71 ::: Dr. Christian Coachman › Breaking the Mold: His Journey from Dental Tech to Global Innovator

Shawn Zajas (: 00:02

Okay, so today I could not be more excited that I have the opportunity to interview Dr. Christian Coachman. And, Dr., before I set you up, I just want to say thank you so much for letting me interview you today.

Christian Coachman (: 00:16

Great pleasure, great to be here.

Shawn Zajas (: 00:18

So Christian, the reason why I have this podcast, you see, I'm fascinated by innovation. I'm fascinated by influencers and how they use the influence they've been given to really make dentistry better. But truly at the convergence of everything, I know everyone's on a journey and they're trying to figure out how can I align best.

Christian Coachman (: 00:23

Mm -mm.

Mm -hmm.

Shawn Zajas (: 00:44

my skill sets, my talents, and really what lights me up, what makes me come alive. So I can be kind of in that zone of genius that I was meant for. And I see you and I see what you're doing in dentistry and I see that you have such passion. You're making such amazing impact with digital smile design. So I'm just curious about your journey in dentistry, kind of where it all started and how you got to the place that you're at today.

Christian Coachman (: 00:49

Mm -hmm.

Mm -hmm.

Mm -hmm. Yeah.

So I come from a family of dentists in Sao Paulo, Brazil. And during dental school, started to work for my father. And because of his suggestion, I became also a dental technician. So when I finished dental school, I decided that I loved too much the dental technician work and I continued to work as a technician. And that kind of set me apart a little bit because usually, you know,

once you get the degree and you're a doctor, you want to leverage that and see patients and treat your own patients. And for some reason I decided that even though I could work as a clinician, that I wanted to continue to work as a technician for dentists, even though I was a dentist. So for me, it was a way to differentiate myself, you know, and I...

I was always into differentiation itself, kind of naturally and instinctively. How can I be different and how can people perceive me as different? And later on, I realized, you know, that there were even books talking about that being different is even more powerful than being better and so on. And I realized that that was a great move, you know, I became the only one.

that was a dentist that decided to put that apart and put yourself in a position that was considered lower to work as a technician, as a doctor to other dentists. And that kind of opened the doors of the world for me. And I started to get invitations to work with some of the best dentists in the world. That's when I moved to US and after that to Europe. And for several years, I was just

working with the best, you know, because of that unique position. But because I was also a dentist and a technician, I was able to see both sides of the work. And that allowed me to start developing solutions to improve this relationship. And that's how DSD started as a bunch of strategies and systems to improve, to become more effective on this teamwork between dentists and technicians that are.

that is so important to transform smiles. You know, you need both sides to do a great job. And that's when I started to develop tools and ideas. And that's how DSD started. And then the evolution of the DSD concept, I was able to then fall in love with communication. I realized that lecturing was something that I could do well and...

I was lucky to start sharing my ideas when Facebook was just starting and I was one of the first ones to jump in and use Facebook as a platform to share ideas and lecture and give content, not only post random stuff, but transform the platform into a professional way of sharing useful content and.

DSD ideas went viral and I started to travel the whole world. And after that, realizing that lecturing is cool, but you need to put a business model behind it. And then that's when I started the DSD company, not only the concept, but the company and translating lectures and ideas into services and products. And that's where we are today, basically. Quick summary.

Shawn Zajas (: 05:05

Yeah, I mean, I just think it's fascinating that from the beginning, here your dad is a dentist and you grow up in this place and yet it's almost like he gave you permission to be different. And he's like, hey, like Christian, if you love the tech side, like do that. And like, that's crazy to me.

Christian Coachman (: 05:21

That's actually true. I never had somebody commenting on this from this perspective, but you're 100 % right. My father first, even though our whole family is in dentistry, not only my father, my uncle, my grandfather, his brother, my great -grandfather, great -great -great, and so on.

Yeah, I'm actually the sixth generation in the family. So it's an insane history. We are actually featured in the Guinness Book as the longest family in the world in dentistry. Insane story. So just to say that you could imagine some kind of pressure, you know, and my father was never putting any pressure on me and my brother. My brother also became a dentist.

