The best part of having my own podcast? Spotlighting lifelong friends doing BIG THINGS.
Brian Roundtree is a loving husband, father of three, very successful dentist (Roundtree Family Dentistry) & cancer survivor. I’m proud to call him a friend for over 30 years.
When we were kids, Brian was an All-Star athlete. He was one of the “floor generals” on our 12-Year Old World Championship basketball team led by Coach Tom Abadie & Assistant Coach Gwain Roundtree (Brian’s dad).
In this conversation, we discuss lessons learned from Coach Tom that benefited us later in life. We compare our youth sports experience to kids playing today, especially “travel ballers.”
Brian later describes the moment his life would forever change. In the mirror one night he noticed a small lump, which turned out to be Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He talks about his battle with cancer, the importance of a great support system, and how his relationship with God changed after his diagnosis.
You’ll also hear Brian’s story of shattered dreams—his medical school application was denied in favor of a lesser-qualified minority candidate. Feeling dejected, he moved in with his parents to work manual labor jobs. Then one afternoon sitting on the back porch with his 90-year old grandfather, “Checkerboard” said something that altered the trajectory of Brian’s life.
He applied to dental school, then faced more adversity in the form of Hurricane Katrina. (Brian’s storytelling abilities are on par with previous guest, Vincent McGarry).
Other topics we discuss:
- Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Chemotherapy treatment & radiation therapy
- Benefits of a strong support system
- Cancer stage / life expectancy
- Happiest days of his life
Youth Sports Talk
- Lessons learned playing youth sports
- Playing against Ryan Clark when we were kids
- Holding your kids back in school for sports
- Kids burning out / not playing high school baseball
- Travel baseball phenomenon
- How kids mature nowadays
Dealing with Rejection
- Brian’s first academic failure
- Being denied medical school
- Driving 300 miles to talk to the dean
- Competition to get into dental school
- Hurricane Katrina changed everything
- Paying for his own education
Questions asked:
- What did you most take away from the experience of playing for Coach Tom that has helped you to become successful in life?
- When you played against Ryan Clark in college, did he “run his mouth” as much as he did when we were 12 years old?
- What symptoms were you having that led you to visit the doctor?
- Did you become more prayerful after your diagnosis?
- Can you talk more about your relationship with God?
- Did you google the life expectancy for your diagnosis?
- You were asymptomatic, does that mean you had no pain or discomfort of any kind?
- What did you do to maintain your energy levels [while getting chemo & radiation treatments] throughout the day? Did you increase your caffeine intake? Or did they give you anything to help [your energy levels]?
- Do you feel a little untouchable now, in terms of mental strength?
- Is there more gratitude [in your life]? . . . things that maybe used to annoy you that are no longer significant?
- Do you have a different perspective of stress, in terms of knowing what’s in your control and what’s not in your control?
- At what age should kids decide which sport they want to stick with?
- What is your opinion of the “travel ball” craze that’s going on right now?
- Do you ever feel like your job [as a dentist] is incredibly easy?
- Does it hurt your feelings when somebody close to you, somebody that you grew up with, goes to another dentist?
- How much do . . . [veneers / rehab of mouth] cost?
- Does your income fluctuate year to year?
- Yesterday the stock market dropped over 7%, does it affect you at all? Have you made any new investments because there’s a little “blood in the streets?”
- Do you still have dental school debt?
- Do you think financial advisors give you that kind of guidance because they’re paid as a percentage of what’s being invested with them?
- In a small town everyone knows your business . . . when you and your wife got together [when you first started dating], were you dating somebody else or was she dating somebody else?
Fun questions:
- How much can you tell about a person by looking inside their mouth?
- Do you clean false teeth?
- On average, at what age do kids stop believing in the tooth fairy?
- On average, what age do people get veneers?
- Who would win a governor’s race between Ed Orgeron vs. Drew Brees?
- Your thoughts on Ed Orgeron?
- If someone dropped $1 million in your lap tomorrow, what would you do with it?
- With $100,000, you could “have the best damn time of your life,” what would you do?
Listen here:
[Now] I feel like there’s no hurdle on the back-end of my life (I’m going to be 40 next month) that I can face, outside of . . . death . . . that I know I can’t get through. – Dr. Brian Roundtree, DDS
Connect with Brian:
- Dental website: www.roundtreedental.com
- Facebook page: Roundtree Family Dentistry
- Twitter: @treedds
- Dental office email: roundtreedental@gmail.com
- Personal email: brianroundtreedds@gmail.com
