April 12, 2025 • 25 mins
Dr. Shon shares inspiring stories from her dental practice and her challenging journey from poverty to becoming a dentist without parental guidance or established connections in the field.
• Most memorable patients are elderly ones who offer wisdom about aging gracefully and living authentically
• Heartbreaking experiences treating oral cancer patients drive commitment to thorough screenings
• Created a custom dental tray for an incarcerated patient whose insurance wouldn't cover it
• Overcame significant challenges including failing organic chemistry before eventually succeeding
• Applied to dental school twice, being rejected the first time before gaining admission to Meharry
• Drove 45 minutes to work for free shadowing a dentist who turned out to be Meharry's class president
• Developed "consistency soup" philosophy: combining delusion, showing up, being unapologetic, passion, gratitude and creativity
• Emphasizes the importance of thoroughly investigating career interests before committing
Whatever dream you're pursuing, create your own consistency soup to make it happen. Test your interests, shadow professionals, and don't let rejection stop you from showing up with your head high and shoulders back.
Thanks for listening and growing with me on this journey towards the ultimate level of success. #Hood2hooded #drshon #drshonconsistencyproject #consistencyproject
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, dr Sean, could you share any interesting or
memorable patient stories fromwork?
Yes, I can definitely share.
I have a lot of patients whoare very interesting.
By the way, they're very, veryinteresting.
I think my most interestingpatients are the elderly
(00:21):
patients.
Honestly, so, my mostinteresting patients are
definitely the elderly patients.
Honestly, so my mostinteresting patients are
definitely the elderly patientsand I find our conversations
just to be like enlightening.
Anytime I get somebody who'slike 80 or 90 in the chair, I'm
always like wow.
First question how did you keepyour teeth so long?
(00:42):
And I'm also asking how do Iage gracefully?
So they always just say, likethe most simplest thing, like
you just gotta be free, be youlike, don't worry about what
other people think of you.
Be you, live your best life,don't really worry.
(01:05):
And they always say you soyoung, no matter what age you
are.
When you meet somebody that old, they always tell you how young
you are and how much time youhave.
I had patients who are from oneof my most interesting patients.
They are from the islands Iwon't really say which islands,
just trying to stick with HIPAAand all that but they are from
(01:26):
the islands and they alwaysbring food.
So I have these patients whoalways bring food, always trying
to get me fat.
We just laugh In motivationaldentistry office.
Honestly, all of my patientsare.
They all bring differentstories.
They bring totally differentstories.
(01:48):
And's just like a family here.
When they show up, we laugh, wetalk, they found out about me,
I learned about them and it'sjust great conversations,
probably unlike any other dentaloffice, because I really like
to take my time.
But the most memorable patientswhen it comes to teeth, I would
(02:08):
say the patients, especiallysince this oral cancer awareness
month, those patients who Imeet who have oral cancer those
are like the most heartbreakingpatients and their stories about
how they came into thisunfortunate disease is really
(02:29):
scary, it's alarming and it'seye-opening.
That's why I take oral cancerscreenings on every patient and
I try not to ever forget itbecause it's so important.
I had a patient.
This patient was incarceratedand while incarcerated they
developed oral cancer and inwhile they were in there, the
(02:52):
facility allowed it to getreally out of control and faces
like swole, like this, like abig, huge abscess under the neck
, and this is something that islife threatening, that can close
your airway, and it's a veryaggressive disease and if you
don't know, then it can reallytake you out.
This patient he was on lowerincome insurance and insurance
(03:18):
wouldn't cover the thing that heneeded.
So this is when I first startedpracticing in one of the
offices.
So I, as a dentist, I learnedthe skill to make what he needed
without the lab.
So I decided to make what heneeded without the lab because
the insurance that I was usingto cover him was only paying,
(03:41):
we'll say, less than $10.
It was like what is this?
So sometimes as dentists we cando things and put a patient's
care and what they need in frontof the money, especially if you
see something like that.
So I saw that he needed thistray because these trays they
use them while they're goingthrough, like chemo radiation,
(04:02):
to prevent the teeth from beingdestroyed completely by the
medication because it creates atoxic environment in the mouth.
So the trays they put solutionsin the trays that have extra
fluoride to kind of protect theteeth as much as possible and
without making the tray, then hewould have the risk of losing
the teeth and that's somethingthat's super, super scary.
(04:24):
So that's one of theinteresting patient stories that
I can tell you from work.
That's kind of a scary story.
So make sure you are gettingyour oral cancer screenings.
And if you smoke cigarettes,then you definitely want to have
an oral cancer screening atleast once a year.
Okay, and make sure yourdentist is doing that, because
some dentists don't do that.
(04:45):
I was intimidated, guys.
I'm gonna tell you why.
I was intimidated to be theonly one in the room, like dang.
I thought somebody else wasgonna show up.
But it doesn't work that wayall the time.
It doesn't work that way allthe time.
Sometimes it's a choice for youto prove it to yourself.
(05:07):
You have to prove it toyourself, like I had to prove it
to myself, that this dream ispossible.
I had to prove it to myselfthat I can show up for me.
I had to prove it to myselfbefore I can prove it to anybody
else that I can do this.
It's a must that I believe inmyself to overcome that fear, to
overcome that little teensy bitof anxiety like dang, like if I
(05:31):
don't show up, nobody will missme.
