YouTube Channel: @dothethingformula

I do really believe 100% from every part of me that everyone has the.

Capacity to be able to do the things that they want and not to.

Be held back by the mental baggage that's in our head that we want to push through.

Welcome to the do the Thing podcast. In each episode, we get down and personal with people who go after the things they want to make all their wildest dreams come true. Join us as we unveil and dissect a formula for what it takes to do the thing. Here is your host, Stacy Lauren.

Hey everyone.

Welcome to the do the Thing podcast. This is Stacy Lauren. Some people you meet stand out because of their unrelenting energy, amazing personality and contagious smile. Today's guest is probably the most upbeat, funny and positive person you'll ever find. Her clients call her the Queen of Smiles, a title she more than deserves. Have you ever heard of a dentist going to a club with flyers to promote their business? This guest did just that. Instead of merely opening a dental practice and waiting for clients to come to her, she headed out to the hottest dance clubs and music venues to find them on her own. And flyers with her face on them gave her a competitive edge. She got her first celebrity client with just a cold walk up. I love how she took an unconventional, super scrappy approach to land celebrity clients, something that would intimidate so many others. But as she says, everyone needs a dentist, even celebrities. She's an award winning cosmetic dentist. Her clients include some of the biggest names in film and music, and her accolades are nothing short of impressive. Global Summit Institute voted her as one of the world's top 100 doctors. Dental products Report magazine named her among the top 25 women in dentistry. And Clear lists her as one of the most influential dentists in America. You can even catch her making appearances on the Dr. Oz show and the Today Show. If that weren't enough, this guest is also a number one best selling author, actor, podcaster, international professional speaker and branding coach. Not only is she the dentist to the stars and non celebrities too, but she also creates entrepreneurs by teaching them how to start a teeth whitening business. It puts a huge smile on my face to introduce Dr. Catrice Austin.

Hi Dr. Catrice. How are you today?

I'm great, Stacy. How you feeling?

I am doing really good. I'm so glad you were able to join me.

Oh, I had to. I had to join you on this podcast. You're doing such wonderful things. I had to be a part of it. Yay.

Well, that's exciting. Well, how about we start off and if you don't mind just kind of sharing more about you, your story and what you're up to.

Okay, well, hello everybody. I'm Dr. Catrice Austin, Cosmetic dentist to the stars, branding coach, speaker, eight time author and brand spokesperson. And I my story really starts back when I was a young child in elementary school. I hated my smile. My teeth were spaced out, they flared out and I got called names every single day in the schoolyard. They'd be like, there's Bugs Bunny. And gosh, those names being called every day just made me feel so insecure to the point where I didn't smile. And I kind of became introvert. All throughout my middle school years, I didn't feel comfortable being around other kids and I did the bare minimum of socializing just to get by. But when I got to high school, that pivotal time in your life when you want to be one of the cool kids and you want to fit in, I had like the breaking point. My mom knew that I always hated my smile and her being a single parent, I kind of didn't feel like she could afford to get the braces that I knew I needed to correct my smile. So I never asked. But when I got to high school, maybe around the age of 15, she surprised me with the dental visit that changed my life. I mean, she took me to what I thought was going to be a routine checkup and cleaning visit, but it turned out to be the braces, the orthodontic appointment that I had just been desiring all my life. And I discovered that I was just going to have to wear braces for one year to correct my smile. And so I got the traditional braces, wore them for a year, and by the time I was in my mid 16th year, the braces came off. And when I tell you the confidence level, the joy that I felt, it was literally a life changing experience to the point where I got my first boyfriend. I had the confidence to join the dance squad. I just felt like Miss America. And I knew at that point at the age of 16, that I wanted to be a dentist and I had to help other people experience the power a smile. I had no clue that people really paid attention to your smile. And it's one of the first things that people notice about you. And that's when I knew I wanted to be a dentist. And that's where my journey began. So I'm from Flint, Michigan, and I went to University of Michigan and then went to dental school in Baltimore, University of Maryland. And then after I graduated and got my degree. I moved to the big city of New York where I have been for the last past 25 years and have made a great brand as a dentist, as a cosmetic dentist.

