Ripple Effect Philosophy: For Dentists, Life, Business, and Marriage.

Dino Watt 00:00

That’s the point of I think life is you never know what’s going to help somebody, some stranger somebody else out in your life. So it’s really I love seeing people just be in their genius and be awesome at what they do so much fun. 

 

Shawn Zajas  00:14 

The future of dentistry belongs to the innovators. Welcome to innovation in dentistry. I’m your host, Shawn Zajas. And I believe that the future of dentistry is going to be unbelievably great over the next decade in two decades. But the question isn’t that the question is, are you going to be part of what makes dentistry great? So I’m beyond excited today to have the opportunity to interview Dino watt. So Dino, before I set you up? Let me just say thank you so much for being with me today. 

 

Dino Watt 00:56 

Thanks for having me. This is really fun. Okay, so 

 

Shawn Zajas  00:58 

innovation can mean a ton of different things. And I say this, so I’m just gonna be quick. We’re not talking about clinical innovation. We’re not really primarily talking about technological innovation, we’re talking about what is it that gives dental professionals that permission to just step up and say, like, why not me? Why can’t I be the solution to the problems that are in dentistry, and you see hygienists and dentists that start their own software companies, or take the stage and they end up pioneering positive change in dentistry? You if I’m not mistaken, are not. You have no dental background? Is that correct? You’re not a dental professional. 

 

Dino Watt 01:39 

I went to the dentist often growing up. I had braces. And I go every six months. So there you go. That’s, that’s my experience. 

 

Shawn Zajas  01:50 

So if it’s possible that someone doesn’t know, Dino Dino, you’re doing something right now, that is incredibly innovative and transformative and transformative in dentistry. But before we talk about that, how did you get into dentistry? 

 

Dino Watt 02:07 

Well, you mean working in dentistry, right? Yes, yes, I got into the industry because my mom made me go and I hated it. And I’m seriously I was the kid that in my home, I had a cavity, every at least one every time I went to the dentist, so wasn’t a very fun experience for me. So to be in this industry is very, very interesting. I actually was working with a financial planner, here in Utah, I was I had a program called the business of marriage, where I helped hiring entrepreneurs in their marriage puts the same business principles they would put in their successful business into their marriage, because oftentimes, I’ve come across people who just were doing great in their business, but their marriages were not doing well. And so I ended up working with a financial planner here in Utah, helping him in his marriage, and it was super successful. And he came to me and said, Hey, all of my clients, you know, money is the number one source of divorce in our world. And so we always end up arguing, they end up arguing about their marriage in front of me. I don’t know how to help them you do? Why don’t I send them to you, and you help them in their marriage, and then I’ll help them with their money the way that I want to, as like, great. That’s a cool setup. So he would sent me the majority of his clients were chiropractors, dentist, and orthodontist, mostly chiropractors and dentists. And so he sent me a couple of chiropractors, couple of dentists. And one day, one of the dentists out of Kansas that I was helping said, Hey, this is working really, really good. But I’m married to like eight other work wives and my office. Can you help me communicate with them? Can you help me connect with him? And this is on the back of I’d always been a student of business, I ran a company in Los Angeles for a long time that I helped build up. And so I just had some kind of street smart business ideas. And I was huge student of every business book I could think of, and I went out to his office just kind of looked at some of the things that he was doing and gone. Why are you doing that? What’s up with that? And I was looking at it from a non dentistry, non practitioner side, and purely business. And that led to another doctor who is an orthodontist, who happened to be a very big Kol in the Ortho industry. At the time. I didn’t know that same idea happened with this marriage and came into his office. And he just came to me and said, you know, no one’s doing this in your spirit in our space at all. No one’s talking like you. No one’s we have consultants who’ve been around for a long time and seems like everybody’s kind of teaching the same thing, but just a different voice. Your voice is completely different to what you’re teaching is different. You should come in our industry and I said what you asked, I don’t know anything about orthodontics. I know anything about dentistry and he’s it doesn’t matter. The principles or the principles you’re teaching principles. Just teach those people will want it and he got me honest Ah, in a study club and another study club, and then the EO called asking me to speak there. And it just snowballed. So here we are over a decade later that I often tell people, the short answer, your question is, well, I made up a job, then I wrote a book about it. And then now I do it. So. 

 

Shawn Zajas  05:20 

Okay, so you kind of alluded to right at the end there, you said over a decade ago, so specifically, when was this transition from former life, Dino, which I do want to get into to all of a sudden helping dentists with their marriages? 

 

Dino Watt 05:34 

Oh, former life Dino into marriages was I left. So I’m born and raised California, we left California in 2006. And that’s when I first started formulating the idea of the business of marriage. And I was doing a lot of real estate at the time. And I taught a course and and one of the evaluation forms of the course. I said, Hey, I’m also thinking about doing a course on, you know, rehabs and something else, and something and marriage, which are you interested in? And overwhelmingly, people were like, marriage, Marriage Marriage. So my wife and I started that course, it was about 2007. And 08 is when I first started this a marriage course and then did that Intel. I still do it a little bit, but transitioned into ortho and 2011 2012. 

 

Shawn Zajas  06:30 

Okay, so it’s pretty clear from my perspective, that you are an entrepreneur, visionary serial entrepreneur, is that something that just you always knew, hey, this is just the way I’m wired, coming out of college or high school, whatever. And I’m just going to chart my own path. 

 

Dino Watt 06:46 

Well, I never knew what it was called. I didn’t know as an I didn’t know, entrepreneurism was the thing that was called I just knew, sitting in high school, there was no way I was going to sit in a cubicle and work inside of an office and I thought I was gonna be a performer and actor in Hollywood. I grew up in California, I was down in Hollywood all the time. And if I would have had my way my parents would have let me be a child star actor. Right. But that wasn’t going to happen. My stepdad was an entrepreneur. He had a concrete company, and we worked with him every summer during concrete. My dad was kind of like a part time entrepreneur who was a cop his whole life, but always had a side job always had some sort of, you know, the carwash at one point, and it’s back home. So I saw that, but I didn’t know what it was called. I had, you know, my lawn mowing service. When I was a kid. I was so mad because my buddy Josh got the paper route for our area. And he was making money. Like he was making crazy money like $150 a month, right? And I was like, I want that job. So I did where I just didn’t know what it’s called. Nobody told me that it was called entrepreneurism. And I didn’t go to college. I went to I went to college, but I got a degree in makeup artistry, a whole nother story. And I, I just knew I wanted to work for myself, I wanted to be in control of me, which is super scary over the last 50 years, but that’s all I knew. I just want to work for myself. 

