Julie Francis

It's definitely the students and the mentoring - making sure that I'm making a difference in the community and in the world for these kids to carry on the legacy of the dental community. That's really my MO, that's what makes me tick. I want to make sure I'm mentoring them well and helping them carry on what happens in the future, because it's in their hands. I want to make sure it's done well. After all these years, as long as I'm still loving it and I love people, I'm going to keep doing what I do. The passion is still there for me.

I would say don't limit yourself, because I think sometimes we think, well, I want to be a mother, and I want to do this and that, and if we limit ourselves, then we lose what we have inside to give. When you're a dentist, you set your own schedule - you could work two days a week, or three, or whatever, so you could work half days. I know a couple of dentists that are women in the Valley, and they work 9 to 3, so they can send their kids to school and pick them up. So really, to be a dentist as a woman is a better idea, because they can be with their kids and do whatever they want. A lot of people limit themselves because they think, oh, I can't be a dentist because I have to be a mom and take care of a family, but it's actually a great way to do both. I tell the students that come here, don't think about just doing just this - look big, look out there, and you can do anything if you take it one day at a time and set your mind to it. I think sometimes things get so big and we can't look at it, and they go, oh, there's no way I could do that, that's four years or that's eight years. But those days will come and go, and you might as well have done something in the meantime. And the harder it is, the more rewarding it will be.