Louis Guenin
Episode 42

Narrator: Welcome friends to another episode of The Story & Experience Podcast. Join your host, Japhet De Oliveira, with his guest today and discover the moments that shape us, our families, and communities.

Japhet De Oliveira: Welcome friends to another fantastic episode of The Story & Experience Podcast. I am delighted, because not only, is this one of those rare occasions where the podcast has been recorded with the person, the guest, right across the table, you can even hear him breathing, because we're sitting opposite each other. But, this has actually been done in London, at his practice on New Bond Street. And so, I'm very honored to be here with him and honored for you to meet him and to hear about him and all the stories and experiences that shaped his life into the leader that he is today. So, we're going to dive in right away and I'm going to begin with your name. Could you tell us your name and does anybody ever mispronounce it? Mess it up a little bit.

Louis Guenin: My name is Louis Guenin. Yes, it's certainly mispronounced. My background is, my parents are from Switzerland. Although, I was born over here in London. But, when my parents came to England, they thought that everybody should pronounce our surname the French way. So, instead of... I say Guenin-

Japhet De Oliveira: Right.

Louis Guenin: So, when they came over here, they thought everybody should say, Guenin.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow.

Louis Guenin: Well, of course, that just led to-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: All sorts of different-

Japhet De Oliveira: Media war.

Louis Guenin: Different interpretations.

Japhet De Oliveira: Uh-huh (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: And we were called Guenin, Guenin. The one I preferred was Mr. Genuine.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh.

Louis Guenin: Loved it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, that's great.

Louis Guenin: So, when my brother and I went to school, we said, "We're definitely going to be called Guenin." And they say, "Well, how'd you get Guenin? Well, it's like guest, G-U-E, guest. Guest, Guenin." So, that's where it is. But, I was in the car the other day-

Japhet De Oliveira: Uh-huh (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: And I thought, "I must phone my wife."

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: So, I said, "Siri, can you phone Mrs. Guenin?"

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And Siri came back, "Phoning Mrs. Guenin."

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh no.

Louis Guenin: So, even Siri gets it wrong.

Japhet De Oliveira: You got to train Siri, yeah-

Louis Guenin: So, there we are. That's where it is.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's life, that's life. Well, that's fantastic. All right. Louis, what do you do for work?

Louis Guenin: I'm a general dental practitioner-

Japhet De Oliveira: Uh-huh (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: Here in London. I work in dental practice. One of the leading dental practices in the country.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Louis Guenin: In fact, it's the oldest dental practice in the country.

Japhet De Oliveira: Is it really?

Louis Guenin: It's been going since the 1860s.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh wow.

Louis Guenin: I wasn't here in the 1860s, but, when I came, it was three generations of Holfords-

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow.

Louis Guenin: The grandfather, the father-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And two sons. And so, I'm one of the senior partners here and we run a very successful, well respected dental surgery here in London.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's fantastic. And you are on New Bond Street, which is a pretty prime place to be in. So, that's pretty fantastic.

Louis Guenin: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, yeah.

Louis Guenin: Yes, I like the New Bond Street, but-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: I don't know if you ever do Monopoly?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Louis Guenin: And I don't know if you do the English Monopoly where New Bond Street is down.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: I never thought I'd be on Monopoly, but that's where we are.

Japhet De Oliveira: No, that's fantastic. That's great. So, how long have you been a dentist?

Louis Guenin: I have been a dentist for many years.

Japhet De Oliveira: 1860?

Louis Guenin: I qualified in 1971.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow.

Louis Guenin: So, I have just celebrated 50 years of dentistry.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic.

Louis Guenin: Yeah, yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, that's great. Well, congratulations.

Louis Guenin: Thank you very much.

Japhet De Oliveira: Half a century.

Louis Guenin: Absolutely.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's great. It was great. Good, good. So, let's talk about this morning and each day when you get up, do you like to have water? Do you like to have coffee as a dentist? A tea? Do you like one of those liquid green smoothies? What's your drink of the day, when you get up?

Louis Guenin: Well, every day get up and I have breakfast, it's always tea.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah?

