Hey, voices from the bench community. Jennifer Ferguson from I'm Here with a quick shout out to all programming, M7 users and those thinking about joining the club. On July 1st, we're launching the IV block module that is powered by intelligent automation that optimizes tool paths and saves you serious time. I'm talking up to 45% faster milling, and you want to know what the best part is? You can try it for free for 90 days. No pressure, no commitment. Do you want in? All you have to do is shoot us a message on Instagram at or email me at Jennifer. And we'll get you set up. Welcome to voices from the bench, a dental laboratory podcast. Send us an email at Info Voices from the bench and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Greetings and welcome to episode 378 of voices from the bench. My name is Elvis. My name is Barbara. Barbara. Where the hell were you the weekend before last? We missed you in Florida. I know, I'm so sad, but. Yeah. Our lab came first. I caught a midnight flight. Didn't get into. I don't even know. We actually circled Tampa because there was a dark red, which anybody knows. Rain. So dark rainstorm. So we circled Tampa for an hour. I think I got in at 1 a.m. on the way back. Yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah. So it was fun. I'm actually glad I didn't commit because it would have really sucked, but yeah, I know. FDLE is my hero, and you were amazing. And I've seen it all over Facebook and of course, Joe and all his memes. And so it was great, right? Oh, yeah. It was a great show. Great group of attendees. The lineup of speakers was really good. Oh, I mean, so amazing. I don't want to name them all because I'll forget a few, but man, it was killer. I saw John Wilson. What he had to go through to get to that show was It's ridiculous. Yeah. Not fun. And I don't know why these people put West Coast residents at 8:00 in the morning on East Coast shows. I don't think I would agree to that, but props to him for doing it. Well, he had a bad time to get there, and he had a funny thing on Facebook and I was just like, all in. I was watching it and I was like, he's amazing. So just one of many. Yeah, but it was good. Yeah. Thank you. Jensen was set up in their booth. Man, what a great company. I learned a lot about Jensen. Talk to one of the gentlemen from the company that will be on an episode. Learned a lot about, you know, just how Jensen works and the history of it. I love it, the expo hall. You know, traffic was a little light, but I really didn't think I got a lot of recordings. But now as I go through it, I got a good amount of recordings. I'm super proud of myself. Well done. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm so sorry I missed it. I mean that sincerely. I do like recording live with you. Yeah, yeah, we miss you. Bah. We really did. What was kind of cool is had a few conversations with past guests just getting some follow ups. So that was fun. Even somebody I talked to that we had on the first year. Wow. But also, hey, we want to give another thank you to Jay magazine. They gave us a whole page about our experiences at IDs. Dude, we needed a whole magazine for our experience at IDs. Oh my God. Thank you JD. That was an experience in itself. And of course, thank you xo. We wouldn't even have this article if it wasn't for them. Yeah man, it's so cool to kind of relive that five for five days. No, I like the fact that they pulled both your and my opinion, and they pulled in everything we had to genuinely say about it. I love JD so good. So I was happy about it. Yeah. Speaking of JD, a highlight of my life happens in this issue. If you follow me on Facebook, I did post about it, but they were doing a follow up article about my time at an ADL University. Thousand and 15 2015. What a year old! I look so young in that picture. I know, but they asked me for a headshot and when we were doing this, I was on my used ChatGPT to turn everybody into Muppets. And I saw my Muppet headshot and they published it. I know I saw it. I'm so excited. I know, I know, everyone else is probably like Elvis. Calm down. I was like, that's my partner. He's a hero. It's like a highlight of my life. Oh, the little things. It is the little things and the big things. It is, it is. So let's get to it. We are actually going to interrupt our scheduled IDs recordings that we got at the exo CAD booth to bring you two good friends that are putting together the must go to dental event of the year this November. No doubt. So the good half of Noac dental supplies. Sorry, Sean. Just saying. Brandi Nowak comes on to talk about her history of stepping into that family business 25 years ago. And let's not forget that within that first five years, they got devastated by hurricane. Yeah. And with the help of her brother, they rebuilt that business to the powerhouse that it is now, providing everything to labs and importantly, only labs. But just at the beginning of this year, they brought on Mary Beth Star to the Nowak team. Mary Beth comes from a long line of companies that provide to labs, starting with dental tech supply, which I didn't even know about. Then she moved over to Zorn and of course at harvest, where she shined bright to her current role of helping Nowak grow and become even better. But these two have something that you honestly just have to witness. Oh, yeah. Or here or in here. They know how to have fun, and it's that dynamic that is bringing us the Nola lab fest in November. You don't want to miss this stellar lineup of speakers and evening events. This is going to be such a great show. Some and we go through it all. So join us as we chat with Brandi Nowak and Mary Beth Star. Voices from the bench. The interview. So Barb and I are super excited today. Now, not only has it been, what, three months since we've done a remote recording? It's been a long time. Yes. Yeah, we're a little out of practice, but I don't. I think we're coming back with a vengeance and a great group because we're joined by two people from one of our favorite companies, Nowak Dental Supplies, Brandi Nowak and Marybeth Starr. Welcome to the podcast. How are you? Hey, guys. Hi. Hi. We're super excited to be here. Right. So are we. So before we get into the real reason why we're all here, I want to hear a little bit of the Brandi Nowak story. Yeah, I do too, because that's a great story. We all hear the Shawn's story, honestly, to the point where we're sick of it. Yeah. I want to hear the Brandi story. Okay. So I am Brandi Nowak. I have been doing this for 25 years now. I love teeth, I love everything about teeth. My desk is covered with teeth. But, um, I just love the dental industry. I graduated from college in business, and this is where I wanted to be. I wanted to surround myself with teeth and great people. And I love it. Yeah, grandfather started it. Yeah. Dad took it over. Yes. You went to college thinking you were going to come back, or what was the inspiration growing up? I wanted to actually be a psychiatrist, and then I went very needed in our field, by the way. And so I went to college thinking that's what I was going to do. I went a year into it and