Dr. Heavenly Kimes is an author, inspirational speaker, business powerhouse and reality TV personality on Bravo's Married to Medicine. Kimes is the founder and CEO of nine successful dentist offices in the Atlanta area, known as Smiles by Dr. Heavenly. Dr. Kimes graduated at the top of her class with a Doctorate of Dental Surgery from Meharry Medical College, and earned a bachelor’s degree in biology with minors in chemistry and military science from Florida A&M University.
Dr. Kimes has also launched her own health, beauty and dental product line. She is co-author of the best-selling series “Wake Up … Live the Life You Love” and released the informative “Dr. Heavenly’s Business Prescriptions,” a motivating advice guide that breaks down complex business concepts to their simplest forms.
Rosemarie Miller and Dr. Heavenly Kimes discuss household values, what inspired her to pursue dentistry, and what's next for her career.
Dr. Kimes has also launched her own health, beauty and dental product line. She is co-author of the best-selling series “Wake Up … Live the Life You Love” and released the informative “Dr. Heavenly’s Business Prescriptions,” a motivating advice guide that breaks down complex business concepts to their simplest forms.
Rosemarie Miller and Dr. Heavenly Kimes discuss household values, what inspired her to pursue dentistry, and what's next for her career.
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:03 - Hi everyone and welcome to New Money
00:05 where we talk to movers and shakers about how they made it.
00:08 I'm Rosemary Miller here with Dr. Heavenly Kimes
00:11 of Merriton Medicine.
00:13 Thank you so much for joining me today.
00:14 - Oh, you have a great voice.
00:15 Look at you.
00:16 Hey, how you doing?
00:17 - I'm great, thank you.
00:17 - Listen, thank you so much for having me.
00:20 I appreciate it.
00:21 - So Dr. Heavenly, what inspired you to become a dentist?
00:25 - Well, you know what?
00:25 Actually in undergrad, I went to Ford A&M University,
00:28 but my major was pre-med, right?
00:30 And there was a recruiter that came in
00:32 and talked about dentistry,
00:33 how you could set your own hours,
00:35 how you could make as much money,
00:37 but you do your own thing at your own time.
00:39 And honestly, I just wanted to be a wife and a mother.
00:42 I was going to medical school to meet a husband.
00:44 So dentistry made a better sense for me.
00:47 - Yeah.
00:48 - Is that not what you wanna hear on Ford?
00:49 You know what?
00:50 (laughing)
00:50 - I'm not mad at it.
00:51 - It's the truth.
00:52 - I like the honesty.
00:53 - Honestly, business and relationships, yeah.
00:54 - And you met him.
00:55 - Yes, I did.
00:56 My husband, Dr. Damon Kimes,
00:57 he's interventional pain and personal injury.
01:00 He's actually quadruple boarded, but yeah, amazing man.
01:04 - Well, Dr. Heavenly, did you ever imagine
01:06 that you'd be on a show like "Married to Medicine"
01:08 while you were in medical school?
01:10 - Absolutely not.
01:12 No, I would have never imagined that at all, no.
01:15 - So what inspired you to pursue that?
01:18 - Well, you know, one of the ladies
01:19 that actually was promoting the show,
01:21 she was doing the casting.
01:23 And you know, everybody's casting for something in Atlanta.
01:25 So I went to the casting and then the first season,
01:28 I turned it down 'cause I had nine practices.
01:30 And I was like, this is negative.
01:31 The only thing I knew about reality TV was NeNe Leakes.
01:34 So it's like, you know, I could do it,
01:36 but I don't know if it's gonna affect my business.
01:38 Then when I saw that they got two million viewers,
01:40 my marketing hat came on and I was like, you know what?
01:43 No matter what, I think it'll be fine
01:45 because once I get the followers,
01:47 my work stands for itself.
01:49 So I asked my husband, you know,
01:51 and he allowed me to do it.
01:53 He said, "Heavenly, I think you would be really good at it."
01:55 And if he was down with it, I'm down.
01:58 So that's what it was.
01:59 My man said I could do it.
02:00 - Wifey, wifey for real.
02:02 - That's who I am, that's who I am.
