Episode Transcript
Show Notes
Dr. Ellis is a current client and was not provided with any compensation for her participation in this podcast.
Kyle: Welcome to Wit, Wisdom, and What Matters Most. It’s a podcast with Moneta’s Gast Freeman Troyer Racen Team. My name is Kyle Luetters, advisor on the team, and I am joined on this podcast by Danton Troyer, a partner on the team.
Danton, a very energetic conversation today. We have Dr. Holly Ellis here of Ellis Dental and Ellis Sleep Center joining us on the show today. And I think what everybody’s going to hear here is a lot of passion, a lot of energy, and the exact way that you can get onto a game show while being a dental student.
Danton: There’s definitely step-by-step instructions, so if anything else, you want to make some money on the Wheel of Fortune circuit, we can help you there.
But yeah, it’s great to get an interview with Holly in here, just how she kind of grew over the years in her business, and I’m sure people will be able to get a lot of takeaways from that.
Kyle: For sure. Well, without further ado, here’s our conversation with Dr. Holly Ellis.
And now joining us here on Wit, Wisdom, and What Matters Most, perhaps one of the most lucky guests, and not just because she’s a guest on the show, but because of some of the things I found out about her in doing some research.
Joining us today, Dr. Holly Ellis of Ellis Dental and Ellis Sleep Center. And Holly, before I kind of dive in, I know you maybe froze a little bit when I said that, because I did my homework for this interview. But number one, how are you doing? And you’re coming to us from your office, your dental practice, is that correct?
Dr. Ellis: Yes. Yeah, I’m in my dental practice right now. It’s a busy day, but I’m excited to be here on the podcast.
Kyle: Hopefully it’s more fun than filling cavities. You just have to let us know at the end. That will be for us as well.
Dr. Ellis: Yes!
Kyle: So Dr. Ellis is someone that Danton and I know, a successful entrepreneur, a wonderful smile if you go to ellisdental.com, you happen to notice everybody has a great smile, so it’s wonderful marketing. But what I wanted to lead into here was, where did your love of Wheel of Fortune come from?
Dr. Ellis: You know, that show’s been on my entire life, Kyle. It’s been around so long. So I think I just grew up with it in the background.
And then as I got older, I realized I was good at it, you know, but it’s kind of fun to play when you’re good at something.
Kyle: Right…
Dr. Ellis: So it could be on, Wheel of Fortune’s on in the background, so you could look at the TV and like, oh, solve a puzzle, then go back to making dinner type thing.
But I love word games, stuff like that. And so yeah, I love that game.
Kyle: And you were actually on the show.
Dr. Ellis: I was on the show over 20 years ago, I think. But I had gone online when I was in dental school to look up how to get on there. And they had a form you could fill out for them to contact you if they came to your city for auditions. And at the time, I was in Kansas City. So, I filled out the form. And you know, maybe six months later, I got an email that said, you’re invited to an audition at the Marriott, downtown Kansas City. So, I skipped class because it was during class.
Kyle: The attitude of limitations is gone. Yes.
Dr. Ellis: Yeah. I wore my dental school scrubs. You know, I wanted to play the whole poor student aspect, got down there, ended up running into one of my instructors who was also positioning for Wheel of Fortune, and we both had a good laugh over that.
Yeah, I got down there, they had about 250 people, they gave us paper tests and things on paper we had to fill out – like hangman almost, and had like a info sheet to fill out. And then they narrowed it down to 50 from that. And you had to write some interesting things about yourself, stuff like that.
And then we had to play some mock games. And then they told us if you’re selected, you’ll be on the show within the year and you’ll get a letter. And sure enough, about three weeks later, I got a letter in the mail saying you’re invited out to record and yeah, it was a lot of fun.
It all just kind of worked out perfect. You know, all the stars aligned, I guess.
Kyle: That they did. Oh my goodness, that’s cool. And when you were on the show, what was, and we’re going to get to the rest of the story here, but I really kind of want to hone in on this because I think this is really interesting. What was that experience on the show like?
Dr. Ellis: Super fun. So they record six shows in a day, and I was the first show and they just kind of get you out there and you’re in the recording studio meeting Pat and Vanna and you just start playing, just like it is on TV. They don’t make you take a lot of breaks, just for commercials and, you know, I hit bankrupt a couple times, but I solved two puzzles.
I won a prize and about $3,600 in the end, I came in second. So it was a ton of fun.
Kyle: Not a bad haul for a dental student. Not a bad haul, right?
Dr. Ellis: It was great. So fun! And when I went, my class at dental school wished me off well and gave me all kinds of goody bags to go. So it was fun. Yeah, I highly recommend it, Kyle.