 

Shawn Zajas  08:20 

Okay, don’t you also have some sort of expertise in like body language? 

 

Dino Watt 08:25 

Yeah. So when we moved here, we ended up going and I took a course on body language with a gentleman and there’s this whole story around it, but my wife and I ended up joining his company, and building his company up and in a year, we went from gross revenue of $100,000 to a million dollars in a year. And we just helped build that up. And I fell in love with the idea of how to communicate with people in a way where you can ask better questions. And that’s what are our bases of all body languages. So I still teach that when I go into offices of how to ask a better question of people, here’s some key triggers you can do to ask better questions. So 

 

Shawn Zajas  09:08 

okay, so it seems like you I mean, you are a really gifted communicator. But you also must have had really high emotional intelligence. Yeah, feel safe in this educator role to actually help people with like marriages, right? Like yeah, that’s No, that’s no easy. Hey, by the way, come on in here. Get in the middle of the male female dynamic. And just like that’s crazy, 

 

Dino Watt 09:35 

well in it, it was something I was really worried about scared about doing. I’ve wanted I wanted to for years when I was first married with my wife, we were the we were the couple that all of our friends would come over and stay up till way too late at night talking about their marriage and then going, how come you don’t hate each other? Like how can you guys are happy how come? And you know when my parents divorced when I was eight years old and I tell the story from stage often about standing on a sidewalk watching my father drive away. And the feeling of frustration of in my eight year old mind going, I know how to fix your marriage. Like i Dad, I know why mom gets upset mom, I know my dad’s upset. But I’m eight, right? So no one’s gonna listen to me. So when I was first married, and we were doing this, with our friends, I, I specifically, remember having a, excuse me a moment with my wife. We were at a local community center. And there is a flyer for how to is like a boot camp for dads how to be a great dad is in Burbank, California. And I remember seeing going like, I want to do that for marriage, we’d been married, I want to say five years at that point. And the logical brain came in going, who’s gonna listen to somebody married five years, like, okay, you’ve been married five years, you know how to have a strong marriage. But the secret is, is that my wife and I were very thorough about the things we talked about before we got married, we had very specific conversations, we had very specific processes that we put in place to help build upon our marriage because I didn’t want to end up like my parents, my both my parents divorced three times in a row. And, you know, I just didn’t want to do that. And so I was very intentional about it. And it kind of came through organically. And it is bold, it is something but I enjoy it so much. I love people. And to your note about emotional intelligence, I didn’t know that was what I was called back then either. But I was that guy in high school who? Definitely friendzone way friendzone right, with all the girls I liked, and even the girls I didn’t like, but I still was friendzone because I was the relationship guy, people would come to me, Hey, this guy tells me if he really, if I really love him, he’ll sleep with you know, I’ll sleep with them. And my parents gonna be awake in which they do you know, and this guy, you know, all the stuff. I was that guy and I got along with everybody. I was really easy to get along with heavy metal dudes and, and the nerds and the jocks. Because I was just open to everyone, I just really liked people. So 

 

Shawn Zajas  12:06 

well, there’s a few things that fascinate me about that story. One is that we typically like start off by growing in any in any area by modeling, right? And you start off by like looking at someone that’s a hero, and you just model behavior. And here you are, and you have parents that have been divorced three different times. Like, you can’t model that if you want to separate yourself from that outcome. So like, right off the bat, as an eight year old, you’re already understanding oh my gosh, like, I can’t be like my heroes in this way. So I’m almost like, on my own, like, I mean, that must have been difficult for an eight year old to process like, what do I do when my heroes kind of just disappointed me? 

 

Dino Watt 12:48 

Yeah, it was very much so. But it also made me immediately think, how do I take this and not become that? Right? I, I’ve always been able to see things of the end result and go, do I want to go towards that? Or the exact opposite. And I’m a third child, right? I’m really the middle. I have two older brothers, a younger sister. And then I have two younger step brothers. But they there’s this idea that I, you know, they joke about the third child I have actually, I’m a joke about it in one of my speeches. I just had to look at the world a little different, because I had to figure it out. And I just saw it as an example. And there were years for sure. Where I was very frustrated my parents and angry at my dad, he he left and basically it was like, Hey, if you want to see me, let me know. I’m like, I’m eight, right? You’re not gonna call me. It. I felt like I was abandoned that way. And it took years for me to understand. Everybody has their own way of coping with trauma and challenges in life. And mine was alright, I’ll figure it out. Like, I’m gonna figure it out. I don’t want that I want this. I like being the odd duck to I’m, I’m totally different than anybody in my family. I don’t think half my family knows what I do for a living. It’s just I and I like that I like not having rules and try and stuff. And that’s for good or ill, right, because a lot of stuff doesn’t work out. 

 

Shawn Zajas  14:17 

Dino that’s crazy. Because, you know, most people don’t think that way. Most people actually don’t like the problems that freedom give you. Like, wait, if I actually have the freedom to better my situation today, in every sort of way. That’s kind of scary, because it’s super insecure, like telling me that there’s a proven path, and that there’s bumpers like we’re bowling, so I can’t go off course and that there’s some sort of certainty and outcome. Yeah. And all of a sudden you realize, well, you’re never going to pioneer if those conditions don’t exist. For a pioneer, you’re always going into uncharted waters. Now, one thing I’m also super curious about. I’ve noticed that when someone’s gifted, that when They’re still immature with that gifting, it’s hard for them to almost receive from someone else. Because most people in their books about marriage, they’re not communicating to someone that already has understanding. So it’s almost like, it’s like almost frustrating to be like, Okay, you’re talking as if I’m Homer Simpson, but I’m not. At what point did you realize like, wow, I have a gift. But if I submit this gift to, you know, more training, whatever, I can be like world class instead of just like good, like, Did Did you ever go maturing where you’re just like, You know what? I’m already good. But I want to be great. Because I mean, it seems like you’re great at what you do. 

