From escape rooms to orthodontics, Dr. Scott Sakowitz isn’t your typical practice owner. On this episode of Hey Docs!, Jill Allen sits down with Dr. Sakowitz to unpack his one-of-a-kind entrepreneurial path. His story is equal parts guts, grit, and growth, and packed with lessons any business owner can put into play.
Most doctors cut their teeth on textbooks. Dr. Sakowitz cut his on… escape rooms. While in dental school, he launched Florida’s first escape room business, proving early on that he had both the vision and the hustle to turn ideas into reality. That entrepreneurial spark carried him straight into practice ownership, times three.
Opening one practice is brave. Opening two at the same time? That’s bold. Dr. Sakowitz dove into multi-location ownership head-on, accelerating his learning curve and forcing him to refine systems, strategy, and leadership faster than most. The payoff? A thriving network of practices built on momentum and adaptability.
When the banks hesitated, Dr. Sakowitz didn’t. He leveraged his escape room revenue, his associate role, and support from family to fund his first practices. His takeaway: diversify your income streams and don’t wait for a perfect yes. Sometimes you have to create your own green light.
Scaling isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing less of the wrong things. Dr. Sakowitz learned that leadership is about trust, not control. By empowering his team with specialized roles and ownership over outcomes, he freed himself up to focus on growth, strategy, and innovation.
A strong team culture doesn’t happen by accident. Dr. Sakowitz started by hiring for personality and alignment with his vision. Over time, he layered in intentional team-building projects like dream boards and shared goals that turned “staff” into a unified community. The result: a practice culture that fuels both performance and joy.
For Dr. Sakowitz, success isn’t about being everywhere all the time. It’s about being fully present where it matters. By restructuring his schedule and setting boundaries between office and home, he built the space to prioritize family and recharge without losing momentum in his practices.
Dr. Scott Sakowitz’s journey reminds us that business growth is less about following a formula and more about leaning into curiosity, resilience, and creativity. Whether you’re running one practice or scaling to many, the core principles hold true: innovate boldly, build teams you trust, and design a life that fuels you, not drains you.