Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Maria Sokolina. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Maria, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.
As I think back about my childhood, one story stands out , giving the main essence of resilience, perseverance, and the unpredictable nature of entrepreneurship – my childhood journey put together by my mom.
From a young age, my mother envisioned a future for me. “You have to be beautiful and play piano”. Her dream job for me was to play piano in a daycare center. She said: “This job will give you independence” . The fact that I did not have a musical ear did not stop her, “You just have to work hard” and I was attending the music school for 8 years.
She was also determined for me to have perfect teeth alignment, particularly because she didn’t like my prominent lower jaw, a trait inherited from my grandmother.
My childhood was in the 70’s in the Soviet Union and dental journeys resemble Stone age techniques. It was very primitive from one point of view but I did not know at that time that I would use that knowledge in my dental career. I remember the sensation of plaster from mushy paste becoming a monolith in my mouth. I was scared I would turn into a statue with each passing moment. But the dentist chiseled away the stone from my mouth and crafted a device to realign my jaw.
Alongside the orthodontic apparatus, another treatment strategy was brought to life – the surgeon released my tongue tie. That part was important to help develop muscles of my tongue. This way my tongue could support the growth of my upper jaw. At the age of four, seated on my father’s desk, I was doing myofunctional exercises to strengthen my tongue to keep it on a roof of the mouth, learned to breath through my nose day and night, keep lips together and swallow only with a tongue without help of lips and cheeks. That barbaric journey with exercises and orthodontic retainer lasted for 10 years.
Year after year, as the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve, I eagerly wished for the journey’s end, that I would wake up beautiful enough for my mom. . Yet, despite the passage of time, the desired results remained elusive.
Little did I know, despite the discomfort and uncertainty, seeds of resilience and determination were sown. As I got to the pivotal moment to choose my career path, dentistry emerged as a natural choice. I had a passion for helping others, being creative and I assumed that I would be able to exercise my entrepreneurial spirit.
Reflecting on this journey, I took invaluable lessons.
I discovered that tough challenges in life can shape who we are and make us stronger
Every experience, whether pleasant or painful, enriches the bank of our knowledge, equipping us for the journey ahead.
My parents, with their commitment to my orthodontic treatment and music lessons, instilled within me a profound understanding – that the path to success is often paved with trials and tribulations. Yet, it is through embracing these challenges, with resilience and determination, that we unlock the boundless potential within ourselves.
For in every problem lies an opportunity, and in every challenge, a lesson waiting to be learned.
In a miraculous way those myofunctional therapy exercises I use in my everyday practice to help my patients sleep and breathe better.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I came from Russia after graduating from my first medical school. It was a very adventurous and dark time in Russia, full of gangsters and new economic changes. I found it very chaotic, with no space for me to grow as a professional. Additionally, antisemitism was very active in the Soviet Union, and I felt uncomfortable for that reason as well.
To continue my professional career as a dentist, I had to start with dental school in the USA. It was very challenging in my first year in the USA. Not only did I have to prepare for my dental board exams and the English exam TOEFL to be admitted to NYU College of Dentistry but I also had to learn a lot of basic information as a brand new immigrant. Simple things like how to lease an apartment, what Social Security is, and how to find a job in the US were all new to me.
While living here, you are immersed into an independent lifestyle with guidance from your parents, neighbors, and friends over the years. But as a new immigrant, you have to actively and quickly absorb this knowledge and create your own network in a new country.
After dental school I completed a residency program at Newark Beth Israel. I learned a lot about managing medically compromised patients. Intersection of medicine and dentistry was always very intriguing to me. But I always had a passion for aesthetics and I was scared that my work would not last for many years in a patient mouth. I took a lot of restorative and orthodontic courses trying to learn how to create a failure-proven treatment strategy. But no. It was an AHA moment when I realized – I could dance around a patient’s teeth with super-strong materials and the most fascinating teeth alignment, but nothing would happen if the patient had trouble breathing at night. During an apneic event, they would move their jaw forward in a clenched position and break it.
I became very interested in sleep. I spent many nights in sleep centers following up with sleep technicians, learning from them. And then an event that fundamentally changed my life occurred. My friend fell asleep on Saturday and did not wake up on Sunday. He was famous for his sense of humor and the fact that he snores very loudly. His wife constantly complained about the fact that she had to sleep on a couch. He was very young, only 47. I started seeing life and my career in a different light. It was not only about preserving my work but also about saving people’s lives.