 

Dino Watt 15:35 

Yeah. You know what? That’s a great question. I, I don’t actually think about this that often. But I think the first time, I really recognize there was a way to increase it, like improve upon what I naturally could do. And of course, I don’t think I really recognize the natural side of it until later on, but now I look back on it. My I lived in Japan when I was from 19 to 21 years old. And I lived full time there, loved it there and I came home and within three weeks, I was living in downtown Los Angeles, like Skid Row Los Angeles, I was gonna go be an actor, and then this terrible cockroach and infested apartment. It was like when I say Skid Row, if anybody who’s listening knows Los Angeles, I was on six and wall and back in the 80s or 90s, there was a big rampart scandal with the police. I was a block away from all that it was terrible. And my stepdad, for some reason, had purchased that late night infomercial had purchased the Tony Robbins Unleash the Power Within set of CDs or DVDs or and they weren’t a DVDs back then they were cassette tapes. And he hadn’t really done anything with them. And he gave them to me as I was going down there as I was going to live on my own there. And I remember listening to the very first one and hearing this guy talk and be like, Wow, I totally get this. And even some things that he was saying that like, yeah, like, it seemed obvious to me. I think that was probably my first foray into it. And then when I got into real estate, for sure, I had a lot more people that I was able to hear from and understand around it increasing your emotional intelligence, understanding how people work, I’m fascinated by neuroscience, I’m fascinated by how people tick what makes people tick influence. And I think that’s where it started, and realizing how I didn’t have normal formal education. And this needed to be the education I need to lean into. So that was really it. And I do, I do see how every time have I heard, it’s so funny, I just listened to this today, I had to take a trip about 40 minutes away from my home. And I’m really listening to a book. And I think about it as a center that every time I listen to a book, I get inspired in so many different ways to improve upon things I’m already doing in my business or for myself. And I think that clicked for me at one point. And so I just kept leaning into it. And by the way, I have dyslexia, I was a terrible reader. I can’t spell with the beans, like I have a rule when I train that if I spell it on the board, it’s correct. Just go with it right. As long as you can sound it out, just go with it. But I’m an I’m an avid reader now. And that was not the case. When I was growing up at all. I hated reading because I was made to feel dumb. I was made I went into the read reading group, right. So I guess that as your question that you had, that’s why I really felt like it was back then I remember just who this connects with me. 

 

Shawn Zajas  18:53 

You know, I tell dental practices and dentists like, the strongest place you can ever be in moving forward is when you find a way to connect, like authentically to almost who you are because as as an original, that’s the strongest differentiation you can own in the marketplace. It creates the biggest moat. Yeah. And I feel like with you, Dino, you’ve taken the confluence of everything in your life, and your skill sets and your strengths. And that’s why you’re able to bring such crazy value in dentistry. And I bet it’s probably not even like work to you. Like I imagine when you’re there on the stage, and you’re doing these team transformations, which we’re going to get into, like, it just kind of flows out of everything that you’ve come to learn and be and that’s why you’re just so good at it. Like I told you, it’s hard to to work out something if you want to perform all the time and have to fake it. Well then live out of alignment. But if you find a way to live more aligned to who you are, it’s not going to you’re not going to feel like you’re faking, you know. 

 

Dino Watt 19:57 

Yeah, it’s so true. I there is It’s funny because with when I go out to offices or I go to do private events, about about six months ago, I did a private eight, eight hour long training for dental monitoring. And I knew what they wanted the object objective to be it was for their implementers they wanted me to help them with their sales and how to implement it, how to enroll the team and all that stuff. But I remember the night before, hadn’t really written anything out. I don’t use PowerPoints for the most part. I don’t eight out eight hour training. Yeah, I nothing like I had. And I pulled out my I have one of those notebooks, the digital notebooks right and Remarkable. So yeah, I had one of those. And I remember just in the hotel room going like, Okay, let’s see, I’m sorry about this, and this and this. And I have a process that I use anyway for how to train it very specific. I was taught years ago. So I just started filling in the blanks of okay, data. Okay, exercise. All right, partner share group share data actually just went and get there on the next morning, start. Eight hours later, I’m doing I’ve done with a training I’ve, I’m ready, I can do more. If you want me to write, I just love it when I’m just in that moment and flow and just feel what’s needed from them. Ask them questions. Oh, let me help you out with that. Let me help with that. My wife had said to me once, one time when I was really stressed about an event or something. She just goes, Do you know, you know, your material? Like why are you stressed out about and it was this? Aha, you know, when people tell you something you already know. But it’s news to you? Is it I have like, yeah, that’s That’s true. I do already know this stuff. Which is contrast when I have something like the team transformation experience. That’s a six hour event that I have to have timed out really, really well. Because I have breaks I have to put in there. I have a guest speaker, I have specific timing. And so that stresses me out more because I have to be confined to this time and PowerPoints. And because it’s virtual, so everybody has to see certain slides and stuff. So it’s it’s a bit of a challenge when I’m confined. You just I’ve always said give me 10 minutes prep for a speech. You want to 60 minutes, you want to 90 minutes, give me two minutes prep. No worries, I got you, I will entertain the crap, everybody. I will teach them things. I love it. I love walking on that that tightrope 

 

Shawn Zajas  22:29 

that that is just amazing. Okay, so looking at your journey. Can you identify like a mindset that you either needed to, to embrace or a mindset that you needed to shed in order to get to where you’re at today? 

