Dental Entrepreneurship: Building Harvest Dental From the Ground Up | Sasha Der Avanessian | EODP #39

00:00:00:04 - 00:00:40:01 Speaker 1 Our industry is way overeducated on a statics and undereducated on differentiation and business. One of the most valuable things that I can contribute is introducing people to other people, because I recognize the value of it in my own life. Every entrepreneur, they say, goes through what is essentially called a dark night of the soul. If Harvest Dental was gone today, what would my customer miss about me tomorrow? 00:00:40:06 - 00:01:07:52 Speaker 1 Welcome back to the Evolution of Dental Podcast, brought to you by Evolution Dental Science. We share the stories of the people and the technology shaping the world of dentistry. I'm your host, Rob Norton, and in 2004, a guy with no factory and no money started making dental materials in a two car garage. He named the company harvest. Today it ships to over 70 countries and he still talks about the work like it's something you tend rather than something you sell. 00:01:07:56 - 00:01:17:04 Speaker 1 Sasha, welcome to the podcast. Thank you for being here. How are you today, man? 00:01:17:08 - 00:01:38:30 Speaker 1 Me too. And speaking of we before we before we hit record. Because of course, before we hit record, we were just reconnecting as to actually how we how we met in the past and how our paths are connected. So I actually grew up around your products, my, my parents, as anyone who's watched this show probably already knows, owned a dental laboratory supply company. 00:01:38:30 - 00:01:53:01 Speaker 1 And so I remember growing up with harvest products on our shelves from the early days of when you were first going out there and trying to get trying to get people recognizing the products. I even used Z 00:01:53:06 - 00:01:54:09 Speaker 1 on like literally 00:01:54:19 - 00:01:54:57 Speaker 1 school project 00:01:55:09 - 00:02:01:11 Speaker 1 It's it's part of my arsenal of tools I have at home that have nothing to do with dentistry whatsoever. 00:02:01:16 - 00:04:05:52 Speaker 1 I remember first bringing super Peg to people and like kicking calls for that and how people were like, I can't believe how good this stuff is. And I know that you're not totally here to promote your products, but man, I literally grew up around this stuff and it's so cool to have this come full circle and have you on today and talk to you. 00:04:05:57 - 00:04:33:19 Speaker 1 Oh, absolutely. You're welcome. It's it's one of the things that I think is the most it's the funniest thing about the world of dentistry, especially the further you get from patients seeing doctors up into the realm, because it's probably something that a lot of, especially clinical people don't fully appreciate is, you know, you have thousands of doctors, but the further away you get to that and up into vendors and like product manufacturing and developing or even what we're doing here, the field grows narrower and narrower. 00:04:33:21 - 00:04:47:28 Speaker 1 So you see a lot of the same faces and names come up and you may not even remember. And it's like, oh, that's how I know them. So it's always fun to make those connections over again, man. Yeah. And. 00:04:47:33 - 00:05:10:04 Speaker 1 It truly is. And it's it's one of those things like, obviously we have different backgrounds, but there's there's a lot of parallels there because like, I started my first lab out of that warehouse, by the way, part of part of my niche was that I was essentially farming customers from the walk in business that happened with my dad's lab supply company. 00:05:10:04 - 00:05:24:57 Speaker 1 And so when I literally built a building inside of that narrow warehouse off to the right, and that's that's where Atlas Milling got started. So and then, you know. 00:05:25:02 - 00:06:14:38 Speaker 1 I was 20, 23 when the lab was officially filed, you know, LLC paperwork in my hand. That was September 19th, 2012. 00:06:14:43 - 00:06:47:45 Speaker 1 That's a great question. So I'd say a big part of it came from the fact that I was a abysmal student, and I was working full time with my dad and also trying to go to school full time. And then as time went on, I was dragging out the process of getting a two year degree down to taking three classes a week, maybe, and working ten hours a day with my dad, because as anyone, members from that time period, you know, from the 2008 housing crisis up from there, like it was a very rough time economically. 00:06:47:45 - 00:07:05:14 Speaker 1 And, you know, of course, we had to let a lot of people go. And so I had to wear more and more hats. My parents kind of got suckered into buying a bunch of digital equipment, and I've always been a huge nerd. I've always loved tech. And that was the whole thing of, this is going to be the future, Mr. Norton. 00:07:05:19 - 00:07:21:02 Speaker 1 Okay. And so my dad got in all this, all this kind of no name digital dental tech. He had walk in, customers come in. He's like, this is it. We could we've gone digital. We have all the digital technology and they're like, wow, that's really cool. Dave, how's it work? I don't know, I thought you knew how that worked. 