Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mary Ann Landry. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Mary Ann, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

The story is very interesting on how I became the Chief Visionary of Consultants in Dental Aesthetics. 20 years ago I was set up on a blind date only to find out that this gentleman was a Dentist. He was very proud and very competent. At the time, I was a Director at an International Airline in their Training and Implementation Department.

Long story short, this Dentist married the Director and gave birth to Consultants in Dental Aesthetics. You see, I can’t do what my husband does and he couldn’t do what I can do. So we put our heads together and designed and executed a Category of One Dental Practice that focuses on increasing the humanitarian footprint of ourselves, our team, and our community.

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?

We believe going to the dentist should feel empowering and rewarding, as opposed to intimidating and worrisome. Our experienced, understanding team is there to help you feel confident and comfortable every step of the way.

We are dedicated to increasing our humanitarian footprint through dentistry. One way we are doing this is by partnering with the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. CDA has committed to donating $10 per quadrant of periodontal therapy performed. This significantly assists the NBCF while also improving the overall health of our patients.

Another example would be our internship program. We have deliberately sought to intern matriculating students in the “soft-side” of business, the people side, which we consider to be the most important side. We wish to coach and guide eager students and grow their confidence and add to their skills during this 3-6 month commitment. We also mentor on the clinical side of dentistry as well.

When you step into our office in Spring, TX, you’ll notice that it is light, open, and ethereal. We have done away with the hectic busy front desk concept with each carefully planned detail.

Our model is based on ease of business, in today’s world, people have choices. We make it easy to self-schedule, provide free virtual consults. We have hand-selected an elite team of professionals whose priority is to listen to you and provide education and solutions to your oral health care needs in a compassionate manner.

Some of the other things that set us apart are, our In-House Membership for uninsured patients, complimentary insurance verification, online bill-pay, same-day crowns and we rarely have to refer out because of our expertise.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In 2015, we decided that we were going to build a 10,000 sq. foot stand-alone practice. So the planning began. First, we had to find the property, proper location, good traffic, and visibility. In 2016, we purchased an ideal lot in close proximity to our existing practice.

Then life happened. In 2017, Hurricane Harvey visited Houston, Texas, and wreaked havoc. Our community and many businesses were submerged in floodwater, including us. The first floor of our building took on 6 feet of water. At this juncture we wanted our existing business to survive and we assisted our community in rebuilding their businesses and lives.

In 2018, I received the devastating news of a breast cancer diagnosis. My husband and I clung together in the battle of our lives. Business was important and fortunately, we had an incredible team to allow us both to focus on surgeries and healing and recovery. Needless to say, this put many thoughts of doubt about building the new building.

2019 was our year for stabilization and reevaluation. We knew that in our heart of hearts building the building for our team, our family, and our community was going to be the right thing to do. This became our passion for our legacy.

In January of 2020, we broke ground on the new building just at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Talk about timing.

I am happy to report we have been in the new building thriving for over a full year now and that I remain cancer-free.

Any advice for managing a team?

The most important lesson I have learned is to first of all, hire the right people. What I mean by that, is that they must be congruent with your values and mission. You can teach skills but you can’t teach people heart. You can show kindness, and that’s what my people do.

The next lesson is that you get what you deserve. I don’t mean health-wise, I mean when you work hard, you should be rewarded for it. Therefore, we offer our employees a base salary along with an incentive that they drive which can increase their monthly income based on their results.

We meet 1-1 with our team on a monthly basis, this builds rapport and trust. We review daily productivity reports, collect suggestions and input and praise them for their contribution to building the business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.houstonsmilespa.com/
• Instagram: @consultantsindentalaesthetics
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ConsultantsinDentalAesthetics/
• Other: Free Virtual Consults: https://app.smilevirtual.com/consultants-in-dental-aesthetics/sign-up In-House Membership: https://www.houstonsmilespa.com/for-patients/in-house-membership

Image Credits
April Sanchez