Good Neighbor Podcast: Cooper City
Bringing Together Local Businesses & Neighbors of Cooper City
Good Neighbor Podcast: Cooper City
EP #257: Dr. Lesley Clark-Loeser, Dr. Mariana Blyumin-Karastic, and Dr. Jordan Rosen with Precision Skin and Body Institute
Can cutting-edge dermatology truly transform your skin health and overall wellness? Join us on this episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast as we welcome Dr. Leslley Clark-Loeser, Dr. Mariana Blyumin-Karastic, and Dr. Jordan Rosen from the Precision Skin and Body Institute in Broward County. These distinguished dermatologists share their inspiring journey from friends and colleagues to founders of a practice that prioritizes holistic dermatological care. Dr. Rosen brings his specialized expertise in skin cancer surgery to round out their comprehensive approach. Together, they provide a unique blend of prevention, wellness, and advanced treatments aimed at optimal aging and overall health.
Discover the truth behind common dermatology myths and gain practical advice on protecting your skin. We emphasize the importance of limiting UV exposure, using SPF 30 sunscreen, and monitoring vitamin D levels. Additionally, the conversation delves into balancing outdoor activities with sun safety, ensuring you don’t have to compromise your love for the outdoors. The doctors also shed light on the misconceptions about sun damage and the ongoing importance of skin protection, regardless of past exposure. Learn about innovative techniques like MOSE micrographic surgery that promise high cure rates and better cosmetic outcomes for skin cancer patients.
In the final segments, we explore the significant impact of family and personal experiences on the doctors' professional lives. Hear heartfelt stories about the influence of parents, raising children, and navigating the challenges of the immigrant experience. The episode wraps up with reflections on continuous learning, personal growth, and community appreciation. We extend our gratitude to Dr. Loeser, Dr. Karastic, and Dr. Rosen for their invaluable contributions and invite our listeners to nominate their favorite local businesses for future episodes. Tune in for an enriching conversation blending medical insights with personal stories, all aimed at promoting skin health and wellness.
For more information:
Call: (954) 998-0345
Visit: https://precisionskininstitute.com/
Follow: https://www.instagram.com/precisionskininstitute/
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Jeremy Wolf.
Speaker 2:Hello, hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast. I'm your host, jeremy Wolf, and today I'd like to welcome to the show three lovely folks we have and I'm going to do my darndest not to butcher all the names here so we have Leslie Clark Loeser I should say Dr Leslie Clark Loeser. Dr Mariana Blumen Karastic I got it right, yeah, awesome. And the last one's easy Dr Jordan Rosen. And they are joining us from Precision Skin and Body Institute, and I must say I've driven by your location on university countless times, probably thousands of times never been in there. I'm excited to get into this and learn a little bit about what you do in our great community. So, guys, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so let's, let's start from the top. Please share a little bit about what you do at Precision Skin and Body Institute, and then we shall proceed from there.
Speaker 4:Let's go.
Speaker 3:Oh okay, oh okay. Well, happy Monday, welcome to my off day. Misread the instructions. So you see us really in our true native state. We are at Precision Skin and Body Institute, a comprehensive dermatology practice, so we like to think of ourselves as your home when it comes to all things dermatologic, whether it's medical dermatology, from pediatrics to senior care, whether it's surgical dermatology relating to non-cancerous and cancerous growth, as well as aesthetic, cutting edge technologies and treatments and procedures relating to dermatology, as well as really anti-aging. We don't like the word anti-aging, but optimal aging, but we're here for that very comprehensive long-term journey. I think that's kind of us. In a nutshell, mariana, take it from there.
Speaker 4:Well, there's been an evolution of Precision Skin Institute. We've been around for over eight years now and we're so grateful to be part of this podcast. Thanks for inviting us, Jeremy, it's an honor.
Speaker 4:And for connecting us with the Broward County and Cooper City community. Cooper City community and you know, in that practice the evolution kind of been developing to create more comprehensive care and invite wellness into just not how we practice of you dermatology but also how to incorporate understanding of how we can combine dermatological care with integrative practices, so into wellness forward, to recommend healthier lifestyles, to incorporate certain type of supplements, how to provide our patients in a community with weight management that can march along with various body contouring devices and energy devices that we offer. And that's the body part of it that we expanded into recently and we are really excited about it and I think it will offer some of the more comprehensive care for our community.
