Doing Good

“I’ve learned people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget the way you made them feel.” Maya Angelou

You realize you have some good fortune going on when you know someone who never misses a birthday, returns emails within 5-minutes, gives you hundreds of tickets to a Rancho Cucamonga Quakes ballgame every year and signs off messages with “Love you my friend.” And today, I understand why my USC Football Trojan's more recent losses to the Utah Utes didn’t upset me nearly as much as they would've before I met Greg Anderson, Crown Council CEO and Friend.

The Crown Council is a leading edge community-committed national dental organization headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah...and much more.

I attended my first Crown Council Event back in 1998. I discovered the Crown Council by way of Dr. Ray Bertolotti, an Engineering PhD and DDS/MS, who with a couple of other genius-types, invented adhesion dentistry. When Ray recommended Dental Boot Kamp in 1996, I left LA County for continuing dental education for the first time and did the training in Canmore, Alberta Canada. A short time later, Ray advised Crown Council membership; in 1998, team members Diane and Julie, and I took a drive down the coast to La Jolla, in San Diego for our first Crown Council Annual Event.

When I saw who was attending the Event, it was a little like hanging out on the field with the World Series' Champs at Dodger Stadium. Trust me, it was slightly awkward standing shoulder to shoulder in real life with colleagues I’d only seen in American Dental Association Journal print (often). For a while, I wondered if someone was gonna ask for our credentials, especially if I got caught asking for an autograph.

Greg Anderson was the Crown Council CEO and as the head honcho of the organization, his hard work and warm, welcoming presence set the tone for beyond memorable Event experiences. For the next twenty-eight years I saw Greg as a living example of a Maya Angelou quote I often reference. After spending any amount of time engaging Greg, you never forgot the way he made you feel. You could start with inspired, positive, optimistic, confident, and reassured. Greg expanded the “Start” zone into the areas that could otherwise scare you; and he was the maestro of doing good.

Until I met Greg and had the chance to get to know him, I’d always wanted the best for my family, team, and community. But I’d never really figured out how to extend “Doing good” outside of our practice's four walls.

By the end of that 1998 Crown Council Event, Greg became CEO of Crown Council-Smiles for Life Foundation. And we began making a difference for others in the community. We were never the same. Working together in Smiles for Life for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital by donating all teeth whitening funds raised to charity gave us a life experience of doing good that made us better in more ways than we could’ve ever expected-even clinically.

Back on May 3^rd, I answered a colleague’s video wishing me a happy birthday. Asked how I celebrated another lap around the sun, I responded with my own video commentary, “I did good, fought evil, and ate lasagna.” “Doing good” has long triggered a Greg visual in my mind’s eye along with the words “kind” and “welcoming;” that’s not going to change.

Greg’s leadership and the Crown Council culture he created helped my team and I take risks, play big, and venture out into the real world…and we grew as people and healthcare providers from the experience. My team loved Greg, he always had a smile that expressed reassurance and support; he made confidence contagious. Ask me why I know.

Smiles for Life changed our world. Our practice service went to the next level; it felt so good reaching out and making a difference for others. Adding to St. Jude, we would also reach out to Haven House of Pasadena (the first shelter for victims of domestic violence established in the U.S.), the UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital, A Better LA, City of Hope, and Pasadena’s Foundation for Living Beauty. Team members were inspired to lead our community outreach and establish community services of their own. We loved coming to the office.

Because of Greg, I went to the Master’s and provided oral cancer screening for the Angels and Brewers during spring training; we entertained my patients with Appreciation Nights with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, and I almost made it to home plate for an interview at Cellular Field at the 2003 MLB All-Star game. My team and I shook Garth Brooks’ hand, gave him a hug, and enjoyed a Brooks’ concert at the Grand ole Opry; we saw Dolly at the Ryman, and road an elevator with Scottie Pippen in Salt Lake City a week or so before the Winter Olympics came to town. I met Dr. Hunter “Patch” Adams and became a Jon Acuff fan. Our lives would have been seriously dull without Greg’s Crown Council welcome aboard.

On May 3^rd evening, Denise (awesome consultant/speaker and my all-star treatment coordinator right up to my retirement) called about 10 PM; she shared about hearing a rumor that Greg had passed away. I couldn’t find the sad news until this morning, and I guess I wasn’t looking that hard…for a reason.

Greg helped us become the best version of ourselves; challenges became opportunities, and we came together as a team, famous in our own community. We’ll miss Greg forever but never forget him. It isn’t every day that a legacy of “Doing good” doesn’t seem nearly good enough.

Condolences going out to Greg’s beautiful family and countless friends.