In this inspiring episode of the Marketing 32 show, host Brett Allen welcomes Anne Duffy, the unstoppable founder and CEO of Dental Entrepreneur Woman (DEW), whose 45-year dental career has been defined by championing women in leadership and creating opportunities where none existed. What began as a righteous anger response to a friend's devastating 360 review—where her smile was called "insincere" and accused of plotting against the company—transformed into a movement that now brings 250 women together annually for personal and professional development. Anne's journey from Ohio State dental hygiene graduate to corporate wife moving 10 times with three kids to accidental entrepreneur building the largest female dental professional network marketing group, and ultimately to media mogul with multiple publications, demonstrates her core principle: "Just do it—you don't need to know everything before you say yes." Her story reveals how a martini-fueled back porch decision to create Dental Entrepreneur Woman became the seventh annual retreat at the Ballantyne Resort, serving women across all dental career paths with the foundational pillars of love and leaning into God-given strengths through Gallup StrengthsFinder 2.0.

In this episode...

Anne Duffy delivers a masterclass in purpose-driven entrepreneurship, revealing how authentic anger on behalf of a friend became the catalyst for building one of dentistry's most influential women's communities. Her journey defies conventional entrepreneurial planning—from graduating Ohio State dental hygiene in 1974 to moving 10 times as a corporate wife while taking 6 state boards and raising 3 kids, to building the largest female dental professional group in OxyFresh network marketing, to buying and rebranding Dental Entrepreneur magazine, and finally to the martini-fueled back porch decision that launched DEW. This trajectory demonstrates her core teaching that waiting until you know everything guarantees you'll never start, while taking action before you're ready creates opportunities for growth and discovery.

The DEW community's explosive growth from 100 first-retreat attendees to consistent 250-person sellouts reveals the desperate need for women-specific professional development and peer support in dentistry. Anne's insight that even successful practice owners feel isolated—unable to call competitors down the street to share struggles or celebrate wins—explains why word-of-mouth organic growth sustained seven years of retreats without traditional marketing. The community's founding principles of no scarcity mentality, no gossiping, giving benefit of doubt, and the newest addition "the answers in the ladies room" create psychological safety for vulnerability and authentic connection across all career paths from hygienists to lab owners to marketing professionals to interior designers, united only by current or past dental industry connection.

The retreat format itself represents innovative thinking about professional development, eliminating traditional breakout sessions in favor of table-switching that ensures participants meet maximum people while keeping sponsors integrated as full participants rather than isolated vendors. The foundational pillars of love (in response to Anne's friend's devastating review) and Gallup StrengthsFinder 2.0 (which changed Anne's life 17 years ago) provide structure for personal and professional growth without pursuing continuing education credits until recently. The addition of Dress for Success partnership for donating suits and purses demonstrates how DEW extends impact beyond members to support women reentering the workforce, while the inclusion of 219 "DUDEs" (men supporting women in dentistry) acknowledges that transformation requires allies across gender lines.