Good Neighbor Podcast: Cooper City
Bringing Together Local Businesses & Neighbors of Cooper City
Good Neighbor Podcast: Cooper City
EP #279: Dr. Rosario Streett with Jonari Dental
What happens when a chance encounter with a dental student transforms your entire life's trajectory? Dr. Rosario Streett shares her inspiring journey from Lima, Peru to becoming a pivotal community dentist in Cooper City. Her story is a testament to the power of stepping out of one's comfort zone and embracing challenges to pursue a dream. With a focus on patient-centered care, Dr. Street has not only built a thriving practice at Jonari Dental but also a welcoming haven where crafts meet dentistry, especially for the underserved senior community.
Join us as we explore the transformative insights Dr. Streett offers about overcoming the hurdles of moving to a new country and transitioning her dental practice to the U.S. She passionately talks about her commitment to making dental care accessible to all, regardless of age or income, and the importance of giving back to the community. Through special offers and events, Dr. Streett is not only providing essential treatments but also fostering a sense of inclusivity and accessibility within Cooper City. This episode promises to leave you inspired by her dedication to making a difference and the joy she finds in her work.
Call: (754) 296-3800
Visit: https://www.jonaridental.com/
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Jeremy Wolf.
Speaker 2:Hi there, everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast. I am your host, jeremy Wolf, and today I'd like to welcome to the show a lovely lady I've met a couple of times through the Chamber of Commerce. She is relatively new to our wonderful community. I'm here today with Dr Rosario Street, with Jonari Dental of Cooper City, dr Street. Thanks for joining us, hello.
Speaker 3:Jeremy, thank you for the invitation. I'm more than happy to be part of the whole community and try to provide the service everybody's looking for, so I'm happy to be here too.
Speaker 2:Well, we are certainly happy to have you. Anytime I see a new business that opens in our community, I always like to reach out and give them an invite to come on the show to talk a little bit about what they do. So, with that being said, obviously everybody knows what a dentist does. It seems they're on every corner. Nowadays. There's dentists popping up all over the place. Knows what a dentist does? It seems they're. They're on every corner. Nowadays there's dentists popping up all over the place to talk a little bit about jonari dental, what you guys do there and kind of what separates your practice from the other dentists that are out there uh, we are general practice dentistry of that dissolving general dentist office, but we are really, really focused on cosmetic treatments.
Speaker 3:But as well, we provide some dental care to senior communities as well. That's something that I've seen, that there is no more the private care for seniors, and that's one of the reasons I opened my practice close to Montero Commons, because it's a big community, a big new community for Vancouver City. That was one of the purposes, you know. But we also do a lot of cosmetics. That's basically our practice.
Speaker 2:And when did you officially open?
Speaker 3:We opened January the 2nd. We really started you know that was the whole administrative part and then February we really started seeing patients how we used to do it, like any other office, you know Okay.
Speaker 2:In the year 2024. So wrapping up your first year in business. So what are your thoughts so far? Being in the community now for almost a year? What do you think of our lovely community here in Cooper City?
Speaker 3:People are really nice, they're really welcoming. I mean, a lot of people mentioned that they were looking for a practice that cares a lot about the patient and helps them.
Speaker 3:You know, because I can't it's not because of my practice but I can really tell you that we really care about the patient finances, about the patient finances and we try to accommodate the treatment as their needs, but as well as their financial uh situation. You know everybody's different so we really help patients on that matter and they're really staying. I have a uh patients that are coming back for their recalls and I'm happy for that. You know. That brings me joy that the business is working how I expect. That brings me joy that the business is working how I expect.
Speaker 2:So I always like to ask I think it's interesting to find out how people arrived in their career and their career choice. I know some traced the roots back to when they were young. They had some kind of inspiration happen when they were a child. Some find their path along the way. I know for me, when I was a kid, way back when I was not overly fond along the way. I know for me, when I was a kid, way back when I was not overly fond of the dentist, I found myself going there quite frequently. I had a lot of fillings in my mouth and there was a lot of I like to use the word trepidation around dental visits For you. How did you find your passion for dentistry? Is this something that actually goes back to you Like? Did you have a different experience with me? Did you want to be a dentist since you were young? Did you find that along the way you?