You know what I mean, because Idon't have an audience yet.
So but I gotta get out of thatmindset and that's why this
experiment is everything.
It's not easy to go live for anhour on twitch every day for 365
days.
And if I am gonna picksomething to be consistent about
, why the would I do that?
But that's what I want to do.
(05:53):
I don't like doing easy.
I want to make my.
I want to make it hard.
I don't want easy goals.
If I wanted easy goals in life,I would not be a dentist.
I wouldn't be a doctor from thehood, from poverty.
If I wanted easy things, well,I'm not gonna say that I want
(06:14):
things to be easier.
But I know that in my life,where I come from, taking the
easy route was not going to makeme the person I am today.
I know I know that I'm going tohave to work and go to school
and probably work more than onejob.
While doing that, I was in abad relationship while in school
, taking care of people, takingcare of a man, all this type of
(06:36):
stuff, and that could havekilled me in school.
But when you grow up withoutyour mother, your father, you do
make some dilapidated choicesthat you have to learn from and
how you learn, the rate that youlearn from those mistakes that
you make on those learningexperiences will determine the
(06:57):
type of person you become andwho you grow up to be.
Thank you for responding to mymessage.
I'm a fan from Canada andyou're such an an inspiration.
I'm really interested in thefield.
Okay, you are so welcome.
I love those type of questions,especially about dentistry,
because this is my true job.
Streaming is my my.
(07:18):
Just I want to be a streamer.
I think it's fun and you know Ilike it.
But I think dentistry is aninteresting field.
It's a interesting time to be adentist and I have a
perspective of both sides theassociate side, the school side,
the pre-dental side, theresidency side and the dental
(07:42):
practice ownership side.
So my experience is vast.
I'm still growing in this areaof dental practice.
Ownership is very different fromany other area of dentistry
because it's so competitive, butyou have to really love what
you do.
So if you're interested, stayinterested, and you said really
(08:03):
interested, so that's like youreally really are thinking about
it.
So if you're thinking about it,that means you at this point
should be shadowing and doingeverything that you can to
expose yourself to the fieldbefore you hop in.
Because, baby, let me tell you,it is not easy and it's worth
it, though it's worth it, butjust make sure that you do some
(08:28):
thorough investigation and youknow, really love it, because
some days I'm like I could havedid this, I could have been a
day trader, I could have been athis, but that's why my journey
is different.
That's why I had to go fromhood to hooded, that's why I had
to go from poverty to this,because if I had known about
(08:50):
other routes, I probablywouldn't be Dr Sean.
I would be something else, likeI'll be on Wall Street or
interested in the stock marketor travel blogger or I don't
know what I would be.
But but that wasn't my route.
This is the route that I fellin love with and nothing.
When I was younger, when I wasreally interested in dentistry,
(09:12):
that was in college.
I was going to Florida StateUniversity in my hometown of
Tallahassee, florida.
I remember it like it wasyesterday.
I was going to school.
It must have been my, I wouldsay, my sophomore year at
Florida State University.
Shout out to the Seminoles.
I was in like a biology major.
(09:34):
I biology major.
It's a lot of zoology.
Biology major wasn't for me,but that was my major at the
time and I was doing likepre-med route.
And before I was doing pre-medroute.
I really did thoroughinvestigation, guys.
So that's why I said I havepre-dental knowledge, because I
didn't have a road map, therewas no legacy.
I couldn't go and say, hey mom,do you think?
(09:56):
Hey, dad, could you do you?
I had to figure it out on myown, like with the, with the
internet.
So I did research on podiatry.
I bought pharmacy books.
I wanted to pursue photography.
I was all over the place.
But in the medical route Iconsidered nurse anesthetist.
I went to the hospital, gotclearance to shadow a nurse
(10:18):
anesthetist.
I did a lot and then I'm likeokay, I want to be a brain
surgeon.
I was just all over the place,until one day we were in this
math class and there was thisother alienated girl in my math
class, really smart girl.
I remember her name, april, andwe got to chit-chatting.
She brought her little sisterto the school to like shadow
(10:39):
because she was on spring breakand I'm like oh, you know how
you were in college.
Oh, what's your major, what'syour major?
And so I'm like my major isbiology.
I'm trying to do like pre-med.
Maybe she's like oh, I'm doingpre-dental, like I'm gonna be a
dentist, and I'm thinking Inever thought of that, because
when you go up and grow up inpoverty, you don't get, you're
(11:02):
not exposed to these careers,you don't even know anything
like.
You don't think that somebodywho looks like me is a dentist
and I see this every day in thedental office.
They're like I've never seen.
First of all uh, they call itblack, but I'm actually
indigenous to turtle island butlet's say, a melanated dentist,
you know what I mean.
Um, and we are rare and few.
(11:25):
So when she told me that I'mlike, wow, I'm already in the
major to do dentistry, whydidn't I ever think of that?
So from that moment I joined thepre-dental society and I
switched gears.
I started researchingeverything I could about
dentistry.
I brought the books to let meknow the GPAs of the people who
was getting it.
I mean, I went deep because Ididn't have a choice.
(11:46):
When you don't have a roadmap,when you don't have a book, when
you don't have parents into it,when you don't have any idea,
you have to do those programs,those pre-dental programs.