Shawn Zajas (: 05:53

my gosh, what a rich history and legacy.

Christian Coachman (: 06:17

zero pressure, he was always super casual or very light, very nice about it, allowed us to pick. I was about to go to architectural school, my brother, veterinarian, and we ended up doing dentistry. And in dentistry, he was also never putting pressure, you need to do this, you need to do that, even though he was a very, he is still working as a dentist a lot.

Shawn Zajas (: 06:46

Wow.

Christian Coachman (: 06:46

full power and one of the most well -known dental practices in Brazil. But he was very, very nice about the fact that we could do whatever we wanted. And even in dentistry, very open and supportive for us to really choose our path. So I'm very grateful for his leadership and mentorship in our young phase as dentists.

Shawn Zajas (: 07:17

Well, and Christian, I can imagine in the beginning when here you are, you graduate dental school and all of a sudden you decide to take a different path. maybe in the beginning it wasn't validated as, this is a great path. So at what point was it like a year in, was it a few months in, or was it a few years in where all of a sudden it almost starts getting celebrated, but at first it was probably.

Christian Coachman (: 07:33

That's it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Nowadays it's celebrated. But that's another great question. You know, I took the risk and that's also something that you learn how to take risks. Because at a young age you have the confidence that comes from your education and it comes from your parents, but also from your school, you know, of.

giving freedom and reinforcing creativity and allowing you to make mistakes and showing you that making mistakes is not the end of the world and just go for it. Be conscious about the consequences, yes, be thoughtful. Take decisions seriously, but take risks, right? So I always had that inside of me. I always wanted...

be different and effective. I wanted to be, actually the word is effective. I wanted to be effective. And I realized that doing the traditional way, I was not going to be as effective if I could do it slightly different. And I realized that I could have a bigger impact by choosing a different path. And yes, my friends and people that knew me, you're crazy, you know, you're not

take advantage of your doctor degree or you should see your own patients. And I decided to stick to my plan. And again, the only reason why I started to get international invitations was because of that, because as a dentist, you cannot work abroad. You just cannot work abroad. And, but as a technician, you can work anywhere. And as a technician that is also a doctor, you can apply for working visas better, you know? So it's funny because,

You cannot as a dentist in Brazil work in US as a dentist. But you can work as a technician. A Brazilian technician can work in US as a technician. But you cannot get a work visa because you're not a doctor. So what do you need to actually be able to work in US and get a working visa? You need to be a doctor to get the visa, but then you need to be a technician to work. And that's exactly what I was. And, and,

So the sponsors, the dental clinics that were sponsoring me, they found that combination and they were able to apply for the work visa. And then that's the same way I went to Europe and so on. So of course, at 29 years old, I didn't have all these things planned. A lot of things were just happening and I was lucky that everything worked out well. I would say that...

It took a while when I started to become a famous technician speaker for people to start saying, so maybe it paid off. But even though people were still saying you need to be a dentist and only when DSD became a reality is that people say, okay, now I understand, you know, actually the way you draw your career allowed you.

to be at this point creating what you're creating and now you have a business that is making sense. So it took several years for people to say, maybe you made a good decision.

Shawn Zajas (: 11:16

I mean, my hat says pioneer positive disruption. And by definition to pioneer, it means you're forging a path that hasn't been gone on before. Like you need off road, an off road vehicle to go somewhere because it's not paved. And here you are without certainty, without any guarantees that you're not just.

Christian Coachman (: 11:33

Mm.

Mm -hmm. Yep. No guarantees.

Shawn Zajas (: 11:44

that you're not just taking a lower position in dentistry, even though you have the degree, possibly less fame, less, less financial, you know, all of that. And yet you decide and realize you still have to look in the mirror and be true to who you are, your dream, your wiring, even the fact that you knew from an early age, like differentiation. I know I just need to,

Christian Coachman (: 11:48

Eh? Hmm?

Mm -hmm. Rewatch.

Hmm? Hmm?

Shawn Zajas (: 12:14

be different and be true to who I am. And I love that you're so honoring. You're like, yeah, great education, great parents that believed in me. I mean, that's what we are. We're like the product of everyone that poured into us.

