Mastering Mindset: From Doubt to Succes Lessons from Dr. Glenn Vo

Glenn Vo  00:00 

If you’re not scared to fail, if you’re willing to fail quickly, but learn from it, you really can level up and again failures is, it’s not something that I see as like as a as a negative thing. I see it as learning experiences. 

 

Shawn Zajas  00:14 

The future of dentistry belongs to the innovators. Welcome to innovation in dentistry. I’m your host, Shawn Zajas. And I believe that the future of dentistry is going to be unbelievably great over the next decade in two decades. But the question isn’t that the question is, are you going to be part of what makes dentistry great? Okay, so I could not be more excited today to be with Dr. Glenn Vo of the nifty thrifty dentist. I said that wrong. Nifty, Thrifty Dentist. No, you did. 

 

Glenn Vo  00:55 

You did awesome there. And I’ll tell you what I mean. Like, I’m excited about this, too. I was worried I was worried about not being able to speak because I’ve been wanting to get on this podcast. I was so excited. And here I am. And Shawn, thank you so much for having me on your podcast. 

 

Shawn Zajas  01:11 

Hey, you bet Glenn. So you know, innovation in dentistry, it can mean so many different things. Are we talking about technological innovations? Are we talking about clinical innovations? And at the heart of it before any of that happens? There’s some crazy person that says, Why Why not me? Like why can’t I be the one that pioneers positive change? And Glenn, I started this podcast because I know, the future of dentistry is going to be great. But my question isn’t, isn’t going to be great. It’s that is the listener that’s hearing this, are they going to be part of what makes it great? Are they just gonna stay on the sideline and watch as Trailblazers like you continue to create innovation? So I’m curious, we’re gonna get into lots of different topics. But what even got you into dentistry in the first place? 

 

Glenn Vo  02:04 

Well, well, I love that question. And there’s so many ways I can answer that. But, you know, I’m not gonna give you the story where I was like a little kid and had experience at the dental office, I knew I always wanted to be a dentist. If you want that story, you gotta bring my wife on, because that’s her story. Like she’s always wanted to be a dentist ever since she was a little kid. But that’s not me. Right? That’s not me. Really. What got me into dentistry was I graduated college, I was, you know, I spent like six months in Belize, working at my friend’s dive shop and just having a good time. But then after that, I decided, well, I got an adult, I got to be an adult here. And well, what’s what’s something good to do? And I thought, well, maybe a hospital administrator sounds like a good, you know, good job. So I was like, Okay, well, let me pick a place I’ve always wanted to go to and that was made. Okay, so I went and I did a master’s program up in Maine, like the furthest place away from Texas. And I was up there. And I remember during my winter break, my sister who’s a dentist, she was like, hey, I need an assistant, my assistants out, she’s on vacation, can you come down and help me out? And I’m like, Okay, I’m gonna hang out with my big sister make a couple of bucks, why not? So took the bus down from Maine, all the way down to Virginia. And then I was helping her during winter break. And so I remember this, like yesterday, I was assisting her on filling. She stopped what she was doing. She looked me straight in the eye and said, Glenn, do you want to be a loser for the rest of your life? And I looked at her I’m like, what, like I was offended. And you know what I was assisting? And so the patient looked up to because she wanted to know, do I want to be a loser? So everyone was looking at me do and I said, No, I don’t. And then she then she stopped what she’s doing. And she looked at me again. And she was like, the reason why I brought you down here is because I want you to see if this is something that you can do with your life, because you have so much more potential Glenn. I mean, yes, hospital administration, but I feel like you have the potential to be a dentists. And that really was what pushed me into dentistry. Because I was never really interested in teeth. I was interested to the person attached to the teeth. So she showed me was like, Look, dentistry is more than about relationships, you’d like relationships, you’d like educating people you like connecting with people. And so from there, I started getting into dentistry, learning more, and honestly, the rest is history. So I always joke around that big reason why I became a dentist was because my big sister was hazing. me making fun of me. But really, she saw something in me that I didn’t see myself. She saw the potential of really doing some good in the profession that she loved, using my kind of god given gifts of being able to connect with people. So that’s, that’s really the story is not like, like I knew right away. It was something that someone pointed out to me and then I saw kind of like an avenue to really help other people. 

 

Shawn Zajas  04:57 

So in front of the patient 

 

Glenn Vo  04:59 

in front of the patient literally like the patient, like we were working and the patient was looked up to like, do you were I’m waiting, I’m waiting to hear you say you’re a loser. Do you know if you want to get the rest of your life and so, again, we still joke around with my sister. I’m super close with her. In fact, I probably got to meet her later today, but only a big sister, only an older sibling, only a sibling could say something so rude, right? And make it connect right? Like that’s the power of siblings. 

 

Shawn Zajas  05:28 

I agree. I have a brother and sister that are 13 months older, they’re twins. And their ability to get speak into your life is unparalleled. So tell me about it. So you get into dentistry? You graduate? What was surprising in those first few years that maybe you didn’t expect? Because I’m always so curious, because I think dentistry is something that you can never fully understand the the craziness of all of it. Because schools don’t prepare you for it. They try but they don’t, they don’t. So all of a sudden, you’re thrust into it. And then all of a sudden, it’s like, oh, my gosh, what did I get into? So what was surprising for you? 

 

Glenn Vo  06:11 

Well, you know, the thing is, what’s so unique about dentistry, over any other health profession, any other profession, is that you are working with people that are in a very vulnerable state. Right? They’re in a very vulnerable state number one, but also you’re using your brains what you learned in school, but you’re also using your hands as well. So again, you know, in healthcare, you’re dealing with patients who are vulnerable, maybe they’re sick, maybe they they’re having some issues and, and they have to put themselves out there, we get that in dentistry, but at the same time, we have to navigate that, but also navigate our hand skills as well, right, you got to you got to do that. So it’s almost like being an artist and therapist at the same time, but also a scientist. So you add all those things in there. On top of that, if you own a practice your business owners well, right, your leaders well as you have your team. So for me when I when I got out of school, and they said okay, here’s your diploma, and you’re going to work in this practice, and we’re going to compensate you Well, alright, now see the patients, it was pretty overwhelming in the beginning. Because again, we had to add all those things together, which again, he learned how to be a dentist in school, you learn how to talk to patients in school, but then they don’t teach you how to manage a team. Even if you’re working for someone, you have an assistant that you’re, you know, delegating tasks to and working with, right, you’re working with a front office. So all those things. So that’s what makes dentistry so unique. You know, you’re a healthcare provider, you’re a business person at the same time, you’re artists as well as using their hands. And so that’s why it makes it a you know, it’s it’s rewarding, but also can be stressful as well. 

