Ep 14 - Building More Than Smiles: The Journey of Starting an Orthodontic Practice

Welcome back to Practice Talk with your host, Lacie Ellis. Today, we’re excited to welcome Janine Chinitz of Chinitz Orthodontics, a startup that’s been making waves in the industry for the past two years. Janine will share the five key factors that have contributed to the success of the practice, from choosing the right name to building a standout team. We’ll explore how strategic planning, effective marketing, and strong community connections have helped them lay a solid foundation for growth. Whether you're just starting out or looking to level up your practice, this episode is filled with invaluable insights and practical advice.

Download our printable for this episode here.

 IN THIS EPISODE: 

• (0:25) Meet Janine a co-founder of Chinitz Orthodontics

• (10:30) Choosing the name, completing the vision and the motivation for their dream

• (16:36) What sets Chinitz Orthodontics apart from other practices

• (21: 59) Hiring the right staff is critical

• (25:43) A listener poses a question about the most effective marketing strategies 

• (30:01) Laci describes the services provided by People in Practice

• (35:30) Janine responds to a listener about balancing work and family life

• (40:32) Taking the Chinitz Practice to the next level

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

• Planning your orthodontic practice’s location, design, and hiring strategy is essential but not covered in dental school. These decisions impact your budget, visibility, and patient experience, laying the foundation for a successful practice

• Expand your orthodontic business by networking with local practitioners and promoting your practice to everyone you encounter

• Orthodontists need reliable staff to manage the front desk, handle essential tasks, and oversee finances and scheduling, ensuring the practice runs smoothly

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

What follows is an AI-generated transcript. The transcript may contain errors and is not a substitute for watching the video.

Narrator: (00:00:00) Welcome to Practice Talk, a deep dive into the world of healthcare practices, where we invite team members to share strategies to make your work life easier. Now your host, Lacey Ellis.

Lacie Ellis: Welcome to Practice Talk. Brought to you by people in practice, where we specialize in digital marketing, website development, SEO, and so much more. On this episode, we're joined by Janine Chinnitz, the co founder of Chinnitz Orthodontics, a startup practice in New Rochelle, New York. She and her husband opened the practice in 2022 with a mission to create a more patient focused, welcoming orthodontic experience.

While her husband handles the clinical side, she runs everything else. Building the practice from the ground up from financing and design to hiring and marketing with no previous experience in dental. She learned it all on the job, helping the business grow to a nearly 1 million practice in (00:01:00) its first year.

And they continue to grow. And if this wasn't enough, she's also a mother of three young children, two of whom were born, uh, during the startup journey. So welcome Janine. 

Janine Chinitz: Thank you so much. Wow. You make me sound so, so good. Like when you are, you are so good. Thank you. Pat myself on the back. so much for having me.

This is really fun. 

Lacie Ellis: Yes. Thank you for joining us and being willing. Um, so as a reminder to our listeners, don't worry about taking any notes today. We will put together a printable that you will be able to download for free from our website filled with the details of today's discussion. All right, Jenny.

And let's dig right in. So what were some of the biggest challenges you faced in setting up your new business, especially in an industry that you were really unfamiliar with? 

Janine Chinitz: Yeah. I mean, there's so much. Um, I actually think it's really interesting to say, uh, uh, industry that I'm not familiar with. Right.

Because when you're starting up a new practice as a doctor, let's say the building part of the practice (00:02:00) is not orthodontic. At all, right? Like it's not, it's not like in ortho residency, you take a class on startups. So everybody who's building a new practice is really coming into an industry. They don't know, right?

We're, we're talking about renting space, looking at contracts for space, looking at insurance, credentialing, you know, hiring staff, doing payroll, all that stuff. So that part is new to everybody. Um, and so in that way, It's, it's really exciting. Um, I'm sort of a person who just likes to figure things out.

Like even in my life, someone says, Hey, I need to do this. And I'm like, when do you need to buy? I'll, I'll figure it out. Um, so I, I just really love to like delve into something and, and learn and read and listen a lot. So that, that was a very helpful thing, but we also worked with a consultant, a practice startup consultants.

His name is Jonathan Miller with fortune management. He was awesome. I just realized like I could take. A month to figure something out that he could probably tell me in two minutes. Um, and reading all of this jargon about leases and stuff that, that was just (00:03:00) super, super helpful. I mean, all the decisions were based on us and, and we just sort of used him for like direction.

Um, but that was super helpful, but as far as. The practice side of it, you know, working in the orthodontic space that I've never been in. Um, I think there were two things that really helped me to be, to be successful. First of all, just to be extremely curious, right? Asking questions, listening like crazy.

And, you know, like you said, my husband and I are in this together. He's the orthodontist and I'm everything but the teeth is what I say. So learning through him, what's. The cues are and what, um, Treatments sounds like. And, you know, I didn't even know how many teeth were in your mouth. The only thing I knew was the number of the teeth because my husband always tells me if I have something in my teeth by saying like upper left one and two.

