How InBrace Is Going To Change The $40 Billion Dollar Orthodontic Market with John Pham: An EOFire Classic from 2022

0:01Light that spark fire nation. JLD here and welcome to entrepreneurs on fire brought to you by high level, the all-in-one sales and marketing platform. On today's classic episode, we'll be breaking down how Embrace is going to change the$40 billion orthodontic market. To drop these value bombs, I brought to John Pham at EO Fire Studios. John is an entrepreneur, team builder, former aerospace engineer, and practicing orthodontist. As CEO and co-founder of Embrace, he's using leadership skills and treatment innovations developed from years of research to disrupt the orthodontic industry with an invisible consumer-friendly solution for today's active patient.

0:37And today we talk about how entrepreneurship is not about offering more of the same, it's about offering something different, how you have to embrace what makes you different and believe in it, and oh, so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to John and our sponsors. Are you ready for the ultimate all-in-one platform for entrepreneurs, marketers, coaches, and agencies? Build funnels, automate follow-ups, manage clients, and even white-label your own software. Say hello to our featured partner, High Level, and visit highlevelfire.com to start your free trial today.

1:13John, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. Fire Nation, what's going on? I think a lot of people think about success as, I don't know, like a destination that you get to, a diploma or a dollar amount. And for me, success, I don't think of it so much as what you get. It's really who you become. It's the journey that really defines success. So, yeah, that's what success means to me. And Fire Nation, we're going to be talking about how John took Embrace and is now going towards his version of success. And I first off do want to start, John, by saying, what the heck is Embrace?

2:05Break it down for us. I'm an engineer and orthodontist by training. And so, you know, I spend a lot of my time straightening teeth. And, you know, Embrace is a new type of teeth straightening. We call it a new category of teeth straightening that goes behind the teeth. And we do it using space age shape memory material that can move your teeth, you know, gently, comfortably with fewer interventions and shorter treatment time. Let's talk about the actual journey because you did mention you were an engineer and you obviously didn't start off day one at Embrace. So kind of like let's walk through where you were, how you got to where you are today.

2:46and, of course, sharing that aha moment of embrace. Life very much is a journey of different endpoints. And like Steve Jobs says, it doesn't really make sense going forward. It makes sense looking backwards. And so I guess it really is that immigrant story. My family came on rickety boats from Vietnam, right? And when we came here, we were farmers. Um, and, uh, you, you know, I'm from California, uh, Los Angeles. So when you're driving through the hood in LA, you always see, you know, um, those people on the, on, you know, on the side of the road selling, you know, oranges and things like that.

3:31Um, yeah, that, that was me, you know, early on. Um, except, uh, instead of selling oranges, we were selling Asian herbs. But, um, the, the reason I bring that up is because, um, you know, at an early age, I, I learned the value of being different, right? There's always that kid selling oranges. There's that girl selling lemonade. And I could sell better oranges. I could sell better lemonade. Or I could sell something different. Does that make sense? It does make sense. And keep the journey going forward as far as what was that next step out of that part in your life that now led you to where you are today?

4:09Fast forward later, it was during the tech boom. Dropped out of school, did a couple of startups, et cetera, et cetera. promised my mom if she'd let me drop out that I'd go back and become the doctor that she always wanted because that's what I was supposed to do, right, as an immigrant. And so, you know, when I came back and, you know, went to dental school to make mama happy, you know, once you're an entrepreneur, it never leaves your blood, right? So I was just kind of, you know, looking around for that next thing. And when I was going through my residency rotations at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, we were treating kids with cleft lip and palate.

4:55And that's like, if you know about it, that's the most severe types of, you know, malocclusion or crooked teeth out there. And these kids would have to generally come in from, you know, hours away for, you know, every single month for years on end. And, you know, we thought, is there a way for us to use technology so that they don't have to come in so often anymore, so that they don't have to be in pain every single month when they do come in. And most importantly, so they don't have to look worse before they look better. And, you know, as we were developing this and helping these kids, we found out that the need for these things extends beyond just kids with cleft lip and palate.

5:35It applies to people like you and me as well. Our youngest patient is eight years old, our oldest patient is 80 years old. And that was the beginning of Inbrace. See, to me, Fire Nation, it's really just a fascinating story when you're willing to walk out the door every single day, keep your eyes open, keep your ears open, talk to people, see what's missing in this world, see a problem that is not being solved, see a void in the marketplace that's not being filled, or that's not being filled as good as it otherwise could be. And that kind of leads me to my next question, which is, John, what does make Embrace different?

