We recently connected with Jeffrey Goodman and have shared our conversation below.

Jeffrey , appreciate you joining us today. Setting up an independent practice is a daunting endeavor. Can you talk to us about what it was like for you – what were some of the main steps, challenges, etc.

I have been a private practice dentist for over 10 years. I was lucky enough to go into practice with my father and older brother. We expanded our practices over the years by acquiring 3 more dental practices and opening a 2nd location. We pride ourselves on offering specialty care under one roof (from cleanings and fillings to dental implants and crowns) to make your visits as convenient and frictionless as possible. Managing a large team with 2 locations from doctors, hygienists, assistants, and front desk team members requires a positive team culture and good systems. It all starts with our mission vision and core values and we utilize checklists and simple systems to ensure everyone has a calm, clean, patient experience to help them chew and smile with confidence. Being a pillar in the community and seeing our practices grow and the kind words patients tell us in person, online, and referring their friends and family makes our day.

My passion for simple systems and repeatable habits in my offices also translates into my personal life. I am very into health and wellness. I find I am at my best when I workout each day, prioritize healthy eating, and get proper sleep and recovery. I use checklists and reminders to stay consistent and intentional especially when motivations wane. I am a big believer that simple habits and consistent routines actually creates time for you to do the things that give you energy, joy and purpose.

So I started Spruce Street Athletic Club, a lifestyle brand focused on helping people form simple habits and consistent routines in effortless style. I offer accessories to help prime your environment for easy habit execution like a daily routine checklist and drinking glass to cue your morning hydration. I also make comfortable athleisure apparel in core colors to look good feel good and avoid decision fatigue. My vision is to help you become the most confident calm consistent version of yourself by applying the systems I used for my successful dental practices and my passion for product design, clothing, health, and wellness. Hopefeully I can show what has been successful for me personally and professionally and help the the Spruce Street community form good habits to create time for their energy, joy, and purpose.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have always been habit based and health concious, I find I am at my best self when I wakeup early and have a calm morning routine. It always starts with making my bed to get a small win, hydration and a workout. Some version of exercise is my form of meditation. It helps me internally have a clear head to start my day and externally makes me feel and look good. I have met and interacted with some very interesting people in the health wellness space and found myself gravitating towards wanting to be part of that world in some respect outside of my dental practices. My passion for simple habits and fashion led me to create Spruce Street Athletic Club to help people get 1% Better Every day and form a like minded community.

What separates myself from other apparel and accessory brands is each product is designed to specifically help you simplify your day. Our daily checklist notepad system helps you dial in your morning routine, game plan your day, and devise a night time ritual. Our aligned accessories like supplement organizers, tote bags, and water bottles help you prime your environment to make habit execution simple and easy. Our athleisure apparel like hats, hoodies, and tees helps you look good feel good and avoid decision fatigue. Most everyone has enough “stuff” and I am a big fan of a clutter free minimalism lifestyle so my products are made to be core pieces that are practical, versatile, functional, and stylish.

By embracing an ownership mindset and controlling what you can control (what time you get up, what foods you eat) and not worrying about what you can’t control (weather, traffic, people) your days start off with more focus, clarity and calm momentum. One of my taglines is Curate the Day Collect the Wins and I hope to help people achieve that with the support of our Spruce Street products.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When covid hit in 2020 for the world and our dental practices it was incredibly stressful. Closing down our 2 practices and not being able to help our team and patients was extremely traumatic. Also being thrown out of my daily routine each day and focusing on areas out of my control was a wakeup call. My sleep was awful, mindset negaitve, eating habits waned, and exercise was sporadic. I felt sluggish had brain fog and was constantly fatigued. Not having my business to run and no set schedule each day proved challenging. Once the world started recovering and our practices reopened I slowly got back to my daily habits and routines. That is when I started using checklists personally more, eating healthier, and being a better leader for my team. It was a catalyzing moment where the uncertainty of Covid combined with wanting to maximize my passions led me to start Spruce Street Athletic Club. There is never a perfect time to launch a business so with several months of research, development, design, and plan I launched late November 2022 and it is evolving daily a little over a year in. Balancing both businesses has been stressful at times but persuing a passion of mine and growing our dental practices to an all time high has been very rewarding.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Having a large dental team requires solid leadership skills, effective communicaton, active listening, and empathy. It starts with a mission vision core values and a team culture that is always striving to get 1% better.

A few of my foundational principles that I think keeps team morale high are:

1) Having a clear mission and vision on what winning looks like as a team to help our patients with their oral healthcare.

2) Having clearly defined roles/job duties and re-inforcing that every position on the team matters to ensure a great patient experience

3) Celebrating the wins each day with each other to show gratitude and highlight how we affect the lives of our patients in a positive way.

4) Holding myself and each other accountable in a professional growth minded daily atmosphere.

5) Refining systems and workflow habits to maximize simplicity efficiency and consistency as a team.

6) Putting the right team members in the right seats, developing trust, and delegating.

7) Having clear KPIs (key performance indicators) and North Star goals and rely on the systems and teamwork that helps drive us towards these goals

8) Having patience with each other, our patients, and ourselves

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sprucestreetathletic club.com    Dental Offices: penningtondentalcenter.com, ewingdental.com
• Dental Offices: penningtondentalcenter.com, ewingdental.com
• Instagram:@sprucestreetathleticclub.com
• Facebook:Spruce Street Athletic Club
• Youtube: Dr. Jeff

Image Credits