​Ryan Vet is a globally recognized entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and USA TODAY best-selling author whose career spans consulting, leadership roles, and multiple successful startups. Known for his dynamic stage presence and actionable insights, Ryan has inspired audiences on four continents and worked with organizations ranging from Fortune 500 companies to innovative startups. With a passion for empowering leaders and driving meaningful change, Ryan’s work has been featured in Forbes, ABC, NBC, and more.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• [02:06] Ryan Vet’s unique journey into the dental industry
• [03:19] How generational shifts are changing workplace dynamics
• [04:50] Challenges dentists face in hiring and retaining employees with evolving expectations
• [08:24] Key leadership insights for dental practice owners and the importance of having mentors
• [12:40] The power of leading by example and how it directly influences team engagement and performance
• [15:25] The “big domino” mindset shift that can transform a dental practice’s success

In this episode…

Leadership in the dental industry is evolving, and with new generations entering the workforce, practice owners must adapt to changing expectations. How can dentists effectively lead their teams while navigating shifting marketing trends and generational differences?

According to Ryan Vet, a best-selling author and international keynote speaker, the key to success lies in embracing generational shifts rather than resisting them. He highlights that Gen Z, now a growing part of the workforce, brings a tech-savvy, efficiency-driven mindset that can be both an asset and a challenge for dental leaders. Understanding generational biases, refining leadership strategies, and adapting marketing efforts to align with audience behavior can set a practice apart. Ryan emphasizes that effective leadership isn’t just about managing a team; it’s about setting the right example and creating a culture of engagement and growth.

In this episode of The Marketing 32 Show, host Brett Allen sits down with Ryan Vet to discuss leadership, marketing strategies, and generational shifts in the dental industry. They explore how to manage a multigenerational workforce, the role of customer experience in business growth, and why leading by example is critical for success. Ryan also shares practical insights on defining purpose, priorities, and principles to make better leadership decisions.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Brett Allen on LinkedIn
• Marketing 32
• Ryan Vet:Website | LinkedIn
• Speak Goodr: Confessions of a Professional Speaker on Mastering Public Speaking and Getting Paid to Speak by Ryan Vet
• “Transforming Dental Leadership: Team Building and Mental Wellness With Dr. Martin Mendelson” on The Marketing 32 Show

Quotable Moments

• “Leadership is hard. And that’s okay. And it’s okay to admit that.”
• “Generational shifts bring new work ethics and communication opportunities we must embrace, not resist.”
• “If you’re not willing to do it, why do you expect your team to?”
• “We’re humans trying to lead other humans, and we’re always going to fall short.”
• “Have your purpose, priorities, and principles defined before challenges arise. Decisions become easier that way.”

Action Steps

1. Lead by example in your practice: Modeling the behaviors you expect from your team fosters accountability, engagement, and a positive workplace culture.
2. Adapt leadership strategies for a multigenerational workforce: Understanding generational differences helps improve communication, retention, and team productivity.
3. Define your purpose, priorities, and principles: Establishing these in advance simplifies decision-making and ensures alignment with long-term goals.
4. Embrace technology for efficiency: Leveraging digital tools and AI can enhance productivity and streamline operations in your dental practice.
5. Surround yourself with mentors and peers: Having a support network of experienced leaders and like-minded professionals helps navigate challenges and drive growth.

Sponsor for this episode…

This episode is brought to you by Marketing 32, the only dental marketing agency with the Practice Impact Formula™ for predictable growth without financial risk.

With a focus on new patient generation, addressing missed opportunities, and expert scheduling, Marketing 32 has helped over 170 practices in the US, Canada, and Australia. Grow in 30 days, or you don’t pay — it’s that simple.

To learn more, visit marketing32.com and schedule a 15-minute discovery call. If you’re a visionary practice ready for impact, Marketing 32 is ready to help you grow!

Episode Transcript:

Intro 00:13

You are listening to The Marketing 32 Show with your host Brett Allen.

