Dr. Pauline Lee: Building a Dental Business, Leading Healthcare Entrepreneurs, and Scaling with AI

From dentistry to business consulting and technology, Dr. Pauline Lee is building an ecosystem designed to help healthcare professionals grow.

Building a business is one challenge. Building multiple businesses while maintaining a clear vision is another.

For Jacksonville entrepreneur Dr. Pauline Lee, the journey has been about more than growing a successful dental practice. It has been about identifying problems, creating solutions, and helping other healthcare professionals become stronger business owners.

During a recent episode of the Founders & CEOs Collective Podcast, recorded at AGUYB STUDIOS in Jacksonville, Florida, Dr. Pauline joined host Frank Lamar for a conversation about entrepreneurship, leadership, education, technology, and the realities of scaling a business.

Throughout the interview, she shared how her experience in dentistry led her to develop businesses serving patients, dental professionals, and healthcare entrepreneurs.

Who Is Dr. Pauline Lee?

Dr. Pauline Lee is a Jacksonville-based dentist, entrepreneur, educator, and business leader.

Her work extends across three connected areas: dental care, professional education, and business technology.

While her career began in clinical dentistry, her interest in teaching and helping others eventually led her into consulting and software development.

Dr. Pauline explained that she has always enjoyed organizing information and sharing what she learns.

That passion became especially valuable when she began teaching dentists about Botox, fillers, and additional treatment options.

Through those experiences, she discovered a recurring challenge in the dental industry.

Many doctors were investing significant amounts of money in continuing education but struggling to implement what they learned inside their practices.

The problem wasn’t necessarily their clinical knowledge.

It was the business structure needed to introduce services, train employees, educate patients, and generate revenue.

That realization helped shape the direction of her entrepreneurial career.

Building Three Businesses Around One Mission

Today, Dr. Pauline operates businesses that connect healthcare services, education, and technology.

Each addresses a different challenge within the dental industry.

LA Dental Spa: Rethinking the Dental Experience

Dr. Pauline opened LA Dental Spa during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the uncertainty surrounding businesses at the time.

She chose a fee-for-service model that would allow her to focus on the experience and care she wanted to provide.

Her vision was to create a dental practice where patients felt comfortable, understood their treatment options, and received a more personalized experience.

She also recognized the role of communication in changing how people view dentistry.

Through social media and educational content, she began explaining treatments and helping patients understand that dental care involves more than addressing cavities or damaged teeth.

This approach helped her communicate the value of her services while reaching audiences beyond her immediate market.

Leadwell Academy: Teaching Dentists the Business Side of Dentistry

Through Leadwell Academy, Dr. Pauline focuses on helping healthcare professionals develop the skills needed to operate and grow their practices.

Dental school prepares doctors to treat patients.

Running a dental practice, however, requires additional knowledge.

Leadership, marketing, patient communication, team development, and business operations all play important roles.

Dr. Pauline recognized that many dentists were excellent clinicians but needed guidance in these areas.

Her educational approach is built around making complex information easier to understand and apply.

Rather than simply sharing information, she focuses on helping professionals implement what they learn.

SOPHIE: Bringing Technology Into Dental Practice Growth

Dr. Pauline has also entered the software industry through SOPHIE, a company focused on supporting dental practice operations and growth.

As businesses expand, maintaining consistent systems and managing teams become increasingly important.

For Dr. Pauline, technology represents another way to help healthcare professionals address operational challenges.

During the interview, she discussed the potential for software to support dental practices in different markets without requiring her to be physically present.

The move into technology also reflects her broader approach to entrepreneurship: identify a problem, understand the people experiencing it, and develop a solution that can reach more businesses.

The Reality of Scaling a Business

One of the most interesting parts of the conversation focused on the challenges entrepreneurs face as their companies grow.

When starting a business, the founder often handles almost everything.

They manage customers, deliver services, make decisions, and solve problems.

As the business expands, those responsibilities change.

The founder must begin building systems, developing employees, and creating processes that allow the company to operate consistently.

Dr. Pauline discussed how challenging this transition can be, especially when managing several businesses.

She also explained the importance of understanding whether team members are aligned with the company’s mission and prepared for their responsibilities.

Her experience highlights a reality that applies to almost every industry.

