PERFECT TIMING
SURTHRIVE came about in the most fascinating manner... at a Toyota dealership!
It was 2016. We had just gone all in on building THRIVE, recording our first Masterclass DEFIANT | how to recreate nature as a master of resin & ceramic in our tiny closet while taking turns holding our newborn.
The dream had cost us more than we expected, with both of us working overtime, maxing out credit cards and selling all that we could (including Davina's Lexus RC and my Toyota FJ).
But we still needed a car, hence why we were at the Toyota dealership.
We were in the midst of signing papers for a Prius when a sales manager came over to us and asked if he could speak to us for a few minutes. Not knowing what he was about to ask, we said of course.
He mentioned that he'd noticed we'd put DENTIST down for profession on the credit check paperwork, and that he and his wife were Christians with a passion project he could use our help on. Being ex-military, he considered himself a good judge of character but relayed the story about finding out a girl on his daughter's soccer team was trafficked and that he'd had no idea. He said it was immensely more rampant than anyone could possibly imagine and that he'd vowed to do something about it.
So he and his wife started a charity where they help re-home and protect survivors of human and sex trafficking. The problem was that most of the girls they helped had significant medical and dental expenses and not being their children, insurance was a no-go.
He asked us if we knew anyone in town who might be able to help pro-bono?
Our hearts leapt from our chests... that was the charity we aspired to support!!! Davina and I long had a heart for those who had been trafficked. The only problem? Our timeline was way different. We were strapped for cash with ZERO ability to help this cause financially. Or were we?
We told this gentleman that we would love to help, but needed to ask around.
We drove home in our new Prius and prayed, asking how it could be possible that the perfect scenario had fallen in our lap at the perfectly WRONG time. It made no sense.
Then it clicked.
I had been doing a ton with composite resin veneers, hence why our first Masterclass was on composite. In fact it was the only material I was able to use while working at Juvi, as labs were too costly.
What if I did smile transformations in composite? Could we get the overhead low enough to where I could do the dentistry for these girls and not go into further debt? We ran the numbers, and went all chips in completing our first case in late 2016!
What's more? It was featured in our first version of DEFIANT (see the before and after below)!
That became the heartbeat of THRIVE in so many ways, faith over fear. In fact it inspired many of our subsequent Masterclasses, like ESSNTL where we teach dentists how to get their overhead below 50% so that they can do more charity dentistry with sustainability versus one-hit-wonders.
Today we complete at least two $50k cases a year on SURTHRIVER's and have amazing relationships with some of the best organizations in this realm of charity.
If you are a dentist, dental supply company, patient or human trafficking rehabilitation org that wants to get involved in a similar manner, please reach out to our amazing team. We'd love to hear from you!