I'm like, oh, I take on too many people's problems. Like I worry about them once I finish talking to them. So I'm like, I can't do that. Well, I didn't know I'd end up being a psychiatrist in the dental field. Like, you know, the classroom. Get to know all there together. Yeah, I get to know all their problems. And so it works out. I get best of both worlds. I get teeth and helping people. Yeah, but did you know that when you switched your degrees that you wanted to go to Nowak and you wanted to work there? Yes, I did, yes. After I decided I didn't want to be a psychiatrist, I knew this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to continue our family legacy and walk in the footsteps of my grandfather and my dad and my aunt did. Wow. So when you came into it, how big was Nowak compared to what it is now? We were very small. That's what I thought. We were very small. We were more just of a local dealer. We did the New Orleans area, Louisiana, Mississippi. We were very small. I mean, when me and Sean got here, we both got here in 2000. They were still handwriting all their invoices. They were. There was no computers at all. In 2000? Yes. Yes. 2000. It was. It was probably 2 or 3 years later that we finally like, okay, we have to get computers. And no one in the office knew computers at all. Not just anything like. Wow. So the first day that I taught them computers, the first thing I did was I'm like, okay, I need everybody just to bang on their keyboard. I need you to see that nothing bad is going to happen. It's all going to be okay. There's the psychiatry right there. Exactly. That first day, after trying to teach computers, I left crying. They left crying. And I'm like, I don't know if we can do this. So you actually had to physically teach everybody how to use a computer back then. That's like, how do you use a mouse? How to use like completely how to use a computer. Like, yeah, it was. It was very different. I mean, me and Sean grew up with computers. We, you know, we had, you know, but this was yeah, people that had never touched a computer and they're like, oh, I can't do this. And they're used to handwriting their invoices. And so you are the change agent. Yes, yes. When we look back, I'm like Sean. So each person, whenever we'd sell a product, they'd have to go look up at the manufacturers retail and then take a discount off of that. You know how many times that was probably wrong on people's invoices like, oh, they got a better deal here. And I'm like, there was just no consistency and no computers. How many employees were a part of that? Oh, we had about 15. So it was a good amount of people. But once computers came, you could you could give people new jobs. You could, you know, computers did a lot of that. Yeah. Did you get a lot of resistance from the 15 employees? We did. Yeah. Yeah. We all left crying. They all left crying. They all wanted to quit. They. Hey, like it's gonna get better, but that. And that was your first like interim like going into the company to. So that had to have been a little hard for you psychologically the new you know. You know, you're a family member, but it's your first day or first week and you're bringing all this change. I'm sure they loved, loved you twofold. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure. The employee of the month. One of these kids want to do. Exactly. That's exactly what it was. I've been doing this for 30 years. Yeah. So how did you get around that? We just kept doing it. I mean, we just. You have to keep going every day. We're going to get better on these computers. And finally they did. And they're like, oh, this is so much. And then they were like, thank you, thank you, thank you. Exactly. I'm sorry. I hated you at first. Exactly. Yeah. And 25 years later, you're leading in digital in our industry. Isn't that just amazing when you think about it, where it. Our grandparents had just never could have seen this coming. You know, my grandfather is first year in business, a $2,000, his first year in sales and his second year he did $1,000 in sales. So he went down by 50% and kept going. What year was that? That was 1944. Wow. 44. The hell is he selling? Well, we we have the list of of items like we have his inventory items. Oh, really? Yeah, we have a list of it. How many items does no X still carry? Some. We do still sell some of them. Interesting. I was curious, the hurricane. Was that. What year was that into your legacy? 2005. Yep. We were there. So that was five years after you started? Yes. Five years. Like, didn't that totally nuke your building? We lost everything. There was nothing left of our building. So backstory real quick. So my when my grandfather started how he backed way back, his dad died when he was ten years old, and he had to become the man of the family. He had to work at ten years old. And so he started working at a dental laboratory. He delivered their cases. Oh, wow. This had to have been, what, in the 30s? I'm thinking the 20s or tens. Oh, God. That's cool. He delivered the cases, and back then they didn't sterilize their cases like they did now. And he got a lung disease from one of the cases. Now, this was years later. This was he was married and had a kid by then. So this was in the early 40s. And so he's like, this is all I know. The doctor said, you have to quit the dental lab. You can't be around all those chemicals with this lung disease. So he quit and he's like, this is all I know. I only know dental supplies. I've done this since I'm ten. Like, this is dental is all I know. So he got this leather bag and he got merchandise, and he became a dental peddler, going to dental labs and dentists selling whatever was in his bag. And my grandmother did the books. Mhm. Do they know what chemicals started the. It was. No it was not from the chemical. It was from something like for something that was on or something he caught in the impression or something. Wow. Oh I see yeah, yeah. So then that's sort of 2005 when we lost everything for Katrina. 18ft of water. When we went back to the building, my husband said, why are we here? There's nothing left. And I said, I want my grandfather's bag. And he said, the bag is always. Yeah. He's like brandy. The bag is gone. Like the front of the building's blown out, like Home Depot is two blocks away and their merchandise is in here. There's no shelves left. There's nothing left of this building. And I said, I just want to look for it. So we decided to walk through the building, and there was one shelf still standing, and the bag was actually on that shelf. So the bag went up with the water and came back down with the water. And my dad and my aunt were ready to retire. They were at the end of their time with no dental. And they said, if y'all are going to start this company over, this has to be on you and Sean. Yeah, we can't start on other. Right. And so we took fine in the bag as our sign. Oh yeah. You know if he started with his bag then so could we. So I mean we had no employees, we had no building, we had no merchandise, but we were gonna. We had the bag. So we're like, we can do this. So if it wasn't for you to, Nowak would