Christian Coachman (: 12:16

Mm -hmm.

But you also need to be pragmatic and...

You know, at a young age, you know, if you can be pragmatic in key moments, you know, everybody likes to talk about following your passion and doing what you love. I don't think that's the formula at all. It's being pragmatic and asking yourself, what is the thing that I can do slightly better than average? Right. I love, you know, 25 years old, I love doing this. Okay. Good luck trying to make money doing that. Right. I think the question is, okay, I love doing this.

Hopefully in the near future, I'm gonna be successful to be able to do whatever I want. And maybe I can come back to this, but at this point in time, what I wanna do is I want to find out what are my natural skills, my natural gift, the things that I see that I'm slightly, because when you're young, you're not very good at almost anything. You just need to try to forecast.

maybe this I can do better than the majority, I can be slightly better. So if I invest my initial years here on this, I can more rapidly become known because of that, right? And then I can start getting, building my reputation and then maybe making the resources, creating the resources, building a project for myself, getting the rewards. And I can tell you.

once you start getting rewards for whatever, you start liking it anyway, right? You start loving it. I became good and people love what I'm doing. I'm gonna start, I enjoy it. And that's what I did. I knew I had good hand skills. I knew that lab work required good hand skills. My father was a great teacher on technical work as well. So I had a good mentor.

I had the connections. Nobody was really taking this path that seriously in Brazil. And I could become a doctor doing this so I could become different. So for me, it was a very pragmatic decision. But yes, you have to bet. You have to bet on the process. You have to believe in yourself. And you have to go through many years where everything feels wrong. It's very normal, you know.

for many years, you know, today is easy to look back and say, you know, I made the right decision. But once you're on that, those initial five, seven years, you know, many times things just go wrong week after week. And you're constantly asking yourself, maybe this is the wrong path. So you need to have a very, you need to have outside support. Yes. But at the end of the day, it's inside of you and you need to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

and you need to be persistent, resilient, and stick to your plan.

Shawn Zajas (: 15:37

It's amazing because hearing you, I mean, aside from like you have such a wisdom, but the way you talk, you just talk like a incredibly successful entrepreneur. And yet you come from a line of dentists, which isn't always synonymous with entrepreneur. It's kind of like, almost like stay in the lanes. It's a proven path dentistry, right? It's a proven path where you...

Christian Coachman (: 15:46

Yeah.

No, it's not. It's not.

Yes, yes.

Shawn Zajas (: 16:04

If you keep doing what's been done, you'll be rewarded. And then all of a sudden, your dad has a son named Christian that can honor the proven path, but also just kind of wants to do it differently. Wants to try out something different.

Christian Coachman (: 16:11

Mm -hmm.

Yeah, yeah. I have to, you know, I have to, my father was also an entrepreneur himself, you know, he's considered for many one of the initiators of aesthetic dentistry in Brazil. He was always outside the box type of guy. He made many, many mistakes because of that and many businesses because he was not a businessman.

the same way that I was not a businessman. But he was, he made big business, bad decisions, went bankrupt, had problems, financial issues. He's doing great now, but he was definitely, you know, the perfect example for me of don't go outside the box, you know, just follow the proven path because every dentist that follows the path.

Dentistry is very generous and you're gonna have a great life, right? Just follow the steps and that's it. So I had all the indications that say, you know, your father got into deep trouble because he was thinking outside the box. Just stay in the path, don't do what your father did. And I decided to go on the opposite direction of everybody and actually, of course,

try to learn from my father mistakes, mainly in terms of management and business and financial decisions, but be inspired by the fact that he just went through the whole process and just did what he felt he needed to be doing, right? And that was always bigger for me than his failures.

Shawn Zajas (: 18:07

I just, yeah, this is crazy to think that it's generational, that you're in the Guinness World Book of Records as a family because of this generational legacy of dentistry. And again, to say what you just said was so profound, like you saw your dad and you could have got two conclusions. The obvious conclusion was, hey, play it safer because he experienced bankruptcy. He did take risks. And instead,

Christian Coachman (: 18:16

Mm -hmm.