Louis Guenin: With milk, no sugar. And that's what I always enjoy. But, I must say one of the nicest morning drinks, first thing in the morning-

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh yeah.

Louis Guenin: Is when I went to Florida.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh yes.

Louis Guenin: And we would go down for breakfast and you'd get OJ.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Louis Guenin: Orange juice. The best orange juice in the world comes from Florida and American coffee.

Japhet De Oliveira: Uh-huh (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: And I always was amazed. The waiter would come along, OJ in one hand, coffee in the other. And he would pour the two, in the two cups at the same time-

Japhet De Oliveira: Same time.

Louis Guenin: And I was always expecting him to miss, never did it. But, that's one of the nicest drinks, first thing in the morning.

Japhet De Oliveira: Great. That's good, that's fantastic. All right. So, you alluded to it and mentioned it. Where were you born?

Louis Guenin: I was born in London.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yup.

Louis Guenin: I was a postwar baby-

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: And I lived probably, about two miles away from where I was born.

Japhet De Oliveira: Huh? And then, when you were a kid, did you imagine you were going to be a dentist? Or, did you have another dream?

Louis Guenin: I had moments where things led me to do dentistry.

Japhet De Oliveira: Huh?

Louis Guenin: I had just finished some orthodontic treatment with my dentist-

Japhet De Oliveira: Right.

Louis Guenin: Who was a lovely lady.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: We got on so well with her, we were just friends. And I was at school, and it was a lovely Winter's day, lots of ice. And I thought, it would be great to see how far we'd, like all the kids-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: Could skate on the ice.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And of course, I fell over. I fell over on my face, broke my front tooth.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow.

Louis Guenin: And was immediately, taken to the dentist. And in those days, dentistry wasn't as refined as it is today. So, I had a little temporary crown on my front tooth and it was always coming out. I was biting into toffees and things like that. And I was always finding myself, going back to the dentist. And I was going back so many times and I thought, "Do you know? This is really a worthwhile profession. This is somebody that's helping. This is somebody that's helping me." And I thought, "I think I might as well be one. I've come here so many times. I think it's a good profession." So, because of that accident-

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow.

Louis Guenin: I decided to come and do dentistry as a profession.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic. Beautiful, beautiful. Oh, that's really good. All right. So, if people were to describe you, Louis, personality wise. As an introvert, as an extrovert, would you agree with one of those and you would you agree with what they say?

Louis Guenin: All right, I don't consider myself an introvert.

Japhet De Oliveira: Uh-huh (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: I don't consider myself an extrovert.

Japhet De Oliveira: Right.

Louis Guenin: I'm straight down the middle. As Roslyn, my wife says, "I'm steady Eddy."

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: Steady Eddy, all right. So, I go along with that.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, hey, that's good, that's that's good. Adaptable, that's fine. Are you an early riser? Or, a late night owl?

Louis Guenin: I would tend to be a late night owl, from when I was doing my studying.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: But, now I have to adapt to whatever is on my program. So, I can't go to bed without finishing my task.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Louis Guenin: But, what happens now, is you get up in the morning, you have a lot of responsibilities and you've got a lot of things to program. So, I always find early bird catches the worm.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: So, I tend to get up before, the first one up in the household and I get up. I always find the first person that's up, always has an advantage on the people that come along later.

Japhet De Oliveira: It's true. Hot water, it's brilliant. Yeah, I'm with you.

Louis Guenin: Mm.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic. Good, all right. So, first thought that went through your mind this morning? Hmm.

Louis Guenin: The first thought, whenever I get up in the morning, I think, "What's my schedule for the day?"

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: And I just go through everything of the day.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And see, what I've got to do? What my priorities are? And to make a program of it in my mind.

Japhet De Oliveira: Is that a digital process you go through? Or, is that something you just go through in your mind?

Louis Guenin: Unfortunately, I do look at my phone-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, yeah.

Louis Guenin: Within a few minutes-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: Of waking up. In fact, the alarm goes on my phone and a whole lot of messages come along at the same time. So, it's digital.