Brett Allen 00:18

Hi, and welcome to The Marketing 32 Show. I’m Brett Allen, your host, where I connect with leading individuals in the dental industry, industry experts, leading dentists, and we uncover the latest strategies and insights and innovations into growing a thriving dental practice. This episode is brought to you by our team here at Marketing 32, where I think we’re the only dental marketing company that I know of that is fully invested in your growth to the point that we have a performance guarantee. So if you’re not growing, we don’t get paid so that we are invested in your growth. If you need some help growing your dental practice, reach out to us at marketing32.com and let’s see if we’d be a great fit to work together. Quick shout out today to Dr. Martin Mendelson. You’ll have to go listen to his interview that we did recently on The Marketing 32 Show. We talked all about mindset and what it means to be part of a team. And I got to thank Dr. Martin Mendelson for introducing me to Ryan Vet, who’s our guest today. Ryan is a USA today best selling author, international keynote speaker, and entrepreneur who has advised fortune 500 companies and scaled startups to hundreds of millions of dollars in valuation. With a deep expertise in marketing, customer experience and generational dynamics. He has helped brands drive innovation and lasting growth. His insights have been featured in major media outlets like ABC, NBC, CBS, and Forbes, and he’s even got a new book out: Speak Goodr. You’ll have to go look at that one. Ryan, welcome to the show. Thanks for being on.

Ryan Vet 01:53

Brett, thanks so much for having me. And Martin, if you’re listening. Thanks for the connection.

Brett Allen 01:57

Yeah, yeah. Excited to dig a little bit into your story and talk about leadership. Talk about motivation. What is it that you’re doing in the industry?

Ryan Vet 02:06

Absolutely. Well, I have a unique path into dentistry, and I’ll sum it up shortly with the fact that in my background, in some venture capital backed startups, I was asked to join a founding team of a medical device company whose primary launch market was dentistry. At the same exact time, my wife was in dental school, so my connection to the industry is unique, special, and out of all the industries I’ve been in over the years from, you know, bizarre industries that people don’t even know, our whole industries to mainstream industries, industries. I think dental is always, always has a special place in my heart.

Brett Allen 02:44

Yeah, it’s a great industry. I’ve been in the dental space now eight years, a little bit over that. Love the people, love the work they do. It is a unique community for sure. Well, so let’s talk about your vantage point in the industry you work in speaking consulting network. You have that organization that helps dental speakers. What are some of the things that you’re seeing that’s happening in the industry lately that’s exciting or might be of value to our listeners?

Ryan Vet 03:19

Yeah, I think like all industries, the last five years have kind of been a big reset for many industries. It was kind of 2020 was a leveling of the playing field for leaders, for executives, for industries as a whole. And we’re really in a phase. You know, fast forward half a decade later, which is crazy to say that we’re really in a phase of kind of re-identifying ourselves. And a lot has happened at the same time in the world. And I think one of the things that we’ve seen a big shift from a generational perspective, which is one of my big passions, is you see Gen Z now fully in the work or becoming fully in the workplace. So, you know, in 2020, millennials had fully entered. Now Gen Z, we’re five years in and, you know, almost 6% or 7% of the work force today is Gen Z, and that’s going to increase by several percentage points each year for the next five years, 5 to 10 years. So we’re seeing a very, very new trend of just a different generation with different mindsets and thoughts on work and on what’s valuable, what’s important. And that brings new work ethics and new communication opportunities.

Brett Allen 04:24

Yeah. What do you see? So I get asked all the time when I’m talking with dentists, the struggle of hiring new people and new expectations and like that dynamics of a new generation coming into the workforce. What are some of those things that you’re seeing that might be new and like, challenging potentially for a business owner or a practice owner to handle?