Mm -hmm.

Mm -hmm.

Yep. Yep.

Shawn Zajas (: 18:35

there was something wild in you that's like, no, we're just gonna, let's enjoy that same tension of what may not work because at least that's being true to me in a, like you said, in a pragmatic way.

Christian Coachman (: 18:40

Yeah.

No, you need to be... It's a blend, right? Of being pragmatic. I think that the big picture, you need to be bold. You need to be bold on the big picture and you need to be pragmatic on daily decisions. So you combine... You try to combine the best of both things, right? Be bold on...

key disruptive moments and be pragmatic after that many, many times on the smaller decisions to make that dream become reality. So I learned to be bold with my father. He was not into being pragmatic afterwards and he paid the price, but I learned from that as well. And nowadays he's very

open about it and he's very proud that I was able to take the best out of him and continue the story and build on top of it. As I said, it's a mix also between being humble and being confident and being confident and being humble. I call it the humble confidence mindset. I think it's the perfect combination if you want to create something.

Shawn Zajas (: 20:16

Even the fact that you just touched on that is so exciting, Christian, because I don't know, I don't think it's just as men, but we're always trying to figure out how can we own our strength, like own who we are, and yet not do it in a way that is, I don't know, repulsive or that alienates us, because no one wants to be that arrogant SOB that just thinks they're better than everyone. But at the same exact time, you want to connect with something that can give you a sense of pride of,

Christian Coachman (: 20:27

Hmm?

Yes.

Mm -hmm. Yep.

Shawn Zajas (: 20:46

of this is me, like this is who I am, this is what I'm good at, this is a space I can occupy. And yet do it with gratitude and humility. And I see that coming forth from you. So my question is, during this time, because like you said, looking back now, it's clear, you made amazing decision, everyone's like, wow, like that paid off.

Christian Coachman (: 20:51

Yes. Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Mm -hmm.

Shawn Zajas (: 21:15

but in the midst of it not being clear yet that it was going to pay off, was there a mindset that you realized, if I don't either embrace this new mindset, I'm not going to break through, or was there a mindset that you had to let go because you knew it was going to keep you tethered to, I don't know, maybe old thinking or old ways?

Christian Coachman (: 21:34

Yeah, I think that.

you need to embrace the struggle, you know, you need to be okay with suffering. You need to be, you need to believe. I think that on the toughest moments, what kept me going was the total belief that everything happens for a reason. I learned that actually this part from my mom and people say that, you know, in a cliche way or,

bullshit, superficial, Instagram quote, you know, everything happens for a reason. The power of this sentence comes when you truly believe it, like 100%. When you're ready to go through a catastrophe, think about the worst thing that can happen in your life, something drastic, something horrible, and you think about it and you ask yourself, would I still tell myself,

everything happens for a reason. And at the end, we need to make the best out of it. Do you really believe in this? Right? Or is just easy to say when you are doing fine, you know? And I always repeated that to me. And every time I would go into a problematic phase, lack of faith on what was going on, you know, lack of faith in myself, you know,

I'm not ready, I don't have the skills, this is not gonna work. I would always revisit this sentence and in an honest, transparent way say, I really believe this. So everything happens for a reason. And I will always make the best out of the situation and I'm gonna continue.

Shawn Zajas (: 23:35

Like it's speaking to me so much Christian because it's like there's parts of my professional journey, even my personal journey that I would love to edit out. I wish it went from one peak to the next. And yet if people want to know my story, it's in the deeper places where things were difficult that I actually found the greatest gifts.

Christian Coachman (: 23:47

Mm -hmm.

Yeah. Me too.

Right.

Shawn Zajas (: 24:04

about what life was. You get the perspective of like, it doesn't matter if I climb the mountain, if I don't end up with people that I love, you know? Or if I sell out, it doesn't matter how high I could rise if I'm not being true to myself. But you don't discover that typically just going from glory to glory. Discover that in that place of hardship and struggle.

Christian Coachman (: 24:12

Yep. Yep.

Yes.

You need to suffer to grow. I really believe in that. I wish we had a formula to not need to suffer and constantly grow. Maybe the Lai Lama can do that. But I'm sure he suffers as well and he has his dark moments. So we need to suffer to grow and if life is too easy, you grow less. And...