Speaker 3:know what's so funny. I have a video on my Instagram that anybody can see. When you go to Junari Dental Instagram, you can see that video. How I started, but I'm going to recall it here.
Speaker 3:I wanted to be an MD Because in my family there are a lot of doctors and it happened to be that my sister had a boyfriend back then that she's a doctor. She was in a medical school and the boyfriend was in dental school. I was a teenager, you know. I really wanted something medical and then I saw him. But he'm a very crafty person. I love doing crafts since I was little and I saw him playing with all these waxes and doing all these forms of teeth and how cool was that career, you know. And I started checking into it and I'm like, okay, I really like it. It's like that's what I wanted because I'm as I wanted because I'm a person goes with a medical school, might be not applying all these stuff, um abilities, but in my career I can tell you that when they say that the doctor, that is a doctor and also engineer, an architect, that's 100 real. That's basically my very beginning. I was 15, 16 years old when I was I just finally decided what I wanted to be now were you.
Speaker 2:Where are you from originally? I'm from are you really? My wife is from peru. Where are you from, lima? Yes, from lima when did you come to the us?
Speaker 3:well, I happened to met my husband when I came to a conversation course here in the US, and he's American, I'm like. We finally did all the paperwork and moved to the US. And here I am, after so many tests and wars, and going back to university. Yes, I got my license back in the US. I'm practicing, yes, almost 10 years here in the US.
Speaker 2:Very, very cool.
Speaker 3:Well, it's always nice, from where I sit, to run into another Peruvian Practicing. Yes, almost 10 years here in the US, very, very cool Practicing as a Venezuelan.
Speaker 2:Well, it's always nice, from where I sit, to run into another Peruvian, because I have so much in common with that having been married to a lovely Peruvian lady for the last what? 14 years now? Wow, good stuff. So I wanted to ask you what are some of the things? What are some of the most common things? One of the reasons we do this show is to educate the community, right? People have a lot of misconceptions, a lot of misunderstandings about various industries. What are some of the common questions you get from your patients? Or I guess you know misconceptions that people typically have surrounding the dentistry industry.
Speaker 3:Misconceptions is like you go. It's very common in the Latin community, hispanic community. I didn't see much in Americans. Americans is not bad, but it's that they go to the dentist just when it hurts and that's super wrong, like I always tell my patients. I mean I'm proud to say that my patients change their point of view on dentistry when I tell them this. It's a lot cheaper for you, you see, in a point of view, money wise. You know, if you want to learn this for prevention, they're really for going for treatment. I mean, whether it can be just a simple filling to do, a few years later it's going to turn into a root canal or maybe an implant that goes for an extraction. So prevention is the key. It's a misconception that patients don't really realize how important it is to your mouth. You know it's the mouth that first enters into your body. So whatever is going on in your mouth, you want to swallow it. So that's why it's so important to take care of your mouth.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's definitely a huge connection. The mouth is the gateway to the rest of the body, so there's this connection between oral health and the rest of your overall health. And what's the saying? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. So important to make sure you're going in to get regular checkups and just the daily things also that you could do right, like brushing your teeth.
Speaker 3:We do. I like to go to my patients. We do like 70% of the cleaning year, but the all in third is all on you. You know what I mean. I'm proud to say that we already have a hand game a few days on a week because we have patients coming back for their pre-call appointments. So I'm happy because they get the message of coming to program, coming to keep your teeth clean, your gums in good conditions and so on, in order to not get worse. You know, go back to zero when you came the first appointment. So that's pretty cool.
Speaker 2:So anytime someone opens a new business, it always comes with a whole bunch of challenges and then a whole bunch of rewards. Looking back to the beginning of the year leading up to opening here, jonari Dental, what would you say were some of the biggest challenges that you faced in launching this business? And now, having been going at it close to a year, what are some of the biggest rewards you're experiencing?
Speaker 3:A big challenge is trying to get all your employees and people that you know are around you on the same path, because you create a business, you create a mind on them, you create goals for them, so everybody has to follow those paths in order to succeed.
