Bite-sized dental wisdom in under 2 minutes.

This past weekend I flew to Anaheim for an optometry conference.

Yes, you read that correctly. Not dental. Optometry.

I was there as a vendor for Milo, because if checklists and accountability work in dental, the plan has always been to see where else they fit.

Optometry. Vet. Med spa. Home care. You name it. All the places where teams have tasks, systems, training, and someone trying not to become a walking checklist.

So there I was, in a big exhibit hall with huge vendors, CE courses, optometrists, students, pharma reps, business people, and whatever the optometry version of a DSO is.

And then there was me. At my booth. Talking about checklists.

I usually do not feel like a fish out of water. In dental, I know the language. I know the problems. I know the weird little things that make an office run or fall apart.

But this was different.

I did not know exactly who would stop by, what they would care about, or what words they’d relate to.

And if you know me, you know I am not naturally the person who loves walking up to strangers and starting conversations. But when you own the thing, you do what needs to be done.

So if Milo was going to be tested in another industry, I had to be the one standing there explaining it. No one else could do that part for me.

And I think that is true for practice ownership too.

When you open a dental office, there are a lot of moments where you wish someone else could step in and be the face of it for you.

Someone else to introduce the practice. Someone else to market. Someone else to talk to the vendor, hire the person, have the hard conversation, or make the ask. But at some point, you realize that if it matters enough, you probably have to do it yourself.

At least in the beginning.

And that doesn’t suddenly mean that you magically become the kind of person who loves putting yourself out there. I still do not. It means you do it anyway because the business needs it.

Because confidence does not always come before the thing. Sometimes confidence comes after you force yourself to stand at the booth, have the conversation, explain the thing, and realize you did not, in fact, die.

So yes, I was uncomfortable. Yes, I felt out of my element. And yes, I probably said “assistant” instead of “technician” too many times at an optometry conference.

But I showed up.

I had the conversations.

I learned what landed and what did not.

Sometimes stepping out of your comfort zone is not some dramatic inspirational moment.

Sometimes it is standing in an exhibit hall, explaining your product to strangers, and doing the thing because no one else can do it for you.

-Dr. Alex

P.S. The interesting part was realizing I was not actually talking about “dental checklists.” I was talking about the same problem people have in every service business: there is a lot that needs to happen every day, and someone usually ends up mentally keeping track of it all.

I built Milo because I was tired of that someone being me. If that is you too, you can see how Milo works below.