I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Dr. Tanaka for years. We had a blast filming for him, his wife Dr. Leong, and their team (featuring the fun and amped-up office manager Harriet). Dr. Tanaka is the only dentist I know who has his own TED Talk on YouTube, but what makes him and Dr. Leong special is how much they give back to the community—completely selfless, wonderfully-generous doctors, and two of the nicest people you could hope to meet. Both doctors are involved with their alma mater Creighton University, and they are always volunteering at the Arizona dental mission of mercy (AzMOM).

After the shoot, Dr. Leong and Harriet both said that we “Made it fun.” Dr. Tanaka remarked that we did a “masterful job.” He also indicated that we made the time “fly by” because everyone was having so much fun. He also remarked, “You made me look better than I am.” And while I admire his humility, my response back to him was, “The camera only shows what it sees. You are immediately calming, trustworthy, honorable, and relatable/likable, and that was your doing and not my. The camera just captured what the rest of us already knew about you!”

rmtanaka.com

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