Ina Pockrass

Most people are a tad apprehensive about a visit to their dentist. Even the hardiest of us can feel a bit on edge listening to all that grinding. But there is one dental office that is trying to change that experience and save the environment while they’re at it.

Ina Pockrass and her husband, Dr. Fred Pockrass, DDS, have built a dental business based on a soothing dental experience and environmental business practices. It’s said to be the first dental office of its kind with eco-friendly design using green building materials such as reclaimed paper pulp and bark wallpaper, terry cloth dental bibs and head rests, and vinyl alternative flooring made of flax, wood flour and rosins. They also included human friendly practices like no chemical sterilizations, digital imaging that uses 70 to 90 percent less radiation, and massage and meditation to reduce pain and stress.

Interestingly, Ina and Fred did not start out with an environmental agenda but with a yoga and meditation practice. Dr. Fred Pockrass spent time studying with a meditation master in India and was a personal dentist to a renowned Indian guru. With this background, both Ina and Fred desired to create a business where consciousness and awareness guided every decision that they made. This conscious decision making naturally led to a more client and environmentally-centered business.

Ina Pockrass enjoyed her previous life as an attorney in intellectual property litigation. After 18 years in which she reached the top of her game, it was time to see if all the entrepreneurial acumen she had developed could help her with her own enterprise. When Fred and Ina sat down three years ago and began business planning they did an analysis of the LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) consumer that makes decisions based on sustainability and health and determined that it was a viable niche market.

Convincing the folks in the traditional dental financing world was a different matter. Ina and Fred bucked the conventional wisdom of buying the practice of a retiring dentist. Because starting up a new practice while targeting the green-minded consumer had never been done before, the finance people weren’t sure it was going to work. However, it did, and Ina and Fred are proud that their predictions were correct and their business plan was sound.

After working as an attorney for Julia Butterfly Hill, Ina was determined to be the change she sought. This led to partnering with individuals and organizations with similar commitment to thoughtful living. The business was certified as a green business with the Alameda County Bay Area Green Business Program. Transcendentist™ became a member of the Sustainable Business Alliance, and Ina became chair of the board of directors of Circle of Life, the nonprofit founded by Julia Butterfly Hill. Ina and Fred had aggressive new client targets for their business. Although, as a startup they were told to not expect more than 10-15 new clients per month, their target was 30 new clients a month. In the last two years they have been drawing between 30 and 40 new clients per month, and some months they see as many as 60 new sets of teeth.

Ina and Fred have envisioned their business as a model business that can be replicated as a turnkey sustainable-business process. They are in the process of licensing the Transcendentist brand offices and a series of core business products so that other such offices don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Everything from marketing materials to biocompatible dental materials are set to be wrapped up in a repeatable process.

When Ina and Fred began their process of trying to create the country’s first ‘green’ dental office, there was not much in the way of guidance as they navigated their way. Luckily, there has been an increasing number of organizations cropping up to help entrepreneurs who want to be unabashedly and radically sustainable in the way they structure their business.

For health professionals, there is a nonprofit that supports health practitioner on the topic of environmental and sustainable medicine called Teleosis (www.teleosis.org). City and County organizations like the Green Business Certification Program (www.greenbiz.abag.ca.gov) and sustainability offices can be helpful, and there are a growing number of organizations like the Sustainable Business Alliance (sustainablebiz.org) and SFBalle (sfballe.org/SanFrancisco) where business owners can go for encouragement and an exchange of ideas. For companies building a new space or remodeling Build it Green (formerly the Green Resource Center) is a great resource for green building information (builditgreen.org). For more established entrepreneurs, an organization like the Social Venture Network (www.svn.org) can provide high-level guidance on increasing business sustainability.

When asked what she is most proud of about her business, Ina cites the transformation she sees in clients. “So many people don’t visit the dentist, not because they couldn’t afford it but because they thought the dental office was a place of fear.” She has seen the transformation when clients know they will be treated as a whole person and fears will be addressed and dealt with in a loving way.

Catherine Woodman is a Registered Representative and Investment Advisor Associate with Protected Investors of America who works with socially conscious investors. She can be reached at (510) 528-5823 or via email at cwoodman@protectedinvestors.com.