Saturday Courses

Charles Cohen is managing director and third-generation owner of Benco Dental Company, the nation’s largest independently owned dental distributor, and Clarion Financial, a sister company offering financing to dentists. Founded in 1930 by Benjamin Cohen, Benco serves over 25,000 dental offices and dental laboratories across the United States. The company is based in Northeastern Pennsylvania with locations in 40 states.

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Charles joined Benco as a territory representative in 1989. After taking on management roles in the company’s sales and marketing department, he assumed a senior leadership role in 1997.

Joanne Miles, MAADOM and RDA is considered the Swiss Army knife for dental practices. With decades of experience including working with private multi-location practices, Joanne shares proven methods that guide dentists and teams to grow. From scratch start to experienced offices, her passion for providing proven methods gives dentists the competitive edge to accelerate exceptional patient care.

As an Investment Grade Practice Business Advisor for PDA, she enjoys bringing positive energy and solutions to help everyday dentists and teams so you can achieve extraordinary results. By helping surface what’s possible, you can realize the freedom private practice ownership can provide.

Michael Mathews is a driven, expertly trained, high-integrity Senior Director of Practice Growth

Acceleration at Firegang Dental Marketing. Possessing master-level marketing operations, automation, and patient generation acumen, Mike has a rich history of success in dental practice growth. Far from simply being successful during times of prosperity, Mike brings to the table implementable actions that ensure that practices not only survive – but thrive – during times of economic uncertainty.

Referred to as “King Charisma” in national publications, Michael Mathews is a highly-rated and award winning motivational, performance, and Dental Marketing speaker with 20+ years of experience on nationwide stages as well as a dental marketing author. Mike works with dentist-owners, practice managers, and dental organizations to enact practice growth acceleration – doing the right things, in the right sequence and in the shortest amount of time – to drive revenue.

Lindsey Roberg is responsible for the growth and retention of the direct Dental provider network for both commercial and government lines of business. Her team is also accountable for provider communications, experience, and servicing functions. Roberg is Minnesota-based and has been with UnitedHealthcare for 16 years.

Steijn Pelle is an entrepreneur who has specialized in growing companies in financial technology and healthcare. After he worked in the office of his own dentist for months, he co-founded Lassie: a company that helps dental office managers by automating their finances with software. Prior to that, Steijn was an early leader at Robinhood, Coinbase, and HealthTap – responsible for the growth of products that millions of people now love to use every day.
As the grandson of small business owners from the Netherlands, he is on a mission to bring easy-to-use technology to offices across the country. He wants to make it more fun and easy to run the practice you work in.

Megan Lohman is the founder and Co-CEO of Plan Forward, a SaaS platform supporting membership plans for dental practices. As an office manager and treatment coordinator, Megan witnessed first-hand the issues dental practices were facing with membership plans and built Plan Forward to be an innovative resource for dental practices to drive growth and support the practice’s role in exceptional care for their patients.

As a successful & innovative female entrepreneur and a sales, business & marketing leader as well as a highly respected recruiting & staffing coach, she developed the skills and knowledge that guided her development of Plan Forward when she fell into the dental industry and designed a way to streamline and automate the administration of membership plans.

Megan has authored many articles for leading dental publications, and speaks nationally for many dental associations, study clubs, and meetings.

Laura Nelson is known internationally as the Leader in Dental Front Office Solutions and Training. Laura is an award-winning, international speaker & the founder of Front Office Rocks™, a virtual training platform for dental teams that teaches office systems and methods to help practices achieve exceptional customer service.

With her interactive and innovative approach, Laura has mentored thousands of dentists and dental team members to achieve unprecedented results in growth and empowered dentists and office managers to excel at performance-based hiring. An accomplished recruiting & management coach and highly renowned keynote speaker, she is the best-selling author of Step Away from the Drill, a book that has helped dentists understand & embrace the business side of dentistry.

Laura received her undergraduate degree from Eastern Michigan University in Human Resources and her master’s degree in organizational development from John Hopkins University focusing on leadership development and success. Laura is a member of the National Speakers Association, The Speaking Consulting Network, the Academy of Dental Management Consultants, and a fellow of the American Association of Dental Office Management. Laura is the recipient of public speaking awards from The Speaking Consulting Network and Dentistry’s Got Talent. She has also been recognized as one of Dental Products Report’s Top 25 Women in Dentistry.

