Our Career Journeys
We all create strategies to help improve our career journeys. Whether it is for our businesses, our brands, or our value to the people around us, we need resources to help in this process: financial support/investments, mentors and lectures, relationships with coworkers, and more. Over the years, teaching has always been a passion of mine and a consistent resource on my path toward potential growth in our field. For me, sharing information and knowledge provides an outlet to re-think what I have learned, to discover new paths, and/or to create more ways to help colleagues on their own paths. The education process also forces me to stay abreast of newer products and innovative procedures to convey updated information to different audiences. Through teaching, I strive to be a resource for others. On my own path, I have always viewed teaching as a personal opportunity to contribute to the advancements made in our field and to assist my colleagues, as I was assisted early in my career.
Despite the benefits and/or potential for business growth, financial gain has never driven my interest in lecturing. To be clear, teaching has had both positive and negative impacts on my business. I have given up countless unpaid hours documenting, experimenting, and re-doing many cases for educational purposes. In most years, I travel for 50 to 80 days a year, which is time that I am away from my laboratory and family. Needless to say, the hours away from my business can be detrimental, thereby necessitating a strong team of co-workers, which has always been absolutely critical. Oh, did I mention the late nights and weekends in the office to make up for the time that I am away? Despite these challenges, I have chosen this path, hopefully to help give back to our community and improve our profession, an endeavor that has always been a benefit and reward to both myself and my business.
As fellow lecturer Jillian Swafford mentions in this issue's cover story, "A Seat at the Table," she set a goal where presenting became her resource to help evolve her business and many other aspects of her career. Likewise, over the years, I have always viewed teaching as my own resource on the path of my career. Understandably, public speaking is not favored by many and if this is not your wheelhouse, you may choose another strategy. Organizing educational events for your dental clients can have the same outcome. To this day, I still run photography courses for clinicians every few months at my laboratory. This not only helps educate on a very needed topic but also welcomes your current and future clients into your work environment. You may invite speakers and/or seek out product companies to assist in supporting the education process and also attend events with clients to foster a better relationship on your path toward success. Whatever works for you is key, but you must stay mindful of all the resources our profession has to offer on whatever strategy you choose.
Peter Pizzi, MDT, CDT
Editor-in-Chief • peter.pizzi@broadcastmed.com
