026. How to Break the Mold with Dr. Ingrid Murra

Welcome. I am marketing expert and business coach Melissa Kellogg Lueck. And this is the Doing Business Like a Woman podcast where we are exploring and teaching you how women are reinventing the way business is done and money is made to help you create greater impact and financial freedom one business at a time. Awesome. Well, I'm so excited to have a very special guest with us today. So welcome to the podcast and I am being joined today by Dr. Ingrid Murrah. And I can't wait for her to share her story with you because I'm sure it's going to be so inspirational. She has had an amazing journey as a first generation Latin American woman. She's also an orthodontist, a doctor, and has created her own company and orthodontic startup called 2Front. So we're going to hear all about it and I can't wait to have her introduce herself. So, Ingrid, if you could please introduce yourself and just tell us your story, your background and how we came here today.

So, yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for having me, Melissa. I'm really excited to be having to be on your podcast. You. Yeah, I guess. My story. So I'm an orthodontist by trade. I decided to become an orthodontist when I was eight. So I was first gen Latin American young girl at the time. I was 8 years old and I looked in the mirror for the first time and I realized I felt insecure about my smile and I didn't know what it was. I think at that time I asked Jeeves, does a mouth reduction exist? Long story short, I just wanted braces. I went through four years of braces, emerged with a smile that gave me so much confidence. And I realized that that's what I want to do for the world, is give people the confidence to live their truest lives and their best lives. And that started my journey. Fast forward 20 years and I started orthodontic residency in 2015 at the Harvard Dental School, the same time that Smile DirectClub launched. And it was kind of my first insight into like the consumerization of our industry. And I was sitting there kind of thinking, oh my God, that I just spent 20 years, you know, learning how or trying to get into residency to become an orthodontist just to be replaced. So I'm sitting there learning, learning, learning how to move teeth, basically. Long story short, six months into my residency I realized, oh my God, you need an orthodontist no matter what. You know, this is essentially not the best marketing because without an orthodontist Patients can get hurt. First and foremost, they're not going to get the results that they're looking for. And second of all, like you can get hurt, your joints can become damaged, your teeth can become damaged, there's downward spirals of headaches because your whole craniofacial system is connected. And I realized then and there that there had to be a better way of doing things. Fast forward to 2019. I'm working in New York as an orthodontist. At least half the patients that I was seeing were basically retreats. People who had already started invisalign by a non specialist or they had already tried to straighten their teeth with mail order liner companies. You know, people already spending thousands of dollars. They didn't get results. They're getting, they had basically come to me with bad bites and they had to fix their bad bites, you know, trying to basically fix this problem once patients have already, you know, spent all this money. So that was my first foray into business. I raised a small round of venture capital funding in 2019. We had some small venture capitalists plus some investors such as Tom Lee, the founder of One Medical. And we, I went on to pursue the revolution of how we're going to start and how we're going to treat patients with orthodontics. Fast forward to now and we just raised a $3.5 million round led by Craft Ventures to essentially uberize orthodontics. So what that means is we give orthodontists a new way to practice. We send orthodontists into local dental offices and we give them the tools to deliver the patient care that people are looking for. You know, so everything from seamless scheduling to great confirmation emails and customer service, easy payment plans, the whole nine yards, they actually get that venture backed experience and that branded beautiful experience, but it's Dr. Led from their dentist office. And so we've really kind of merged the best of both worlds of giving you that care that comes with going to a top orthodontist, but the experience that comes with a venture backed direct to consumer company. So that's who we are now. That's my story. We're in, we're in L. A, we're live in 10 dental offices, we have seven orthodontists and we're growing from here.

Wow. So how's it going so far?

You know, it's a journey. You know, that journey officially started three years ago. I would say I've learned so much more in the past three years than I've ever learned in my entire life, you know, school journey of, like, learning from books, you just. It's a very perfect example of you learn to do. By doing, every single day, you get smarter. Every single day, you're learning, you're making better decisions. So now more than ever. Yeah, we're. We're. We're getting the right people in our team, and we're growing and everything's. Yeah, it's. There's highs and there's lows.

Yeah, that's so true. I always joke I have an MBA in marketing, and I always joke that I learned a lot more in my years of actually running a business than I did in school. Right.