I started shadowing, I startedlooking at the requirements.
I just really did theconsistency soup on dentistry,
like when I tell you this thisrecipe that we created tonight
(12:09):
is what I had to do to become adentist.
I had to be delusional, I had toshow up.
I had to be unapologetic, I hadto have a lot of passion, be
grateful and a dash ofcreativity, because you got to
do what you can to stick out.
There's so many applicants formeharry.
When I was applying so manyapplicants I think we had I
(12:29):
don't want to get the numberwrong but there were like over
two to three thousand applicantsfor 60 spots, so that's less
than a one percent chance, right, and I got one of those chances
and it's a combination ofeverything that you do.
So when you have that, I reallywant to be a dentist.
Vibe, dive in on that and see ifyou really want it.
(12:50):
And if you really want it,nothing is going.
You're going to be laserfocused like this.
I mean me being laser focusedand showing up every day to
class, enrolling myself intocollege, going and applying to
college on my own, knowing thatI don't have parents to do this,
paying for my application fees,taking those tests, being
(13:10):
disciplined.
When nobody else is telling youto do this, you have to be the
one to say you know what.
This is my dream and I'm goingto make it happen.
Research, figure out if you arereally interested and this is
something that you really wantto do, or if this is something
that you might be like.
Ooh, this is too much.
Because I did have people incollege who started off with the
same track as me, and one classthat weeds everybody out of the
(13:34):
dental profession is organicchemistry.
Now, guys, this is a class thatweeded me out too.
Now I got an F in organicchemistry.
Now, guys, this is a class thatweeded me out too.
Now I got an f in organicchemistry, okay, but I had to go
back and take it over again andI got a c minus.
And guess what a c minus backthen was?
You couldn't get in with anyclasses with a c minus, so I had
(13:57):
to take this class again.
That's how determined I was.
This was the hardest class Iever took in my life.
I mean, I could have just threwup just thinking about it Like
ugh, and I don't.
I can't say I don't use it now,because we do use it when we do
our formulary.
So, yeah, not like that though,but that was the hardest class
(14:23):
that will weed people out,because if you take it and
you're like what the is this?
This is like math plus scienceon steroids.
And you doing math, chemicalmath, problems, that's all I can
say.
And I would have my book atcookouts because I'm in my
hometown, right.
So my family is here, theyhaving cookouts and my home
girls here, they partying, theygoing to fam.
You, I'm like I'm coming to theparty, I thought study, girl,
(14:45):
if I get done studying, okay.
So half the time I didn't go,but sometimes I did.
But when I was taking organicchemistry, man, that class it'll
weed anybody out.
You don't really want to do it.
That's the class that will weedyou out.
That's the class that will makeyou say you know what some
people like you know what?
I'm gonna be an interiordesigner, because girl, no.
(15:11):
But if you like me and you,against the odds, no matter what
your eyes are like, you alreadyknow my eyes is poverty.
My eyes is the lack of parents.
My eyes is grown up in custodybattles between my grandmamas.
You know my eyes is having thetrauma of not or of losing my
mom.
As eight years old, my eyes areso heavy that people thought
(15:35):
those eyes was gonna be likeknocking me out left and right.
Like girl, you ain, you ain'tgoing to make it nowhere.
Who, when I had that interest tobe anything.
I'm like I have to be something.
What my environment is provingto me now is that if I don't
buckle down and create me someconsistency soup about something
, I'm going to be stuck here andain't nobody coming to save me
(15:58):
and I was like no.
So when April told me that shewanted to be a dentist, y'all I
was like what, what bit?
And it was a wrap ever sincethen.
And I've been laser focusedever since then, no matter if I
fail, of course, no matter if I,you know, got denied from
(16:19):
university of florida with myapplication.
Well, I didn't get denied.
I cried in the interview andkind of counted myself out
because I lacked the illusion onthis.
I was like, oh dang, they gaveme an interview, but maybe I'm
not good enough.
Sometimes that counts you out.
You think dang.
If I would think dang, I ain'tgonna get on twitch because I'm
not a good enough streamer likeI.
(16:40):
I don't know if I can really dothis.
Just show up and do itdelusional, do it crazy, do it
head high, shoulders back, notears, no fear.
That's how you have to be Okay.
So, through the fear, throughthe failures, through the
feelings of inadequacy, throughthe lack of a road map, through
(17:06):
the roadblocks, you can stillmake it happen.
You can still make that dream,whatever it is, come to life, no
matter what it is, you can doit.
Create your own consistencysoup tonight to help you figure
out what is my dream.
Is this really my dream?
Test it.
Create your own consistencysoup tonight to help you figure
out what is my dream.
Is this really my dream?
Test it.
Go deep into it If you'reinterested in it.
(17:27):
Whatever you're interested in,this is for anybody who watches
the replay.
Go deep into it, figure it out.
Go shadow people, go test itout.
Go see how it is behind thescenes.
That's the key Before youcommit to any career.
Go see how it is behind thescenes.
That's the key.
Before you commit to any career.
Go see how it is behind thescenes.
A lot of people just go tocollege, pick these majors,
don't know what they're going todo with it, or when you could
(17:48):
have did a trade, made twice asmuch and been happy.
Now you got college debt, youdon't like it and you're unhappy
.
