Latest / Skin Anarchy / Dr Sybile Val, board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon, Interview

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Dr Sybile Val, board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon, Interview · Skin Anarchy

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: Hi guys, welcome back to Skincare Anarchy.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: This is your host, Ekta, and I'm very, very excited about our guests because it's very rare that I get to interview um surgeons that I, you know, really look forward to interviewing.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: So without further ado, I'm gonna introduce you guys to Dr.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: Sybil Val, who is a uh board-certified plastic surgeon.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: She has her own skincare line, and um I'm super excited.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: So welcome to the show, Dr.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: Val.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for making the time.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited to join you tonight.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, very happy to be here.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: How are you?
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: I'm doing wonderful.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I would love to get started um because I want to know everything about your background, how you got into medicine.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I think uh that's one of the things that people don't really um know much about, you know, in the medical field.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: So I'd love for if you could share that with us, the whole journey of um you getting into your your your field and your specialty.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um awesome.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I was um born in Haiti.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um by the time I was three or four years old, um my mom had uh relocated to New York.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: I um I have a very I had a very young mom.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um and she actually was working as a housekeeper in Westchester, New York.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: And um during the time that um she was working, she, you know, was like a a fresh immigrant, you know, didn't speak the language, didn't know the culture, um, was trying to navigate these things.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: And she was really lucky to have had a family that she was working with and working for that were really kind to her.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember them from you know, the age of three, four.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they were PhDs, um, but obviously everyone called them doctor, including my mom.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: And they were my first introduction to the term doctor, to the understanding doctor, and it kind of was always in the background of my life, you know, that I had I knew these two doctors.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um so by the time I was five, I was determined to be a doctor as well.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um I love that the difference between, you know, a PhD and an MD.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: But in my mind's eye, as a child, to be a doctor meant to be a medical doctor.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought that's what they were, and that was my goal to be like them.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, I love that.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: I really love that.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: So, how did you um you know you knew early, but how did you get into it in college and stuff?
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like, did you just you can't just pursued it?
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: You knew that you were pre-med and um from the beginning, or so my um my mother did work as um uh CNA.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: So it kind of allowed me to see her in scrubs, going to work, hearing about, you know, taking care of patients.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: By the time I was in about sixth or seventh grade, I started volunteering in the emergency rooms um at the uh local hospital.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um my job was really simple.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: When people came in, they were registered, and I was a young kid who put the little armband on them, you know.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um but I never went back to the ER.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: I never really saw the ER.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: I was really just kind of, you know, um volunteering with the receptionists more than anything else.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: But at a very young age, it kind of left an impression on me, and I was certain that I was going to go into medicine.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: When um when it became time to go to college, you know, I knew to go down um the road to uh to have a medical career meant I had to major in the sciences.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, at that time, um, the same family that I'd known since I was a little girl, they, you know, they encouraged me to pursue the sciences.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: They had heard me say time and time again that I was going to be a doctor.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: They never discouraged me, nor did they ever, you know, say yes, you can do it, but they were just kind of, you know, in the background, listening and being supportive, you know.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: So I always had their support.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: And when I went to college, I made it in bio.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I really think it's my college years that changed my life.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um I think, yeah, I really do believe.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um I went to Adelphi University in Garden City, Long Island.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: I knew nothing about going to college.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know college required payment.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: I thought it was free, just like high school.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it should be.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: I mean it should be.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: I was I was completely clueless, you know.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: You have to keep in mind, I was the first person in my family to go through the American education system.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: So just graduating from high school was a huge ordeal.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: My mother didn't know anyone who had done that before, you know.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: She herself had never gone through the school system.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: So she really couldn't help me.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: She could kind of cheer me on and be excited for me, but she didn't understand it.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: So when we when it came time to go to college, I received an academic scholarship to go to Adelphi.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: And when I got there, um for the first year, while I was majoring in bio, for the first year, I was a little overwhelmed, not really understanding everything, what college meant, you know.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: I just knew all the way from home, I had to do some schoolwork, you know, but but my head hadn't truly I truly hadn't wrapped my head around the entire goal and the entire experience.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but by my sophomore year, I met with my advisor and he mentioned to me that because I had not taken general, um, I'm sorry, uh general biology, like biology 101 at the same time that I took chemistry, that I was behind and there was no way that I was going to make it to med school.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: You know, honestly, Dr.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: Val, can I just say this for a minute?