02:04 - I'm curious, how did you start these nine practices?
02:07 You said, how did you start that?
02:08 How did you get the seed money?
02:10 - Well, what happened was I would always,
02:12 like when I first started, I was scared.
02:14 I used to run scared.
02:15 So I used to work six days a week, right?
02:17 And my first practice I purchased, you know, outright
02:21 because, and then I took out a loan for it, right?
02:23 So I would always stack the cash, you know,
02:26 always have money on the side.
02:27 And then I would find, well, initially,
02:29 somebody in dire straits,
02:31 they were losing their practice, right?
02:33 They asked me if I wanted to purchase it, right?
02:35 So I made an offer.
02:37 I had a cash, full cash offer.
02:39 They took the money.
02:39 I was able to build that practice from what it was
02:42 to about six times what it was making.
02:44 And then from there, people heard about me
02:47 and I would take distressed practices and turn them around.
02:50 - So what was it about your practice
02:52 that made it so different?
02:54 - I think what it was was the marketing.
02:56 It had to be, I think a lot of African-Americans
02:59 know the clinical part of it,
03:00 but the business part, they don't know.
03:02 I've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars
03:04 on my business education, hence Dr. Heavenly University.
03:07 I started at a university to help dentists
03:09 start and run successful practices,
03:11 but I've extended it now 'cause so many people asked me,
03:14 you know, they were like,
03:15 "Well, everybody needs their information."
03:16 So now we have all types of entrepreneurs.
03:19 We cater to African-American women
03:21 and we teach them everything from the root of to the to,
03:24 starting with mindset all the way to getting a trust
03:26 and leaving a legacy for your children.
03:29 - Do you feel like, because I ask this question a lot,
03:32 do you feel like in your gut that dentistry
03:35 is what you're meant to be doing in your life?
03:37 - Absolutely, that's my first and foremost.
03:39 All this other stuff is secondary.
03:41 Dentistry will always be my first and foremost, yes.
03:44 - Dentistry will always be first and foremost.
03:45 - I love my career.
03:46 I change people's lives one smile at a time.
03:49 Smiles by Dr. Heavenly.
03:50 - What's the feeling you had
03:52 when you got that first whiff of positive feedback?
03:57 - From dentistry, from the show?
04:00 Oh, it makes my day.
04:01 Like, you're changing somebody.
04:02 I mean, they really do look different.
04:04 And when they go from a difficult mouth
04:07 or a malalignment or whatever,
04:09 and you really change it and make it beautiful,
04:11 their whole personality lights up.
04:13 Like, they can actually pursue their dreams
04:15 'cause now they have the confidence, you know?
04:17 So it's really a game changer, changing your smile.
04:20 - And speaking of confidence, you are beaming with it.
04:23 Have you always been this way?
04:25 - You know what?
04:25 My confidence comes from the Lord Jesus Christ.
04:28 However, my husband uplifts me all the time
04:30 and he tells me such great things, you know?
04:33 And I just believe him.
04:34 You know, my mom used to tell me I was special,
04:37 and I just believed her.
04:38 I think speaking things into people really does work.
04:41 - Yeah, yeah.
04:42 And we talked about that a little bit
04:43 before the interview started about, you know,
04:45 you have to allow yourself to be a wife.
04:48 What do you mean by that?
04:50 - Well, a lot of people gave me a lot of flack
04:52 because I said I was a wife and a mother
04:54 and I was a submissive wife.
04:56 And they take that submissive as something negative,
04:58 you know, because I'm a powerful entrepreneur
05:01 and a professional woman.
05:02 They said, "What do you mean submissive?"
05:03 Just what I said.
05:04 The Bible said when you get married, you know,
05:07 your husband is the leader, you know?
05:09 But your husband has to respect you and love you
05:12 like Christ loves the church and consider you.
05:14 And in that case, you really are in control of everything.
05:18 Because if he loves you like Christ loves the church,
05:20 he's gonna do whatever you want anyway.
05:22 So a lot of times, women feel like they gotta go, "Ugh."
05:25 But my husband always says, you know,
05:26 if you softly speak and tell him
05:28 how much important it is to you,
05:29 if he really loves you, he's gonna do whatever you ask him.