have just closed because of this incident? Yes. Wow. That's pretty remarkable story. How did the bag not float away? I don't know. I think my grandfather just got. It was a sign. It was the sign. And now it's in a case. And we will take it for the next hurricane. Yeah. So you and Sean decided let's do this. And had to get a loan and had to rebuild and and, like, literally from the ground up. Yeah. It was it in the same space or did you guys move the building? We moved states. Wow. We're farther away from water. We were in. Yeah, we were right outside of New Orleans, and now we're in. We're in Mississippi. We're above sea level. Wow. Above. Sea level. Above. I have two criterias. So when we left, we literally took a backup disk. And we took the gold crowns because we figured that's something that could be looted. Nothing else. Anybody wants the gold crowns, they can loot. So that's it? That's all we took with us. Wow. And the bag? No, we didn't take the bag. Then, like this was before we left. Before we left, we just got, like, a disc in the crowns. That was it. Wow. Wow. That's insane. How do you put up with your brother at work? Do you guys have. Our offices are on opposite sides of the building. There you go. It's always the yin and the yang that makes the best partnerships, though it is. And we are definitely yin yang. Yeah. It's crazy. You know, we talked to a lot of husbands, wives, fathers, sons, mothers, daughters, things like that. Brothers and sisters. A whole new dynamic, though. Yeah, I mean, definitely Yang. Yeah. Spend the money. I want to save money. He's like, let's jump into this. I'm like, wait. We have to figure out all this stuff. All the stuff? Yeah. Poor Mary Beth is in the middle of this. Here I am. Sibling rivalry. So tell us your story. Oh, yeah. Mary Beth, I know you from. I mean, we can't not not mention a harvest because of your history. Yeah, but I think you go even further back than that, don't you? Oh, I go way. Yeah. So I actually started at a little supply company called DTS Dental Tech Supply. I had went in there to interview for a part time position, and it was, you know, this is back in the olden days where I found a listing in the newspaper. Oh, jeez. Yeah, I know it was so old, but I was an optician and I was working for a company and they were bought out. And so I stopped working for them, and I was like, I just want to do something different. And so I went to apply for this job, but it was just going to be like a part time something till I figured out what I wanted to do. And Martha Wildman interviewed me and we talked for a little bit, and then she was like, hold on, I want to get the owner. And I'm like, this is a part time job. They, like me, can wait too long. I don't know. I was like, I don't know about this place, but. So Tom came out and I interviewed with him, and he was just like, I think he would be a great fit. And I'm like, great. And he said, you have a sales background? And I said, yeah, I do, but I'm kind of over it. And. He said, well, I want to start a telesales division and I want you to be in charge of it. And I'm like, wait, what? And and I was like, this is not part time. He's like, no, no, this is a full time gig. I was like, oh, okay. And he's like, we have an office in New York. And we're, you know, one in Denver. And I was like, okay. So I stayed. And Tom Underwood is like one of the greatest people ever. I love that company. And so, so was this a company selling to labs or to offices or. Yeah, it was dental tech supply. We had three locations we had for for a while, but we shut down Florida, but we had Bob Rath started DTS in New York. And then he brought Tom Underwood in as a partner, and we opened Kansas City. And then we brought Bob Miller in as a partner and started Denver. So they're not around anymore. I know, so Tom retired because we always had argon as one of the alloys that we sold. And Tom and Bob were both big with with Argonne. They were both Argonne salespeople. And so we kept Argonne. And then that's how that relationship started. But yeah, they merged, hired Bob, retired three years ago, and I think Tom retired two, 2 to 3 years ago as well. But yeah, so they are but they're both doing well. Tom and I, he's like a mentor. I love him. Yeah. And he's we're still in good contact. But as we were, you know, going through DTS, we were seeing really good growth. Sounds like you keep opening locations. Yeah. Yeah. So it was good. Then we then buy out, you know, talk started and, um, so Derby purchased. Denton, Texas. Oh, yeah. That's the company that people always confuse my lab with. Derby and Derby? Yeah, all the time. Constantly took over. Where were they out of? Uh, New York. Okay. So. Yeah. So we we were purchased by Derby, and that was a really good move. And we met. That's where I met Rita. Right? So. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. So that's, uh, we, you know, came into the family that way, and it was it was good. So Derby was rolling along for about seven years, and then Zorn bought Henry Schein. But Derby, the lab division only. Right. So the medical, dental vet, everything stayed with Derby except for the lab division. And you have seen a lot of consolidation. Yeah, I know right. I look so young and they're all like big, huge names. They're no joke either. Yeah, they're no joke. And it was a lot of fun. And it was it was like we were hitting turning points and it was fun to see like the industry changing. And you know, we're getting to learn like digital. When digital came along, we were I was involved with the digital side with Zorn, and then still I had a, uh, I managed a telesales Midwest territory for I think there were five of us in that territory that I was managing through. And then they were just like, you know, we want to start with digital, and we help Stan. And I was like, sure. So back to 7 or 2008, I guess it was a year after we got into Zorn, I started working with the digital team, but that was a lot of fun just to like, watch, um, and how it changed the industry because it was so weird, right? What do you do with the digital team? Were you telesales or were you actually physically doing the selling? I was doing sales operations. Wow. So I help with the team, help build the structure, and then basically ran logistics through for all of that. So it was like a little bit of everything because it was small, right? We didn't know how the industry was going to react to it. So it was like two of us working on it just at the beginning, and then it just kept. Kept adding people in, and then CMC started and it was just kind of a big, a big growth time. So I was with Zhan up until 2019 and I loved it. I loved the people. I saw really good relationships. You know how you make those friendships where, yeah, you know, no matter, you move around a little bit. And I never really moved around that a lot. It was just like, buy out, buy out, buy out. Yeah. I remember when we got to Zon and we had a managers meeting and, uh, Jim came in and he said, does anybody have any questions? And somebody said something about, we hope this is the last buyout or something, because