 

Dino Watt 22:44 

Oh, the shed one’s easy. I mean, and I still deal with it a lot. You know, I I like to make everybody happy. I don’t want anybody to be pissed off at me. So that’s a big one of like, How can I please, everybody leaves everybody and be everybody’s friend. That’s that. So there I am. There’s a lot of trust issues. One big one I had to get rid of my wife actually called me out on it once, after he gave a speech for DentalTown about I don’t know, eight years ago, I was asked to do a little TED Talk type thing for dental town. And, of course, going into something like dentistry ortho, I was aware that I’m standing in front of a group of doctors, and I barely graduated high school. And so there’s that feeling of, I’m not good enough to be to why these guys listening to me. And I would try to mask it with my confidence and things like that. And when this speech I gave was talking about the suicide rates amongst doctors, because that’s really why I got in this industry, when I found out so about the suicide rate, stuff like that my mission is the reverse of the direction of divorce decree addiction and suicide amongst private practice owners and their team members. So that came like that all came from this whole situation, and I’m talking about how we need to do better and we need to talk about it more and be a little more vulnerable. And at one point, I said something that wasn’t something I planned. And I said something about how Listen, I know you’re a bunch of doctors, you’re smart people I know. I barely graduate high school and it’s hard to listen to somebody like me, but I’m telling you this that something like that. I don’t remember how bad it was but like you downplayed yourself. Yeah, totally. At the end of everything. I gave this eight minute speech in the last minute I say something like that. Oh my gosh, like I get off and Shannon doesn’t my wife she doesn’t go to a lot of my events, but she was definitely that one. And she was upset about something you know, you can tell your spouse is not happy. And she’s trying to be nice, but because there’s other people around talking and finally a break comes and she just goes, Don’t you ever do that again on stage and I was like, what would I do and she’s like, you totally downplayed you. You You downplay that you aren’t good enough to be talking these people, you’re giving them a message they need to hear no one else is saying it. And she just kind of reamed me. And I’m probably remembering even harsher than it was. But in my head, it was this. You’re right. Like, why did I do that. And from then on, I’ve always just had it in my head of you know what people will hear what they need to hear, they’ll take it for what it is, I have a gift and education that they don’t. So I’m having it. And so that mindset of shift of like, you know what? Everybody needs help. Everybody’s every is hiding something. Everybody’s just working on something and scared about something and needs to be more vulnerable at something. And so that was a big mindset shift that I had to had to drop in our industry. I don’t know. 

 

Shawn Zajas  25:50 

Yeah. Okay. I was gonna say you kind of went over it fast. But please repeat your mission, because that is like profound. 

 

Dino Watt 25:57 

Yeah, my mission is to reverse the direction of divorce addiction and suicide amongst private practice owners and their team members. And that’s, that’s what I do every day. Like, that’s the goal. That’s what wakes me up every day. That’s where I focus everything. That’s why my core values are what they are, because that’s my mission, my vision for what I do. 

 

Shawn Zajas  26:16 

So our listeners Imagine for a moment 2030 years ago, Dino decided to play it small. And he decided to believe the self doubt, and everything about how he’s he’s not enough for he’s really not ready, or That’s too risky, or there’s not enough certainty or whatever it was, you wouldn’t be able to have already made the impact you’ve made, just to this point, forget, forget the next decade Dino, I’m super excited to see how brightly you’re gonna shine. But I’m just saying, This is my whole belief, as I’m wanting those people that are still on the sideline, and they’re in their heads, and they’re talking themselves out of it, because they don’t have this clear path ahead of them, there’s not a guarantee they’re gonna succeed. Just do it. Like step out now, like, tomorrow is too late to do today. Like right now, to step up and step out because we need, I feel like the Confluence and the synergy that comes when like, when I meet you, and all of a sudden, I hear what you’re doing. Do you know, it just like, makes my fire want to burn brighter, because I’m energized, like, oh, my gosh, I’m inspired. And I don’t want to have the regret of what I could have done. But decided to play it safe to me that the power of regret, I think is amazing. The end, I don’t want to live that way. I don’t want to live that way. So thank you for not playing it small. And just like your wife said, like, don’t ever play small. Again, Dina, we need you to make the impact that only you can make. 

 

Dino Watt 27:46 

I appreciate that. It’s one of those things where I don’t know if I had the I mean, I was always do whatever in school, I was in the plays and in the choir. And I was I was the only male cheerleader in my high school. It’s because I was always willing to be like, I wanna have fun. Like, that’s all like, I want to have fun and make an impact on myself and my life and all that. But I every I have a speech where one point I have everybody take their cell phones out. And this goes to what you just said a moment ago. Take your cell phones out and shine it up in the air. And I said, sometimes it’s really hard for us to shine our own lights. Because people can see that light, right? It’s like, people will be able to point you out and say, Oh, you said this or you did that because you put your light up. What you fail to understand is the purpose of the light is twofold. Number one, yes to shine your light. But number two is you illuminate other people and allow them to step into a light. And then maybe they’ll do something with it, they’ll realize that it’s not so bad in the light. Right. And so I appreciate that. Because I think it’s a disservice anybody listening to this right now, if you have some a dream or a goal or desire, even if it doesn’t have to be huge, whatever it is, I think it’s a disservice. I think there’s there’s it’s actually rude. It’s just rude not to go for it and do it. And always my company is called actually our ripple effect and are always there’s a ripple effect that happens. Right and you are going to improve effects. Somebody’s Friday at the mall this last Friday, when I had the team transformation experience. One of the things I talk about very, very clearly with everybody is I believe you’re learning all of this and I’m teaching all of this because within the next two to three weeks, someone will come into your life who needs to hear this. And you’ll be able to say, hey, you know what I was at this event and I heard this thing this might help you out. That’s the point of I think life is You never know what’s going to help somebody, some stranger or somebody else out in your life. So it’s really, I love seeing people just be in their genius and be awesome at what they do so much fun. 