And I'm like, Oh, I have something in my teeth over there. So I knew that, but, um, you know, there's, there's a flow (00:04:00) to a consultation. There's all that stuff. And so having him there to help me was, was extremely helpful. But I think as a business owner, you know, I come from a business background, my, my, Family was just really in business and one thing, my dad, who was, you know, my, my Superman of business would say, just, you always want to be too dumb to know better.

Okay. And what that means is like, if you were to think about starting a business with your husband, Yeah. Yeah. This is crazy, right? Like you're starting a business together. That means you have no backup. If we don't sell, or if we don't, you know, if we don't get patients, we don't have food for our family.

Right. So, um, if we were to think about all the risks that we were about to take, we would maybe not do something. So instead, we're just going to say, listen, this is a high risk, high reward. We're going to go, we're going to be too dumb to know better. And just go. Go. So being extremely curious and learning and listening like crazy and knowing that our whole life depends on this was, was huge, but also the second thing would just be (00:05:00) to ask a million questions and just let everyone know where you're at.

I would call the insurance companies and say, Hey, this is my first time calling you. Like, what am I supposed to ask you? I don't know what I'm doing. And they love to help. If you sort of put that out there and, you know, working with contractors, working with lawyers, they're like, listen, this is my first time.

Did I ask you the right questions? If I didn't tell me what I should be asking you. And then the next time you're on the phone, you know what to do. So, um, I think those two things like being super curious and just asking a million questions and being really dedicated to what you're doing. That that's what has helped us be really successful.

Lacie Ellis: Um, I have so much to unpack on this one with you because so many things you said, I'm like, yes, yes, yes, yes. Um, I'm one of those geeks that pick a word of the year. And so my word for this year is curiosity. And I picked it because I was like, we're going into an election year where there is So much divisiveness.

And I learned that if I can be curious about (00:06:00) how somebody got to where they're at, instead of pushing back on, that's not how I think, um, then it's, it's a little less turmoil inside yourself. And so that's really helped me. I think you're right. Like that curiosity, that drive that like wanting to understand something and like soak it up like a sponge.

Like that's. That's the, that's the pinnacle of like figuring things out. You've got to be curious about it. Um, the other thing you said that totally resonated was the first, the first orthodontist I worked for, he said, you know what? They trained me how to be an orthodontist, not to manage all of you women and deal with all of your drama and pay payroll and do these things.

He's like, so I hire great people to do those things. Cause I, That's not my jam. I went to school to fix your teeth, not to be your therapist.

Janine Chinitz: Imagine, I can't imagine how doctors do this without, you know, a spouse or just somebody so somebody that you trust so much, (00:07:00) because there's so many pieces of it that like my husband doesn't even know what's going on, you know, like, Oh, to credential with an insurance company. What is that? How long does that take?

Oh, it's taking 90 days. I have followed up five times. Like that's not something that he should have to worry about or need to worry about. And I don't know how doctors do it on their own. I mean, huge kudos to people who start up by themselves, but having a team or a spouse or somebody that can really be there for you is just hugely valuable.

Lacie Ellis: Yes. And, and finding the people, you know, I know you said you worked with, um, a consultant for startup practices, you know, finding those people that have been down that road before, like, bigger picture. I think that's what we're here to do in this life is like to go through something and then be able to share it with somebody else and be like, this is my experience through that, take it or leave it, use the pieces that work for you.

But like, we're just all kind of in this together, figuring it out. Like there's no manual for any of this life, right? We're just like, this worked for me. Go for it. If you'd like, you know, totally. (00:08:00) So how did you go about finding the right location and designing a space that aligned with your vision? That seems to be a monumental, uh, ask of someone.

Janine Chinitz: It really is. It really is. I mean, it's There's so many pieces of everything. So I think one of the great things about our partnership, my husband and I, is that I am not from ortho, right? I don't have any preconceived notions of what an orthodontic office should be like, how it should run, what it should look like, uh, other than my own orthodontics when I was a kid.

So that, I think that's actually a plus, you know, looking outside the box, looking from a different eye completely. So we said, Hey, what kind of office do we want to run? What is our mission here? And so everything we have is a patient experience. We're patient focused a hundred percent. So that's, that, that speaks to every single thing in our office.

Um, and obviously that starts with where are we located? And what, what do you feel like when you walk in? So from the patient side, I'm like, Hey, I'm a mom. I do (00:09:00) not. It's annoying to go to some offices. Like I don't want to be in an office. That's annoying to go to. I want it to be convenient. I want it to be like, Hey, I'm also going to stop in the post office and I'm going to go to the grocery store.

And it's really easy to find. There's a lot of parking and it's not annoying. So I didn't want it to be a burden to come here. So the first thing we said was we want to look at a storefront versus office building. Now, when you're doing that and you're looking at your finances, it's a lot cheaper to be located in an office building than a storefront.

But if you're really dedicated to your vision, Then you have to say, it's going to be worth it. So. We looked at the storefronts and we found something just through the grapevine. Honestly, we were building during COVID. Um, so it was a lot harder to find places or contact places or get into places. And even though a lot of places were sadly closing, so like things were opening up, but it was just, it was just difficult.