 

Shawn Zajas  07:57 

No, I agree. My good friend, Dr. Allison house, I remember when I finally connected, I’m like, wait a second. So you need to like know everything and MD knows. But at the same time, you’re like you’re a surgeon, because you have to be clinically competent to actually perform these surgeries. And at the same exact time, since you’re not part of some corporate expression. I mean, you might be but most, most of them still aren’t. That means you still need to understand some small business understanding that thankfully, there’s demand like Thankfully, there’s demand. But still, I was blown away. I was like me, and I think being a dentist is probably one of the most challenging enterprises to have to navigate. So tell me, when did you so you get you graduate? Do you start off? You know, as an associate, you start off in like a corporate expression. Do you eventually work your way into private practice? What was your journey like? 

 

Glenn Vo  08:57 

You know, so I knew that when I when I graduated, I wanted to get as much experience as possible. So when I looked at all the opportunities, you could be an associate at a private practice and learn the business there and have like, kind of a nice cushy schedule, or you get get just thrown in the deep end and work for like a corporate office and see a whole bunch of patients. Well, I chose the latter. I was like, You know what, I’m just gonna dive right in. I’m gonna look at the next two years of my life as like an extension of school, right? It’s like residency, so I’m getting paid. So the I worked at a company called South Texas Dental and the reason why I went there, it’s a corporate office and there’s a lot of other corporate offices there. But for me, and this is something that has served me well in my my career in dentistry, outside of dentistry, and just relationships in general. It’s all about people, right? So it’s all about relationships. The one of the owners is someone I just vibed with had similar background, you know, came from nothing worked his way up. He was flipping burgers at his parents like burger place. cuz they own a burger place. And then he was able to build this like, amazing company. So I was like, Okay, I want to learn from that guy, because we have a similar kind of background. And that was the big thing. So that’s the reason I went over there. But literally, I did work my butt off, I did work my butt off. And, but I learned a lot. I made a lot of mistakes and learned a lot. And that’s the thing. You know, a lot of times people are like, well, how can I? How can I level up? What’s the fastest way they asked me? What’s the fastest way Glen to level up? The fastest way to level up? So make a bunch of mistakes, man, it’s just a dump jump in there. You know, like, that’s the fastest way that you can catch up to someone who has, let’s say they have like 10 years of experience on you. Right? How do you catch up to someone, they have 10 years of experience on you, the way you catch up to them is to get as as many reps under you as possible. And that’s what I wanted to do. And so the two years there, and then after that, I opened my own practice opened my wife to dentists as well. And we opened our practice, it was a startup. And I opened the startup, during probably one of the worst times in history, it was during the real estate crash. And for those who are, you know, old enough to remember back in 2007 2008, I mean, people were losing their jobs losing their homes. I mean, it was crazy. But I didn’t pay attention to that I just opened the practice, I thought to myself, Oh, there’s a little bit harder than I thought, really, that was out today, I was like, oh, there’s a little bit harder in as I got my reps under me. And again, like the first the first month was kind of rough, like we were in the red. But after that we made a profit right after this, because I just in that bin, and that kind of like atmosphere, you just had to hustle. And I was used to hustling anyways, from my background, right? So so then it just got better and better. And so I tell a lot of people like whenever you’re just thrown in the fire, and these are for the people open during COVID, I tell them look, when I went through that housing crash, like there was nothing that’s going to faze me after that. And I tell people when they opened during COVID, you’re probably never going to get anything like that if you can survive that you can survive anything. And so that’s just kind of like the story there. So for me, it’s like it’s something that I’ve always learned is, is if you’re willing to if you’re not scared to fail, if you’re willing to fail quickly, but learn from it, you really can level up and again, failures is it’s not something that I see as like as a as a negative thing. I see it as learning experiences, right? Because the best lessons are the ones you learn on your own and where you failed. So yeah 

 

Shawn Zajas  12:35 

That literally is like the highest performing people that I’ve talked to that is the mindset. And it blows me away, because especially coming from a dentist failure, especially clinically means high liability, bad outcomes. And that’s just seems like a recipe for disaster. But yet, on the business front failure simply means another chance to learn. So you’re able to iterate. And yet, I don’t have clinical failures. I’m not a dentist, and I still can’t stand the idea of endeavoring to do something and it missing the target it fallen short, it not panning out the way I wanted. So my biggest thing for five years, Glenn, I tried learning in the boardroom, in the land of theory. And every single time I was about to end, it probably wasn’t five years. But it seemed like a very long time. I kept trying to dial up the home run and dial up the thing that certainly would work. And as you know, there’s no such thing. So I robbed myself of years of actually getting to find out what the marketplace would have said to my ideas, simply because I didn’t have the backbone. The cohonies is to just ship to ship creative work that I was working on. And let the marketplace say and tweak it or that’s actually really good but and that’s where that mindset has been one I’ve had to struggle so much to lay a hold of in the fact that you got it. That’s what I feel like there’s some aspect of the one and only Glenn Vo. That’s slightly an anomaly because I’m being risk averse is incredibly common in that. You know, that dental brain that’s doing due diligence and being really thorough, and being very calculated. And being very meticulous. And then all of a sudden the entrepreneur visionary is like, you know, you can have 10 years of experience or you can have one year that literally has 10 years of experience in it because of the reps and I feel like that’s kind of what you did. Now. Did you know going into dentistry that you were kind of this this entrepreneur at the time. Was that something that within you? 

