Keys to Career Success: Advice From Owasso’s Top Professionals
By Atalie Sherman
As high schoolers consider college, trade schools, medical school etc., they often feel a tremendous amount of pressure as they prepare for a successful future. Navigating through high school with this in mind, I asked three Owasso Professionals how they came to success and what they recommend high schoolers do to be proactive towards their future profession. Here, three interviews later, is their insightful advice:
Dr Dirk Thomas, Dentist and Dental Practice Owner
For Doctor Dirk Thomas of Thomas Dental and Eyecare, dentistry was an early career consideration.
“My grandmother was a dental assistant and [everyone] always told me from my earliest memories ‘well, you're going to be a dentist’,” he laughs.
Photo of Thomas Dental & Eye Care storefront taken by Atalie Sherman
While attending Owasso High School as a teenager, Thomas prepared for dental school by taking heavy math and science courses, saying, “The math and the science were solid at Owasso. Math, science, anatomy —just as much of that STEM stuff as you can take is the ticket. There’s no shortcutting that stuff.”
More than just the course work though, Thomas says that knowing the person he was and having peace about his decision to go into healthcare made him successful.
“If you want to think about what would help you, the key is just knowing yourself,” Thomas continues. “Having the confidence in yourself to say, ‘Hey, I can do whatever I put my mind to’ is really important.”
Dr. Thomas encourages high schoolers to be confident in the people that they are and not worry about popularity or self-image, saying, “It's a challenge to be a long-term thinker when you’ve been around for such a short time. If I could give a gift of something [to high schoolers], it would be perspective.”
For people in healthcare that want to start their own practices like Dr. Thomas, he explains that “people skills, business skills, being clear and being deliberate are all great foundations for any field.”
For Dr. Thomas, it's having clear communication and peace in his career choice that have helped him become an accomplished dentist in Owasso.
Lisa McBride, Teacher at Owasso High School
When Mrs. Lisa McBride of Owasso High School was entering college, she felt pressure from her parents to go into a prestigious career like her father, who was a surgeon. After trying her hand at a law office and taking various business courses, all of which she hated, she came to an important conclusion.
“It was kind of like this big epiphany. If I hate it, what am I doing?”
Shortly after, McBride subbed in an eighth grade classroom at the wishes of her friend and “fell in love” leading class discussions and interacting with her students.
“I just was like, ‘I think that I can do this everyday’,” she said of her teaching experience. “I think that is the biggest thing —you don’t have to know what you want to do, you just have to focus on what you like.”
In this way, Mrs. McBride is a perfect example of someone who succeeded without having everything figured out at first, an important lesson for high schoolers worried about their careers. Like her, focusing on what one is naturally good at and finding a way to make it tangible is a good key to being successful.
John Cash, Restaurant Owner and Entrepreneur
John Cash of Trails End BBQ in Owasso has been a successful entrepreneur and restaurant owner for 25 years in Owasso, though he didn't always know what industry he wanted to go into.
“I always realized that I wanted to be in business for myself, but wasn't sure until I worked in the corporate world for a while that I really wanted to have control over my destiny,” he laughed.
Photo of Trails End BBQ storefront taken by Atalie Sherman
Cash had to learn a few parts of entrepreneurship the hard way and encourages students who are interested in owning their own business to take business courses and not neglect the small things.
“It’s good to know simple things from how to count change back to balancing a checkbook. Sometimes the basics are the best place to start,” he advises.
To succeed in this industry, Cash believes high schoolers “need a lot of self-confidence, determination and to know that they can do anything they put their mind to as long as they are willing to put the work into it.”
In Cash’s opinion, being a successful business owner is a good balance of what you know and the willingness you have to persevere.
After interviewing three Owasso professionals on their paths to success, I came away with three main takeaways:
First, knowing who you are and having peace in your choice of profession is the goal.
Secondly, it's important to not neglect your own interests to meet others' expectations.
Finally, when the going gets tough, nothing beats hard-work and determination.