Ryan Vet 04:50

Yeah, I think we see several things at play. And when I get the opportunity to speak in any industry about generational dynamics, it’s always important to understand what generation you’re in, what biases you naturally have as a result of your generation. And I know bias is such a strong word. These days have preconceived notions. Yes. And then as a result of that, how is that going to frame the way in which you look at the incoming generation? What’s interesting is we still have about a quarter of the workforce that’s baby boomers, and many of them retired early. And then there’s been this slow in retirement. And so they’re kind of working out to the early retirement in 2020. And then a lot of them are now working continuing to work. So there was this weird like cliff where you see boomers leave the workplace, but now they’re still there. And boomers often, you know, demand respect and have this authoritative desire to air their accomplishments. They believe in quantity of work over necessarily quality. It doesn’t mean it’s low quality of work, but working 12 hours is more important than working eight and getting the same done for boomers and generalizing here, then you’ve got Gen X, and Gen X is arguably in a lot of literature. Points to this one of the best generations currently in the workforce because they were latchkey kids, they were self-starters, and they had an opportunity to, you know, if you tell them to do something, they’re going to put their head down and get it done. Then you have millennials. We know all the lazy, entitled, disrespectful, you know, all the millennials. I, I debunk a lot of those myths in one of my earlier books. But then we have Gen Z. And I think what’s so interesting from Gen Z, you’re seeing it swing back. A lot of these actually fall and have personality traits like Gen X. They are self-starters. They’re going to be more resourceful. They’ve been digital natives on their phone the whole time. So they’re going to pull out their phone, go to Google or go to ChatGPT and find out how to solve a solution. But they’re doing that in a different way than Gen X did. And so I think in some respects they’re going to be well, so far what we’re seeing is they’re being welcomed well into the workforce. But then we’re also seeing, you know, some pushback on their obsession with technology and how integrated that is into their lives.

Brett Allen 07:03

Maybe efficiency, you know, understanding it from a standpoint of, hey, I can do this with two clicks versus spending an hour or something, right?

Ryan Vet 07:12

Yeah, right. And that inherently caused a conflict with boomers and millennials. And we’re going to see the same thing with Boomers and Gen Z. Gen X is normally okay with efficiency if it’s being done well. But we definitely see that rub in that communication gap across the generations there.

Brett Allen 07:30

Yeah that’s interesting. Well, let’s kind of segue into leading in the workplace. You’ve certainly got a lot of experience with the organizations. You’ve been involved with, your background, with startups. I think I remember it right. You started your own company at 14 and grew that pretty sizably before you even went to college. You guys should look into Ryan’s history, go to his website, ryanvet.com and dig. But so you’ve been in various leadership roles speaking to a practice owner, someone who’s managing, you know, a team of ten managing all that comes with a business. What are some leadership tips or maybe some epiphanies you’ve had over the years that could be of help to a dentist who’s a who’s a practice owner?

Ryan Vet 08:24

Yeah, I think the bottom line is leadership is hard. And that’s okay. And it’s okay to admit that. And I think whether you’re leading one person or you’re leading hundreds of people on a team, it’s still equally hard. You still are bearing the weight of having other people that are dependent on you. And so that’s the doom and gloom answer, right. That’s not motivational at all. But I think understanding that and realizing that and then realizing there’s a bunch of other leaders out there, there’s fellow dentists out there, there’s fellow small business owners out there that are dealing with the same stuff, the people who keep showing up late to work, the people who have an excuse for everything you know, their dog. It’s definitely the person whose dog ate their homework every single day in high school. You know, these are common problems. And a lot of times when they’re happening to us, it feels like it’s the end of the world. They’re only happening to us. But I think one of the biggest pieces of advice I have for anybody in a leadership position is surround yourself with three different people. And here’s the three people I always try to keep in my life. The first, I call it a forerunner. It’s the person who’s running ahead of you. It’s the person who’s running the torch. You think of the Olympic Games, the first person to, you know, to light the cauldron. It’s the person who’s been there before. They can point out the potholes. They can tell you where the detours are before you’ve ever come down the road. And then the next probably most important person to have is your running mates. And this is where I think a lot of leaders fail, because leaders feel afraid to show vulnerability and insecurity as a whole, right? We feel like we have to be buttoned up and polished, and the reality is we’re humans trying to lead other humans and we’re always going to fall short. Not a single one of us is perfect. And so for me, the most valuable thing in my life is these running mates, people who are generally in the same stage of life and the same stage of business and work that are running alongside. And we’re holding hands through this thing called leadership. And when one of us falls, you know, we’re on the chain and we’re pulling them back up. And when I fall, they’re picking us up. And I think that might be one of the most valuable people you can put in your life. And then the final and the third type of person is the person that’s a few steps behind. Because when you have an opportunity to to share with someone or bring someone along, mentor someone, what I find is when I’m trying to think about how to explain that to someone else, I’m taking those experiences and translating that into insights, which I then can hopefully, hopefully present as wisdom to that person who’s a few steps behind.