That's how it goes. That's how it goes. You literally learn to do by doing.

Yeah, totally. So what are some of the lessons that you've learned? I mean, I think for me, thinking about you going from orthodontics, and really, I'm sure you were focused on wanting to serve patients and help them with their smiles and have that confidence that you experience. So going from that to business, like, what was that transition like? Like going from that service patient, like, caregiver type role to now you're raising venture capital and, you know, it's kind.

Of a big leap.

Yeah. Do something with it.

That's.

That's when the work really begins, Right?

Exactly. Exactly. There's this kind of, like, fallacy around, like, you know, I feel fundraising is so celebrated. That is just the beginning. That is like the very first step depth. So that was super eye opening. I would say. There's. I would say, though, that I don't regret anything. Everything that I've done so far, I've. Everything that we're doing today is from a learning over the past couple of years. And so it's just commitment and a journey. And, you know, I think it's being super mission focused of trying to revive a serious value in the world. And if you stick to that, I think you don't deviate, you will make that change in the world.

Yeah, that's amazing. So tell me a little bit more about that journey to raising money, because I know it's hard, even if you're a white man raising money, but as a woman, we know statistically that women are much less likely to get funded. And so tell me a little bit about that journey for you as a woman and some of the lessons that you've learned.

Yeah, you know, I find that question really interesting. I mean, the facts are right, and they're crazy. Right. It's like less than 2% of venture capital funding goes to women, especially Latin American women. You know, I was told that I was the 48th Latin American woman to raise over $1 million.

Wait a second, 48? Like 48 in history.

Like 48 this year in history. Like, it's the crazy. It goes to show that we're living in ancient Times. Like by 2030, Latin Americans are going to make up 25% of the United States. Latin Americans are known as being, you know, some of the most entrepreneurial, you know, people. How is it possible that I'm the 48th Latin American woman? It's just, it just goes to show, like, how much progress needs to be made. To answer your question, though, like, it's. I don't think of myself as a woman, you know, raising money. I think it's. I've always just kind of said, you know, I'm just a person and I'm running. I'm going through the same struggles as everyone else, like, telling the right story, painting the right financials, painting the right vision. So I like to not think of it as a crutch while also being hyper aware that, like, funding goes. It's a lot easier, I think. I think it's a lot easier to get now that I kind of have a lot of founders as friends who are, you know, men, women, all different colors. It seems that it goes. Comes a lot easier to men. You know, I think women do really have to have it all. And I don't want to generalize too much. Like, maybe this isn't the case for everyone, but I do find that you have to come with a much more buttoned up story.

Yeah, yeah. And of course you're not generalizing. I, you know, we just want to hear about your journey. Right, right. It can be different for people. But I think a lot of women that I have worked with, we all wait, I think longer maybe than men do, to start that funding journey and to really get out there and ask for money and learn that we can raise money, we can borrow money, we can invest that money and grow faster. So talk to me about some of those lessons, because I feel like we sit on the sidelines a little bit longer than maybe we need to.

Yeah, I think that's exactly right. I think that's exactly right. We want to have. We think that we need to have everything fully prepared. Yeah, that's a huge lesson to me. You know, I think last year when I decided to fundraise again, I didn't think I was ready. You know, I was like, well, we have so many things that like we haven't figured out. And then I started just like, and this is like the power of networking and seeing what like people around you are doing. And I was like, but we already have so much more figured out than them. You know, we already have this revenue milestone, we already had this operating system. But in my mind, like someone recently called the perfectionist. And I was like, I think that's right. Like, even though I don't think of myself as a perfectionist, I think a lot of us, especially probably women, we think like, but we have to have things better. But that's not the case. You know, it's, it's. If you can prove out very clear milestones and you can say, and I think that also takes planning, like, what am I going to prove out in the next two months? What am I going to prove out in the next six months? And plan for that. As your fundraise, I think you can raise a lot sooner as long as you're proving out those milestones and you're working in a very metrics based framework.

Wow, that's so cool. So tell me what it was like when you first considered raising money. I mean, was that suggested by a mentor or someone? Or were you like, oh, I have this great idea, I'm very mission focused, I have passion. Oh, I'm just going to go raise millions of dollars. Like how does that, how does that happen?

