A Reason to Smile: Agape Smiles
Every smile we share is an expression of joy, but for Chimere Collins, owner of Agape Smiles Teeth Whitening and Training Salon, nothing is more joyful for her than giving her clients a brighter smile. As a professional dental hygienist and determined entrepreneur, Chimere’s pride and joy is giving people a reason to smile.
“Agape means unconditional love,” explains Chimere. “The first thing you see on a person is their smile, and I want everybody to have unconditional love for their smile.”
Born in Durham, NC, Chimere grew up surrounded by the spirit of entrepreneurship, with both her parents and brothers starting their own businesses before and after her.
“My parents’ first business was called Agape Enterprises, and it always stuck with me,” recalls Chimere.
After moving to High Point in middle school, Chimere cut her teeth (so to speak) in dentistry around the same time. Shadowing her aunt (who today has been a dentist for over 50 years), Chimere soon fell in love with the profession and was soon set on a career in the field of giving people better, healthier smiles.
After graduating high school, Chimere received her degree in biology from Fayetteville University. But after the pathway to dental school was less than smooth, Chimere took some time off to teach briefly at a middle school.
“Teaching was not it for me,” laughs Chimere, “but I kept asking myself, ‘I don't like anything else; how can I get into dentistry?’ So I applied to dental hygiene school and was accepted immediately. It was one of those moments where I realized that this is what I'm supposed to be doing.”
With a passion to be more deeply involved in dentistry, Chimere graduated from UNC Chapel Hill’s dental hygiene program. But even that wasn’t enough for Chimere to sink her teeth into.
“You’ll see a pattern of me continually saying, ‘I’m still not satisfied; I want to do something more,” says Chimere of her ambition.
She later returned for a degree in dental hygiene education, going on to teach at Guilford Tech. And this was the kind of teaching she actually found valuable and suited for her skillset.
Having been a dental hygienist for ten years and a dental educator since 2016, Chimere has since found a way to roll her passion for dentistry, education, and entrepreneurship all into one endeavor: Agape Smiles. Coming up on its one year anniversary, Agape Smiles came into being after Chimere noticed a common trend across all of her patients.
“Working as a hygienist, patients come in all the time and the first thing they want is to have their teeth whitened,” explains Chimere. “I just kept seeing the need. So I thought, ‘How can I take something that I love to do and am able to do and to bring it to my community?’”
As the only professional dental hygienist with her own whitening salon in High Point, Chimere takes a very personal, and research based approach to her clients. Chimere offers consultations and tailors her process to each client’s unique dental history and even takes into account details like food allergies. After evaluating every client’s intake form, Chimere schedules an initial appointment, takes before pictures of the client’s teeth, and designs a specific strategy for obtaining the ideal set of picture perfect pearly whites. Following a session, Chimere sends all of her clients away with post-care instructions. Taking into account habits, like enjoying coffee or red wine, the plans are personalized to keep your teeth in tip-top, shining shape, all while keeping them strong and healthy.
“Your mouth is a gateway to your whole body; taking care of your body starts with your mouth,” says Chimere. “We want you to have a nice, cosmetic smile, but we want you to take care of your teeth too.”
Along with cleaning and crafting beautiful smiles, Chimere has worked her passion for dental education into Agape Smiles. Chimere offers training sessions in teeth whitening for dental professionals and estheticians, along with courses in coronal polishing for dental assistants.
In all of her work, Chimere’s mission statement truly comes back to her foundational idea of Agape, care for her clients, and unconditional love for one’s smile.
“Dentistry is so special to me because a lot of people have self-confidence issues from their smiles,” explains Chimere, “and if there's anything that I can do to help people feel better about themselves, I want to do that.”
Along with growing her business and continuing to spread smiles through High Point, Chimere remains ambitious in her calling to dentistry. Planning to attend dental school, Chimere dreams of eventually opening her own dental practice in High Point under the Agape name.
“I'm super proud to say that I grew up here,” beams Chimere. “High Point has grown so much and I really want to be a staple in this community.”
Along with her eagerness to see her business and High Point grow together, Chimere wants to be able to encourage other, particularly female and minority-owned businesses in their development and the pursuit of their calling.
“The one thing I would say is, do it scared,” says Chimere. “If you feel like you've been called to something, just do it. Don't say I'm afraid to do it; just do it and be afraid.”
Being in the business of smiles, Chimere remains grateful that she’s able to help people in such a positive and uplifting way. As a business owner, what greater reward could there be than getting to put a smile on your customer’s face?
“I can't think of any other profession that will allow me to help people the way I do,” says Chimere. “I love to smile, and I want everybody else to love to smile.”
“I can't think of any other profession that will allow me to help people the way I do. I love to smile, and I want everybody else to love to smile.”
Chimere Collins, owner of Agape Smiles
Discover our High Points,
The HPD Team
Photography by Katie Bardou Photography
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