 

Glenn Vo  15:03 

Or? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, again, just coming from, from my background, I, you know, my family immigrated here in 1976, from Vietnam. And I was actually pregnant with my mom was pregnant with me. So I barely made the cut. Right, like, so she moved to the States I was born here. And so you know, with growing up with a family, immigrant family have like, four other siblings, five kids, right? It’s, it’s, first of all, it’s tough enough for any, any family, they had that many kids, right, but much less like an immigrant family. So I was used to just making do with what I had, but also just trying to be resourceful. And so for me, because I had that background, I was always resourceful whether it was in, you know, when I was in college and had to work two jobs working as a dental assistant and waiting tables, or wait tables, because I knew, like, I can do it on the weekends. And I can always get like, I can always pick up extra shifts if I needed. So I was already in that mentality of like, look, I this is what I had, this is the cards I was dealt with. And what else do I have to lose? Right? So that has always kind of followed me even, you know, when I opened the practice, right open to the practice, and people say, I don’t know about this is the best time to do it. Hey, if I was want to open a practice, the best time to do it is right now, right? Going through issues where I saw patients who say, they can only do certain amount of dental work, being able to work with them. So So for me, I’ve always had that kind of entrepreneurial spirit, because it was born out of necessity, right? It when you don’t have much, and you need to get more you become resourceful. You become an entrepreneur, whether you like it or not. So I would never trade in my experiences growing up. And it’s funny, I was talking to my wife the other day, I was like, Man, I can’t really put my son in the same situation, because that’d be like child abuse, right? Like, I can’t do that. But I do want to put him in situations where he has to be resourceful, and in a different way. And so for me, I just feel that those are like, the hardships I had, they were lessons. They were, it was the school of hard knocks, right? Sometimes the school of hard knocks, it gives you the best lessons lessons, you’ll never learn it in actual school. So to answer your question, and in a long way, I just had to be an entrepreneur out of necessity. 

 

Shawn Zajas  17:26 

I’m sorry, I’m just like taking this in right now. Because everything you’re saying is that like vocal expression of what you’ve just come to understand, that has allowed again, it’s been like the birthplace of why you’re able to do what you’ve done. And that’s where that’s why you can lead. That’s why you can pioneer because you weren’t stuck in some of those boxes. And like you said, some of it you attribute simply because the hardships of growing up. You know, I remember Gary Vee was just saying when it comes to parenting, he’s like, Look, if you raise your kids in the zoo, they’re gonna get mauled when you release them into the jungle. And there’s this balance and this challenge of like, well, you don’t want them to get mauled too early. Yeah. How do you not cushion every blow so that they can grow? And in that same exact way? Like, again, I started this podcast, because between the lines of what we’re saying, the listeners right now know what it is inside of them, where they’re like, oh, man, I could step up. I could do that. That’s a dream of my heart. But the time is not right. Yeah, but I’m not ready yet. But I can’t guarantee there’s going to be success. And here you are. And you’re like, well, there was no better time. I mean, it was a terrible time to start a practice Glenn. But at the same exact time, like you just knew, if I just dive in, and give it my best, no matter what I’m gonna, if I fail, I fail forward. And that’s one of the concepts I love. If you’re gonna fail, you’re failing forward. So tell me twice. Now you’ve said, You just knew that you had the ability to connect with others, and you knew that you are good with relationships. So is that something you took from like early on middle school, high school and you’re like, Okay, this is one of my strengths you identified early on? 

 

Glenn Vo  19:21 

Yeah. So first of all, I love everything you just said there because, you know, like, everyone has a different experience, right? Maybe you’re an immigrant from another country so you can understand the immigrant mentality. Most people can understand being broke, right? At one time I don’t care how wealthy you are. At one time you yourself have been broke, right? Your parents might have money but you didn’t have money. So what I when I say immigrant mentality can easily be translated to startup mentality when you’re basically working out of a we work or out of a coffee shop because you can’t afford Where to, you know, your own office, you know, everyone can relate to that everyone can relate to the college student mentality where you’re eating ramen noodles, and just really scraping by, it’s really just tapping into that, where you came from, which is so important. Always remember where you came from, no matter how high you go, if you go back to where you came from, that will ground you, they’ll, they’ll keep you, you know, uh, you know, having that gratitude in your heart, you’ll always remember that. So as far as, like, what you just asked me right there, you know, again, it’s just it goes back to just, you know, my experience, but also, you know, you have to look at your, what your strengths are. And for me, again, I used to wait tables all the time. I mean, I always joke around, like, I’ve had only two real jobs in my life, maybe three now, but the longest time, two real jobs. And that was waiter, and dentist, right? And I’ll never, I’ll never give up that experience. Because when you’re working in the restaurant industry, you have to think on your feet. And you literally have to have rapport with someone you’ve never met within two minutes, like within two minutes, Shawn, I have to like be your buddy, so that I can sell you what’s on the specials and a bottle of wine, right? Like I literally have to connect with you. And so that actually kind of, because it had those reps working in the restaurant industry, like that, being able to talk to people came natural. And then when I got into dentistry, where I had to build rapport with someone like literally, Shawn, I have to get get in good with you, because I’m about to look at your tea. And I’m about to ask you some questions that maybe you don’t want to answer or you feel really, you know, you know, insecure about. And so it’s those type of things that really set it up and because of my personality, and there’s a reason why I worked in the restaurant industry for a long time, because I was comfortable there. Not everyone can work in a restaurant, they might rather work in retail or something. So So I think because I had that natural ability, and then I seeked out jobs that kind of focused on it. That made me more comfortable. So again, it’s it’s not just like you’re born like, Hey, I just talked to anyone you have to get again, going back to you have to get the reps to. 

 

Shawn Zajas  22:17 

Well, in my research, one of the things I came across and I don’t know if it’s still the number one thing, but I was trying to figure out, why do patients leave a practice. And one of the things I found out when I was researching is that they just experienced a general sense of indifference. Meaning, they didn’t sense a connection to the dentist to the team. And it’s like, if you strip away everything, it’s just like human to human, they didn’t sense belonging. So your superpower of getting to be able to see them build rapport and get connection. Not only does that have massive ROI when it comes to the patient, but I imagine working for you, as a team member, is also amazing. So So you have team members that feel seen that feel like they belong, they feel connected, and now all of a sudden can release this culture that you’ve established. And now they can help the patient also feel connected and seen. I mean, I don’t know if you knew that this is gonna be such a superpower in dentistry. But that is 100% how you grow a dream practice is you actually care about patients. Yeah, as people. 