 

Shawn Zajas  30:12 

That is so awesome. Like, I think of it like we’re all holding a line in advancing dentistry together. And when you look to the right and your left, there’s still some vacancies, where it’s like, we don’t know who’s supposed to occupy those, but we want them to step up and own their strength because the synergy of what is possible. Like I always tell people this, maybe it’s just because I’m also an idea guy with that’s entrepreneurial, like, who knows, do you know, if me and you are going to be sitting on a board together and seven years, you know, with eight other people doing something awesome in dentistry simply because we now know each other, you know, there were some parallel, you know, there was some way that we could both add value. And that’s only possible because you showed up and stepped up and I stepped up, you know, and for everyone that’s afraid of like, see with Dino, you may never have been this way. But I actually was a cynic. For a while I was like, I was the guy on the sideline that was like super judgy about like, oh, man, look at the way that that person takes the offering. Or look at the way that person speaking I could do better. And then I thought about it. And I’m like, well, but I’m not like I’m not trying. I’m not stepping up. And then the second you step up and get in the game, man, you don’t you’re not gonna throw darts at other people that are given their best to the all of a sudden, there’s just like this grace of like, you know, what, if you’re in the arena, and you’re giving it your best, and you’re being good by people, and like, have a code of ethics and power to you. 

 

Dino Watt 31:32 

Yeah, there’s, there’s a saying somebody who said, I’m gonna mess it up. But basically, like, I’ve never, you’ll never hear criticism from somebody who’s doing something better or doing doing what they want to do or doing something, you know, that they care about. They’re doing something like that, like, like they usually criticism comes from people who aren’t doing what they want to be doing. So they got to tear you down. It’s that whole saying of there’s two ways to build the highest building in the city, tear all the other buildings down or build the highest building? Right? 

 

Shawn Zajas  32:02 

I have never heard that. But that that is exactly what we’re talking about. Yeah, 

 

Dino Watt 32:06 

it’s funny. You mentioned the board thing. It’s so crazy. Probably 10 years ago, it’s probably a little more than that. I just happen to know a guy who knew a guy who asked me if I would emcee his book launch here locally. And is this guy, rich Christianson, super nice guy, great, brilliant business mind. And I said, Sure. If I go on, I went into MC I did background and emceeing and Hollywood and so how to emcee it and I, we just got along so great. He was so grateful for it cut to about six months ago, I get this random email from rich connecting me with some guy who’s on a board, or he’s an auditor for a company looking for a board member. Rick suggested me cut to I’m a part of this board. It’s the clinic’s Clinet. Clinicians report with Dr. Gordon Christianson, Christiansen? I, I don’t know who he is. I don’t know what this is. But they reach out. I’m on this board now. And I’d say this to people and be like, Wait, you’re on that board? I mean, yeah, I was just, that’s cool. I had no idea that that connection with Rich 10 years ago is going to lead me to be on one of the most popular reports, one of the most important nonprofits in the industry. Like, how would I know that? But it’s because I just was willing to say yes to something and go out there do it. 

 

Shawn Zajas  33:41 

And because you play the long game where you don’t take shortcuts at the expense of other people. Yeah, you don’t step on people to get ahead. You have this long term game of I’m just going to keep providing value, you know, leading with honor. And I think, I don’t know, maybe maybe it’s a slower, but in the end, it’s the it’s the only way to do it. So Dino, I’m curious, because it seems like a lot of the entrepreneurial genes, or traits kind of become more natural to you. Have you still experienced one of those, like dark nights of the soul where maybe you didn’t want to get out of bed or you weren’t sure what was up ahead and you were kind of thinking man, like, if there ever was a time to give up or give in this would be it? 

 

Dino Watt 34:24 

Well, yeah, I mean, if your aren’t your entrepreneur, truly, you’re gonna have those for sure. Right. It’s the roller coaster ride. You know, 2008 2008 I think it was you know, we lost almost everything. I had done some really bad investments. I was doing the business Marriage program, and I had cars repossessed I couldn’t pay are more we’re like three or four months behind on our mortgage. I had to go and work. Doing door to door sales selling house alone. arms Hummel arms like for with back then it’s called Apex now it’s called Vivint. During the summer, in yuma arizona 120 degree heat, I was hated every moment of it. And if you can’t not think poorly of yourself, and I am not exaggerating, when I’m saying only three months prior, I was around probably four months prior, I was making about $30,000 a month passive with his investments. We were in Jamaica, with my kids on a vacation, when I got the call, and it was all part of people who know Bernie Madoff and all that stuff, it was all part of that, but I didn’t know is like way down the list of things. And we got nothing, like nothing overnight. Income stops. It was funny, I hadn’t thought about that, about the contrast between that and COVID. I’ll explain that a moment. But yeah, for sure. I was dark night of the soul for sure. I I never went so dark, my brother. This is later on in life, but my brother four years ago took his life. I don’t, I never got that far. But it definitely was not a happy moment for me. And the only way I got out of it. The only way and I was just talking my daughter about this recently is every door I knocked, that was going to reject me or wasn’t home or whatever, in the hot sun. I said to myself, I will tell the story from the stage one day, I will This is not the end, right? I’m gonna, I’m gonna make money from my family, I’m gonna save our home, I’m gonna do what needs to be done, because that’s what I got to do. But I knew this would be part of the story, not my story. And the funny thing about contrasting that is with COVID, when everything shut down, and everybody dealt with that, when the government came in and said, all the offices have to shut we were we were having our best year ever business wise, we had the I only take on about 10 to 12 clients a year. And it’s all high, high level. And when I heard that, I had one client in California at the time, who called me to say it can’t be at our meeting today, I gotta shut down the office, I turned to my wife and I said, we’ve got to pause all of our doctor’s retainers right now. And that meant literally overnight, we went to zero income, zero, there was no residual, we don’t have any money coming in with zero money. And luckily, we had saved up enough money, we had good savings over the last two years. And we had just sold a house and things like that. But the other thing I said, in contrast to that time where I was losing everything was I am going to deliver more value than I’ve ever delivered before for free. I’m going to do more webinars, I’m going to do more conferences, I’m going to do more speeches, all virtual, I ended up writing a book about it, I ended up doing a whole program around how to sell virtually for doctors to be able to keep their business going. But it was a huge contrast that I really haven’t thought about the differences between that, as you said, Dark Night of the Soul where I did not want to get out of bed, I was not happy. The only day I got out of bed and I had three kids I had to feed like that was two solutions provider to Okay, I’m gonna not have any money again. But I’m going to add massive value. And because I made that decision, everything started rolling into place more and more and more and more and more and more for my business. And so it’s been it’s really interesting to think about that. 

