$20K Smile Giveaway Past WinnersWilliam Mitch Jessee's Story: Winner of the 2018 $20K Smile Giveaway William's recount of how he heard about the giveaway and how the competition unfolded...Well I heard about the competition from my good friend and a patient of yours. She was adamant about me entering and kept telling me how great her dentist was. So I took a photo and made a video to share. I started the video out funny with the story of me falling out of the tree and losing my front teeth, but knew I had to tie it all back in at the end and get people to connect if I was going to get people to vote. I had everything ready! Finally. All I had to do was send it. But I couldn't. The photo of me was horrible and I thought for sure no one would vote for me. I considered just trashing the whole idea and telling my friend that I submitted it. I sat on that email for close to 2 weeks. Then I had a thought… what was the worst that could happen? I would put my photo out there and no one would vote. Okay? No biggie. So I sent it. Almost immediately after my story was posted we started seeing it was get likes and shares. I was overwhelmed to see the outpour and support from the community. I have to say, my friends and work played a huge part in me winning too. All of my friends kicked in and started helping the story get likes. My boss, the owner of the comic book shop, said, “You're winning this thing!” He reached out to all of the other business venues that he had connections with and got them to spread the word as well. It was really coming down to just a few votes there at the end. I was only about 50 points ahead of one of the other candidates. I was worried and talking it through with a friend while we watched the likes climb. He said he thought he might have a group that he was part of that would help out. Sure enough, he posted about it, and they pulled through in a big way! Being a runner up & the day of the announcement... The top 3 finalists were finally announced and we all came in for our initial exam. I remember the NorthView team saying that I would be a great candidate for the giveaway and that they thought they could do a lot for me. I left so excited that I didn't want to tell anyone out of fear that I would jinx my chance. I remember the day that the winner was going to be announced so clearly. We spent the day anxiously awaiting the news. Finally, later in the day, I was at work and got an email that read, “This is such a hard decision for us. All of the patients are great candidates and we're working diligently to determine who the winner will be. You will hear more from us shortly.” I thought for sure that I had lost. There had to be way better candidates than me. Not too long after that I received another email… I was the winner!!! I couldn't believe it. I was in shock and completely useless at the comic book shop the rest of the day. I just kept walking around thanking everyone for their support. I don't think it ever fully sunk in that I was the winner until my first appointment. The whole experience with NorthView was amazing. Everyone was SO kind and excited to have me there. Over the course of the year, I've felt like I'm more part of a family than a dental office. I wasn't just meeting some doctor and team that was going to look at my teeth and send me on my way. You guys were warm and embracing. Life now… Getting my smile back has changed my life. One, I got insurance so that I can keep coming to you for the rest of my life. I also, love not having to cover up my face anymore when I smile or explain to kids that I'm not super scary, I just had bad oral hygiene. It's great not having to wonder if people thought I did drugs. I'm still trying to find my smile. I'm trying them all on to see what one suits me most and none of them feel natural yet. I'm enjoying life and doing things I never felt confident enough to do before. It's a night and day difference. In fact, I smiled so infrequently in the past that my face still hurts sometimes when I've been smiling a lot |
 LocationNorthview Family Dental 1121 E. Westview Ct. Spokane, WA 99218-1319 HoursM, W, TH: 7am-6pm T, F: 7am-4pm |