Danton: We have Kyle on the Wheel of Fortune next.
Dr. Ellis: Yeah.
Kyle: We’ll have to make sure we give you a call. I don’t think I can use a lifeline on that show. You know, so what I wanted to go into that story and you had kind of mentioned Kansas City, but native of St. Louis, went to Missouri State and then over to the University of Missouri, Kansas City for dental school.
So, let Dan and I kind of dive in here just a little bit, but what made you, what would foster the interest in wanting to go into the dental field? Let’s start there.
Dr. Ellis: Well, I’m an odd bird; most dentists are. We have something about us that’s a little off, but I knew I wanted to be a dentist since I was very young and I was fortunate enough to have dental care when I was young. My parents took us every six months. So what I witnessed in the office was my dentist walking around whistling, having so much fun. I knew he had his own practice. And I remember just telling my parents when I was young, you know, this looks fun. Like I think this would be great, right?
And of course, my parents were like, yes, you should do that! They were very encouraging. And it’s funny because I look back and I didn’t even know that like dental hygiene was a career opportunity I could have gone. I just went right to, I want to be the dentist.
And my parents were very encouraging. So they would point out, yeah, how great would that be? If you could own your own business, run your own practice, you could take care of people and you like to talk to people…
And it really just was a good fit and I knew that. And as I got older, I knew I wanted to be the boss. And I think that’s played out really well for me. But I knew my personality that I just wanted to lead something and have my own thing. And this was an opportunity and a career that I could actually do that.
So I shadowed a lot of people in high school, college to make sure. But everybody I talked to was so kind and they all really enjoyed their job. So it just made sense to keep going down that track.
Danton: So even from a young age, I mean, not only a dentist, but you knew you want to own your own practice on top of that as well.
Dr. Ellis: Yeah, and I think that’s what’s a little different for me is when I talk to younger dentists now, they don’t go into it for that reason. You know, they want to do the dentistry;
it seems like a good career. And I wanted all that too. It’s just I also knew I needed to do something where I was in charge.
And maybe that’s just my personality. And I wanted, you know, the buck to stop with me at some point, whether I was managing people in a role or working towards being a manager. This one just panned out perfect, though, for my personality and my interest.
Danton:
And how does, you know, running your own business, I mean, it seems like, you know, that’s obviously very important to you. But the flip side is the buck does stop with you, so you got to make all the decisions and the day to day can be a little bit more stressful. So how are you managing that with…you’ve got family now, you’ve got a dental practice and now multiple businesses, really. So, I mean, how has that been for you guys?
Dr. Ellis: Well, the good news is I didn’t graduate and walk into this big business. It was an evolution over time. If you would have asked me when I graduated 19 years ago, if this is what it would look like, I would have had no idea that this was possible for myself.
Danton: Sure
Dr. Ellis: It evolved over time. And I just luckily leaned on the people who had done it before me and who did it well, and took their advice when they would tell me, hey, you need to hire this person to help you with this, or you need to hire this person to help you with payroll, accounting, financials, because you don’t have to do it all by yourself. So even though I am at the top of the pyramid, and I make the decisions, the support team I have right next to me is probably equally as important to making this successful.
So yeah, I started out small, I was an associate, I worked for another dentist at first, because you don’t get any business acumen in dental school. And I was green, very green, when I graduated, and I met a woman who said I could come work with her in her Kirkwood office in St. Louis. And she would teach me things she loved to teach.
And she said, I don’t have a ton of patients for you, but come and you can build up your patient base here. And I did that, and she was so kind and taught me more than I could have imagined. She knew ultimately I wanted my own practice, so she was super supportive three years later when I decided to go do that, and purchased a practice, and took over for a dentist who was leaving the state and moving out of the area.
So when I left, she let me take any of the files on the computer, and said she wanted me to succeed, so I could take the office manual, I could take the standard operating procedures and things with me if I wanted, which was really kind, because it helped me get set up. And I had four employees then, and they all stayed on board when I came, and that was another reason it worked out. And then I really got to do things the way I dreamed of doing, just designing things, treating people the way I wanted to treat them, and rewarding my team, and having just a ton of fun, really.
Kyle: I want to, in birth order, Holly, and forgive me, are you the oldest, or where are you at in the order of the kids in your family?
Dr. Ellis: The baby out of two.