6:10What is that void that Embrace is filling that wasn't being filled before? What service is it fulfilling that was not being fulfilled? The types of people that are coming in getting Embrace, you know, when you think about people getting T-straightening, you don't want me to think of what, John? Like teenagers, you know, teens and tweens, right? Oh, yeah, I think of my high school years. Yeah, what gets me excited is that the people that are coming in the embrace right now are people like you and me, right? People that do care about their looks, care about their skin, care about their hair, care about their nails, right?

6:45But they never thought about T-straining being for them because, again, you know, the world or the stereotypes had been that, you know, embrace had only been for a certain type of market. Excuse me, not embrace, but T-straining had only been for a certain type of market. it so you know um going back to what you were saying before what what makes in brace special and different is um fundamentally we deliver a different type of experience you know you got regular braces which is a mouthful of metal it goes on the outside um there's these things called you know plastic aligners that you may have heard of where you got to pop these trays in and out every single day for 22 24 hours a day right and there's a lot of people that want teeth straightening but don't want either of those two options, right?

7:27And so, you know, we saw a void and a need for that. And that's why we developed Embrace. And that is why Embrace now lives in this world, Fire Nation, because they saw the need and they filled that need. And we're really going to be breaking in to a lot more details behind this, around this, and help for you as entrepreneurs when we get back from thanking our sponsors. For entrepreneurs like you and me, cashflow isn't just another line item. It's everything. And if you're trying to manage it without a clear view of what's coming in and what's going out, it can feel like you're flying blind. That's when decisions get delayed, bills sneak up on you, and opportunities slip through the cracks.

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8:38Again, that's quickbooks.com slash money. Terms apply. Money movement services are provided by Intuit Payments Inc., licensed as a money transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services. Okay, let's talk about a platform that's completely changing how entrepreneurs are running their business, and they are also our featured partner, HighLevel. If you're an entrepreneur, coach, agency, or course creator looking to grow faster and smarter, HighLevel is the all-in-one platform that replaces your entire tech stack. Seriously, think ClickFunnels, Calendly, MailChimp, Kajabi, and even your CRM all rolled up into one powerful white label solution.

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9:47Seriously, every question that pops up, they will have your answer waiting. And if you visit my special partnership link, you'll get a free trial. So visit highlevelfire.com to start your free trial and see why thousands of businesses are switching. That's highlevelfire.com, where marketing, sales, and automation finally come together. High level, join the revolution. So John, with the pandemic, I mean, there's been an increase for teeth straightening. I mean, you've seen it, the numbers don't lie. Why are people suddenly so obsessed with their teeth? And how has this affected your business? With the Zoom culture now, everyone's just looking in the camera, staring at themselves.

10:29And I, you know, again, And I think it's not that people are suddenly realizing that they want their teeth straightened. I think they finally have an option that fits their lifestyle, that suits their needs. I think what entrepreneurship to me really is about isn't about offering more of the same. It's I think what you're saying about filling in the white space, offering something fundamentally different. right if you're thirsty you can have coca-cola you can have water or you can have lemonade right multiple ways to quench your thirst if you want to get your teeth strained before in brace there was only two options there was only regular braces where you know you know the ugly betty type image and then you had plastic aligners again like i said popping these things in and out all the time and in brace delivers a a a you know different type of experience that doesn't require work on your side.

11:29It just sits behind the teeth and is working all the time, gently, comfortably, you know, on autopilot. So I think that's why, you know, the demand and the growth of Inbrace has been so substantial over the last couple of years. And I think what's interesting is I think a lot of people missed this opportunity. You know, when the pandemic initially broke out, I mean, understandably, we were concerned about a lot of things as we should have been. But I think a lot of people didn't take this opportunity to say, okay, I'm concerned about a lot of things rightfully so. I'm going to take care of what needs to be taken care of.

12:00But what are the opportunities now? Like, what are the opportunities that might not have existed before this happened that I can, you know, come out being rosy on the other side of things? So next time something crazy happens in this world, Fire Nation, you know, of course, react in the way that you should and protect yourself and take care of your family. But then also in the back of your mind, when you maybe have a second to breathe, say, now the world's different. What new opportunities may arise that might not otherwise have arisen? And you just went through a series D funding. So for a lot of our listeners, they're entrepreneurs, they're growing businesses, they're looking to get funded.