Japhet De Oliveira: It's digital?

Louis Guenin: It's digital.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. No, that's fair, that's fair. That's all good. Right, leadership question. And it's our last one for this intro, before I hand off to the wonderful part of this podcast, which is for our listeners who listen to. The first time, our guest Louis gets to choose between 11 and 100, where he wants to go. 100 being the most fun, well, most difficult. And we'll see where he goes with that. So, number 10 at the end here. Are you a backseat driver?

Louis Guenin: What I understand is a backseat driver, is the person that's a passenger in a car.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Louis Guenin: And he either is criticizing the driver, or he's minds his own business and accepts the way the person is driving.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, that's fair.

Louis Guenin: Well, if we take it with that definition, Japhet-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: I'm only a backseat driver, if somebody is driving my car.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, I like that.

Louis Guenin: Because-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: I will be very critical of-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: "Why did you do that?"

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: "Why don't you go now?"

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: But, if it's not my car, I just let them get on with it. And I'm no longer a backseat driver.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's great, that's great. I like the qualification. Brilliant. So, Louis, where do you want to go, between 11 and 100? Oh-

Louis Guenin: All right.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Louis Guenin: Well, let's start off with an odd number.

Japhet De Oliveira: An odd number, OK.

Louis Guenin: Let's start off with 15.

Japhet De Oliveira: 15? 15 it is. What's the one thing that you always miss... Oh, yes. What is the one thing you always misplace?

Louis Guenin: I'm a very tidy person-

Japhet De Oliveira: Uh-huh (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: And by nature, and our training in dentistry is-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: To have everything-

Japhet De Oliveira: In order.

Louis Guenin: In order. In the right place, in the right drawer, at the right time.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: So, I very rarely misplace things.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: But, I must say I was thinking about this, because I've heard this before.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And I had a patient come in this afternoon and I said, "How are you?" And they said, "I'm fine, but I've lost my denture." I said, "You've lost a denture? How can you lose a denture? Isn't it always in your mouth?" And they said, "I put it in my pocket."

Japhet De Oliveira: Huh?

Louis Guenin: "And when I went to my pocket, the second, time it was gone."

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh my.

Louis Guenin: So, I'm the opposite to that. I know where everything is.

Japhet De Oliveira: OK. All right, that's fair. That's good. Where do you want to go after 15?

Louis Guenin: Let's go to 17.

Japhet De Oliveira: 17, all right. Share, what day is the most special to you on the calendar and why? Hmm.

Louis Guenin: The most special day in my calendar, has got to be my wedding anniversary.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hmm.

Louis Guenin: 29th of December.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, that's fantastic.

Louis Guenin: The happiest day of my life.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah?

Louis Guenin: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good.

Louis Guenin: It was a wonderful day. I had a wonderful bride. I had all my friends around me.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: All the people that I love and enjoy. And it was great. And I chose the 29th of December, because it was between Christmas and new year.

Japhet De Oliveira: Right.

Louis Guenin: And I didn't want people to say they were at work.

Japhet De Oliveira: Right.

Louis Guenin: Or, that they couldn't come, because of commitments. And I thought between Christmas and New Year, most people have got holidays.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes, yes.

Louis Guenin:

So, I thought, well, the maximum people to come along, especially of my friends. And so, we'll choose between Christmas and New y]Year.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh.

Louis Guenin: And it was a beautiful sunny day.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh.

Louis Guenin: Crisp, sunny day.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic.

Louis Guenin: So, it worked well.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's nice, that was nice. That's good, that you had great weather as well. All right, where'd you want to go next?

Louis Guenin: Let's go to 35.

Japhet De Oliveira: 35, all right. Share a special interest, or unique talent that you have.

Louis Guenin: Well, the talent has got to do with my work, with my profession. I come from a long line of watchmakers. My father was a watchmaker.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: My grandfather was a watchmaker, on both sides.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: My mothers and my fathers. My great-grandfather-

Japhet De Oliveira: Huh.