So when you believe in that, when you're suffering, it instantly becomes a growth moment, right? And you know you're going to grow. So you look at the bad moments with different eyes, and you look at the mistakes with different eyes, and you look at the disappointment with different eyes, because you know you're growing.

Shawn Zajas (: 25:24

So here you are with digital smile design and things are just wonderful right now. Like you're saying, like everything.

Christian Coachman (: 25:31

Not like that! yeah!

Shawn Zajas (: 25:36

Meaning that they're really good, but like, so do you purposely try to put yourself in that place of embracing discomfort in the sense of like, I still want to stay on the edge of what's possible and keep pushing it. I don't want to settle because it seems like you're not content. Just getting just settling in.

Christian Coachman (: 25:56

That's who just who I am. You know, I'm not saying he's right or wrong or better or worse. You know, I'm just, you know, constantly and constantly trying to see, you know, we went, we are here right now. We already did this. how can I empower the people around me to take over this open space in my mind? Go to the next thing, right?

So this is an eternal journey, you know, and I hope this will keep me going forever. I cannot see myself just retired or just enjoying whatever success I'm going to be able to achieve. And...

Because creativity is constantly happening and you're constantly thinking about better ways of doing the things that are already working. Whenever I do something that I think is good, I'm already thinking about maybe in five years, this is not going to sound that good. So let me anticipate the problems and already try to think about the next generation of solutions. And it's exciting.

because you're always exploring the unknown and meeting people that know things that you don't know. And...

pushing people to grow beyond their expectations. And it looks like people enjoy being around, you know, and because they feel this energy of challenging myself, challenging others and growing.

Shawn Zajas (: 27:42

So Christian, when you speak and you lecture, is it all technical, like as a dental technician? Or do you ever speak about what we're talking about?

Christian Coachman (: 27:52

No, yeah, of course that initially my topics were very technical, but right at the beginning, you know, I started to demonstrate some procedures that I was developing in patients live on stage. And then I realized the power of mastering the interaction with patients in front of hundreds of people.

And I started to realize that I was pretty good at it and that I could help people interact better with the patient. And I coined a term that nowadays is known in dentistry, that is emotional dentistry, meaning everything you can do to fascinate new patients and create this better relationship, you know, basically make people not take you for granted, make people value what you do.

create perceived value. And this became a big topic. Then I started to realize that most of the strategies that I was developing could only become reality through teamwork. So I started to really get into building teams and leadership and inspiring people, onboarding people into your project and things like that.

So I started to blend technical concepts with all these other topics, right? Relationship and leadership and communication and differentiation. And this part grew so much that DSD became a full service marketing agency as well. And we generate content, we help companies improve their stories. We help dentists promote what they do. And...

It became one of my main passions in communication and marketing. So nowadays, my course is much more an inspirational course about where do you want to, my initial statement is where do you want to be in five years? And how can we work together to get closer to this vision, right? So first, understand the future, build your vision, then reverse engineer your plan.

and let's explore how we can help each other to get there.

Shawn Zajas (: 30:26

It's so neat, this journey, because I feel like originally your platform emerged out of very much the IQ of like, I'm a dentist, that's also a technician, and I have this unique perspective on this blend. So it's all very technical, very clinical IQ base. And yet then all of a sudden you get these insights.

Christian Coachman (: 30:42

Mm -hmm.

Mm -hmm.

Shawn Zajas (: 30:51

to more emotional intelligence and how that's actually going to help holistically the practice. Because now all of a sudden the patient gets this connection and feels like they belong. And yet, the reason why I describe it as a paradox is because again, the two don't need to coexist. And yet I feel like you would have been a visionary and a disruptor if you would have been an architect. Because it's you, it's who you are, and yet.

Christian Coachman (: 30:53

Hmm.

Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Yeah, exactly.

Ha ha ha! Huh?

Shawn Zajas (: 31:18

It's just a gift that dentistry gets to have the giftings that you have.