 

Glenn Vo  23:35 

Well, and I’ll say this, one of my most requested presentations is about team culture. And I tell everyone, you don’t have to be an extrovert. You don’t have to have like a big personality like like Elijah Desmin, or someone like that, right? You don’t have to be like that. You actually can be an introvert, you can actually be someone who’s really quiet and still connect with a team. And then people are like, Well, what how do you do that? Well, people there’s two things that that that people care about. They care about their own dreams. And they care about other people who pay attention to them. Right? Those are the two things like they want to be they want you they want you to know you know, care for them, and also care for their hopes and dreams, right? That can easily be solved by again, just literally just whenever you hire someone, this is as easy as this. Whenever you hire someone say hey, you know we do this thing in our practice, we we like to do a gift exchange and we like to be thoughtful and we always have everyone fill out this questionnaire. And literally the questionnaire can be about their favorite things. What’s your favorite drink at Starbucks? What’s your favorite socks? What’s your favorite? fast food place? All these things? I have all new team members fill that out. Because you know what creates a connection is Is when Shawn, I buy you a coffee, but it’s the exact drink you want. And not just some random drink that may Hey, I don’t like frappuccinos. Glen, it’s thoughtful. But thank you. But what if I bought you the one you wanted? I did it all the time. You don’t have to know everything about everyone, you just need to create a database of what they like. And then as far as hopes and dreams, a big thing that we do in our practice is something called a vision board. Right? Simple enough. We’ve done vision boards before. But the reason why I like to have my team do vision boards is because when I reward them, I reward them with things that are on their board. You want to you want to be in shape this year, right? Your goal is to lose those last 10 pounds. Well, you know what, maybe maybe instead of saying, hey, you know, here’s, you know, 50 bucks, or here’s a couple 100 bucks, we’re doing a good job for a bonus. Hey, you know what I got? You actually paid for your gym membership for like the rest of the year. Right? Like I want to get you I want to get to that goal. Or let’s say for example, you know, a big part of your, your, your goal is to travel more, right? So maybe as a team, I take you guys to the dental Festival in New Orleans, because you’ve never been to New Orleans before. So again, how do you connect with people you give them you connect with people through memories, think of a child think about growing up. Think about your fondest memories as a kid, right? That didn’t involve you getting this toy you always wanted that didn’t involve you getting like some money for your folks, no involved, probably a trip with your siblings. And you guys really had some fun. And you look back that with fondness. That is what people carry. And if you understand that, as a practice owner, that it’s all about memories. That’s all about being thoughtful. You always have that connection with your team members, but also your patients as well. I make a note whenever they I had a patient who just recently got back from Ghana, and I put that in the notes like not to go to God and whatnot. When I saw him again, I was like, Hey, I gotta go. Whoa, you know, realize you remember that? I was like, Yeah, I’ve been waiting for you to tell me about that. It’s those things that that really connect with patients, 

 

Shawn Zajas  27:09 

man, like, so it’s like, the way I keep thinking about this is like from the inside out. A lot of people want to know the outside hacks or tips or tricks. Something simple about how you can, I don’t know, connect with your patient better. And yet, it’s like, at the heart of it, you’re just talking about caring about people like actually being interested. And yet I don’t, I don’t want to slam dentistry. When I say you just don’t sound like a dentist. 

 

Glenn Vo  27:37 

I got a funny story on that. I gotta tell you and real quickly, I gotta tell you funny stories. So I’m a big fan of the Kobe assessment, the Kobe assessment, basically, it’s a test you take, and it pretty much tells you how you approach problems, right? So you can’t fail it. It’s like it’s just how you approach problems. I had the president of the associate Kobe Association on my podcast. And he was like, Glen, I will only go on your podcast. If you take the test and let me go over your results. I was like, what on air is like, Yes, he does it and he looks at me says, Man, you shouldn’t be a dentist. It’s like, it was like, I don’t mean that in a bad way. I was like, your your personality is more suited for this other industry. You can be a dentist and you can be successful, but your skills. It’s not dentist like like people don’t look at it that way. So anyways, I wanted to share that with you. I thought that was so funny. Because the guy was like, shouldn’t be, you know, thought it was gonna funny. 

 

Shawn Zajas  28:38 

So 2008 Here you are, you’re with your wife, you start the practice. Is it a year later? Is it five years later? Is it seven years later? When does Nifty Thrifty. Born in your mind, and what’s the context surrounding it at its infancy? 

 

Glenn Vo  28:53 

Yeah. So um, and this is reason why I’m so excited to be on your podcast, right? Because I think a lot of times people have like this epiphany, right? Like you, you you’ve interviewed so many great dental entrepreneurs. And it was just a moment in time where they’re like, Oh, I’m just gonna do this. Well, Nifty, Thrifty literally, was something I literally kind of stumbled into kind of like how I got into dentistry and just kind of got stumbled into it. I was working with a coach. And it was about just kind of making the culture my practice better. I’m the type of person I want to get better all the time. That’s like, my goal in life is just to level up. And then when we’re done, she looked at me, she was like, hey, what’s next? We mean, what’s next? I’m gonna keep doing what I’m doing and grow the practice and, you know, hopefully just retire and drink pina coladas on the beach one day, right. And she was like, you know, I just feel like you have so much more potential. I feel like you have so much more potential to do some good in this in this industry. And I think you really should look at it. And really, that was the seed was planted in my head. A seed was planted in my head that you know what, instead of just a affecting everyone in the four walls of my practice, everyone being my team and my patients, I want to expand that and really impact people within the confines of the dental industry. And that’s really how nifty thrifty dentists started, started with someone just kind of, you know, I’m blessed enough to people just saw more in me than I saw myself, my sister being one of them, my coach, be another and, and, and I’m lucky enough to that I’ve run into people who, who see those things. And for those who are listening to this right now, and they’re like, Well, no one’s ever said anything to me, like about doing something more, I tell you, then, that maybe you’re in the wrong room, you know, maybe you’re surrounded by the wrong people, you know, maybe you’re, you’re surrounded by people who just kind of see the words and kind of want to keep them keep you at their level or, or maybe, maybe they’re trying to keep you safe, because they’re scared of you hurting yourself by failing. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the path for you. And it’s okay that people care about you, they don’t want you to take risks, because they don’t want you to get hurt. But that’s their insecurities. They’re just putting on you. So for those who are listening, if people are not saying like you should do more, maybe you’re in the wrong room, maybe you need to be surrounded by a different set of people. And I was just blessed enough that those people were already in my life. 