So we actually got it through the grapevine. We were in our neighborhood and just say, Hey, you know, saw this karate studio and talked to the owner and was like, (00:10:00) I'm really struggling. I think I want to close and we're like, Oh, we kind of want to open. So the karate guy talked to his landlord and they figured out a way to get out of his lease and.

And startup, so we worked in all the ways possible, but it was all through the schmooze, right? Like, and that, that really goes in the future of your practice as well. The schmooze, um, being able to sort of like, talk to anybody and, and learn from people, um, that helps in every single way. But. So, okay, we found we had our mission.

We found a place that would match that mission. Also, where we were is in the neighborhood that my husband grew up. And while it seems obvious that we named our office chin, it's orthodontics. It was a very, um, hunk. Concrete effort to name it chin is orthodontics because the name here fortunately has a great reputation in the area and every single one of my husband's family is a doctor.

They're all Dr chin. So luckily they all are great doctors. And we're like, Hey, we're going to (00:11:00) use this reputation of the medical side. Plus the neighborhood side, we're going to put it on our side. Um, so that was another thing back to me coming from the patient side. I wanted to be in a fun. Awesome, nice, relaxing place.

And so my vision was sort of like a hotel lobby. Um, and I was just obsessively going on Pinterest. I was going into home goods, which is like a magical place. And I was even looking on Facebook mark marketplace for, for things that just kind of spoke to me and, you know, little by little, we, we built it up.

We also worked with great design build people who helped us pick out the right kind of materials that are good for like a high, Commercial place, um, that, you know, we have a lot of moisture in the air. So we have to ask about those questions and they helped us with that. But again, having that patient focused family feel, you know, we have like some family pictures and we have a Yankees glove in the, in the waiting room, giving that feeling everywhere.

Everything (00:12:00) is focused on that vibe. Um, and people love it. They always walk in and they say, wow, what a nice office. Oh wait, but one of our best things that we've invested in, which is going to sound crazy is our bathroom. Our bathroom is so nice. We have this amazing tile that I really pushed to like spend the money on because again, every dollar is coming from your own pocket.

I was like, we need a super fancy tile and every single person, especially women come in and say, your bathroom is so nice. This place is really nice because you know, if you go into a restaurant or a place and they don't have a good bathroom, you're like, I don't want to be here anymore. But if they have a nice bathroom, it makes a big difference.

So. Big tip on that one to have a nice, that . 

Lacie Ellis: I love that. Um, I, and you're completely right. There are places that I'm like, oh, but the bathroom, there's gross, you know, . And then there are places where I'm like, I don't love the food as much, but the bathroom's so cute. You know, . Yeah. So, good tip. It's like they care.

They, yeah. . Um, well, I've never been on the side of the practice that you are on actually starting everything, you know. (00:13:00) Baseline ground up, but the one of the practices that I worked in the longest, we went from a really small location to a way bigger location. And I was kind of on the longer side that had been with that doctor.

And I was his TC and, um. So he leaned on me for like, of course, his wife helped attend to, but she wasn't in the practice. So he was like, you know, what do you think about this? And how do we feel about that? And really involved us as the team in some of those decisions. You know, I got to kind of set up my TC office dream office, which was so much fun.

Cause I'm like, I want to be able to get to this and get to that and show this and have this screen. And, um, so I would say it's kind of always that one foot in front of the other and figuring out just that next step. But I think, um, for practices. That are maybe expanding into a different location like include your team in that conversation because we were so I mean I have people ask me like how do you find people that like really care as much as (00:14:00) you care as the doctor or the Co owner and I'm like, I think you have to give them some ownership, you know let them feel like this is my baby too and I would have put a cot in the back of that office and slept there if It meant Helping the practice succeed.

And the only stake I had in it was my paycheck, but it was, it felt so much bigger than that to me because he made me part of that journey with him. So just a little bit different perspective from what you've been through, but definitely, um, that one foot in front of the other figured out, have a vision and just like stick to your guns on the things that like really, truly matter to your core vision.

Janine Chinitz: Yeah. I mean, I love, I love to hear that too, because As your staff in your office, you know, we are literally a family. My husband and I are a family and our family actually literally pops by all the time. Like they're always stopping in the office, but having them join this startup and saying, like, we're going to build this together.

I want you guys to tell me what works. You've been in other offices before. If this is not working, let us know because we're at (00:15:00) the beginning. We can build these processes. We can start these things from the beginning. So it could be as. As good in the future. So, you know, like you said, having them really be a part of building, it gives them a lot more of a connection, makes us more of a family, makes us all more connected.

And I think patients really feel that as well. They 

Lacie Ellis: do for sure. So building from scratch, how did you go about creating a brand and a practice culture that felt really unique? Because there are a lot of orthodontic offices out there. So how did you find kind of your niche in all of that? 

Janine Chinitz: Yeah. So we decided to open this practice because my husband, Isaac was working in other places and he found, he found that the quality was kind of lacking.

