YOUR STORY IS WORTH IT

Josh and Joanna Scott are on a quest to tell better stories around dentistry

Josh and Joanna Scott, Studio 88

Beginning

Josh: I’ve been around dentistry for over twenty years now, but I started Studio EightyEight nine years ago. I’ve always been on the marketing side of things, and at some point, I looked out over the dental marketing space and thought, “Why is dental marketing so bad?!?!” All this impersonal, stock photography and clinical, templated designs. At first, I thought maybe there were some regulations from dental boards on how you could market or what it could look like. After researching, I realized that wasn’t the case. The truth was, nobody was stepping up to help dentistry tell a better story. That’s where we came in.

Joanna: I watched you evolve Studio EightyEight from the beginning. It wasn’t this big launch backed with investment money. It almost started more like an on-the-side passion project!

Josh: Yeah, I tell everybody that it really was more of a hobby the first couple of years. We bootstrapped everything, kept overhead low, and grew it one client at a time. Back then, I was meeting face-to-face with every client and helping them develop customized marketing plans that would work in their area. After that, our creative team would take over and produce marketing that was personalized and unique to them.

I think of Great Lakes Dental in Mentor, OH. They were one of the first clients to trust us with this brand-building approach nine years ago. One of the highlights for me was watching their growth post-COVID because they spent so many years investing in their brand and telling a story to the community, they doubled their already large practice in two years.

Joanna: If you knew what you know now, would you have changed anything during those first few years?

Josh: That’s such a good question! Part of me wanted to grow it faster. “Go for it, Josh!” I would tell myself. But another part of me wouldn’t trade the way we did it. We really took the time to develop a service that uniquely fits our clients while at the same time laying a strong foundation to build upon.

www.greatlakesdental.com

Growth

Josh: Once we hit year four, we knew we had something unique in the marketplace. We spent a lot of time educating about good marketing versus bad marketing, and now it was starting to get some traction. At this point, my business partner and I decided to make a few key hires and allocate resources to spreading our brand. That’s where you come in! Did you ever think we’d be working together to build a business?

Joanna: Actually, yes! We’ve been married for almost 27 years and, in our past life, worked alongside one another as youth and children’s pastors in vocational ministry. There are so many great memories plus challenges from those years, but we had a blast working together – navigating all the ups and downs. Deep down, I knew our professional paths would align again at some point.

Josh: We added you to the team as our Business Development Director with the specific task of helping us grow the business. What did that role look like to you initially, and how has it evolved over the last couple of years?

Joanna: Personally, it was a big leap to jump from the nonprofit sector to help grow a startup dental marketing agency. However, business development is all about people, and since Studio EightyEight is the brand that speaks human, you had me at, “hello!” One of my core values is to cultivate authentic relationships, and from the beginning, we developed a relational marketing strategy that has served us so well. It’s been exciting to see the momentum, not only in organic leads but in long-term strategic partnerships that have developed through friendships over the years.

I like to think of it this way, “Relationships are the bridges to leads for a lifetime.” new expectations for what dental marketing should represent. It makes my heart happy if, at the end of the day, we empower people to believe that their story is worth investing in and sharing with the world.

Josh: What client sticks out to you during that time?

Joanna: Oh goodness, so many! Cultivating relationships through social media can sound so superficial, but it’s amazing how authentically you can connect. One client that I grew a relationship on social was Dr. Denise Cua of Perch Dentistry. In 2019, Dr. Cua and Dr. Shivam Patel started a practice together in Austin, and we had the honor of creating a custom website for them that truly captured the essence of their brand. Five years later, their website is still one that we love to show off! I am always amazed at the extraordinary dentists that we have the privilege of working with, that we now call friends. To hear more of Dr. Cua’s story, check out my podcast interview with her on The Story Project Podcast on iTunes or Spotify.

Josh: Nine years in, and we’re having so much fun! In many ways, I feel like we’re just getting started. The next few years have us coming up on some big goals that the whole team is excited about, and I’m literally watching us do some of our best work. I mean, let me give a shout-out to Studio Dental of River Park. We just launched their website last week, and I got up in front of our whole team and made a point to talk about it. It’s a startup practice with some amazing doctors that wanted to “flip dentistry upside down.” We were able to tell that story, and our team nailed every aspect of the production.

www.studiodentaltx.com

Joanna: One of the things I’m most excited about is the growth of our “brands.” We affectionately refer to our dental entrepreneurs (non-practice clients) as our “brand” clients. They are speakers, coaches, authors, product and service creators, and innovators. The kind of people who want to stand out from all the competing noise and invest in custom marketing that gets attention. A few months ago, we had the honor of working with the one and only, Anne Duffy, CEO and Founder of Dental Entrepreneur Media. She is building a thriving community known as the DeW community, to advance women in dentistry and the causes they advocate. We hosted her for a photography and video production session in Columbus, Ohio, and were blown away at the end result of her content!

Close

Josh: I’ve always looked at dentistry as innovative and inspiring. It’s a beautiful profession of humans serving humans. I think that together we can tell that story to our communities. Not only will it grow your business, but it’s a message that will leave a lasting impact. I personally believe that well-run, local businesses are one of the most powerful forces for good in our world. If you’re a business owner, you get to build something that provides for your team members, serves your community, and raises overall health and longevity.

To me, that’s powerful.

That story is worth telling.

Meet CEO and Founder of Dental Entrepreneur Media - Anne Duffy

www.dentalentrepreneur.com , www.dew.life

Josh: I watched as our team began to get attention for high-level creativity and story-telling, and others would ask, “Can you do that for me?” I realized there was an opportunity to not just tell stories about dental practices, but about the entire profession.

Joanna: Yes! One of the things I love so much about being a part of this team is our commitment to not only educating dentistry on the power of story-driven marketing but hopefully creating

Josh is the CEO and Co-Founder of Studio EightyEight, dentistry’s story-driven marketing agency. Joanna serves as the Business Development Director, and together they are advocates for custom, beautiful marketing that focuses on your uniqueness. Josh and Joanna met in middle school at a youth group and became best friends. The rest is history. Celebrating twenty-seven years of marriage this year involves raising teenagers, Caden and Aliya, plus adding a puppy to the mix, navigating the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, and prioritizing the things that matter most in life. On weekends you’ll find them spending time connecting with friends and family, enjoying pizza-movie night traditions, or supporting some of Columbus, Ohio’s best food and wine spots.

Find us on Instagram! @joshuascott @joannafscott @studio8e8 or learn more about Studio EightyEight www.s8e8.com