Speaker 2:Yes, very, very cool and something that I've become more aware of. I always say I like to say on the north side of 40, as I get older and I start to age, I start to take notice of my body not cooperating the way it once did for me, and I'm really into preventative care now and doing things to prevent problems in the first place, and I think it's great that you're taking a preventative, holistic type approach to what you do, because it's so important, obviously, to catch these issues before they become problems. So I wanted to. Did you have anything you wanted to add on your end, jordan?
Speaker 5:Oh, that sounds great. I think that's really hits on all the points is, you know, here at Precision it's holistic care, both in the office and both as soon as the patient steps in. As well as you know the kind of care that we deliver, whether it be medical, cosmetic, procedural and whether it be, like you mentioned, primary prevention, secondary treatments and tertiary treatments, we kind of try to cover all the bases for all of our patients.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and Dr Rosen is our newest addition. He joined us this past year from University of Miami. Sorry, I'm giving you this intro. Marianne and I have been in practice for a long time close to two decades now for me but he really brings so much to our practice, as well as launching our MOSE aspect, which is a type of specialized skin cancer surgery, to the practice, as well as launching our MOSE aspect, which is, you know, a type of specialized skin cancer surgery to the practice. So really has rounded us out. We're very excited. Everyone loves Dr Rosen.
Speaker 2:Happy to have you here, dr Rosen. Fantastic stuff. So I want to get into your journey. So I want to go back. Let's say, let's go back eight years before you started this practice. Now, did you? I'm guessing that you both knew each other before this. Why don't you talk each of you talk, about your journey leading up to starting Precision Skin and Body Institute, and then we'll hear a little bit about Jordan's journey.
Speaker 4:Skin and Body Institute, and then we'll hear a little bit about Jordan's journey. You go ahead, brianna, thank you. We started the journey and, like you suspected, as close friends. We were practicing as associates in another dermatology practice in Hollywood and we felt strongly that we wanted to provide, again, very comprehensive, high quality dermatological care, especially for this South Florida community and both living in this, you know more to the West area DAV implantation. We were looking to fill the void, the niche, in this area of providing skincare in the West Side, because there was plenty of dermatologists in the East Side and the Hollywood area but there was not enough of dermatologists in the West Side of Broward County. So, you know, noticing that there was a need and also having this friendship and this passion for unique form of dermatological, high quality care that is, you know, cutting edge and comprehensive, that's what we really want.
Speaker 4:We're looking for a location that would be in this area, that would fit our you know our goals and when we were practicing together as associates, we realized that we wanted to be the captains of our fate, of our destiny, of how we wanted to create that type of unique practice, and the more we brainstormed, we realized how great of a fit. We were not only as friends but also as leaders in the field and we decided to pursue that and start the practice in Davie, here in Davie, florida and University Drive. And you know, as time went on, we kind of started planning all the different aspects that would be to start this type of business as dermatologists one thing, and then also family oriented, because you know we both have kids and we're busy with our friends and our community in various forms and you know how to make that a juggling act, how to make that happen and together I think that's what strengthened that. I remember having initially a lot of meetings in Starbucks and you know meeting with, you know financial backing of the banks and others and you know talking about with architects and various other things that need necessary for the business. But going on the long tangent, eventually we found the location that would be the ideal, which is again in Davie, and then we pulled the plug and we went forward. We signed the lease and you know it's across from NSU, the school where our kids go to school, and it was a perfect location, not too far from our home, providing the care that's necessary in the location as well as really having the space for us to start and blossom the kind of vision that we had toward the practice.
Speaker 4:Anything else I missed Leslie.
Speaker 3:I think that was great and comprehensive. I would just add this one, intangible, to what I think is so unique about our practice, other than the hitting the boxes of what we do, is that we wanted to create an environment that really reflected who we were, which is a lot of the practices that, as patients, we encounter. They feel very institutional and oftentimes very business-like, maybe even a little bit cold and factory these are the adjectives that people describe to these busy practices. And in that landscape we said can we avoid that and create more of this boutique feeling? Yet still, you know, accept insurances, so we really see a spectrum of patients, but we want everybody to feel very attended to, very personalized, and so we have this what we call family environment. We're very aware we are with our work family, oftentimes more than the family that she mentioned at home, so that that environment feels very warm, personalized and very boutique-like, and I think that, even as we've grown over the past almost nine years, is something that we've been able to maintain.
