Team Member Spotlight - Alexis Marimberga
Alexis Marimberga goes “vintage”
Wow, what a week we’ve had!
When we went to bed on Monday, I felt it was like Christmas Eve. The next day, the Indians would be in the playoffs and we’d get to analyze the leadership of our country for the next four years watching the debate. Waking up and throughout the day, the anticipation fueled the excitement until it was almost unbearable for those of us working. Yes, the Yankees were coming to town. But hey, we beat a slump and we beat New York before.
Would Biden give us his formula for breaking the Covid grip? Would Trump lay out a super health plan and a blueprint for employment after the pandemic? But wait… would riots, marching, and unrest cancel both events and leave Cleveland in shambles? By the way, this is all happening under the influence of a full harvest moon. And we all know what that can conjure up. But by ten o’clock, the excitement had fizzled worse than a sparkler under water. The Tribe had lost and the debate turned into a verbal Friday Smackdown! Oh well, we Clevelanders are a tough lot and there is always next year for the Tribe… Trump and Biden, well, they are still Trump and Biden. Our First Amendment marchers were respectful and voices were heard without our city taking it on the chin.
On a lighter note, but still on Cleveland (having spent six years in grad school there), Fall in Cleveland is an exciting time with many opportunities to relax, unwind, and even learn a thing or two. May I suggest what I feel is the gem in Cleveland’s cultural necklace - Wade Oval - with its art, history, and auto museums. Time slows here as you take in cultural and artistic exhibitions of world class. The Botanical Gardens, with its Madagascar rainforest and butterfly exhibits, is also a must-see.
As you grow weary and begin to think of lunch or dinner, just six minutes away (yes I’ve timed it) is the pasta capital of Cleveland. Little Italy is beyond world-renowned in the culinary pasta and sauce circles! It just doesn’t get more genuinely home-made than this, with a historical background you wouldn’t believe even if I wrote it out for you. Each restaurant here has its own ambiance and style that complements its menu. I have to tell you, if it’s sautéed frog legs in garlic, Maxi’s restaurant cannot be beat (along with their house specialty of killer veal marsala or piccata). Don’t get me started on the pizzas from any of the brick ovens on the hill. No, they don’t deliver to Medina! I was just there last week and I can attest that social distancing was being practiced and all wait staff wore masks. Before leaving, make sure you hit a bakery for scrumptious goodies to take home (both Prestis and Corbos are super choices).
So hey, Fall is here, and how are you going to celebrate it to break up the Covid monotony? Last week, I gave you a southern attack and this week, a northern version of seeing some sights and eating others!
But as much as I like to talk about things to do in Fall, I’d like to turn your focus to another team member spotlight. This week, it gives me great pleasure to showcase the youngest member of our Team who completed her first year with us in June…
Meet Alexis Marimberga
Alexis was born in Cleveland and grew up in Strongsville, where she graduated from Strongsville High School. While in high school, she worked at an orthodontic office in Strongsville and, after graduation, she enrolled in the Medina Career Center in the dental assisting program. The dental assisting students rotate through our office during their program and observe how an orthodontic office runs and whether this is the type of dentistry they would like to be a part of. We were so impressed with Alexis when she visited us, that we hired her as soon as she graduated! And yes, all of my clinical staff have graduated from the Medina Career Center.
Alexis has, over the last year, worked in all of our treatment areas - from sterilization to instrument organization to delivering treatment at the chair. She has her radiology license and regularly performs 3-D scans of our exam patients and patients in treatment. Few of her classmates can say that. As we have moved into the electronic scanning of our Invisalign patients (rather than taking impressions), Alexis’s youth and technology dexterity from texting and gaming have made her a natural with moving the wand over every tooth surface as she captures the data. Over this next year, we plan to have Alexis coordinate more of our records and become more involved in Invisalign delivery.
When not in the office, Alexis likes to work with her brother in her mom’s vintage re-style business. I had no idea what this business was all about. She explained that most weekends, the three of them are at flea markets or tramping around old barns looking for old farm implements and old objects to give them a new life. “Bringing blue collar objects into white collar homes,” Alexis says, “is probably the simplest way of describing it.” I agree.
To stay in shape for all the hiking around she does, Alexis engages in Crossfit and plays softball. Hiking at her grandpa’s cabin in the Pennsylvania Alleghany Mountains on weekends is also a great relaxing sport of hers. When asked about a life goal, Alexis states she would like to live on a farm and help her mom open a shop to sell her restyled treasures.
What Alexis likes best about orthodontics and her job is that she enjoys watching the patients’ confidence grow with their new smiles. “The friendships you make as you help each patient down life’s pathway to creating a new smile is exhilarating!” Alexis also adds that she enjoys her job and being on a Team where everyone is like family.
Alexis, I agree and couldn’t have said it better myself.
- Dr. Pfister