 

Shawn Zajas  31:24 

That’s amazing. Seriously, like, that’s, like, the vision I see is that I look to the left, and I look to the right of me. And I see so many people, good friends of mine, individuals like yourself, Glenn, that are advancing dentistry. And yet at the same exact time, when I look to the left on the right, I see vacancies where people are not owning that, that space that only they can occupy. They’re not owning that unique light that only they can shine, when they just step into that alignment of this is who I am. These are my giftings these are my strengths. This is the these are the problems I see. And I always tell people to go back to the pain because it’s like so many times, it’s when we realize, man, something’s not happening here, or this is frustrating. Or why is it like that, that all of a sudden, we realize we have the chance to bring a solution to bring value. And I love what you just said about the people you hang out with. Because sometimes all people need is just permission like permission to dream and permission to actually take that first step. And almost everyone I’ve talked to Glenn, nobody was like, You know what, I had this perfect plan. And this is exactly how I saw all of it ending up. They were like, You know what, something presented itself. And I saw the obvious next step. And even amidst uncertainty, and questions and impostor syndrome, I simply took that step. Yeah. You know, so Okay, so she gives you permission. She says, why not something else? Yeah. What happened after that?  

 

Glenn Vo  33:05 

Yeah so, literally, I had a Facebook group called dental garage sales, the first group I started, and this is where I got the idea. So I had that dental garage sale. And really, it was because my wife, she was like, you have too many extra like dental products and equipment, you need to get it out of our storage, right? So literally, I started out of necessity. And then what happened was people in the group were like, well, what’s the best place to buy this? And what’s the best place to do this? And they were asking about their practice. And I was like, Wait, this is like a Buy Sell group. It’s not really a community. And then I realized there was a need for that. And again, just my natural instinct to connect people together we started Nifty, Thrifty Dentists bring different vendors on connect them with the dental professionals, dental professionals coming in there and really sharing their story. me sharing my story about opening a practice in the middle of like the housing crisis and and what I did, just being resourceful and literally, that’s why how nifty thrifty kind of came about. But what ended up happening is, is again, all about leveling up and impacting more people. Nifty, Thrifty, just turned into then we had the podcast, then we did our events. Then I just wanted to reach more people. I started dental lifestyles magazine, started speaking. And so again, all these things came from just the core why of I just want to help as many people as possible. I want to be a service of others. And this access the money, whatever it’s going to come you leave with value, everything’s going to sort itself out. And really that’s that’s really, again, how I kind of started everything. It really just came from just the need to impact more people to use my skills, my skip my ability to connect with because not every dentist wants to talk to someone, what certain vendors have what companies maybe they don’t know how to approach them. Maybe they just are too busy. But I was able to just do that for my fellow dentists and leave with value. And, and literally, that’s, that’s, I mean, as simple as it sounds that really is a I mean, I tell people my business is based on relationships. That’s really all it is, Oh, you don’t you’re not doing this or you’re not teaching them a certain technique? No, it’s really about relationships. I, if you need something, I already know who those people and I just introduce you and I connect you guys together. That’s literally my business. 

 

Shawn Zajas  35:32 

But that’s also you getting to be in that sandbox. Yeah. Of your gift. Like, you know, you don’t have to strive and it’s not even performance for you, right? It’s just you can rest in your gift and be like, well, this is just the way I naturally am, 

 

Glenn Vo  35:48 

Shawn, that is seriously what you just said there, when people are trying to figure out what they should do. That is literally the secret. The secret is this. Everyone has like their natural gifts, their natural passions. If you can translate that into, like an industry or a way to monetize it, then you will never work a day in your life. Literally. If you just use your God, like what you’re really good at. And you’re passionate about it. You’ll never work another day, like literally, I’m, I am super busy. When I’m at home when I’m not in the office, I’m working all day. But it doesn’t even feel like work. It does not even fill out work. And that is like the secret. One of my mentors told me that like, like, if you can figure that out, if you can figure out, you know, just using your God given abilities or your skills. It’s never going to be like work so so that is something that I just wanted to highlight there. What you were saying is that that’s the key. That’s the key. So figuring that out. 

 

Shawn Zajas  36:53 

Okay, so roughly month and year of the Garage. Dental. Yeah, yeah. What, what what timeframe we talked, 

 

Glenn Vo  37:01 

so that was like, so that was like 2016 and then Nifty, Thrift Dentist literally started in 2017. 

 

Shawn Zajas  37:09 

Okay, so between like six to 12 months between the first iteration and the brand of nifty, thrifty. Okay. At any point in time, did you ever like, feel like, Oh, crap, I don’t know, either how fast this is going if I can handle it, or how big this could be? Or did you ever struggle with like, what if Iam not enough, like some sense of imposter syndrome? As you’re leading this? 

 

Glenn Vo  37:35 

I’ll tell you what was really difficult about what I did was the fact that it was so public. Like if I tried something, and it didn’t work, everyone saw it, like the whole dental community saw it. And I would say that people who could relate to that as like, you know, Anissa Holmes, Elijah Desmond, who two good friends of mine, because a lot of things that lash it did, like was out there, like, Hey, I’m going to do a cruise here. And what if no one showed up? Everyone’s gonna see it. So a lot of things I did. So that was, I would say, that was like the hardest part. But for me, I just thought like, well, if something doesn’t work, if this doesn’t work out, you know, maybe like, after a year, people are sick of me, then then I learned something and I just move on to the next thing. You know, a lot of times what people don’t realize is that your first business or your first idea, or your first project might not be what you’re known for. And you got to be okay with that. Right? If you think about all the most successful entrepreneurs in our lifetime, they failed a whole bunch of times, and they hit it on one unique thing. And if you are thinking like, well, they just lucked out. They just lucked out into it. No, no, no, no, it’s not luck. Luck has something to play in it. But each failure leveled them up. And so someone who, and I’m not saying this guy followed a lot, but someone who everyone loves right now is Alex, I’m nosy. Right? What I would tell people when you see Alex Mozi speak rendering, like, this guy’s amazing. But I challenge you guys to look at his very early videos when he started gym launch is like a completely different dude. Like, it’s like a guy like I would never buy anything from that guy. Right? But what you don’t realize is that all the obstacles and failures that he had, it forced him to level up. So for me, if Nifty Thirfty this Nifty, Thrifty dentists blew up in my face, then I would have learned something I would have leveled up. And I felt a lot trust me trying different things out with that platform. So So for me, it was always I always knew that I had no other choice than to keep working into succeed. Like there was no other choice there. And I think for people if you if you tell yourself like if you give yourself an out, then you’ll you’ll never really, you’ll never really know what’s possible. unless you put some, you know, like some skin in the game, right? Like if you know, like, Okay, this mess up here, okay, I’m just gonna go back to me into this, I’m gonna go back to being a hygienist. Well, if you don’t put any stakes to it, then it’s never going to mean that much to you. 

