40 Years of Stories: How Steve Clark Defines Success and How Olga Mencnarowska Knew Ultradent Was the Right Place for Her

When I started here at Ultradent 15 years ago, I came in very focused on my career goals and where I wanted to get to and what I wanted to achieve. That is how I defined success. While I still value achieving my goals and the satisfaction that comes from accomplishing something I set out to do, I’ve had a few key experiences that have changed what success means to me over the last few years.


The first experience that made an impact on me was on my very first day at work here at Ultradent. The company had hired me as a brand manager for their new orthodontic division, Opal Orthodontics, and I was literally the first employee of that venture. I remember on my first day, Dr. Fischer —the CEO and founder of Ultradent, and a very busy man—approaching me, crouching down next to the table where I sat during a training, and ensuring that I understood the ins and the outs of the orthodontic bracket by asking me questions. It wasn’t a testing or probing situation to see how much I knew—I could tell he had a vested interest in helping me to understand everything about orthodontics so I could better succeed. From there, he put a lot of trust in me as the first Opal Orthodontics Brand Manager and that trust has continued throughout the years. I could tell on that first day that he was interested in what I had to say. I was impressed by the personal time he took with me, and I could tell he cared.


As the years have gone by, I’ve watched Dr. Fischer and come to realize that what makes Ultradent great is the open marketplace of ideas, listening, and validation that takes place at this company. There is always open access to not just Dr. Fischer, but the executive team and upper management to share our ideas, suggestions, even things we think need to change, and everything is considered and validated equally. I’ve noticed the amount of listening that takes place, and I truly believe that because of that, the best ideas are able to rise to the top without ego getting in the way. That is why, I believe, we’ve been able to innovate so prolifically and consistently. The concept of taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture and taking time to listen comes from the top and is perhaps the greatest thing I’ve learned during my time here at Ultradent.

 

Steve participates in our annual gratitude/Thanksgiving blog post

One experience where this concept truly came into play was just after I took the job of managing our Global Core Marketing Team (GMCT). The team came to Utah from countries from all over the world for a retreat. Together, we hopped in a bus and headed down to Las Vegas for our retreat. I learned so much on that bus ride, and I think it’s partly due to the fact that we were finally all face to face. We could connect and see the emotion in each other’s faces as we talked about each team member’s successes and challenges in their various countries and how we could apply those success stories to other markets. Really spending time together and listening to each person’s unique experiences unified us as a global team—and company—in the highest sense. It was a great opportunity to truly understand each other, despite coming from such different backgrounds and cultures. It made me want to listen more often than I spoke so we could make decisions that were good for everyone and so they could know I truly understood and cared about them.


In my many travels throughout the world since then, I always remind myself to set aside the role of “the American” in a foreign country and to get to know their culture and their stories. That’s when the “aha” moments come, even if it means being outside of my comfort zone.


I’ve loved all of my roles at Ultradent—from brand management to working with the GMCT, from merchandising to being over our Opalescence Tooth Whitening line, from being the Director of Marketing to now sales—and the biggest thing I’ve learned is to listen. It applies to every aspect of the company. I no longer define my success by title or monetary gains. Success to me is learning to appreciate the importance of time and relationships and that everybody has a story and everyone is worthy of our time. If we take the time to listen to their ideas and their story, they can affect our lives for the better. Success to me is about the relationships I build while I’m here. It’s the most important and I value it above everything else.