Pride Institute's greatest asset is our team of professionals
Consultants
Mary Lynn Wheaton, RDH, MA – Mary Lynn joined Pride Institute in 1999 and has thirty years of experience in all aspects of dental practice management. She serves as the consultant team leader at Pride Institute and specializes in practice development, team building, group interaction and customer service.
In her twelve years at the Pride Institute Mary Lynn has co-authored many articles on Practice Management including the very popular "The Ultimate First Call". She is a featured speaker in many lectures and seminars throughout the United States as well as Sweden and Norway.
A former Assistant Professor in the Department of Periodontology at the University of the Pacific, Mary Lynn currently teaches "Team Skills, Training and Motivation" for Pride Institute, an energetic, thought provoking, and motivational seminar for dental teams. Mary Lynn holds a B.S. from West Virginia University and earned her M.A. in Education at the University of the Pacific.
Merry Greig Cosgrove, RDH, MS - Ms. Cosgrove joined Pride Institute in 1999 and brings a wealth of expertise with over twenty-five years of experience in many phases of dentistry to Pride Institute's Consulting Division. As a senior trainer and consultant, her background is in dental hygiene, dental assisting (in both general and specialty practices) and practice organization. Ms. Cosgrove is known as a dynamic and interactive speaker who is a popular choice for team training in National and State meetings. She began her career as a Dental Hygiene Program Director and educator at Chabot College and the University of California, San Francisco, School of Dentistry.Currently, Ms. Cosgrove teaches practice management at the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry as well as Pride's Associates, Partnerships and Appraisals course, Team Extreme and the Pillars of Practice Growth. Ms. Cosgrove received her B.S. degree, R.D.H. from the University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry and her M.S. in Health Science from San Francisco State University.
Kristine A. Hodsdon, RDH, MSEC - Ms. Hodsdon is an executive coach and consultant who brings over 25 years of industry experience in a variety of areas including marketing, management and team dynamics. Before she joined Pride, Kristine was an oral health consultant/speaker and held corporate positions as Director of Dental Services, Educational Relationship Manager, Sales Representative and Clinical Dental Hygienist. She continues to be published in dental and dental hygiene journals (print and on-line), the author of Demystifying Smiles: Strategies for the Dental Team and authored a chapter in the textbook, Mosby’s Dental Hygiene: Concepts, Cases and Competencies, 2nd Edition. Kristine has just completed her MS in Executive Coaching and is a tremendous addition to the Pride Team.
Marsha P. Mullett, D.M.D. - Dr. Mullett is a graduate of the University of Florida College of Dentistry. She and her husband, Dr. Dan Mullett, have been Pride Institute management clients since 1985. She states, “Through the Pride Institute we gained the mastery to manage the patient-side of our practice, run the business-side of our practice, and lead our staff—it was like getting an MBA. With all that Pride Institute taught us, we were able to have successful practices and able to be fully engaged parents raising three very wonderful young men. What could be better than that?“
After five successful years as Pride clients, Marsha began teaching the Pride Institute public seminars, “Managing By the Numbers” and “The New Patient Exam”. She also taught practice management, using the Pride Institute concepts, for the UF College of Dentistry GPR program. Marsha is an Alumnus of the Pete Dawson Courses and the Pankey Institute.
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Wayne Pernell, Ph.D – Senior Consultant and Director of Organization Development for the Pride Institute, Dr Wayne Pernell, an award-winning, best-selling author is also recognized internationally as a Certified High Performance Coach, speaker, and trainer. His books, "Choosing Your Power" and "The Winning Way" with business guru Brian Tracy, offer insights on self-development, relationships, and leadership.
Sharyn Weiss, MA – Ms. Weiss joined Pride Institute in 2000 and brings over fifteen years of experience in training and consulting on a diversity of topics, including communication skills, leadership, experiential training, change, and resolving conflict to Pride's Consulting Division.
In addition to being the published author of two books about experiential training, she is a contributor to the 2001 and 2004 versions of the Training and Performance Sourcebook. At Pride Institute, she serves a dual role in assisting in curriculum development and consulting, including co-authoring the Building Blox series with Amy Morgan, CEO. She is a recognized speaker and workshop presenter in leadership development, interactive simulation and team development games. She holds a B.A. from Queens College and a M.A. degree in Training and Development from Ohio State University.
Ross Vera – For 13 years, Ross has coached dentists and their teams in leadership, communication skills, case acceptance, marketing, human resources and practice systems. Combining his education in clinical psychology with his career in dental sales management and marketing, the transition to dental practice management was a natural process.
Prior to becoming a consultant, Ross held positions in sales management and marketing for the Discus Dental practice management division which launched the Pac-Live hands-on restorative dental courses as well as direct marketing for dental practices, product specific customer service training for dental teams, and dental décor sales. In addition, Ross’ ongoing role of consultant/trainer for the Dental Specialist Agency makes him an ideal fit for our dental specialty clients.
Ross holds a B.S. from the University of California at San Diego and has graduate training in Clinical Psychology from the University of Louisville. More recently, Ross has completed advanced training from the Coaches Training Institute. Ross can be reached at rvera@prideinstitute.com.
Naomi Cooper - Naomi Cooper is President of Minoa Marketing, a dental marketing and social media firm based in Los Angeles, CA.
In her role as Chief Marketing Consultant for Pride Institute, Naomi offers Pride's clients the opportunity to work with her one-on-one to create a road map for establishing a marketing and social media strategy through Pride's Marketing Diagnostic Assessment & Branding Analysis. Naomi also consults on an ongoing basis with clients who are in the process of implementing their marketing plans through Pride's Marketing Integration Intensives, which involve ongoing marketing consulting, generating budgets and timelines, facilitating vendor introductions and creating a system of marketing accountability within the dental practice.
With over fifteen years of marketing experience, Naomi is known for the depth and breadth of her marketing expertise, her ability to succeed in building brand while stimulating consumer response and her extensive executive leadership experience.
Naomi previously served as vice president of marketing for 1-800-DENTIST, one of the dental industry's most highly respected sources for patient lead generation and dental practice marketing. She has also held senior marketing and business development positions at companies as diverse as a Fortune 50 telecommunications giant and a venture capital-backed startup. Naomi is also a published author, a sought-after speaker and a dental industry opinion leader. Naomi holds a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA and earned a Certificate in Business Management from Loyola Marymount University. She can be reached via e-mail at naomi@minoamarketing.com.
Client Services
Mitch Sigler - We are pleased to have Mitch on our Client Service team. Mitch has been helping professional clients since 1982 and made the decision to focus on assisting dentists in 1991. Mitch's skill in understanding numerous aspects of a dental practice has helped hundreds of dentists enjoy greater results. He understands that the doctor is at the core of all change. Mitch specializes in leading conferences with doctors new to Pride, to co-discover, the value Pride can provide to them. Speaking with doctors, through extensive discovery and asking the right questions, he can help them discover the underlying issues that are often not uncovered during a standard assessment.