Growth requires more than bringing in new customers. It requires building a company capable of delivering the same level of service as it expands.

Why Dr. Pauline Doesn’t Chase Work-Life Balance

Another important moment in the interview came when Frank Lamar asked how she manages her responsibilities across multiple companies.

Dr. Pauline explained that she no longer sees traditional work-life balance as the goal.

Instead, she focuses on integration.

Different stages of entrepreneurship require different levels of commitment.

Some periods involve long hours, difficult decisions, and significant investments of time.

Rather than expecting every part of life to receive equal attention at every moment, she believes in understanding the chapter she’s currently experiencing.

It’s a perspective that challenges the idea that successful entrepreneurs must maintain perfect balance while building their companies.

Education, Discipline, and Learning Through Challenges

Dr. Pauline also shared a personal part of her journey.

Despite becoming a dentist and successful entrepreneur, she explained that academics did not always come easily to her.

She struggled with reading comprehension and had to develop her own methods for studying.

Instead of relying on traditional learning techniques, she learned to organize information, simplify concepts, and break complex subjects into smaller pieces.

Those experiences helped shape the way she teaches other professionals today.

For Dr. Pauline, education is not simply about collecting knowledge.

It’s about developing discipline, understanding how you learn, and finding ways to overcome challenges.

Her story offers an important reminder for entrepreneurs and professionals who may struggle with traditional approaches to learning.

Your challenges don’t have to determine how far you can go.

Boardroom Brunch: Creating Space for Healthcare Leaders

Alongside her work in dentistry, education, and technology, Dr. Pauline is also building a community for healthcare professionals.

Her Boardroom Brunch initiative brings together healthcare providers, entrepreneurs, and business leaders for conversations about leadership, business challenges, professional development, and wellness.

The concept is designed to move beyond traditional networking events.

Dr. Pauline wants to create an environment where leaders can share experiences, discuss problems, and learn from professionals who understand the demands of running a business.

She also sees the potential to expand these gatherings beyond Jacksonville.

The initiative reflects a theme that appeared throughout her conversation with Frank Lamar: successful businesses are built not only through individual effort but also through education, relationships, and collaboration.

How Sharing Knowledge Can Help a Business Grow

One theme connecting Dr. Pauline’s different ventures is her commitment to education.

Whether she’s explaining treatment options to patients, teaching dentists how to implement new services, or discussing leadership with other entrepreneurs, communication remains central to her work.

Her experience also demonstrates how business owners can use content to make specialized knowledge more accessible.

For healthcare professionals, explaining complex services in a clear way can help patients better understand their options.

For entrepreneurs, sharing experiences through interviews, podcasts, and educational videos creates space for deeper conversations about the work behind a business.

That is part of what makes conversations like the Founders & CEOs Collective Podcast valuable.

Through its interviews with business leaders, the series explores the decisions, challenges, and experiences that are often missing from traditional business profiles.

The conversation with Dr. Pauline, filmed at AGUYB STUDIOS, is one example of how professional storytelling can bring those experiences to a wider audience.

What’s Next for Dr. Pauline Lee?

As Dr. Pauline continues expanding her dental practice, developing SOPHIE, and supporting healthcare professionals through education, her focus remains on building businesses with a clear purpose.

Her journey shows how expertise in one industry can lead to entirely new ways of serving that same market.

What began with dentistry has grown into a combination of healthcare, education, technology, and community.

And while each business serves a different purpose, they are connected by the same idea: helping people improve the way they work, lead, and grow.

Watch the Full Conversation

In this episode of the Founders & CEOs Collective Podcast, Frank Lamar and Dr. Pauline Lee discuss the realities of entrepreneurship, the importance of education, and what it takes to build businesses that can grow beyond their founders.

The interview is part of a series of conversations with entrepreneurs and business leaders, produced by AGUYB STUDIOS in Jacksonville, Florida.

Guest: Dr. Pauline L.. e Host: Frank Lamar

Podcast: Founders & CEOs Collective

Production: AGUYB STUDIOS

Location: Jacksonville, Florida

Follow Dr. Pauline Lee:  @drpaulinelee

Watch the full episode to hear Dr. Pauline’s perspective on leadership, business growth, and the future of healthcare entrepreneurship.