Kyle: You’re the baby! See, the reason I asked that is there’s always this misconception out there that it’s the firstborn that’s always, it’s got to be like, my way, and this, I want to do it my way, and yada, yada, yada. You’ve actually, again, odd bird, your words, not mine, but you flipped the script with that in kind of like, normally, my wife always likes to say, like, yeah, the secondborn’s the silent child here, or so on and so forth, the firstborn’s always the one making the noise. You were actually the one coming on the end, doing your thing, which is cool.
Dr. Ellis: You know, I would love to tell you, it was all me that pointed out all the benefits of owning a business, but I think my parents were just like, when I said I had an interest in dentistry, they made sure I knew the benefits of if I ever had my own place. You could do all these things. And they aren’t business owners themselves, but they knew people who were, and they’d say, oh, Holly, you can actually own a practice if you go this route, and you could probably have X, Y, Z opportunities, which you cannot have when you don’t own your own business. So again, I would just listen to a lot of people along the way who just solidified my decision to go this route.
Kyle: Goodness, for sure. You know, it kind of begs more questions, so really, since you purchased that practice, you went out on your own and started with that. You’ve obviously grown, because by the time our timelines have crossed and everything like that, it is definitely much larger than that.
Can you describe overall what the practice looks like today? So kind of give folks the idea of where you came from to where you guys are at today, because there’s a big jump.
Dr. Ellis: Sure, so Ellis Dental started in 2009, and when I bought that practice, I was the only dentist and one hygienist, one assistant, one front desk. So not many of us, four to five.
And now we are four dentists strong with 25 total employees. So you can kind of do the math how we grew over time, and we grew in different ways. Organically, yes, new patients coming on board, treating patients really well, I’m big on getting out in the community and doing a lot of community events and getting to know people so that they know who to refer to.
But I’ve also bought other dental practices to merge into mine, and that was a big key to my growth is purchasing practices of retiring dentists who didn’t have a buyer or who had smaller practices that they wanted to merge and they wanted a good dentist that they could trust and who had similar values. And that’s worked out really well to help the growth of the practice.
Kyle: That’s really interesting because our industries, you know, we’re in financial planning and all that other things. They’re very service oriented. And so when you make those purchases, can you describe, you did a little bit, but describe a little bit, there has to be just a little bit of anxiety when you do purchase because there is no hard assets. There’s no, I mean, you’re buying essentially goodwill. And I think that’s very fascinating.
Dr. Ellis: Yeah, and I think that’s like anything else. The way I purchase a practice now to merge is different than how I did it the first time because you just learn all the lessons along the way. But now I’m very, very specific with what I look at, whether it’s insurance plans that that person’s in, how far they are from me, verifying active patient records, whereas in the beginning, I didn’t necessarily do that. I paid a lump sum and, you know, it worked out fine, but I wouldn’t do that again. There’s just different ways to set up a purchase like this. And I’ve shared that with colleagues now and I’ve learned some of that from some of my other colleagues, the way they’ve done it, to make it a win-win for both parties, you know, because these dentists that I’ve purchased their practices, most of them remain patients of mine then. And I take care of them and their spouse at no cost and it becomes a good relationship and they get some money. I grow and it works out really well, but I’ve changed the way I’ve done it over the years just to benefit both parties a little bit better and do my due diligence.
Kyle: So, again, very fascinating. Another thing, too, is like you and your husband both are very entrepreneurial.
And is that something that kind of drew the two of you together? Did it just happen by accident? Or how did that go?
Dr. Ellis: Oh, Kyle. No, that’s not what drew us together. Jungle Juice at the fraternity party drew us together.
But he has an entrepreneurial spirit, too. It wasn’t always that way. But, you know, we kind of grew up together, if you think about it. We started dating when I was 18 and he was 19. So our goals then are different than they are now, but they just complement each other really well.
And after he had been in corporate, I mean, I did try to get him to go to dental school. I thought he’d be really good at it. But he thought that was ridiculous. So he got into corporate America, got a lot of great experience. And then after he was working 60-hour work weeks, watching somebody do that is kind of hard because it takes the life out of them. And I would beg him for a couple of years to stop doing that.
And finally, he ended that company and started his own consulting company. So now we really do complement each other really well. His position, what he does, complements my office. I’m fortunate in that way, not everyone has that. But he has great resources. I have different resources. And I think for both of us seeing the benefit of having our own businesses, the freedom, the opportunities it has afforded us, I don’t think we’d have otherwise in different careers.
Kyle: 100% agree. And again, I figured there were other reasons why you guys came together. But sometimes, you know, kind of it takes a mindset to be an entrepreneur. And you knew very early on; he kind of got there over time.
Dr. Ellis: Yeah.
