522 The Co-Host Compatibility Test

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2:01And the best way I've found to explain that is when I'm with my patients, I see them at the most every three months. And you see their growth and the change. And you're there to support and to provide and to have this partnership with your patients. And with students, you see that every day. You see that growth from start to finish. And there is something really rewarding about being a part of this community in that way. I think everybody gets caught up with expectations, right? Especially when you're out of school or just the community that you live and you see your friends peers doing things. But when you wake up the next day, you're happy you're where you're going to work and you're having fun. That feels like success to me. To. Welcome to yet another episode of A Tale of 2 Hygenus

3:03with your new co-hosts, myself Jessica Adkinson, and… David Torres. And it is Episode 522, because it rhymes with getting to know you. And today, I'm going to get to know you, David, and you… get to know you as well. So we had decided that we were going to have an episode about us for you all know to get to know us as well and I for Christmas got a deck of cards and the deck of cards is called the Tumblr deck and for all of you who speak Yiddish, Tumblr means an entertainer, someone who gets things going. So to get things going I have a deck of cards with questions to ask David and he has a deck of cards already in his brain to ask me I just would like some assistance from these adorable cards. So we're going to start off with this really great question here. Oh this is a good start

4:09David. This is the eight of clubs and it says what would you regret not trying this year? What would I regret not trying this year? I get to be honest with you for the longest time ever since I was younger and you know as a genus we do well with with like handexterity but I really need to be able to pick up the guitar that I purchased in my college years and learn how to like play it and learn how to stick with the discipline of learning a new instrument and so I love I love the electric electric guitar sound and how I think it would be so cool being able to like pick it up and play a song and then hopefully play some for you in the future. That would be awesome. You know how fun that would be like being able to learn you know how like everybody has like like a party trick and one of us I have to think it's like playing a guitar. I think it would be fun. That would be great. I imagine a fire guitar. That sounds great. Yeah yeah

5:19I think so. You're a secret musician. I think so. Yeah and you know what that's what I'm going to do. Identity change. I am a musician now. I will learn how to pick up the guitar at the end of this year and other musicians. I on the other hand was fired by my piano teacher at the ripe old age of eight because yeah I did not did not pick up no did not pick up on piano I I was not something I enjoyed I and she said you know I just don't think this you're enjoying this and I have a number of other students that would like to take piano and I was fired. Just like that. Just like that. So done done done just like that. I have a question for you. I'm ready. What do you think because you know what like I saw you on LinkedIn we connected obviously it like we spoke in and you know you have all these like a confidence but what is

6:21something that people think they know about you but they totally don't oh that they think they know about me but maybe don't that's that that's that's that's that's catching my brain that's catching my brain like what is maybe people think I I think people know that I really love dental hygiene and I I really love education but I think only those who are really really close to me know the depth and breadth of what that means for me and the the connection and the growth and the change that I really love in our professional space like the idea of being involved in prevention right we are we are in the let's let's establish habits and let's establish a an environment and a culture of preventing disease of caring for each other of catching things early

7:29and to see that in an educational space as well of you're seeing students change and grow and and accomplish things and many times people ask me why did I decide to be an educator and the best way I've found to explain that is when I'm with my patients I see them at the most every three months and you see their growth and the change and you are there to support and to provide and to have this partnership with your patients and with students you see that every day you see that growth of you know from start to finish and there is something really rewarding about being a part of this community in that way and I think that's I think maybe that's it like people think they know that I like love love dental hygiene and love education I love people and and I think that bucket is just really deep and wide I don't know if I've even gotten to the depths

8:34and the breaths of what is available in this space I think this is a new avenue co-hosting with you and this is a new avenue that I've already really enjoyed yeah that's fantastic I love that the depths of the career the period until deaths how deep this pocket is yes we definitely need to refer to a period on us all right let's see here I'm Tumblr has another question for you okay what do you randomly know a lot about a person a place a thing a movie about a rat who can cook that's what it says a movie about a rat that can isn't that like retitude okay so I am I like to say that I it's fun for me but I've worked in a lot of environments and and my wife tells me to speak back all the time she's like babe you should have been a financial consultant because for

9:38some reason you understand thanks like 401k Roth IRAs investments and all that stuff and when you have these conversations with people I think in your head you think that you're like a very like passionate and proactive and you and it's fun for you but I'm pretty sure they're like on board dude I don't know what you're talking about or anything like that and I think that mostly happens especially when I when I was in in campus recruiting and talking to students I understand how quickly things like that that are kind of boring but a small change can go a really long way right yeah and how like difference and how early you can retire yeah exactly like nobody appreciates that in your 20s but like when you're 40 and 50 and 60 you're like well I am so happy I did that right and I think for the career we all work hard for our income and being able to kind of manage that and and being able to have assets such that money works for you I think that's pretty pretty cool

