Shane Sykes describes himself as a dentist by training and an adventurer at heart. Above all, he prioritizes spending time with his family—and regardless of the cost or time commitment, he says it’s worth it.
So, whether he and his family are hiking Mount Kilimanjaro, doing humanitarian dental work in the Dominican Republic, or operating a women’s cycling event in Provo, Sykes has focused both his work and his adventures around having intentional experiences with family.
Sykes’ investment in family time has also taken the form of two sabbaticals: a year spent cycling a Church history route and 18 months driving an RV through the western US, Alaska, and Canada. Most recently, Sykes has pursued another investment, this time in himself—an EMBA at the BYU Marriott School of Business.
“I'm fascinated by business and leadership and all the ways we can improve other people’s lives through professional service,” says Sykes, who has run his own dental practice in Reno, Nevada, for the past 18 years. “I want to use my opportunities and my talents to make an impact on our employees’ lives, to make an impact on our community, and to be a good resource for our patients.”
Flying into Salt Lake City every other weekend to attend classes has been expensive, says Sykes. Still, he is confident that the effort will pay dividends. “Finances aside, to me the value of the EMBA is in the connections that I’ve made with other students.”
Connecting with the other students in his cohort, which include employees from a broad range of industries, has led to some meaningful benefits for his friends and his family, Sykes explains.
Sykes found one of those benefits when he purchased the Goldilocks Women’s Bike Ride event—an annual, noncompetitive cycling race—through a connection in the EMBA program and now runs the business with his family. “My college-aged kids do the bulk of the heavy lifting of running the business, and my wife and I are sort of their mentors,” he says. “The week of the event, the whole family is onsite, helping check in people and operating things. It's a really fun, busy event for the family.”
Alongside helping his kids develop professionally, Sykes says he has tried to show them an example of service. He has taken humanitarian dental trips with his family to Kenya, the Dominican Republic, and Guatemala. His younger kids help out by befriending the local children, and when they get older, they begin helping clinically. “For their whole lives, the kids have seen my wife and me serving, so it’s very natural for them to get involved,” he says.
And Sykes believes that the time and resources him and his wife have invested into family time have borne fruit. “My kids are amazing. They are gifted and talented. We have such a strong relationship as a family, and each of our children has a strong relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ,” he says. “All the things we hope for them, they are achieving and growing toward.”
And growth is what Sykes says he hopes to achieve through his EMBA. “A lot of people ask me why I’m doing an EMBA as a dentist,” he says. “Ultimately, it comes down to wanting to pursue continual growth and achieve my potential. ‘The glory of God is intelligence,’ and everything that I learn at BYU Marriott enables me to be more like my Savior and grow every day.”
