We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Joyce Kahng a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Joyce, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?

I purchased a smaller established practice in 2014. At the time, I had no business experience, only a few years of associateship under my belt.

The biggest shift I had to make upon starting my own practice was surprisingly to build my confidence. I had felt so confident in the whole process of purchasing, but when it came time to running the practice I realized I didn’t know anything. I was taught in school and culturally to lean on clinical excellence. My skills as a dentist would bring patients in the door. I had done well as an associate, but somehow when I opened my doors the patients did not come flooding in.

What I discovered was that I did not know how to promote myself as a business owner. I didn’t know how to help patients find me. I knew I was a great dentist. I had done years of dentistry in Manhattan and I knew patients liked me once they sat in my chair, but I had a hard time getting the new patient flow going. I also felt like the patient base I had inherited weren’t receptive to me as a young, asian, and female dentist. It really knocked my sense of self confidence as I tried to regain my footing as a new practice owner.

I started my Instagram journey in 2018, with no expectations. This was in the very beginnings of Instagram for healthcare providers. It was on Instagram I found my voice. I was able to showcase myself for who I was and reach thousands of potential patients for free. Today, Instagram is one of my top sources of new patients.

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?

My name is Dr. Joyce Kahng, and I am a Cosmetic and Restorative Dentist in the Orange County area. I am the owner of Orange + Magnolia Dental Studio, a boutique styled private practice.

Most of our patients find us through my Instagram page @joycethdentist. I think what sets us apart is that I am in full command of my social presence so the people who follow me and eventually become patients get to know me first hand as a person. They know my occupation and initially follow me for dental tips, but in the process they get to know what I provide in the absence of dentistry: trust, relatability, and quality. My page also has a large focus on beauty, one of my personal interests and this goes hand in hand with my love for cosmetic dentistry.

I think what sets my Instagram apart is my ability to explain and teach dentistry in a fun and entertaining format for the masses. I taught at a dental school as a professor for 5 years and when I left, I redirected that energy into promoting dentistry for the general public. Little did I know when I started Instagram, but I am a creative person. Matched with my credentials, it provides people a verified source of information that is based on science.

One thing I think sets my practice apart is trying new things that make patients lives easier. I was one of the first dentists in the OC area to offer virtual veneer consultations for potential patients free of charge to them. When I first started this, a lot of my colleagues thought I was wasting my time. However, it has been a game changer for my practice. It was a great way to leverage my social presence and provide people a transparent way to find out how much a smile transformation would cost and what I would recommend for their smile. It takes patients a lot of courage to make a big step and start inquiring into something that has been effecting their self confidence, so I wanted to make that first step less daunting by letting them do it from the comfort of their home. From a business perspective it has also been great. Not only does it feed into my business and showcase my work without being pushy, it frees up my chair time from consultations so that I could do other procedures instead.

Virtual consultations have allowed me to slow down and focus on larger smile transformation cases. These cases are truly what inspires me and fulfills me as a dentist because they can be so impactful for a patient. Slowing down to focus on these cases, rather than seeing a volume of patients has also been a long-term goal of mine. I work out of a small, 2 chair practice as the owner and I only practice 3 days a week. The other 2 days I work at home on social media and take care of my son. I know I am leaving money on the table with my business by working less, but spending time with my family and being there for my kids is a priority for me. I believe people on social media are able to see that and respect the way I run my business as a mommy dentist.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Honestly, managing people is not one of my stronger attributes as a leader and it is something I work on daily. I do not actually enjoy this aspect of being a business owner and I think that is okay to admit. So while I do not think I am an expert at this, I do believe my employees are pretty happy at my practice and they have been with me for years.

The hardest part of the process is meeting the right person for the job and identifying that they are the right fit. There were times I hired dental assistants out of desperation hoping they would be the right fit, even when they clearly weren’t. Meanwhile, time is of the essence and how long can you wait out on hiring? When will the right fit come along? It took me a long time to find my current dental assistant and she did not do well during the interview because she was so nervous! I hired her and trained her, and she has been the best thing for my practice. I used to pride myself on being able to read people well, but I’ve learned that maybe I’m not as good at it as I thought.

One of my downfalls as a dentist is that I am extremely detail oriented and picky. For the first 2-3 years of my career, I could not retain employees because I would micromanage them. I’ve realized that if I feel I have to micromanage an employee, they are probably not the right fit for my office. With my current staff, I am able to give them a lot of freedoms. They know their role, I trust them, and most importantly, they are good conscientious people. Even with this, there are times I get frustrated and I worked on myself to not lash out on others because things were not done to my level of expectation. One shift I’ve had as a practice owner from when I first started to now that has helped is truly appreciating my employees. I used to think they worked for me, and I demanded. These days I feel so darn lucky to have such great people.

Maintaining high morale can be tough sometimes but I think there are a few components to this, one of which is doing good fair work for patients. When patients love the office, the employees take pride in being there as well. I also try to pay my employees to the best of my ability instead of trying to lowball them. I think this is something I’ve learned the hard way. Employees are my biggest overhead but they also need to live, feel appreciated, and be rewarded for their loyalty. Lastly I think the office should have a culture of kindness and that starts from me. It has been a work in progress but even things like dismissing patients who treat a team member unkindly is setting a precedent for the behavior I expect from everyone.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Definitely social media. I share a lot of evidence based dental tips, and while some may think I’m “giving away the info for free” I just don’t see it like that. Giving without expectation is a great way to live but also people are drawn to providers who have a passion for education and sharing.

Contact Info:

• Website: omdentalstudio.com
• Instagram: @joycethedentist
• Youtube: @joycethedentist
• Other: Tiktok: @joycethedentist