In 2019, Kristi Casey received a call from a stranger that changed her professional life.
Merritt Dake, co-founder of Rock Dental Brands of Little Rock, wanted her to be the company’s chief operating officer.
Casey said that she was “skeptical about jumping into a new field at my age.” She had spent 18 years in the telecom industry, including at Verizon, where she held several executive-level positions.
But she took the job, and “fell in love with the culture and the mission,” she said.
In 2021, she was named CEO of Rock Dental, a group of more than 90 clinics with 850 employees that provides support to general dentists and dental specialists affiliates.
“These past four years have been unprecedented times for all businesses,” said Casey, a North Little Rock native and graduate of Hendrix College in Conway.
But the company has been growing “so quickly that there is never time to slow down,” she said.
Rock Dental has expanded to a five-state region, and “we are just getting started,” she said. “We have lofty goals for expansion to meet our mission of creating healthy and confident smiles.”
She said her leadership philosophy is to unlock potential. “I aim to inspire resilience, demand excellence and provide opportunities for infinite growth,” Casey said. “Great relationships are symbiotic. By investing in my team, taking personal accountability in enhancing their resumes, and empowering them, we achieve greatness together.”
Casey said she’s too stubborn to give up, which is the secret to her success.
“I wasn’t the smartest, but I was willing to do what others were not — work extra hours, ask tough questions, take on difficult assignments and move across the country multiple times,” she said.
She said that many of those moves were lateral, but they pushed her outside her comfort zone. “Success often highlights the glory but obscures the personal sacrifices made along the way,” she said.
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