Speaker 3:Most rewarding thing is like, after almost a year, we see the level of commitment of my employees for the practice to make a growth, because at the end it's not just a job, it's something that we create a link together and eventually, hopefully, we're going to grow and go to some other cities. You know that's the target. So to bring the quality of care that we provide to Cooper City. That it was something that I always liked to have an office here. To be honest, I looked for this spot. I waited for this spot like three years, three years. It here. To be honest, I look for this spot and waited for this for like three years, three years. It needs to be here. Yeah, when I saw it, it was just a whole green land with cows there. I'm like my office.
Speaker 3:I went like a very very far back when I I saw my office here, somewhere that I'm happy to to be here. I'm to bring everything you know, or I'm making my dreams come true and goals for the community as well.
Speaker 2:The name Jonari Dental. Talk a little bit about that. Where does that name come from?
Speaker 3:Yes, I mean, like any mother, you know, the most important part in our life is our kids, I think. So, whatever we do, when you have kids, it's like going through there, and I wanted to put that on my business without really showing the full name. So it's a mix of my son and my daughter's name. My son is John and my daughter is Ariella, so we tried to mix it and make it look nice, you know. So I come up with a very nice, cute name and like, yeah, good work.
Speaker 2:I love it. It's got a good ring to it. I love the story behind it. It's just that's the first thing. When I heard the name, I thought it was maybe your last name but.
Speaker 3:Yeah, everyone was like you're Dr Gennady. No, but you're the owner. What's your last name? Yeah, I have a lot of explanations. I didn't post to Instagram for.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's good stuff. So, and you just you said it family is everything, so, so important.
Speaker 3:How old are your kids? My daughter is 11. My son is seven years old.
Speaker 2:Ah, you are right. Behind me I have a 12-year-old daughter who's in second year of Pioneer Middle School, and then I have a 10-year-old son who's in his last year at Griffin Elementary.
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah, we're really coming close.
Speaker 2:You're right on my heels.
Speaker 3:Oh, yes, right.
Speaker 2:Now do you live here locally? Where do you live? I live in Hollywood Hills. Okay, yes, Right, Exciting. Now do you live here?
Speaker 3:locally. Where do you live? I live in Hollywood Hills. Okay, yes, I live in Hollywood Hills. If not that far, it's just five minutes drive from here, no, right down the road I went to Hollywood Hills.
Speaker 2:High School Really.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the Hills is between Turnbike and I-95. There's a small community there in Hollywood. It's nice. I love it. It's really familiar indeed. I live in Miami and I moved to Hollywood because Miami was crazy. I don't really care at all Moving out here.
Speaker 2:What do you guys like to do for fun when you're not working? What do you like to do with the kids?
Speaker 3:Yeah, we like to go outdoors. We try to go outdoors as much as we can like go to the park, go to small trips around, you know. But being in the business as an owner now is less time.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 3:So, but that's okay, we really take a trip on summer, you know, for a couple of weeks, and then you know we can stop, like any other family so nice.
Speaker 2:So my daughter, uh, she's 12 now, like I said, uh, she, I, she doesn't really want to do anything with dad anymore. If she asks for, if she has to go with me somewhere, it's usually for me to take her to her friends or take her to the mall or the movies. Yeah, but she's still a sweetheart, she's still my, my little girl, good stuff. So what would be? Well, I guess, looking back through your, through your journey, through your life, oftentimes we are defined by our most trying experiences, more so than than our rewarding experiences. Is there something that comes to mind, that a challenge you faced, something you struggled with tremendously, where, at the time you were going through it, you thought that it was the end right. You couldn't get through to the other side, it seemed like there was no hope, but you got through that moment and then now, looking back on that, you could say that you draw inspiration from that or you're stronger for having experienced that. So something that comes to mind there?
Speaker 3:oh well, I mean I have so many experiences in us. I mean I mean talking about this country, you know that to be it's my very first job in this country was really odd, was really weird. It was basing tables, I remember. But then I saw I mean it might sound like very, very I mean common to what you hear at immigrant talking about it that this is the country where you can make all your dreams come true if you want it. You know is a country where you can make all your dreams come true if you want it, if you work hard, if you study. It's not easy, for sure, 100%. I can tell you on my side that all those struggles, all those not sad moments, hard times in your life, may you achieve what you're really looking for. If you have a goal, if you have a mindset to get there, you will make it happen. The universe is going to grow and make it happen.