Brett Allen 10:47

Yeah, that’s great advice. Knowing you’re not alone and surrounding yourself with mentors at those different levels, I think that’s definitely wise. One of the things that I’ve learned in business is that this is one of the things I learned early on, and continue to have to learn over and over is that there are problems to be solved and problems to be managed.

Ryan Vet 11:10

That’s good.

Brett Allen 11:11

I and maybe it’s just my personality, but for the longest time I looked at all the problems in business because you’re always your business is always going to be broken. There’s always something that you need to be working on and improving. But yeah, for the longest time it really bugged me. And it stressed me out that, oh man, there’s this problem and it keeps happening. Well, some problems in business, you just have to continually manage and they’re not going to go away. And it’s something that you have to reframe the mindset on or view from a different vantage point in order to not allow it to affect other and, you know, spill into other aspects of the business.

Ryan Vet 11:53

But that’s how.

Brett Allen 11:54

I do like what you say about finding and surrounding yourself with those who are ahead of you, those who are where you’re at and those who are behind you. I think that’s a good, good thing. Are there? Are there things that you learned in the businesses you’ve owned and managed that are pretty universal besides just, you know, surrounding yourself with people to help you in the race? What are some of those things that you see are applicable in the dental industry in terms of like managing a team or, you know, multiple practices? You know, there’s different types of practice owners, but what are some of those generic business concepts that you think are helpful?

Ryan Vet 12:40

Yeah, I think one that’s super relevant with a couple people I’m working with right now and as well as some, you know, recent personal experiences. It’s such a it sounds cliche and it’s so simple, and yet we so often don’t do it and it’s just lead by example. You know, I’m working with a leader right now who has not dental specifically, but has a team of about ten people in a very similar business model to dental, very similar. And one of his big frustrations as he’s growing and scaling his business to multiple sites is that he, his team, was failing to be engaged regularly, failing to show up on time or disengaging early, which I know is a common problem in dental. And so I sat with him real quick and just observed him for only about two days. And I very quickly realized he’s going to be the last one to meeting this leader. He’s going to be the first one to pull out his phone. He. And so he is doing all the things he doesn’t want his team to do. And, you know, as I’m thinking back in my own career and, you know, I’ve led teams of hundreds and I’ve led teams of just a couple people. If you’re not willing to do it. I think it goes to willingness to like if you’re not willing to scrub the toilets quite literally, you know, why do you expect your team to do something you’re not willing to do? And if you demand that the team shows up and, you know, writes in complete sentences and is in their email or whatever your your, you know, pet peeve is and you send them a quick text and use shorthand. Why would they ever do something different than what you’re modeling for them? So I think just practice what you preach. I know it’s so simple, but I’ve just seen that several times even this week, that it’s a leadership failure if you don’t practice what you preach.

Brett Allen 14:24

Yeah, yeah. I saw somewhere this week it stuck out to me. Like we train people how to react with us, how how to show up for us by how we say things, what we allow, what we do. Yeah. That’s. Yeah. Being a leader, there’s so many different facets to that. And then you and then you if you’re not learning that lesson, you just keep learning it over and it just keeps showing up until you do learn that lesson. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well cool. What are some like epiphanies or what’s like this is what I ask everybody on the show. What’s like a big domino? Like, if you could just help a doctor learn. If you just push this one domino over, it’s going to have this effect that knocks everything else down and really opens up so many other things for them. Yeah. The dentist you’ve worked with and talked with. What’s one of those things?