 

Shawn Zajas  40:16 

I mean, that is incredibly profound. So just Yeah, a few thoughts. I think it was like five years ago, I started recording, because I wanted to lead and I wanted to contribute and be a trainer. And I look at those videos. And I was like, I can’t like, so here I am. I’m on camera. I’m on video. And I’m comfortable. Simply because of the reps. I remember my brother, as he was an actor for a while in Hollywood even. And he came into my studio a few months back, because he wanted to start a podcast with a buddy. And I was like, What do you want it to be video? And he’s like, Well, I guess. Sure. And all of a sudden, the second I turned the video on, he’s like, oh, man, this is so awkward. Like, this is my brother who actually, you know, did stuff kind of on some commercials before. And here he is. He’s like, How are you so comfortable. And I was like, Well, I somehow impress my brother that actually had experience in this but still realize, like, the second the cameras on and the second lights are on. Sometimes it’s like, if you’re not used to it, it can be difficult. And yet I wouldn’t get to a place where I was willing to do what I’m doing now, if I hadn’t just put in the reps. And another thing is, it’s like that whole Man in the Arena, saying, I think the problem is so many of us have been the critic that is on the sideline that was throwing mud at the person in the arena and was being unfair, because you know, in our own head, we’re like, we could do it better. Yeah. But we were too cowardice to actually step in the arena. When you’re in the arena, you give other people in the arena, a lot of grace. Because you realize, man, Glenn, just the fact that you stepped up, wow, the fact that you had the courage to wave a flag and say, this is where I’m going. Even if it didn’t work every time the fact that you just did it and went for it like that is so honoring. And I just want to take a moment and actually honor that because dentistry wouldn’t be where it’s at. If you hadn’t just said, You know what, let me go for this, if you would have played it safe. Like you have shown so many people the road to entrepreneurship, the road to getting to express whatever other passion they might have. Not to mention all the savings you’ve created through Nifty, Thrifty. But man, what would it been like if you just second guessed yourself, and played it safe and just stayed in your practice? 

 

Glenn Vo  42:35 

Yeah, yeah, no, no, first of all, thank you so much. Honestly, I always tell people, I’m just I’m just a normal guy, right? I’m just a normal guy who just, you know, just didn’t give up. Right? Literally, that’s what it is. But one of my favorite stories I like to tell people is how I met my wife, right. And when I first met her, it wasn’t like in the movies where you lock eyes with someone it was like love at first sight. Like that wasn’t that it? Like, literally she gave me like the dirtiest look, you can give a person like the dirtiest look. And I remember like, I’m not never going to talk to this person ever again. And it wasn’t until like six months later at a school function that I looked around, I went there, I got to the function late and I looked around, there was no seat available, my friends didn’t save me see, because what do you guys do guys? You know, guys in their 20s are very selfish, they think about themselves. So they’re all talking to girls, right? I didn’t even save me a seat. And I look around the only seat available was Nixon, my wife. And I remember that she gave me a dirty look. And I never wanted to talk to her again. And I was like, no what, what the heck, I can either just go and just sit by myself somewhere else. Or I could just take a chance and just sit with her and her friends. What’s the worst that could happen? And she said that her friends said this. He wasn’t taking us at weather and the rest was history. So if I didn’t put myself out there, I wouldn’t be married to you know, my soulmate right now. And I wouldn’t have two beautiful kids. So, again, that’s a Yeah, that’s a lot of times life. A lot of times life will, will continue to show you something will continue to give you clues, right will continue to give you hints because the universe wants you to succeed. I truly believe that the universe wants you to succeed. But the universe is not going to give it to you. They’re not going to hand it to you on a silver platter. You’re going to have to get it right. But they will give you hints. They will they will put people on your life. They will they will put you in situations and it’s up for you to take advantage of it. And for me, you know, meeting my wife like that in seeing where we are right now is proof that sometimes you have to put yourself out there sometimes you have to take a risk, because if you don’t then you never know. 

 

Shawn Zajas  44:46 

Okay, so I need to know, because I know you’re a super scheduled man. I can start leading the ship to wrap up. 

 

Glenn Vo  44:54 

It’s up to you. I think Hold on, hold on. Oh, no, I need to 

 

Shawn Zajas  44:57 

do that because you might be oops There’s a good chance you actually have something. And 

 

Glenn Vo  45:04 

so I have a well, we can wrap it up right now if you’re busy, but I do have 30 minutes. 

 

Shawn Zajas  45:10 

Okay, no, I just have a few questions there. 

 

Glenn Vo  45:13 

Sorry. Sometimes I because I have my own podcast, I talk a lot too. So let 

 

Shawn Zajas  45:18 

me know you may already doing amazing data you’ve been doing amazing. None of my questions are ever pre written down. It’s just as I’m talking to you, there’s so many things coming up. And I’m like, I just, I want our listeners to get it because like, This is amazing. So first question. From where you started to where you are at now? Can you identify either a mindset that you had to embrace to get to where you’re at, or a mindset that you had to shed? Because it would have held you back? 

 

Glenn Vo  45:49 

Oh, man, I’ll tell you a big or you could do both? I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you a big one that had the to shed was like the negative self talk. And it wasn’t an I’ve been like, kind of like on a mission of really understanding the human psyche and personality and why we do things and, and how our upbringing and our history and different traumas kind of kind of shaped who we are. But for me, it was basically telling the voice in my head that the voice that we all have in our head, that that voice, yes, they want to keep you safe. They don’t want you to take risks, right? This is coming from someone who likes to take risks, right? But I still have those doubts. I still have those that voice said, Hey, are you sure you want to do that? Are you sure you want to hurt yourself like that? Are you sure you want to just go through that again? And for me, when I started understanding that those voices are just voices, and not facts, and not commands, that’s when really things started to change. Because, look, the imposter syndrome is rooted in the fact that our brain, they just our brains whole purpose to keep a safe and survive. 

 

Shawn Zajas  47:08 

preservation, self preservation is to survive. 

