Can a dentist really be called an entrepreneur? We think so, and so does Pete Sheild, a man of varied interests and abilities. Pete is the son of a pastor. His Christian faith deeply influenced his vocational choices and sustained him in trial. He owned and operated a successful practice named Sheild Family Dentistry for many years. In Part 1 of our interview we talk about the birth of the business, but also about significant youth experiences that shaped his character and understanding of his capabilities.
[00:00:00] was a bit of a hired gun and dental supply people would call me and say,
[00:00:04] hey, you know, Dr. XYZ is...
[00:00:06] So you are a mercenary dentist for a couple years?
[00:00:08] Yeah, kind of.
[00:00:17] Welcome to Christ in All Things, a conversation about meaning and purpose.
[00:00:22] It's based on a verse from the Bible, Colossians chapter 1 verse 17, which says, Mr. Jason Shockman. And with us is our special guest today, Dr. Pete Shield. Welcome, Dr. Shield. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Glad to have you with us. We're here, Pete's here as part of our series on Christian entrepreneurship.
[00:01:40] And to start us off,
[00:01:44] I wanna begin with a word of scripture Lord God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending. By paths as yet untrodden through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us.
[00:03:04] Through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reign you were involved in that. So, yeah. So before we get any further down that track, Pastor O'Donnell, you know our friend Dr. Pete Shields here quite well. I'm still getting to know you, play basketball with you once, and know that you're in there quite a bit and stay inactive.
[00:04:20] That's great.
[00:04:22] But you're a doctor.
[00:04:24] So Pete, what kind of doctor are you?
[00:04:27] Just a dentist. in the book. Because he's a bit of a writer too. Yes he is. Play around a little bit. Nothing published. Very good writer actually. Yeah. Yeah. May come from some of the work he's done. Yeah. Now over the years. Over the past couple of days. Because we pastors never write anything.
[00:05:41] Yeah, right.
[00:05:42] Well, what is...
[00:05:43] So, let's start with the dentistry business.
[00:05:45] And then maybe work backwards and forwards in our time together. I had a scholarship to go to Boston University on a to do pediatric dentistry, which thankfully the Lord guided me to stay with general dentistry, but yeah, so I did a little bit of everything.
[00:07:01] And you wanted the family stuff.
[00:07:04] I mean, you called it.
[00:07:06] Was it always Shield Family Dentistry
[00:07:08] or was it something else? school debt you were still working from? Where was that done? That was, let's see, that would have been done by then because I rolled it into my first house mortgage in the early 90s. But when I took out student loan debts, they were at, you know, that was people coming back. And the people that had working for me, we were all pulling in the same direction they believed in the vision that I had. And so... So talk about that. What was the vision? Because you've said this, or something like it a couple times already.
[00:09:43] What was the vision that you had?
[00:09:45] How would you talking about? Dental assistance, dental hygienists, my accountant, anybody that had their hand in the business, in the business's success. Pete, were you the only dentist? I was up until, excuse me, I had one associate, I really liked very much, but she ended up going back to Indianapolis to start her own practice. And then the next associate I had, which again, I got a I guess I can't speak for other businesses to know what their accountability level is, but I think now that I'm serving on the dental and examining board for the state,
[00:15:03] I realize that there is quite a bit of scrutiny and continuing education credits. Yeah, business divorce, bitter business divorce. But I will tell you now, looking back, it was one of the best things that ever happened in my life. Spiritually, physically, mentally, financially, across the board. And so I guess the lesson that I learned there was
[00:15:07] all good things come to those who believe. You know, I mean really.
[00:16:01] I'm just dying my hair. You're a good friend.
[00:16:02] Yeah.
[00:16:03] So you had to start a whole new clientele patient list.
[00:16:08] Pretty much, but it wasn't, you know,
[00:16:13] my covenant not to compete was up like maybe in,
[00:16:17] like let's say, you know, beginning of September.
[00:16:20] So I wasn't gonna be scheduled to open
[00:16:22] till the beginning of October.
[00:16:23] So I had a big sign out in front of the building saying, knew there was something else, something different. So when you said, I'm gonna do this other thing, they knew who you were, and they agreed with you that there's maybe a better way or a different way to go about this. And I will also say that looking back now,
[00:17:44] the people that came with me were people of faith. You know, during my covenant not to compete, it was two years and so I was a bit of a hired gun and dental supply people would call me and say, hey, you know, Dr. XYZ is, so you were a mercenary dentist for a couple of years? Yeah, kinda. All right. I mean, talk about. Pads is it, has yet untried. Right, right.
[00:19:00] Yeah, so I was going everywhere from Mosquigo
[00:19:03] to Sun Prairie to Madison.
[00:19:06] Actually had a biosel agreement with a guy in Madison So you went to Madison Lefollet High School. Yeah. And we're part of a team that was successful part of the plan. So I have no regrets about any of it. It worked out the way it was supposed to work
[00:21:41] out. that basketball success as you look back, how it impacted your practice, your view of life and so forth. You know, I think on a certain, well, friendships, cemented for life, you know, I still hang out with some of the guys that played football and basketball with.
[00:23:01] Did I mention we were conference champs in football too?
[00:23:04] I didn't, yeah, I'm not surprised.
[00:24:07] the show. And there was plenty of times when, you know, it was on in the Friday afternoon session would be on in the classroom, you know, in grade school and middle school, because
[00:24:13] you know, you were watching sports and the very height of high school basketball.
[00:24:19] Absolutely. So, um, you said that, uh, direct cause and effect, but it certainly played a role in that maturation, I would say.
[00:25:40] Doesn't surprise me at all. ChristInAllThings.org. Comments may be emailed to comments at ChristInAllThings.org. We're thankful to provide Christ in All Things to you as a gift, but it's not free to produce and distribute. So if you'd like to help us make Christ in All Things a self-supporting show and have a little fun in the process, please click the support page at ChristInAllThings.org.
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