Susan Porter is the youngest child of Oklahoma’s first African American Senator, E. Melvin Porter. She works as regional manager of operations for Heartland Dental, a dental service organization that supports six dental offices throughout Oklahoma City, Enid and Lawton. She’s also a personal and professional growth coach through her own company, Mojo Original. As if that didn’t keep her busy enough, Susan does her best to keep up with her 14-year-old son, Porter Chappelle.
Here’s a day in the life of the single mom:
6:00 a.m. – Alarm goes off and after I hit snooze three times I am finally up at 6:15. I spend time giving gratitude and praying before starting my day. I am a big fan of KOCO in the morning so it is on throughout the house as I prepare for the day.
6:30 a.m. – I drink a cup of hot water as soon as I am up and moving around. Depending on my schedule, I will either do a few exercises at home, tidy up the house or immediately start getting ready and packing lunches.
6:45 a.m. – This is my son’s first call to get up. He needs to snooze a bit so I give him five-minute increments until he is finally up by 7:00. Since I either work from home or rotate my time between offices, his wake-up time depends on where I have to be
7:30 a.m. – If I am not working from home, this is the time we are out the door. He gets to school (Heritage Hall) between 7:45 and 8 a.m. and then I am off to an office for a visit or back home for conference calls.
8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. – Mondays are heavy call days so I usually work from home. My entire day is sitting at my desk on back-to-back calls and checking emails. Tuesday through Friday my days consist of visiting offices and collaborating with doctors and administrators about their practice. We review office metrics, business results, team development, doctor goals, coaching opportunities, patient satisfaction and our projections for the current month. I speak with my six practice managers throughout the week and provide support as needed. My job is to build relationships and get results. I provide coaching and guidance to them and the doctors, helping to develop their communication, partnership and business acumen. Patient satisfaction, happy team members and successful practices are my priorities. I will spend anywhere from an hour to all day in my offices. It really depends on their need. It is so great to see how excited the team gets when they know they have changed someone’s life. To see a patient walk through the door unwilling to smile and walk out the door grinning from ear to ear can bring tears to your eyes.
It is equally rewarding when someone walks in with pain and our doctors and team members can provide relief by taking care of their dental needs. My day will wrap up by 5 p.m. or sometimes later if I have a business dinner after work. Most days my Mom will pick my son up from school. On the rare occasion I can pick him up is a highlight for us both.
5:30-6:00 p.m. – I stop at my Mom’s to pick up my son. She is my lifesaver and as a single mom, I could not have the career I do without her support.
6:00-10:00 p.m. – Once home, my son and I immediately change clothes and spend a few minutes relaxing and talking about our day before he starts homework and I start dinner. My evenings consist of dinner, housework and working on Mojo Original. Twice a month I host Facebook Live “Mojo Talks” focused on personal and professional growth. Other days, I am working on my book, additional training content, calls with clients or relaxing and watching TV. Besides homework, my son spends his evenings taking care of the geckos he breeds and sells or interviewing someone for his podcast PBR Talks. His two favorite things are geckos and bull riding.
10:00 p.m. – We are both night owls so we are usually down for the night around 10:00 p.m. He watches an episode of “Golden Girls” and I will catch a recorded show before finally falling asleep.