get over a thousand, that's a great networking opportunity. But two, you know, a lot of people do business with DSOs. But when the time comes to implement whatever they're doing, they deal with, you know, dozens of people at the DSOs. But if you go to You know, a normal event and maybe just the CEO or just one or two upper management people are there. You really don't get to network with the people that are actually boots on the ground collaborating and working with you. But at the Women in DSO event, you do. I mean, it's true. Some of these big organizations bring 15, 20, 25 people, and you'll get to actually spend time with the entire team. I did. I took one of my clients, big client out last year at Woman DSO and got to meet the entire team. Everybody we deal with, not just, you know, one or two key people. So it's really an incredible opportunity. And that's why I said it's a can't miss event. Bill Neumann: Yeah, great, great point to hammer home on the implementation and the onboarding side of things. It's something that I think a lot of industry partners fall short on a lot of times in they have the conversations. It could be operations and procurement are involved in the decision or whoever is making the decision. But the people that are actually doing the work and implementing the technology or the products into the formulary or whatever it is, sometimes that doesn't happen correctly. Brian Colao: And so having that… It doesn't, but who would want to miss an opportunity to actually network with the entire team? And it allows you to kind of jump the curve on implementation if you can meet with everybody. And there's only a couple events in our industry that give you that opportunity, and Women in DSO is one of them. Bill Neumann: Absolutely. And Dr. Kaur mentioned to me just before we started recording that we're going to have a special code for people. Right now, we do have a code on the website, GDN, or it's GD, like group dentistry now, GD now to save 10%. But you mentioned, Dr. Kaur, that we'll have a special code that we will add in the show notes for- Just for you, Kel. Just for you. Sounds good. I love it. Dr. Aman Kaur: Bill, group dentistry now has been strong partner, and we just felt we could do more. And so this is going to be for $200 off. Our early bird pricing, I don't know if it's still there. I have to check, but we will have that code in the notes and all the information. So everyone who is listening, and I think Thank you for mentioning the hotel rooms. Those are almost I think 70 to 80% sold. So, even if people are still thinking about hotel rooms, they need to book very quickly and then we will have that code for $200 off for just everyone who is participating and listening to group dentistry now. Brian Colao: But here's the good news on that, though. It's in Vegas, so I would say this. Obviously, utilize the conference hotel, because we would prefer that you do that. But if it's all sold out, no excuses. It's Vegas. There's plenty of places next door, across the street. You can walk over there. And I do think the broom block is about to sell out. So there may be some people that call up here and they can't get the room block, but so what? It's Vegas. There's all plenty of hotels next door, across the street. You can easily go stay there and walk over to the meeting. So no excuse on the hotel. Bill Neumann: That sounds good. No excuses. We'll end it on that. WomeninDSO.org is the website. And again, we'll drop the discount code in the show notes, so you'll have access to that. And we look forward to seeing everybody in Las Vegas in March. I appreciate you, Dr. Kor, for jumping on. And Brian is always being a part of the conversation. Until next time, this is the Group Dentistry Now Show. Thanks, everybody, for watching. Dr. Aman Kaur: Thanks. undefined: The group Dentistry Now show has listeners across North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. If you like our show, subscribe today and please tell your colleagues about us.

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