10:39so yeah I think that's something that it might be I know a lot about and I can talk to nerds about but everybody has to be like I don't know I don't know what they talk my wife calls this shoe shopping she says every time you talk about finance I just think about shoe shopping because that's what I know about well I think we need to get a guest on and you guys nerd out and I will be the person who asks the questions that are like can you explain that to me like I'm a second grader so you'd be in a applicable situation for me because as as a 20 something when I decided I wanted to do dental hygiene as my professional avenue I was not anticipating that it wasn't going to be a financially like a financial foundation as far as like a 401k or you know all of your retirement questions you have or insurance and especially where I live it is common

11:40to not be employed at one office full time so those opportunities weren't as readily available as a maybe in my mind I had thought they would be I I actually was not even thinking of about my future in those ways and I think that has helped me now as an educator to help my students start thinking about those things now and say hey this this is something to start now or yesterday in order to help you have that financial freedom and feel more comfortable and confident in your day to day in and out job I think I think when you know that you have those things put into place that gives you some peace of mind yeah I know I agree one to present I think we all look at it like oh man if I was younger right which actually that's kind of like the question I was going to ask you next is how would early career Jessica define success and how different is that from two days Jessica

12:40because I think we all tend to look at like financial success and stuff like that but I think it's so much more beyond than what it is well to me honest my younger self had a very different idea what my life was going to look like and my what I thought success would be would be to work as a part-time dental hygienist and be raising the family like that was my idea in my mind of what what success would look like and I think there are a number of things that I didn't do right away because I was waiting for that idea of success to manifest in my life and I think the advice I would have given I I give my past self is not to wait to do things like I remember waiting to get a master's degree I was like I'll get a master's degree when I'm more you know when I'm when after I've raised kids or I'll do that later or I'll get my own house when I have us

13:44my husband and I'll do that later and I'll worry about my financial future when I'm looking at my spouse and my combined income I just had a lot of things waiting on different successes and so then what now what I would identify as success is to take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to you if it feels good good I as one of my colleagues Emily Bogie the other day I was just like how how do you manage all of the wonderful things in your life or how are you doing this I said when I'm a millionaire I'm gonna like hire you with my executive assistant I don't know just something like that she goes I just say yes to things that are fun yeah yeah okay and that came at a really opportune time is actually when I was given this opportunity and I was like this would be fun I'm gonna say yes yeah well and that's that's similar to what I'm thinking about right

14:46like I think everybody gets caught up with expectations right especially when you're out of school or just the community that you live and you see your friends peers doing things but when you wake up the next day and you're happy where you're going to work and you're having fun that feels like success to me and those times in my life where I felt like a failure or I didn't do something well enough it wasn't it wasn't out of like it's because I didn't try it was mostly because I felt stuck if that makes sense so you could be quote unquote successful by having a job you're 9 to 5 and seeing patients and doing all of that but sometimes you feel stuck and so we equate that to feeling a little bit like failure but whenever you have fun with life and you learn from those lessons and you move on and you say what are some of the opportunities that are presenting to me that I can kind of have fun with it it kind of like gives you that energy and it gives you that motivation to just try try something new something different and we all we all need to have

15:49a little fun where are they to date live so I love that I love that you get that example what else do we have in the line of questions oh here you go you ready yeah the some text of this it says it's okay you're safe here so community this safe space because I'm about to ask David who his favorite villain is okay you're gonna love this um there I say who should not be named Harry Potter no how in the world is Voldemort your favorite villain this cannot be okay because I have I have I feel bad like Harry Potter says I feel bad for you he doesn't know love or friendship right so okay so you feel you pity him yeah I mean also like that kind of makes sense right like he does everything that he does because he doesn't have the power of friendship and love remember this is a safe space I will remember well I will listen and not judge I will listen and

16:54not judge but is mostly is mostly because again like he did a lot he villains do evil things right they do terrible things but in my mind I think it was well justified from that character's um point of view right can't think of anybody else but I I think it's not like I look at a better name like what kind of want to be like that person it's just it makes it makes sense for guy didn't have love and he doesn't know the power of friendship and that's everything that I have I have a love and power of friendship and so therefore I feel bad for him so yes you're right I think I put it in what about you I bet you really want to clean his teeth no I bet you just want like he's got those like pointy teeth looking thing like I bet you know if you just had a good cleaning from David Torres that would have really changed his life akyo uh kavitron I don't know both that's good akyo kavitron