Or you got a trade when youcould have been in college doing
something else.
It all depends on what yourcareer is.
So for me, if I was speaking tomy younger self and I was
interested in something, I wouldgo and pursue it.
When I wanted to get intodental school, I got denied my
(18:12):
first round of applying todental school.
I didn't get into any school.
Like I said, I had oneinterview at the University of
Florida and when I got into theinterview there was an older
Caucasian lady and a really oldCaucasian man and when I saw
those two faces I immediatelyjust cried like a baby, like
(18:33):
they don't want me here.
I was inside thinking that, dang, I'm not good enough.
I didn't know my Niji knowledgethat I know now.
I didn't know about my familygenealogy and that we're
indigenous to Turtle Island.
I just had been told that youknow, black people was you know,
and I wasn't even black.
(18:53):
But back then that that's whatI thought.
So I cried.
I counted myself out.
The second year I applied I hadto go back to the drawing board,
redo my application.
I wanted to freshen up mypersonal statement.
I didn't need to take the testover because they said, hey, you
took DAT, your test scores aregreat.
You don't need to do that again.
(19:14):
And that's what I was worriedabout Organic chemistry,
chemistry because it's on thedat, it's on the dental
admissions test.
If you don't know what the datis, it's the dental admissions
test and I'm like that was myhighest score on the dat.
So I'm like, yes, it was a hardclass and it was.
I made sure that I did good onthat.
(19:37):
So they said you don't need totake it over.
So I didn't take it over, but Ishadow even the first time.
You have to shadow otherdentists.
You get out network meetdentists.
Hey, I want to come to youroffice and shadow you to see I
want to be a dentist.
Don't say I'm thinking about it, just say yeah, I want to be a
dentist and I want to shadow you.
I'm I really I'm interested inthe field.
And they don't let you shadowthem.
(19:58):
Record your hours so that youcan take this if you apply to
dental school.
So the second time I didn't getin.
I say you know, I have to findsomeone who is a Maharian that I
can shadow, because these arethe two schools where they
accept mostly students who aremelanated, because there's only
(20:18):
two out of all the hundred andsomething dental schools, most
of them are pwi, predominantly,predominantly white institutions
.
So I said I have to findsomebody and I'm gonna apply to
howard meharry.
Those are only two and Iapplied to other schools too.
I only got an interview thesecond time at Meharry in
(20:39):
Nashville, tennessee.
So the second time I went intothat interview head high,
shoulders back, no tears boo, notears today, because if this is
sink or swim, everybody in thisroom in this interview trying
to get in.
They already done, weeded downhundreds of applications and
(21:02):
they have this pick 60.
I gotta hold my head up high, Igotta let my shoulders back.
So before I got to thatinterview, I found a dentist.
I started shadowing him but itwasn't easy because I knew who I
wanted to shadow.
I'm like he's a maharian.
He went to the school I want togo to, so I'm gonna, I have to
shadow him.
There's not a lot of dentistswho look like me and he.
(21:23):
He was melanated but hewouldn't answer the phone, right
?
He, his practice was maybe like45 minutes from Tallahassee in
Quincy, florida.
It's like a 45 minute drive.
And I'm a dentist, I mean, I'min Florida State, I'm a student,
I'm probably senior year andI'm trying to get more shadowing
(21:44):
hours under my belt so that Ican reapply to dental school and
maybe I was past senior yearsomewhere in there.
And this is the guy.
So I'm like, dang, he's notanswering.
I'm calling, leaving messages,getting no response.
This is the moment when youwhen the delulu come into effect
, this consistency recipe, thisis the moment when the delulu
(22:04):
come into play.
So I say, dang, he notanswering the phone.
I'm a student, I have a job,I'm taking care of a family.
I don't have any kids, but I'mtaking care of a child and I
have a lot of responsibilities.
So Saturday, my friends want tohang out.
On Friday Listen, guys, I can'thang out tonight.
I got to go and try to shadowthis doctor and tell him I'm
(22:25):
going to work for free onSaturdays.
So I got up one Saturday, drovemy little car to Quincy, let my
windows down in the Florida sunwith the wind blowing and my
hair, drove right to his officebecause he was fortunately open
on Saturdays.
I didn't know if he was openthis Saturday, but I'm going to
see.
I pull up to the office onSaturday before he got out the
(22:49):
car.
I'm here before he got here tothe building hey, my name is
Shanterio Redmond and I want toshout at you, or even just work
as an assistant for free, no pay, just so I can learn and get
more information, so that I canget into dental school.
(23:09):
And you know, I'm just hopingthat you'll give me an
opportunity.
That's why I came out here.
I called and you got to soundthe Lulu.
He was like oh, yeah, you can.
He said yeah, free work.
What?
Yeah, you can come and cleanchairs and wash me new teeth.
So I would clean the chairs,wipe the chairs down, break the
(23:33):
rooms down, set them back up.
And I was fast, this is freework.
What?
Yeah, you can shout on me.
So I got that letter and I gotinto my harry, not knowing that
this dentist was the classpresident when he was there.
What?
This is why you got to be thelulu and network, because you
never know who you're talking to, especially on your journey to
(23:55):
your goals and your dreams.
But back to why I went to theshadowing is because, well, this
wasn't my, this wasn't my firsttime shadowing.