 

Shawn Zajas  38:54 

I mean, you know, you just said so much there even I love that little part where you said in 2008 This is part of the story totally, it’s not going to be my story. Like that is so profound. It’s all about the narrative. We even allow, like, to be written as we’re going through life. Yep. You know, it’s like is this moment is this challenge is this darkness going to? I just said this on the last last podcast, but who cares almost be like one of those moments, where just like a phoenix getting to rise out of the ashes. It’s a defining moment. It’s a moment where just like that coal under pressure, you can become a diamond that now can can shine in a way that you never could have had that resilience. Had you gone through and no one says, hey, look, sign me up for the struggles. Like, I’ll go head on into into the suffering into the trauma into the tragedies. But I find it’s in those moments that you can actually find like the most gold. 

 

Dino Watt 39:54 

I mean, I’m gonna give you a word that you probably haven’t heard before, but it describes exactly exactly the scientific word of what you just said. Do you know what that scientific word is for that coal becoming a diamond versus not? No, it’s called perturbation. It’s the root word. It’s perturb. And we all go through this right? We go to the gym after not going to the gym three days later. body hurts, don’t want to move. Why would I do this, your brain saying stop it, this is gonna kill you go back to the couch. Right? That’s perturbation. And so that moment where the coal becomes it either, like molecularly molecularly. It says, I’m either going to push forward and become the diamond. Or I’m going to pull off that pressure and become sludge. So 

 

Shawn Zajas  40:47 

okay, I’m sorry, like this has blown my mind away. Because I feel like there’s so many moments, you know, in my own life, that I find a way to almost wriggle out of the pressure. Yep. Production, I somehow redefine what the story is to be like, Well, that was more of an option I didn’t really need. And yet, I think I just need to like, stay the course. 

 

Dino Watt 41:06 

Push forward, lean into it, right. That’s the key lean into it. It’s so no one gets out alive, right. So we might as well. Might as well push forward, minds will lean into it. It’s where the coolest stories are too, though. Right? When you think about all your cool stories that you tell all the stuff you get to build upon. It’s always when it was the worst of times, and then suddenly, it was the best of times? 

 

Shawn Zajas  41:30 

Well, the irony is, like, you know, I watch movies like Lord of the Rings, or you know, like Braveheart. And in Lord of the Rings, I’m like, Yes, like, I would love to be one of the hobbits that has this crazy adventure. But more likely than not, I would have just stayed in the Shire. Sure, you know, and I would have made excuses as why and Braveheart. I want to be William Wallace. But I find out most of the time on Robert the Bruce. 

 

Dino Watt 41:54 

He’s an ancestor of mine. So you know, that’s true 

 

Shawn Zajas  41:57 

And, and that’s the thing. It’s like, I love hearing the stories because it almost just like makes it okay. To live the messy life that I don’t know. Like, that’s what that’s what unites all of us in humanity is that it’s messy, it’s unpredictable, we there is no guarantees. And if there was a guarantee, what do we want that? Truly, what do we actually enjoy that? 

 

Dino Watt 42:21 

Well, you said something earlier that I think is so profound about regret, right, and just living your life in regret. And I’m worried definitely about some of the things that I want to do that I haven’t gotten around doing it that I will regret not doing, not things like skydiving or something like that. But I have so many things I want to experience and do in life, even if it doesn’t do anything. If it fails, I have a musical I want to write, I have a TV show that I have a mazing idea for. And I’ll regret and I’ll be on my deathbed and regret that I didn’t do it. But I’ll just regret the experience of it. The things that really matter, are the things I don’t want to sit back and regret. I will never regret. marrying my wife for sure. I’ll never regret having my kids. I’ll never regret trying out a new, crazy dance routine on my speeches. Right? I’ll never regret. So those type of things are when I’m never regret starting different businesses, no matter if they failed or not. It’s just, I want to live in a space where it’s okay to live to have some regrets. But on the stuff that really matters, so just try it. And there’s a lot of stuff that I tried that I thought for sure I wanted to do. And then I was doing and I’m like, Yeah, I don’t want to do this anymore. Like, that’s okay. You know, it’s 

 

Shawn Zajas  43:45 

crazy. It’s crazy, because I’ve heard people talk about like, hey, until you you know, put something out into the universe, meaning until you speak a thing or really let people know, no one knows how to help you. And even as you just said, The I would love to have a musical or whatnot. Like I’m sure who knows who might be listening to this episode, and might be being like, wow, like, maybe Dino and I can get together because he offers this side. I have the this expertise and then, but without saying it, no one knows. Like, no one knows. So you just encouraged me to. I don’t know just maybe be more courageous and bold about the visions that I see in the dreams that I want to accomplish. Do you know you are just fascinating? 

 

Dino Watt 44:25 

Well, let me tell you this one last thing that I want to piggyback on that there’s a book called vivid vision by Cameron Harold. And in it. He talks about how to create your vivid vision and how to be really, really specific about what you want out of your business and life is over. But the key thing that he talks about to piggyback on what you just said was, he said once you have your vivid vision laid out and his vivid vision like is usually three four or five pages long. It’s not just like the statement. He says you should give it out, print it out and give it to everyone your delivery man all of your your employees Is your family members at Christmas time? Because the only way it’s going to happen and happen faster is if everyone knows about it. Because they’re the ones who are going to deliver it to you. They’re the ones who are going to make the connection to this guy to that guy to this guy. So yeah, you have to speak, you have to tell everybody what it is. 