Louis Guenin: Was a watchmaker. All come from a long line of watchmakers in Switzerland-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: Which, is where the original watch trade was. And I have always been told genetics, that manual dexterity was with me.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And as a child, I liked to make things, do things with my hands. And I was always told that I was good and I enjoyed doing it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: So, I think the talent that I have inherited-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: It's got to be that of doing things, skill things with my hands.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's great, that's great. Super. All right. Where next?

Louis Guenin: Let's go two along. Let's go to 37.

Japhet De Oliveira: 37, all right. What do you like most about your family? Oh, you're going to like that question. I know, I know. Knowing Louis, knowing he loves his family. OK. What? Yeah.

Louis Guenin: All right.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right, that's a great question for you.

Louis Guenin: I'm blessed to have four lovely children.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: I have Sophie, my daughter. And then, Christian, my son. And then, we thought we'd like to have a third. And I thought, "All right, Roslyn had agreed to it." And so, we ordered the third and we got one free. We got twins. So, I have the pleasure of having four wonderful children-

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm.

Louis Guenin: Who I love very, very much, as much as I do Roslyn. And when they come round, we very often meet on a Saturday afternoon.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And have lunch together. And I look at my boys and they're talking to one another. One's six foot five, the next one's six foot four. And the next one's six foot three.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: Well I'm five, 10 and a half. And I just look up at them and I'm very proud of them.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, yeah.

Louis Guenin: So, my family is very important to me. You know that.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes, I do.

Louis Guenin: I think, you know my parents and I think it's again, our background, our Swiss background, it's very family orientated.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: And so, it's been good. Good times and bad. We support one another.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: Which is lovely.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's beautiful. Beautiful. Good, all right. That was my perfect question for you. All right. So, where do you want to go after 37?

Louis Guenin: Let's go half century.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right, all right, oh. Share about who has influenced you professionally?

Louis Guenin: I have for many decades, followed Gordon Christensen. Dr. Gordon Christensen.

Japhet De Oliveira: OK.

Louis Guenin: He is an American.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: Dentist, professor, educator.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm.

Louis Guenin: He is a brilliant man. I can't go through a year without seeing him.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh yeah.

Louis Guenin: Going to his lectures, being mentored by him, because he's absolutely brilliant. He is world famous. He runs an organization that tests all the latest products.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh wow.

Louis Guenin: And he's impartial.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And his wife, is a scientist and she's in charge of all the testing.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: Dr. Rella. And he's an inspiration to me. He has a very healthy lifestyle.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: He has in enormous energy. He's a brilliant dentist.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm.

Louis Guenin: And I go there and I feed from him-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: Because, he comes up with things, intelligent-wise things. Not only about dentistry-

Japhet De Oliveira: Right.

Louis Guenin: But, about life.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And it was only after a few years of knowing him and following him, that I found out that he was a Mormon.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hmm.

Louis Guenin: And I thought, "Now, he doesn't throw his religion in our faces."

Japhet De Oliveira: Right.

Louis Guenin: He just acts it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Louis Guenin: And first time we found out he was a Mormon, was they do year out and do a missionary-

Japhet De Oliveira: Right.

Louis Guenin: A year.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And she just talked about it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hmm.

Louis Guenin: And I thought, "Well, I don't know that much about the religion."

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: "But, I think he's a wonderful example." So, he's not just a wonderful example of dentistry.

Japhet De Oliveira: Right.

Louis Guenin: I mean he's 10 years older than me.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And he's still the most incredible person, he thinks clearly. And I'm sure it's because of his lifestyle that he does. But, he's a fun man as well. He goes out and used to have a club-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And go out riding on his Harley Davidson and other times have some courses that go skiing.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And going on cruises. It's just a person I admire in so many ways, in so many categories. So, for me, Gordon Christensen, Dr. Gordon Christensen, is my guru.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic. So, I mean, that's a great privilege, to be able to have found somebody so amazing in many other spheres, not just your professional sphere, but also in his life as well. What advice would you give? And this is not actually here on the list, but this is question 50A. What advice would you give to others to be able to try and find a quality mentor like that? What would be a tip? Or-

Louis Guenin: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: How do you find someone that-

Louis Guenin: Yes. How do you find... You're lead.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm.