there was a bunch of this managers that had been through two of them. And he's like, this will be the last buyout. I don't I don't know if there's anything. Is there anything bigger? No. Not yet. Nice words right out of my mouth. Nowak. Give us time, baby. Yeah. No, actually, I'm really grateful to, you know, to Zorn and and Darby. I mean, it's like, this is where I got my start, and. Yeah. So you always pick up things as you, you know, you go along from job to job. And then when I decided to leave. on my old buddy Sasha and I talked and he was like, come here. And so I did. And so I worked on the manufacturing side for five and a half years, and it was a good time. We had a lot of fun working together. And wasn't that right around Covid or right after or before Barb? It was the year after. So I started there in 2019 and then in 2020, it was like, what in the world? Yeah, it was so crazy. Yeah. So we, uh, we worked through that and we had a lot of fun. I've known Sasha like we grew up in the business together. He used to, like, bring stuff over to the table. When we were, he'd be like, hey, can I put something on the table? And we'd always make room. And he's just a good guy who's a lot of fun. He's a great friend. I love listening to his videos. Right. Yeah. Yep. Totally. But that had to have been quite a culture shift for you from Zorn to Harvest, because, I mean, we all know Sasha. We all know what he's created. Yeah. I mean, was it hard? Was it difficult? Was it. No. Interesting, I mean, welcoming. Yeah, sure it was. It was exciting because it was different, right? It was just like a departure from like the the culture side and the pupils side is always the same. Right. Because it's. It's like you treat people how you want to be treated, and so you make friends wherever you go. And so you came into that. It was like, figure out the relationships and then the job comes easier. And so we had a lot we had a lot of fun. Covid was hard, but it was I was grateful that we were we were together for that. Mm. And um. But no. So I think switching from distribution to manufacturing was something that was interesting and exciting and new. But then when I felt like it was time to leave harvest on really good terms, like Sasha and I talk probably every two weeks till I text, even if it's just a quick text. It was like, hey friend, how's it? How's everything? And so we have, you know, just that really good relationship. But it was just like when I felt like it was time to move on, I came back to my distribution rates, and I'm so happy because I think that Brandi and I might be. We might. We might be separated like twins. Separated at birth. Not quite sure, but I mean, and Sean, even we were on a call the other day and we were doing like a, a brand archetype thing. We were walking through like some branding things and we were all like saying the same things. It was hilarious. But but yeah. So I feel like I was telling them the other day, like, this has the feel of DTS, like where it's, you know, everybody's just kind of tight and. I don't know. It's a really good idea. No, I mean, I can. You're a perfect fit for it. Yeah. I mean, from the outside, we can tell. Yeah. And Sean's in a lot of trouble because me and her think way too much. A lot. Yeah, we really do. We have an ally. That's awesome. Did you have to move? Did you have to move, or were you already. Did you already live there? No. I live in Kansas City, so. Oh, you guys don't live in the city? Oh my God, really? I didn't know I'm here this week. Yeah, I'm here for a couple of days. We went to the French Quarter yesterday, you guys, and tooled around and that was a blast. It was like 800 degrees. Um, there was a lot of, like, Florida. Yeah, exactly. Barb. Wow. So, no. It's good. I love it here. And the people are good. So what's it like working with a company remotely, or did you. Have you always been kind of remote? No. So when I started working remotely, it was probably five years into the Zorn purchase. We. I had, uh, I used to have, like, a warehouse in Kansas City. So we had a big. It was like a 20,000 square foot warehouse sales office. And then when Zorn bought us, we shut down the warehouse, obviously, because Andy has that massive distribution center. So we shut down the big office, and we moved into a sales office. And then a couple of years after that, they were like, why don't we save the rent money and put you guys, me and my team as remote? And they had never done that before. So I was like, okay. So at that point, I mean, I started working remotely. And then when I worked for sash, obviously I was still in Kansas City. So it's, you know, I we didn't have a really hard time with it, but I, I love it like, I like I like being at home. And it's kind of awesome that you're with Brandi right now on our podcast. I thought you guys were in the same building. That's great. Yes. Yeah, I think it worked out best, right? It did about five times. But we got there. We nailed it. Finally. Mary Beth, what is your role with Nowak now? What exactly do you do? Well, um, a lot of everything. A lot of everything. But that's what I. That's what I like. Uh, so, like, my official is, um, brand, like, so director, brand and customer experience. So just to kind of what's in my wheelhouse, what I love and what I did a lot with at harvest was culture, brand marketing, sales, like a little bit of everything there too. So it's kind of similar, you know, but different. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. How many months have you been with Nowak? Because I've noticed a distinct change, like especially online and Facebook. And yeah, so it has been this is my the beginning of my sixth month. Yeah, I started in January. Yeah. That's what I was thinking in my head. I was like, it's got to be right around six months. Yeah. So there's a lot to do. Um, and that's like one of the things that we were working through the last couple of weeks is like the brand archetype and how we, you know, our voice, things like that. And so that's that's been really exciting. So we're working through that and just kind of changing up the the presence, you know how we look, how we feel. It's who you know it is but just more visible. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. And Brandy what do you what exactly do you do all day? I mean, other than other than other than everything. Nerves. I just talked to Marybeth all day now. It's the way it was meant to be. How do you two get anything done? We're very efficient. We are, we are. You have to be. That's so true. We just come up with all these crazy ideas and we're like, okay, how do we make this happen? I love it. Make a list. And then we're like, maybe we need to edit. