Conversations with Pamela Hopkins

Today we’d like to introduce you to Pamela Hopkins.

Hi Pamela, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
In high school, I took a job working afternoon for a local dentist in Hoover, Alabama. He trained me as a dental assistant and later sent me to dental hygiene school. In the meantime, I married my high school sweetheart, at the young age of only 18. 6 years later we decided to start a family. We had two boys, Payton, and Brady. After 13 years of marriage, I found myself divorced with 2 young children. I worked full-time for the dentist, but it was a financial struggle.

My youngest son was diagnosed with epilepsy at 9 months old and a blood disorder at 3 years old. Even with health insurance, copays and prescription bills were piling up. I was forced to pick up a second job on the weekends. Both of my boys were athletic, so they both played baseball and football. Sports controlled our lives and finances. Dental hygiene pay, in Alabama, is the lowest in the nation, but I didn’t want to move my kids from their school and friends, so I struggled. I knew I would eventually relocate but I would have to go back to school, to get my hygiene license in any other state. So when the boys were in high school, I registered for dental hygiene school once again. My regular job hours were cut back due to classes, so I continued working as much as I could with both of my dental jobs, and began working nights at the Cheesecake Factory. This kept us afloat financially, but lack of sleep and exhaustion was building for me. In 2018, I was diagnosed with a cancerous lymph node. I had surgery and radiation. The doctors said I would need time to rest, but the bills kept coming so I kept going. In 2019, Payton was independent, living and working in Louisiana, Brady graduated and entered his Freshman year of college, and I graduated and prepared to relocate. In January 2020, I moved to Nashville, TN. Two months later, a tornado hit Nashville, then a pandemic closed dental offices, and pretty much the entire World. There were riots breaking out in several cities, including Nashville. There was a bombing, in Nashville, at Christmas. I lost my mom in January 2021 and then a week-long ice storm hit Nashville. I began to wonder if God was trying to send me back to Alabama.

Slowly but surely, things began to get much better. Life in Nashville had grown on me. I was doing well financially and physically. I made some friends and started a meet-up group. We met regularly, to try out restaurants, bars, and other fun attractions throughout the city. I started helping a local charity by working in the warehouse on my days off to sort donations. It lit a fire under me. I had been blessed and I wanted to bless others. I just didn’t want to pick one charity to work with so I began to look for smaller needs in the community, that I could help make a difference. Throughout the last couple of years, with the help of my meet-up group, friends, family, and coworkers, we have sent Valentines to troops overseas. We made Easter baskets for kids in the local shelters. We filled shower caddies with hygiene products and inspirational gifts for a group of ladies recovering from drugs and alcohol. We stuffed backpacks for the local big brother/sisters club. We gave to local nursing homes. We have sponsored several families in need at Christmas time. I am still a dental hygienist, here in Nashville, but I’m also a subregional hygiene mentor. I love helping my patients as well as sharing my wisdom and skills with other hygienists. But my true passion is with giving back to those in need.

My own struggles in life have shown me so much. There are organizations that will help people in need, but for some, like myself, needs go unseen. I made too much money to get government help, yet I barely could survive. My goal is to reach out and help someone who may not have options for help. Or maybe they just need a little something to show that someone out there cares for them.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As mentioned before, my main struggles were financial. Trying to raise my boys as a single mom, and manage a household while working multiple jobs, was difficult. Then dealing with health issues with my son, and later for myself, made life even more difficult.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I began working at a dental office at 16 years old. I became a dental assistant and then a dental hygienist. I’ve been a hygienist for over 30 years. I now work for Heartland dental, as a clinical hygienist 3 days per week and a hygiene mentor 2 days per week.

As a mentor, I share my wisdom and skills with other hygienists and try to help them to overcome obstacles and locate classes or help they may need. I’m an advocate for them. Although, oftentimes, I learn as much from them as they do from me.

We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I love to travel. I’ve been to many states, here in the U.S., as well as several other countries, including Mexico, Dominican Republic, Kenya, Tanzania, Ireland, and Dubai.