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: I teach undergraduate advisors.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I kid you not, mine did the same thing.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: Mine told me, literally, I'm not kidding you.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: Mine told me you will never get into graduate school, much less medical school.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, It's so sad.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like, if I'm gonna tell people, yeah, it's sad that the people that are supposed to be encouraging you are saying some of these things.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: But I also think it's important to understand who you are.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: And at a very young age, I was really comfortable in my skin.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: I understood who I was, even though I didn't have all of the pieces together.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: I understood when he said that to me that something wasn't right.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember leaving and saying it can't be.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: I can't be in my second year of college and yet everything is over when I still have two years left.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, you know, I'm like, it can't be, that can't be the way it works, you know.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: So well, you know, I I actually wanna I wanna bring this up later, but I want to just say this quickly is that the amount of work that you know, as a as a colored woman that you have to put in is like exponentially higher than anybody else.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, absolutely I want to dive into that later with you because I mean this is such a blessing that I'm getting to talk to you um in terms of just you know talking about this.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: Was please continue um, you know, what you're saying.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um I I completely agree.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: I think um, but I think that those are some of the wonderful things that we have to learn to take advantage of.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: So because I grew up, you know, in an underserved neighborhood, because you know, I grew up around the way, I understood how to navigate things sometimes almost better than people who had a path laid out for them.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm really grateful for the fact that, you know, I that I didn't have an easy path, but I'm grateful that I had the tools to help me succeed, regardless of the path that I ended up on.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and I definitely think that comes from everything that I am.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: It comes from me being black, it comes from me growing up, you know, in an underserved, you know, underrepresented neighborhood.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: All those things actually made me stronger, not weaker, you know?
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: When when I um, you know, I remember really sitting down and thinking about this, and the plan was I would have to take organic chemistry in the summer to get caught up, you know?
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: And he told me no one gets two A's in organic, no one, especially in the summer.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: People struggle during the semester, so a six-week he was like, it's it's undoable, and that's all he had to tell me.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, So we shall see.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: That was my goal.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: My goal was to go into organic and get two A's and make it doable.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly what I did.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: And once I got those two A's, I didn't believe anything anybody had ever said anymore.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like that was oh my god, no matter what anyone said, I kind of questioned it.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I still do that even now, you know, even now.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I and that's one of the reasons why like a Delphi will always have a special place in my heart.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because when I went there, um I didn't understand and I didn't know.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: You know, my eyes were open, and when my eyes became open, um, my organic professor that summer, he saw my potential and he lit a fire under me.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: When I got that first A, he explained to me that there was nothing I couldn't do because I was so smart.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: He was the first person who had ever said this to me.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, he was the first person who had ever believed in me.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: And when he said it to me, it really lit a fire under me.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: And after that, like, like I knew I was going to med school, I knew I was gonna be a surgeon, I knew, you know, I knew everything was gonna work out.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't have it all planned out.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know exactly what it would look like.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: But even during my struggles, whether it was during general surgery residency or plastics residency, I would always go back to what he told me.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: You can do anything you put your mind to because you're smart.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: And that's it.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: I tell my kids that now, I tell my husband that now, I tell my mentees that now, I tell my employee, my employees now.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: Anytime anybody tells me anything, I'm like, stop and just think about this.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Think about where you've come from, where you are now.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: You can do anything you put your mind to.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my God, I love that.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: Because, you know, I like just listening to your journey through undergrad, like I'm almost like on the verge of tears.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I went through in a similar way as well.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I know that to be able to come up with that much strength in yourself to carry on into you know medical school and then graduate training, you know, post-grad training, it's a huge feat.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I really want to congratulate you, first of all.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, this is truly extraordinary.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: And the fact that, you know, you've accomplished so much.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I think people, you know, when someone with this background and someone who has really done it themselves the whole time, when they accomplish what you have, I just I feel like it it requires a next level of, you know what I mean?