Yeah, it's amazing. I know we just got introduced and right before the interview, I know you had sent me over your, your website and your information and I was just like over, I mean, just in shock and awe of just how unbelievable the branding and how everything looks, you know, in terms of everyone that you've been able to help.

Yes, yes. Now, I'm known for working with celebrities, but honestly I enjoy helping the everyday, hard working person that just wants to go through life with a smile. Just a regular, hard working, everyday person. Celebrities are great, but I love helping anyone that needs to get through life with a beautiful, confident smile.

Yeah. And I love that you said that because that, that really can connect to so many people. You know, in terms of you really can help anyone that just wants to improve, improve their smile. The thing that I find so, so fascinating is that with your experience with your teeth, it not only helped you kind of have this compelling vision of what you wanted to do for your life, but you also had to build up some kind of muscle. Right, in terms of having all of that pain from childhood and being able to persevere.

Yes, yes. And even throughout the course of my years after I got the braces, the one thing that a lot of orthodontists don't tell you is that if you do not wear that retainer, your teeth can spread back to where they came from. And so, you know, I'm just like everybody else. I'm sometimes a bad patient. And there were times during my career that I stopped wearing my retainer and my teeth actually went back, not all the way to where they started when I was younger, but I had some relapses. And I kind of periodically went through that same emotion of not feeling confident. And now with social media, people have, or they feel like they have the right to comment on your appearance. And if there's any, anything that's imperfect about you, they can, they feel like they can say something. And I started getting comments on social media. So I ended up taking care of my teeth again and giving them permanently closed with the veneers that I actually offered to my clients. And that was life changing as well.

Yeah. So when you went and got your, your, your doctor's degree to become a dentist, what did you immediately decide? That you wanted to open up your own business or did you work for someone For a little bit.

That is such a great question. When I finished my degree and came to New York City, I literally never, ever, ever envisioned that I would start a business in New York City. I was literally just coming to do get some extra experience by working in the hospital and doing my residency training. But that one year in 1996-1997, my first year being in New York, and, gosh, it was the 90s, and music was great and comedy was great, and the city was just full of energy. I got the New York bug and I just. And I started networking and hitting the streets of New York and meeting people. And it was some of the people that I met, like, some of the comedians that I used to hang out with, they were like, gosh, you can stay here. There's no dentist that look like you. You're young, you're. You're black, you're. You're female. Like, there is no. And you're cool. There's nobody. Like, we don't know a dentist that's like you. So why don't you stay and start your business here? And I thought about that, and I did have the competitive edge. I didn't have any money, but I was like, gosh, if I can find a way to start a business, yeah, I want to start it in New York City, where I love the city. And I was meeting so many cool people, it wasn't hard for me to decide to stay. So what I did is I actually went to the newspaper, because that's how you found a job back then. And I answered a couple ads and I took some jobs. A few of the jobs were a crazy Stacy. Like, I went into one job one day, and the doctor said, this is the one needle that you have to use on all of your patients for the day. We don't have any other needles. Take a toothbrush and scrub it off, you know, with some soap and reuse it. And I'm like, oh, my God, I can't do this. So I kind of, after taking a few jobs, discovered that I didn't like the way dentistry. It wasn't my vision of how a dental practice was to be run. And so after going to a couple bad dental jobs, I decided I gotta do it my way. I've gotta do dentistry my way, where I know it's safe, and I get to kind of incorporate my style and my personality. And I actually found a dentists. I didn't have a lot of money, and I didn't want to take out a lot of loans. So what I did is I looked for a dentist that was looking to share his office space and rented a share out of someone else's office until I built up my clientele and I could start my own practice. And that's how I got started.

Wow. So it's. So it stemmed really from a bad experience, and you able to really trust that the person you were working for was kind of have your same level of integrity and quality, and then you're like, well, I could do this better, or if he do this, I could do it better kind of thing.

Exactly. Didn't know how, but I've learned the way.

Yeah. Would that. Would you say that that gave you the confidence to do it? When you saw someone run their business that way, did that give you more confidence to think that you could do it?