Kyle: So it’s just interesting how that fits together because there are some folks, like, I would say I’m very entrepreneurially oriented. My wife is not. She is super happy to be a public school teacher.
You tell her when to be there, you tell her when her breaks are, you tell her what her pension is when she retires. She is happy.
Dr. Ellis: Yeah, and most people are like that.
Kyle: Correct. But if you told her, said, hey, you’re probably going to make no money. You can make your entire schedule the way that you want it to.
She would look at you like you have three eyes in your head.
Dr. Ellis: Of course.
Kyle: Yes. So, I mean again, it’s kind of that mindset deal.
Dr. Ellis: Yeah, I mean, I have three associates now and they have no desire to be owners. They know what I do above and beyond the clinical side. And they don’t really want any part of that. I don’t necessarily tell them all the benefits that I receive by being the owner.
However, they make really good livings. They like to come to work three days a week and go home when they’re done. It’s been such a wonderful match because they take such great care of our patients. Well, two days a week, I’m doing management stuff, you know, but I enjoy that.
And again, I don’t want them to want to be my partner because I’m not offering that. I still want at the end of the day, if a decision needs to be made, it’ll be mine.
But they have been so helpful for me to open my eyes to see things a little bit differently. One of them is my age, the other two are 10 years younger so they bring a different perspective to decision making, which has been super valuable. But, yeah, most, I mean, they’re happy, super happy with their jobs and what they do. But, yeah, they don’t want anything to do with the management side, which is hard for sure, I’ve gone through so many things with management that I never thought I would have to. But at the end of the day, I feel like I learn something every time. And the next time I have to do it, it’s a little bit easier.
Danton: Well, I mean, with us talking about what matters most, the name of the podcast, and things have changed a lot for you over the year. Has your mindset really shifted as a business owner and family, trying to balance the two as we talk about? But, as your mindset changes, as far as your priorities throughout this kind of journey. And then do you see that changing in the future as well?
Dr. Ellis: You know, it’s tricky. I always knew I wanted to be the business owner, but I also knew I wanted to be a mom and have kids, so, I mean, that was part of the plan all along.
It’s been a lot to juggle, but I think I just made sure I had a support system, whether it was I had enough people in my practice to take care of things when I couldn’t be there.
So little things we changed along the way, you know, we used to have hours that were eight to five. Now we’re seven to four. Part of that was because I had kids and I wanted to be available sooner at the end of the day versus getting home at 530. I talked to the whole staff; everyone was on board, they all liked that also. So, honestly, we changed it one year and it was seven to four since then.
Bringing on my associates, part of that reason was to free me up, but I felt bad taking vacation when I was all alone as the only provider, because if I was gone and someone had an emergency, I didn’t have a solution for them necessarily. And now we always have coverage here. No matter what, if somebody has an emergency, somebody is here. And with my admin time, as I got bigger and hired more associates, I was able to back off treating people in the chair a couple of days a week, which like today my daughter had an orthodontist appointment at 7:30. Well, because I don’t have patients I have to see on a Thursday, I can go take her to that, get her back to school, and come back to the office. So there is a lot of flexibility. I’m fortunate that my team and I try to just be really supportive of one another when we need stuff like that.
And in dentistry, most offices work on four-day work weeks. So we are open five days a week, but each team member typically works only four of those five, so everyone has a day, a flex day, and we just ask that they make most of their appointments then and give them some time to take care of stuff like that.
Kyle: It’s really neat. I never really realized that as far as the work week goes. Danton, maybe we should take some notes.
Dr. Ellis: Come on, Danton. You can play more golf, you can do all that fun stuff.
Danton: Hey, it’s the financial industry. We took away the tie mandate, so that was something, right?
Dr. Ellis: That’s something. Baby steps, right?
Danton: We’re working on it.
Kyle: We kid a little bit here, but as we kind of head for home here, again, Dr. Ellis, number one, thank you for sharing your time. It’s obviously very valuable. And it was great to get to know more about you and really, what matters most to you.
But anything else, any other words of wisdom or piece of advice? You’ve already dispensed a ton in our time together. But is there anything else out there that you would tell someone that’s thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, thinking about becoming a business owner, maybe to the young Dr. Ellis that might be out there for some odd reason listening to this podcast at a young age? I don’t know why. Is there anything else you have?
Dr. Ellis: I would say the biggest reason I’m here is because people told me I could do it. You know, I’ve had a lot of colleagues who didn’t have that support, and they don’t end up in the same place. But I just feel like anyone can do this. If I can do this, anyone can do this. I did not graduate in the top of my dental class or college class. That’s not what makes a good business owner, in my opinion. You just have to want it. And the benefits far, far outweigh the hard times when it comes to ownership. You know, I would never have imagined the opportunities and the benefits I have now as an owner that you don’t get as an employee.