 

Glenn Vo  47:11 

Like, that’s what’s there. Hey, don’t poke that bear. Because you might get bit. Don’t, don’t go and talk to don’t go and sit next to Susan, because you’re gonna get hurt, like he got hurt that other time. Right? So those thoughts in our head, they’re not facts. And once I realized that, once I just said, is a thoughts were just, hey, just suggestions like, hey, you know, you might want to think about that. Let me think about that. noted, but I’m not gonna listen to you. I’m just gonna do that. That was like the biggest turning point in my life. Because even though yes, had a successful dental practice and all those things. You know, everyone suffers from that imposter syndrome. But impostor syndrome is rooted in our brain trying to keep us safe. And once you realize that, once you realize that, and once you realize those thoughts are just thoughts and not facts, you’ll be able to move a lot faster. So that I would say that was probably the biggest one. There’s a lot of things I can say. But I would say that was the biggest one. 

 

Shawn Zajas  48:15 

That is like, I feel like I’m getting therapy right now. Because the way I always paint the picture is like, I dream about leaving the Shire, if I want to go Lord of the Rings here, yeah, I dream about the adventure to Mordor and having to save the world. But yet, I’m really content in the Shire. And if given the option, I probably would have just stayed in the Shire. And yet, I’m not going to have regret, like my regret is going to be 100% that I played it safe. Like I know that. So that’s, that’s the one of the things that I keep trying to like, put in front of me everywhere. If I keep listening to the voice of self preservation and safety. I’m going to have massive regrets because I’m going to always wonder what could have happened if I shined brighter what could have happened if I embraced more of the unknown, and let myself be wild, and braved the wilderness despite not knowing if it’s safe, who cares if it’s not safe? Right? Like, I have a community around me. And that’s where I think even some dentists struggle is like, I’m already respected. I’m looked at with some sort of admiration in my community. If now I visibly show people that I’m trying something else what if I fail? And it’s like you had to brave that Elijah like you said Anessa and yet the same exact time the reality is most people when they start something, no one’s paying attention. No one No one even cares no 

 

Glenn Vo  49:49 

one cares again and and you know, for for the general professors are listening right now. I mean, taking that next step could be learning a different procedure, right learning a procedure that you were referring to another doctor and, and having that doubt, like, can I really do that? What if I hurt my patient or what not? The thing is, is if you don’t try, then you’re missing out, you’re missing out the ability of helping a whole different subset of patients, helping your existing patients, right, making the experience better. I always like to go back to whenever I decide, like, do I really want to do this? I asked myself, like, what would the people who really care about me think? And what I mean by that is this, a lot of times, you know, we see people who are doing amazing things with our athletes, or maybe their performers, and they, and they don’t reach their full potential because of self sabotage, sabotage, or something like that. And we look and we say, and I really wish they really lived up to their potential. Here’s the thing about potential. We don’t know what our potential is, like, there’s no like, there’s no like, I get to level tag and see level 10, right, that you don’t know what it is. So imagine this, imagine that people who invested in you imagine whether your spiritual not think about God’s given God gave you this talent, when the best way to honor the people who believed in you, the people who supported you, when the best way to honor them, is to live up to your God given talents. I think about that all the time, I think about my parents just, you know, working all day long, I think about what it took for my family to come over here to a different country. So a country where maybe they weren’t really embraced right away, because people were still, you know, still had wounds from the war, emotional wounds, right? You went there, what would be the best way to honor them, then to really live up to my potential. So I think about that a lot. And for those who are watching right now, think about the sacrifices people made to get you where you were, when the best way to honor them, is to really live up to your potential. I think about that all the time. And I tell my kids that too, it’s like, you may think you’re, you have the potential for this, but you probably have a lot more. And the best way to show me that you love me or the honor me is to really try your best. And at the end of the day, I think that’s what everyone who’s ever supported us wants from us, right? Try your best. But if you don’t really put yourself out there, are you really trying your best. So something to think about as well. 

 

Shawn Zajas  52:33 

That is so countercultural, because in our current society, honor, and the idea of the even like, of legacy, like multi generational legacy, it’s like, we’re so short sighted. Now, no one talks about those things. You know, and that’s where it’s crazy. I know, it’s a very personal thing, when someone decides, like, hey, look, I don’t want if I’m going to have a family, but I don’t want to have kids. And I’m thinking all throughout history, people made sacrifices, so that even like, you know, good things got passed on through the bloodline through the DNA. And literally, it ended with you. And now you’re saying that I’m just gonna stop, like, I’m not going to continue to propagate all that everyone before me has poured into to like my genetics to my DNA. And I know that that’s probably a strange way of looking at it. So yours is a lot less strange. Let’s just talk when you said, Glenn, that’s just it’s beautiful.  

 

Glenn Vo  53:30 

Yeah, well, and again, you know, whether, whether it’s your own family, whether it’s the your extended family, right, your nieces and nephews, right, your cousins or whatnot, again, you know, no one gets to where they are by themselves. So one has someone help everybody, everyone had a mentor. And for me, again, the best way to honor someone, the best way to show appreciation is to really live up to what your potential is. And the great thing about potentials, we really don’t know where our potential lies, right? We don’t know, we may have the potential to do something in our career, and then the potential do something else. And that’s what I love about that concept, because it really promotes trying to get better every day. And when I say get better every day, I’m not just talking about being a better business person, better clinician. I’m talking about everything in your life, being a better person, right? Treating people better, you know, growing yourself, whether it’s spiritually, whether it’s physically or whatever. I mean, at the end of the day, you know, you have one life, right, you know, God or whoever you believe in, gave you this one life. And it’s up to you to really maximize it for the amount of time you have here. And that’s how I approach life. And that’s what really pushes me to do all these other things. Because I told myself like, well, what if what if I can impact this one person if I did this? Because I’ve been just blessed? The biggest reward is people saying well, bad Have you really helped open my eyes about this thing, or you really helped me with my practice or you were just sharing your story just made me feel like I wasn’t alone. That is reward enough. And that’s the very reason why I want to keep pushing forward to impact that the next next person down the line. 

 

Shawn Zajas  55:18 

Wow. So are you familiar with Prefontaine? 

 

Glenn Vo 55:21 

No, I’ve heard of it, but I’m not too familiar with it.  

