Today we’d like to introduce you to Ed Thomas & Cary Gahm. They and their team shared their story with us below:
The origin story of GoTu will always start with a conversation with Deb Simmons. Deb is a close friend of ours, who also happens to be a dental hygienist who has been in the industry for over 30 years.
Deb had many hygienist friends who wanted to earn extra income on their terms but didn’t want to drive for ridesharing companies or work for grocery delivery services. She also had many friends who were dental office managers dealing with canceling patients because they were short-staffed. Knowing both sides had a problem, Deb felt like there just had to be a better way.
We evaluated the space with the initial concept of a calendar swap app. But the sheer size of the industry (there are 12.5 times as many dental offices as there are Starbucks) led us to think deeper. We eventually decided to create a technology-powered staffing marketplace. We want to offer providers incredible flexibility when they want to earn additional income for themselves and their families.
Deb’s insights as a dental professional were critical to helping us build GoTu.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We launched GoTu in late 2019, right before COVID-19 hit. Operating a new start-up company amid a global pandemic undoubtedly led to some difficult times.
We were faced with market volatility, widespread economic uncertainty, and operational disruptions in an already competitive landscape. It was also tough to build connections, both internally and externally. Identifying, hiring, and training new team members in a remote setting, all while attempting to build an outer circle without typical networking events, presented its challenges.
GoTu got its start as the world endured an unprecedented situation. Despite our chaotic start, the experience made our company more adaptable, highly creative, and resilient, because it was the only way we would succeed.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Modern problems require modern solutions, and at GoTu, we’ve taken a truly unique, revolutionary approach to combat the problem of connecting dental professionals with staffing opportunities. By leveraging advanced technology, we can seamlessly pair dental offices with the right candidates resulting in a win-win situation for our app users. It’s important to not only have an idea you believe in but also have the dedication and the right team beside you to be able to implement it.
We are an industry-leading dental staffing marketplace that allows dental offices to contract directly with registered dental hygienists (RDH) and dental assistants to fill single-day, short-term, or permanent positions. This skill-sharing model places hiring power in the hands of its users, allowing practice managers to directly connect with qualified candidates who possess the right skills while offering professionals the opportunity to work where they want when they want, and how they want.
What sets us apart from the competition is that we treat our internal team as well as we do our app users. It’s critical that our team feels invested in the work. Part of what makes GoTu special is our values. We have five ideals that help us cultivate a strong environment and attract quality people.
Very early on, we had a few instances that drove home how much we were impacting people’s lives, and we’ve kept that at the center of GoTu for so many of the decisions that we made. One of our providers told us how GoTu allowed her to keep a full schedule while being her husband’s main caregiver during a time of serious illness. She knew she’d need total flexibility to meet the demands of his treatment schedule, so a full or part-time commitment wouldn’t work. She worked around the doctors’ appointments and was still able to work to provide for her family. She said she fully expected to exhaust their family savings during this period, and GoTu allowed her to keep working.
We truly believe we stand out because we make each decision knowing it is going to truly affect someone’s life, happiness, and livelihood.
What are your plans for the future?
The demand for registered dental hygienists continues to grow, but the supply of qualified professionals has yet to catch up. However, with a dental staffing marketplace like GoTu, we’ve been able to make a major difference in places like Florida, New York, and New Jersey, among others.
As we continue to expand, we’re hopeful that we can help empower dental professionals with better wages and work experiences – and also help diversify the industry as well. We’re also partnering with organizations like BrownGirl, RDH a nonprofit organization dedicated to removing cultural and economic barriers affecting the dental hygiene workforce pipeline, as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lp.joingotu.com/about
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joingotu/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joingotu
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/joingotu
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/joingotu
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@joingotu
Image Credits
GoTu