Christian Coachman (: 31:21

Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Yeah, I think that dentistry was extremely generous to me more than any other profession. Of course, I believe that when you have confidence, when you are humble, when you are nice, when you're ethical, when you're creative, you can succeed in almost anything, right? But it was a more natural move for me to be an architect or a designer.

And I would be more normal in that environment. I would be more common in that environment. So I really think that even though I never thought being a dentist and I, at the beginning, I thought I was completely wrong in choosing dentistry. Today I see it. There was no better environment for me to explore my skills.

Shawn Zajas (: 32:02

Hmm.

Christian Coachman (: 32:18

in creativity, design, architecture. You know, we are the architects of smiles. We design outcomes. We communicate with people. We lead teams. So I was able to, through dentistry, fulfill all my dreams and cover all the topics that I always loved.

before I even knew I loved these topics. I found these topics as I was growing in dentistry.

Shawn Zajas (: 32:49

So do you identify yourself as an artist? Because you keep saying you see yourself creative, but have you ever been like, yeah, I'm an artist?

Christian Coachman (: 32:57

I'm a communicator. I think that's the, if I had to define myself in one word, that would be the main word. I'm a communicator. I onboard people into ideas. You know, the DSD ideas, for example, were very disruptive and very hard to sell and very hard to buy. Right. So it was very sophisticated and for many years people didn't really see why.

implementing many of the ideas. So I started to really master the process of convincing people to do things. Many times people say this is cool, but this is too far away. This is not for me. This is not possible. This is not this. People will generate all kinds of barriers and step by step, many of my predictions started to become reality. Then big companies started to use the ideas and copy.

Shawn Zajas (: 33:34

You were so far ahead of the curve that the market wasn't ready for it.

Christian Coachman (: 33:57

And then, you know, many things became the new normal. So I started to become known also as a trendsetter, as somebody that is really creating ideas that becomes mainstream later on. So of course, as soon as you create that reputation, people start to naturally listen a little bit more and more people start to buy into the ideas, even though they may look sound crazy at the beginning.

But it's a reputation that you need to build year after year. And it's paying off now after 30 years in dentistry, and companies are, I started to develop a whole parallel business on consultancy for companies and companies, they hire me independent from DSD to help them product development, product placement.

research and development, content generation, building better stories for whatever they already have, understanding with features that they need to focus more, improve. So this became a big part of my business today.

Shawn Zajas (: 35:13

Well, again, it's like you're saying in the beginning, like here you were, you had great hands and your skillset could have been so much of what you could do with your hands. And now people hire you for the way you see things, the way you think. yeah, like that, that's just, it's so inspiring because again, the reason why I have the podcast is I believe there's still some people that maybe they have a passion.

Christian Coachman (: 35:26

Mm -hmm. That's it.

Shawn Zajas (: 35:42

or they have something that comes up, some stirring, and maybe they're just afraid to follow it. They're afraid to lean into it because they hear those voices that are like, well, why you? Why now? No one's going to believe you or no one's, you know, what are your credentials? And yet I want to give people permission to follow that dream. And I think if you are a dentist, you have an amazing, almost like backdrop, like meaning if all goes south, you're a dentist and you.

Christian Coachman (: 35:45

Mm -hmm.

Mm -hmm.

Mm -hmm.

Hmm? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Shawn Zajas (: 36:11

can create amazing value. So it almost like gives you this amazing freedom to explore. Now, Christian, have you written a book yet? Because I feel like there's a few books in you.

Christian Coachman (: 36:21

Yeah, that's a good question. By coincidence, I was just talking about this this morning with some team members here. I wrote many articles, so all the ideas were translated into scientific articles and technical articles and so on. Not enough. I've been working on the book idea for the last, I would say, five years. So much is happening every year.

ideas are improved and I'm like thank god I didn't wrote the book two years ago because now the ideas are better but there's the downside that you always kind of postpone but yes the book is a must and it's definitely gonna happen soon.

Shawn Zajas (: 37:08

Okay, I feel like as I'm listening, I realize because you have such strong values and ethics and such a strong sense of integrity, it's like you've been playing the long game in dentistry, knowing that your reputation is everything. And you've never done something to compromise that. And that's why there's that almost exponential equity that's continued to build year after year. So yeah, just to honor you, because a lot of people are looking for the shortcut.