05:32 - If he really loves you.
05:33 - Yeah, that's my belief.
05:34 - And how do you know that your man really loves you?
05:36 And I'm asking for myself too.
05:37 - Right, it's not so much what they say, it's what they do.
05:41 You know, if they provide for you, they care for you,
05:43 they wanna do better because of you, you know?
05:46 Then that's what it is, they wanna do better.
05:48 Like all, well, I ain't gonna go into that.
05:50 All these men are saying that, you know,
05:52 the woman should settle for 20% and stuff like that.
05:55 If they really love you, they wanna do better.
05:57 They wanna do something to make their wives look
05:59 and feel good and take care of their wives.
06:01 That's my thought.
06:02 - Yeah.
06:03 - Mm-hmm.
06:03 - Well, I'm curious.
06:05 If you don't mind me asking--
06:06 - No, anything.
06:07 - How does the financial situation work in your marriage?
06:10 Is it a joint bank account?
06:12 Do you keep it separate?
06:13 - Well, the interesting thing about our marriage
06:16 is I'm probably better at the finances,
06:17 so I take care of everything.
06:19 Everything he brings in, it comes to the table,
06:21 and I know where everything is, and he trusts me.
06:24 Honestly, I don't think my husband even knows
06:26 what we have or how much we have,
06:27 and I take care of everything.
06:29 I got our house, he allowed me to get the home,
06:32 you know, and make sure everything is there,
06:34 and he just puts his money in, and I take care of it
06:36 'cause I'm a great wife.
06:37 - Really?
06:38 - And I'm trustworthy, yeah, absolutely.
06:40 - How should women approach that conversation?
06:42 And when did you have a fiance stage, the marriage stage?
06:46 When was it at?
06:46 - You know what, when we met, we both had nothing,
06:48 so as we grew together, it was just that
06:51 I just took over that part of it
06:52 because he was so into working.
06:54 Like right now, he still works four or five days a week.
06:57 I've scaled back to two days, so he's a workaholic,
07:00 and I take care of the finances,
07:02 make sure everything's done,
07:03 and make sure we leave a legacy for our children, yeah.
07:07 - And so how do you, I know you believe
07:08 in being a great wife, how do you split the household,
07:12 duties, is it, okay, we're calling,
07:14 and we're paying for this, or you still believe
07:16 in cooking and cleaning, what was that like?
07:18 - Absolutely, I am a great cook,
07:19 however, I don't cook that often.
07:22 What I do is the things that I feel like I should do,
07:24 I pay somebody to do, like, you know what I mean,
07:26 I have a chef, I have somebody to clean up,
07:28 and my husband doesn't do like the,
07:30 we have somebody come in and clean up, get the garbage,
07:33 that kind of stuff that you could pay somebody $15 an hour
07:35 for, we hire somebody, so we don't have,
07:37 I remember one time when we were young in our careers,
07:40 and very young, and I remember he couldn't find the scrubs,
07:42 and we had this big blow up about where's his scrubs,
07:45 and I'm like, you know, where's my scrubs?
07:47 So my thought was to always make sure everything was done,
07:51 even if I don't do it myself, I make sure it's done.
07:53 - You make sure it's done. - You see?
07:55 - And you said you had this big blow up,
07:57 how did you learn to handle one another's temperaments,
08:00 because that's a learning process.
08:01 - Yeah, it is, it is. - You learn how to
08:02 get through the weeds, how did you do that?
08:05 - Well, really, honestly, you're only in control
08:07 of yourself, and what I've learned over the years
08:10 it's been 30 years, I've been with him married 26 years,
08:13 is that I get my way 98% of the time,
08:17 so if he gets upset with something,
08:18 usually I'll swallow it and just let him,
08:21 'cause I already got away with murder,
08:22 you know what I'm saying?
08:23 So it's, you're picking and choosing your battles,
08:25 honestly, and then communication,
08:27 but knowing when to communicate,
08:29 'cause you gotta communicate when the people
08:30 are feeling you and when they're prepared
08:31 to hear what you need to say.
08:33 - Yeah. - Yeah, so it's communication.
