The Bloom Effect with Cassie Kellner

Re-release: Grit, Growth, and Being the Ortho Queen with Dr. Farah Kar

Have you ever looked at someone and thought, “They make it look easy?” This episode reminds us that what we see isn’t always the full story. I’m sitting down with Dr. Farah Kar, aka @the.ortho.queen, and we’re getting real about the grit it takes to keep going, the power of being fully yourself, and what it’s like to rebuild after loss. Farah shares everything from starting over in her career to growing a bold personal brand (and navigating motherhood and grief in the midst of it all) with humor, honesty, and a whole lot of heart. "One of the biggest misconceptions is that when people see or hear things that other people are doing that's hard, they just assume that they're doing it in the absence of fear." We talk about: – Why grit matters more than talent (and how to build it) – What authenticity really looks like in this industry – Navigating big transitions, self-doubt, and starting over – How grief and joy can live side by side This one’s raw, reflective, and so full of love. I can’t wait for you to hear it. Dr. Farah Kar is a proud Iranian, Canadian, American orthodontist. She attended the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry for her DDS and Master of Science degree and Certificate of Orthodontics. She is double-board certified and a Diplomat of the American Board of Orthodontics and Royal College of Dentists of Canada. Dr. Kar has been an Invisalign certified orthodontist since 2014 and an Invisalign Diamond Plus Provider who has treated over 2,000 cases. She enjoys merging her background in fine arts, architecture, and project management with practicing orthodontics efficiently and with flare! Check out Dr. Kar’s Instagram: @the.ortho.queen Episode Links & Resources Follow Dr. Farah Kar on Instagram Check out Dr. Farah Kar's Website Subscribe to the show and leave a review. Want to bring this kind of energy into your practice? Visit DiscoverEverbloom.com Disclaimer In this episode, Cassie Kellner sits down with Dr. Farah Kar and they discuss tender and deeply emotional topics, including war and the loss of a child. If you’re grieving, healing, or carrying something heavy right now, please take a moment to check in with yourself. It’s more than okay to pause, skip, or return to this conversation whenever the time feels right for you.   Episode Chapters 00:00 Welcome and introduction 01:06 How Cassie and Farah met at AAO 05:46 Mid-40s realness and personal growth 10:01 Challenging ortho stereotypes 16:36 Building an authentic online presence 20:34 Instagram growth and learning from mistakes 23:43 Starting over after loss 29:04 ADHD, hustle, and grit 36:11 Parenting with perspective 43:53 Gratitude and immigrant roots 48:08 Grieving Ella and honoring both joy and loss 54:15 Final reflections + closing Topics we explore in this episode include: orthodontic leadership, overcoming failure, personal growth in dentistry, building a brand as an orthodontist, authentic leadership, grit and resilience, navigating grief, orthodontic startup journey

What Working Moms In Your Practice Actually Need

"They become the single point of failure. And that is an enormous amount of invisible pressure to carry." May is wild. Recitals, field trips, sports, class performances, Teacher Appreciation Week. And the women on your team are showing up through all of it, managing your front desk, building patient relationships, holding your team culture together, all while carrying everything that comes with being a mom outside of work. Orthodontics and dentistry are female-dominated industries. A big portion of your team are moms. And most practices are not actually built with that reality in mind. This episode is about changing that, not in a guilt-trip way, but in a very practical, this is how you build a practice people want to stay in kind of way. Cassie walks through three things the best practices are doing right now to support the moms on their teams. None of it is revolutionary. All of it makes a real difference. We talk about: → Why cross-training is a culture statement, not just a backup plan → The invisible pressure that builds when one person is the only one who knows how to do something critical → How a simple mentorship structure develops your new team members and keeps your experienced ones engaged → Why advanced notice is one of the most underrated retention tools you have → What it actually communicates when you plan your practice calendar with your team's real lives in mind About Cassie Kellner Cassie Kellner is the founder of Everbloom, a practice management consulting firm serving orthodontic and dental practices. With 22 years in the industry, she has worked with nearly 100 practices and built Everbloom around one core belief: strong practices start with strong teams. She hosts The Bloom Effect podcast and co-produces The Ortho Society with Lindsay Quinn of Heartwise Collective. Listen + Subscribe Tune in on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube [https://youtu.be/O2WkZQX1QyE]. If this conversation resonates, share it with your team or a leader who is ready to create more clarity in their practice. Ready to grow, lead, and bloom? Visit DiscoverEverbloom.com. Connect with Everbloom Visit Everbloom [https://discovereverbloom.com] Follow on Instagram [https://instagram.com/discovereverbloom] Subscribe to The Bloom Effect [https://bit.ly/3IjV0Fl] Episode Chapters 00:00 Welcome and intro 01:30 Why this episode, why now 02:43 Tip one: Cross-training as a culture statement 07:16 Tip two: Mentorship inside your practice 11:28 Tip three: Advanced notice and calendar planning 15:30 Recap and where to start 16:13 Happy Mother's Day, Bloomers Topics we explore and discuss: orthodontic practice management, dental team culture, working moms in dentistry, cross training dental team, practice staff retention, team mentorship, employee scheduling, orthodontic team development, practice operations, Cassie Kellner, The Bloom Effect podcast, Everbloom