He literally was told that one of his offices, Hey, you need to lower your quality of care because we need to see more patients. We need to get them out the door faster. That's actually what he heard from. I know, right? Actually, what he heard from, from one of the offices. (00:16:00) So that was hurtful, obviously, um, and unethical.

He also saw staff at other places being rude. He saw patients waiting for over an hour. He saw places becoming factories. And that's just not the kind of orthodontics that he wanted to practice. And not the place that I would ever want to go. So we decided that we're going to open this place in order to be extremely patient focused, to make a place that the doctor really cares about you.

You're going to have time with him. You're going to understand you're going to walk into a place that has is really nice experience, um, with people who care about you. And our goal is not to be a factory. Success is defined by each office, right? Success is defined by each person. So while we could probably see 100 patients a day, that is not successful in our minds.

We want to be seeing less than that so that we can really give time to our patients, give them the care that they want to have. And people are responding like (00:17:00) crazy. I mean, they, they're switching from other doctors. They're, they're referring their family and friends because they're like, Oh my God, this is so nice.

You know, they're seeing the doctor every single time and some people don't see that. And I know that it's hard and it's really hard to run a practice. It's really hard to manage a schedule, but it's just, it's really important to us to have that patient focus, patient experience. Um, and. And we're doing that in every single way.

So, you know, a couple of examples are, um, obviously staffing, right? Like telling people in the, in right when you walk in the door, like, we are a startup. Okay. That's what that means is that everybody's doing everything and there's no time. I would ever want to hear. That's not my job. Right. So like, we only have a couple of people, if you need to take out the garbage, you're going to do it, please.

If the phone's ringing, then the doctor will answer the phone. If, um, you know, you know, whatever needs to be done, like we're all going to be willing to do it. I've done sterilization, like that's. (00:18:00) I don't know what I'm doing, but I, we, we all are here for the mission of place. So that's a really important thought because not a lot of people like that.

Go with the flow. A lot of people are more structured and need that more corporate vibe. And I totally respect and understand that. But I'm very clear when you walk in here that this is going to be how it's going to be. Um, we're all, we're all really in this together. So, you know, get on board to this mission because it's going to fly away into the stars, hopefully.

Um, but we just need to all, to all work together. Um, The second thing I think is huge is, is listening to the patients, like giving them attention, giving them time and hearing what they have to say. You know, one example of that is, we had a mom walk in here and she was just sort of on edge about some insurance thing that we've had a bunch of discussions on and she was not very happy with the way it was going.

And I said, you know what? Let me go that extra mile. Why don't you and I go into the office? We'll close the door. We're going to call the insurance company together. And like, you know, as an office manager. (00:19:00) Insurance calls could take hours. You could be on hold for so long, you can get somebody who doesn't know what they're talking about, and it could be, you know, not fun.

So I was like, we're gonna do this together. We're gonna figure it out. So we did it, and I asked all the questions. She was super comfortable and just taking that extra step. While it was annoying, it gave her all the trust in us that we ever needed. She trusted the treatment from now on. She didn't ask any more questions.

She really just appreciated. The time, because it's not that she was upset or mean, she just didn't understand, you know, so you have to give your patients the benefit of the doubt and you have to give them that extra mile, um, and treat them like your family. And so, you know, keeping that brand going, keeping that vision going, um, as long as we stick to that and really just keep caring about them, I think it will take us far.

Hopefully. 

Lacie Ellis: Yeah, well, and I hammered this point home as often as I possibly can that like startup practice or not cross training to me is one of the best things you can do in any practice, even if you've been in (00:20:00) practice for 20 years, and this is not your business model. Typically. I mean, I started chair side.

You know, we all learned how to sterilize. We could all pour up a model. You know, we all did some lab work. Um, Wormed my way into the TC room, which I absolutely love. We could all take records. We can all clip a wire. Everybody at the front desk could clip a wire. Like if we're having an on patient day and a patient walks in and that's the problem, you're going to know how to clip a wire.

Or put a separator back in, which I know that sounds archaic. Cause that was back before I taros and all the fun. Like I haven't got to work in an office with, uh, all the blessings that technology has brought to the practice. It's magical. I get a hinge of jealousy frequently about that, but I think that cross training of like, I can pick up the phone and I can schedule your appointment.

I can move your appointment somewhere else. I can take a payment. Like it's a lot to teach somebody to do everything. But when it comes down to the patient experience, like I don't have (00:21:00) to put you on hold and say, it's going to be a little bit until this person can come help you. Cause I can just help you.

Like that's, And I think it helps with team animosity. There's this whole, and maybe you're not there yet, but like, uh, in many practices I've worked in, there's this like tension between the front and the back office where it's like the front office is trying to ruin our lives by scheduling a emergency patient in this column.

And that's not where they go and blah, blah, blah. And then, um, the front desk is like, you guys are so unhelpful. You won't just like see this emergency patient. You have the time we, we, we they're dealing with the parent who's saying. This is happening. Figure it out, you know, and the back office is dealing with a totally different side of things.

But when you're cross trained in those efforts, you can see like, Oh, that's really difficult to find a place to put that person. And they didn't have a choice. Okay. Okay. I get it now. You know, so I would say continue that cross training as you grow and expand. I think that will serve you very, very well.

