DEO Partners

Jacob Puhl is passionate about establishing thriving dental organizations by building executive teams, executive leadership, culture, operational systems, recruiting, retention, and financial structures.

As a current partner and CEO of the Dentist Entrepreneur Organization (DEO), Jake works with dental companies of all sizes, and turns them from fragile practices to thriving organizations by creating best-in-class training programs and curating elite networking communities. Jake gives dental company leaders the resources and support they need to move from disjointed “dots on a map” to unified, thriving dental organizations by “Thinking like a CEO.”

Darin Acopan is a Partner and EVP of Sales at the Dentist Entrepreneur Organization. Before entering Dentistry, Darin leveraged his talent for business to help scale the Bowflex brand from $50M to $450M in annual revenues over an 8-year span.

Darin transitioned into the dental space in 2014 as the head of business development for Stratus Dental’s DSO division. In 2017, Darin signed on with the DEO as Partner and EVP of Sales, growing the membership from 20 to 300+ representing approximately 1,900 locations and $3 billion in combined annual revenues.

In his free time, Darin enjoys spending time with his family, listening to podcasts, and volunteering at the local humane society.

Josey is a DEO Partner. An RDH, with 15+ years of experience, she has held many executive roles including COO of a rapid-growth, multi-location dental group. She is a sought-after coach because of the positive relationships she builds and the results – in the quality of leaders’ personal lives and their companies performance. She has facilitated 200+ executive team coaching session days.

Josey finds joy in helping leaders create an environment where teams thrive and is known for her open and honest approach to developing leaders’ vulnerability, authenticity, and willingness to be transparent about their challenges. Her focus on building healthy and sustainable dental businesses has helped teams overcome difficult challenges and create positive work cultures that support employee well-being. Josey received a Sunstar/RDH Award of Distinction 2023.

Emmet is a DEO partner; co-founder and board member of Community Dental Partners (CDP); president of the Association of Dental Support Organizations (ADSO); founder and host of the popular DEO’s Growth Secrets Podcast; and author of the #1 Amazon Bestselling book “DSO Secrets: The Ultimate Guide To Building Your Dental Empire”.

He is passionate about creating amazing patient, team, and doctor experiences and as a DEO Partner enjoys coaching and training entrepreneurial dentists and their teams.

Emmet’s work in the dental industry began in 2010. He co-founded CDP, helping it grow from 1 to 81+ dental partner practices (and growing).

A serial entrepreneur and passionate professional, Emmet prides himself on seeing the wisdom in people and their vision to serve. He is fluent in American Sign Language and is CEO of ASL Communication which provides sign language interpreters to governments, schools, hospitals, and businesses.