00:07:21:02 - 00:07:46:55 Speaker 1 And of course, nobody knew how it worked back then, right? I kind of figured it out on my own for the most part. Right. And people technicians started bringing it, so, like, I thought, I figured it out anyway. And kind of much to your point about education earlier, as as I thought, I figured it out. I had the demo cases to work with, and these technicians would come in and and started bringing in real cases like, how do I do this case? 00:07:46:55 - 00:08:07:04 Speaker 1 And it's like, oh, well, you just actually I have no idea because it's a real case and it has nothing to do with this, like perfect world. You know, a demo that I've been working with. And so a lot of them were very kind and took their time to basically, I don't know the tech, but I do know dentistry and sat with me and we would work through these cases. 00:08:07:09 - 00:08:27:31 Speaker 1 And I know it's a very long winded way to answer your question, but I am coming around to the end of this is, to be fair, I leverage the I played the cards I had, I leveraged what I had, you know, before me and used basically the credit of my dad's name to get a small business loan. And the way I looked at it was, well, this could go well or this could all just disappear overnight. 00:08:27:31 - 00:08:46:47 Speaker 1 And worst case scenario, I go back to school because one of the things that was frustrating for me in school was I was in school for business and I had many, many different instructors, professors, whatever. Saying you can't do things like this or you have to do it like this, you have to do it. And it's like, well, that's kind of how I fed myself last month. 00:08:46:50 - 00:09:10:19 Speaker 1 It was it was daunting to kind of jump off that cliff, but it was also so very exciting because I got to start something fresh and new and like I did have my parents there. I had my dad there to kind of support and, you know, lean on you lean on. You can guide me a little bit, whether it's what to do or what not to do through virtue of example or, you know, it wasn't a typical dental lab, it was an outsource center. 00:09:10:19 - 00:09:28:09 Speaker 1 It was a milling center, because the whole premise was that I was going to sell and provide training for the equipment that I knew I could believe in, because I used it. So it's like, this is what feel. That's where it all took off from anyway. And it really does come down to to bring it back full circle. 00:09:28:19 - 00:11:33:22 Speaker 1 The small group of people do the little cottage industry that we have, of all the support you get from different individuals here and the relationships you build, like there's nothing more powerful that you can build in this industry, in my opinion, than your reputation and the relationship you have with other people here. So. 00:11:33:27 - 00:11:50:03 Speaker 1 to your point. Like I, I mean, I'm not saying we wouldn't be talking in any other circumstance, but it was only through the introduction of Mark Rosenberg, former VP of Cat. Again, after you're out there listening. Hey, Mark, he's the one who introduced me to Andy. He was like, do you know, do you know Andy Jackson? 00:11:50:03 - 00:12:03:00 Speaker 1 I'm like, and I love him. And he says, oh, hang on. And he put us on a three way call, like just like that. And I was like, oh, hi. Andy makes the introduction of the mark's like, okay, well, I gotta go. Goodbye. 00:12:03:05 - 00:13:08:20 Speaker 1 Bells out. But and that was, that was a little over a year ago now honestly. And then that was again, another incredible blessing, huge introduction for me for certain. How was that an influence on and what what shaped that take with you moving out of, you know, the little the little tiny warehouse to where you are today? Like, what were some of the connections that were made along the way, and how much did leaning on your faith really shape that? 00:13:08:25 - 00:14:05:12 Speaker 1 Wow. 00:14:05:17 - 00:17:04:17 Speaker 1 Oh, yeah. 00:17:04:22 - 00:17:24:40 Speaker 1 It's one of those things where you can really share a journey that can be inspiring to somebody who's just getting started in this and like, what if I do? What am I doing? What did I dive into? How do I get off the ground with it? And it's not to say that it's an easy journey, and it's not to say that it's always just going to be, you know, everything's always going to line up. 00:17:24:40 - 00:20:07:09 Speaker 1 But I strongly believe in paying forward these sort of things, you know, making making those introductions for anyone I can make, you know, in my capacity as well. It sounds like you're doing some. 00:20:07:14 - 00:21:09:26 Speaker 1 I wholeheartedly agree, is that did that have an influence on why you chose to name your company harvest? 