Yeah, I knew that. I. Like you said, I knew that I could do better. I didn't quite know how. The dentist that I rented space from, he was an older dentist, and so he wasn't the best example of how to run a newer style dental practice. But he had 35 years of business experience, so I got some knowledge from him. But what I ultimately did, Stacy, is I found a dental consultant that I could afford at the time just to teach me how. I would read the dental journals, and I'd always read the articles about business, business and overhead and all the things that you needed to think about. So I just found a consultant that could kind of show me the ropes. And that's when I really learned how to operate a business and develop systems. And my business literally just shook right off once I had some concept of how to really run a business. It's dentistry and it's health, but it is, if you're entrepreneur and you have your own practice is 100% business. And once I learned how to run the business, oh, baby. There was no stopping me, Stacy.

Yeah, and it's great because I've had that piece of the formula many times now as people hiring, like a coach or consultant. But honestly, I don't even know if I would have thought of that in relation to dentistry. So it's amazing when I think about this formula that that's coming out of these interviews and the fact that you doing something totally different than anyone I've talked to yet is doing, and then you hired a consultant. I mean, there's definitely something. Something to that.

Yeah, I think that in business, you gotta have coaches, you gotta have somebody that's been there and done it and can advise you on, you know, how to. How to take things to the next level. So we need coaches, trainers, the best of the best trainers and coaches need co, you know, meet coaches. So, yes, always learning and it doesn't matter what field you're in.

Yeah, so it sounds like. So I'm uncovering your formula as you're talking for doing the thing. So one thing it looks like, is really just building up that network of people which you talked about, comedians and things like that, and that sort of gave you the encouragement to be able to do this. So that was one piece that was.

Discovering my target audience. I knew right away that I wanted to work with. This wasn't a word back then, but influencers and entertainers. And once I had that niche in my head, it made it very easy to determine where I was going to go to network and what events I was going to attend and, you know, who to cold call and what events to go to in the city. So it just really laid out the master plan of how I was going to get to where I wanted to be.

Yeah.

So how did you.

And I want to go back to the formula, but I want to stay here for just a minute because how did you. Gosh, is that like when you started doing the celebrities and things like that?

How did.

How did that come about? Because I feel like that's some really big courage, right, to be able to have that level of confidence.

Yeah, you know, the confidence came from, you know, I knew no one when I came to New York. Maybe a couple people that I went to college with, but nobody that I could really count on. So my escape was to go to the comedy club every Sunday in the village of New York. And as I would go, I would start to meet comedians and they literally became my friendship base. And then comedians kind of opened up for music acts before they perform. And so just kind of hanging out with some of my comedian friends, I got that aha moment that, that's. That was the audience that I wanted to tackle because that's who I was hanging around with, ironically. And once I determined that I wanted to work with entertainers and I knew that I didn't have very, very much competition, then I literally started kind of going to all the hotspots with my flyers and kind of like a guerrilla marketing tactics, just going everywhere, passing out flyers with my face and my picture. And I literally put on my business card Stacy. Before I had my first celebrity client, Dr. Catrice Austin, dentist to the stars. So even though I hadn't landed my first celebrity client, I was kind of putting it out there, like the law of attraction. And so one day I was hanging out at P. Diddy's restaurant. He had a restaurant in New York city in the 90s. Every Tuesday, I go to Justin's, that was P. Diddy's restaurant. And all the celebrities would be there. The Mariah Carey's, the Derek Jeters, and all kinds of models. And it was just the hotspot. And one day I'm there and I see this musical legend by the name of Isaac Hayes. My mom used to play his records all the time. And. And he was on the cartoon, south park adult cartoon. So he was very popular. And I was like, gosh, I would love to meet him. I'm so scared. Like, he's a musical legend. And after about an hour of deliberating, I finally got the courage to just go over there and just say, you know what? Screw it. I'm going over there to say who I am and what I do. Hey, everybody needs a dentist, right? And so I walk over there and I give him basically my elevator pitch. Hey, I'm Dr. Catrice Austin. I'm a dentist here in New York City. If you ever need a dentist, if you're not happy with the one that you're using or you don't have one, I would love to be your new dentist. Here's my card. And he literally looked at my card, he looked at me and he said in his deep voice, young lady, I never met a dentist to look like you. Would you like to sit down and have dinner with me? And that was the decision that completely changed my life. By the time I got done having dinner with him, he had decided that he was going to be my first celebrity client. And having him as my first celebrity client put me on the map. And that was all I needed to solidify my dentist to the stars branding back in 1998.