Christian Coachman (: 37:24

Yes.

Thank you.

Shawn Zajas (: 37:38

you know, and a lot of people are trying to figure out how can I leverage social media to make you look like I'm an influencer or I'm an innovator. And you've just been doing it and doing it so with such steadiness and such consistency.

Christian Coachman (: 37:38

That's true.

-huh.

Yeah, you know, I think that there was, I love history, I love tradition, even though, you know, my head is always looking forward, I have this dichotomy, and I think it's a good balance, you know, I'm looking forward, but I'm respecting everything that happened before me. I love our history, you know, I love researching about my ancestors. The first one,

was a dentist in: 1850

that reputation happens. It's always a long game, not a short game. And it's always something that you need to work every single day. You always need to follow certain ethical rules to keep your reputation. And that was always very strong in me. And it's almost like I wanted to make my ancestors proud.

It's almost like you feel like they're looking from above and, you know.

Maybe this sounds a little bit like bullshit, marketing, whatever, but it's not. I feel that. And that makes you in every key moment, because many times key moments in your life, you have option A, that is definitely the right ethical path, but harder. And option B, it's easier, maybe better financially. Not unethical, but mm.

Right? And you can always create stories and find excuses, right? To go plan B and go for it and explain yourself. And if you're a good communicator, you can get away with almost anything, right? But thank God, you know, in all these key moments, I made many mistakes in my life, but in these key moments, I was able to always choose plan A, the most ethical, not necessarily the easiest one.

Shawn Zajas (: 40:29

That is just so profound, Christian, because at the end of the day, it's like no one knows other than when you look in the mirror and you know whether you can actually almost enjoy that peace that comes with just self -respect of like when things got hard, no one knows what my decisions were. No one knows what my opportunities were. But I know, and I can sleep well at night knowing that I did the right thing, not just to honor my ancestors and those people that went before me.

Christian Coachman (: 40:43

Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Mm -hmm.

Shawn Zajas (: 40:58

but to continue to lay the groundwork for those that are gonna follow your kids, your generation. So it's like, it is this amazing legacy. And I feel culturally, that's not a very popular sentiment. It's very much live your best life now, do whatever you wanna do, almost like screw the people before you and who cares about people coming after you.

Christian Coachman (: 41:01

100%.

Fortunately.

And we see too many leaders like that, unfortunately. And we see too many people becoming very successful, even though they are like that. And we see too many people admiring these people and wanting to be like them, despite all that, in society, in arts, in politics, in everywhere, in business, corporations.

But I believe that at the end of the day, there are more great people, good, ethical people out there than the bad ones. We just need to somehow be louder and spread the good stories that you're gonna be happier if you do what is right.

Shawn Zajas (: 42:17

You know, and one of the things that I think that also helps, and this is almost like I struggled a long time for thinking humility meant you couldn't own your strength because I didn't want to be arrogant and proud in the wrong way. So, so grappling with what humility was, was, was difficult for me. And one of the things I realized is nobody wins if we downplay who we are.

Christian Coachman (: 42:33

Mm -hmm.

Mm -hmm.

Shawn Zajas (: 42:46

Like Christian, if you don't shine as bright as you possibly can, it doesn't help anybody. Meaning, because only you can be you and only you can occupy that influence and that light that only you can shine. So it's like, I want you to be as successful and as generous as you can with your message, with the life that's in you and pouring it out. And that's exactly what you're doing. Because if you're like, well, I don't know, it might threaten other people. It's like, no.

Christian Coachman (: 42:46

Yes.

What are, yes.

Mm -hmm.

Meh.

Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Shawn Zajas (: 43:14

You don't know the person you may not be able to reach if you decide to play it safe, if you decide to, to dilute, you know?

Christian Coachman (: 43:21

But that's the mix, that's the mix between confidence and humbleness. If you are only humble, not confident enough, it's gonna be weak, right? And your impact will be smaller. If you're extremely confident and not humble enough, it's gonna be arrogant, it's gonna be pushy, you know, it's not gonna be nice. So my strategy,

is always like to not take myself that seriously when I think I'm cool, when I think I just did something amazing.