Ryan Vet 15:25

Again, this is one of those simple things. And honestly when I first heard it, it’s not unique to me. I refuse to do it because I thought it was stupid and trivial. I’d just be totally honest. I thought I was above it, didn’t need to do it. But this has truly transformed not only me and how I run and lead different businesses and have over the years, but also those that I get the opportunity to work with and help them lead and empower them to lead. And it’s really simple, but someone wants to take out a piece of paper, and I’m going to have you write down a couple of things, but the first one is your priorities. And these are not goals. These are not I want, you know, X million dollars in my bank account by this time or this size house. These are things that pretty much never change. You know, where you prioritize family as compared to work. And so I took that one step forward with the people I work with. And I say, okay, priorities are good. But there’s two other P’s that are really important as well. What is your purpose? Why do you do what you do every day? Is it to make people smile? Yes. Double entendre there. Or is it to. For me, it’s to inspire a positive change. Is everyone better having worked with me than before? And the question is, have you ever had to fire someone? Yes. And my hope is that their experience still was good enough that they’ve learned and are better. Doesn’t mean that we’re always hugging and kissing as we say goodbye, but you still try to foster that environment. So that’s my purpose statement. I’ve got my priorities and then the principles. And this is another one where, you know, it’s like the 18 year old that’s at college and is choosing whether or not to drink alcohol for the first time. If they have not already said no to that, they’re almost always going to say yes when it’s handed to them. When that situation comes, when you’re in that tough situation, you almost always say the thing that you probably wouldn’t have said if you thought about it. And so the third thing to write on that paper, you’ve got your purpose, you’ve got your priorities, and then you’ve got your principles. What are those never wavering things. I’m not going to ever engage in anything that’s a little bit iffy when it comes to Medicaid, Medicare, you know. Yes. That in your head that sounds right. But when it comes and you have the option to put that code in because something isn’t going through, like all of those things, if you write those down and have those answers before you come to that situation, you’re going to be so much better equipped for the battle, and the decisions aren’t as hard to make in real time.

Brett Allen 17:37

Yeah. That’s great. I like that being intentional, having foresight and direction. Like, what am I, what am I, what am I doing? What’s my purpose? Where do I want to go with this company? What do I want to do with my practice? What do I want my patients to experience when they come here with my team and then staying committed to that? I think that’s yeah, definitely highly successful people have that trait. I think.

Ryan Vet 18:06

Absolutely.

Brett Allen 18:06

This has been awesome. One one more thing to kind of close us off here. We’ve got just a couple more minutes. What’s been something that like, if you look back on your career, what’s been a really cool experience? What’s been something that’s like, man, this was something that I really am grateful for or something that was neat. Like maybe you met somebody like a big a big wig, some high individual that oh, man, is that is that planting any?

Ryan Vet 18:33

I, I’ve. Had so many cool opportunities. I think two things come to mind.

Brett Allen 18:36

Cool brands.

Ryan Vet 18:37

Yeah. One is like a recurring one. And I think that is early on. I structured in my life that my family can come with me on most trips or trips that are longer than about two days. That’s kind of a rule. It’s in my speaker rider, it’s in my consulting agreements. And so my boys have traveled all over the world, and my wife and I have been able to go and extend some trips on some cool vacations over our time together. So that’s one cool thing that I think is just something that was important to me, you know. And that means if they’re not coming, I’m not staying five days at a conference. I’m in and out for when I speak. And often it’s the same day, you know, flight in the morning, flight out. So I think that’s one cool thing. And then I think, totally, probably not even professional it was, I’ll call it pre-professional or pre the career that people know me for. I had an opportunity to work with a nonprofit organization for a while in developing countries, in countries that a lot of people didn’t even know where they were in the world or what continent they were on. And I got to work with some government officials there in those countries and just watch how we could impact economic development in some of these developing countries in really cool ways. And so that’s something I don’t share often. But still, as I look back, probably one of the coolest things, being able to go to these countries and just meet different people and different languages and different cultures, countries that most Americans haven’t heard of and just really watch them thrive in an entrepreneurial way that is so simple but so beautiful.

Brett Allen 20:11

Yeah, having that impact, I bet, is a really neat experience. That’s cool. Well, thank you, Ryan, for your time. Thank you for the advice. I think there’s a lot of gold nuggets in here that you guys can glean from Ryan. If you want to get to know Ryan better send him to your website or reach out in some way. ryanvet.com Okay. Well thank you again, everybody. If you want any more information about Ryan, go to his website like I said and we’ll see you guys on the next time on The Marketing 32 Show. And like I said, if you need help with your marketing, go to marketing32.com. We’ve got an awesome team. We know what we’re doing helped over 240 practices to grow across the US, and now we’re in international and some other countries as well. So but thanks again, Ryan, and we’ll see you next time.