Yeah. So honestly, no. Most people I knew were not in like the venture backed world. Most of my friends from college were, you know, in, we were all living in New York. Most of my friends who were not dentists were like in consulting or finance. So I actually didn't know much about this world. I started looking at Smile Direct Club and I was like, how did they build this? Then I realized like, oh, people require like external funding that doesn't come from a bank to build certain kinds of businesses. And then I realized, oh, like there are certain kind of firms that give fund, that give money to visionaries who can operate a different way, who can build a different way of doing things. And that began my deep dive. And then I read Zero to One by Peter Thiel. I started looking to like, what are the top venture capital firms? I started looking at other top health tech companies in our space. That's when I looked at Wynn Medical. That's how I reached out to Tom Lee to get him to invest in True Front. And you know, I, it really was just like a deep dive. Like I think someone told me in high School, like, the way that they got into a top school was just a deep dive in Wikipedia. Just like going. They would go one article after another and keep reading and keep reading and keep reading. For me, the venture capital world was the same thing, was just like, okay, now I need to learn, like, how do you raise money? What's a safe note? You know, what are the different vehicles of raising money? How do you build a financial model? How do you build a brand? And I didn't know any business. Right. So it took me a long time to figure these things out. But I think just like, immersing yourself in knowledge and resources and the right resources, too. Like, I think there's a lot of stuff out there that isn't great. I would. I figured out what are the top resources in this space, what are the top firms, what are the top, you know, blogs out there, and tried to just immerse myself in it. And that's how I got to raising that first round. Yeah.

And so I would imagine that that kind of follows what you talked about earlier. Like, the difference between learning something and then actually going out in the marketplace and doing it. Right. So kind of the same journey with your fundraising.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I'll never forget, like, some of my very first conversations. And I still. I still see those people on Linked, people who were like, just cut your losses. Like, yeah, they're just like, you have no idea what you're talking about. And they're right. I had no idea what I was talking about. Like, asking the stupidest questions. Like, people. Some people would just have no patience.

Right.

And they'd be like, are you kidding me? Like, are you actually asking me that? But I. And I think, like, I would say, like, the most. Some of the most important qualities are having, like, no shame. They're almost like crazy qualities. Like, have no shame to ask any sort of questions and feel stupid and just being okay, being wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, until you eventually hit a right.

Wow, that's such great advice. Right? It's like that failing forward, right?

Yeah. Yeah, totally. Failing needs to have a different word. Because a failing is just the learning. Like, I think it's. I think of it the same way as people talk about divorce. Like, divorce doesn't have to be a bad thing if it's a mutual separation. A fail is not a bad thing if it's a learning to make a better decision and your next move in your business. Yeah.

And viewing it like that, if you view it as just learning it, you're never really failing. Right. It's only a failure if you're not learning and growing.

Yeah. Right. Yeah. So that's. I mean, that's my biggest advice to people is just like, don't be afraid to fail. And it sounds so, like, generic, but it's so true. Just keep failing and you're going to get there, and eventually there's going to be wins, and it's okay if it's one win and every 10 fails.

Mm. So how do you think that you became that way? Or were you kind of always that way? Is that kind of part of your temperament? Or maybe that's part of your enneagram7? I don't know. But, like, in your mind, were you always that way or.

You know something? I think the answer is yes. Something that I read recently that really resonated with me. There's some people that I look up to so much, like, you know, the founders of Airbnb and founders of Tesla and, like, reading their stories from, like, the beginning. And Brian Chetzky from Airbnb, there was an article about him talking about how he received funding because his lead investors, like, you know, saw him as a cockroach. Like, he's never going to get stumped. He's going to do whatever it takes to persevere. And I think that quality has been in me from the beginning, and I associate it a little bit with, like, the whole first gen, like, being new to the United States. Like, my background is Salvadoran. Half Salvadoran, half Palestinian. And, you know, I come from countries that are, like, war torn. And there's so much devastation and loss and lack of opportunity. And so I think part of it is, like, seeing, like, my parents really build the American dream here from the ground up and having that same. Like, I'm going to do whatever it takes because I saw my parents do it. Yeah.

