As the dental industry navigates an ever-changing political and financial climate, one DSO leader’s mindset continues to drive his strategy.
Thomas Passalacqua, the director of business development at The Smilist Management, recently joined Becker’s Dental + DSO Review Podcast to discuss the trends he is following and the challenges facing the dental industry.
Editor’s note: This response was lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: There are many changes happening each day with the political climate and financial market. How do you approach your day-to-day work when you don’t know what your day is going to look like or what decisions are going to be made at the federal level?
Thomas Passalacqua: For me and my perspective, it’s focusing on the aspects you can control. I can control the conversations I’m having, my attitude toward business development, the ability to engage with high-quality doctors [and] really narrowing down what’s my core mission, what’s the core goal, focusing on building really good relationships, and understanding that every climate, every season, is temporary. We’ll eventually get through this just like we have in the past with other difficult times. So, how are you seeing past it and not allowing the temporary moment to derail you? [It’s about] being future forward, thinking about your ultimate goals, controlling the conversations, controlling your attitudes and your mindset, and thinking positively. Shifting to a positive mindset and solution-oriented mindset has really helped. For The Smilist, it’s continuing to engage with really high-quality doctors but also going to our core mission of supporting and developing our current practices. We’ve put a lot of effort this year into making sure that not only are we growing really well inorganically, but our organic growth and our organic support is very strong.