From Small Town Roots to Scalable Systems with Dr. Jorden Mortensen

“We built our systems around the things that have to get done every single day.”  In this grounded and energizing conversation, host Cassie Kellner is joined by Dr. Jorden Mortensen, dentist, entrepreneur, and founder of MintChecklist, to talk about what it really takes to build something that works inside a growing practice. Dr. Mortensen shares his journey from sleeping in his car and an empty operatory after dental school to owning and leading multiple practices across small-town Texas. What started as a drive to pay off student loans quickly turned into a deep commitment to building systems that support both teams and patients in a meaningful way. Cassie and Dr. Mortensen unpack what happens when practices rely on memory instead of systems, why operational drift is almost guaranteed without structure, and how something as simple as a checklist can change the entire rhythm of a team. They also explore the gap between tools that look good on paper and tools that actually work in real time. This episode is for the leader who feels the weight of keeping everything together and is ready to build something more sustainable. We talk about: → Why growth exposes broken systems → What operational drift actually looks like in a practice → The hidden cost of paper checklists and scattered processes → How simplicity drives real team consistency → Building systems that scale without adding overwhelm → Why patient care improves when systems are clear About Dr. Jorden Mortensen Dr. Jorden Mortensen, DMD, MBA, is a dentist, entrepreneur, and systems builder focused on elevating the standard of care in small-town dentistry. After earning his dental degree and MBA in 2019, he began acquiring and revitalizing legacy practices across rural Texas through Hometown Dental Partners. As his organization grew, he identified a consistent operational challenge—teams were relying on paper checklists, whiteboards, and scattered systems that created inconsistency and friction. He founded MintChecklist, a cloud-based platform designed specifically for dental teams to manage recurring tasks with clarity and accountability. What began as an internal solution has grown into a broader mission to help practices replace outdated workflows with systems that support both team performance and patient care. Listen + Subscribe Tune in on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube [https://youtu.be/SxQz7J3aMMY]. If this conversation resonates, share it with your team or a leader who is ready to create more clarity in their practice. Ready to grow, lead, and bloom? Visit DiscoverEverbloom.com [https://www.discovereverbloom.com/]. Episode Links & Resources Explore MintChecklist [https://mintchecklist.com] Follow MintChecklist on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/mintchecklist/] Connect with Everbloom Visit Everbloom [https://discovereverbloom.com] Follow on Instagram [https://instagram.com/discovereverbloom] Subscribe to The Bloom Effect [https://bit.ly/3IjV0Fl] Episode Chapters 00:00 Welcome and Jorden’s story 03:15 From small town to dentistry 08:40 Buying a practice right out of school 15:10 COVID and early challenges 20:30 Discovering small-town dentistry 27:45 When systems became necessary 34:10 The problem with paper checklists 40:20 Building MintChecklist 47:00 Bringing simplicity back to teams Topics we explore in this episode include: dental practice systems, operational efficiency in dentistry, checklist systems for teams, scaling dental practices, small-town dentistry, leadership in dental practices, team accountability systems, practice operations, workflow consistency, reducing operational friction