17:54you're asking and in reverse who my my favorite villain is oh now I want to know for sure yes oh I probably should have thought of this before we don't stress it's a safe space this is a safe space a villain I'm going to have to come back to that because every time I think of someone I'm like oh I don't like that exactly it's a difficult question so that's why I just went for that one I asked you a difficult question because you know as I was thinking I was like do I do I like scar and maybe maybe okay I'm going to choose scars my favorite villain right now because he has an epic song oh oh I did not expect that one I did not expect for that to go that way like have you is there a love is there a better villain song than scar or song you know he's there with the hyenas and like I'm going to do research I'm going to watch

18:57that movie just for you yeah I want to be thinking of you I want you to know like it it's like be pretty bad like it's very it is an anthem it is quite I it's really catchy the fact that you seen this movie when you're younger and that's what kind of stuck with you this whole time I love like like it's the little the little hyenas in the background like they have the backup singers in the elephant graveyard like it's a it's a it's a good it's good so okay he's my he has my favorite song he's got my favorite song not not let not that I not a kuna mitaro not a kuna mitaro not not not that I condone throwing brothers off of cliffs less yes no love I have I actually have I have brothers and I don't think I can go anybody like that

20:04hey guys what what's a habit that you swear by now that past you would have been like like roll your eyes do you have a habit making my bed making my bed oh yeah I believe in miracles because I now make my bed religiously I it feels better it's like a mindset thing I think it's a mindset thing I think it sets my day off well I think I think that there's something about your physical space influencing your life like I think they're like a there was a there was a Ted talk about this it was some kind of a like a habit marine or somebody talking about these habits and it's like if you have a habit and I think it's just like a catalyst for the rest of the day the rest of the day yeah that makes sense I like to think well I do make my bed every single time

21:05sometimes my wife's still in it and I still make it is that weird like I still make the bed you know you check her in you put the all like the the dress pillows over her body is it just like a subtle sign that you're like it's time to get up yeah like I just get up and she's still in there and I just like the bed and so the intentions were there and so like if I come back home the bed is not made it's okay we've got the intentions worse here or it just makes it easier for her when she gets out of bed then she just has to like you know that's a good way that's a good way of looking at that I like that so nice of you to think of her so nice I'm a very sweet person okay and I'm and I'm a great husband I think I don't know we're gonna have to ask her but I you know I'm considerate one of my habits that I used to roll my eyes on although I was like journaling and I don't know if people do this I think but it's just like that reflectionary state of like hey today I'm gonna journal um and I don't do it every day but like I do a journal and and it's the best link to your past self and your future self and

22:11journaling is powerful yeah it started in the pandemic by the way so like you know how we're all cooped up inside the house in the pandemic and like I want to be a product after making my bed I was like let me just journal and and I did and anything that stressed me out I got to kind of like work on intentionally as a date progress and then things that were still stressing me out is is like okay you put it you put it down on paper but it's not in your head anymore and that gives you clarity so yeah I don't know the older I've gotten the more I'm like journaling is where is that people like yeah I journal and then I burn them you bring them you bring your journals I burn so like not a whole journal like I'll take a page and I'll just like get all of my thoughts out oh and then I'll burn it like an action of like releasing it like I am okay all right like this is I am sending this off this is this is out of me all right also my sister just got me a five-year journal have you seen those no no it has it's supposed to be a five-year journal and it's

23:15just a one spot for every year and it's just tiny and I just started yesterday because it was a little very beginning of the year and I'm gonna do I'm gonna do gratitude and then I can look back over five years and see what I've been grateful for over the last five years I'll see there you go yeah I guess I guess you're right there's two ways to journal there's that whole like I'm gonna burn this waterline villain story right to like you prepared prepared oh is that that's the name of the church name of that's the name of my Lion King song yeah to reflection this is what I'm grateful maybe do both you know I think well and then I also I think that there's it could be big and wide as far as like um I journal in in the margins of books okay same kind of thing too or when I'm like when you're reading a book you take notes or you can take all of me to high five yeah so so that could that could be like a journaling thing hey speaking of books

24:18because of this new year I promised myself to read at least a book a month so that maybe both I'd like to do growth things but maybe I should start doing a little bit of both right because you know like self-help can only go so far right but being able to kind of pick up the habit of like reading and not over thinking because a lot of us I feel like when we read a book is like I forget what I'm reading unless you're an average reader so not over thinking it and trying to try and to like read a book of what about you do you have anything exciting this year 2026 for reading no well reading yes but like I don't like a New Year's resolution if that's why you want to call that or so I'm I was thinking about this today because the New Year is not the only time to like make some changes but there are a few that are bobbin around in my head I am traditionally I

