“What I do is all about teaching, connecting with others and building long term relationships.  I love it.”  Trisha Cloutier, CDA, RDH, BS, MA

 

Trisha’s clinical background

Mark:  Let’s start with an overview of your clinical experience before we get into your move to teaching and then to sales. 

Trisha:  Throughout my clinical experience I was typically working in two or three offices most of the time.  It was difficult to get a full-time position back then.  

During that time I also continued my education at the University of Rhode Island and earned my bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene.

Mark:  Was your clinical experience all in general practice? 

Trisha:  No.  I actually worked in a perio office right out of hygiene school.  One of my instructors was a periodontist so one day I asked her if a new grad could work in a perio office.  And she told me, “Absolutely!”  

I ended up working with her, on and off, for many years, but most of my time was spent in general practice. 

Mark:  How long did you do clinical? 

Trisha:  20 years. 

Mark:  Did you work a full-time load of hours throughout the 20 years? 

Trisha:  When I first got out of dental hygiene school I was working about 45 hours a week.

But then I began to experience neck, back and wrist pain, so I pulled back to 30 hours a week and never worked more than 30 hours a week in clinical from that point on. 

When my children were young I dropped down to 10 hours per week for a bit and then ramped back up later.  So if I had to average the whole 20 years, I would say I probably averaged 20 hours per week.

 

Trisha makes her first move into teaching

Mark:  Then at some point you moved into teaching.  Tell us about that.

Trisha:  I always had a passion for teaching.  Every office I worked in, even as a dental assistant, I was often viewed as a go-to person.  So I always found myself teaching someone something. 

As I developed my passion for teaching over those years, I thought to myself, “Maybe teaching at a dental hygiene school would be nice”.  So after receiving my bachelor’s degree in 2000, I contacted the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) and the Bristol Community College (BCC) hygiene programs to inquire about openings, but nobody needed any clinical instructors at that time.

But in 2003, an opportunity opened up.  BCC contacted me about an opening for a part-time clinical instructor and I happily accepted it.  

After one semester, the program director at BCC encouraged me to pursue my master’s degree and that’s exactly what I did starting in the Fall of 2004.  

In 2007, I earned my master’s degree in adult education from the University of Rhode Island.

 

Trisha moves from part-time to full-time instructor

Mark:  That first job at BCC was part-time, but you eventually moved into a full-time position at some point, correct?

Trisha:  Yes.  A full-time position opened up in 2007, right when I finished my master’s degree.  I interviewed for the position, but didn’t think I’d actually get it.  But to my surprise, I did.  

I loved education and still love education.  The best part of my job was by far my students.  I absolutely loved being with them.  But as time went on, I found myself teaching less and doing a lot of other things I didn’t like to do.

I always had the personality of not being very complacent.  I always had to keep learning, changing, and reinventing myself.  Once I master something, I really don’t want to do it anymore.

Mark:  When you got the full-time position, did you quit clinical hygiene completely at that point? 

Trisha:  No, I continued practicing for another five years.

Mark:  Did they want you to quit clinical once you came on board full-time? 

Trisha:  No, but they couldn’t understand how I was still practicing clinical and maintaining all the responsibilities of a full-time faculty person.

Mark: Was the full-time job at BCC your first time actually teaching in the classroom?

Trisha:  Not really.  During my part-time tenure, I helped teach the dental materials course.  That gave me some exposure to planning and presenting some lectures.  And I also helped redesign that whole course.

So when I started the full-time position, I had a little experience.

 

Let’s talk education and pay

Mark:  Everyone wants to know how much a job pays and hygienists are no different.  You don’t have to tell me how much you got paid, so let me ask you this.  Were you happy with the pay and benefits that you got as a full-time teacher?

Trisha:  I’ll put it to you this way.  At the time, my passion far outweighed what I was making there!

I had a master’s degree and my students, graduating with an associate’s degree, were making more than me.  No one is choosing education to get rich, right? 

The salary was low, but I loved what I was doing, so… 

 

Trisha decided it was time to leave

Mark:  Alright.  So, at some point you, you were done with teaching and you wanted to do something else and that was sales, right?

Trisha:  Well, here’s what happened.  One of my many duties at BCC was to coordinate with the sales reps that routinely came to the school clinic.  And because of that, I had developed very good relationships with many of them.

So one day, I was chatting with the Ultradent rep and she told me that she was retiring.  She also told me I should apply for the job!

I was thinking about leaving my full-time teaching position and starting a career in corporate.

The position seemed very interesting, so I decided to go for the interview.  The offer was great and I accepted it.    

 

Trisha enters the sales world

Mark:  Can you tell us a little bit about your current position? 

Trisha:  I am the Providence, Rhode Island Territory Account Manager.  I manage almost a thousand accounts in Rhode Island, southeastern Massachusetts, and southern Connecticut.  We mostly sell products (about 500) that go in the patient’s mouth.

Ultradent is a research and development company that believes in teaching dentists, hygienists and assistants about products.  This is where the good fit comes in for me.  All the things I love about teaching I still get to do, but as opposed to teaching, my schedule is now very flexible.

As far as salary goes, I‘m making double what I made as a full-time dental hygiene instructor.

Mark:  To me, a big part of sales is education.  When you’re trying to persuade someone to purchase a product, you’re obviously educating that person at the same time.

Trisha:  Yes, and it’s easy to do with Ultradent because it’s a very ethical company.  We have high credibility.   Take one of our products for example, Ultra-Etch.  That product has 60% of the world’s market because it truly is an excellent product.  When you combine a great company reputation with high quality products, the selling process becomes much easier both financially and ethically.  