08:35 - And what would you say to people that they're struggling,
08:38 but they know they wanna save their marriage,
08:40 they know they believe in their vows?
08:42 - You would tell them, make sure that you,
08:46 I mean, I can't see you doing it without God,
08:48 so if you don't have that at the forefront
08:49 of your relationship, and I'm not being cliche,
08:51 it's just true, you have to pray together.
08:54 I remember even some of the ladies on our show
08:56 having issues with their marriage,
08:57 and I said, "Have y'all prayed together?"
09:00 And they act like it was something foreign, like, no.
09:03 That's how we got married, in front of a church,
09:05 in front of God, I mean, that's what marriage is.
09:08 So if you don't have God at the head of it,
09:09 how can it survive, seriously?
09:12 - Have you always been a Christian woman?
09:14 - I mean, absolutely, I'm not a perfect person,
09:16 I will use profanity now and again,
09:18 but you know, at the end of the day, God protects me,
09:21 and you know what, if I was perfect,
09:23 there would be no need for Jesus,
09:25 and he came and died for our sins, so we're good.
09:27 - Dr. Heavenly? - Yes.
09:28 - So what piece of business advice would you give
09:31 to entrepreneurs, or even those in the medical field
09:34 who are thinking about starting their own practice?
09:37 - I think that you need to get with somebody
09:39 and have a great person to guide you,
09:41 some kind of a coach, if you will,
09:43 I have drheavenlyuniversity.com,
09:46 but if not me, get with someone to help you,
09:48 because there's so many things, and continuously learn,
09:51 because there could be one pearl
09:53 that catapults your business to the next level.
09:56 One thing that I've learned is the marketing is so key,
09:59 and I've learned that, you know, a lot of people say,
10:00 "Hey, Heavenly, how are you doing reality TV?"
10:03 If I got two million followers, right,
10:05 even if 20% of the people, I have way more,
10:08 and dentistry is a job where you can see the results,
10:12 so if I post my before and afters,
10:14 you see that I know what I'm doing,
10:15 and I know, you know, so it brings the patients in,
10:17 so I've been blessed that way.
10:19 - Yeah, so what is next for Dr. Heavenly Kime?
10:23 - I love everything I'm doing, I can't ever see,
10:26 but my son, both my sons graduated from undergrad,
10:30 and my middle boy just had two interviews,
10:33 one with Meharry, one with Howard,
10:34 so he's going to become a dentist,
10:36 I'm going to wait for him,
10:37 and then I'm going to semi-retire, come in whenever,
10:40 and I will continue Dr. Heavenly University,
10:43 'cause I think that women need that,
10:45 I mean, we go to school for so long,
10:47 and we come out of school great clinicians,
10:48 but know nothing about financial literacy,
10:51 and in fact, if you talk to Dr. Jackie,
10:53 she'll tell you she used to brag
10:54 about paying 48% of her money in taxes,
10:57 so we found people in Dr. Heavenly University,
10:59 we have 12 coaches, including accountants,
11:02 bankers, financial planners, people that do insurance,
11:06 just every aspect of business that you need, you know?
11:09 And I think it'll help a whole lot of women
11:11 become millionaires, not only become millionaires,
11:14 but set up a legacy through trust, through insurances,
11:17 through everything, precious metals, all that, and more,
11:20 and we educate you before we actually show you anything,
11:23 we tell you what it is and the history of it,
11:26 and why things are the way they are.
11:28 - Yeah, you're helping women build generational wealth.
11:30 - That's my calling, that's my calling.
11:32 - That's your calling.
11:33 Well, I love to hear Howard, I am a proud Howard.
11:35 - Oh, great, great, great.
11:36 I'm a Meharry grad, Meharry Medical College
11:38 from Nashville, Tennessee, so I'm pushing my son that way,
11:41 but yeah, Howard is a great school as well.
11:44 - Oh, yes it is.
11:45 Well, thank you so much for joining me today.
11:47 - Thank you, I enjoyed this, thank you so much.
11:50 - Absolutely.
11:51 (upbeat music)
11:54 (upbeat music)
11:56 [BLANK_AUDIO]