Anushika Brogan, CEO of Damira Dental Studios, talks about how a burning ambition and life lessons fuelled her journey to become one of the UK’s leading dental corporate owners.
Anushika Brogan’s Whatsapp profile – a dynamic photo of her mid-climb at an endurance sports event and a heart-on-fire emoji in her ‘About’ section – hints at an enviable and energetic spirit. This unrelenting enthusiasm is a common trait when discussing other areas of her life – her family and career, in particular. Passion, it seems, fuels the narrative.
Her Instagram, too, brims with inspiration. From multiple marathon victories and skiing adventures to downtime with friends and treasured family moments, her posts are evidence of a life well-lived.
Yet, behind these snapshots lies an equally remarkable story in dentistry – a journey marked by resilience, ambition and more than its fair share of emotional highs and lows.
A fresh start
As founder and CEO of Damira Dental Studios, Anushika is a rare example of a female leader in multi-practice dental ownership. But her journey has not been without its challenges, including a pivotal moment with an acrimonious divorce and a financial settlement hard battled for that forced her to ‘regroup’ and begin anew.
After leaving her former husband in April 2010, the divorce went through the courts and was finally settled in 2014. It was, she says, the worst four years of her life.
‘Dad had a stroke in 2010, and that gave me the prompt I needed to leave my ex. There was a lot of animosity, and the financial battle at the High Court went as far as an appeal hearing. It was messy, but I got through it. You find out who your friends are.
‘Afterwards, I felt like a phoenix, free after being trapped in a relationship. The passing of my brother in 2013 inspired me to embrace life and live it to the fullest. He was 39.’
Once again, she faced adversity head-on, drawing inspiration to ‘seize the day’. Not easily derailed, she pushed forward, rebranding the business and leading Damira’s expansion from a single clinic in Oxford in 2003 to a network of 42 practices across the UK.
More recently, the group has extended its reach into Sussex and Norfolk.
Her resilience, ability to learn from setbacks, and a commitment to personal and professional growth have, it seems, given her the stomach for the ‘toils and trouble’ of business acquisition.
It’s an ambition deeply rooted early in her career, during her first year of practice.
A broader vision
Anushika went to university early, aged 17, and qualified with her BDS at 22 – ‘I was very young, and it was tough. Although I thought I wanted my own space, I really missed my parents as I had enjoyed a wonderful childhood,’ she recalls.
While her peers focused on refining their clinical skills, Anushika set her sights on a broader vision: building a corporate presence in dentistry. During her training, she proactively sought mentors to learn how to acquire and run multiple practices. This was unusual at this stage in a career – and rare for a woman – but her inspiration had sprung from working for a female practice owner.
‘She also had a friend with multiple practices, which appealed to me. The next clinic I worked at was a multisite practice, and my plan to own a corporate started there,’ she says. Did she ever have any doubts? ‘No, I was blinded by my ambition and didn’t want to hear the negatives. I‘m not one to take no for an answer,’ she laughs.
Supportive and empowering
Under her leadership, Damira Dental Studios operates with a clinician-first philosophy, ensuring that both dentists’ and patients’ needs are at the forefront of any decision-making. Her hands-on approach (she continues to practise part-time) aligns with her empathetic leadership. As a result, she has crafted a supportive environment where staff feel valued rather than ‘just another number in a large corporate system’.
She believes that empowering team members allows them the freedom to perform at their best. Being present clinically makes her aware of how the business is performing, which means she can react when areas struggle.
‘The role of practice manager, for instance, involves more administrative work than ever before, so we’re currently focusing on strategies to make the job more streamlined.’
This includes embracing the digital transition, centralising processes, and ensuring teams are not overwhelmed with unnecessary tasks. Professional expansion is a key facet of the business, with training a focus throughout the group. Quality assurance measures and call reviews support this ethos and dovetail to help uphold the highest level of service.
She emphasises the importance of open communication over confrontation, believing it yields better results and fosters a more positive workplace culture. Interestingly, her personal life is deeply intertwined with this approach. Even her leadership style has been shaped in part by her parents’ contrasting management approaches – her mother’s – a firebrand with a strict, highly organised approach – and her father’s more relaxed and laid-back demeanour.
This upbringing, she says, helped her understand the delicate balance between being too strict and overly relaxed as a leader.
Positive work culture
Damira’s social media presence paints a positive picture of a work culture that thrives on fun and inclusivity, embodying Anushika’s core philosophy of maintaining a personal touch in business.