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe you've scaled that back a little. And that's what I was telling Jon. I'm like, I'm having. So not that I wasn't having fun before now, but like, bringing Marybeth on, like, rejuvenated my passion for this. Like, it just made it so much more fun to. Do everything. It's coming across. I'm getting it right now. Just in case you were wondering. Yeah, I can hear it. And I can feel it. Especially like our our new thing that we're working on. Like, can we can we do that now? Yeah. Let's let's roll into it. I want to know. Okay. We're going to talk about what you're what you're starting is called a lab fest. Correct. Which you got to be careful when you Google because there's a laboratory retriever fest that I found. Oh, hey, we can have dogs. I'm not gonna say I didn't spend some time on their website, too. Yeah, we know you did. We know you? Yes. So how did this idea happen? So it's called Nola Lab Fest. And so we were trying to do like, little roadshows because so many states have lost their conventions. So we were trying to do little conventions around and it wasn't really going over big. They were at Topgolf. It was it wasn't really fun. It didn't have minor Mary Beth signature on it. It was just not they were not bringing the fun. They were not bringing the fun. So we decided, let's do our own show. And so I'm like, if we're doing this like it needs to be different, it needs to be completely different than other shows out there. It's going to have great speakers, but it's also going to have fun. It's going to be fun, and it's going to be inviting and welcoming to everybody, and it's going to make people interact, and I want to do it all. So how do we make this happen? Yeah. So we're doing the main thing I love is most shows when it's over, it's over at 5:00. When that last speaker finishes, everybody's out of there and they're going to dinner. They're going to different bars and you don't really see everybody again. That's just it. You don't see them till the next morning when you find out what they did that night. You know, that's a great point. When I started in this industry and there are a lot more smaller local shows. I remember North Carolina had one, Kentucky, Tennessee had one. They had evening events, yes, but they all went away. Even Florida, remember Florida used to have like a casino night or something. Yeah. Gone. Gone. They all went away because they're so damn expensive. They are, they are. But you lose that. You're right. Yeah, totally. I mean, everyone's gone. Say, if somebody's just a one person lab or they only send one person. There go into these classes. They're not really meeting anybody that's sitting next to them, and then they just have to go find something to do that night. We want everybody to collaborate and talk and meet people and have ideas with people. I think 100%. So what are you doing? You know, I was going to say, I think one of the best things about our industry is the relationships. Yes. Right. Because you meet people all, all sorts of people. And it's so much fun. Right. And so I think that's one thing that you lose when you don't have those evening events. But yeah, Randy came up with two really great ideas, like for evening stuff. So tell them about that. So, so the first night we are going to we rented out a riverboat that's going to take us on the Mississippi River. We have a jazz band that's playing. We're gonna dress in 20 style if you want to. It's taking us out on the Mississippi River. There's going to be food, alcohol, dancing. But you're stuck there. Yeah. You're not going anywhere. You're on a riverboat for three hours and you're going to meet people. That's awesome. I love that idea. Yeah. You're going to, you know, you're going to make new relationships. You're going to meet new vendors. You're going to, you know, meet somebody five states away that, you know, might be having the same issues that you're having. The second night, I really wanted to focus more on, you know, New Orleans as well. We're going to go on a ghost tour. Um, not going to be like scary, like jumping out things. It's going to be a ghost tour history. It's going to be, you know, at this place, you know, so many people were killed and there's hauntings and things like that. We end up at one of the oldest bars in America, which is haunted as well. Again, you're meeting people. You're you're having fun. How did you come up with that idea? So I've done the ghost tours. They're a lot of fun. They're, you know, they teach you so many things about the history of the city that, you know, you would never know. And, like, who died where. Yes. Or why? Why locks are upside down? Yes. So it's like history too. Yes. Oh, yeah. Elvis, why do you think locks are upside down? Uh, to confuse burglars. Barb, what do you think? I have no idea. Um, because it was the vampires that can't get the juice, the laughs upside down. I don't know. The vampires aren't smart enough for lots of time now. Is that right? Yeah. So? So why now? Real quick. Give us something for the vampires. Yeah. It would. They couldn't get into the house. Yeah. And they tell you about like that? Why? They think vampires came to Louisiana and, like, it's a whole haunted. But it's not like something jumping out, scaring you. It's nothing like it's not Halloween. It's history. That's cool. Yeah. So just something different. And then with all of the fun stuff, like all the vendors are going to go to. Yeah, we want to include the vendors in all this. The vendors we want as part of the we don't want everybody separated. We want vendors as part of everything. We want vendors if they want to come listen to all the classes, because our classes are not technical classes, they're not how to make a crown. They're business related. Every single one of them is how to improve your business. So vendors are more than welcome to be part of that. We want everybody as one community and, you know, beating off of each other. So before we get too into the deep of who's talking, this is happening in a New Orleans. That's the Nola. Nola, Nola. Yes. New Orleans, Louisiana. Is that what that means? It is. Yes. Okay. Yep, yep. He's the smart one. Yeah. November 7th and eighth. So that's a Friday and Saturday, correct. This is nice because we don't have a lot of shows in November. I don't think so. And that's always been like a dead period of getting together I guess. And we figured Louisiana's weather is so it's either really hot or there's a hurricane. So we get like two. So we get like two good weeks of weather a year and that's one of them. So yeah, it's actually a really great time frame. You're right. Hurricane season. For those of you that don't know it, when does it end? It ends in October. Yeah. And but usually they're gone more in September as Florida people. We got hammered last year. So I should know that very well. But yeah. That's a good time frame. And you're right, Elvis. We don't really have meetings around there now. Everything dies off in in midsummer and then nothing till vision. So this is nice. This is nice to continue the momentum of the year. Yes. And then actually on that Thursday night, we're doing a ladies of the mill reception. Um, so talk about that because ladies of the mill Barb and I huge fans been to I think every show they've done, but they've stopped. So they've partnered. They partnered I love it this year we're there's going to be a reception for ladies in the mill on that Thursday night so that they can get together and see each other and not lose that, that