Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Thompson.
Hi Kelly, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up in Colorado Springs in a military family (Air Force). Went to college at CSU- had no idea what I wanted to do. Saw a career counselor and toyed around with the idea of dentistry. I didn’t know why it interested me because I really had no relation to it, but it did. I didn’t feel confident I could do it, but the counselor assured me that’s what they teach you in dental school! So I applied and got it. Attended CU Dental school and graduated in 2014. During dental school, I explored joining the military as a way to help pay for school. I chose to join the Army and went to basic training in San Antonio a few months after I graduated. My first assignment was in South Carolina, and I was accepted for a 1-year Advanced Education in General Dentistry. From South Carolina, I was assigned to White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. I was devastated! I wanted to travel the world and this was literally in the middle of nowhere. It ended up being an amazing assignment. I was the only dentist and ran my own small dental clinic. Bonus- I met my husband there! He was an Air Force F-16 pilot that had just moved to the area from Aviano, Italy (so he was equally devastated). We joke that we fell in love in the simplest of places, there were no real distractions so we got to know each other very well. From there we moved back to Colorado.
He had gone to the Air Force Academy here and always wanted to return. I wanted to return to be closer to my family. I spent one last year serving in the Army at Fort Carson then joined my husband in Denver in 2019. I transitioned from the military to private practice as a dentist at that time. I joined a fantastic practice in 2020 called Borris Dental at Belmar. I learned a lot from my mentor, Dr. Monica Borris, during that time. My husband and I welcomed our first daughter in Jan 2021. As is often how life goes 2022 was crazy- I purchased the dental office from Dr. Borris, my husband deployed for 2 months, and then when he returned we quickly found out we were expecting identical twin girls! That takes us to where we are now. We are expecting our twins any time next month (October 2022). The practice is going well and feeling more like my own every day. It has been a wild but fun ride!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No major setbacks but a few things stick out:
1. I am a twin and my entire life I was “one of the twins”. My sister and I are very close and a lot of my identity was wrapped up in being a twin. Joining the Army and moving to another state where I was by myself and no one knew I was a twin was kind of a defining moment in my life. I really learned a lot about myself as an individual.
2. Getting assigned to White Sands Missile Range. I had imposters syndrome- didn’t think I could run a clinic on my own, didn’t feel ready for that kind of challenge. It was a huge growing experience for me.
3. Purchasing the practice within 1 year old and my husband deploying- just a triad of poor timing. But I felt like a superwoman when I came out the other side.
4. Twins- haven’t survived this yet, but I’m sure it will be high highs and low lows.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My dental practice is named “Belmar Dentistry”. It’s a primarily female staff (we have one male Dentist) that is more like family. We love to have fun and really enjoy working with each other. We have been through a lot as a team and witnessed many life changes/events in our own personal lives. We are a general dentistry office. I think what sets us apart from others is that we genuinely care about each other and our patients. We really strive to work with our patients to meet their goals.
Dentistry works best when we all want the same thing and are working towards a common goal. If your missing tooth doesn’t bother you, it doesn’t bother me. I’m not here to push treatment on anyone, and I would really love to try to fix that misconception about dentistry. It’s a tough field sometimes because patients often feel like if it doesn’t hurt then why should they do something? I totally understand where they are coming from, but we really try to educate patients so they understand why a certain treatment would benefit them. We are a fun, patient-centered, caring team that really enjoys what we do.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out.
I’m one of those people that tends to always underestimate myself and I would caution people not to do that. I thought I could never become a dentist- it took a career counselor talking sense into me to apply. I thought I could never join the Army- I ended up thriving there. I maxed out my physical fitness tests and really excelled in the Army.
I thought I could never own my own dental office- my husband was really supportive and I’m so happy I did.
