Myo Life
Myo Life is a podcast for bored, burned out dental hygienists (and myofunctional therapists) who are ready to work less, earn more, have total control of their calendar, enjoy geographic freedom and most of all - make a bigger impact for their patients - while ditching the long hours, constant aches and dreaded Monday's. You will learn simple and effective strategies and tools to start and grow your profitable myofunctional therapy practice. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss a thing!
Myo Life
#33 What a Realistic Transition from Dental Hygiene to Myofunctional Therapy Looks Like
Let's Connect! Text me here or email me myotrainingacademy@gmail.com
In this episode of the Myo Life Podcast, Carmen gets real about what a realistic transition from dental hygiene to myofunctional therapy actually looks like. She shares her personal story, talks about common pitfalls, and outlines what it really takes to go from burnt out to booked out — without quitting your hygiene job too soon.
"Is It Time To Ditch Hygiene?" is a self assessment workbook to help you get honest about where you are, see what's actually possible in a career you’ll love and to help you decide what comes next!
Hey, I'm Carmen and welcome to Mayo Life. That's short for my outrageous life, which is exactly the kind of life I get to live since I found the courage to ditch dental hygiene and build a life I'm bonkers about as a Mayo functional therapist and entrepreneur. Here you will find all the things Mayo business and how to build a life that you, too, are bonkers about. I'm very happy you're here. Shall we dive in Well, hello, friend, and welcome back to the Mayo Life Podcast. I'm very glad you're here. We have a great topic today and we are going to be talking about what does a realistic transition from dental hygiene to myofunctional therapy actually look like? Spoiler alert, it's not magic, my friend. It's not magic Just because you hang your little. I'm open for business sign out and change your email signature to declare yourself a myofunctional therapist.
Speaker 1:This does not mean that the field of dreams music is going to start playing and that clients are going to come running. Does a farmer plant his corn today and have cornbread tomorrow? You have to ask yourself that because no, no, he does not. He plants the seed and he waits and he waters and he waits and he waters and he watches it grow and he waters it some more. This is one of the biggest myths that I see and where so many well-meaning students get stuck. They think, just because they took a course, that there should be people. Okay, but businesses do not grow on good intentions. But businesses do not grow on good intentions. Businesses grow on implementation, on applying the knowledge, on doing the uncomfortable thing, on doing the unsexy thing, on doing the repetitive things that actually build momentum. Now, can it be simple? Sure, yeah, it can, but simple doesn't mean effortless. So let me tell you this Once you have what I call the myofoundations down okay, once you have those down, once you know what myofunctional therapy is, once you know what myofunctional or oral, facial myofunctional disorders are, what they look like, how to explain them and how to confidently talk about things like tongue ties, airway-focused orthodontics, mouth breathing, sleep disorder, breathing Once you have really those meat and potatoes tackled, then it's time to start having conversations.
Speaker 1:And this is where I lose a few of you, because if you're like a lot of dental hygienists that I meet, myself included, you have got perfectionism in your DNA. You want to know it all before you open your mouth. Okay, here's the truth, my friend. You don't need to know everything to start, you need to start to know anything. Let me say that again for the kid in the back you don't need to know everything to start, you need to start to know anything. You've heard me say it before you can't steer a parked car and you cannot build a business, and you won't build a business if you are stuck in study mode forever.
Speaker 1:Inside my programs I teach, I preach, I say this over and over you have to go ugly early. You have to take ugly imperfect action. You have to stop waiting to be ready. You have to do it anyhow. My business mentor calls it gag and go. You got to gag and go. You have to still. You got to do it. You have to do it, even scared, even with the sweaty armpits. That's important.
Speaker 1:When I talk about showing up and serving, you're not selling. So many of you guys are worried about that. You're helping, you're educating, you're meeting people with your huge caregiver's heart and you're saying, hey, I can help you. They're raising their hand and saying, hey, I have a problem and you say, hey, I have a solution, I can help you. That is it. That is the whole game. So I'm going to walk you through my transition. You might've heard this before, so I'll try and make it short.
Speaker 1:I took my training from like January till April. I had my first paying client in May, two months later. I cut back to part-time hygiene in July and then I officially retired from hygiene in August of the following year, and then I officially retired from hygiene in August of the following year. So 13 months later. Now, full transparency. I didn't retire just because I was rolling in dollar bills Okay, we moved. So I didn't have a choice. I had to leave my job either way. But I honestly did not know if I would have to pick up a 204 SD again Okay, I didn't know if I would have to pick up a 204 SD again. Okay, I didn't know if I would have to ever pick up a probe again. But here's what happened. I kept showing up. I kept doing the unsexy things, I kept doing the things that made my pit sweaty. I kept doing the things that scared me. And guess what? Business kept coming in. Business kept coming in, money kept coming in, and I haven't had to pick up a scaler since. That year was my first full year in business. It was also the first year that I made six figures, and every year after that, multiple six figures.