I just love that so much. Because you were scrappy. You're passing out flyers, you're giving up. So where did. When you. Okay, I want to go back to the flyers in a minute. But when you went up to him, how did you get yourself to do that?

Were you like, oh, gosh, I was scared. I was so scared. But I will tell you, the thing that came to my mind is I don't know if I'm ever going to see this man again. Not only was he a legend in TV and radio. Radio, sir, Music. He was on the air on one of the hottest radio stations in New York City. So I also knew that he had that platform and what ended up happening? Not only did he become my celebrity client, my first celebrity client, he talked about me for free on air as a morning show host. Not only did he do that, he said, you know what? I'm going to put you in my entourage. Wherever I go, you're going to go. So I'm talking Grammys, film festivals in Mexico, everywhere. And that literally gave me the exposure that I needed. And it was important for me to have flyers with my picture on it and that content, because I was doing the same kind of marketing that I saw my music clients doing. They would hit the streets and they had bands and flyers. So I was like, well, can I do that as a dentist? I can have flyers if I have my picture on it. And people see that I'm a dentist and I'm female and I'm African American. That's going to be intriguing to them. That's the competitive edge. And so that's what I did. So with the help of Mr. Isaac Hayes and hitting the streets with some guerrilla marketing, it all came together.

Yeah. And it's funny because I feel like there's so many people that are hesitant to do that, whether it's going up to someone or even passing out flyers. Right. Like, so how did you. How did you even just make that decision? Because that's doing. The thing is being able to put yourself out there. Right. Because there you're putting your literal, like, face out there, you know? Yeah.

You know what? At the end of the day, I just said to myself, I may never see this person again. And how would I feel if I didn't go up to him and simply introduce myself and tell him who. Who I was and what I did? Like, what's the worst that can happen is I get a no or I'm happy with my dentist. But nice meeting you. I could not bear.

Knowing that I could have ruined the opportunity of a lifetime. And it literally turned into the opportunity that changed my entire career. And so I am very thankful that somehow, deep down, I got the guts to do it. And that is the lesson. Like, no matter who you encounter, it could be the President of the United States to whoever. You know, people are people. And when it comes to your product and your service, they may very well need it. You may be solving a problem that they have that you don't know about. So that's how. That's what made me go over there. And thank God it did.

Yeah. Yeah. I love that. Like, your. So your risk assessment really is, what's the worst?

That's Been the worst that can happen.

Yeah, Yeah, I really like that.

And then.

Is that the same thing you did with the flyers? Because that's putting yourself out there, too, just, you know, passing out those flyers.

Yeah. You know, I thought it was fun to me because I actually love letting people know that I was a dentist. And literally I could be in one of the hottest nightclubs on the dance floor dancing, and Mariah Carey could be right next to me. And I just handed the flyer, like. And I love getting people's reaction like, you're a dentist. Because I knew that I was unique. I knew that that was special. Yeah, that was. That was fun.

I like that because you're making. You're making it fun. Yeah, Yeah, I love it. So how did you get. So making it fun is actually another piece of the formula, but I haven't had that many people speak to it yet because that's something that I always did with doing the thing. So I like that this came up. How do you think you were able to. Was it just an automatic thing where you made it fun or was it a reframing or where did that come from?

I also decided after going to various dental practices that I was going to be my most authentic self and quite frankly, meeting some of the celebrities. I had to go to dance clubs and places that you at the time would never see a dentist. And so I had to go to dance clubs, I had to go to music concerts, and I had to be at all these fun places. And when they met me, I wanted them to know that I was just a regular person. I like music, I dance. All the things you see doctors kind of doing now on TikTok, that was unheard of in the 90s to put yourself out there. As a matter of fact, in the dental and medical world, it was marketing yourself was kind of shunned upon. You could actually get penalized, your license, penalized for marketing and promoting. So for me to. To make it fun and to do flyers and they kind of mimic what I saw my entertainment friends doing. It was totally fun. And so every day when I go to work, it's not. It doesn't feel like a job. I don't dread going because I play music, I dance, we watch YouTube movies. And I was doing that from the very beginning. Before Netflix, I had VHS tapes that they chose when they came to the office, so they knew that they could watch their favorite movie or sitcom. So there. That was just a part of my branding, that it had to be fun.

