In this week’s episode, Jaden speaks with Ivan Velazquez, the VP of Operations at Specialty Dental Brands. Ivan stresses the importance of building bridges with team members and ensuring that those bridges are prioritized throughout the working relationship. Ivan started his career in administrative work at New Century Industries and stayed there for about 3 years. He switched to operational management in the retail industry at Abercrombie & Fitch, then at SSD Systems, and finally at Dental Management Services. He worked his way up to Vice President of Operations at Specialty Dental Brands, where he manages a large group of people. Ivan draws on his stories and imparts advice on pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. Ivan talks about his personal challenges and emphasizes the importance of finding mentorship– he shares personal anecdotes about his childhood and his mentors. Ivan underscores the importance of maintaining trust and focusing on how to ensure employees feel heard. Ivan is an expert at building bridges between himself and his team, and is wonderful at organization. Ivan’s focus on building bridges helped his team with boosting morale, leading to an increase in productivity. He advises having tough conversations sooner rather than later. He shares some of his personal anecdotes and advises leaders to focus on building relationships with their teams. Ivan’s empathy and respect shine through in his leadership. With decades of experience in operations and leadership, Ivan now shares his wisdom on the Tips for Team Building Podcast. More About Our Guest: Ivan Velazquez is a VP of Operations at Specialty Dental Brands with expertise in team building and interpersonal relationships, implementing various operational infrastructure, and management. Demonstrated history of building strong teams and collaborative relationships at all levels of an organization. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivan-velazquez-mba-b6477941 https://specialtydentalbrands.com/