Re-release: Escaping the Drama Triangle with Christine Brondyke

If you’ve ever found yourself fixing things for everyone or feeling like the only one who cares, this episode explains why that dynamic shows up and how to change it. Cassie sits down with Certified Life and Relationship Coach Christine Brondyke to explore the Drama Triangle, a powerful lens for understanding conflict and communication breakdowns in orthodontic teams. You’ll learn how the Hero, Victim, and Villain roles keep teams stuck, and how shifting out of these patterns can spark true connection and collaboration. “If there's a glitch—work, home, friendship—this can help us understand the how of it. And once we can see it, we can see it everywhere.” What You’ll Learn * How the Drama Triangle creates tension in practices * Why “fixing,” “blaming,” or “rescuing” might feel familiar * What it takes to shift into leadership rooted in clarity and connection Christine Brondyke is a Certified Life and Relationship Coach with more than two decades of experience guiding individuals, couples, and teams through the messiness of communication and into deeper alignment. Her insights will change the way you see your workplace and yourself. 📲 Follow Christine on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/christinemarie_lifecoach/] Check out the Drama Triangle PDF [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YpD6BqEC5_ItbnyfSyl4DgSbrFZ66dVh/view?usp=sharing] Subscribe to the show and leave a review. Want to bring this kind of energy into your practice? Visit DiscoverEverbloom.com [https://www.discovereverbloom.com/] Episode Chapters 00:00 Welcome + Meet Christine 01:42 Shoutout to Dr. Ryan McComb 03:35 Cassie’s reaction to the Drama Triangle 05:25 What is the Drama Triangle? 10:32 Understanding the three roles 27:08 How these dynamics show up in coaching 39:50 Team conflict in orthodontic practices 50:00 Creating connection through clarity Topics we explore in this episode include: drama triangle, orthodontic team dynamics, Christine Brondyke coach, workplace conflict resolution, emotional intelligence at work, hero victim villain roles, leadership coaching ortho, burnout in orthodontic teams, conflict resolution in dentistry, team coaching for orthodontists

The Real Reason Your Team Keeps Walking Out the Door

"A bad system will break every great person in your practice. Every single time." In this solo episode, Cassie talks about one of the most frustrating patterns in orthodontic practices: losing great people and not understanding why. After 22 years in the industry, she shares what she sees over and over again. It’s not a people problem. It’s a systems problem. This episode walks through what’s really happening behind team turnover and how small shifts in hiring, onboarding, culture, and growth can change everything. “You cannot find the perfect candidate and drop them into chaos and expect them to thrive.” Cassie shares: – Why team turnover is often a systems issue, not a people issue – What’s missing in most hiring and onboarding processes – How unclear expectations quietly push good people out – Why growth conversations matter more than performance reviews – Simple ways to create clarity, structure, and trust inside your practice About Cassie Kellner Cassie Kellner is the founder of Everbloom [https://www.discovereverbloom.com/] and host of The Bloom Effect. A former chairside assistant turned team coach, she works with orthodontic practices across the country to strengthen leadership, communication, and team culture through practical systems and honest conversations. Episode Links & Ways to Connect Free leadership resources from Everbloom [https://discovereverbloom.com/free-resources] Learn more about working together [https://discovereverbloom.com] Follow along on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/discovereverbloom] Subscribe to The Bloom Effect [https://bit.ly/3IjV0Fl] Listen on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube [https://youtu.be/SWT0VTIutm8]. If this episode resonates with you, share it with your team or another practice leader. Leaving a review helps more teams find these conversations. Episode Chapters 00:00 Welcome + what we’re talking about 02:10 Why great people keep leaving 06:45 The story behind repeated turnover 12:30 It’s not a people problem 18:20 Hiring without a real process 24:10 Onboarding that actually works 31:15 Culture and retention shifts 38:40 Growth conversations that matter 45:10 Compensation and clarity 52:00 Final thoughts + your challenge Topics we explore in this episode include: team turnover in orthodontics, practice systems, onboarding processes, hiring strategy, team retention, leadership communication, practice culture, growth frameworks