And at the same time, don't be that hard on myself when something is not cool, right? And I'm not on my best moment. But not taking myself too seriously, not taking my achievements too seriously in terms of not making it the thing, right? this is so.

and really listening to learn, not to answer. I think that's another great lesson, listening to learn because we... And I say that to myself because many times I make this mistake. I'm far from being on control of all these issues, much easier to say all these things on a podcast. But we know that every day we need to challenge ourselves. We need to...

Revisit ourselves daily right we need to do this recap and say all those things I love saying these things on interviews and things like that because I'm actually saying to myself not to anybody Say remember those things right tomorrow morning. You're gonna make a mistake to you know next week You're gonna be slightly arrogant with that person. You know you're gonna make a bad decision in next month and you need To keep yourself accountable right you need

to be constantly exercising, controlling your ego. And I know that I like to be on stage, I like to speak, I like to influence so my ego can easily get out of control, easily, if I'm not checking in on it daily and weekly. So it's a constant work.

Shawn Zajas (: 45:52

I just love the transparency, Christian. So if I'm listening right now and I'm like, okay, I wanna work with you or connect with DSD, where would you want our listeners to go?

Christian Coachman (: 46:03

Our website is amazing. We really work hard to make it very clear, transparent, honest, and informative and dynamic. So digitalsmilesci .com. Everything about everything that we do is there. We have an online education project called DSD Online. And my Instagram, I'm very active. You know, I have my podcast.

all the platforms. It's called Coffee Break with Coachman. Hopefully, you know, I'm going to be able to share this episode over there as well. So my podcast, my Instagram, and my Instagram is Chris Coachman at Chris Coachman and my website, digitalsmiledesign .com. And I'm very responsive, very accessible.

If you send me a message on Instagram, I'm answering all of them myself. And yeah, hopefully we can connect with new people through your platform.

Shawn Zajas (: 47:13

Okay Christian, I think you're ready for my final question. So you're walking down the street today and off in the distance you see 18 -year -old Christian and you only have a brief moment to communicate one sentiment to him. What do you share?

Christian Coachman (: 47:39

Believe in you.

Yeah, if it's only one sentence, that's it.

Shawn Zajas (: 47:50

And that really is the perfect encapsulation of what I want the audience to hear between the lines of everything that you were saying with your story. It's like, I hope when that stirring or that inspiration came up, you know, between what you were saying and they're like, man, maybe that's the thing for me. It's like, well, Christian just gave you permission. Believe in yourself. Go for it. There's no better time than now to step up, to step out.

and Christian connecting.

Christian Coachman (: 48:21

But people confuse with believing that, I'm gonna be the best, I'm gonna be the greatest, I'm gonna have the next great idea. That's not what I'm saying. Not everybody can be everything, right? You need to be yourself, but you just need to believe in you, meaning that you can become the best version of yourself. There's nothing else you can do.

Shawn Zajas (: 48:50

I knew when we connected on our Zoom, everything you were saying, I was just like, I was so surprised because I don't know, I talked to a lot of dentists and all of a sudden you were just so different in the way you see things and the way that you talk. But I still didn't know much about you. So discovering you and your story on this podcast has just been a joy, like truly an honor to have your time.

Christian Coachman (: 49:08

Thank you.

Thank you.

Shawn Zajas (: 49:20

I'm so thankful for the generosity that you have in the way that you serve dentistry. Again, just the way you conduct yourself with such integrity and yet you have such vulnerability and transparency knowing just the struggle of humanity, like it's not lost on you. You are this philosopher, artist, communicator, influence, innovator. And I just want to honor you for that. And I just want to say, like Christian, thank you so much for letting me interview you today.

Christian Coachman (: 49:35

Thank you.

man, that was, I really enjoyed it. You are a great moderator and I hope that one day we're gonna invert our roles here and you can join my podcast and I can learn more about you and your journey.

Shawn Zajas (: 50:03

Well, thank you so much, Christian.

Christian Coachman (: 50:06

All the best.