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like, uh, congratulations because it's so much harder than if both of your parents are doctors and you get into med school because you're a legacy kid, you know.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like I hate that stuff, you know.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: I get it, I totally get it.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, I'm gonna tell you this.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you can't you can't be upset with other people for simply having what you didn't have.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: So, like when I see other kids who are quote unquote legacies, I'm not even mad.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like I hope my kid benefits from the fact that I've worked so hard, you know.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, um I want her to.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: She ought to benefit from it because that's part of the reason I'm putting in so much work.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: So, what what's really important, and even for the kids who have it all laid out, some of them fail not because they don't have the opportunity, but they're still missing something.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: And the something that tends to be missing is a true understanding of self, a true understanding that you are truly capable, you you truly have all the tools, you truly are created for this, and that this is going to happen.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: It might not happen on the timeline that you expect, but it's going to happen.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, years later, the PhDs that I grew up with, who have always treated me like family, you know, they when they Googled and realized that I had met all the goals that I had set, you know, for myself, they were shocked.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: And they they and they literally told me, I can't believe you did it, but we are so proud of you.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: And wow, oftentimes, you know, people are watching.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: People are watching as you're moving along, you know.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: And just because, you know, they're not opening doors for you, just because you have to figure out how to open the doors, it doesn't mean you don't you don't have a a squad of people cheering you on.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's a young girl who just got into residency who um I met in passing for four years ago.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, when I find out she got into residency, I'm like, I'm excited for her.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I hope I hope she goes into plastics, you know?
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like people are quietly cheering you on.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes when you're on the path and it feels lonely, you don't you don't get that.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: You don't understand that.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: Well, people don't come out of the woodworks either.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's like they see your success, you know.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: And that's that's something that I I wanna, you know, I wanna dive into a little bit too, is like, you know, some of the hurdles of um, you know, just going through what you went through and then you know, having to be be able to make it and being surrounded by people that are not in the same demographic as you.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, can you talk to me about that a little bit?
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: Because, you know, that that's that's something I know for me when I was getting into my specialty, the first general surgeon I met, she looked at me and she said, Ekta, do you know how many times I've been told no?
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: She was the first black woman surgeon I'd ever seen in my life.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: And she looked at me and said, You know how many times I've been told no?
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: Every single one of these male surgeons told me, This is not the place for you.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: You're never gonna make it here.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: And she killed it.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: She did trauma, she did, you know, she was one of the best trauma surgeons I'd ever seen in my life.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, I I want to talk about that.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: I want to talk about your, you know, when you saw like looked around you and said, I don't, I'm like, you know, unique in this crowd.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how did you deal with that?
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think I I have I was so accustomed to that, you know, when um, as I mentioned, because my mom worked for this family and we were pretty close with them, you know, we the two of us were different compared to them.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: They were, you know, white, they were Jewish, you know, they had three kids, they had all their friends that were white, and you know, so when we were around, we were the only brown people.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: So we we were accustomed to being the only brown slash black people around.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: And even when I moved, um eventually my mom moved to um Mount Vernon, where I ended up going to um I think second grade up to 10th grade, that was actually my first time around a whole bunch of black people, you know.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I was just like, okay.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: But I found I found it interesting.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: When I look back, I realized that my like my closest friends, you know, was the one Indian girl or the one white boy.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: And it's because I understood their pain because that's what I had experienced the first couple of years, being that only person, you know.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: So all of my life, I think that's that, you know, being the only first person in your family to go to college, being the first person in your family to, you know, speak fluent English without an accent, you know, all of those things kind of prepared me to be the only black female, you know, surgeon or you know, one of the few black um plastic surgeons in the country.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they're only about 1.4% of plastic surgeons that are black in the country.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that's not even one per state.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's a crazy, no, I know.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I and I, you know what's funny is I'm I you it's not funny, but you know, you mentioned this.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I've actually looked for, you know, in my area many times, a black surgeon for something.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, I can't find anybody.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, you know, so you know, this is this is something that I think, you know, people need to understand that that's what I meant earlier when I said uh women and men of color um have to work exponentially harder.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not really okay.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I I know that there are a lot of lessons to be learned along the way, but to be able to be told, like, you know, basically you're never gonna make it just because you they don't they maybe they just don't like your skin color, that's terrible, you know.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it really is.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but you know, um so when I was in plastics training, I heard that a lot.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, I've I've never seen a successful black plastic surgeon.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what that looks like.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what the future looks like for you.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: And the truth of the matter is those those were true statements.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: As hurtful as it was for me, these folks had never really seen successful black plastic surgeons.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't know how to advise me.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: They understood what they were and what they were also telling me was what I know to be true.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: Plastic surgery is a world, particularly cosmetic surgery.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's a world created for where the vast majority of the patients are white women.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: So what they were saying is, how are you gonna survive in this industry that tailors to white women who like to be taken care of by white men?