As a cofounder of TempMee, alongside Cary Gahm, Ed has been heavily involved in the dental staffing world since the company’s inception in 2017. While building the company from the ground up, he has held a variety of roles – from application design to janitorial services, to CO-CEO and head of the finance, support, and development teams, he has successfully navigated the challenges of building a startup into a national player. Ed has grown truly passionate about the dental industry and aims to solve one of its foremost pain points, the shortage of qualified practitioners. Originally from Michigan, Ed is based in Miami where he lives with his wife, Kathy, and their cat.

Emme Sanders, RDH, transforms dental practices with her high energy and positive approach to coaching. She has expanded her leadership and interpersonal skills for over 25 years, allowing her to increase team performance, refine dental skills, and create a space conductive to learning. Utilizing her unique teaching methods, Emme’s courses revitalize both doctor and hygienist roles through her workshop and real-world case studies that address hygiene department mistakes. Emme realizes the importance of teamwork and humor as a driving factor in creating a successful practice. She has worked with smaller and intimate offices as well as larger multilocation operations with equal grace and confidence, ready to tackle any and all challenges. Thanks to Emme’s chairside clinical and presentation abilities, she has become an official trainer for Digital Radiography and Intraoral Imaging, respectively. She has achieved ACE Certification, graduated from Transformational Trainers, holds membership to the Speaking and Consulting Network, and has developed a thriving career providing her knowledge and expertise to dental practices working with national consulting firm Inspired Hygiene.

Tija was named one of the Top 25 Women in Dentistry by Dental Products Report Magazine. She is a member of the American Dental Assistants Association (ADAA) where she holds the honor of Master. Tija is a contributor to many dental publications. She is the director of the Dental Careers Institute and sits on the editorial board for OSAP. She is also the former editor to Dental Assisting Digest. Tija is the author of seven CE study courses, a book on motivation; Rock Star Dental Assistant, and a Dental Compliance Calendar. She is an international speaker and is a certified trainer in nitrous oxide in several states. Tija holds certification in OSHA and HIPAA.

Tammy is the CEO and Founder of TLC Dental Coaching. Her passion is to inspire dental teams to realize their full potential by building relationship-based practices. Her knowledge and experience from the last 35 years in dental practices help her to provide clients with the effective tools they need to be successful. Tammy’s excitement for dental consulting and coaching is a natural extension of her need to share her knowledge to help dental teams deliver the best patient experience. She is a 2021 AADOM Practice Administrator of Distinction, a Founding Member of the San Diego Chapter of AADOM and proudly holds a Lifetime membership to AAOM.

Vivek Kinra is the owner and CEO of two large fast-growing companies in the dental insurance space – PPO Profits and Verrific. In a matter of four years, Vivek has grown these companies with over 100 full-time professionals working and serving close to 2500 clients. The remarkable growth has come from Vivek cutting his teeth in learning everything about dental insurance while managing his dentist wife’s startup practice in Chicago. Vivek is now a highly sought speaker on the topics of entrepreneurship, dental insurance, and building highly profitable PPO-based dental practices. With expertise in PPO negotiations, insurance verifications, claims processing/billing, and in-office membership plans, he is able to provide guidance and services to largely PPO-based dental practices as well as the dental community at large!

Founder of the Delivering WOW Dental Education, Dr. Anissa Holmes helps practices grow by focusing on leadership, effective case presentation, schedule & systems optimization, and implementing high-return marketing. While others are helping their clients have multiple six-figure years, she is helping her clients have multiple six-figure months. Dr. Holmes has been named one of Ultradent’s Female Icons of Dentistry, Dental Products Report’s TOP 25 Women in Dentistry, and featured in top publications such as Dental Economics, Dentistry IQ, Dental Products Report, and Entrepreneur Magazine. Dr. Holmes is also the author of the best-selling book, Delivering WOW: How Dentists Can Build a Fascinating Brand and Achieve More While Working Less.

Dana Watson is a Fellow of AADOM, the American Association of Office Management. She is a member of the Speaking Consulting Network, where she won the 2019 Spotlight on Speaking award. She is also a member of the Academy of Dental Management Consultants. Dana is a speaker, teacher, coach, and team trainer for leadership and communication in the dental practice. She is a certified trainer for the Five Voices of Leadership. Dana enjoys teaching foundations of excellence for the dental team and also enjoys building leaders and liaisons within the dental practice. Dana is also an active practice manager of a dental practice in her hometown of Nashville, Tennessee.