Yeah, Yeah, I love it. So it seems like you also have innovation as part of your doing the thing.

Yeah, I, you know.

I didn't know, like, playing VHS tapes in the office was so going to be that unique, but it turned out to be. But, yeah, for some reason, I have the ability to come up with creative ideas that are intriguing, so I appreciate that skill set.

Yeah. And what do you think when you do come up with the creative ideas? Where do you think that comes from?

No, I. I would probably have to say that it's just very innate, maybe how artists, you know, how does an artist come up with their next painting? Or where. Where does somebody. And gosh, I can't even say. I do read. I do read and listen to audiobooks. So sometimes I'm inspired by other people's stories and how their story might apply to my business, but other than that, sometimes I just wake up and it just. I just get an idea.

Yeah. And it sounds like you're, You're. You're consuming information and learning and then.

Yeah.

And definitely you're able to then integrate it into your own kind of like, unique flair, basically.

Yeah. Yes, that is, That's, That's a great summary.

Yeah, I love it. And I noticed that from your website, too, and I didn't think about it until right now, because you're not just doing. You're doing something totally different between. You're helping regular people, you're helping celebrities, but then you also do like a. A certification, your teeth whitening.

So I'm starting young entrepreneurs all across the country, teaching them the business of teeth whitening, which is not just limited to people in the dental field. So that's been super exciting. And to watch other young people, old people, whoever, just start their businesses. I love it. Helping people become financially independent and free by being entrepreneurs.

Wow. So that's, like, really significant. So you're actually, you're. So that's what it is. You're. Again, I just looked at it brief because we literally, like, just so everyone knows, we literally.

Is it okay this morning.

Not this morning. I'm like, I'd love to talk to you. Can you do this tonight?

You said, yeah, your info. And then here we are.

So it's.

Yeah, we are. It's doing the thing as we're doing this podcast.

And so. Yeah. And I.

So I looked at it and I was like, wow, that's so unique and cool. And I've never seen that on a. On a dentist, doctor, any kind of website before, you know, that different thing. But that sounds like that's A whole nother, like.

Oh, it's a whole nother business. Yeah. I have three, three businesses. The dental practice, treating people with their teeth, and then I have the teeth whitening business, training them and also selling products, the teeth whitening products and oral care products and then coaching entrepreneurs to build their brand to a celebrity brand. So three whole companies and no sleep.

But so much fun.

Yeah. Wow. Okay, that's, that's great. I'm excited because I just feel like after talking to you, I'm like, gosh, you're going to be able to help so many people.

Yes. And thanks. I am excited about it. So you'll find me not in the office doing veneers and teeth whitening on a daily basis. I still do that, but I'm branching out and getting more into the teeth whitening and coaching side of my business. As I enter Act 2 of my career, I don't want to be 90 years old in the office drilling on teeth. So we're expanding our business, which gets me out to help more people globally, not just in New York City.

Yeah, I love that. So what do you think has been just the hardest thing for you in regarding to doing the thing?

The hardest thing would be there's so many hard things. Doing a thing requires help. I will say that. And sometimes, as you can see, that I am a very motivated person. I have a lot of drive and energy and I'm creative. And so to find staff members or team members that match that energy and that passion or what I do has been a little bit challenging. And finding the team of advisors even to help me run my business and make sure I'm staying on track and meeting goals, that's been a little bit challenging too. So if I were going back and Talking to my 28 year old self as to what I would do different, I would bet my advisors and I would vet my staff members way, way more than I had, I did in the past to make sure that I have a team that has the same core values that I have in this journey that I'm on. And if those things don't match, then you're kind of doomed.

I totally agree. Because the best way to get leverage, you know, is really to hire the right, the right people that are at your same level in terms of that. So I think that's a really good, a really good point. So what do you. Sorry, let's go back to your, your, the new business. Is it new? The one where you're helping the teeth whitening?