sense of community. Um, because it's such a it's such a great group. And so when, when Jill and Christina said, like, you know, this year it can't happen, right? There's so many things that are going on. You know, Brandy was just like, you know, it can't stop. So let's do so I was sad when they. Yeah. I mean yeah I know and so you know and she said let's do something. It was like, great, let's tie it in. So we decided like we'll give that, you know, give them an evening where, you know, everybody can come together. You know, as many people, you know, who have been part of those for so many years can still come and and feel that sense of community and then tie it into our Nola lab fest, and then we'll figure out the coming years as, as as as it happened. Right, exactly. But so for this year, it's, you know, a really nice evening, um, cocktail hour and we'll have some bites. We just viewed the rooms yesterday. It's such a pretty room. So it looks the Mississippi River. It's a beautiful room. It's gonna be really nice. Yeah. So it'll be fun. It'll be fun to get everybody together. And I always ask because I have to. Men are invited, right? Yeah. Yes. Yes, I definitely do. Yes, you. Oh, jeez. Thanks. You've been there since the beginning. Yeah, I have, I'd just like to say from my perspective, thank you guys for that because. It's so important that that stays strong and moves along through the years, and I can't imagine what those two ladies had to go through to build it, and the amount of energy and time it took to, you know, keep it going. So yeah, thank you for for I guess, what do you want to say partnering with them because yeah yeah yeah. It's awesome. Yeah. They're amazing. They have done so much for the industry and they're super passionate about it. And it translates right. It's uh, that's not something you can fake. And so the authenticity behind that them setting that up, you just don't want to lose it. Right. So that's Thursday. Everybody gets in. We do the cocktail. What do we kick off Friday. How early are we talking. 645 for you in bar. All right. Yeah. Awesome. Head start. Make breakfast for everybody. Yeah, yeah I'm in. We like the live shows. We like the the face to face shows are the best. It's all right. So Friday itinerary. So our keynote speaker I am super excited about. So I'm a huge Disney fan I know. I know I got her ears on right now. I love Disney. So we actually have someone that worked at Disney. He was the person that set up the Disney Institute's Louis Grievance. And so he is going to be our keynote speaker. How did you come up with that? Yeah, I love doing. I love Disney. Like what is what is he speaking on? You said a lot of it was business. So is he speaking like what's his topic? So he is talking. Marybeth can go okay. It was kind of my alley. The title is service is a superpower. And so he's going to be talking about service excellence and competitive advantages and just how exceptional service can transform, you know, your culture. Um, customer loyalty and how it just brings a certain level of, you know, happiness to your group and not just your. I always say you have internal customers and external customers, and your internal customers are your your coworkers, right? They're customer number one. And I think that, you know, from everything I've read about him and the way that this is going to go, it's like it's culture is huge and culture translates to your customer. And and he's going to be speaking about that and it's going to be it's really good. Like he's pretty dynamic. Like when you watch like his his previews and stuff. Yeah, he's really dynamic guy. Um, did I do anything in a funny voice? Yeah. So he actually before he did the Disney Institute, he actually was one of their actors. Like, you know, Disney has like screen actors now. Yeah. So he was one of their street actors. So he does do things like that. And he actually like his backstory, like he worked at oh, if I get it wrong, I'm sorry if he worked at like, a steak restaurant and he treated it like he was working at Disney, like he always wanted to work at Disney, and he treated like his customers were the most important thing like Disney does. And, you know, so that's how he got into this and I love it. And that's how Nowak does too. Just saying thank you. Yeah. Well, hopefully he'll touch upon how Disney can raise prices and everyone can see how everybody should raise pricing, knowing everybody will still use you. We do have a speaker on that. We have a speaker, our keynote on the second day that is doing that. It's how to charge market price. Oh, I love that. Yes. That is so great. Yeah. So is that, uh, his name is Jude Grayson. He is not actually in the dental field. He is a speaker, and he's actually a taekwondo, um, person. Um, what? So if you don't pay attention, he's going to kick your ass. Yeah. I'm sorry. I don't know if I should cuss. Oh, yeah. You know it. It's fine. What is this? Somebody about taekwondo know about charging prices? Uh, so he owns, uh, many taekwondo studios, and he teaches business owners how to run businesses and be able to raise your prices and. Interesting. Yes. So he's actually the kids actually go to his school, and there is, I'd say, 6 to 7 taekwondo schools in my city. And he is the most expensive by far. And he has the biggest he has the biggest schools. Interesting. That'll be a new perspective. And how did you know that he was a speaker? So my kids go there and and we're friends. So I know how good of a speaker he is. And so he came here and he started talking to me and John and we're like, oh, we need you. He spent two days going over stuff with us, and he's like, what did I say that hit on it? And we're like, the market price thing. Do that one. And so we added him to the Facebook group so he could see that the labs are saying, oh, I haven't raised my prices in ten years. And so we added him so we could see that and put that into his speeches. Well that was really smart. And I think so many labs struggle with that. Yeah, they did. The labs that I see on Facebook that haven't raised prices and like you said, years and years and years. Because we don't know how and we don't want to switch because then they'll drop us. Or how do you, you know, do that? They feel like they can't, right? Yeah. They feel like they can't for sure. I think if your kids go to see him, I'm sure your kids could kick my butts. Yeah. We'll have Kinsey the enforcer. Yes. Who else is in the lineup? Because I'm looking online. I'm seeing a few names I recognize. Yes. We have Nicole coming. She's going to be speaking about, like, supply chain and Nicole Jackson from, uh, the school. Right? Yes. Yeah. So I'm excited to hear her speak. And she has such a good voice in the industry. And, like, what she's done with that school is pretty amazing. So I'm pretty excited about that. She's going to be talking about like streamlining for growth and um, just kind of hitting on a couple of different things, you know, a little bit of AI in there because she's, you know, she's familiar with it all. So she'll be really good to. Yeah. Yeah. And then we got Sasha. He's going