Keynote Training  

We don't just take the stage. We change the way you see your practice, your team, and your life — and then we give you the tools to act on what you now see.

The PLA speaking team is available for dental associations, study clubs, conferences, practice groups, dental schools, and more. Every engagement is customized to your audience. Every topic is built around real experience — not theory.

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Why We Call It Keynote Training

The most massive shifts in your practice — and your life — don't come from learning new tactics. They come from seeing things differently. From a genuine paradigm shift. From looking at what you have always looked at and suddenly seeing it in a completely new light.

That is where real change begins.

Every Keynote Training delivered by the PLA team is designed to do two things: change the lens you are looking through, and give you specific, practical things to do with what you now see.

A mindset shift AND real training. Together, that combination is where massive, lasting change happens. That is what we deliver every time.

The most massive shifts in your practice
– and your life – come from seeing things differently.

Who We Are

We Don’t Just Teach This. We Built It.

What sets the PLA speaking team apart isn't just what they know — it's what they've done. Every principle, every framework, every system taught from the PLA stage was built and proven inside a real private practice over 20 years.

They are exceptional communicators. But that almost feels like a footnote — because the real differentiator is that they actually did it.

Jody Pugh – Founder, PLA | Culture Architect

  • Built and led real corporate sales teams before entering dentistry

  • Marketing degree and MBA — Florida State University

  • 20 years building the culture, systems, and team behind Melanie Pugh DMD PA

  • Formerly certified within his company — 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Professional Selling Skills, and more

  • Genuine culture architect — the person who designed and built the Dream Practice from the inside out

Melanie Pugh, DMD, D. AADSM — Clinical Voice of PLA

  • 30+ years in dentistry — public health, corporate dental, private practice with insurance, fee-for-service

  • Diplomate, American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine

  • Has owned, built, sold, and rebuilt practices across multiple states

  • Lived every version of this industry — the good, the hard, and everything in between

  • One of the most genuinely likeable and trustworthy voices in private practice dentistry

Barbara Culbertson — PLA Trainer | 40+ Years in Dentistry

  • 40+ years in dental — every role, every environment

  • Former Trainer, Heartland Dental — one of the largest DSOs in the country

  • Trained in: practice administration, communications, infrastructure development, patient experience, team systems

  • One of the most gifted dental office professionals in the country

  • Knows corporate dental from the inside — which is exactly why she believes so deeply in private practice done right

Keynote Trainings

Jody + Melanie + Barb - Joint Keynote Training

  • Three perspectives. One complete picture. Jody brings the operational strategy and culture systems. Melanie brings 30 years of clinical ownership experience — including living through the transition herself. Barb brings the team and office systems side — what has to be in place before, during, and after the transition. No other speaking team can deliver this topic with this depth of combined real-world experience.

Jody Pugh

  • Most practices treat sales, service, and productivity as three separate challenges. They are not. They share a single root — the human side of your business. This Keynote Training shifts the way you see your team and your patients, and gives you the specific framework that drives all three outcomes at once.

  • The moment practice owners see this differently — that it's not the wrong people, it's the wrong people in the wrong seats — everything changes. This Keynote Training introduces behavioral assessments as a leadership tool and gives attendees a clear framework for hiring, placing, and developing their team with intention.

  • What do the winningest coaches in college sports history have in common with the best-run dental practices in the country? The disciplines of execution. This Keynote Training draws from the playbooks of legendary coaches to show exactly what championship-level teams do differently — and how to bring it into your practice.

  • When life and practice squeeze you, what comes out? This Keynote Training is about building the internal architecture — the beliefs, habits, and principles — that keep you leading well when the pressure is highest. You will leave seeing pressure differently and with a specific framework for building the internal strength that doesn't bend.

  • Three layers determine the quality of every decision you make, every relationship you build, and every legacy you leave. This Keynote Training walks through Paradigms, Principles, and Processes as a unified framework for leading and living with intention. Simple. Profound. Immediately applicable.

  • Drift happens slowly — in marriages, in practices, in our own character. Most people don't notice it until they are far from where they meant to be. This Keynote Training helps audiences recognize the drift, understand how it happens, and find their way back to who they were built to be.

  • Social media is either filling you with content that makes you sharper, more motivated, and more informed — or it's doing the opposite. This Keynote Training shows audiences how to use their feeds with intention, turning passive scrolling into a daily learning and growth system.

Dr. Melanie Pugh

  • (Trailblazing in the 90s: What Three Decades of Private Practice Ownership Taught Me About Dentistry, Leadership, and Life)

    Melanie Pugh started her career as a female private practice owner in the 1990s — when it was still unusual, still hard, and still largely uncharted. This Keynote Training is an honest, personal account of what she learned, what she wishes she had known, and what the next generation of female dental professionals needs to hear before they start building. She changes the way they see the road ahead — and gives them the mindset tools to walk it with confidence.

Barbara Culbertson

  • Barb Culbertson watched her private practice get acquired by a major DSO. She became a corporate dental trainer — and saw the corporate dental world from deep inside it. Then she chose private practice. This Keynote Training is her honest account of that journey and the mindset shift that changed everything. Practice owners leave seeing their situation in a completely new light — and with a clear sense of what building something better actually requires.

  • Behind every great dental practice is a great office manager. This Keynote Training is built specifically for dental office managers and front desk teams — the people who hold the culture, the patient experience, and the daily operations together. Barb reframes what this seat means, what it demands, and what it looks like when it's done with excellence. Attendees leave seeing their role differently and with specific tools for leading it with pride.

Student & Youth Keynote Trainings | Jody Pugh

  • Most students know how to apply for a job. Very few know what hiring managers are actually looking for — and how to make themselves unforgettable before the interview even starts. This Keynote Training gives dental assisting students and pre-dental candidates the real inside information on standing out, getting hired, and starting strong.

  • The ability to communicate with confidence is one of the most undervalued skills in any profession. This Keynote Training teaches students how to build and deliver a presentation that lands — with structure, presence, and clarity. They leave seeing communication as a skill they can develop, not a talent they either have or don't.

  • What does it actually mean to build something? This Keynote Training opens teenagers' eyes to the entrepreneurial mindset — not as a distant dream, but as a way of thinking they can start developing right now. They leave seeing possibility where they previously saw limitation.

Ready to Bring PLA to Your Event?

We'd love to hear about your event. Fill out the form below and we'll be in touch personally to discuss availability, topics, and format.

Every engagement is customized. Every audience is different. We take both seriously.