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't know, you know, they didn't know what to tell me, and they were just happy that they were white men that were able to tailor to these women, you know?
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, you know, I wanna, I wanna actually, I want to dive into that a little bit because being, you know, being of a different background and having this, you know, incredible, like, you know, ethnic diversity, like I think that's a beautiful thing for a surgeon, especially, because I'm sure this applies when you you see your cases, right?
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, can you tell us a little bit about um when you have a you know a patient come in and and they want, for example, you know, something that's a pretty routine procedure, but they're not for they're not white, you know, so they don't have white features.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: So how do you what's your process of assessment and you know, talking to the patient and stuff?
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like, can you go walk us through that?
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: So the first thing that I I really do is I take the time to get to know all of my patients on a personal level.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: I know everything from you know why they're considering plastic surgery, how long they've been thinking about it, what their thoughts are, you know, behind the operation.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I know how they feel about themselves.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: If, you know, this is something to kind of jumpstart their journey or if they've been on a journey and now this is the icing on the cake.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I really get to know the patient outside of race, outside of sex, even, you know, and I think just by taking that time to get to know them, I've come to realize that 99.9% of the patients are the same.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: Regardless of skin color, regardless of features, a lot of them are really, really the same.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: Plastic surgery is about love.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's about self-love, it's about seeing it in the mirror, it's about feeling it in your heart and your soul, feeling comfortable in your skin, regardless of the color of your skin.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore, it applies to everyone.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: And when with that perspective, it's easy to take care of anyone.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: So, compared to a lot of docs, I actually take care of everybody.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: I have a pretty significant African African American um patient population, I have a significant Caucasian population, I have a significant Indian population, and I have a significant male population.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason is because I don't tailor or cater simply to one set of standards.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: What I really do is is tailor and and and cater to the soul of a person, and almost anyone can connect and relate to that.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, I love you.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm obsessed with you.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: Seriously, this is great.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, I honestly I don't get to meet a lot of um amazing women in medicine like this.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: So for me, this is really an honor.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I want to talk more about um just basically the whole like you know, with COVID, everybody's been home a lot more.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I know the rate of you know, um procedures and stuff has probably, you know, been altered and stuff.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: So how what what are some of the changes that you've noticed in your practice um because of the pandemic?
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I actually spoke about this not too long ago, but there actually was a um pandemic um boom with plastic surgery.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: So more people were having plastic surgery for a couple of reasons.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I think it all ends up being the same thing, but because they weren't going to vacation having vacations or they were having time off, they were working from home, a lot of people had more time.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I think what happens when you have more time is you also have more time to internalize and really think.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of people started looking in the mirror, asking themselves, do I like what I see on Zoom?
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: Do I like how I feel about this?
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so they a lot of people decided, you know what, if not now, when?
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the pandemic really gave a lot of people the opportunity to say, This is where I am, this is where I want to be, what can I do to get there?
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot of patients came to see me who were finally ready for that tummy tuck, finally ready for that eyelid lift, finally ready to kind of refresh themselves with the hopes of stepping out of the pandemic as the person that they had always been, but were never truly able to express because they never had time.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: They were too busy with kids, too busy with work, too busy checking the boxes and not really living for self.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so once again, I think the pandemic really showed some people what self-love looks like.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: It looks like you taking the time to look at yourself, to see yourself, and to be honest with yourself.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: If there's something that you don't like, you can either keep staring at it or you can say, Hey, what steps can I make to change it?
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and there's power in that.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of people during the pandemic found their power, and I'm so happy for them for that.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: And also for the guy who said, What does your future look like?
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know, huge middle finger because your future looks very bright.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I love that.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I I even like I said, he didn't know.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he didn't know.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: I just, you know, I think for me, I'm just more aggressive, you know, it's like very close to my heart as well.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: And when I when I hear things like negative statements against um very intelligent people just because they're of color, I'm just I don't know, but I'm still dealing with the the rage that comes in me.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, don't think you're smart people.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: So let me give you one piece of advice.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: The the negativity is a reflection of who they are, it's not a reflection of their.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Who you are.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: But if you take it in, it becomes a reflection of who you are.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: So the question is is their negativity holding a mirror to you, or is their negativity simply something you're walking by with no reflection?