to come. Sasha. How did you get him? Well, I don't know. I had to call him. He was just like, who's this? No, no. Yeah. So Sasha's going to come. He's going to do he's going to talk about brand identity, which is of course. Yeah. Which is what he is really good at. So yeah, we'll have Sasha and then Chris is going to come, he's going to talk about like selling your lab like it's, you know, a guide through transitioning out of ownership into, you know, the next, the next step. You know, how do you exit if you want to exit, right. And the different things that you know could potentially happen and kind of gives you a little roadmap. I think that's a really great topic. And I think he's definitely a great speaker for that, because how they sold their company and how he stayed for several years and then how he transitioned out of it, I don't think he's still with them. Is he? No, just the two accounts. Recently he stepped out. I tried to find out what he's doing. He wouldn't tell me. Apparently, this is it. He's coming. He's a lab. He's gonna practice for the next seven months. But it's not all going to be the good part of selling your business. It's going to be the bad side as well. So it's going to be. That's what I'm saying. I mean, I've been down that road. And so I think that's going to be a really, really great topic. Yeah. You do know. Yeah a lot of people like, you know, think about selling or consider it, but then like, you know, what happens after and what do you do. Right. Right. Yeah. Cool. Well, I have a couple people talking about working with us. Well, Greg Harris is going to talk about working with Asos. Like how do you, Greg some of the Greg Harris Greg Harris that we know it is the gray hairs Greg Harris yeah we call him knowing him for a long time. Everybody's known Greg Harris, Greg Harris for a while. Do we always have to say it twice? I think so. So when we go to introduce him, we'll say the Greg. Greg, Greg. Yeah. You gotta reprint everything now. I know great. I just can't go that up. He's going to talk about how how to, like, attract CEOs and work with them, how to work with it like strategies, right. And how to model it out and to kind of navigate through your positioning with that with the DSM. Yeah. And something I've noticed is DSO used to mean Heartland and Aspen, but man, does it. Not anymore. I mean, it's two practices, three practices, four practices. Just it's it's taken on a whole new meaning. And it takes a whole new mentality to kind of work with them. Yeah. I think like they're going in instead of starting a partnership. Right. It'll be like, hey, Dennis Day meets Dennis B and they're like, we should be a partnership. And it's not that anymore. And I would say, yeah, yeah. Even though one and two practices think they're heartland too. So yeah. Yeah. Exactly. They want the same pricing. Yeah. We did something different. We're actually having a dentist come speak as well. And I mean yeah. He's a great guy. But he came up with a really cool title and it's. My dentist wants to cam alone. Can we still work together. Oh, so love it. That's awesome. Yeah. So just how to work with a dentist that's gonna do their own cam, and you know how to still work with them and be a partner with them. That is huge right now. Yes. So he's got his own software and designs his own cases, and then he has a lab that fabricates the work. Other way around. Uh, other way around. Okay. Yeah. These dentists have printers now. Wow. And they're saying, hey, can you just design this and let me print it and. Okay. I mean, at Derby, we're having to kind of restructure pricing to accommodate for this and make new codes and just kind of put it in the workflow. And how do you get the files back and forth and calibration and the whole new thing? Yeah. So we thought that would be a good, you know, a good topic. No. Great topic. Yeah. Yeah. Where is he? Out of New Orleans. Ah, perfect. Yeah, he's a good guy. Young guy. And Stuart Steinbach. Yes. So you can change people or you can change people. Yeah. When I first read that, I was like, what? I know we had to, like, figure out an emphasis on timing for the website, but yeah. So I think that'll be good because it's really hard to I mean, the old adage is high or slow and fire fast. But it's really hard to do. I mean, you guys know. So he's going to talk a little bit about like how to work through those relationships and work on culture and, you know, just a kind of a different perspective on how to make people really thrive in their own environment or when when to know when to cut them loose. Right. That sounds like a great topic. Yeah. And he's been down that road too. You know, family company. It's it's kind of all goes together. You two. Very, very well. The way you have, who you have speaking what they're speaking about, what they've all been through. I mean, you're hitting every note in my opinion. Thank you. Yeah. We tried. Yeah. Something different. Everything different. A labor of love. Yes. A labor of love, for sure. But it's got to take a long time to sit down and figure out how you go from one topic to another and hit all of that. Was that YouTube, or was that, like a group of people? That's a group. And we're still doing it today. Yeah. That's why they're here. We were working on it this morning, and I looked up and I'm like, we got nine minutes. Yeah. So we got to get up, I guess. Yeah. More fun. We're going to play Family Feud. Oh, yeah. What? Yes. We're gonna play Family Feud. We're gonna ask for volunteers ahead of time, and we're going to have lab questions like you're gonna do, like, we surveyed 100 different labs. We are. We are? Yes. Like, what is like, can I ask what our questions? One of the questions is like what is the smelliest thing in the lab? That's great. So it's all going to be lab related. Questions and answers, that's for sure. Right. Yep. The traps. It's the traps. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I love this. So what people are going to make teams and we're going to ask for volunteers. And then if we have more than ten people that want to do it, then we'll randomly select ten people. Um, we'll put them on two teams. We'll have colored shirts for them to wear, the blue team and the green team. And we have buzzers. We have the big sign. Well, it's going to be on a computer, but we have the big. And it's called Lab Face Off, and it's going to be the different teams. And we're playing. Oh, who's hosting? Who's going to be the moderator? Who's hosting? We're not quite sure we haven't gotten. That's going to be Sean essentially. Yeah. You know he wants that job. He's going to Richard Dawson. Want to kiss everybody. We want to wear a fancy suit. Yeah. So that's what we're working on right now. But yeah. So it's everything's going to be fun. We're going to do bingo where you're listening for words in different people's speeches, and there'll be prizes for that. We're going to do trivia throughout the whole thing. Um, there'll be a prize for that. And so different things to make it fun and entertaining. Yeah. Fun is the key word for this entire thing. And what time does this fun start? Every