You know, I started it during the pandemic, I had been wanting to. And it gave me the time to create the course and do all the videos and write the book. And so, yeah, it's since 2018, so not that new. But I feel like it's now that we are back outside and getting back to normal business, I feel, I feel like I have a lot of people reaching out from college students to people who just want to spend a little less time in a 9 to 5 office setting that they're signing up to learn a new skill. With teeth whitening, which is an $11.4 billion industry, people want whiter teeth. So I love it. I love teaching and training people to start their businesses.

Have you seen a commonality with other people on them doing the thing, which is like starting this business, this particular.

Business that I'm starting?

Yeah, just in general, have you seen something that maybe stood out with that they have in common, like the people that you've helped to start a business that they.

They.

Hated the nine to five traditional work pattern. And I think the pandemic really opened up the eyes of a lot of people that they. There's another way to make money. It doesn't have to be traditional 9 to 5 that we all knew. So, yeah, I think they all got the aha moment that they don't have to be stuck in a position that they're not happy with and got teeth whitening is like a low overhead, high profit business that, I mean, there's nothing too stressful that can happen with you doing the procedure. So. Got a grammar.

It's a great business for someone that wants an easier life but want to make some money. Yeah.

Yeah, that's great. I love that you're doing that. That's so awesome. Thank you. What would you think would be if you could give one piece of advice to our listeners on doing the thing, what would it be?

Just do the thing. Just do the damn thing. If you have an idea, you have a dream, you have a passion, don't let let anyone discourage you. This burning in your heart and you want to, you have, you have something that you really want to accomplish in life, just do it. I've had people in my family, my, literally, my mother's sister told me back in 1998 that I would never become a celebrity dentist, that my dreams were crazy. Like, who does that? You know, you should just, you know, crawl before you start walking or running. You need to start and do the traditional and you don't have to do what's considered traditional. You can make your own path and do things your way and do the darn thing however you desire and just know that you can achieve it. You can do anything that you put your mind to it. You have a wonderful resource with the Internet where all the answers and YouTube and Google, the answers are there. You don't have to have a lot of money to learn the content that you need to take you where you want to go. So just do it.

Yeah, that's so good. Do the darn thing.

Do the darn thing. Just do it.

It's so good. So you mentioned earlier that you also have that branding experience. How. How is that something that you can help with?

Oh, great. Thank you so much for asking about that. I'm currently on a whole speaking tour where I'm sharing the five strategies for people to get not and to create the same celebrity brand that I have over the last 25 years. You can reach me at www.doctorpatriceaustin.com where I have $7 monthly coaching videos and training and live seminars. I just wrote a book that went number one a couple of weeks ago, the five strategies to get your business noticed. This book. So just learn. Yeah, my eighth book. I can't even believe it, but this one is really, really special to me because, you know, a lot of people ask me, you know, how did you build this brand? Well, you know, this is the ultimate pick. My brain. I'll tell you everything that I did over the last 25 years to build my brand. And then for those who are really serious and they really want to get on TV and work with the biggest brands in the land, I have some training, high, high level training that can kind of you get to skip a couple steps. I really hold your hand and take you to the mountaintop. So just go to drcatriceaustin.com and you will be able to learn all the things that I have to help you. I want to build as many rock stars. No matter what industry you're in, I want to make sure that you are the best, best or perceive as the best there is in your field.

I'm so glad that you were able to take the time to do this today.

Oh, anything. You know, we have a mutual friend, Sandy, Missouri.

When she told me when she introduced me to you, I had to. You're just like family, just like she is. So nice to. Nice to work with you.

That's so great. Well, thank you so much.

All right, bye. Bye, Stacy.

Bye.

Thanks for listening to the do the thing podcast. We hope you enjoyed the show, but even more, we hope you'll be inspired to do the Thing. Do you have a burning question on Doing the Thing that you'd like answered? How about an inspiring do the Thing story of your own that you'd like to share? We'd love to hear all about it. Just leave us a voicemail message at do the Thing callcast co or email us at hello the Thing podcast dot com.