So you have that same kind of determination and. Because, you know, obviously watching them, what's possible, and they, I'm sure, tell you their stories about what they've been through and. Yeah, that's amazing.

Totally. First gen. First gen Americans are heroes. Like, the moving to a new country, typically with no family, learning a new language, getting a job with no connections, having kids with no support. Like, there's. Those are the heroes, in my opinion. Like, that's. That is true heroicism. And seeing that is, like, one of the most inspiring things.

Yeah. So you think that that's really part of your. What's really created the determination that you have and just the willingness to fail forward until you get what you want?

Yeah, I think. I think so. I would say it's like. It's like a privilege and a curse. Yeah, I've seen that. But absolutely. Like, I think when you see that as an example, like, I can definitely, like, attribute any sort of determination I have to, like, the example that they gave me.

I love that. That's awesome. That's what makes this country so great. Right, because we all come from that at some level.

Exactly. Yeah. Everyone has that story, which is so amazing. Everyone came here at some point. Yeah.

Yeah, I love it. So talk to me a little bit about your support system, like, who you've surrounded yourself with to. Really. Because I feel like for us as women, especially growing companies and doing what you're doing now, it really does require having some support and mentorship. And so talk to me a little bit about who you've decided to surround yourself with.

Yeah, developing a network of people who are doing the same thing is so critical. It's so critical because you feel so alone doing this. You feel a little bit crazy, especially if your friends don't come from this background, you know, look, none of my friends were entrepreneurs. When I started doing this, all my friends started getting married and having kids, and they were like, you know, I was talking to them about raising money and, like, you know, starting a new business that doesn't exist, and they were like, cool. So, like, how's dating going?

Like, wait a second.

That's like, not even at the forefront of my mind. Like, I have no. I. You know, I'm not in a rush. I graduated school when I was 30. And so having that support system and doing whatever it takes to find the people that make you that really give you, like, the support, support, you know, and people who look like you is actually very important, you know, like, to your point, if I just had all, like, I have a lot of male founder support people in my life and friends who I value so much. But having women is amazing because you go through the same struggles, like, how do you balance eventually, you know, partner and kids, when you're also spending 16 hours a day, you know, building your business, managing investors, managing clients, managing your team. And so having that support system from women is amazing. And in terms of how I found it, like, it's all just the connections. And you meet one person. Our engineering advisor now is this incredible woman who is a great friend now, was just introduced through.

Another person in.

The space who was like, oh, Ingrid might need this engineering advisor at a certain point now. We're amazing friends who also Talk business. Business all the time. And so I think like having those people in your life that like can be in this journey with you and understand your journey is so important for your mental health.

Yeah, totally. And I think for, especially for us, like you were saying as women, because I think that normalizing, you know, having a business, being a CEO and having a life and making a lot of money, like I really, you know, that's part of my mission is really normalizing that for us as women and being able to talk to each other and support each other in that I think is so important.

It's so important. And yeah, I mean it's the female founder community. Like once you can find this group of people, it's one of the most. Like the connections and the bonds you'll form are like, you know, we talk about sometimes like the difference between friends that you had for 20, 30 years and the friends you've only had for a couple of months. But because you share such intense, similar experiences, they become such incredible friendships. So if anyone doesn't have them, I highly recommend you seek out those women.

Yeah, totally. I know for me, I had to really intentionally do that because it's, I feel like as adults it's hard to make friends.

It's, you know, and we all have.

So much going on, it's hard to find time for those relationships and yeah, no 100%.

But it's so important and critical to your success.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So talk to me a little bit about your company and like your passion, your mission behind it and what your vision is for the future.