I’m not a career salesperson.  That’s not where I came from.  But the position with Ultradent just fit.  I love my position and I love the territory I cover.

The furthest I ever travel in my territory is an hour and a half drive, and I rarely do that.  I’ll travel outside the territory a few times a year, but that’s about it.  One example being to the Ultradent headquarters in Utah. 

 

Hygienists buying their own supplies

Mark:  By the way, I’m a big fan of Ultradent’s UltraSeal XT hydro sealant.  I was the crazy hygienist in my office who bought his own sealant material! 

Trisha:  Actually, a lot of hygienists purchase their own products with us.

Mark:  One of the things I love about Ultradent is their willingness to sell products directly to hygienists.  I’ve dealt with many companies over the years that refused to sell to me directly. 

Trisha:  As long as you have a license number, you’re good to go. 

 

What exactly does Trisha do?

Mark:  What does your typical day as a Territory Account Manager look like?

Trisha:  Well, COVID put a spin on “typical”.  We’re just now getting back to more pre-COVID activities.  Let me describe what I typically did before COVID.

I was making about 10 sales calls a day.  My day would involve emailing, texting, calling, visiting, and maybe a lunch and learn.  

In the beginning, I just spent a lot of time introducing myself and getting to know the people in my area.  And often times those people were former coworkers or former students, which made the whole process that much easier.  Dentistry is a small world!

When COVID hit, our business model obviously changed a bit, but things are turning back around.  I have a lot of lunch and learns scheduled, which is something I love to do.  What I do is all about teaching, connecting with others and building long term relationships.  I love it.

 

Sales and flexibility 

Mark:  Do you basically have control of your own schedule?  Does Ultradent just let you roll?  

Trisha:  Yes, as long as I’m making my numbers, making my calls, and doing what I’m supposed to be doing, I’m free to control my day.  In this position, you have to be a self-starter and intrinsically motivated to get out there every day.

The harder you work in sales the more you earn, which was the exact opposite situation I had in the education world.  No matter how hard I worked in education, I would get the same salary.  I’m a motivated person, so the structure of commissions and incentives work for me.

 

Trisha’s advice for future dental hygiene instructors

Mark:  What advice would you give a clinical hygienist thinking about getting into teaching?

Trisha:  If they only have their associate’s degree, no matter what, they should further their education.  Start working on your bachelor’s degree.  Take at least one class per semester and just chip away at it if you have to.  

Dental hygiene is limited if you only have an associate’s degree.  You really can’t do much more than clinical, except for maybe starting your own business.

Mark:  Is there a certain personality type better suited for teaching?

Trisha:  You have to be passionate about teaching.  You have to decide for your own situation.  One option would be to work clinical part-time and teach part-time, which offers a nice balance. 

 

The best opportunities are rarely advertised

Mark:  For the people I’ve talked to that are working outside the clinical setting, I can’t think of one who saw a job listing, sent in their resume and then received a job offer.

In almost every case, the opportunities came in a very indirect way.  The general pattern seems to be they were either “discovered” because they were out there doing things, in some cases for free, or they just created their own opportunity. 

Trisha:  Networking is extremely important.  As the old saying goes, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”, which is very true. 

You have to be willing to talk to a lot of people.  You have to be willing to put yourself out there.  You have to be willing to sometimes be uncomfortable. 

You have to be willing to take chances.  That’s when the unexpected happens.  As my mom would always say, “Things happen when you least expect it”.

In my own case, I got to the point of not wanting to do certain things anymore.  I was tired of looking and kind of exhausted.  I just let it all go and then things just naturally fell into place. 

Mark:  My story is very similar.  I’ve been blogging, doing product reviews, creating YouTube videos and recording podcasts for at least 12 years. 

And then last year when I decided to quit clinical, one of my goals was to get into paid copywriting.  So I took a course, wrote my story, and then shared that blog post on Facebook.

Somebody saw that post and shared it with the co-founder of a dental marketing company.  He contacted me right away and asked if I would be interested in writing for his company.  I wasn’t looking or asking for a job. The opportunity just showed up. 

 

Trisha’s advice for future sales reps

Mark:  What advice would you give a clinical hygienist thinking about getting into sales?

Trisha:  Not to sound like a broken record, but network, network, and network.  You need to continue educating yourself too, but networking is the key.

I developed lifelong friendships with the sales reps I met while teaching at BCC.  In fact, our current Boston South rep was someone I met when I first started teaching at the college.  I actually helped her to get the job with Ultradent!

Put yourself out there and get a little uncomfortable.  You never know where the next opportunity will come from.

Mark:  Like you said, you have to be a self-starter.  You can’t be a person who needs to be supervised and told what to do.  You have to do it yourself.  

Trisha:  Absolutely. 

Mark:  Well, thank you Trisha for sharing your story.  I’m sure it will help encourage others looking to make a move too.  

 

Bio – Trisha A. Cloutier, CDA, RDH, BS, MA

Trisha.Cloutier@ultradent.com

Trisha A. Cloutier, CDA, RDH, BS, MA is a Territory Account Manager and Regional Field Trainer for Ultradent Products.   

She was an Associate Professor in Dental Hygiene at Bristol Community College where she was the Program Director, Sophomore Clinical Coordinator, Public Health Educator and ADHA Student Advisor. 

Trisha graduated from the Community College of Rhode Island and continued her education at the University of Rhode Island obtaining a BS in Dental Hygiene and MA in Adult Education. 

She was the Continuing Education Chair for the Rhode Island Dental Hygienists’ Association and was a Commission Evaluator with the Commission on Dental Accreditation. 

She practiced in general and periodontal practice and is a published author, and speaker.