Running a successful dental practice, running the family calendar, and making time for actual running all require intentional planning. Local dentist and owner of Sterling Ridge Cosmetic & Family Dentistry, Erica Cummings, D.D.S., shares how she balances it all while staying motivated and inspired.
Much like Newton’s First Law of Motion—objects in motion stay in motion—Cummings has lived an active lifestyle from an early age. In her early 30s, she completed four marathons before pausing to launch her dental practice. She met and married Lewis Cummings, D.D.S., became a stepmom to six, and had a son of their own. And she hasn’t stopped running since.
“Running a race would be a lot harder to do without my family’s support,” says Cummings. She’s grateful that Lewis supports her Saturday morning long run days while he executes breakfast and kids’ sports.
“It’s the same at work. If I didn’t have an incredible team behind me, I would not be as successful as I am. You don’t do any of that alone.”
Cummings reveals that in dentistry, it’s easy to become complacent—doing average work and getting along just fine. But for her, it’s more meaningful to seek to impact people’s lives. The tight-knit team at Sterling Ridge treat their longtime clients like family.
“You sleep better at night knowing about the quality you deliver,” she says.
Giving Back Locally
Cummings makes a concerted effort to stay active in the community. She has a strong relationship with the first dentist she worked with, and every year the team invites them back for their free dental days for the community. It’s a family affair: Lewis, a periodontal specialist with his own practice, performs extractions while Erica does fillings.
Other community involvement includes Conroe’s Meals-on-Wheels annual fun run, Miles for Meals, and The Woodlands Christian Academy’s PTA and Warrior Booster Club. Cummings recently chaired the school’s Color Run.
She relies on technology to best manage her time and keep her family in sync—especially the Skylight calendar. The digital planner sits on the Cummings’ kitchen countertop, with each family member using a phone app to color-code their engagements on the calendar.
In many family ventures, you have each other to help run the business. But Erica and Lewis both had to figure out how to do it themselves in their respective practices. Cummings praises her head assistant, Bridget, for enabling her to run her practice successfully—and enriching her life—over the past 14 years.
Getting Out to Play
Family vacation requires careful planning, too. The Cummings family loves to go on adventures together, particularly places where they can be active, like Utah, where they can hike, mountain bike, and ski, and, of course, enjoy good food.
“Being active is good for your body, a good outlet as a stress reliever and a good thing to instill in your kids that become habits,” she says. Their son, Bobby, at eight years old, even runs a daily eight-minute mile before his other sporting activities.
Cummings’ family modeled an active life for her. She recalls going on family trips to Colorado, whitewater rafting in North Carolina, and camping on the Guadalupe River—always being out in nature, on the move, as a kid.
Last year, a friend she runs with on the weekends was training for The Woodlands Marathon and planted the seed for Cummings to join in on the fun. Though she started training late, she jumped into the familiar routine and pressed on. The two finished the marathon together—and Cummings, at 44, realized she had qualified for The Boston Marathon by 22 seconds. She gets emotional just thinking about it.
The timing was perfect. She turned 45 before registering for the 2024 Boston Marathon, which enabled her to gain a five-minute window and qualify by 05:22.
Cummings went to Boston with her family for the race. While there, they checked off all the sightseeing they could around Easter—Mass at Saint Cecilia’s, a Red Sox game, the Freedom Trail, and visits to MIT and Harvard.
When running the famous race, Cummings went through all the emotions that came with such a feat, but mile after mile, she powered through. It’s partly her competitive nature that gets her through, she says. Even just passing the person in front of her helps motivate her. Other times, it’s her internal self-motivating voice that pushes her to keep going, or she turns to prayer for strength and courage. However she reaches the finish line, overcoming the challenge in front of her is part of the fun.
Cummings has been running since she was a kid. Her dad would sign her and her brother up for fun runs, and they’d run the neighborhood streets at night. She continued throughout junior high and high school, making friends with other runners. Back then, it wasn't about the competition. And that's still true today. Before the Boston Marathon, Cummings became friends with a fellow participant. They exchanged numbers and congratulated each other at the end of their races.
“It was the best and the worst race I’ve ever had,” says Cummings. “The hills were the worst ever, but the highs I felt were the best, and the happiest of moments realizing that I am here!”
Staying Connected
Today, Cummings stays motivated through learning and staying connected with current events. She enjoys audiobooks, podcasts, and watching documentaries on Netflix. Her favorite motivational podcasts include Ultimate Human by Gary Brecka, Huberman Lab, and The Drive by Peter Attia. Her motivational books of choice include Atomic Habits, Drive, and When by Daniel Pink.
More adventures await her and her family. When needed, Cummings reminds herself to just keep going, relying on prayer for strength to finish the race well—both literally and figuratively. But that’s all part of the journey.
“If I didn’t have an incredible team behind me, I would not be as successful as I am. You don’t do any of that alone.”