Lois Banta is the CEO, President, and Founder of Healthcare Enterprises, Inc., a company that specializes in all aspects of dental practice retreats and lectures. Lois has over 45 years of dental experience and consults and speaks nationally and internationally. She is the CEO of The Speaking Consulting Network and a member of several professional organizations.

Kristen Barden is a seasoned Dental Practice Manager turned dental coach with over 25 years of experience in the group dental industry. Her success is rooted in building quality relationships with stakeholders, continually pursuing the complexities of dental practices, and facilitating the responses to these changes in the marketplace. Along with speaking about this new frontier in the dental industry, she is the owner and founder of 2k Dental Coaching, a dental consulting company. Developing influential leaders that can empower teams and build healthy organizations is her passion. Kristen is a Board Member of the Peak to Peak Study Club and a lifetime member of AADOM.

With over 20 years of healthcare experience, Teresa addresses topics such as Insurance Coding, Office Manager Training and Patient Conversations. Her memberships include the National Speakers Association and the National Association of Dental Plans. She has been named one of the Top 25 Women in Dentistry and is the author of Moving Your Patients to Yes: Easy Insurance Conversations as well as a contributing author to the ADA’s annual CDT Companion Guide™.  In 2021 she received AADOM’s Lifetime Achievement Award.  Her podcasts “Nobody Told Me That!” and “Chew On This!” provide regular coding and management updates. Teresa received her Master’s Degree in Healthcare Management.

With over 30 years in the dental industry, Geri has useful experience in everything from practice management and patient treatment to administration and leadership. In addition to having owned two large periodontal practices with her husband Dr. Robert Gottlieb. Geri launched her own business in 2019, GG Practice Coaching & Development. Geri now understands even more what it takes to successfully grow and develop a business from the ground up. This experience and her continuous education give her a better understanding and empathy of the multiple silos in our industry; clinical, leader, manager, and owner.

Always looking to accumulate more knowledge and understanding. Geri has certifications in Adult learning, Behavioral Therapy, The Five Behaviors of a Team, and DiSC Behavioral Assessments. These allow her to generate unique insights into the personal needs of each member of your team. Before launching her own business, Geri spent 4 years as a lead coach with ACT Dental Practice Management and Motivational Speaker Kirk Berhendt.

Geri’s passion for organizational health, team, leadership development, and systems to support those are the foundation of her coaching philosophy. These are some of the necessary ingredients for the sustainable growth and development of any business.

Tija was named one of the Top 25 Women in Dentistry by Dental Products Report Magazine. She is a member of the American Dental Assistants Association (ADAA) where she holds the honor of Master. Tija is the former Editorial Director for Dental Assisting Digest, and contributor to many other dental publications. She is the director of the Dental Careers Institute, she is also the author of seven CE study courses and a book on motivation; Rock Star Dental Assistant and a dental compliance calendar.  She is an international speaker and is a certified trainer in nitrous oxide in several states.

Colleen Huff, FAADOM, has been in the dental field for 28+ years. Starting as a dental customer service representative, she has worked/managed dental offices during this time. Her experiences span managing multi-location practices to growing a practice from the ground up.

Colleen began full-time speaking and consulting in 2021. She helps dental practices around the country improve their Dental Insurance knowledge and administrative systems, as well as traveling the country speaking at national conventions as well as local AADOM Chapters on a variety of Dental Insurance topics.

She is the founder of the Buffalo/WNY AADOM Chapter, as well as an active Ambassador and Fellow class of 2015. For her leadership, she was named one of the TOP 25 Women in Dentistry, 2017 by Dental Products Reports. Colleen is a proud member of NADP (National Association of Dental Plans), DCC-Dental Consultants Connection as well as SCN- Speakers Consultant Network along with being licensed to speak on dental codes through the ADA.

Lynne Leggett, BS, FAADOM is the founder and CEO of Victory Dental Management. With over 20 years of business experience, in addition to being a seasoned basketball coach, Lynne understands that having employees ≠ a team. Her passion is helping dental practices reach their full potential, increase their productivity and profitability while enabling them to deliver the best patient care and patient experience. She is a member of the Academy of Dental Management Consultants, National Speakers Association, Speaking Consulting Network, AADOM Speaker Consultant Alliance, and a lifetime member and Fellow of AADOM.  She is the author of You Can’t Coach Quit, online CE courses, multiple webinars, and her monthly newsletter the “Coach’s Corner”.  She is a contributing author to several dental magazines and multiple state association newsletters.