Janine Chinitz: Yeah, thank you. It's (00:22:00) actually really interesting because in the interviews, we've added one interesting question, which is how do you feel about teeth? We always ask that. How do you feel about teeth? Because as somebody who hasn't come from this industry and, you know, is doing well, um, I don't always look at resumes in order to hire someone, right?

Like, I'm more about how you are on the phone. If you have a drive and a great attitude, I can teach you how to do anything, but you can't really teach personality, right? You can teach. Skills. So if you have a great personality and you're super driven and you're just like, let's do it. I can teach you. But if you don't like teeth, this is a very specific industry that I'm going to need you to be okay with that.

So, you know, I did, I had to train one girl who had never done scans before. And I was like, I've also never been scanned before. So let's learn it together. I'm going to do it on you. And you're going to do it on me. And I understand I'm like the boss, but we're just going to have to get Get involved together and do it.

And so, uh, yeah, it was helpful, but, but that's a very important thing. You have to be able to like teeth a little bit to, to get in the industry. 

Lacie Ellis: It's (00:23:00) so funny you say that. And I've told this story, I think maybe once or twice on the podcast before, but I can't, I was working in a photography studio. That was my jam.

I was going to be a photographer forever. Um, and I was taking pictures of this family. She came in every, I can't remember if it's three or six months. So I got to know this mom. She had a whole, you know, I think five kids or four or five. Maybe six. Um, I lived in Utah at the time, so she had a big family.

Um, and we just got to know each other and she, one day she was like, Hey, my husband is looking for, uh, an orthodontic assistant. What do you think about that? And I was like, ew. No, I said, that is so nice of you to think of me, but I don't want to stare at people's tongues all day, which is what I thought was happening.

And, um, she's like, just go in, just go in and talk to him, just see. And I walked in just thinking I was going to just kind of wander around the office and see, and he was like, sit down. I'm going to show you how to pass an instrument. Let's do this. And I stayed there for two hours, totally fell in love. (00:24:00) He hired me on the spot.

I put my two weeks notice in, and I've been in this industry ever since. And I'm going to tell you the date now, and it's going to make me sound super old, but I've been in ortho since 99. And like, Love it. It's, it's my love language. It's like you get to help create this smile that people take with them for the rest of their lives.

What a cool job. And if you can fall in love with that and then fall in love with the teeth, you know, I think you're right. You can, you, You can see in some people that like you're just a good fit for the vibe we're trying to put together and I can teach you the rest and I will forever be grateful for that wife and for this orthodontist that gave me a chance because it's led to a lifelong career for me and I love it.

It's, it speaks everything to my love language. Yeah, 

Janine Chinitz: I can see why that woman would, you know, would ask you for that because you have that. That personality that's like up for it and you're here to make people's lives better. Right? Like that's what it's all (00:25:00) about. And people are talking about orthodontics and you know, obviously there's a lot of, of health stuff, health concerns about orthodontics that you need to do this for your health and for the longevity of your teeth and all that.

But A smile for an eight year old or a 10 year old or a 12 year old or a 14 year old who's super self conscious about how they look. It can change everything. It can change everything. And I love seeing that transition. And that's. That's where, what it's all about. So you know, it's, it's great to hear if you ever want a job in New York on how you want to swap to.

Well, thank 

Lacie Ellis: you. Thank you very much. Um, so we like to get questions or comments from our listeners and our people in practice clients about our topic. So let's listen to our first question. 

Guest Question: Hi, we're also a startup and I'm wondering what have you found to be the most effective marketing strategies for growing your patient base and visibility as a new practice?

Janine Chinitz: We've been doing this for just over two years now. And what we found actually is that the old school marketing has been the best. We have (00:26:00) yet to do any digital real marketing. I mean, we do SEO, Google stuff, but we don't really, we haven't done any like ads or any of that stuff. Um, And we're going to get there.

Like, that's always been my next thing. I've always been like, okay, I need to start the social. I need to get on this, but we just don't have time yet. Oh, hey, look at that. Look at you. Um, right. So we just, right. We need more people. And I just haven't, as I've been doing every single thing, I haven't had the focus on that yet.

Because these things, these like old school style things have been super successful. So I actually thought of, um, you know, I can think of like 5 things that have really helped us. So the first one is just the hustle, right? So it's super important to make a relationship. Really super important to make relationships.

So the doctor, when he has an hour, he has half an hour on his lunch break. He will actually grab a bag of swag from chin. It's orthodontics and drive over to a doctor. He's never met before. He'll just pop in there (00:27:00) and he'll say like, Hey, we're nearby. I'd love to get some referral cards from you. So we can refer to you and hear some from us and just chit chat about everything.

And then maybe he'll go again. Maybe he'll go to an office that have referred to us before and bring them donuts. He is so good at just going in. You know, the quote unquote, cold call style thing, and that has created so many opportunities for us. So many referrals for us. So that's really hard. And of course, you don't have time to do it, but you have to do it.

