What I Learned Driving Through a Snowstorm in the Mountains of Oregon

Last year, I was doing an onsite visit for a dental office in Bend, Oregon. Since I was already in the area, I thought it would be fun to drive over the mountains to Salem to visit Open Dental headquarters and then make my way to the Pacific Ocean in Newport. My decision was, admittedly, heavily influenced by a TikTok video—but that’s neither here nor there.

The drive there was perfect. The mountains were snow-capped and breathtaking, the beaches were warm and stunning, and I saw colors I didn’t even know existed in nature. It was epic.

But the drive home? A different story.

About 45 minutes from my destination, the snow started coming down in literal sheets. Now, I grew up in Wisconsin—I turned 16 in September, which means I learned to drive in the snow. But let me tell you—driving through a mountain snowstorm in a rental car is not the same thing.

Suddenly, cars were pulling over to put on snow chains—which I honestly thought were just a thing in movies. Turns out? They’re real. And my rental car, which had all sorts of modern “safety” features, kept trying to “correct” my driving, pulling me all over the road. It was terrifying.

Now that I’ve lived to tell the tale, I remember it more as a funny story than the near-death experience it actually was. But I also learned a lot—and, like most life lessons, those lessons apply just as much to the dental world as they do to mountain driving.

So, if I can share these insights without you having to experience a snowstorm in the Oregon mountains, let’s call that a win.

Lesson #1: Just Because You’ve Done Something Before Doesn’t Mean You’re Fully Prepared

I had years of experience driving in the snow—but I wasn’t prepared for this. The terrain was different, the car wasn’t my own, and I didn’t have the right tools (looking at you, snow chains).

In dentistry, the same applies. Just because you’ve worked with insurance claims before doesn’t mean you’re fully prepared for a tricky appeal. Just because you’ve handled scheduling for years doesn’t mean you’re ready for a last-minute wave of cancellations. The industry is always changing, and experience alone isn’t enough—you have to stay adaptable.

Lesson #2: The Wrong Tools Can Make Things Worse

That rental car’s safety features were supposed to help me—but instead, they made things way worse by pulling me in the wrong direction.

In your dental practice, having the wrong systems in place can do the same. If your RCM process is broken, adding more steps won’t fix it—it’ll just create more chaos. If your software isn’t set up correctly, it won’t make your life easier—it’ll slow your team down. The key is to have the right tools, set up the right way, for the right conditions.

Lesson #3: Sometimes, You Just Have to Keep Moving

In that snowstorm, stopping wasn’t an option. I couldn’t see the road, my car was fighting me, and everything in me wanted to pull over and wait it out. But I knew that if I stopped, I’d get stuck.

There are moments in business—and in life—where you just have to keep moving forward. It might be uncomfortable. It might be scary. You might not know exactly how you’re going to get through it. But stopping? That’s not an option.

Final Thoughts

Driving through a mountain snowstorm wasn’t the adventure I had planned, but it taught me some valuable lessons.

✅ Experience alone isn’t enough—you have to adapt.

✅ The wrong tools can make things worse, not better.

✅ Sometimes, the only way out is through.

So, whether you’re facing a tough day at the office, a business challenge, or an actual blizzard, take a deep breath and keep going—you’ve got this.