 

Shawn Zajas  45:19 

You know, somehow. I’m like, that got me thinking about something with dentistry with dentists. And I’m drawing a blank right now. But it had to do with. Oh, I think one of the things that also stops dentists is they have this sense of respect maybe, or expertise already in the roles of dentists. Maybe it’s a clinician or maybe it’s a leader. And then all of a sudden, if they get this idea about something that’s maybe not clinical, maybe it’s more on the business side, more entrepreneurial side, it almost feels like Well, yeah, but how what if people see me try something that I am not good at? Right? And, and yet, everyone has to start in that beginner mindset, again, as kind of a newbie that has to, but I feel like that’s one mindset that holds people back. Like if you’re listening right now, and you’re like, Oh, but I already have such respect to my community. People see me as an accomplished professional. Don’t let that be the reason why you don’t follow the dream of your heart. Because you’re gonna miss out on fulfillment later. So yeah, don’t don’t let that happen. So Dino, I want you to talk about what it is that you’ve been doing, because I want our listeners to know about this, this team transformation experience that is so out of the box. 

 

Dino Watt 46:34 

Well, even though it’s not dentistry, what you just said it was exactly what got me to this because it was, I was coaching, and I’m consulting with these offices, and I’m speaking on stages. And I’ve had had this dream for a very long time to do kind of like a Tony Robbins today, personal empowerment, personal development event with teams, because I love working with teams so much. And I feel like it’s my calling that to really help especially team members within doctors go to events where you’re kind of exposed maybe a little more into self and personal development. And as a business leader, not a lot of time teams are so I feel like I really get to do that and be that that catalyst to people that are in the offices to teach them mindset differences and how you can have more in your life. And so I want to do this for a long time. But there’s a lot of logistics, right? How do you get doctors to get whole teams to come out to Utah for two days, and there’s a lot of expense to it. And it obviously, as a business owner, it has to make money, right? It has to it can’t be doing a charity out of it. So my wife about last September, I think it was I was telling her about this. And man, I just really wish it could and it’s one of those on the list of things Dino wants to do things. And finally she goes, you know, they don’t have to come to you at first, you could just start it off as a virtual event. You did write a book about how to put on virtual events. And I went, Oh my gosh, that’s that’s so smart. Like, what , 

 

Shawn Zajas  48:06 

this moment of like your wife being like, Dino like, do you see this? Yeah. You’re like, 

 

Dino Watt 48:14 

what I what I tease her about is like, you’ve known about this for years. Why are you just talking about this now? Like what took you so long? Of course, I got all arguments, all arguments are just fighting to be the biggest victim, right? And any argument, especially with your spouse. And so that’s where I’m like, Well, you could have done this. So she says, do this thing. And I went, Man, that’s a great idea. Well, there’s a company here in Utah that I do some work for their real estate company, and I do some training for them. And they have a really cool setup. They have an awesome stage with, you know, LED screens behind it, and multi camera and lighting and all this stuff. So I reached out to him, I said, Hey, if I did this event, can I use your stage? And they’re like, Absolutely, we’d love to do for us really appreciate it again, building on relationships that I’ve already kind of given. And so we decided to launch the team transformation experience. I didn’t want it to be an event. It’s an experience where we create live, interactive digital experience for people and teams where you work together with your team. It’s not individual Zoom meeting, right? You’re together with your team in the office. And we give out like maps on how to set up your room so we can see everybody from the camera. We talk about how to go into the event we send people Wow boxes on stuff that they can use in there and I don’t even have it next to me this one we gave them little Dino bobbleheads of what would Dino do bobbleheads. Right? And we want to make an experience where we have been using their phones to answer questions that we can all see and it’s six hours of the first one in January. It’s all about getting ready for the year. It’s the kickoff right accountability goals focused 1% difference. And then there’s the one we did on Friday is the June one. And that’s how to grow together unity wise as a team, because, you know, things stressed out a little more in the summer when he’s a little busier. Right? And so grow together unity communication, connection, collaboration. And we put on a six hour event unlike anything else out there, it’s the only one that I know of in the world for teams in general, let alone dental and ortho space. And we did the first one in January, we had six, we had 53, teams, 630 people. And then in this one, we had a little less, we had 32 teams, and about 400 people. The next one, though, in January, our goal is to get 100 people in there 100 offices, I should say in there. And you know, it’s it’s $5,000 for your entire team, not per person. I mean, if you look at some of these things, where you’re going out to 

 

Shawn Zajas  50:57 

eat, or you have to travel Ada and 10s of 

 

Dino Watt 50:59 

1000s of dollars on travel and everything else. And it’s something that you’re not quite sure what you’re gonna get back in return, right? Because you go to New Orleans with your team members, and they’re gonna get drunk, and you never know what’s going to happen. And I’ve seen some horror stories. And so here you have a very specific area, and we have a lot of fun with it. And yeah, we just want to grow and grow and grow it we’re, it’s so much fun. It’s a blast. 

 

Shawn Zajas  51:26 

You know, I can’t imagine 400 over 400 people virtually, yeah, that you are interacting with, for six hours. I mean, that takes a special person. But again, with everything that you’ve done, it almost leads to this place where I don’t want to say it’s a natural, but it’s like, who better to do it than you? 

 

Dino Watt 51:45 

Well, it’s the muscle that’s been built, right? There’s a great book called Be so good, they can’t ignore you. And it’s actually a line from Steve Martin’s book, that he wrote his autobiography where That’s where he had to decide, as a comedian, he had to be so good, they couldn’t ignore him, because people didn’t get his comedy at first. And the point of the book is an St. Martin’s but can be So Good They Can’t Ignore You is everything that you have done in your life from when you were a kid, especially when you started in the workplace is that you never know. What is going to be the thing that adds on top of the thing that adds on top of the thing that adds on top of the things that build the muscle to get you to this ultimate place. I never in a million years when I was in Hollywood, and I was DJing parties and emceeing game shows for corporate events, I thought that that skill would help me stand alone on a stage for six hours. But it does, right. I know how to entertain people it does. So yeah, it’s really interesting. And everybody has that every listening to this has that you built upon a muscle that built upon a muscle, that built upon a muscle. 

