Words matter and have meaning

Her story

She started in dentistry at 13 as a sterilization technician and went on to work nearly every role a dental office has, from receptionist and office manager to dental assistant, before earning her dental degree from Boston University in 2015. A hospital residency with medically compromised and special needs patients led to five years at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto as staff dentist and education director. Along the way she was a semi-professional piano player, owned a rock ’n’ roll music school and managed a territory for Nestlé Canada. Those very different teams gave her a first-hand understanding of very different leadership styles.

Her passion for leadership and high-performing teams began in high school. It took a turn at university, when she lost her cousin to suicide related to bullying. That loss started her commitment to helping others communicate and listen, and to understanding how workplace interactions and expectations reach into personal lives.

At the cancer centre she launched her speaking career, lecturing on quality of life for cancer patients. That work grew to include the well-being of healthcare professionals, and then the wider questions of 21st-century work: emotional intelligence, impostor syndrome, perfectionism, burnout and the generations now working side by side.

Today she co-owns two dental clinics, practises one to two days a week and speaks internationally. Her newest work, HerMouth Philosophy, looks at how hormonal change through pregnancy, menopause and beyond shows up in the mouth.