featu re
cover story
a reason to
smile
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o m e f o lk s h av e a car e e r . They go to work; they do their job; they bring home a paycheck. Other folks have a calling. They do the thing they love, knowing that their efforts serve and benefit others, deriving much gratification from the process. Dr. Julianne Colvin, co-owner of Crawford & Colvin Family and Cosmetic Dentistry, falls squarely into the latter group.
She didn’t always know she wanted to be a dentist. Her parents were pharmacists, so she was surrounded by, and felt drawn to, the healthcare field. She heard hints of her calling, but wasn’t quite clear on the path she was meant to take. Through high school, she volunteered and shadowed the professionals in hospitals but didn’t quite feel that click. Then, her childhood dentist invited her to observe his practice for a day. “That’s when I knew what I wanted to do,” Dr. Julianne says. “I went home that day and announced to my mom, ‘I want to be a dentist!’” She was initially drawn to dentistry for the most logical reason you’ve never thought of: the results are immediately tangible. “I had observed how, in other areas of healthcare, patients’ issues could rarely be resolved in an immediate, hands-on way,” she says. “With dentistry, I have the
28
APRIL 2020
w oman.com
l a k e norman
writer cyndy etler
photographer toni lovejoy