It's extremely important. The next is the schmooze. The schmooze is huge. You guys. The like, just chit chatting everybody in your life. Like you going out of your life, you're going to school with your kids. I have an amazing story, which is I was pregnant with my second kid, I think. And I went to the doctor for my whatever checkup and the doctor was talking about how, Oh, my son actually really needs orthodontics.

I literally pulled out my computer. At the, in the doctor and I made her an appointment. We didn't even open our doors yet. I was like, we're going to be open in a month. I'm making you an appointment. You're going to be our first patient. Like I'm giving you a good deal. You're going to, you know, give me my (00:28:00) baby.

I'm you good teeth. Right. So it was, and then she was a patient and she's still a patient. So, and she has other kids and she has friends. Yeah. So just like the schmooze. I also did that at the bill when I was trying to get the permit. For our building office, she was like, Oh, I need a new ortho. I was like, I took out my laptop in the city hall.

Um, so you just, you just got to schmooze it up. Um, the next thing I think would be patient referrals. Of course, our focus is patient experience. If we're doing our job, they're going to tell their friends. So that's been really helpful. Um, I think, I think a great idea is to have sort of patient rewards program, things like that for referrals.

We haven't even gotten there yet. We're hoping to do that. But, um, You know, if people are happy, they're going to tell their friends. The next would be what I say is just to get on the ground, right? Like get into your community, do those things. We have, we donated to some, um, raffles full treatments, which is kind of hard to say, like, can we give you free treatment in the first year, but those people always have kids, they always have friends, um, (00:29:00) We, you know, we sponsor the local baseball team.

Actually last Halloween, we went to the big Halloween parade and we handed out toothbrushes and we're like, eat your candy, just brush your teeth. And that was fun. Um, so just getting it in your community is huge. And the last thing I would say is, is Instagram. So it's not. It's not about like putting up ads on Instagram.

It's just showing that you're there. You don't even need to have any followers. You just need to show a little bit of your personality. Show we exist, show you having patients be like a little bit active just to say, Hey, I'm alive. And I'm here because if the kids are going to go, Um, to check you out, you want to look like you exist.

So of course, it would be fun to be a influencer, but when you're starting, you just have to look like you're there and we're active and we're nice. Um, so those are sort of the things that have really helped us get to the next level. And the next thing for us would be to do those ads and those. Contests and stuff, but we're just busy.

So we (00:30:00) haven't been able to do that yet. 

Lacie Ellis: I would say, you know, at people in practice, we do work with a lot of startups. We work with a lot of established practices and we help dial in branding and messaging and create campaigns that push that message out. A lot of it is on that digital side, but I think the one, the offices that we work with that are the most successful are the ones that marry our efforts in the digital realm with the boots on the ground marketing.

And when you have both of those, you know, it's just such a good partnership for us and, and for them. And, you know, speaking of the Instagram side, like we give our clients, uh, a content calendar. Prior to the month that we're posting and we do a certain amount of posts just to keep their feet alive. And it's, you know, about things that are industry specific.

And then we give them ideas of take this picture on this day. We even provide the copy so they can copy and paste it and put it right in. Like we make the lift really easy because as you said, like everybody's wearing so many hats in a practice that like, we just want to make this as seamless (00:31:00) and super easy for our clients as possible.

And, you know, I, I, every. Single year. There's these, all these conferences and people talking about marketing, which I love, but they'll say like, you need to have a curated feed, right? Like your Instagram feed should have the same filters and the same colors. And I'm like, no, people just want to see your face.

They want to see their friends. They want to see patients that look like you. They want to see the team having fun together and like being playful. If you can get the doctor to play along, which is sometimes tricky. Um, and then. That's even better. Uh, you know, I work for, uh, with an office in Texas and the doctor is hilarious.

She's so bright and fun, but she, I don't know that she loves to be on camera, but she plays, you know, she'll play with the team and when they can catch it, like I'm even riveted, I'm like, what's she going to do next? Like, it's just so much fun. And so like, that's. That's when I'm so happy when we can do all these things for a practice that just doesn't have time and they maybe don't hit community hard (00:32:00) and and we can help and get people in the door.

But like the ones that really get out there, like you're saying with with Dr. Chan is getting out there and like having the conversations and being willing and like. As a team member, I used to love to wear my scrubs everywhere because people ask questions when you're in scrubs and you get to be like, they're like, oh, oh, you work in the medical field and I'm like, yeah, I work for an orthodontist.

And they're like, oh my gosh, this, it never fails. They're like, this tooth did this thing. And, and I'm like, oh my gosh, that's the doctor's favorite tooth to fix. You should totally come in. Let's get you an appointment, you know? Um, so I think. If you can really dial in that ground game and then like you said, infuse it with some of the digital side, the SEO, the great website, um, people being able to fill out forms online has become really pivotal for, for practices.

So I think what you're doing is great. And I think you know, like when you're ready to go to that next level, there are things (00:33:00) that can help take you there. But I think you need to find The people that speak, you know, not every marketing agency is right for every practice either. And we say that all the time, like we might not be your cup of tea.

