Scaling Orthodontic Practices: Lessons in Leadership With Dr. Sami Webb

Dr. Sami Webb is the CEO of EPIC4 Specialty Partners, an organization partnering with only specialists — recognizing that the dental specialist has different needs than a general practitioner. She is the Founder of Webb Orthodontics, an organization providing patients with the best possible orthodontic care with the highest degree of technical excellence, caring, and respect. Since establishing her practice in 2004, Dr. Webb has expanded Webb Orthodontics to six locations across Nebraska and Wyoming. As CEO of EPIC4, she leads a doctor-owned, doctor-led specialty partnership organization operating over 60 orthodontic and pediatric dentistry practices across multiple states.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• [04:19] Dr. Sami Webb shares her orthodontic career journey to starting Webb Orthodontics
• [07:16] Building patient rapport quickly and the importance of emotional connection
• [10:08] Lessons learned from rapid growth and the power of bringing in a consultant
• [12:32] Webb Orthodontics’ early systems development and how consistency became a competitive advantage
• [14:30] Dr. Webb discusses how her team uses checklists and communication to prevent treatment errors
• [16:38] Leadership challenges of managing multiple locations and building resilient teams
• [18:24] Creating a strong team culture through accountability and appreciation
• [21:13] How to navigate criticism and stay committed to treating Medicaid patients
• [23:26] Transformative patient stories and their life-changing impacts
• [25:00] Dr. Webb talks about founding EPIC4 Specialty Partners to preserve clinical ownership and mentorship

In this episode…

Starting and scaling a successful dental or orthodontic practice can feel overwhelming, especially when faced with high patient volume, limited resources, and the stress of managing clinical and business operations. Add to that the challenge of finding and retaining quality team members while maintaining consistent care across multiple locations, and the path to sustainable growth can seem nearly impossible. How do leaders in healthcare balance quality care, business efficiency, and team culture?

Dr. Sami Webb, an orthodontic specialist with over 20 years of experience, shares how she navigated these challenges by building strong systems, mentoring staff, and creating a patient-centered practice. She highlights the importance of hiring a consultant to bring clarity and improve operations, embrace consistent processes, and learn from early mistakes. Dr. Webb also explains how she transformed her leadership style from micromanaging to empowering others while maintaining high standards. Her approach to team communication, use of checklists, and commitment to underserved communities provide a practical roadmap for others in the profession.

In this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast, Dr. Jeremy Weisz interviews Dr. Sami Webb, CEO of Epic4 Specialty Partners and Founder of Webb Orthodontics, about growing a multi-location dental practice while preserving care quality. Dr. Webb discusses overcoming burnout, creating scalable systems, and leading with empathy. She also talks about mentorship, Medicaid patient care, and building community trust.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Dr. Sami Webb on LinkedIn
• Webb Orthodontics
• EPIC4 Specialty Partners

Special Mention(s):

• SweetProcess
• Owen McGab Enaohwo on LinkedIn

Related episode(s):

• “[Top Agency Series] Streamlining Design From Concept to Production With Julie Olson” on the Inspired Insider Podcast
• “Growing a Company to a Billion-dollar Valuation with Craig Weiss, Co-Founder and CEO of Retainer Club LLC” on the Inspired Insider Podcast
• “[Top Black Business Leaders Series] Insource: How to Increase Efficiency with Existing Staff and Rapidly Onboard New Staff with Owen McGab Enaohwo of SweetProcess” on the Inspired Insider Podcast
• “[Sweet Process Series] How to Save Hundreds of Hours a Month Using Top Productivity Tools with Adi Klevit of Business Success Consulting Group” on the Inspired Insider Podcast

Quotable Moments:

• “If I can get through that day, I can get through anything.”
• “I think it’s about making connections with people and reading them, making them feel cared for.”
• “One of the best things I ever did was bring a consultant into my practice to help me.”
• “We have to be involved in all those communities and support all those kids, all the programs.”
• “They want to feel important. They want to feel part of something special, something bigger.”

Action Steps:

1. Invest in strong operational systems early on: Developing consistent workflows and checklists can prevent errors and support smooth operations as your practice grows.
2. Hire a consultant to identify blind spots: An outside expert offers insights that can improve efficiency, team satisfaction, and the overall patient experience.
3. Empower your team through accountability and trust: Shifting from micromanagement to leadership helps team members grow and take ownership of their roles.
4. Expand to meet your patients where they are: Opening satellite offices in underserved areas improves access and builds stronger community relationships.
5. Build a culture rooted in appreciation and purpose: Simple gestures like handwritten notes help employees feel valued and connected to something bigger.

