We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rebecca Day. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rebecca below.

Rebecca, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

My maiden name is “Day”. I come from a family of dentists – my father, my great grandfather and a few cousins are all dentists. I wanted to practice under my maiden name so I can be “Dr Day” like the rest of my family. When I was growing up, my Dad always joked about wanting to name me “Sunny” when I was born so I could be “Sunny Day”. We would always laugh and my Dad eventually named our family yellow lab “Sunny”. When I bought my practice and had to come up with a name, I knew I wanted to use “Day” somehow. What better than a special family memory and the happiness and brightness that naturally comes to mind when you think of a “Sunny Day”. That is how “Sunny Day Pediatric Dentistry” was born! Now, I can always smile about my Dad’s humor and my patients will be welcomed with a positive and sunny environment.

Rebecca, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Growing up I knew I always wanted to be in the medical field because I loved science. My Dad was a general dentist but I never wanted to follow in his footsteps. I started college in the same class as pre-medical students so I started with the pre-med track. I soon realized how many years it takes to become a doctor and thought about how my Dad was able to create his own schedule and be involved in all our activities growing up. I liked that so I thought dentistry wouldn’t be so bad. I went to LSU Dental School in New Orleans and absolutely loved it. When I graduated, I worked a few months with adults in a general practice residency and I knew adults were not right for me. I applied to pediatrics and started my residency the following year. I worked as an associate pediatric dentist for 3.5 years. Within 1-2 years into that, I knew there was something bigger for me. I didn’t like working for someone else and I wanted to create a practice that I want. I had the opportunity to buy an existing practice from Dr Jeff Ellard who had been in practice in Baton Rouge for over 30 years. I couldn’t ask for a better doctor to buy a practice from. He is nice, helpful, wanted me to succeed and is still there for me for anything I need. This is when I created “Sunny Day Pediatric Dentistry”. I wanted my office to be “SUNNY!” all the time. I wanted kids to smile and enjoy coming to our office. I pride myself in making sure each patient is provided with the service or sedation necessary to make sure they have an A+ experience. Over the past year I have invested on creating a “culture” in our office. Our team is close, respects each other and we all love coming to work. I had worked in difficult work environments before and I am happy to say I have people asking to come work with us because of the vibe we have. I love my employees and I want them to be as happy at work as I am so we can provide a one of a kind, happy service to kids and their families.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Word of mouth. Baton Rouge is small and people talk. People hear about me from other moms or friends and mainly on Facebook and Facebook Mom’s groups. It makes my day to hear someone came to me from another patients positive experience.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Take extra time to invest in continuing education courses for your team. We do lots of personal development that helps us in our personal lives as well as our business. It has completely changed my office culture and environment. Well worth it. My staff likes to be at work. Give your team responsibilities to be proud of and they become invested in your brand and feel like they have some ownership – we work based on a bonus system so the better we do, the better they all do.

Contact Info:

• Website: sunnydaydentistry.com
• Instagram: @sunnydaypediatricdentistry
• Facebook: Sunny Day Pediatric Dentistry

Image Credits
Heather Lato Photo