Shadowing allowed me to go intodifferent offices in
tallahassee and just see oh,this is what dentists do, and I
just fell in love with it.
Once april told me that's whatshe wanted to do and I heard
(24:16):
about it.
That's when I started pursuingit and I really turned that
interest into dental magic,dental awesomeness.
Okay, the best of luck on yourjourney to figuring out if
you're gonna be a dentist oryou're gonna be something
(24:37):
totally awesome.
Whatever it is, it's gonna beawesome because I can tell that
you have passion from the wayyou write and the questions that
you ask.
So thank you so much forjoining me tonight.
Hi, dr Sean, could you share any interesting or
memorable patient stories fromwork?
Yes, I can definitely share.
I have a lot of patients whoare very interesting.
By the way, they're very, veryinteresting.
I think my most interestingpatients are the elderly
(00:21):
patients.
Honestly, so, my mostinteresting patients are
definitely the elderly patients.
Honestly, so my mostinteresting patients are
definitely the elderly patientsand I find our conversations
just to be like enlightening.
Anytime I get somebody who'slike 80 or 90 in the chair, I'm
always like wow.
First question how did you keepyour teeth so long?
(00:42):
And I'm also asking how do Iage gracefully?
So they always just say, likethe most simplest thing, like
you just gotta be free, be youlike, don't worry about what
other people think of you.
Be you, live your best life,don't really worry.
(01:05):
And they always say you soyoung, no matter what age you
are.
When you meet somebody that old, they always tell you how young
you are and how much time youhave.
I had patients who are from oneof my most interesting patients.
They are from the islands Iwon't really say which islands,
just trying to stick with HIPAAand all that but they are from
(01:26):
the islands and they alwaysbring food.
So I have these patients whoalways bring food, always trying
to get me fat.
We just laugh In motivationaldentistry office.
Honestly, all of my patientsare.
They all bring differentstories.
They bring totally differentstories.
(01:48):
And's just like a family here.
When they show up, we laugh, wetalk, they found out about me,
I learned about them and it'sjust great conversations,
probably unlike any other dentaloffice, because I really like
to take my time.
But the most memorable patientswhen it comes to teeth, I would
(02:08):
say the patients, especiallysince this oral cancer awareness
month, those patients who Imeet who have oral cancer those
are like the most heartbreakingpatients and their stories about
how they came into thisunfortunate disease is really
(02:29):
scary, it's alarming and it'seye-opening.
That's why I take oral cancerscreenings on every patient and
I try not to ever forget itbecause it's so important.
I had a patient.
This patient was incarceratedand while incarcerated they
developed oral cancer and inwhile they were in there, the
(02:52):
facility allowed it to getreally out of control and faces
like swole, like this, like abig, huge abscess under the neck
, and this is something that islife threatening, that can close
your airway, and it's a veryaggressive disease and if you
don't know, then it can reallytake you out.
This patient he was on lowerincome insurance and insurance
(03:18):
wouldn't cover the thing that heneeded.
So this is when I first startedpracticing in one of the
offices.
So I, as a dentist, I learnedthe skill to make what he needed
without the lab.
So I decided to make what heneeded without the lab because
the insurance that I was usingto cover him was only paying,
(03:41):
we'll say, less than $10.
It was like what is this?
So sometimes as dentists we cando things and put a patient's
care and what they need in frontof the money, especially if you
see something like that.
So I saw that he needed thistray because these trays they
use them while they're goingthrough, like chemo radiation,
(04:02):
to prevent the teeth from beingdestroyed completely by the
medication because it creates atoxic environment in the mouth.
So the trays they put solutionsin the trays that have extra
fluoride to kind of protect theteeth as much as possible and
without making the tray, then hewould have the risk of losing
the teeth and that's somethingthat's super, super scary.
(04:24):
So that's one of theinteresting patient stories that
I can tell you from work.
That's kind of a scary story.
So make sure you are gettingyour oral cancer screenings.
And if you smoke cigarettes,then you definitely want to have
an oral cancer screening atleast once a year.
Okay, and make sure yourdentist is doing that, because
some dentists don't do that.
(04:45):
I was intimidated, guys.
I'm gonna tell you why.
I was intimidated to be theonly one in the room, like dang.
I thought somebody else wasgonna show up.
But it doesn't work that wayall the time.
It doesn't work that way allthe time.
Sometimes it's a choice for youto prove it to yourself.
(05:07):
You have to prove it toyourself, like I had to prove it
to myself, that this dream ispossible.
I had to prove it to myselfthat I can show up for me.
I had to prove it to myselfbefore I can prove it to anybody
else that I can do this.
It's a must that I believe inmyself to overcome that fear, to
overcome that little teensy bitof anxiety like dang, like if I
(05:31):
don't show up, nobody will missme.
You know what I mean, because Idon't have an audience yet.
So but I gotta get out of thatmindset and that's why this
experiment is everything.
It's not easy to go live for anhour on twitch every day for 365
days.
And if I am gonna picksomething to be consistent about
, why the would I do that?
But that's what I want to do.
(05:53):
I don't like doing easy.
I want to make my.
I want to make it hard.
I don't want easy goals.
If I wanted easy goals in life,I would not be a dentist.
I wouldn't be a doctor from thehood, from poverty.
