In this episode, Dr Jesse Green sits down with psychologist turned entrepreneur Ali Hill, co-founder of Pragmatic Thinking and host of the Stand Out Life podcast. Ali unpacks the difference between the obligations that come with your position as a business owner and the ones you have simply inherited from social programming or people pleasing, and why untangling the two is the real key to protecting your time. She also shares how she and her husband have engineered their own business around school terms and family priorities, and the honest conversations it takes to hold a boundary once you have set it.

The conversation moves through grit, resilience and the point of diminishing returns, before landing on practical, minimum viable ways to protect wellbeing without adding another task to an already full day. If you are a dental practice owner trying to work out where your practice ends and your life begins, you won't want to miss this episode.

In This Episode:

• 01:20 Ali explains the origin of her "head mechanic" analogy and the psychology patterns she sees again and again in business owners
• 16:02 Separating your position from your person: where genuine obligation ends and inherited expectation begins
• 21:03 Why work and home have always bled into each other, and being kind to yourself about that overlap
• 23:56 How Ali and her husband engineer their business around school holidays, and the honest conversations it takes to protect that boundary
• 27:00 Building a culture of wellbeing in your team by role modelling it yourself, and why numbing so easily gets mistaken for rest

Resources and Links:

• Join the free Savvy Dentist Facebook Group
• Connect with Dr Jesse Green on LinkedIn

Ali Hill's:

• Books, Stand Out, Dealing with the Tough Stuff, and Work from Anywhere
• Podcast, Stand Out Life
• Business, Pragmatic Thinking

Mentioned in this episode:

Savvy Dentist Team Training Bundle

If your practice can’t run without you, it’s time for systems - not more theory. That’s why we created the Savvy Dentist Team Training Bundle - five powerful, system-driven programs including Front Desk All Stars, the Million Dollar Dentist, Practice Manager Masterclass, Advanced Treatment Coordinator Training, and High-Performance Hygiene. Each course delivers practical, step-by-step systems your team can use every day to build accountability and create a self-managing practice. Save $2,000 for a limited time — visit savvydentist.com/team-training.

Team Training Bundle 2025

Patients rarely say yes to treatment on logic alone. Jesse breaks down why case acceptance language for dentists needs to speak to emotion first, using a "fireside chat" to uncover what is really motivating a patient before the exam even begins. He then introduces the want, need, logic framework, a technique that links a patient's emotional driver to the clinical need you have identified, always closed out with a clear logical reason that prevents buyer's remorse.

Jesse also shows how to scale this skill across a practice by teaching associates conversational frameworks instead of rigid scripts, so team members keep enough structure to guide the conversation while sounding like themselves. If you are looking to boost case acceptance across your practice without feeling pushy or scripted, then don't miss this episode.

In This Episode:

• 01:16 Why people make buying decisions emotionally, then justify them with logic afterward
• 02:38 The fireside chat: uncovering what's really driving your patient before you start the exam
• 03:15 Introducing the want, need, logic framework for presenting treatment
• 07:34 Teaching the framework to associates through conversational structure, not rigid scripts
• 09:45 Overcoming the "salesy" feeling: ethical treatment planning and the 100 reps rule

Resources and Links:

• Join the free Savvy Dentist Facebook Group
• Connect with Dr Jesse Green on LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode:

Savvy Dentist Team Training Bundle

If your practice can’t run without you, it’s time for systems - not more theory. That’s why we created the Savvy Dentist Team Training Bundle - five powerful, system-driven programs including Front Desk All Stars, the Million Dollar Dentist, Practice Manager Masterclass, Advanced Treatment Coordinator Training, and High-Performance Hygiene. Each course delivers practical, step-by-step systems your team can use every day to build accountability and create a self-managing practice. Save $2,000 for a limited time — visit savvydentist.com/team-training.

Team Training Bundle 2025

What happens when a 46-year-old walks into a company where the average age is 23, and has to earn the respect of every person in the room? In this episode, Jesse sits down with Stephen Scheeler, the former inaugural CEO of Facebook ANZ and now CEO and MD of Omniscient, a company using AI to map the human brain.

Stephen's career has zigged and zagged through startups, Silicon Valley, McKinsey and big tech, and the dental practice leadership lessons he's picked up along the way are gold for any practice owner navigating change, technology and team dynamics.

From the deceptively simple question (“teach me how to do your job”) to the dangers of unchecked power and the realities of adopting AI without losing your mind, this conversation is packed with insights that go well beyond tech. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the pace of change or wondered how to lead a team that knows more than you do in certain areas, this one's for you.

In this Episode:

• 04:12 The unconventional career path that took Stephen from avoiding work in his twenties to running Facebook's Asia Pacific ad business
• 08:00 The one question Stephen asked over 100 Facebook employees, including Mark Zuckerberg, that changed the way he led forever
• 23:30 Three things every practice owner can learn from Facebook's accountability failures and what unchecked power really costs a business
• 28:00 Why Stephen told his team to ignore AI for two years, and the crawl, walk, run framework he's now using to transform his company
• 38:00 How Omniscient is using AI and connectomics to map the human brain, and what precision brain medicine could mean for the future of healthcare

Resources and Links:

• Check out Omniscient Neurotechnology
• • Join the free Savvy Dentist Facebook Group
  • Follow Dr Jesse Green on LinkedIn
  • Visit Savvy Dentist website
  
  

Mentioned in this episode:

Savvy Dentist Team Training Bundle

If your practice can’t run without you, it’s time for systems - not more theory. That’s why we created the Savvy Dentist Team Training Bundle - five powerful, system-driven programs including Front Desk All Stars, the Million Dollar Dentist, Practice Manager Masterclass, Advanced Treatment Coordinator Training, and High-Performance Hygiene. Each course delivers practical, step-by-step systems your team can use every day to build accountability and create a self-managing practice. Save $2,000 for a limited time — visit savvydentist.com/team-training.

Team Training Bundle 2025