 

Shawn Zajas  55:25 

Okay, so I was a runner, and he was a runner in the late 60s, early 70s. He actually passed away tragically in a car accident, but he went to the 1972 Olympics, all that to say is he was the face for young emerging Nike, with Powerman experiment was his coach at University of Oregon. And he was good enough that he could win a race, most of his races without giving it his best. And yet, almost every time when he crossed the finish line, you’d almost pass out. And people are like, Why? Why do you run this way? And out of that came like this thing that’s on my on my wall right there. And it says, it’s to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift. And it just, I feel like it exactly kind of echoes what you’re saying. Aside from the fact that yes, everyone is pouring into you, everyone’s believing in you just the other day, I gave my kids. I gave them each $240 play money. I have five kids just so they could have $10 for every hour that they’re alive during a day, right? And they’re like, Dad, I don’t get it. What’s this money for? And I’m like, Well, time is money. And every hour that goes by, you just need to pay $10 for that hour of your life. And they’re like, Well, I don’t get it. Because like this, I didn’t, I didn’t earn this money. And I’m like, well, guess what your mom and I right now are actually investing in you in your potential. So it’s almost like we’re spending a certain amount of money every single day for you. But you get to choose how you invest your time, because time is money. So you could play or you could read a book, you could practice piano, which is like investing in the future, or you can just mess around and check out. But really, everybody has invested into someone else for them to be where they’re at. And I love what you’re saying. It’s almost like incumbent on you to shine as bright as you can simply to make their investment even more worthwhile. Right? Like, it just honors everyone that believed in you. So my question for you, Glenn is, what’s next? 

 

Glenn Vo  57:32 

Well, gosh, you know, I have a lot of projects lined up. But what I’m really excited by now, right now is that I became a partner. So I published two books, and the publishing house that published my books, there was an opportunity to invest in them and to become a partner. And I was like, I jumped at it, because I was like, you know, what, I want to give people the ability to, to really get their voice out there. And again, just really just impact more people. So I’m really excited about that. So what’s next is, I want to get more dental professionals, I want to port more people in our industry, to share their story, whether whether it’s on my podcasts, or in my magazine, or now in a book, to share with somebody I want to be I want to be the vehicle that helps them get their word out. So So that’s, that’s the next big thing. I mean, there’s always other things as well, you know, working with other entrepreneurs, helping them helping them get closer to their dream, you know, somehow. That’s, that’s, that’s kind of like the next thing, and I’ll see where the relationships take me. 

 

Shawn Zajas  58:42 

That that is amazing. Okay, so I have a book in me. It’s Dental. That means I should probably speak to you because  

 

Glenn Vo  58:51 

Let’s talk because I can, I can help you, I can help you. In fact, I’m helping a few people. And a lot of times when people say, Okay, I have an idea for a book, I guess, sit down and I gotta write in I can do all these things. There’s, there’s so many different ways to, you know, fast track that, that you really just need to talk, right. So again, love to hear about that. It would be like my honor to help you get that book published in in people’s hands. And in my hand, too, like I’m excited to get it as well. So definitely can can help you out. And of course, anyone’s listening and, and has aspirations of sharing right and sharing a book. Reach out to me, I’d love to talk to you 

 

Shawn Zajas  59:33 

Okay, so there’s so many things you’re doing. Any of our listeners are probably like, Okay, how Mike how do I join what he’s doing? How do I find out about so where do you want their eyeballs to go? Right now? 

 

Glenn Vo  59:42 

Easiest way. Easiest way to get a hold of me is find me on social media on LinkedIn, Facebook, you can do Instagram as well. Glenn vo I mean, there’s not that many Glenn Vo’s Glen with two ends, right? I think there’s one there’s another Glenbard there with one but two ends Glen with two and reach out to me shoot me a message. I’ll see where I can be of service. And you know, of course, you can join the community nifty, thrifty dentists. You know, it’s not all about saving money. It’s not all about deals. It’s all about community. And sometimes, you know, we, we share what’s going on our fears, our struggles are wins. We’d love to hear about those things. So join the community, say hello. And then of course, you can always reach out to me. 

 

Shawn Zajas  1:00:26 

Okay, so here’s the final question. You’re walking down the street. And often the distance you see 18 year old Glenn, and you know, you only have a brief moment to communicate a sentiment to him, What do you share, 

 

Glenn Vo  1:00:40 

I go up to him and I just say, hey, you know what, everybody who’s been in your life, even if they cause you a lot of pain or harm, they’re there for a purpose, that we’re there to help you grow better. So don’t hold any of those grudges don’t hold any negative feelings there. Just understand that no matter the interaction, it was there to help you become a better person. That’s what I would tell him. Because I would say that for a long period of my life, when I had some mishaps or things happen to me, I would just get down on myself, like, Why me? Why did this happen? Or why did that person do that, and hold on this a lot of negativity. And I will tell you the negativity the more you hold on to negativity in your life, it it, it shuts out, it takes up the place of positivity. So the more negative the more anger, whatever is in your heart, it takes up that space, that that that space in your heart for positivity, right. So the more that you get rid of all that bad stuff, it opens your heart have more positive influences and feelings. So that’s what I would tell him. 

 

Shawn Zajas  1:01:48 

Okay, so Glen, I met you back in April of 21. And we didn’t talk, a ton of that Smiles, let’s see a little bit of a business, no conversation, and I’ve known about you, but I have to say like, I’ve just been blown away, getting to actually find out who Glenn Vo is. And it’s been so easy to honor you as a pioneer and an innovator. But I’m also so shocked by the level of humility, you have the crazy generosity of spirit that you can take that you have that you just want to pour out. And that’s all you’ve been doing on this podcast. And that’s why I’m so thankful I’ve had this time, because you just continue to pour out like gold nugget after golden nugget of mindsets and really gifts to our listeners so that they can level up. Seriously, thank you so much for letting me interview you today.  

 

Glenn Vo  1:02:45 

Well, Shawn, thank you so much for having me on. Again, I’ve been following you for quite some time since that initial meeting. And I just love the content you’re putting out and I just love the enthusiasm that you have. And that’s the thing. Like for me, it’s like, you know, that type of like, you know, abundance mindset, you know, it attracts me. So again, when you said that gave me the opportunity to win the podcast. Absolutely. I was gonna be a part of it. So thank you for giving me the opportunity. Thanks, Glenn. 

 

Shawn Zajas  1:03:20 

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