Louis Guenin: You need judgment.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: I first saw him. He came to a lecture in London and I thought, he's different.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: He's got something that nobody else seems to have.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm.

Louis Guenin: I love people who've got wisdom.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And knowledge.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And challenge everything.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And he just does that. And I think there is wisdom in people that are older than yourself.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yes.

Louis Guenin: And although, as a young person, you don't always take that on board. Be it from your parents, or you like to learn the hard way.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: But, to see somebody and you just click and just listen and hear them talk.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: And I try to mentor sometimes, young people. I love young people.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: And if they are willing to learn, if they're just at the right time of their life.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: What direction to go? What to do in life? Just listen. So, to answer your 50 A-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: For a young person, just look and listen and feed from people that have made mistakes-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Louis Guenin: And people who have shone in whatever sphere they've done.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes. Hey, that's a brilliant piece of advice.

Louis Guenin: Is there a B to that?

Japhet De Oliveira: No, you actually answered B as well. I was thinking about B. I was like, "Oh, he's already gone there. So, that's great." All right. Where do you want to go next?

Louis Guenin: All right. Let's go to 65.

Japhet De Oliveira: 65, all right. Share one word that you could use to describe your past. Then, could you unpack that one word?

Louis Guenin: Hmm. One word that describes my past is-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: Blessed.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hmm.

Louis Guenin: I've been blessed. I've been blessed throughout my life. I can give you so many examples, when I had to learn a little bit about life when I was very young. Well, there I was about 11-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: Because, I thought that... The way that I was brought up, if you pray about something, it happens.

Japhet De Oliveira: Right, fair enough.

Louis Guenin: All right. And I found, "OK, well, I'd like to pass this exam-"

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: "And I'm going to pray about it." And I prayed about it and I was really honest about it. But, I didn't do very much studying for it. And I didn't focus on it at all.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And as a result-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: I found out and I was bitterly disappointed when I didn't pass that exam.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm.

Louis Guenin: And I found out very early on in life. It's no good praying about something, without you having some input into it. So, it's no good saying, "Taking this exam, I haven't done any work, but I've prayed about it and I'm going to pass with flying colors."

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: It doesn't work that way, you've got to work at it yourself.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And I've learned not to ask for the impossible. Because, the impossible happens in a different way, than you've asked for it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes. So, you would say then, being engaged in the process, is just as important as actually the requests, or the ideas, or the dreams of it?

Louis Guenin: Yes. I mean-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah?

Louis Guenin: Things just happened... Again, in life, I was trying for some exams later on. As I said earlier, I'm a steady Eddie. I'm not the fastest, most brilliant person in the class. I'm the plotter, I just plot along. And I just keep going until-

Japhet De Oliveira: Never give up.

Louis Guenin: But, to never give up.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: It takes me a little bit longer maybe to get there. But, when I get there, I stay there. And I found that in life has given me all, so many blessings. I didn't get into dental school the first time.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: I wasn't mentally prepared for it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Louis Guenin: I hadn't developed sufficiently-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: Too, for the university life.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And all the deals. And so, I wasn't able to get into that school. But, I applied for the next year and I got into a better-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: University. In fact, the best university, dental school I could have asked for, because we came out, with so much more practical experience-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: Than anybody, anywhere-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: Else in the country. And then, later on in life, when I finished my dental studies-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: Again, I wasn't the one that was getting all the credits. I was just getting there, I was passing my exams. But, we had one practical exam in the whole of the five years.

Japhet De Oliveira: Right.

Louis Guenin: And we had to do this task, this filling. And I was just given the perfect patient.

Louis Guenin: And I was fortunate enough to be the best student, given the best-

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow.

Louis Guenin: Practical results in the whole of the year. And because of that, I was able to be chosen to stay on and to do a house job-

Japhet De Oliveira: Huh?