Episode Transcript

Intro: 00:00

You are listening to Inspired Insider with your host, Dr. Jeremy Weisz.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 00:22

Dr. Jeremy Weisz here founder of inspiredinsider.com where I talk with inspirational entrepreneurs and leaders. Today is no different. I have Dr. Sami Webb. You can check him out at webbortho.com and goepic4.com and Dr. Sami, before I formally introduce you, I always like to point out other episodes of the podcast people should check out since, you know, just a big shout out to Julie Olson. Julie Olson runs Turner Lee Consulting.

We did an amazing episode on her journey and she’s had an amazing journey. Dr. Sami and her go way back, but she really just shared kind of the inception, the idea and how she grew her company. Another good episode since we’re going to be talking about, you know, health fields, orthodontics and the mouth. Craig Weiss and Blair Feldman I’ve had on the podcast, they started Retainer Club and you’ll probably relate to this Dr. Sami, Blair is was orthodontist and he hated, you know, like people would break their retainers, lose their retainers. And it was a lot of work to just, like, keep fulfilling them and replacing them.

And so they started a retainer club, which helps offices all over the country basically create the mold. But then they just fulfill on the back end of those retainers so the office can focus on bigger and more fun problems, probably, I imagine. So check those episodes out. This episode is brought to you by Rise25 and Rise25. We help businesses give to and connect to their dream relationships and partnerships.

We do this in two ways one, we help companies launch and run a podcast. You know, we’re an easy button for a company to do that. We do the strategy, the accountability and the full execution and production. And number two, we’re an easy button for a company’s corporate gifting. We make gifting and stay top of mind for clients, partners, prospects.

Simple, seamless. And one important aspect for me, Dr. Sami was affordable. And some companies even send gifts to staff from a culture perspective. And we do this. All you have to do is send us a list of people.

We do everything else and everything’s branded with your company. We do the gift selection, the boxing, the branding, the card, everything. And we call ourselves, Dr. Sami, the magic elves that run in the background to make it easy for the company to create amazing relationships with the podcast and gifting. You know, for me, the number one thing in my life is relationships. I’m always looking at ways on how I can give to my best relationships, and I found no better way over the past decade, you know, to profile the people and companies I admire from the podcast and send people follow-up gifts.

You know, a lot of times I send food. Maybe it’s not so good for their mouth, but because some of them are sweets. But people like it. So check it out, rise25.com or email [email protected].

I’m excited to introduce Dr. Sami Webb. She’s a leader behind one of the largest orthodontic practices in western Nebraska and Wyoming, all while serving as CEO of EPIC4 Specialty Partners, which is a nationwide dental service organization with 60-plus locations. Actually, she has over 20 years’ experience. She’s built a thriving multi-location practice. She’s mentored a lot of next generation orthodontists and really championed a mission to preserve clinical excellence and ownership opportunities in the profession. And Dr. Sami, thanks for joining me.

Dr. Sami Webb: 03:50

Oh, thank you for having me. I feel honored to be here. And that was a great introduction. Thank you.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 03:54

Well, this will be fun. And, you know, we’ll talk about Webb Ortho and then we’ll talk about that will transition us into EPIC4. But I want you to talk about the journey of Webb Ortho first and how the journey began a little bit because it was probably, I guess, throwing someone in when they don’t know how to swim a little bit.

Dr. Sami Webb: 04:19

Yeah. So my journey began about 20 years ago, and I finished my residency at Ohio State University and was looking for an opportunity, a place to land. And I ended up in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. There had been some tragedy, and they lost their orthodontist, and I took a chance.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 04:42

How did you find out about the opportunity in the first place?

Dr. Sami Webb: 04:44

Well interesting story. I was actually starting a practice in Montana and I went to the bank. I had already purchased the land, designed a building, went to the bank and they basically told me, yeah, you’re going to have to have a job somewhere else here in town. What was a small town.

Nobody was going to employ a competitor. So I started reaching out to people to find other opportunities where I could maybe fly in and work for a week and then go back and keep working my own practice. And I reached out to a gentleman who said, hey, I just need some help in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. It’s one of my satellites. And I thought, no, you know, I’m not interested.

