Meet Elona Gaball

We recently connected with Elona Gaball and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Elona with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

I was born and raised in Russia and I get my work ethic from my dad. He was in prison for 2 terms when I was growing up. He left when I was 4 and when he came back when I was 12, he started his own business without a formal education and without having specific knowledge, experience or expertise in the field. He found the way to succeed in most hostile environments in prison, he was released early due to his positive change, consistent behavior and being a leader and encouraging and supporting his mates. I saw him leaver early and come home late and work on weekends and almost never take time off. He was resilient, committed and very driven. He always saw things from a positive perspective and always focused on being generous. He laughed a lot and was always super strong mentally, emotionally and physically. He continued in his entrepreneurship with 3-4 other business that all grew and became very successful with time. All of the business he invested himself in were businesses in which he had no direct knowledge or expertise. His example gave me faith to start my own business and persevere in the face of challenges and adversity. I came to the US at the age of 15 w/o knowing the language and learned all on my own. I graduated w honors from highs school, only did 3 yrs of undergrad training and got into the dental school early and graduated in the top 10 students of my class. I have now been a dentist for 25 yrs and have build a dream advanced aesthetic and rehabilitative wellness practice in SoCal. I also get my work ethic form the support of my family – they believe in my dreams and they believe that I can do it, therefore I work hard to live up to their faith in me. My husband, Curtis is my strongest foundation and support. He believes in me and practically helps me with small things that make a big difference such as making me breakfast and lunch every day. I also have very strong faith and trust that there is divine provision behind my work. the work does not feel like work, even though I work super hard. Practically sleep, staying fit and using food as fuel is what keeps my energy levels up and allows me to perform at higher levels.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am a cosmetic and rehabilitative dentist focused on wellness and whole comprehensive approach to oral and systemic health, I was born in Russia, came to the US at 15, progressed on my own, graduated w honors, did only 3 yrs in undergrad and was accepted to dental school early, graduated in top 10 students of my dental school class. I have been a dentist for 25 yrs and have focused on transforming dental experience for team, patients and doctors. I have started my own practice with a very small base that I purchased from a retiring doctor. I have quadruped the value of the business and have developed it into a high end, concierge style, solution focused comprehensive dental practice. Every touch point of the practice was intentionally created to remove stress, anxiety, fear and to provide a relaxed yet elite level experience while delivering world class results. People at our practice feel seen, heard, valued and deeply appreciated and get amazing smiles and improve their overall health. I have been with my husband Curtis for 31 yrs in a successful relationship. Curtis is a facial plastic surgeon who spent 28 yrs in service to our country in the Navy and now practices in So Cal in a local well know medical group. We have 3 daughters 25,21 and 18. Each one of them has had major health challenges and we have overcome them through the grace of God and the strength of our relationship. Due to our military service, we have moved and lived all over the world. I have been fit all of my life and I am committed to healthy and sustainable eating, wellbeing and self care practices such as prayer, meditation, breath and yoga. I run every day and spend a lot of time outside and in nature. I have daily routines to which I stick in a very dedicated manner. 7yrs ago I started working with trafficking survivors in San Diego and Orange County restoring their smiles, health, dignity and giving them a second chance in life. I founded my own non profit, Inspire Changes to support that efforts. We have contributed over $500,000 value of dental services other than the girls and women in need in 7yrs and continuing to expand in the effort through events, promotions and public healthy awareness efforts. I have been in personal development for 6 yrs and have completed and practice as a Certified High Performance Coach to professionals and business owners helping them perform at the highest level possible for them. I speak and participate in local events dedicated to sustainable business practices with social impact. I also have stooge faith and I am deeply committed to our church,

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Top 3 qualities that helped me are faith, persistence, work ethic. Advice: have faith in something outside of you carrying you through all for the challenges, know that your efforts and contributions make a huge difference. You believe for it before you can see the fruits of your labor. Focus on what develops IN you as you move through each evolution of your personal transformation and step of your journey. Take time to appreciate and FOCUS on what you DO have vs on that you don’t and what you CAN control vs what you can’t. Learn and PRACTICE presence, full awareness of what IS vs all the things that are not working or not working as well as you had hoped. There is no perfection and non one has it easy, it is ALL hard, you choose your hard. Work FOR making a difference, in oder to contribute and alter a life experience of another through your work as well allow your heart to be broken for something that is truly broken in society and the that ON as matter of personal commitment and responsibility. Be the change – I took on human beings being trafficked in e free country and dogging what I can do as a dentist to shine light into that darkness. With each smile restoration a life is drastically and drastically changed for the better. This knowledge of it being so transformational gives me the drive and energy needed to do all I need to do in my business and life.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

The book that has played an important role in role in my life is Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin.
Lesson 1: As entrepreneurs it is all on us : which is good and bad. It’s bad because it is a lot of work and responsibility and many things can an ado go wrong and when they do, we pay the price. Although it’s also good because it’s all up to us and we can change redirect, reset and restart any time we want and need.
Lesson 2: If something did not go as planned or anticipated instead of blaming others or circumstances, look in the mirror of truth, at ourselves and honestly and authentically asses the saturation, see each circumstance as a lesson, mitigate the impact of the issues w the best effort and best solutions we can see and find and see what we can change in the future within ourselves or in how we handled the situation in oder to prevent the problems form happening.
Lesson 3: Preparation, training and practice are key and they assure best performance. Plan a LOT and have systems in place to support the mission and only invite the right people to join you, Just like not everyone can be a Navy Seal, no everyone can be an elite level cosmetic wellness world class dental team member or partner. Screen and choose the people who are qualified, align with the vision, commit to the mission and are capable of carrying it out to the needed result.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.inspiresmilessd. com
• Instagram: @inspiresmilessd
• Facebook: @inspiresmilessd
• Linkedin: Elona Gaball
• Youtube: Inspire Smiles
• Yelp: Inspire Smiles

Image Credits

Images taken by Vincent Freeman and Israel Palacio