12:37They're looking to go for their family and friends round, for their seed round, for their pre-sale, for their series A, B, C. Talk to us about funding. Break down for us what you've gone through in the funding side of things and now, you know, what a series defunding even means. Man, I remember the first time we came up with this idea and we pitched it to the dental school. As I said, this was part of my, you know, residency program, master's thesis. It was a research project. And, you know, we saw the impact it was making in people's lives. And we went to the dental school to pitch it. And guess what?

13:14They said, no. They said, you know, why would you need something like this? Braces works fine. The things that we have right now work fine. And we had to, you know, go outside of, you know, our comfort zones and went over to the School of Engineering, actually. And I remember my first pitch, I was asking for$50 ,000. And I was looking in the mirror, you know, stuttering almost as I asked for it. And, you know, I thought with$50 ,000, we could change the world and be rich, you know, and 50 ,000 became 500 ,000 became 5 million. And, you know, in a number of years now, we raised over$178 million to bring this to market.

13:53But I think, you know, the questions about fundraising, it's about just having this dream and this passion that you believe in. And, you know, if you believe in it enough, and you just keep going, you'll work through the nose, and eventually you'll get funded and just keep going. Now talk to us specifically about the series defunding. What recommendations would you have for listeners right now who are going to be going through this process at some point in their business? What do you wish you knew? When you're doing something for the first time and no one's ever done it before, right? And I talk about it in the sense of creating new categories or I think you had brought up doing something different or meeting the white space or trying to find that need.

14:38If no one's ever done it before, you are the world expert. So you just do your diligence, do your best, and answer the questions. But if you don't know it, nobody knows it. So just have confidence. It's going to come back to confidence, Fire Nation. Go forth and conquer. Now, let's get specific. We talked a little bit about this in different areas, but how is Embrace disrupting the market? What are you doing that's really different besides what we've already covered? To me, entrepreneurship really is about, as you say it, filling a need that doesn't exist. And oftentimes, I think to me, real entrepreneurship is solving a problem people don't know they have.

15:20And to do that requires changing minds. Disney changed the people who think about what amusement parks are. Apple changed the way people interact with their electronic devices. You know, Tesla changing how people think about the driving experience, so on and so forth. And, you know, for us, we're really here to help orthodontists tap into a whole new type of consumer that had always cared about straightening their smiles or having a better smile. Just never knew that T-straightening was for them. You know, my goal here is to have people think about T-straightening differently and fundamentally grow the market, which is what we're doing.

15:59So what's in store for the future here is that we're going to continue bringing this across the nation, eventually across the world, and hopefully help more and more people get the type of smiles that they've always wanted. Well, smiles are key, especially since we were talking about with that new Zoom culture and we got that camera right in our face, bright old smile right in the bright spotlight. Fire Nation, take this to heart. John, what's the one thing that you really want to make sure Fire Nation gets from our entire conversation today? Like we talked about a lot of things. What do you really want to make sure our listeners walk away with?

16:39Fire Nation, this is about entrepreneurship, filling a need and all those things we talked about in the last 20 minutes. Then, you know, I would say that you have to embrace what makes you different and just believe in it and not just try to do more of the same. especially when you're out there trying to create a new business trying to fundraise everybody's going to be trying to put you into a box yeah compare you to you know whatever company a and how you're better than company a or compare you to the guy selling oranges and how your oranges are better and if what you're doing is really filling an unmet need that people don't know about then what you have is fundamentally different and you can't be put in a box you're creating a new box that's important fire nation if you've seen dirty dancing just always remember don't put baby in the corner.

17:26Nobody puts a baby in a corner. Now, John, where can Fire Nation connect with you? Where can we learn more about what you have going on? Easiest thing to do on the Asia social media. You can find us on Instagram. Our handle is at Inbrace, I-N-B-R-A-C-E. Or you can go on our website, Inbrace.com. Inbrace.com. And Fire Nation, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And you've been hanging out with JP in JLD today. So keep up the heat and head over to eofire.com. Type John in the search bar. His show notes page will pop up with everything that we've been talking about here today.

17:59John, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation today. Hey, your journey, your story. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Pleasure being here. Hey, Fire Nation, today's value bomb content was brought to you by John and Fire Nation's successful entrepreneurs accomplish big goals. That's why I created the Freedom Journal to guide you in accomplishing your number one goal in 100 days. And we're talking step by step. So visit thefreedomjournal.com and I'll catch you there or I'll catch you on the flip side. Are you ready for the ultimate all-in-one platform for entrepreneurs, marketers, coaches, and agencies?

18:41Build funnels, automate follow-ups, manage clients, and even white label your own software, say hello to our featured partner, High Level, and visit highlevelfire.com to start your free trial today.