Meet Your Hosts
The Dental Associate Edge was built on a simple belief: that dental associates deserve better preparation for the business side of practice ownership than most dental schools ever provide.
Dr. Dave Striegel and Sandy Baird, MBA, bring complementary expertise — and a shared passion for closing that gap to reduce widespread frustration, stress, and professional burnout — to every episode of The Dental Associate Edge.
Sandy Baird, MBA
CO-HOST
Sandy Baird is a dental practice management consultant and speaker with over 40 years of hands-on dental management experience and an M.B.A. from Auburn University.
Founded in 2005, Baird Dental Business Concepts is a full-service consulting firm offering general dentists and their teams business, financial, and operational management services.
Sandy works with dental teams who are overwhelmed, stretched thin, and tired of one-size-fits-all advice. She helps small private practices reduce stress, simplify their systems, and create solutions that actually fit their practice. It’s all about making daily life easier, smoother, and more sustainable for everyone in the office.
As a dental industry speaker, she brings the experience and enthusiasm to help attendees reach their next level of success through presentations focused on developing self-managed teams, leadership, embezzlement, and more.
Dave Striegel, PhD
CO-HOST
Dr. Dave Striegel is a highly respected performance coach, consultant, and speaker with a Ph.D. in sport psychology and more than 3 decades of experience helping people perform at their best under real pressure.
Over the years, Dave has worked with a wide range of high performers—from professional and elite amateur athletes to Fortune 500 executives, business owners, doctors, educators, and law-enforcement professionals. His background includes work with athletes competing on the PGA, LPGA, ATP & WTA Tours, as well as teams and individuals from MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, the U.S. Ski Team, and elite military and federal law-enforcement units.
While the principles Dave teaches apply broadly, his sweet spot is working with highly driven leaders and teams who care deeply about results—and feel the weight that comes with that responsibility. His work focuses on helping people think more clearly, communicate more effectively, and perform consistently under pressure.
In recent years, Dave has become especially well-known for his work coaching dental leaders. He helps practice owners and leadership teams translate performance psychology into practical strategies that improve team alignment, reduce stress, and drive sustainable profitability—without losing the human side of leadership.
As a speaker and coach, Dave is known for his engaging, no-nonsense style. He has a gift for cutting through noise, simplifying complex challenges, and helping people focus on what actually moves the needle. Clients value his ability to make ideas stick—and to turn insight into action they can apply immediately at work and at home.