Louis Guenin: In the dental hospital. And only six people out of the whole 50-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Louis Guenin: Were chosen to do that. So, all the others were academics.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And they were all brilliant at what they were doing, but I was the practical person who was good at doing the treatment. After the six months of doing this house job, we had to find a job and go out into practice-

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: And earn a living.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Louis Guenin: And of course, there's so many options that opened, but I wanted to do quality and not quantity.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: And I found that very difficult to find. So, I had about a month to go before leaving the hospital and I had to find a practice to go to.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: I'd been to some for interviews and it definitely wasn't me.

Louis Guenin: And when I'd finished work every day, I was really tired. It's a very physical, mental-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Louis Guenin: Job. You always used to go home and have a meal and crash out. But, this once, I didn't go home, my parents were away on holiday. And so, it meant I didn't have an evening meal to go to. And I thought, "Oh, I'll just go round to the students union."

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And people used to chill out there-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: At the end of the day. And they used to play darts.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And do you play darts?

Japhet De Oliveira: I did a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Louis Guenin: Well, we'd play darts. It's a very relaxing-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: Thing. And you play and somebody was just there, a dentist that I knew. And he said, "Oh, do you want have a game? Yes, OK." So, I had a game and just as we were playing, I turned around to him and said, "You don't of any jobs, do you? Dental jobs? I'm looking for a really good dental practice." And he said, "I just got the job for you." He said, "I'm in a practice. It's absolutely fantastic. You'll never get any better. It's at the bottom of Holly Street, which is the exclusive dental practices."

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And he said, "Don't tell them, I've told you. But, phone them up tomorrow and go for an interview."

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And so, I went along-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Louis Guenin: I mean, this was an exception, when do I go out and play darts at the end of the day? It didn't happen for six-

Japhet De Oliveira: No.

Louis Guenin: Months. But, just this time happened to be the right person-

Japhet De Oliveira: That's amazing.

Louis Guenin: In the right place.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's amazing.

Louis Guenin: And I just feel that I was just guided to go there. And I went for an interview and he said, "When do you finish at the hospital?" I said, "Well, the 24th of August. I will remember this day, 24th of August." He said, "Have the 25th off and start with us on the 26th." And it's been like that right throughout my life.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's beautiful.

Louis Guenin: I've just been blessed.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And I'm very, very grateful to God for all the blessings, and I could go on. So many things, but no. Well, I'm sure you want to go on to another nother.

Japhet De Oliveira: I do. I really like that actually. And I like the fact that you see the incredible blessings that you've had and opportunities that come aside. But, you've mentioned this a couple of times now, and this is another one of those, A questions. And you've talked about the steady Eddie, which I would probably refer to as resiliency. There's a certain resiliency about you, that I've known about you from day dart. Where do you think you get that from? That you are a resilient person, you don't give up, you continue.

Louis Guenin: Scholastically, when I was young, things didn't come easy to me.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: So, I had to work at it, work at it, work at it. I see it in my parents.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hmm.

Louis Guenin: Hard working backgrounds.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: And just plotting. There's a sense of determination. I don't like things half done.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm.

Louis Guenin: I like the best in life. I like to do the best. I like satisfaction, job satisfaction. So, I don't know. It's part of my character.

Japhet De Oliveira: They all came in together.

Louis Guenin: It's part of my character. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, that's good. That's good.

Louis Guenin: But, it's always also giving back-

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: Giving back. You've been given a lot.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Louis Guenin: And I've been blessed in being given a lot and I like to give back as well. So, life isn't all about taking-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: It's giving as well.

Japhet De Oliveira: Absolutely. That's beautiful. All right, we are down to the final two. So, where would you like to go for your final two?

Louis Guenin: Final two?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, I know. Can you believe it? And it's just gone.

Louis Guenin: Wow.

Japhet De Oliveira: Where did the time go?

Louis Guenin: All right.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right, all right.

Louis Guenin: Number 85.

Japhet De Oliveira: Number 85? All right. We're going high here. Describe a role model you aspire to be like? Ooh.

Louis Guenin: Oh, all right.

Japhet De Oliveira: Ooh, ooh.

Louis Guenin: Well-

Japhet De Oliveira: OK.

