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Smile!

From basement brainstorm to multi-million-dollar business.

ADAM FINKEL CONTRIBUTING WRITER

T

he late Morrie Fenkell was described by Rabbi
Levi Shemtov of Friendship Circle as an
unforgettable man. The philanthropist and
former chairman of Liberty State Bank & Trust was
said to consider himself the most blessed and lucky
man in the world, whether with family or standing
in Rome, participating in an audience directly in
front of Pope John Paul II.
His legacy of devotion, selflessness and charity
is not lost on his grandson, Alex Fenkell, who has
had moments the past few years that have, too,
been considered unforgettable, including a business
he co-founded with his childhood friend Jordan
Katzman being featured in Inc.’s 30 under 30 list and
profiled in Forbes, valued at higher than $500 million
at its most recently reported funding round in 2017
and even being included in the Grammy swag bag.
The business with such meteoric growth was incu-
bated just five years ago in Jordan’s mother Nancy
Katzman’s Franklin basement.
The business, SmileDirectClub (SDC), began in
2014 when Fenkell and Katzman started a company
to sell teeth aligners directly to patients. In their
words, the vision was to “democratize orthodontics.”
The co-founders noticed how whitening products
available via mainstream retail products signifi-
cantly lowered the costs of expensive whitening
treatments and believed more consumer-focused
and cost-efficient solutions could be offered to cus-
tomers desiring straighter teeth.
To understand the scale of the business, sev-

TOP: Alex Fenkell and Jordan Katzman.
ABOVE: Fenkell and Draymond Green.

eral metrics stand out. SmileDirectClub has around 2,400
employees, hundreds of thousands of customers, 70 retail
locations spread throughout 30 states and plans to have 150
open by the end of 2018. Currently, of the hundreds of thou-
sands of individuals who have undergone doctor-directed,
at-home aligner therapy in the U.S., SmileDirectClub holds
more than 90 percent share of that market. The company
views its addressable market at nearly 75-100 million
Americans.
The company’s Facebook page has more than a quarter-
million likes. The Glassdoor “company review” website lists
more than 200 open positions for the business, which is now
headquartered in Nashville, Tenn. And if you use Instagram,
browse Facebook or have watched television over the last
year (SmileDirectClub is one of the most prominent adver-
tisers on both MSNBC and FOX), it’s quite likely you’ve seen
their colorful advertisements on a screen near you.
One recent national commercial, which often includes
testimonials from young adults, showcases NBA champion
athlete Michigan-native Draymond Green, a good friend of
co-founder Fenkell and an early investor in the business.
“A key factor in choosing where to invest is finding a
company that shares my values, and Jordan and Alex bring
the leadership, vision and a work ethic that I’m looking for,”
Green says. “As a satisfied customer of SmileDirectClub, I
strongly believe in the product and its growth potential.”
The business is also expanding on the international
front, with a growing number of employees based in Costa
Rica. “From the Central Government, we are very happy to
know that SmileDirect is betting on Costa Rica, with plans
as ambitious as tripling its current payroll of 160 workers,”

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June 7 • 2018

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