00:21:09:31 - 00:21:34:34 Speaker 1 Oh yeah. Yeah. Can't lose them. 00:21:34:38 - 00:22:25:21 Speaker 1 Okay, that kind of makes some sense. 00:22:25:26 - 00:22:28:47 Speaker 1 Yeah. I didn't know that. I've seen those around 00:22:28:52 - 00:26:02:35 Speaker 1 because I've 00:26:02:40 - 00:26:16:26 Speaker 1 I am, I am. 00:26:16:30 - 00:28:12:25 Speaker 1 No one's giving away a paper. May G2 for a graduation present or promotion. 00:28:12:30 - 00:28:15:46 Speaker 1 One of the things that our customers loved, but really 00:28:15:58 - 00:28:30:37 Speaker 1 one of the things that kind of killed my parents business is that they wanted to provide all things to all people. And so I remember seeing like six different brands of debug on the shelf, and they all show up in the generic ABS plastic or whatever, jugs with a sticker on it. 00:28:30:37 - 00:28:38:42 Speaker 1 And then there's the harvest, which is in an all white, plain, clean white rectangular box with just the harvest logo on it. 00:28:38:47 - 00:28:46:25 Speaker 1 And it's sure it's in a bag as well that's inside and contained inside. It's, there's, there's, there's such a 00:28:46:30 - 00:28:52:45 Speaker 1 message in the, in the branding and it's evident that it's been thought out. 00:28:52:49 - 00:29:20:38 Speaker 1 Yeah. 00:29:20:43 - 00:29:44:54 Speaker 1 That's right, I remember 00:29:44:59 - 00:30:00:39 Speaker 1 No, that's that's perfect. That's exactly what I was taught. That was exactly what I was kind of drawing on in my own memory. In fact, that was one of the reasons why some of the folks preferred to buy the bubble is because it was like, well, not only was it a good product, but also it was like a little spray bottle. 00:30:00:39 - 00:34:37:06 Speaker 1 And I think that whether consciously observed or not, that that was absorbed. So it makes me makes me want to ask though, like, what do you think? What do you think would be missing from the market if harvest disappeared? 00:34:37:11 - 00:35:08:13 Speaker 1 So in my situation, I woke up in the hospital. This was three years into business and I had I was very good at presenting myself like everything was going great always. And the momentum, the fake it til you make it, like you said, really carried things forward. At that point I had two employees and I was still working, you know, 12, 14 hour days. 00:35:08:13 - 00:35:36:01 Speaker 1 And it was customers, clients, people in the industry calling the check on me. And I was like, no, no, I promise I'll, I'll figure out a way to get your case out. No, Rob, it's be damned. How are you doing? Are you okay? And that was one of the many things that was like, I was just hit with this level of gratitude for the, again, goes back to the people involved who genuinely cared about me. 00:35:36:01 - 00:36:02:18 Speaker 1 Company aside, whatever products cases, it'll all be there tomorrow. They reached out and asked about me and how I was doing, ultimately ended up bringing me back into the lab and back to work and doing everything I could to once again help the people who helped me pay it forward. But yeah, that's it's incredibly powerful, like you're saying, like what would be missed? 00:36:02:18 - 00:36:56:18 Speaker 1 And what do you really want people to take away from the work that you that you do what you contribute to the industry? 00:36:56:23 - 00:37:19:51 Speaker 1 That's all we can do is try, try our best and have faith. And and it's it leads back into the giving back. And you've you've put a lot into. You mean you put a lot out there. That is more than a lot more than just the products and a lot more than just the branding and the ethos. You've you've invested a lot in the public publicizing articles and, and education, and you even have your own podcast. 00:37:19:56 - 00:38:52:23 Speaker 1 What's that journey like and what do you hope people take away from that? 00:38:52:27 - 00:39:00:15 Speaker 1 There's almost no manufacturer out there. No, no vendor out there. They will say those words. 00:39:00:20 - 00:41:07:35 Speaker 1 Yeah, it is the truth. And that's what makes it real. That's what makes it real and powerful. 00:41:07:39 - 00:44:46:32 Speaker 1 Really. 00:44:46:37 - 00:45:23:56 Speaker 1 In my wallet, I'm very forgetful. Everyone who knows me knows I have a terrible memory of. I keep a literal notebook in my wallet all the time so that I can, you know, keep stuff shouted down. And one of the things I have on there is that a fuzzy vision will give you fuzzy results, and it just kind of pulls that back into and into that for me personally, because when you do have a clear vision, those people who share that vision will God will put them in your life one way or another, and then they will they will hear your message. 