Louis Guenin: I've got three role models that I'd like to come. One, I've already described.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, yeah.

Louis Guenin: Gordon Christensen-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: My guru, dental professor. And two, you actually know. One, was my dear, dear friend, Jim Chris.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm, yes.

Louis Guenin: Jim Chris.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Louis Guenin: Was a wonderful, wonderful man.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: He always saw over and above whatever you saw.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: He saw the next step.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: As we say in England, he thought out of the box.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Louis Guenin: He was an inspiration.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: He was a minister. And he has a wonderful wife, called Sharon. And we, through a coincidence again in life-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, yeah.

Louis Guenin: We became incredible friends, very, very close friends. And we used to go over his... And he was living in Washington, D.C. And we used to go over and have so much fun, doing things in life. And yet, on the other side, he was so wise and I learned so much about life from him. I learned about how to live a full life, how to enjoy good things. He taught me actually, all about America.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: He said, "Louis, you need to know about the history of America-"

Japhet De Oliveira: OK.

Louis Guenin: "And you need to come over and enjoy it. Land of opportunity." And so-

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow.

Louis Guenin: We became very, very... He was an inspiration for me. So, that was Jim-

Japhet De Oliveira: Beautiful.

Louis Guenin: Without a doubt.

Japhet De Oliveira: Beautiful, yes.

Louis Guenin: And unfortunately, Jim-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: Passed away. But, my other modern day person that I would like to model and is an inspiration to me is Alex Bryan.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: I admire him in so many ways. His wisdom, his intelligence, the way that he can... He said to me, "Oh, I'm going to read four books this week." Oh my goodness, me. He's just going through reading all the books of American presidents.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Louis Guenin: And when the man speaks-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: I just love to hear him teaching.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Louis Guenin: Because, he sees something that I haven't seen.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes, he does often.

Louis Guenin: And that's what I love about people, seeing something. And I find that inspiring. It stimulates me and every word is a golden word.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: So, Alex Bryan is my third man.

Japhet De Oliveira: Good names, good names. Fantastic, all right. Well, then Louis, just down to your very final one. So, which number would that be?

Louis Guenin: All right.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right.

Louis Guenin: We had to go into the 90s, didn't we? Let's go for 92.

Japhet De Oliveira: 92. All right, then. Hmm. This is a good one. How would you like to remembered? Hmm.

Louis Guenin: I would like to be remembered as a generous person.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm.

Louis Guenin: I find meanness, very hard to deal with. And if you've got it, I think you've been given it. You've been blessed with it. You need to share it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: So, I'd like to be known as a generous person. I'd like to be known as a good husband.

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Louis Guenin: A good father.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: I'd like to be known as a great boss.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: I want my employees, my staff to think of me as a good guy, but a fair guy.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Louis Guenin: I'd like to be thought of as a successful role model and somebody who was willing to find time to help people that were in the crossroad in their lives.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, yeah.

Louis Guenin: So, generosity, I'd like to be known for that.

Japhet De Oliveira: I like that a lot, Louis. I think it does speak to, and you've mentioned this as well. I think does speak to your character. It speaks to who you are. And I think that's a beautiful summary of what... Actually, what everybody should be remembered for. Ultimately, it may be brilliant if people were, but that is wonderful to hear. And I think you live into all those spaces. So-

Louis Guenin: You're very kind Japhet.

Japhet De Oliveira: No-

Louis Guenin: You're very kind.

Japhet De Oliveira: Thank you so much for being part of this. Thank you for sharing. And the stories are fantastic. I just want to thank you for your time. And I want to also encourage everybody who's listening to continue sharing your own stories and experiences, because they shape not only yourself, but they shape others as well. And we can make this world a better place by doing so. So, God bless everybody. Look after yourself and we will connect another time.

Louis Guenin: Thank you, God bless Japhet.

Japhet De Oliveira: Thank you.

Narrator: Thank you for joining us for The Story & Experience Podcast. We invite you to read, watch and submit your story and experience at AdventistHealth.org/Story. The Story & Experience Podcast was brought to you by Adventist Health, through the Office of Culture.