What Empowers Me as a Woman in Dentistry—And How You Can Find Empowerment, No Matter Who You Are

Anyone else on a continual journey of self-discovery? I sure am! Today, I want to talk to you about something that’s been on my mind for a while. But before I dive in, I want to give love to the men reading this blog post. This post is about what empowers me as a woman, and what empowers me as myself. Gents, let me have my moment and don’t get your boxers in a bunch. 😉 And keep reading, because this is an important lesson for all of us, no matter your gender.

The idea of “feminine energy” is often misrepresented as something that only belongs to women. But feminine energy has nothing to do with being a woman. We ALL have the potential for both feminine and masculine energy. Feminine energy is the creative, nurturing energy that is so necessary for all of us to engage with. It helps us give birth to our ideas and see them come to fruition. I find inspiration from folks of all genders in my life who lean into their feminine energy. 

When I look at my community of dental professionals, I see people who are absolutely killing it in their clinical practice. And a lot of them are running their businesses like pros, too, using  that feminine energy to patiently grow their brand. On top of that, a good number of those people are parents. Or take care of their elderly parents. Or run marathons. Or have a totally inspiring creative practice. 

Us women do have a little extra current to swim against, especially in the professional world—that’s true. But to find empowerment, all of us—really, I mean all you guys, too—need to tap into both our feminine and masculine energies. 

This blog is all about celebrating the feminine,  because it straight up doesn’t get enough credit, especially in the business world, which is so often all about all things masculine (I’m talking action, structure, and rules). 

For me, the past year has been all about inspiration—and a lot of that came from the opportunities I had to connect with my community and the feminine energy within myself.  I want to take a minute to celebrate that. 

Empowering yourself as a woman (or any other gender!)

Let’s start here: Imposter syndrome. 

Imposter syndrome will suck the life out of you. 

You might wonder why I’m bringing this up here, in a blog all about how men and women can empower themselves by balancing their masculine and feminine energy.  It’s because so many of us suffer from it. When I first started public speaking, I was terrified. I had every mean thought of self doubt a person could think of. 

But I got up on every stage and did it anyway until I started to believe that not only could I do it, but that I am damn good at it. 

You see, those doubts were imposter syndrome speaking to me. When we live in fear of sharing our ideas with others, of putting ourselves out there, we keep ourselves from ever having the opportunity to grow with our feminine energy or take action with our masculine. 

The way out of it is to counter those false beliefs with little thoughts of positivity like “What if it all goes well?” “What if I nail it?” and “What if it goes better than I can even imagine?” 

The truth is that we often have to look out for ourselves, be our own coaches and motivators. And empowerment truly starts within. 

But don’t worry—it doesn’t stop there! 

Look to your community

When I got back from the American Association of Endodontics meeting this year I felt ready to take on the world. 

Naturally, I loved spending a weekend talking about all things endo with a bunch of nerds like me, but more than that—I felt inspired to see so many young people of color—especially women—in endodontics. 

I was one of the first female speakers on the endo circuit, so seeing lots and lots of up-and-coming visionaries at this conference left me inspired to keep doing what I’m doing AND make sure that not only am I looking for empowerment from my community, but that I’m giving it. 

Because what empowers me as a woman is other people—whether male or female—outspokenly supporting others who are out there doing their thing. For me, I love to support the next generation of young women of color doing endo. It fills me with pride. 

I promise you, if you make time to lift other people up (women and men!), you will receive the same. 

Compliment the young dentist you see doing something incredible, give opportunities to those who are just getting their start, and when you can, be an example of what an empowered human being looks like in the world. 

Be a Disruptor 

When I see people with no-boundaries attitudes—totally flexing their masculine energy while remaining in touch with their feminine energy— I’m left rethinking the possibilities and dreaming up new ways of running my practice, supporting my family, and speaking my truth. 

Talk about inspiration!

Sometimes passion can be unruly, and I love to see people in the world who aren’t afraid to show up with their big ideas—even when they can’t be perfectly manicured and their ideas have some rough edges. 

I think that’s what it takes to break through walls and challenge the way things have always been done. And that will help women move forward, for sure. But when women move forward, so does all of society.  

A few powerful people I look up too? Miki Agrawal of Hellotushy, author and personal branding expert Jessica Zweig, my incredible stylist Tali Kogan, and tech powerhouse Anjula Ancharia. 

Nurture your vision and nurture connection 

Like I said before, in dentistry—and especially when it comes to running a dental business—we’re often encouraged to stand in our masculine energy.

I’m talking about masculine energy as the powerful, commanding, action-taking energy that so many of us (and  A LOT of us women) basically LIVE in when we’re running a household, a schedule, or a dental practice. We. Get. Shit. Done.

But  it just feels so dang good to relax into the feminine energy, too. And I promise, so much good stuff comes out of periods where you can nurture your intuition and cultivate ease, flow, trust, and care. Feminine energy is just as powerful as masculine energy, just softer.

That’s something that this year’s Mommy Dentists in Business Summit, the inaugural Women in Endo Summit, and the Dental Entrepreneur Woman (DeW) event reminded me about. 

Without vision, we don’t know the path forward. Without spending time quietly looking after our mindset and holistic wellness (I’m talking mental, emotional, and physical here!), we make getting to a place of success harder on ourselves. 

What empowers me as a woman is spending time with a community that reminds me to tap into my feminine energy and spend time defining what my unique vision of success and wellness looks like.

That’s something we should all get behind, no matter our gender.

Empowerment in 2023 and beyond! 

I’m sending this blog out into the world on the last day of 2022 as a reminder to myself and to you. 

And I just want to express so much gratitude for the community that has empowered me for years and those who have given me the opportunity to empower them. Empowerment really has so much to do with who you surround yourself with. So thank you for being here.

Here’s to more feminine energy and more inspiration in 2023! 

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– Sonia