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

Tina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

My parents never let me play hooky. They never let me call in sick. Growing up, there were no excuses for anything. I never got to sleep in. As soon as 6 a.m. hit, I could hear my mom loudly walking upstairs and telling my sister and I to wake up.

Growing up, I thought she was a tyrant. I felt as a child I never got a break. I was always practicing piano, doing workbooks beyond the assigned school homework, joining orchestra practices or swimming. I was always doing something and rarely got the chance to watch TV.

My mother was the school lunch lady. She baked cookies, made macaroni and cheese, banana bread and smoothies, and served my classmates. My father was a nurse at the hospital, and he worked long 12 hour shifts and into the night. He was always sleeping when I woke up because he was always up late at the hospital working.

In my perspective as a child, life was unfair. I thought my dad got to “sleep in” and my mom was just mean. But what I didn’t realize was that they were building and instilling tenacity in me. They were creating good habits, and training me to have self-motivation and drive. They taught me excuses were useless, and I didn’t realize how much impact that had on me into my adulthood. It helped me build my career, and helped me strive to the top of where I am today.

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. Tina Saw, and I’m a dentist. I went to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio and completed my bachelor’s degree in biology there. I attended Loma Linda University’s School of Dentistry and graduated in 2014 with my DDS. I have a private dental practice called Elevated Smiles in Carlsbad, California.

Interesting fact… The Voyage featured me much before the COVID-19 pandemic, but things changed dramatically in my life because of the pandemic. The pandemic pushed me and having my dental practice closed for a few months, it gave me a lot of time to reflect, think and make businesses out of problems that had bothered me as a dentist and I wanted to so deeply solve.

In 2020, I opened up Light Solutions Company, a dental loupes and lights company for dental professionals. I help dental professionals see better and work more efficiently with magnification and headlights. A few months after, I founded Oral Genome, a dental saliva testing company that is transforming dental prevention for providers and their patients. We’re still early into the company and haven’t quite launched yet, but we are providing people with a personalized oral health plan through saliva analysis. Stay tuned for more details.

Any advice for managing a team?

It’s truly a hard time for businesses. I see staffing shortages everywhere and people bouncing from job to job for potentially the next best thing. But, I can tell you that without a doubt, your employees are the heart and soul of your company. I’ve never rushed hired. I will seek for the right individual for months even if it means I’m short-staffed. There are a lot of talented individuals out there, but one individual that works well for one company may not work well for another. It’s all about culture, and creating that happy workplace culture and environment. I look for people who love to collaborate and love to laugh at themselves.

We spend a lot of time with our work family, so it’s important to find the people you truly enjoy working with. We routinely do team outings and little celebrations and bonuses for milestones and goals. The best thing is hearing your team members tell other people how much they love their job.

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

I’ve gone back and forward internally about this question. Going into dental school, I thought I would be a full time practicing dentist for the rest of my life. I thought I would own my own small private dental practice until 65 years old and then retire.

Sometimes, I wished I went and got my MBA and pursued business because I’m learning everything on the spot and moving with what comes at me. But really, I have no regrets going to dental school and becoming a dentist. It has given me such an opportunity to help so many people in my local community and abroad. I absolutely love seeing patients and changing their smiles, and giving them so much confidence. But what I noticed was there was a missing part of me wanting to help more, and that’s why I created Light Solutions Company and Oral Genome. Dental school gave me the the foundation and insight to solve problems in dentistry for both my patients and my colleagues.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.elevatedsmiles.com
• Instagram: @drtinasaw
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drtinasaw/