So it's good that we meet with our clients and we say, this is what we do and how we do it. We believe in a very holistic marketing strategy. So, um, not so much like, Fill out this form and get this discount, and then we know that you came from this form. That's an easy thing to track. That's great. But we believe that everybody does their homework.

They talk to their neighbors, they ask their friends, they ask their dentist, they go read your reviews, they check out your website, they might go to your social, and we want to touch them. In as many of those places as possible. And then when you marry that with what you're saying, where you're at the base, you've got a banner at the baseball field, or, you know, you've been at the parade, like then people you've had that extra touch point where people are like, Oh, we've met.

We've not only seen your ads, but now we've met you. And we (00:34:00) know you're good people and we're coming in. So. Sorry. That was, I get very excited about this topic. I 

Janine Chinitz: think that's great. No, I think that's so exciting. And you know, it's listening to this since I am really in the startup position, right? We're still in the first two years, like we're really startup.

So building this from nothing, like my husband and I built this from zero and everything means so much to us. We're so connected to every single piece of it. And it's very personal to us. So. The idea I'm having a hard time, which I, I have, we have a, we have a company who we don't love. So we could talk after, but yeah, we have a company that does some of our social, but I, I, the social to me is my voice, right?

The social is our voice and it's who we are. And I'm having a really, I'm having a hard time giving that up. In addition to everything else, but I am only one person. I can't be doing everything and we can't successfully run an office with me doing literally everything and also having a family and all that (00:35:00) stuff.

So, um, that's kind of my challenge right now. We're at the point where we are needing to hire help. We're needing to hire more staff, which is such a blessing. And also just hard for me to say, Hey, I have to give up the front desk and I have to give up. This and the insurance and I have to give up doing the social myself.

And, um, so that's where I'm struggling a little bit, but it's all obviously for such great things. Like these are great problems to have. So, um, you know, the startup is a, it's 

Lacie Ellis: a rollercoaster for sure. It absolutely is. And actually that leads perfectly into our next question. So let's listen to that. 

Guest Question: How do you balance family life with the demands of a new 

Janine Chinitz: business?

I am really struggling with this right now. Me too. Hashtag I am so struggling with this also. It's really hard. You know, like I said before, if, if this practice isn't. Doesn't work, you know, our family is not going to work. Right. So like everything, everything we have is here. Um, so it's really, really hard.

You know, we're married. (00:36:00) So if we want to work late, like both of the parents are not home for the kids. And we're so lucky to have great family around here and we have great help, but it's just, it's not the same. We want to see them too. It's not just about them seeing us. Right. So that's very difficult.

Um, and it's just our whole life. So, so we'll. In the very beginning, we were just saying yes, yes, yes, all the time. If a patient wanted a six o'clock consultation, we would just say yes. We'd send our stuff home and we'd stay by ourselves every single day. And at this point, we had to sort of set a boundary to say, we're only going to do that one day a week.

So we open a little late and we close a little late. Um, and, and that is part of our patient experience. Like we do struggle with doing what the patient wants versus, versus what's good for us. Um, and we're, we're still figuring that out. But. But yeah, it's hard to be a startup and have that, that balance, but we, we close up here and maybe the doctor's not done with all of his notes, but we go home, we do our family thing and we'll, we'll pick back up again after, after the kids go to bed.

Um, I think one really important thing for us has been, we, we do Friday (00:37:00) nights, no work. We have a rule boundary set Friday night. We do not talk about work. We put You know, we do the kids stuff with them to bed. And then we hang out. We don't watch TV. We hang out, like we'll play a game or we'll chit chat or we'll read next to each other.

But like, it's, it's a boundary that's been awesome. Cause you just, of course, everything comes back to work. I mean, think about how many times you talk to your spouse or your friends about your, your coworkers. It's just like a topic of conversation. We have the same coworker and we have the same life. So, um, But it's interesting because we're not always together in the office.

So there is always stuff to talk about. Um, but it's definitely a balance. We're setting the boundaries and we're, we're also just including our kids. Like our kids stop by all the time. We're telling them what we do. We go around the room and say, Hey, how was your day? What did you do? And we talk about our day too.

Um, so including them is helpful and setting boundaries is super helpful. We're learning as we go as well. But, um, you know, I always say I have five kids. I have three kids. My husband and the practice, so it's all, it's all (00:38:00) one just big blob of family. Yeah, I understand the struggles stuff. Yeah. You 

Lacie Ellis: know, like I said, having worked in the practice and being super invested in it and being very, um, heart centered with that practice.

It just meant so much to me that it did well. And it was still, you know, I mean, It was putting food on my table as well, you know, and so, and also I grew up in a family where my mom is my dad's secretary, has been my whole life. And then my husband and I owned a lawn care and snow removal business together for several years.

That is, you've done it all. Well, you know, um, but what I, the word that I've learned, and I am a, I, I am a people pleaser and I want everybody to be happy. And I'm a little bit, empathetic so I feel like I can feel if you're getting frustrated then I'm feeling like I've got to diffuse this situation quickly and I've just learned.