As a dentist, I see signs of sleep apnea in my patients’ mouths every day. I do a lot of work to improve my patients’ lives in the realm of sleep and breathing – orthodontic, restorative, and oral appliance sleep therapy. I always educate my patients or the parents of my patients about the fact that the root cause of health problems might be related to airway health. The main challenge my colleagues and I face is that the medical community does not see us as serious collaborators, and they do not educate patients about the possibility of dental sleep treatment, as well as for the younger generation’s growth and development. This is why I created channels on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram to educate the medical community and the public about this line of treatment for sleep and breathing disorders. I conduct interviews with prominent people in our field as well as collaborators from medical communities. I have found that social media is a very powerful platform for education, which is extremely important for future generations.
Twenty-five percent of people in the USA suffer from sleep apnea, snoring, and other sleep-breathing disorders. Japan, Poland, and Germany have 50% of the population suffering from sleep and breathing disorders. There are many chronic diseases related to bad sleep and breathing, such as stroke, heart attack, diabetes, atrial fibrillation, Alzheimer’s, and ADHD. I consider Sleep Breathing disorders as an evolutionary change of humanity. Manifestations of those diseases tremendously affect health and productivity. I believe that by establishing better nutritional and myofunctional habits for the younger generation, as well as holistic guidance for growth and development, we can decrease the rate of obstructive sleep apnea in the population.
Can you talk to us about your experience with buying businesses?
I was absolutely eager to become a business owner. I did not have a full vision of my career’s future, but I knew I wanted to work in a beautiful environment and create treatment results I envisioned. Upon graduating from my residency program, I searched and went through the interview process because I really wanted to find a mentor and learn secrets of our trade from inside. I had no clue how to run a business. I had to admit that I did not find that magical opportunity. After two years of an unsuccessful search for a mentor, I realized that I had to “bite the bullet”and purchase my practice. I placed an ad in the New York Times in the business search section. I received only one call from a relatively young dentist who was burned out by business responsibilities. Truth be told, I was not sure about the criteria I had to use for practice evaluation. I relied on intuition.
If I could give advice to younger entrepreneurs, I would suggest using the criterion of location. The question is, ‘Do I want to be a part of this community?’ Once I purchased his practice, I realized that patients gravitate to a doctor’s personality as well as their expertise. Of course, it is more comfortable to build a business on the foundation of an existing one, but at the same time, you build a business according to your own rules, and 50% of existing clients might leave. A similar story happened with his team. I brought in new rules and discipline, and his staff was very unhappy and eventually left. Even though I remember those first years as very turbulent with staff transitions, I learned so much.
I still believe that the opportunity to have your own business and build it according to your mission and purpose is one of the most rewarding experiences a person could have in life. Especially for me, who grew up in the Soviet Union where private business was prosecuted, I found the opportunity to work for yourself with all its intricacies very rewarding.
The acquisition process was unique in that the doctor who sold me his practice stayed with me for the transition period. He initially said he would stay for either 6 days or 6 months, but ended up staying for 7.5 years. During this time, he enjoyed seeing his patients without the burden of business duties, as I took care of those responsibilities.
Understanding the situation of the existing owner, I created an atmosphere in my practice to make him comfortable. It was a very unique dynamic to be a new owner in the presence of the previous owner. Despite the complexities, I had a lot of appreciation and respect for the doctor who sold me his practice. I had been searching for a mentor, and he became just that. I learned a lot from his experiences with burnout and his mistakes
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
Managing a team is perhaps the most sensitive aspect of any business, and I attribute 95% of the success of any venture to building a strong, supportive team. Over my 20 years of running my business, I’ve learned several key points. Firstly, while fair compensation according to market standards is important, money is not as significant as the mission. Providing employees with a sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves keeps them excited on a daily basis.
I prioritize the continuous education of my team members, ensuring they feel knowledgeable enough not only to explain procedures to patients but also to understand the developmental processes of specific conditions we treat. This is especially crucial as we offer orthodontic treatment alongside myofunctional treatment, ensuring that patients who straighten their teeth do not experience relapses in the future. Additionally, we offer an airway fitness program for individuals with sleep and breathing disorders. My team understands the importance of protecting our highly aesthetic work, particularly for individuals with strong biting forces.
I find that micromanaging is very detrimental. Instead, I encourage my team to make important decisions themselves and work collaboratively with each other.
Having a strong organizational mission and actively participating in the development of something significant, such as making a difference in people’s lives, cultivate high morale and excitement among team members. This enthusiasm translates into their eagerness to come to work every day
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.njperfectsmile.com/, https://www.njdentalsleepapnea.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drmariasokolina/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sleepapneahelp
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-sokolina-dds-7711aa15/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MariaSokolina/featured
Image Credits
Renata Ablamska