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you pull it in, if you're able to see yourself and relate to it, it's because there's a part of them that is in you.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: So you're right.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: Also, one thing, um, like I've always told people, you know, people have told me that it wouldn't work out for me.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: And the the first thing that I thought about is, oh man, they must not be where they want to be in life.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: It didn't work out for them.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why they're saying this to me.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I always say to myself, oh well, it didn't work out for them, but it will work out for me.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, I love that.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's very you're right.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: You're absolutely right.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I think, you know, for everyone listening out there, I really hope you guys are getting um these nuggets of knowledge because this is a wisdom, actually, because you know, this is very rare to find.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I know that there are a lot of um, you know, young women out there.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: For example, like I have another Instagram that I was kind of like a part of, and it's called Brown Skin Health, and it's a bunch of pre-med students, you know, that are interested in dermatology.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember at one point, um, the one of the girls that's the main was talking about this very similar topic.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, I think that this is something that still is a big problem.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: So, everyone out there that's listening who's interested in medicine, please take heed to what Dr.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: Bell is saying.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, this is amazing advice.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: But um, you know, I want to actually dive in, Dr.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_01: Val, into your skincare line.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: What led you to create the line?
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: And um, did you think there was a the hole in the industry that you wanted to fill, or how how did that come about?
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: So um I've always been interested in skincare during my classic surgery training.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: We spent, you know, quite a bit of time um, you know, operating.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: And in a lot of offices, there was always like another wing, you know, the other area where there was an esthetician doing all this stuff with the skin.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so there was a dermatologist that I decided to um shadow who just so happened to take care of a lot of um brown skin um in New Orleans.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I shadowed her.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um I learned everything from you know laser hair removal, you know, to um when to use retinols um and so forth.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the things that I realized was there's this there's this misperception about skin.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, especially being you know black, I hear you know, black doesn't crap all the time, you know.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I realized that, you know, like this the sun isn't racist.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I always say this the sun is not racist, you know.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: So the UV rays are affecting everyone equally, it just looks different.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I realized that wrinkles, you know, fine lines and wrinkles in white women was the same thing as um coarse texture and hyperpigmentation in brown women, and a lot so interesting.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: Can you hear me?
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: Valley and they want to get rid of the wrinkles.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: I put them on a retinol and a and a you know regimen to get rid of uh wrinkles.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: When a person comes to me who's brown, they might not be saying um, you know, concerns about wrinkles, but they're having concerns about um hyperpigmentation, um large pores.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's the same thing.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: You put them on retinols, you put them on brighteners, and both people improve because you're reversing the signs of aging in both.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: That's a very unique way to look at it.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: Truly reversing the signs of aging.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: I I've never I've never heard someone uh um refer to it like that, where you said, you know, um the sun is the sun exposure is manifesting in different ways on different colored skin.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: That's a that's a really great way to explain it because I know right now in the skincare industry there's this huge buzz.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I really kind of dislike this um because you know, a lot of companies are profiting off of it.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: They're saying, you know, there there's a huge difference between brown skin and you know Caucasian skin, and we need to break products that are only for brown skin, but then a white woman is making those products.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, you know, why don't we you know, why don't we step back and get the real professionals here and really figure out?
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I mean, I want to ask you just very general and you know, in a general way, can you tell me is there a difference in brown skin versus lighter skin?
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like a huge difference.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: There are some differences.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: The dermis is thicker in darker skin, and that's why wrinkling isn't as big of an issue and hyperpigmentation is a bigger issue.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: Interesting.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: So the the quality of the skin in terms of the the you know, the thickness of the skin truly is different.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: So, yes, that's different, but that's really all that's different.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's good to know for the record, you know, because there's a lot of claims out there, and uh 90% of them are false.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: So that's I'm glad you clarified that.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you know, I I want to actually just take the time and and um ask you what you think of the skincare industry right now.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, as a surgeon, I'm sure your uh perspective is very unique and and obviously, you know, very educated.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um so how do you feel about the whole space?
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know, do you think we need all these products or you know?