Speaker 2:Yep, that's one of the things I've been working on tremendously. I'm 44 now, so pretty much ever since I hit 40, I've started trying to be comfortable, being uncomfortable, uncomfortable. I've been trying to lean into situations where I feel wildly uncomfortable and not hide from that and just try to kind of put everything out there. And it's had incredible implications on my mindset and the person that I'm becoming. I look at myself 10, 15 years ago and the type of person I was compared to now. I mean I've come such a long way and it goes back to, I really think, all the struggles and the challenges that I faced and all the, all those moments where I wanted to stop and I didn't want to move forward and I kept pushing through it, and those are the things that really kind of shifted me into who I am now. So it's always interesting to look back at the challenges. The rewards are great as well, but I think the struggles that we face have a bigger impact on us long-term.
Speaker 3:looking back, yeah, for sure. I mean I always said like there's no hard time, it's like a lesson. You know, you got to learn from there and see the positive side. It will be always like few here and there, like that moment I'm gonna say I mean I regret what I did, but you learned something. So I'm like what you mentioned is super right.
Speaker 3:I mean I was working as an associate, to be honest, for seven years. I would want to have my office, but I mean all those um deals didn't work for whatever reason. But I think it was meant to be for me to be here and I'm telling you I was doing well. People tell me are you crazy? Why are you opening your own office? You know, if a daughter blogs, you know. But I'm like I never leave my life in a comfort zone. I never. That's why I'm here, otherwise I'd be happy living in Peru. You know what I'm here Otherwise be happy living in Peru as a kid, you know, doing well. But I mean I think comfort is not good in any way. You know, you might enjoy it at some point, but, yes, experiencing uncomfortable and it's also a well-making growth as a human being and that's always trying to teach that to my kids, you know, trying to get out of your bubble, yeah.
Speaker 2:So who? Who grows in their comfort zone? Right, growth, growth, growth comes off the heels of discomfort, and so, before we wrap up here, what would be, I guess, the one thing that you'd like to leave our listeners with about January dental? What would be the one thing?
Speaker 3:I always say to my patients and I always put on the videos um, for us there is nobody that is no, no, good enough, not young enough, not wealthy enough to be treated here. We take pride of like wealthy enough to be treated here. We take pride in like everybody can have the smile they wanted. There is no limitations on age, on income. If you're really looking forward to doing it, we will make it happen. And I have several patients to show that they were denying having a smile back, for whatever reasons, in other offices. They decided to make it here and we made it work. So I'm more than happy to help the community of Cooper City and achieve the smart that they're looking for and give that treatment that they deserve. You know.
Speaker 2:Love it, love it. How can our listeners learn more? What's the best way to connect with you guys? Maybe share your website, your phone number. How can we get a hold of you?
Speaker 3:Yeah, my website is wwwyonaridentalcom. You can go on my Instagram as well. That is Yonari Dental and our phone number is 754-296-3800. And just to keep you posted, for October we have a new patients in october. They, all of them, if they do any treatment like simple cleaning, even, um, they're going to get a gift card from public's first watch for target, we have a spin wheel, and then november, the first we're going to raffle um royal caribbean cruise to bahamas royal Royal Caribbean cruise I like it For all the new patients. Yes.
Speaker 2:Very cool.
Speaker 3:The community is nice to me. I'm trying to give away some things. I'm more than happy to help. It's just working.
Speaker 2:you know I want to help them to really go out and do what they're looking for. All right, very cool, and we'll, of course, we'll drop a link down in the description to all of your contact information so for anyone, you hear that everyone out there there's some good giveaways over at a January dental. Go and go get a checkup, go get a visit, go meet Dr Street so happy to have you in the community. Thanks so much for coming on the show, dr Street.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you're very welcome. Thank you for the invitation, Jeremy. I'm more than happy to be here and looking forward to be here again sometime soon.
Speaker 2:All right Sounds good, and thanks, as always, to our listeners for tuning in and we will catch everyone next time on the next episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast. Everyone, take care and have a wonderful day.
Speaker 1:Bye. Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Cooper City. To nominate your favorite local business to be featured on the show, go to GNPCoopercitycom. That's GNPCoopercitycom, or call 954-231-3170.