Yeah. So the mission is dual sided and it's really to give patients, it's a democratized confidence. It's to give patients what they're looking for and conveniently from their dentist office and affordably for providers, it's giving them a new way to build a business without having to be burdened by additional debt. You know, like the. My, my parents came here and they, they built businesses. They were both doctors. It is so challenging to build a business, a small business and also be a provider. But in our industry, you're building a business and your provider and you're fighting mail order aligner companies that say that you don't need you anymore. You know, and you're fighting the fact that general dentists are no longer referring because they're actually doing their own Invisalign because they've been told that they can also be orthodontists. And so that's where, you know, the, the bigger mission here Is like, don't treat patients like slot machines or ATM machines. Provide the highest quality care by giving them exactly what they're looking for and what they need and the experience they deserve by collaborating, collaborating through a platform. And so our biggest vision is that dental offices and orthodontists will collaborate through a platform to provide patients with what they're looking for without making decisions that are driven by their pockets. That's awesome.

I love it. So as we wrap up, I wanted.

To just ask you, like, what would.

You say maybe are the top, like, three lessons that you've learned as an entrepreneur in your journey and advice that you might have to other women that are beginning or growing their own businesses?

Definitely don't be afraid to fail. Like, that's just not only don't be afraid, but embrace it and keep doing it and do it over and over and over again. Number two is you can't do anything alone. My whole life, I was an independent contributor. Like, I studied, I made A's, I studied and I got into the next good school. But when you're building a business, you can't do anything alone. Like, you have to have a team. And the transition from independent contributor to leader is massive. And I think that that learning curve is really hard for people who are successful in their own right. Because there's a big difference between leading someone on the vision and keeping them setting their priorities and keeping them aligned on what we need to do to hit that vision and actually doing it yourself. And when you're building a big company, you cannot do it yourself. And number three would probably be take care of your mental health. I think more so than ever before. As an ic, back when I was just a student, I worked out and that was enough for me. Now it's not just enough. There's so much you got to do to actually take care of yourself. And so don't ignore that because your business is only as good as you are healthy and your business will thrive when your mental health, your physical health is all in check and you're thriving. And that's how you're going to attract the best people, retain the best people, and build the best company as well as just be the happiest.

Yeah, I love that. That's such a great point. Because it's easy to forget that, right. With all the other demands on you.

Yeah.

Easy to forget to take care of yourself. So what have you found has been your favorite ways of caring for yourself?

Yeah, I'd love to say that I figured it out. I haven't right. I'm. It's, you know, it's one of these things that I'm actively working on every day. One of the biggest. One of the hardest things is just not working every hour of the day. Like, it sounds nutty, but, like, I wake up, then I go to sleep, and I'm just. I don't stop. Right. Like, I do take breaks a little bit in between here and there, but when you just. It's my baby. Like, when you love something so much and just like, you can't really take your pulse away from it, but that's not healthy. And so I think, like, setting boundaries of, like, all right, these hours. I'm not going to be working these hours and dedicating to friends, my partner, you know, something else, like spending time with family. I think setting boundaries is one of the most important things between you and your business. Haven't cracked it yet, but I'll let you know when I get there. Working out is a must for mental health. I don't love working out, so I just do 15 minutes on the peloton. But even those 15 minutes give me that adrenaline, that endorphin rush that makes my mental health feel more clear, believe it or not. So that's, for me, like, sprints, like, short sprints is a big hack for me. Short sprints of working out and short sprints of meditation, where it's like seven minutes of meditation in the morning. Nothing that's too big of a commitment, but enough to get me on the right page.

Yeah, I love that. That's such a great suggestion. So it's not like you have to try to carve out an hour a day to go to the gym or whatever. It's like just jump on the bike for 15 minutes, meditate for seven minutes, and you're good to go.

Exactly, exactly.

I love that. So awesome. So, well, thank you so much for being here and telling us your story and sharing with us and how can we keep in touch with you, follow you, hear about your journey as you go, cheer you on.

Yeah, you can follow me on my personal Instagram is Dr. Ingridmura I n G R I D M U R R A and my. Our company Instagram is ytwofront, spelled out like my two friend teeth. And our website is mytwofront.com so I think that's the best way to reach out. So thank you so much.

Awesome. Thank you so much for being here and best of luck.

Thank you. I super appreciate it. Thank you.

If you like this podcast, then you have got to sign up for my free on demand video training. Grow your sales Doing what yout Love Where I teach you in depth. My simple process that you can implement right away to harness your mindset and your skills to grow your sales to whatever level you want. So go grab that now. The link is in the show notes and I'll see you next time.