00:45:23:56 - 00:46:00:49 Speaker 1 And one of the things that we hope to do with this podcast is, like you said, just just reach a few people and reach them at the right time with the right little pieces and the right messages, the the little clips and soundbites that we get from from these conversations. Some of them, some of them are very impactful and some of them I've one of the most rewarding things for us has been getting messages and responses back from the audience of I don't really watch the whole show, but I do see your clips on Instagram or Facebook, and this segment here meant a lot to me. 00:46:00:49 - 00:46:23:55 Speaker 1 Or this really struck something with me, and it started the conversation with my lab tech, or with my dad or with whomever. By the way, speaking speaking of these kind of connections, how did you how did you get connected with Andy and evolve? 00:46:24:00 - 00:47:54:26 Speaker 1 That would make sense. 00:47:54:31 - 00:48:28:16 Speaker 1 He's got a tremendous perspective, and he will always tell you exactly what he thinks of. Just one of the things I love about him, it's the connections that you make with other people. It's one of the things that so you talk about vision, and one of the things that really pulls on my heart strings with this industry is my I live my dream job, and my dream job is being able to teach and share the technology that really drives this industry, the digital dentistry, which there's a lot of now, it's pretty, pretty solidified. 00:48:28:16 - 00:48:52:36 Speaker 1 But over the years there's a pretty controversial subject. Now it's kind of like there is no other option. And, you know, and then people, technicians or honestly, doctors and assistants, I trained so many assistants now in the doctor's office looking the doctor is like, we want to add training to the, to the services. You know, we just bought a sprint ray printer from hopefully evolve Ray Pro two. 00:48:52:36 - 00:49:19:36 Speaker 1 And we want you to learn how to do Knight Guards or crowns or whatever. Or maybe they just throw them to the wolves all on X or something, and it's like we got x0 cad, you know? Here you go. Good luck. And one of the things it's so it's a very big shift from, you know, the traditional lab situation where you had like, passed down through the family versus, you know, assistance coming in from the side, like, well, I don't know anything about making teeth, but doctor says I have to learn now. 00:49:19:36 - 00:49:22:18 Speaker 1 And, you know, I've got a one hour course from you. Let's go. 00:49:22:22 - 00:52:18:40 Speaker 1 I'm here with the sprint remedies. If you've been hearing about digital 3D press printing and wondering how you could incorporate that into your lab or your practice, schedule an appointment with me or send us a direct message. Now back to the show. 00:52:18:45 - 00:52:39:21 Speaker 1 And that's that's a really good point. It's not something that's frequently addressed here is like doctors and technicians alike. Share this. Share this same challenge where you learn to be a good technician, you learn to be a good dentist, and then you venture out on your own and all of a sudden you realize, oh wait, I need to learn to be a good small business owner. 00:52:39:21 - 00:53:16:42 Speaker 1 I need to learn how to manage a team of employees and how to have an HR policy and what to do in these given situations, how to manage the people. And that's one of the things that I've seen happen a lot over the years, especially seeing because I've had so many different perspectives on this industry from where I was with my parents, in my own lab and etc. you'll see time and time again, you'll see a technician especially, you know, well, I know we're charging X for every crown and I'm being paid Y, so I'm therefore missing this whole piece and I'm doing all the work. 00:53:16:42 - 00:54:06:33 Speaker 1 So I'm just going to leave and start my own lab. 00:54:06:37 - 00:54:08:40 Speaker 2 The, the. 00:54:08:45 - 00:54:22:48 Speaker 1 Yeah, you really need those things. And I hope that I hope that you can bring a harvest business summit to the world. Man, if there's anything I can do to help with that, I would love to throw in and say like, hey man, I may not know everything about business, but I know some of the things not to do for sure. 00:54:22:48 - 00:55:37:11 Speaker 1 As I've learned over the years, that would be I think it would be incredible. Man. Sasha, this has been such a great conversation. I really, really appreciate your time. I really appreciate you sharing sharing your insights here. Where can people find you online? You know, both social media harvest, of course, some of the things that you published. 00:55:37:16 - 00:55:53:49 Speaker 1 Man, thank you for being here. This has been this has been one of my one of my favorite episodes to date for sure, man. And thank you, everyone else for joining us for this episode of the Evolution of Dental Podcast. Please look for us on all the social media platforms at all the podcast streaming platforms as Evolution of Dental Podcast. 00:55:53:52 - 00:56:06:13 Speaker 1 Please like, subscribe, share the show with your friends, comment and tell us. Either message us what you liked about this episode or others things you'd love to see. It helps us out more than you know. And please never stop evolving.