morning? Because. Because we'll be in New Orleans. Is that what you're saying? Yeah. So we're thinking 830. That's better. Early. It's not gonna be like a 730 start, but we might start a little earlier on Friday than we do on Saturday. Yeah, but, yeah, we're gonna nail down, like, the agenda. Like the final timelines today. We've got all of our sponsorships in order. And so we'll make sure that our our vendors get the love that they need and we'll get everybody all situated. I love the fact that, I mean, you're noac you're a vendor, but you have other vendors, vendors at your vendor. Yeah, I mean, I love it. And we're gonna make sure that all of the attendees and even vendors feel completely welcome. So something else that most shows don't do, each of our vendors and attendees are going to be given one of our employees as their person to go to if they have trouble. Here's the cell phone number of the person you need to call. Oh, and I can't get in my room. Yeah, right. Help me! Randy! Barb can't find her keys. I found Barb, and I don't know where she goes. She's down at the Voodoo Lounge. Yeah. Yep. So call her an Uber. So just to make everybody feel like they have somebody, you know, for those people that don't know anybody. Now they have somebody that's their friend. They can reach out to you and be like, hey, I need help or I can't find where this room is. Let me text my person. Yeah. So I got to be super honest. Every single meeting I text Rachel. I'm like, Rachel, where do I gotta go? And what time do I have to be there? And she's always like, gotta be. It's the third floor. It's this room. I swear to God, if she listens to this podcast, she's like, yes, every single meeting. But I mean, she's always there and she always answers. And it's brilliant because it always, you know, it helps me out a little bit because I'm not the most organized person. And so I think that's a great idea and I actually have one. So good for you guys. Whoever came up with that. That's brilliant. And I, I will use it. Just saying. Good. Okay. Barb might need two people. Where do I have to go? I out Elvis, what time are we starting? Yeah, yeah. And it'll be on the back of your lanyard, so you won't even need to look for it. Like it'll just be in your lanyard. You'll know exactly who to talk when you're when something's wrong. Good luck to whoever gets me. I feel bad, and you might want to double their pay. Yeah, we might just, like, have one person. It's. I just I know I warned you, not it. Yeah, yeah. We cannot end before we mentioned that. Of course, Barb and I are going to be there. Yes. With the podcast recording, we have to give a huge shout out to edit. They have agreed to kind of host us. We're going to be right next to their booth or however we set up. We love being in the area. It's so great. So I mean, we we love the opportunity. We appreciate Nowak and Ade for allowing us to come, because I think the vibe of the show is going to be at a whole new level, and the kind of communications and conversations we have when the show is good. It's so much better. Yeah. Yeah. So we're so excited. Yeah. Yeah. And we're gonna have we're gonna have headshots and, you know, Instagram wall and all kind of things. It's going to be so much fun. Yeah. Cannot wait. How do people register so they can go to Nola lab Fest. Com and that has the agenda. It has bios on the speakers. There's a registration link and the registration link. Then there's also where you can book your hotel room. We should say like the hotel is really nice and it's right. It's right in the quarter. So it's you're steps away from Bourbon Street. It's right in the heart of the city. It is. The casino's across the street. You can look out the window, and the Mississippi River is right there. You're right by Bourbon Street. It's. Perfect location and you guarantee no hurricanes? Yeah. Most probably. Um. I'm going on the boat ride. That sounds amazing. It does. It's gonna be fun. So much fun. And because the ghost tours Saturday night. I mean, you're recommending people stay Saturday night. I am, I mean, yeah. Don't end. Don't leave. Don't leave. Go on the ghost tour. Have fun with us and go home Sunday morning. Yep, yep. There you go. Can't wait. So you still have plenty of space for people to register, right? I mean, we do. It's getting it right. It's getting less and less because we can only hold so many people in in our hall. But. Yeah. So people need to register as soon as possible. Yeah. Don't wait. Yeah. Don't wait. Don't do your traditional lab technician wait till the last minute. Yeah. You'll be missing out. I don't do that either, Elvis. Yeah, right. Only because he reminds you. Well, awesome. I'm super excited. Yeah. Barb, I know is super excited. I think most of the industry is super excited. It's a long time coming that there's a no show. And it sounds like it kind of sums up Nowak perfectly with location and activity and vibe and putting us all on a boat. And, uh, on ghost tours. I love it, love it all. Love it all. So, Brandy, Mary Beth, thank you so much. Thank you, ladies so much for having us. Yeah, coming on the podcast. But just putting this together. Oh, yeah. I'm so excited I can't wait. So we will see you there. Yeah. You there. Thank you so much. Yeah. Thanks. Thank you. Have a good one. You too. You too. A huge thank you to Brandy and Mary Beth for coming on our podcast. You guys are a trip. You can tell you love each other. You can tell you love Nowak. It was unbelievable. And thank you for putting on what sure will be the show of the year. And of course, Elvis and I have always been a fan of Nowak dental supplies and what they do for our industry. Even Sean shout out that we only give a hard time too. Of course we love him. I saw him on Facebook. He was on Facebook the other day with a I think it was a pediatric show, given Brandy a shout out, and I thought that was pretty cool. So. But come on, great lineup speakers, riverboat Ghost tours, and it's all in New Orleans. It's going to be amazing. New Orleans, how do you say it? Well, I say New Orleans, but I think they say New Orleans. Yeah. So head over to Nola lab.com and there's a link on this episode. Show notes to register and do it soon. Don't wait because I'm telling you guys right now it's going to sell out. And of course, thank you to the amazing team and the Ada for sponsoring Elvis and I. We get to go and we get to talk to everybody at this amazing event, record some incredible people. So please see us there. Let's go. Yeah. And we've talked about this before. The better the vibe of the show, the better the recordings. So this is gonna be epic. I know, and I saw it all over Facebook. I think it was today. So let's go, guys, Register. Come, let's have some fun. All right, everybody, that's all we got for you. Next week, we're gonna shift back into IVF. So we'll talk to you then. Have a good week. Bye. Doing backflips right in front of you right now. Okay. The views and opinions expressed on the voices from the bench podcast are those of the guests, and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the host or voices from the bench, LLC.