25:23more of a night owl than I am an early bird but I would like to be more of an early bird so it's really helpful that you're eastern time and I'm mountain time because it it requires me to be earlier than you and so look at you helping me with my New Year's resolutions way to go David what a what a nice co-host making your sense of it way to go you get to start your date with me very today I did and then I think I think for I would also like to walk more with my little dog like do some more walks I have this app called step bet and I can bet on myself and get you know steps in which it has been really helpful for me in the past I think I'm going to revisit that this year so I'm starting off as like a like I want some things to be part of my life but I'd like to approach it in a way that's going to be like a habit that I can maintain like sometimes I have an idea like

26:30go hard and then after a week of like no thanks so I'm just like slowly starting in early days like I already have I already have Wednesday I have to have an early morning for other obligations now I'm going to add in working with David earlier in the morning and so I mean if I add things that I'm responsible to be earlier than maybe maybe I'm going to become a stick morning is going to stick all right David I really like this question this is fair the last time you were in a moment a thought oh you were in a moment and thought wow I can't believe I'm here right now there's two that sticks to my mind and guys warning audience I think this is really cute um when I got married ah like I am the person that as soon as I saw my wife I cried like a baby and so I know right I told

27:40it was going to be cute um and so I think so when I first saw her oh by the way I met her in school so I met my mother in school did you like did you guys like lock eyes over a skill evaluation like she was like practicing probing and she looked into your eyes and you're like this is it I wish that was the case but I'm pretty sure I probably locked eyes with her and she just rolled her eyes on me I don't know I think no it happened in class um so in our school and and by the way like in school we had 45 students and only three were male hygienists um and so like it happened in school and I didn't think she was I like to think that I'm a funny person specifically like in class I like in in that era I used to like be more fun and more um I'll go and I guess or maybe I was just super excited to get in hygiene school and then from time to time I will notice that she will look back and just smile at the jokes that I would say to one of my

28:42friends so I ended up like you know we became really good friends I proposed the last semester of our school because I figured we're gonna start this amazing life and this journey let it let's do it together and when I saw her um walk down the aisle I that all of that came like a compilation of all of our memories and all of that in it just I felt so incredibly lucky nervous excited just all the feelings I felt my feelings but I was very very happy and then the second one was definitely like every single time I have three kids so every single time those babies came into this world and I held I have there's pictures of me just like bawling crying um and I am grateful for that because of all those experiences I've been like I consider myself like an emotional guy and that mostly happens sort of like that gratitude feeling that I get like I'm so lucky

29:43to be here and and do these things even right now being able to talk to you and co-hosting this podcast like it's just that sense of like joy and happiness of doing something new and it's exciting thank you I feel the same way I'm like wow this is this is a I'm I get the opportunity to speak with people that I am learning from and I admire and that that have so much to offer and I and what I've noticed I think the moment I had today about that is when we were doing a podcast and it just felt really like really fluid like I had a moment that I was like David's gonna have something really good to ask right here when you did like I was like this is just I'm like this is this flows for me like I this is this is this is working this is working yeah and how how lucky are we that this is working right like we're we're we're doing this together

30:46and it's work um yeah no kidding no no kidding absolutely and I it was very sweet that you're very first thought was when you're so your wife walked on the aisle something to know about me is I love love if you love if I'm not if I'm not just devouring dental hygiene information I'm devouring relationship information I love information about communication I love information about relationships I love information about how to maintain or improve or enjoy each other so yeah that's that's something I enjoy besides reading books because I really like books too yeah but we're humans right like we create that connection and that wanting to fitting and that's what we have this this part to being able to kind of engage with our audience and hopefully they get to us those questions where we can you know answer them and and have

31:50a sense of community I think it's cool our community is our Tumblr deck so community out there you're the Tumblr deck and we want to know what questions you have about each like ourselves like what what questions you have about David what questions you have about me or what questions do you have about anything related to our profession that we can provide an opportunity to answer some questions or dive deeper into a topic or learn and grow together that is what we're here to do and we feel very grateful to be doing it with you and that is a wrap getting to know you episode 522 Jessica thank you so much this is this is honestly awesome and being able to kind of like spend some time together like this getting to know each other I am excited for the rest of the episodes and I think we're already pretty close and and imagine how much closer we get to engage

32:52with the community and audience like what you were saying and yes guys reach out our info is in the show notes and we're here for you thank you David thank you that's a wrap on today's episode of a tale of two hygienist podcast if this conversation made you feel seen inspired or even just a little fired up share it with a fellow hygienist or fellow dental professional share it with your neighbors your friends share it with everyone that is how this community grows make sure you subscribe equals a review and connect with us on social media so that we can keep on going with this conversation remember you career your voice and your story matter here we're David and Jessica and until next time keep learning keep laughing and keep showing up for yourself and for each other this has been a production of endeavor business media a division of endeavor b2b to be this has been a production of endeavor business media a division of endeavor b2b