And so you can do it. You just have to have the right people in your team. And it’s okay to hire vendors and partners to take care of certain aspects of your business for you. You just find trusted partners, much like you Danton and Kyle, you help my husband and I so much. But we just trust you. And if you just find the people you trust, you can do it. And it’s a beautiful way to live, in my opinion.
Kyle: Well, number one, thank you for that. And that was Dr. Ellis on Wit, Wisdom and What Matters Most.
And that was a very fun as well as enlightening conversation with Dr. Holly Ellis of Ellis Dental and Sleep Center. Danton, you know, number one, glad that we did a little homework and you remembered some stories because I thought learning how a dental student gets onto Wheel of Fortune was pretty awesome. But truly, and I want to turn the teller over to you…a fascinating conversation about perseverance and realizing a dream and pursuing it. And you get to see what the outcome is now.
Danton: Yeah, I think to hear someone that kind of knew at such a young age that they want to be a dentist is certainly not not usual. And then on top of that, to say is, you know, a younger person that you want to be an entrepreneur as well is amazing. And then on top of it, to actually do it.
And the reason behind it, I thought was really great: people telling her she could do it and having that support system. And, I think it helps people maybe realize that if you’re supporting someone, or you’re being supported, it does really matter.
And to hear somebody so successful and really kind of give all the credit to that is pretty amazing. So I think that was my biggest takeaway, just the ability to be so humble and say, you know, a lot of this was because of other people supporting me and doing it.
Kyle: I’m going to I’m going to piggyback on that and saying, you know, she mentioned often she gave credit to those that helped her along the way, but also to those that are helping her now. And the way that she has put people, blessed to have the right people in place at the right times. You know, obviously, shifting schedules and hours of operation is a big thing because it catches a lot of people out of routine. All it would have taken is one person raising their hand and saying, I don’t think this works or it just doesn’t work for me. And but everybody was on board and she kind of has those leadership qualities to galvanize a team to follow her. And, you know, to your point, knowing that she wanted to be an entrepreneur from an early age, pursuing it, her there was mentorship there with her parents saying that, hey, you can do this. As well as the dentist she mentioned in Kirkwood.
Danton: Yeah.
Kyle: You know, just somebody coming along. This is look, I don’t have many patients for you, but you’re allowed to come in here and learn. I will mentor you. And then the way that she kind of set Dr. Ellis up for success.
Danton: And for Holly to be able to accept that opportunity, that could be intimidating to some people out of dental school. I don’t have very many patients for you, you can figure that part out.
I mean, a lot of people go, yeah, I’m not. No, thanks.
Kyle: Right.
Danton: So I think that was a big leap of faith there on probably both of their parts.
Kyle: I 100 percent agree. We touched a little bit on a wonderful husband, Justin, and then Reed and Ivy, her two kids. They’re really fun to watch and they’re on the go as well, too.
But all in all, my friend, any last thoughts on this? This was just fun; it was a fun interview.
Danton: Yeah. I mean, I think that that sums it up pretty good. I mean, they’re always fun and it’s just fun to go through these different guests and hear all the different stories of what matters most to them.
And surprise, surprise, it’s different for everybody.
Kyle: 100 percent. Well, Wit, Wisdom, and What Matters Most is a production of Moneta’s Gast Freeman Troyer Racen Team, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. So on behalf of Danton Troyer, I’m Kyle Luetters.
And until next time, keep pursuing what matters most.
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© 2025 Advisory services offered by Moneta Group Investment Advisors, LLC, 100 South Brentwood Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63105 (“MGIA”), an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). MGIA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Moneta Group, LLC. Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training. This is an advertisement. The information contained herein is for informational purposes only, is not intended to be comprehensive or exclusive, and is based on materials deemed reliable, but the accuracy of which has not been verified. Examples contained herein are for illustrative purposes only based on generic assumptions. Given the dynamic nature of the subject matter and the environment in which this communication was written, the information contained herein is subject to change. This is not an offer to sell or buy securities, nor does it represent any specific recommendation. You should consult with an appropriately credentialed professional before making any financial, investment, tax, or legal decision. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. You cannot invest directly in an index. All investments are subject to a risk of loss. Diversification and strategic asset allocation do not assure profit or protect against loss in declining markets. These materials do not take into consideration your personal circumstances, financial or otherwise. Trademarks and copyrights of materials linked herein are the property of their respective owners.
