State of the Smile Address
The Holidays have arrived! Tis the season of giving thanks and having good-cheer. If I may, I would like to express my gratitude to the wonderful citizens of Flathead County and wish you a very merry Christmas. Every day I am humbled by the new faces that appear in my office who have chosen to place their dental care in my hands. My staff and I are truly thankful for the many relationships that we have made this past year, and I already know that 2019 is just going to be the best...I can feel it! (I say this about every new year, and every year it's true. Attitude is everything.)
It'll be a tough row to hoe considering how special 2018 was for the Smile Montana family. While we were sad to send off our beloved Dr. Dean Calderwood onto the smooth seas of retirement, we were delighted to welcome two young new doctors, Dr. Luke Greene and Dr. Troy Flowers, to join Dr. Hillary Hoffenbacker and myself. I used to be the young gun around this valley...what happened? Let's take a look back on this year shall we?"
In May we once again awarded the Smile Montana Scholarships to deserving seniors graduating from Columbia Falls, Whitefish, Glacier, & Flathead while adding Bigfork High School this year. We always make it a little different and a little more exciting for our winners and this year was no exception. We delivered each student with a Herschel backpack filled with Smile Montana swag and stacks of money totaling $1000.00. I already know what we're giving students in 2019 and it's epic. If you know any seniors this year encourage them to apply.
Then the intensity really ramped up with our 7th annual Smile Montana patient appreciation movie event in June. We rented out the Kalispell movie theater and treated our patients to The Incredibles 2. It was...incredible too. The following month every monday was "Christmas in July" at Smile Montana. For five Mondays in July we gave away gift cards to our favorite Montana summer attractions, including an annual All National Parks Pass.
We took August off to enjoy our Montana and our families because September was our craziest and busiest month ever at Smile Montana. Not only did we give away our SmileJEEP in front of a huge crowd on the 15th, we also kicked off our 2nd Smile Montana Treasure Hunt to celebrate having 2000 facebook followers. And somewhere in the middle of all of that we found out that we were voted The Best Dentist in the Flathead!! WHAAAAT!
In October we fired back up our 4th annual Smile Montana Halloween Coloring Contest where five budding young artists won a Kindle Fire Tablet. Also, to the school with the highest participation we donated $500.00. And right now as I type we are in the middle of our 12 days of Christmas gift card giveaway where we support 12 local businesses by showcasing them on our social media outlets while awarding our followers with their respective gift cards.
Phew. If reading that back sounds a little obnoxious I apologize. I'm just a big kid at heart and I choose to allocate my marketing budget in the most exciting ways possible that allow me to not only give back to the community, but also interact with you as well. And guess what, in 2019 we are going bigger. If you want to join the action simply follow us on Facebook (@SmileMontana Dental Center) and Instagram (@Smile Montana). A lot of the activities described above are not limited to patients of the practice. You never know, you might just become a pirate for a day and dig up real buried treasure on a remote island in one of our many lakes. That really happened, and it was...wait for it...LEGENDARY!
A new year is upon us. Let's make it amazing. Let's pay off a nagging debt. Let's drink that green smoothie thingy. Let's spend time with our children and not our phone. Let's take our spouses out on the town. Let's call an old friend and send flowers. to our mothers for no good reason. Let's build that snowman. Let's tell Dad that he is still our hero. Let's volunteer and help those in need. Let's BRUSH, FLOSS, and SMILE EVERYDAY. Let's make pancakes on Saturday. Let's get first chair on the slopes. Heck let's get last chair too. Let's be happy and optimistic this year. Let's create memories because we are only going to live 2019 once, and let's make a positive impact on our beautiful Flathead Valley.
All of you have that one thing that you've been meaning to do that will make you feel more happy and accomplished. What is holding you back? The usual suspect is a fear of failure. I need to admit to you all that on the morning of the treasure hunt, and on the morning of the SmileJEEP giveaway, and on the morning of the patient appreciation movie event I am a ball of anxiety and doubt. I have a picture in my head of how I want the day to go and I'm scared that it won't go to plan. And guess what? It rarely does. It almost always goes better.
This new year I'm inviting you all to get out of your comfort zones and discover hidden capacity within yourself. I'll be uncomfortable right along side of you.
This is my New Year's call to action. Let's make decisions in 2019 that will allow us to look back a year from now from a position of greater health, being more financially secure, having achieved our goals and had our adventures with stronger and more meaningful relationships, happier, wearing a big genuine Montana smile because we're super-stoked for 2020 (Can you believe that noise?...two-zero-two-zero). See you out there!
Read State of the Smile Address by Dr. John F. Miller, DDS in 406 Woman magazine.