Speaker 1:So, as we're talking about realistic stuff, is this going to be everybody's timeline? No, no, it's not. Is it possible? Absolutely. But the thing that I have learned is success. It's not about how long it takes. It's about if you're doing what you say you want and if you're doing what you say that you, and if you're doing what you say that you're going to do. Because, let me tell you, I have had students follow my program like a robot, step by step, no skipping, no excuses, and they retire from hygiene and they are working full time as myofunctional therapists. And then I've had other students who take the same program and they do nothing except spin in fear, make excuses and wear their busy badge like a participation trophy. Okay, now I also want to say this with love, but I have to say it because it is truth you are not entitled to success, you have to earn it, and that doesn't come with more certifications, that doesn't come with another notebook full of notes. That comes with action. So, going back to doing those unsexy things, doing the repetitive things showing up, yeah, you can see where that is simple, right. The thing is is you have to do it. So let's talk about that realistic transition.
Speaker 1:What I coach on most often is that you build your business in the margins of your life. Okay, so that, basically, is your free time. So the first thing you have to do is you have to start by finding your freedom number. This is the smallest amount of money that you need to live on so that you can work less hygiene and create some white space on your calendar. Because here's the deal If you're working five or six days a week in hygiene, you're going to be exhausted, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. You're going to be too depleted to show up for your business. Something has to give. So maybe you downsize your lifestyle, maybe you stop getting the perfect manicures or pedicures, maybe you trade your SUV for a jalopy Okay, I laugh, but it's true Maybe you color your own hair, or you get rid of that unlimited cell phone plan, or maybe you quit buying iPhones with payment plans because you can't afford it, or maybe you quit spending $7 on that stupid coffee every morning.
Speaker 1:There are possibilities for you to save money so that you can work less hygiene. They're endless. And it's not forever, my friend, it's just for now, because, remember, this isn't your forever income. It's your bridge. It's the bridge that's going to get you out of the operatory and into a business that gives you life, a life that you're bonkers about. It gives you freedom. It gives you more money. It gives you such control over your life. Okay, so your schedule might start with working hygiene four days a week and running your myofunctional therapy business on Fridays, and then, as your client load grows, you cut one day of hygiene and then another. It's not a jump off of a cliff, it's a slow fade. It's a slow transition, okay.
Speaker 1:Another thing if you took a course that was like drinking from a fire hose and you're completely overwhelmed and you still don't know what to do, then it's okay to take another program. That doesn't mean you failed. It just means that you're committed enough to get it right. And I have several students inside the Ditch Hygiene Academy that took somebody else's course and they just couldn't get it figured out. So, um, so that it doesn't mean that you failed. That is one of the reasons that I built the program the way that I did is so that you have that step-by-step implementation, focused work, because you have to be able to implement, okay, you have to be able to take the knowledge that you have. Just because you have that basic foundation, just because you can talk about tongue ties, you have to be able to put that to use. So, all right.
Speaker 1:So what is this going to look like for you? This is going to look like you prioritizing time. Okay, this is how you will transition from hygiene into myofunctional therapy. You're going to prioritize your time. You're going to get honest about money. You're going to do what you can today and get started and show up and do it, even when it's messy. You're going to gag and go. Thanks, olivia, for that.
Speaker 1:When I started, I just never wanted to wear scrubs again. That was it. I wasn't chasing six figures, I wasn't chasing any. I wasn't chasing the money. I just didn't want to wear scrubs. I was chasing freedom. And if that's you, then you are in the absolute right place. So that's kind of a little bit of a pep talk.
Speaker 1:Also, I think it's important to just really talk about realistically what a transition out of hygiene looks like. It's a little bit of gas, it's a little bit of break. It's just moving forward. I don't care if you're at the pace of a jackrabbit or the pace of a snail, you're both going forward. What really is going to play into that is the pay. You know how fast you want to go and how uncomfortable you're willing to be, and how, uh how much you want to fight for your limitations, or how much you want to make excuses, or how willing you are to do the repetitive, unsexy stuff that just grows your business. So lots to think about, my friend, but that's all I have for you today. So I'm going to let you go and until next time, go build a life that you were bonkers about, and I will be back so very soon with more myofunctional business goodness.