514. Why Identity Is the Hidden Key to Scaling Your Practice

In this solo episode of The Savvy Dentist Podcast, Jesse Green dives into a topic that’s rarely discussed but absolutely crucial to practice growth – identity. As dentists and practice owners, how we see ourselves directly shapes how we behave, the decisions we make, and the results we create. Jesse explores why shifting your identity is the key to moving from clinician to business owner, and ultimately scaling your practice.

Whether you’re in the startup phase, growth mode or looking to create leverage and time freedom, this episode offers practical tools to help you evolve your identity to match your aspirations.

In this episode:

• [00:25] Why identity is the “hidden lever” behind practice success
• [01:01] The iceberg model – what’s visible vs what’s beneath
• [02:14] Growth stages of a dental business and how identity must shift at each one
• [03:32] Why retirement is a surprising point of identity crisis for many dentists
• [04:16] The clinician vs business owner identity and why you can’t scale stuck in the former
• [06:12] The “messy middle” – why most dentists struggle to let go of first base
• [07:07] The internal shift that must happen before external success shows up
• [07:56] Practical tools to shift identity
• [10:11] Why your identity must match your vision for your practice.