I’m starting this practice in Montana, and we eventually decided that this would be great. We’re originally from South Dakota, my husband and I, and we decided this would be a great place. So we pivoted, changed our direction, and we landed in Scottsbluff. And the practice is only open one day a week on Mondays. And it was an interesting transition.

My first day in practice, there were 120 patients on the schedule, and the other doctor that was supposed to be there to help me transition got scheduled in another practice, so I was flying solo on my first day. The patients, the team didn’t know me. I had to introduce myself to every patient. I think we were two hours behind the entire day, and I always say, if I can get through that day, I can get through anything. And it was in a hospital setting in an old urology office with six bathrooms.

And I think there was a Farberware toaster oven for a sterilizer. And so it was a rough beginning, and I basically just had to learn how to do everything on my own. He was there for two days of my transition, and so it was just learning as I go.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 06:39

You know, it is a test in a lot of things. Talk about rapport for a second. I think in any business, rapport is really important. And especially, you know, that’s kind of a trial by fire. What do you do when you’re, again, you’re meeting over 100 people, getting them to trust you quickly because you don’t have time.

I mean, up to that point was that the most I get? I don’t have a base of comparison like up to that point. How many patients what’s normal for people in a day?

Dr. Sami Webb: 07:16

I mean, coming out of a residency program, you may see five patients in an afternoon. So I had about a six month span in Ohio, where I did work in some private practices, and I always knew I was going to be out on my own and do a startup. So I took everything I could from my residency program, and I went to all kinds of practices evaluated. And so I was ready. I wasn’t sure I was ready for 120 patients the first day, but I think it’s just.

I think it’s about making connections with people and reading them, making them feel cared for, heard, understood. And I’ve been able to do that successfully through my career. And I think that’s one of my gifts that maybe I receive from my mom. But I think that’s what has given me my reputation in this community is that they just know that I care, and I’m going to do my best for them and provide the best care and customer service.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 08:26

What did you learn from your mom as far as that goes?

Dr. Sami Webb: 08:29

You know, my mom was just one of those people that everybody adored. I mean, you could just feel the love coming from her and just. She was just special.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 08:41

You know, what’s interesting is from there, I think, you know, the next piece we’ll talk about kind of expansion. And you grew it, I think just six locations. In in not kind of in short order. You know, you could have just stayed and done what you were doing at that clinic and been super busy and successful. What was it inside you with your ambitions that you’re like, I want to keep growing this?

Dr. Sami Webb: 09:10

At the time, it was more to service patients than anything. So this practice is open one day a week and I slowly grew that to full time. But then I realized I had patients driving to my office anyway. I mean, some were driving three hours each direction to get to me, and I wanted to bring our services to them. You know, it’s easier for me to travel my team than it was to have 100 patients traveling. So we slowly expanded into a lot of the smaller communities around us for their benefit.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 09:47

Talk about expansion. And maybe if you knew now what you knew. You know, if you knew now instead, you know, go back in your younger self. What do you wish you knew at that point? You know, maybe it’s something you would have done a little bit differently with the expansion process. Talk about that for a second.

Dr. Sami Webb: 10:08

Yeah. I mean, we grew really fast and there was a point where you just kind of get lost and you realize that systems are so important in order to make this work. And I finally got to the point where I realized I needed help. And so one of the best things I ever did was bring a consultant into my practice to help me. Because sometimes when you’re living it and you’re in it every day, you don’t see the things that maybe you’re doing wrong or could do better.

And so bringing in an outside consultant, she really helped me see things more clearly and really kind of helped us put better systems in place. And I remember when I was in residency, I had a faculty doctor. Berkowitz was his name, and he always used to tell us, hire a consultant when you’re out in practice. And he said, I promise you, if you don’t get your money’s worth out of your consultant, he said, I will. I will pay you back.

And I always remember him saying that. And one piece of advice to anybody out there is hire an expert if you’re struggling, because, I mean, our practice grew, our systems were better. My team was happier. So that’s one thing I learned in that expansion.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 11:30

I want to get a little granular with the systems part, because I think it’s usually understated in a lot of the interviews that I do and how important it is. So I’m curious of what helped you systematize things. I don’t know if you use a software or something like that, but two interviews I want to point people to is I did one with Owen McGough, who founded SweetProcess, which is actually a software that helps people document and house their SOPs. We actually use it as a company and Adi Klevitt, she we went over, so she goes into companies and helps them actually goes in and documents their processes. And so we geeked out on our favorite productivity tools, software and things like that.

