Remember how we talked about running a marathon?

Hey friends!

Remember how we talked about running a marathon? Remember how I agreed to it with Brian and Collin, back when it felt like a someday problem?

It's not a someday problem anymore. It's a few months away.

I'm nervous about the whole thing, not just the distance. It is easy to sign up for something in theory and a totally different thing to actually train for it while running a practice, hosting a podcast, and keeping up with three kids and their schedules.

Every time I start comparing my training to someone else's, whether it's pace, mileage, how many marathons they've already run, I have to catch myself and remember something I keep coming back to lately.

Someone else's pace has nothing to do with mine.

It is the same thing I have to remind myself with the practice, with the podcast, with basically everything I am building right now. Somebody is always further along, moving faster, doing more. That used to wreck me a little. Now I just try to stay in my own lane and keep showing up.

After everything Brian went through with his cancer journey, running has become something different for both of us. It's not about beating a time. It's about showing up, one mile at a time, on a day we get to have.

This Week On The Making Of Evelina Smiles 🎙️

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Spotify Podcasts / Apple Podcasts

Rich is officially open. His first patient walked through the door on July 22nd, and I sat down with him almost a month in to catch up on everything, the good, the growing pains, and everything in between

Here is what we cover:

The 90 Minute New Patient Experience — CBCT, full X-rays, and an iTero Lumina scan, no rushing.

Why He Skipped The Goodie Bags — No plastic totes, no sample toothbrushes. The branding decision behind giving away nothing.

The Marketing Regret — What Rich would do differently, including spending on marketing sooner.

Protecting Wednesday Afternoons — Team training, blocked every week no matter what.

The Making Of Moment

You don't have to be where someone else is. You just have to keep moving at the pace that's actually yours.

Until next week,

💛 Dr. Ashley Joves

Find me @ashleyjovesdds / @themaking.of / www.themakingofpodcast.com

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