E17: Joe Holland Shares His Journey from NFL Player to Dental Practice Owner

After his NFL dreams were dashed by injury, former Purdue football star Joe Holland chose to channel his competitive spirit into building a thriving dental practice. In this episode, Joe opens up about his pivot from medicine to dentistry in pursuit of practice ownership and learning to lead employees with no business experience. 

Now the owner of multiple offices, Joe shares his story of turning adversity into success through strategic marketing moves worthy of a game day playbook. Learn from how Joe's grit and determination helped him overcome obstacles to build his own "dental dynasty."

Here are some power takeaways from today’s conversation:

[00:41] Joe’s road to football and dentistry

[15:22] Leveraging athletic career for professional success

[21:59] How athletic background can lead to business success

[25:27] Why dentists make attractive lenders 

[26:44] Buying a dental practice and transitioning ownership 

[31:15] Buying and selling dental practices and competition from private equity

[45:44] Leadership and management in a dental practice

[56:17] Dentistry, growth, and future plans

[58:21] Financial literacy and investment principles for former NFL players

 

Episode Highlights:

[21:59] How Athletic Background Can Lead to Business Success

Joe believes his athletic background helped set him up for business success. Playing college and pro football built his resilience, work ethic, and confidence. Being voted captain his senior year taught leadership skills. Sports fostered determination and competitiveness, giving him the mindset to take risks like purchasing a dental practice. His athletic experiences developed qualities that translated well to his post-football professional career.

[25:27] Why Dentists Make Attractive Lenders

Joe leveraged one aspect of being a dentist to his advantage when purchasing his first dental practice - he realized that dentists make very attractive lenders. As a low-risk profession with stable incomes, dentists have low default rates on loans. Joe was able to use this knowledge of how appealing dentists are to lenders in order to secure financing for his practice purchase, recognizing it as one of the benefits of entering this particular career field.

[26:44] Buying a Dental Practice and Transitioning Ownership

Joe took an unconventional approach to buying his first dental practice: sending notes to elderly patients resembling retired players. This connected him with a selling dentist. However, the shortened transition period caused patient confusion, as Joe realized he needed longer overlap to smoothly hand over the established but declining business. It was a valuable learning experience for effectively transitioning practice ownership.

[45:44] Leadership and Management in a Dental Practice

Joe realized he overestimated how his leadership skills from football would directly apply to managing a dental practice team. He learned it was important to get to know employees personally outside of work to understand their individual communication preferences and learning styles. Only then could Joe tailor his leadership approach and set clear expectations to effectively motivate each person. Developing personal relationships with staff helped Joe build cohesion and improved his ability to lead the team towards shared goals.