Tailwater recruits first Director of Practice Success
Kayla Cobb, RDH joins Tailwater after 11 years building and growing Tiny Town Dental and their sister practice, Peachers Mill. Two of the best general practices in Tennessee.
Tailwater’s first Director of Practice Success, Kayla Cobb, cleaning her son’s (Nolan) teeth while her daughter (Harper) assists.
When Kayla Cobb was 17 and a student at White House High School in White House, TN, she went to a career fair and stopped at a table with a sign that read:
Become a Registered Dental Hygienist!
“The hygienist at the table was happy. She loved her job and had her life together. She said, "this is a job that allows room for everything else that's important to you, including family."
- Kayla Cobb, RDH
Right out of high school, she enrolled in hygiene school in Memphis.
"Hygiene school at Concord was the most fun I've ever had.
It was like joining a sorority. A decade later, I'm still in touch with my classmates and professors.
My program director was Dr. Lynne Russell who went on to serve as president of the Tennessee Dental Hygiene Association (TDHA). Dr Russell taught me how important culture is. We still talk all the time."
After graduating, Kayla explored pediatrics and perio, but she fell in love with general dentistry. Within a year, she started full-time as the second hygienist at a newly founded practice called Tiny Town Dental, in Clarksville, TN.
“We were less than 10 months old when I joined, and we had one doctor, one hygienist, and two assistants. Just 4 operatories.”
Kayla was at Tiny Town for 11 years, and here's what happened.
The practice grew from 4 operatories to 11 operatories.
It grew from 1 doctor to 5 doctors.
From 1 hygienist to 7 hygienists.
Through a joint venture with another dental group, Tiny Town even opened a second practice in 2014, just ~1 mile down the road. Today, Peachers Mill Dental is thriving, with 1 doctor, 2 hygienists, and 7 operatories.
As the practice expanded, so did Kayla’s responsibilities. And her family.
Kayla and her family live just north of Nashville in Hendersonville, TN. Harper (9) and Nolan (5) and her husband, Brad.
Kayla continued to actively practice as an RDH, but she also managed the back office at Tiny Town.
KPIs
Closing treatment plans.
A/R
Unscheduled treatment
Purchasing
Compliance
Recruiting
Marketing
And fun stuff too. She even planned the team holiday parties and trips to NYC and New Orleans.
Kayla (front row, left) and the rest of her Tiny Town team visiting New Orleans in 2019.
So why did she join Tailwater?
Here’s Kayla, in her own words.
Over 11 years, I helped two very good practices become great. The team and culture at Tiny Town set me up for long-term success. I got to work with such great leaders, and it was difficult to leave. Most hygienists don't get to learn the business of dentistry like I did.
I was lucky.
I knew I had all the tools to help other practices become great. But I didn’t want to work for a traditional DSO.
DSOs can buy dental practices all day long and manage everything with spreadsheets. Too often, those practices lose their souls. That's the wrong approach.
Practices need souls.
Tailwater is already earning a reputation for doing things the right way with a focus on great culture. Dentistry is about people and relationships. And Tailwater recruits varsity people who are not only great clinically but who also are a great cultural fit for an office and their patients.
I saw an opportunity to take everything I've learned over the last 13 years and help other people in our industry reach their potential.
Like I have.
As Tailwater’s first Director of Practice Success, Kayla will help support our practices in areas like recruiting, case presentation, marketing, clinical protocols, credentialing… and everything else that keeps great practices going and growing.
On behalf of Tailwater and all our practices across Tennessee, we’re excited she’s here.