If I wanted easy things, well,I'm not gonna say that I want
(06:14):
things to be easier.
But I know that in my life,where I come from, taking the
easy route was not going to makeme the person I am today.
I know I know that I'm going tohave to work and go to school
and probably work more than onejob.
While doing that, I was in abad relationship while in school
, taking care of people, takingcare of a man, all this type of
(06:36):
stuff, and that could havekilled me in school.
But when you grow up withoutyour mother, your father, you do
make some dilapidated choicesthat you have to learn from and
how you learn, the rate that youlearn from those mistakes that
you make on those learningexperiences will determine the
(06:57):
type of person you become andwho you grow up to be.
Thank you for responding to mymessage.
I'm a fan from Canada andyou're such an an inspiration.
I'm really interested in thefield.
Okay, you are so welcome.
I love those type of questions,especially about dentistry,
because this is my true job.
Streaming is my my.
(07:18):
Just I want to be a streamer.
I think it's fun and you know Ilike it.
But I think dentistry is aninteresting field.
It's a interesting time to be adentist and I have a
perspective of both sides theassociate side, the school side,
the pre-dental side, theresidency side and the dental
(07:42):
practice ownership side.
So my experience is vast.
I'm still growing in this areaof dental practice.
Ownership is very different fromany other area of dentistry
because it's so competitive, butyou have to really love what
you do.
So if you're interested, stayinterested, and you said really
(08:03):
interested, so that's like youreally really are thinking about
it.
So if you're thinking about it,that means you at this point
should be shadowing and doingeverything that you can to
expose yourself to the fieldbefore you hop in.
Because, baby, let me tell you,it is not easy and it's worth
it, though it's worth it, butjust make sure that you do some
(08:28):
thorough investigation and youknow, really love it, because
some days I'm like I could havedid this, I could have been a
day trader, I could have been athis, but that's why my journey
is different.
That's why I had to go fromhood to hooded, that's why I had
to go from poverty to this,because if I had known about
(08:50):
other routes, I probablywouldn't be Dr Sean.
I would be something else, likeI'll be on Wall Street or
interested in the stock marketor travel blogger or I don't
know what I would be.
But but that wasn't my route.
This is the route that I fellin love with and nothing.
When I was younger, when I wasreally interested in dentistry,
(09:12):
that was in college.
I was going to Florida StateUniversity in my hometown of
Tallahassee, florida.
I remember it like it wasyesterday.
I was going to school.
It must have been my, I wouldsay, my sophomore year at
Florida State University.
Shout out to the Seminoles.
I was in like a biology major.
(09:34):
I biology major.
It's a lot of zoology.
Biology major wasn't for me,but that was my major at the
time and I was doing likepre-med route.
And before I was doing pre-medroute.
I really did thoroughinvestigation, guys.
So that's why I said I havepre-dental knowledge, because I
didn't have a road map, therewas no legacy.
I couldn't go and say, hey mom,do you think?
(09:56):
Hey, dad, could you do you?
I had to figure it out on myown, like with the, with the
internet.
So I did research on podiatry.
I bought pharmacy books.
I wanted to pursue photography.
I was all over the place.
But in the medical route Iconsidered nurse anesthetist.
I went to the hospital, gotclearance to shadow a nurse
(10:18):
anesthetist.
I did a lot and then I'm likeokay, I want to be a brain
surgeon.
I was just all over the place,until one day we were in this
math class and there was thisother alienated girl in my math
class, really smart girl.
I remember her name, april, andwe got to chit-chatting.
She brought her little sisterto the school to like shadow
(10:39):
because she was on spring breakand I'm like oh, you know how
you were in college.
Oh, what's your major, what'syour major?
And so I'm like my major isbiology.
I'm trying to do like pre-med.
Maybe she's like oh, I'm doingpre-dental, like I'm gonna be a
dentist, and I'm thinking Inever thought of that, because
when you go up and grow up inpoverty, you don't get, you're
(11:02):
not exposed to these careers,you don't even know anything
like.
You don't think that somebodywho looks like me is a dentist
and I see this every day in thedental office.
They're like I've never seen.
First of all uh, they call itblack, but I'm actually
indigenous to turtle island butlet's say, a melanated dentist,
you know what I mean.
Um, and we are rare and few.
(11:25):
So when she told me that I'mlike, wow, I'm already in the
major to do dentistry, whydidn't I ever think of that?
So from that moment I joined thepre-dental society and I
switched gears.
I started researchingeverything I could about
dentistry.
I brought the books to let meknow the GPAs of the people who
was getting it.
I mean, I went deep because Ididn't have a choice.
(11:46):
When you don't have a roadmap,when you don't have a book, when
you don't have parents into it,when you don't have any idea,
you have to do those programs,those pre-dental programs.
I started shadowing, I startedlooking at the requirements.
I just really did theconsistency soup on dentistry,
like when I tell you this thisrecipe that we created tonight
(12:09):
is what I had to do to become adentist.
I had to be delusional, I had toshow up.
I had to be unapologetic, I hadto have a lot of passion, be
grateful and a dash ofcreativity, because you got to
do what you can to stick out.
There's so many applicants formeharry.
When I was applying so manyapplicants I think we had I
(12:29):
don't want to get the numberwrong but there were like over
two to three thousand applicantsfor 60 spots, so that's less
than a one percent chance, right, and I got one of those chances
and it's a combination ofeverything that you do.