 

Shawn Zajas  52:58 

And that’s what I love. I always try to remind listeners, like we’re saying certain things, but it’s really what they’re hearing between what we’re saying yours like, they know exactly what just came to mind of like, oh my gosh, that’s a muscle that I have. But it’s almost like a tool that I’ve left on the shelf. Like I haven’t incorporated that into, you know what I’m doing vocationally. And it’s like, well, maybe maybe it’s time, you know, maybe dentistry needs that. Yeah. So here’s the here’s a question over the next decade of your life, if that was a chapter in your book, what would that chapter be called? 

 

Dino Watt 53:34 

The next decade is my chapter the next decades. So the next decade of my chapter so the chapter is going to be called own your role. It’s something that I’m really recognizing is so needed in our industry and in myself right now. And when I talk about own your role, I mean, when people ask you what you do, instead of telling them the title or the process of what you do, talk about the impact you make on them. And my next decade will be about owning the role of a someone who inspires people, someone who connects with people, someone who transforms multiple people’s lives. And then the sub chapter will be Oh, yeah, and I wrote a musical and I spent a read an almost from the outside ridiculous amount of time with my wife. Like that. That’s it. I 

 

Shawn Zajas  54:50 

I love this. 

 

Dino Watt 4:52 

I love that one of my favorite things in the world. I do everything I do so I could run errands with my wife whenever I want to. That’s That’s my It’s so much fun to me. So 

 

Shawn Zajas  55:03 

do you know that is so beautiful? You know, I talked about with one of my greatest friends in dentistry Dr. Allison house that so many people that are achievement driven might end up like the worst thing I guess would be to end up being at the top of a mountain that you’ve climbed and realizing no one else is there. Well, 

 

Dino Watt 55:23 

gosh, that sucks. 

 

Shawn Zajas  55:25 

Right? Like because at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if we can’t share it with the people that we love 

 

Dino Watt 55:31 

I literally got you. In fact, you said that that sucks like that, that depresses me to know in 

 

Shawn Zajas  55:37 

well, and that’s what I love about your mission. It’s like your mission is to make sure people stay aligned, so that all the sacrifices are making dentistry is tough. Dentistry is so tough. Like, you know, I honor every single dentist that trenches to keep doing what they’re doing. But it’s even tougher if you’re doing it out of alignment with who you are. And you don’t have your best friend at your left and your right and your team isn’t. There’s not respect there and admiration and you know, a culture that’s life giving, it’s just so much harder. 

 

Dino Watt 56:06 

Listen, at the end of the day, like, I used to say this a lot in my marriage courses. And this is just true to pay you piggyback on your top of the mountain thing is, you know, we’re all all of us will get into a place where we’re laying in a bed, hopefully, like with loved ones around us. And there’s really only going to be a certain set of eyes that you’re going to care are looking down on you and you’re looking into. That’s it. You can add your kids to that for sure. And also, but number one is this person that I shared my entire life with or shared a majority of my life with. I’m blessed enough. I know, this is a really odd story. But I’m so grateful as I’ve known my wife since I was five years old. We were backdoor neighbors. We’ve been married now this year will be 29 years. We’re not perfect. We have some crazy good fights, right? Cuz I like to be a victim sometimes, too. Right? And so does she, you’re like me, you know. But at the end of the day, nothing matters, except for the relationship you build. And relationships. But I imagine I don’t look forward to like I’m not rushing it. But to be I visualized laying in that bed, my head on a pillow. I know it’s getting to the end and looking up and seeing those amazing green eyes. That’s the best. 

 

Shawn Zajas  57:38 

Every time you say that it hits me like I’m not expecting to get hit by that. Like there’s, there’s such a weightiness to it. And I just, I just wasn’t expecting that. So. Okay, so do you know if someone’s listening right now? And they’re like, oh, my gosh, I want to learn more about that the team transformation experience or how I can, you know, reach out and maybe connect and I know Dino only offers really high value coaching or consulting. But if they’re interested in any of those things, where do you want them to go? 

 

Dino Watt 58:05 

Yeah, your team transformation.com is the best place to find out about the next events. The one in January is I believe it’s the 18th It’s a Thursday, third Thursday of the month in January. And then just Dino watt.com Is my speaking site. And Dino what consulting is my consulting site and that let you know more about the own Euro process and all that? 

 

Shawn Zajas  58:31 

Okay, so do we have one more question? I don’t know if are you ready for it? Yeah, sure. Okay, so here you are. You’re walking down the street and. And off in the distance you see a 18 year old Dino 18 year old 18 year old nice and dandy and you know, he only have one moment to communicate one brief sentiment. What do you share to him? 

 

Dino Watt 58:54 

Don’t wait. Stop waiting. Don’t Don’t wait. Don’t care. Like don’t wait. Don’t care. Care about the people you care about. And that’s it, but do not care about what other people are thinking or saying or doing and this is still what I’d say to a 50 year old Dino right now. Right? It’s it’s going to be repetitive but don’t wait. And I know almost sounds cliche. But don’t wait. I mean, I thought I was doing a lot. I think I still have done a lot in my life. But I could have done so much more. 

 

Shawn Zajas  59:25 

Do you know that’s like the perfect like bow on top of this entire conversation. Like for anyone listening that sums it up? Like just just go like step out. Now’s the perfect time tomorrow is too late. And don’t care about what other people might think. Like, don’t don’t wait for that. Do you know it has been just an honor and a privilege and it’s been so easy to honor you as an innovator. As you can tell, like naturally, I’ve just been incredibly fascinated by the way you think the way that you’ve overcome and I’m so thankful that you have overcome the way that you have just so that you can release the value that you’ve released in dentistry. So, thank you so much. I’m honored for later me. Yeah. Thank you for letting me interview you today. My 

 

Dino Watt 1:00:09 

pleasure. Thank you. I appreciate your great and great interview. 

 

Shawn Zajas  1:00:13 

Thank you, Dino. Thanks for listening and be sure to follow so you never miss an episode. To learn more about what’s going on in dentistry, check out innovation in dentistry.com