That it's that boundary thing. And it's not about saying no to everything. It's not about saying yes to everything. It's about having a clear (00:39:00) boundary and being like, this is what I can give to you and give my best. And that's where it's been helpful for me. And my brain is like, if, if I say yes to this and it's not giving you my best.

Then why am I doing a disservice to both of us? I'm going to be upset by the result. You're going to be upset by the result. And going back to that patient experience and patient care, like if you stay and see somebody at six o'clock and you're completely fried and you're not giving them your best and they don't see the best experience, did that benefit them more than saying we can see you tomorrow at two?

You know what I mean? So it's just about finding that balance and those boundaries and like making some clear lines in the sand and being like, yeah. Understanding that it is for the greater good, even though it feels hard to do so. I hear what you're saying, and I feel all of that, but I think I think you're on the right track.

It sounds like you're doing a good job finding those boundaries and being like, this is what works. And this is what we're going to do here. So, 

Janine Chinitz: yeah, in the beginning, we, again, we were just like, trying to get some patients in the door. If I would get calls at 6 (00:40:00) 30 or 7, I would leave the dinner table and answer them.

Go to the room and like book them right there and answer their questions right there. And, you know, my, my husband had two and now three kids to sort of deal with by himself. So, um, now I don't do that. I don't answer the phone. If I'm home, I don't answer it unless it's an emergency or it's like a patient that I recognize because it, all the calls do go to my cell phone as well.

And I patient patients love that because they'll get their emergencies and stuff, but I also always let it go to voicemail and then I'll call them back. So then I definitely learned boundaries. Boundaries, boundaries are huge. 

Lacie Ellis: Yes. So my last question is, um, that as you look to take the practice to the next level, what goals are you kind of focusing on now for next steps, next level for, for Chenitz orthodontics?

Janine Chinitz: Yeah. I mean, I think we've done A really nice job of building something and we are ready to go to that next level. I think for us, it would be creating more a little bit more structure. Um, you know, we have staff here. That's awesome. But we also (00:41:00) don't have processes exactly in place for every single thing because.

Everyone is doing everything, which is great, but we don't necessarily have a set schedule of a set column for everything and a set, you know, time that we do this in a set meeting for all of that. So I think cleaning that up will definitely get us to the next level. You know, Dr chin is also the director of clinical orthodontics at.

Toro university residency program. So he's working there two days a week. He really doesn't want to give that up and we're getting more and more patients. So learning how to grow the practice while also managing, you know, that keeping him over there because he really likes it. How can we get more patients in while also not opening more days, um, figuring that out.

And of course the marketing piece would be our next big piece. Um, But just if we stayed the way we were, I think we would still grow like our patients are really appreciating the care that we're giving them. Um, but we, we do need more help hiring more staff, getting more processes and, um, and just, and (00:42:00) just stick into the patients, you know, it's really fun.

It's great. It's great. 

Lacie Ellis: Yeah. Um, I love that. And I think from just to put, put another team member perspective spin on it, um, you know, as the, as a practice owner and as a manager. Uh, as the doctor, you have these goals for marketing and for all these things. And I think, um, just, just to bring it back to a team member perspective.

Um, my goal when I worked in the practice was that somehow I would make a positive impact on the day of every patient that sat in my chair. Like that was my goal. Ultimate goal was like, how can I make this person smile and laugh and feel good today so that when they leave here, their day was a little bit better because they sat in Lacey's chair like that was, um, as a team member.

That was my goal. So I'm putting that out there for all the other team members. Uh, maybe soak that one up because it really made my day so much more fulfilling. Um, Because you do get into the, Oh, we're changing another wire. You're changing the ties. You, (00:43:00) you know, it feels kind of monotonous sometimes. Um, and then when you can zoom out and be like, but I'm, I'm, I'm having an interaction with a person and I want to make their day better.

So I just thought I would. Share that out there. Yeah. Thank 

Janine Chinitz: you. Yes. 

Lacie Ellis: So I really hope that you enjoyed our conversation today as much as I did. Thank you so much for sharing your time and your valuable insights. Janine, this whole time, I feel like I've been kind of leaning in because I'm so excited to hear the next thing you say.

So you have to have me back on to see where we are and, you know, absolutely. We'll do a follow up, you know, I can hear SpongeBob's voice saying like one year later. Oh yeah. Perfect. Perfect. I'll be there. Awesome. So our goal with this podcast is to give you truly tangible items that you can use in your day to day life at the office and to elevate the voices of people that actually work in an office and sit in the same chair that you sit in every day.

We would love to hear from you about topic or guest recommendations, as well as questions or comments (00:44:00) about the things that you are dealing with in your practice. Please send us your anonymous. Or you don't have to be anonymous questions and stories to practice talk. com. Please subscribe and share this episode with your friends and family that might find this conversation helpful and or interesting.

And don't forget to listen to our original podcast called the golden age of orthodontics hosted by the founders of people in practice, Dr. Leon Klempner and Amy Epstein. Until next time, thank you for joining us on practice talk, where your voice has value. 

Narrator: Thank you for listening to the practice talk podcast.