Well…
Mostly in my head a lot. I have not blogged in a LONG time, five years to be exact and I missed it so much. Writing was always cathartic especially during the global pandemic and during my “travel perio” days.
Let’s catch-up.
When I last post a blog, I was still finding my footing in San Diego. Since then, I built my first start up, The Perio Pocket- named after this blog. Being 100% honest, that part was so much lonelier than I expected. Honestly—It was one of the most difficult times, and nothing could have truly prepared me for it until I went through the motions.
Starting a practice on your own means you make every decision yourself. The clinical part I knew. We learn this in school and have continuing education to sharpen those skills. The rest, hiring, systems, money, marketing, showing up every day when no one is watching (or referring) yet, I had to learn as I went. There were days I wondered if I had made the right choice at all. I also reminded myself that I value autonomy and being my own boss was important. Both of those things were true at the same time.
What kept me going was other women. Mostly through social media, I kept meeting brilliant women in perio who were doing incredible work. From residents to practicing clinicians. I was meeting all sorts of dental professionals through social media. Still that feeling of being alone kept creeping in. The business side, the leadership side, those were the parts no one teaches you in residency.
I didn't want to just survive that part alone, and I didn't want other people to either.
That's how the idea for Scrubs & Scalpels Seminars started, and how Women in Perio grew out of it. I wanted a table where we could all pull up a seat and be just be honest. Where you could bring a hard case, a hard month, a hard question, and not have to pretend you have it all figured out. Where we could celebrate each other without competing, and learn from each other without judgment.
It was 100% Women in Perio that gave me purpose and reignited my joy.
Thank you for being part of that, whether you came to the WIP symposium, messaged me after a post, or have just been quietly following along. All of the keynote speakers that said yes, all of the residents that showed up and applied to the scholarships, It has meant more to me than anything I could write.
And that brings me to my next crazy idea and keeping the community of Scrubs and Scalpels going…the mastermind and retreat.
Because we were funding the conference on our own as a second start-up company, having it every year was putting a financial hardship and extra stress that was making it difficult to sleep at night. But I wanted to keep the community going and keep the threads woven together. And honestly— I love planning the seminar. 2028 seemed so far away… so I thought, why not alternate the big seminar with a small mastermind.
So here we are… gearing up for The Women in Perio Mastermind.
The Women in Perio Mastermind is ten sessions, twice a month for five months, all on Zoom, built around real practice problems and hot seat clinical cases. We will close out with a getaway retreat. This is not like any other perio mastermind, the first 2027 group filled quickly, (edit, we have 2 available seats) and I am so grateful for the women who said yes. I promise, I never take that trust in Women in Perio lightly.
If you're new here and reading this blog post and thinking— I want support and community like that too, please stay close. I'm excited to start writing here again, and share more of what we're learning, what I'm still learning, and what's next!
Thank you for coming back to the blog with me.
With gratitude,
Yvette Carrillo
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