#3 - Back from the brink - how a young introverted dental entrepreneur turned his business and his life around - an interview with Dr Chris Burton

Chris Burton is, by his own admission, a good dentist but reluctant businessman.

We travel with Chris from school in Bolton to university in Newcastle (an experience he did not enjoy) and on to the practice he owns now as a newly qualified Vocational Trainee.

The journey from VT to associate to owner should have been an upward climb but events conspired to reverse the direction.

Yet at age 37 he is the owner of a beautiful private practice in rural North East England, with an enviable post-graduate education record, the latest in digital workflow and very profitable accounts.

Little did he think he would be in that situation when, just 5 years ago, he bought the controlling share in the practice.

Soon after he came close to throwing the towel in following the end of a personal relationship, the acquisition of a struggling business and a real sense of failure and isolation.

What fascinates me about the turnaround that has taken place is not just HOW Chris did it but WHO were the guiding influencers as he began the long and difficult climb out of the darkness.

This he shares with us very openly and honestly.

Chris, by his own admission, is an introvert and finds other people an effort to deal with - but in spite of this and the dire straits he found himself in - he has triumphed.

His story can inspire any listener and is deeply moving (with a happy ending).