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um honestly, I don't think we need all of these products.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: However, I understand why they all exist, you know, because as humans, there's so many different people and there's so many, you know, different ways for us to take care of ourselves and different things that we desire.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: And one skincare line will not address everybody's needs.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the same way if you go to the um supermarket, there are 10 million types of bread.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's a reason.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: There are some people who only want white bread, there are some people who want organic bread.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so there are so many options, there are all these options because there are there's so many of us with so many different ways of life and different approaches.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it's fair that all of these um skincare lines and products exist, but I do think that it's important to know the difference between medical grade and just um over-the-counter cosmosceuticals.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: So cosmosceuticals versus pharmaceutical is really important.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes in the cosmosceutical world, they're promoting and talking to you about products as though they are pharmaceutical, which is not fair and which is not true.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, when I launched my skincare line, I remember I put together this PowerPoint, and sometimes you'll see these beautiful models with amazing skin who have a dermatologist, you know, at the at their fingertips, you know, that they're creating products with, and but they're selling you something cosmosceutical, but what they're using is pharmaceutical.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so people go and they buy these things, you know, i.e.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: meaningful beauty.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't have medical grade products, so you don't have these amazing results.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where people need to understand that marketing in America is real.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, 99% of the time you're being marketed to.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: And the problem sometimes with marketing is the fact that when it's done well, you might fail to realize that someone just sold you something that you might not even have wanted or needed.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: Well, just the concept you just explained, you know, cosmeceutical versus pharmaceutical, no one is talking about that.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that is just, you know, case in point, right there.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, yeah, this is the first time anyone has spoken about this, and I love it.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and and I think that right now, the way the skincare industry is, like, it's it's actually aggravating to me because I'm like, you guys keep coming out with the same stuff.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_01: Then I highly doubt that you've consulted enough dermatologists or enough surgeons to really figure out what the white space is because they're the only ones that know.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, everything is a business, you know, and you know, the the cosmaceutical world is is a it's big business.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: People love buying these creams, even if they don't work, they'll, you know, such and such bought this cream and their face looks beautiful, so everyone's gonna go and buy it and try it, you know, it's a business.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_00: And and we have to understand that at all times we're consumers at all times.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I agree.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I actually want to ask you though, with your line, um, if you were to recommend um, you know, just a small regimen for somebody who's not very, you know, they don't have a lot of skin problems, they just want to keep their skin healthy.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what are some of the products they can go and shop for on with your line that are just that's what they need, and they can stick to stick to those products?
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: So there are three things that um most patients need.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: In order to truly age gracefully, you should be on a great retinol.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, some of them can be a little abrasive and tough on the skin.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: So it's good to have an understanding of your skin type, oily versus dry, sensitive versus not, so that you're on the right strength and you're not having too many um side effects from the retinol.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: So retinol is really key to aging gracefully.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: The second one, which I should really say is the first, is sunscreen.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone is under the impression that they should only wear sunscreen in the summer.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: Sunscreen should be worn every single day.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: If if you wake up and it's daytime, whether it's cloudy or not, you should wear sunscreen and you should reapply during the day.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone, all the time.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, there there are um specialty products, and the specialty products depend on you.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: For instance, if you have acne skin, you need something that'll help with acne.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: If you have dry skin, you need something that'll moisturize.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: So those two products plus a specialty product is really what most people need.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: Now, unfortunately, because a lot of people start taking care of their skin after they've noticed blemishes, et cetera, most regimens include everything from your cleanser to something to help you exfoliate to something to get rid of, you know, hyperpigmentation, you know, and sometimes you'll see some of these skincare lines, they'll try to put all of those ingredients in one bottle, and it doesn't always work.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: But that's what they're trying to do.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: They're trying to address everyone's issue with one bottle.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: No, I've seen that a lot, and I, you know, I've always wondered that as well.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_01: Is that how can you have an acid and a retinol in the same formula?
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_01: It makes no sense.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's just like the chemistry absolutely does not add up.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_01: It makes sense, right?
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, no, I agree.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I and I think that's amazing.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for all the amazing advice, Dr.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: Val.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_01: This has been one of my favorite episodes.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if not.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, thank you for having me.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: I really appreciate it.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_01: I would love to have you back anytime you have time.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, if you want to tell us about certain topics, that would be such an honor.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_01: So um, I appreciate your time.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate I've really enjoyed speaking to you too.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you so much for having me.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_01: And everyone listening out there, please give us some uh feedback on this episode.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_01: And if you have any questions for Dr.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: Val, I will definitely pass them along to her team and maybe we can get some answers back.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_01: But uh, thank you so much for listening, and I'll be back next time with a great guest.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_02: Excellent.
• 33:38
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• 33:41
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• 33:46
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• 33:48
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• 34:03
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• 34:24
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• 34:29
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• 34:34
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• 34:40
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• 34:45
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