I’m curious how you decided to kind of structure it or house it with your company, because you have different staff doing different positions. You may have someone answering the phone. You may have someone you know, assisting. How did you get people? Where did you house them? What did you do with the processes?

Dr. Sami Webb: 12:32

I wish those tools would have been available, you know, 20 years ago. Unfortunately, they weren’t. So I mean, this was probably pen and paper, you know, files on our server. Nothing fancy, but. We learned by mistakes, you know, made and things that weren’t working and how do we fix them.

And I’m very much a believer in systems and consistency. And, you know, when we are one of the things we’re known for, what people say is, man, this office is a well-oiled machine. And that is kind of what we’re known for. And, you know, when one spoke in that wheel is broken, everything falls apart. And so it’s about being consistent every single day, following all the processes, all the systems.

I don’t have anything fancy. But this all comes down to team training. You know, and making sure that everybody is doing the same things on a consistent basis. And when something’s broken, we fix it and we have expectations. We expect our staff to, you know, hit those expectations because that’s how we care for our patients.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 13:48

You know. How do you get, you know, having them and having people follow them are two different things, right? So how do you get the team to really buy in and, and follow these things? Because they I was watching a video earlier today and there was like a one of your team members on YouTube is like, I’ve been with the practice ten years. Like I could see somebody like, hey Dr. Sami, I’ve been doing this for ten years already.

I don’t need this process. I mean, even though, listen, if I’m up in an airplane, I don’t care how long someone’s been flying 30. I want them with a checklist. Right. So how do you get the team?

What are some things you do to get them to follow the process? And, and, you know, so that it is a well-oiled machine.

Dr. Sami Webb: 14:30

Yeah. I mean we do follow checklists and it’s, it’s all it’s all about that. But it’s about communication. So we make an error and. Say we’re putting braces on and the patient leaves in a bracket falls off.

We’re all going to know about it. So we communicate it and we say, well, what? What went wrong? What could we have done better? And it’s a continual training on just on mistakes.

And how do we fix that. A patient calls. They’ve got a pokey wire. Well why do they have a pokey wire. You know let’s talk about that and find out, you know, what we did wrong and how we can prevent it in the future.

And I think we got really good at preventing emergencies and preventing problems, because when a problem did happen, a lot of our patients would have to drive, you know, an hour, two hours to our office. It was a big deal if something went wrong. So that’s how we kind of perfected our systems. Got so good, was based a little bit upon our geography and our patient base because people weren’t close by to just come back and fix things.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 15:43

Yeah. So someone there’s an issue. You go back to the checklist. You go back to the procedure and you go, where can we improve this? Yeah.

I mean, this happened to my daughter the other week, right? Like, her racket fell off and we had to drive three hours. I’m like, oh my God, forget it. Like it’s off. Like, I don’t care about your teeth.

Like it’s ridiculous. I’m not driving three hours. But people are dedicated for that stuff. Anything else that sticks out in the expansion? You know, obviously. Listen, I don’t practice it anymore, but chiropractor, I can’t imagine having six kids. I mean, it’s stressful, stressful, stressful having one location, right? So what sticks out to you as like a growth for you as maybe a leader or a business person in this, this growing in all these locations?

Dr. Sami Webb: 16:38

I mean, it’s tough. I’m jealous sometimes of the doctors who can just sit in one office. And I think, man, if I only had one, that would be great, you know? And it’s not just I mean, it’s the travel, it’s the packing. It’s the facilities.

You land in a facility and the heater’s not working, but you didn’t know it or this toilet’s broken. I mean, it’s constant. What I do love about it is.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 17:02

I’m having PTSD right now, but. Yeah, I hear you.

Dr. Sami Webb: 17:05

Yeah. What we do love about it is that our team travels together. So it gives us a lot of time to get to know each other. We spend a lot of time in the cars together. We have about six company vehicles and we travel as a team.

And the rewarding part about our satellite offices is that the patients are so grateful and they’re so wonderful, and they’re even if we’re running a little behind, they it’s, you know, it’s fine. We’re just glad you guys are here. Thank you for taking care of us. And so these people and these communities are very grateful, very supportive, understanding. And I think it’s one of the things I’ve learned is that we have a main hub, you know, office, and then everything kind of goes from there.

And you can’t just be a community leader in that main office. We have to be involved in all those communities and support all those kids, all the programs, and it’s really becoming a part of each one of those communities is what makes you successful.

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