Tim Otto started his first business when he was 12, incorporated at 16, and sold it at 25. He had attained material wealth in his mid-20's but was burnt out.

When Tim met Alex (now his wife) he was finishing his MBA while she was in her first year of dental residency. Alex Otto had the seed of an idea that ultimately turned into Alcan Dental Cooperative: their answer to PE consolidation of dental practices.

Private equity has eaten dentistry. 34% of practices are now owned by DSO's, up from 2% in the 1990's. Alcan is an ownership model that keeps actual dentists in the ownership seat while providing the services and financial support of traditional PE-owned DSO's. The dental industry is about 20 years behind the medical industry in the US as far as PE consolidation goes. If we're not happy with how the medical industry works today, we won't be happy with how the dental industry works in a few decades if we don't change the incentives. Tim and Alex are doing just that.

Tim and Alex also started Kids Tooth Team Outreach which is a mobile dental clinic providing free dental care to kids all across Central Texas. The dynamic duo realized that one of the major hurdles to care was geographic access to dental practices, not just financial access. To date, they've delivered almost $800k worth of free dental care to kids.

Join me for a great conversation that will have you rethinking what it means to make a positive impact.

Mason was a chemical engineer at UT who started an environmentally-friendly lawncare service and discovered his lifelong addiction to entrepreneurship. Among other amazing accomplishments, Mason founded Greenling as a very early grocery delivery service and hit #3 on the Inc 5000 list when he was running Cece's Veggie Co.

Now Mason and his wife Jess run Small Potatoes which an anti-PE incubator for amazing early to mid stage CPG food brands. He also writes The Puzzle which is Mason's exploration of, as he says, building meaning from the ground up.

Follow Mason and also give us a 5-star rating on your podcast app! It helps a whole lot. Check out the Gross To Net Substack for more groundbreaking content.

Lauren Vogel is an Alabama-based yogi, marketer, and writer who, with her partner and co-founder, is building and running a community yoga app called Zentric. She's building small and following positive energy at every turn.

Tune in for a great conversation and follow Zentric on Instagram for flows and meditations.