So when you have that, I reallywant to be a dentist.
Vibe, dive in on that and see ifyou really want it.
(12:50):
And if you really want it,nothing is going.
You're going to be laserfocused like this.
I mean me being laser focusedand showing up every day to
class, enrolling myself intocollege, going and applying to
college on my own, knowing thatI don't have parents to do this,
paying for my application fees,taking those tests, being
(13:10):
disciplined.
When nobody else is telling youto do this, you have to be the
one to say you know what.
This is my dream and I'm goingto make it happen.
Research, figure out if you arereally interested and this is
something that you really wantto do, or if this is something
that you might be like.
Ooh, this is too much.
Because I did have people incollege who started off with the
same track as me, and one classthat weeds everybody out of the
(13:34):
dental profession is organicchemistry.
Now, guys, this is a class thatweeded me out too.
Now I got an F in organicchemistry.
Now, guys, this is a class thatweeded me out too.
Now I got an f in organicchemistry, okay, but I had to go
back and take it over again andI got a c minus.
And guess what a c minus backthen was?
You couldn't get in with anyclasses with a c minus, so I had
(13:57):
to take this class again.
That's how determined I was.
This was the hardest class Iever took in my life.
I mean, I could have just threwup just thinking about it Like
ugh, and I don't.
I can't say I don't use it now,because we do use it when we do
our formulary.
So, yeah, not like that though,but that was the hardest class
(14:23):
that will weed people out,because if you take it and
you're like what the is this?
This is like math plus scienceon steroids.
And you doing math, chemicalmath, problems, that's all I can
say.
And I would have my book atcookouts because I'm in my
hometown, right.
So my family is here, theyhaving cookouts and my home
girls here, they partying, theygoing to fam.
You, I'm like I'm coming to theparty, I thought study, girl,
(14:45):
if I get done studying, okay.
So half the time I didn't go,but sometimes I did.
But when I was taking organicchemistry, man, that class it'll
weed anybody out.
You don't really want to do it.
That's the class that will weedyou out.
That's the class that will makeyou say you know what some
people like you know what?
I'm gonna be an interiordesigner, because girl, no.
(15:11):
But if you like me and you,against the odds, no matter what
your eyes are like, you alreadyknow my eyes is poverty.
My eyes is the lack of parents.
My eyes is grown up in custodybattles between my grandmamas.
You know my eyes is having thetrauma of not or of losing my
mom.
As eight years old, my eyes areso heavy that people thought
(15:35):
those eyes was gonna be likeknocking me out left and right.
Like girl, you ain, you ain'tgoing to make it nowhere.
Who, when I had that interest tobe anything.
I'm like I have to be something.
What my environment is provingto me now is that if I don't
buckle down and create me someconsistency soup about something
, I'm going to be stuck here andain't nobody coming to save me
(15:58):
and I was like no.
So when April told me that shewanted to be a dentist, y'all I
was like what, what bit?
And it was a wrap ever sincethen.
And I've been laser focusedever since then, no matter if I
fail, of course, no matter if I,you know, got denied from
(16:19):
university of florida with myapplication.
Well, I didn't get denied.
I cried in the interview andkind of counted myself out
because I lacked the illusion onthis.
I was like, oh dang, they gaveme an interview, but maybe I'm
not good enough.
Sometimes that counts you out.
You think dang.
If I would think dang, I ain'tgonna get on twitch because I'm
not a good enough streamer likeI.
(16:40):
I don't know if I can really dothis.
Just show up and do itdelusional, do it crazy, do it
head high, shoulders back, notears, no fear.
That's how you have to be Okay.
So, through the fear, throughthe failures, through the
feelings of inadequacy, throughthe lack of a road map, through
(17:06):
the roadblocks, you can stillmake it happen.
You can still make that dream,whatever it is, come to life, no
matter what it is, you can doit.
Create your own consistencysoup tonight to help you figure
out what is my dream.
Is this really my dream?
Test it.
Create your own consistencysoup tonight to help you figure
out what is my dream.
Is this really my dream?
Test it.
Go deep into it If you'reinterested in it.
(17:27):
Whatever you're interested in,this is for anybody who watches
the replay.
Go deep into it, figure it out.
Go shadow people, go test itout.
Go see how it is behind thescenes.
That's the key Before youcommit to any career.
Go see how it is behind thescenes.
That's the key.
Before you commit to any career.
Go see how it is behind thescenes.
A lot of people just go tocollege, pick these majors,
don't know what they're going todo with it, or when you could
(17:48):
have did a trade, made twice asmuch and been happy.
Now you got college debt, youdon't like it and you're unhappy
.
Or you got a trade when youcould have been in college doing
something else.
It all depends on what yourcareer is.
So for me, if I was speaking tomy younger self and I was
interested in something, I wouldgo and pursue it.
When I wanted to get intodental school, I got denied my
(18:12):
first round of applying todental school.
I didn't get into any school.
Like I said, I had oneinterview at the University of
Florida and when I got into theinterview there was an older
Caucasian lady and a really oldCaucasian man and when I saw
those two faces I immediatelyjust cried like a baby, like
(18:33):
they don't want me here.
I was inside thinking that, dang, I'm not good enough.