She’s worked hard to avoid the common pitfalls associated with large corporates, like anonymity and detachment. Quite simply, genuine connections are what help the business flourish. If staff and patients feel respected by her and among themselves, then everything else will follow.
Finding the right cultural fit is so crucial to her that, even as CEO, she will personally attend interviews. With a keen intuition for reading people, she adopts an informal, conversational approach to ensure potential hires align with the organisation’s culture.
‘It’s crucial that people are happy. One of the most important aspects is ensuring the staff and dentists feel valued and satisfied. For me, transparency is the most essential value at work and home. As humans, we all make mistakes, but what’s vital is that we always strive to do our best with good intentions – and we remain honest and open.’
Almost to demonstrate this openness, she is frank about the challenges of managing stress and balancing the pressures of excellent clinical dentistry, happy staff and patients and commercial success.
The only thing that keeps her awake at night is when a particular aspect of the business demands her attention, she says. Throughout her career, challenges have often required a fresh perspective and relied heavily on her innate ability to pivot.
More recently, with dental recruitment facing significant challenges post-Brexit and following the pandemic, she embraced the obstacle as an opportunity for positive change. In search of dentists and amid the dearth of qualified clinicians, she changed tact.
She explains: ‘Like many dentists, I previously relied heavily on European dental professionals. My husband was briefly involved in a recruitment project and discovered a unique opportunity to support dentists from Sudan fleeing the war. Today, we have around 57 Sudanese dentists in our network. Through a comprehensive training programme, we help them integrate into the profession while they, in turn, help us bridge staffing gaps.’
Such decisions may seem unusual, but they reflect a willingness to take bold steps to achieving her goals. In today’s economic climate, her motto is ‘optimistic yet cautious’ and encourages dentists to view economic uncertainty as an opportunity. ‘Maintain a positive outlook,’ she suggests. ‘Even in challenging circumstances, stay resolute in your mission to make your practice successful.’
Success and sacrifice
Success can come with significant sacrifices, and Anushika credits her supportive husband with maintaining stability for their children, allowing her to focus on her demanding career. Has she ever felt the weight of missing out on precious family time as a mother? Her personal Instagram page captures the strength of her family bonds, and she evidently treasures every moment with them.
‘Sometimes, I’ve felt guilty in my career – guilty about the time I spend away from my family. But I’ve always prioritised quality time over quantity. I’ve taken some lessons from my childhood – the big things, the feelings that stick with you are important, not the daily grind. I try to create those big, meaningful moments with my own kids.
Life’s about finding balance, staying resilient and making the most of the time you have. That said, I still enjoy some “me” time. I’m drawn to marathons, and I’m particularly proud of my kids for following their passions. My eldest has completed a 100k ultra, my middle son is a gym regular, and my youngest (a daughter, aged eight) is a ski monster. It’s inspiring.’
This disciplined approach to managing her life is reflected in her daily routine. She often rises as early as 4am for a run or boot camp, and still finds time to connect with her family before beginning her workday at 8am.
So, what does she want her legacy to look like for dentistry and her children?
‘I’d like to be remembered as the nicest CEO in the dental business – personable, not cutthroat. I’ve seen the harsher side of business, and it’s taught me exactly how I don’t want to be. I constantly reflect on my behaviour, asking myself, “Was I right? Could I change for the better?” In my younger days, I was feisty and ambitious, but we all change. Now, I try not to get bogged down with wanting to prove I’m right. Silence, I’ve learned, can be a powerful weapon.
‘My father-in-law gave me the best advice: “You don’t need to fight if you know you’re right. The fight is already won.” That changed my life, including how I approach business. I don’t always feel the need to speak out.’
The future
Looking ahead, Anushika has a 10-year career plan: to grow the business, eventually wind down, and one day hand it over to her children. After that, she plans to take a non-executive role for 10 to 12 years and enjoy some travelling.
‘Time is everything, though,’ she reflects. ‘I learned that the hard way. I tore my hamstring falling out of a ski lift, and the consultant told me to give up running completely.’
Not one to accept defeat, she naturally sought a second opinion.
‘The other consultant, who works heavily with professional footballers, told me to rest for a year. I did so, and last year was the first year I’d finally been able to return to normal. But perseverance is in my nature. I don’t accept “no” easily. I think that many people in senior positions share that drive.’
Follow Dentistry.co.uk on Instagram to keep up with all the latest dental news and trends.
