In this episode of the Business Blast Podcast, host Tyler Wagner interviews Angus Pryor, a practice‑growth marketing specialist who works primarily with dental practices. Angus shares his personal journey of moving from a government job to the private sector and eventually launching his own business, emphasizing the importance of taking bold leaps and avoiding a life of regret. He explains that for dental practices, internal marketing—leveraging existing patients—is at least as effective as external tactics like social media or new technology. Angus offers broader business wisdom, urging listeners to seek counsel from those who have succeeded before them rather than reinventing the wheel. He advises his younger self to persist, surround himself with good people, and keep moving forward. When asked about happiness, he highlights being present in the moment and practicing gratitude. The book that resonated most with him is Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson, which teaches entrepreneurs to focus on the priorities of their current business stage instead of premature planning. His favorite quote, "The door to success swings on the hinges of opposition," reflects his belief in pushing through challenges. Finally, he directs listeners to his new website, anguspryor.com, where they can learn more about his services and upcoming book.
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Alright everyone, welcome back to the Business Blast Podcast. Today I have Angus Prior with us. He's a practice growth marketing specialist. So welcome Angus, I'm excited to have you here, man.
Thanks, Tyler, it's great to be on the show.
The first question I have for you is, what's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Look, in some ways it's my life story. I've lived a life of transition. I started working in government and at that time I felt like I could— I wanted to work in the private industry but I'd never taken the leap and didn't know anyone who had. Well, I took the leap and that worked. And then I worked in the private sector and then wanted to get into business and, you know, I took the leap and that worked. I've been in my own business now for several years and very close to, you know, having the same kind of income that I did when I was working in the private sector. So I guess the underlying message there is about not living a life of regret, you know, just kind of jump in and follow your dreams because I would hate to think what I'd be like if I was still working in government now all these years later.
And what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
So I'm working as a marketer mainly with the dental industry, and I mainly— clients come to us because they want some specific piece of external marketing, you know, the latest piece of technology or, you know, social media or whatever. But I would say the most valuable piece of information there is that internal marketing, you know, with their existing clients is at least as effective as the external stuff.
I agree. And next question is, what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily like industry-specific.
Look, I think this quote is from Benjamin Franklin, so I'm not claiming it as my own, but he talked about standing on the shoulders of those that come before you. I think he might have used the word giants. And I guess, you know, turning that into 2018 language, I would say that's about getting the advice of good counselors. Don't, you don't need to sort of reinvent the wheel and tough it out yourself. Learn from those who've done it before because you save yourself so much time and money.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
Honestly, it's probably just keep going, you know, just keep pushing through. You'll make it. Definitely been ups and downs on the road. As you've heard, I've switched from government to private sector to my own business. Surround yourself with good people and just keep going.
And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
Look, I heard someone say that you can only be happy right now, and I'm a fairly kind of future-minded person. That's probably the thread of the entrepreneur going through me. And so what that means is one, being really present. I don't really think that was a phenomenon when I was a kid, but you can only be happy right now. So rather than saying, oh, I'll be happy if this happens, and if that happens, now how can I be happy right now? And then the second part's got to be gratitude. We have so much to be grateful for. And the more grateful I am, the happier I am.
And what's the best book you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from it?
This is a very tough question, Tyler, because I read a lot. But, um, I think the one that probably sticks in my mind at this moment is Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterton. Uh, and it's a book that divides businesses up into the different stages, whether you're like naught to a million, I think you know, 1 to 10, 10 to whatever. And what I found so helpful about it was that it really accurately described the stage of business that I'm in now. He said something that I thought was quite funny. He said, if you're in the naught to $1 million stage, the problem, you don't really know what you're doing. And it's absolutely true. You know, you're kind of fiddling with your business model and trying to work out what the market wants. And so I think that recognition that you focus on what you need to in the stage that you're at rather than worrying about things that will come later.
And what's your favorite quote and why?
I don't actually know who this quote comes from. I just heard it somewhere and it says, "The door to success swings on the hinges of opposition." And I think for me personally, one of the things I recognized about myself— I turned 50 this year, Tyler, how about that? Wow. Is that where I've been successful, it's because I've kept doing stuff even if I didn't feel like it. And I just like the imagery of a door that, you know, you've got to get through that door and there's some opposition in the hinges, but you just got to keep going.
Well, thank you for coming on, Angus. The last question I have for you is, where can people best find you online?
So we've got a brand new website. I'm just launching a book, and so it's anguspryor.com. That's A-N-G-U-S P for Peter R-Y-O-R dot com.
Perfect. Thanks again for coming on, man. We really appreciate it.
Thanks, Tyler. It's been fun.
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