I didn't know my Niji knowledgethat I know now.
I didn't know about my familygenealogy and that we're
indigenous to Turtle Island.
I just had been told that youknow, black people was you know,
and I wasn't even black.
(18:53):
But back then that that's whatI thought.
So I cried.
I counted myself out.
The second year I applied I hadto go back to the drawing board,
redo my application.
I wanted to freshen up mypersonal statement.
I didn't need to take the testover because they said, hey, you
took DAT, your test scores aregreat.
You don't need to do that again.
(19:14):
And that's what I was worriedabout Organic chemistry,
chemistry because it's on thedat, it's on the dental
admissions test.
If you don't know what the datis, it's the dental admissions
test and I'm like that was myhighest score on the dat.
So I'm like, yes, it was a hardclass and it was.
I made sure that I did good onthat.
(19:37):
So they said you don't need totake it over.
So I didn't take it over, but Ishadow even the first time.
You have to shadow otherdentists.
You get out network meetdentists.
Hey, I want to come to youroffice and shadow you to see I
want to be a dentist.
Don't say I'm thinking about it, just say yeah, I want to be a
dentist and I want to shadow you.
I'm I really I'm interested inthe field.
And they don't let you shadowthem.
(19:58):
Record your hours so that youcan take this if you apply to
dental school.
So the second time I didn't getin.
I say you know, I have to findsomeone who is a Maharian that I
can shadow, because these arethe two schools where they
accept mostly students who aremelanated, because there's only
(20:18):
two out of all the hundred andsomething dental schools, most
of them are pwi, predominantly,predominantly white institutions
.
So I said I have to findsomebody and I'm gonna apply to
howard meharry.
Those are only two and Iapplied to other schools too.
I only got an interview thesecond time at Meharry in
(20:39):
Nashville, tennessee.
So the second time I went intothat interview head high,
shoulders back, no tears boo, notears today, because if this is
sink or swim, everybody in thisroom in this interview trying
to get in.
They already done, weeded downhundreds of applications and
(21:02):
they have this pick 60.
I gotta hold my head up high, Igotta let my shoulders back.
So before I got to thatinterview, I found a dentist.
I started shadowing him but itwasn't easy because I knew who I
wanted to shadow.
I'm like he's a maharian.
He went to the school I want togo to, so I'm gonna, I have to
shadow him.
There's not a lot of dentistswho look like me and he.
(21:23):
He was melanated but hewouldn't answer the phone, right
?
He, his practice was maybe like45 minutes from Tallahassee in
Quincy, florida.
It's like a 45 minute drive.
And I'm a dentist, I mean, I'min Florida State, I'm a student,
I'm probably senior year andI'm trying to get more shadowing
(21:44):
hours under my belt so that Ican reapply to dental school and
maybe I was past senior yearsomewhere in there.
And this is the guy.
So I'm like, dang, he's notanswering.
I'm calling, leaving messages,getting no response.
This is the moment when youwhen the delulu come into effect
, this consistency recipe, thisis the moment when the delulu
(22:04):
come into play.
So I say, dang, he notanswering the phone.
I'm a student, I have a job,I'm taking care of a family.
I don't have any kids, but I'mtaking care of a child and I
have a lot of responsibilities.
So Saturday, my friends want tohang out.
On Friday Listen, guys, I can'thang out tonight.
I got to go and try to shadowthis doctor and tell him I'm
(22:25):
going to work for free onSaturdays.
So I got up one Saturday, drovemy little car to Quincy, let my
windows down in the Florida sunwith the wind blowing and my
hair, drove right to his officebecause he was fortunately open
on Saturdays.
I didn't know if he was openthis Saturday, but I'm going to
see.
I pull up to the office onSaturday before he got out the
(22:49):
car.
I'm here before he got here tothe building hey, my name is
Shanterio Redmond and I want toshout at you, or even just work
as an assistant for free, no pay, just so I can learn and get
more information, so that I canget into dental school.
(23:09):
And you know, I'm just hopingthat you'll give me an
opportunity.
That's why I came out here.
I called and you got to soundthe Lulu.
He was like oh, yeah, you can.
He said yeah, free work.
What?
Yeah, you can come and cleanchairs and wash me new teeth.
So I would clean the chairs,wipe the chairs down, break the
(23:33):
rooms down, set them back up.
And I was fast, this is freework.
What?
Yeah, you can shout on me.
So I got that letter and I gotinto my harry, not knowing that
this dentist was the classpresident when he was there.
What?
This is why you got to be thelulu and network, because you
never know who you're talking to, especially on your journey to
(23:55):
your goals and your dreams.
But back to why I went to theshadowing is because, well, this
wasn't my, this wasn't my firsttime shadowing.
Shadowing allowed me to go intodifferent offices in
tallahassee and just see oh,this is what dentists do, and I
just fell in love with it.
Once april told me that's whatshe wanted to do and I heard
(24:16):
about it.
That's when I started pursuingit and I really turned that
interest into dental magic,dental awesomeness.
Okay, the best of luck on yourjourney to figuring out if
you're gonna be a dentist oryou're gonna be something
(24:37):
totally awesome.
Whatever it is, it's gonna beawesome because I can tell that
you have passion from the wayyou write and the questions that
you ask.
So thank you so much forjoining me tonight.
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