Speaker 2:Now that location that you have is that because I've oftentimes wondered. I drive by, I see on that big building it says the name of the business. Do you operate in that whole office or do you have a piece of that office, or are there other businesses in there?
Speaker 3:So there are two other businesses in there. We recently expanded. There had been a third, so there were four of us, now there are three of us and we have really almost half of that space. So we now have almost 7,500 square feet as of a year or so ago, and so within that, we've just expanded our offerings, our ability to see more patients and do actually something that we're very proud of, which is clinical research as well.
Speaker 2:Now I'm also guessing. I don't normally like to assume, but I'm going to go out on a limb here. On this Monday, when you were both young, did you know you wanted to be in medicine, and how did you ultimately land on dermatology?
Speaker 4:Yes. So in high school I was very science oriented and, you know, volunteered in a hospital, did EMS duty as a college student and eventually navigated toward medical care because I did want to make a difference in everybody everyday life of individuals. And then how I navigated, just being open-minded. Through your medical school training you get to be exposed to a variety of fields and arenas of medicine and particularly what spoke to me about dermatology is the versatility of it, both on the type of patients that I see, be it again, infants to seniors, and variety of genders, and also variety of procedures that it offers and how you can make a diagnosis but just of internal illnesses through the skin. So for all those reasons, that's how I kind of navigated toward dermatology toward the end of my medical school and I love practicing it. I think it's an incredible field of medicine and a lot to offer to our patients on a daily basis. What about you, leslie, and what about you, jordan?
Speaker 3:I knew I didn't want to be a doctor. So I was pretty much 100% certain. I am actually the child of a physician and a nurse. I knew that I wasn't going into medicine. I applied early decision to one school in Washington DC to do international affairs and correspondence and after my freshman year I was certain I wasn't going to do that. And I was volunteering in the hospital and realized that I was far more attracted to everything that was happening around me during my volunteer experience rather than my econ and poli sci classes. So there I did my complete shift and then, further that, I knew in medical school that I was going into critical care. I was wrong.
Speaker 3:I then did rotations in dermatology and realized, like Mariana said, there's so much that happens in dermatology. It's very cerebral. You see all patient ages. There's continuity of care. You build these amazing, incredible relationships. There's so much that's always being in it. There's so much innovation in the field. It really allows you just to be a scientist and a clinician at the same time. I mean, I'm sure it's the same with many other fields, but I think we feel very blessed to be in this one. How about you, Jordan?
Speaker 5:Yeah, I mean to piggyback on a lot of what's already been said.
Speaker 5:Coming into medical school, dermatology wasn't on my list of things that I thought I was going to go into.
Speaker 5:Coming into medical school dermatology wasn't on my list of things that I thought I was going to go into. So it was a long process of kind of you know, doing different rotations, shadowing with different people in the community, discovering what I wanted, what I was interested in, where I thought I resonated the most with patients, and at the end of my third year I ended up finding out that was dermatology. So it's something that my interest in it has kind of continues to build every day. It really is a unique field, as Dr Clark has said, where, you know, we interface with patients on so many different levels at so many different parts in their lives and really have the opportunity to really speak to them on what they can do to kind of prevent skin disease or skin changes they don't want, as well as to treat the things they do have. And beyond that, as was alluded to earlier, the fact that we're able to participate in clinical research and cutting-edge technology and bring so many new things to patients that maybe weren't available before is a pretty amazing opportunity.
Speaker 2:Good stuff, good stuff, good stuff of.
Speaker 2:The one of the reasons why we do this show aside from kind of getting a look under the hood from local businesses and learning about who's running the show behind the scenes is education right, there's a lot of myths and misconceptions in different industries and I'm going to lead off on this one because I heard I listened to another podcast the other day and somebody was on and they basically were talking about I think they did.
Speaker 2:There's a colleague of mine that does a Good Neighbor podcast in Canada and he had a lady on that sold UV protected clothing for kids, like people of all ages, but also infants and things like that, and they got into a conversation about getting out in the sun and she basically said that no tan is a good tan and any radiation from the sun or any kind of burn or tan is going to affect your skin negatively. I always thought that it was good to get out in the sun sometimes and not be so pale. Can you speak to that and start off there and then we can talk about some other myths and misconceptions, because that was interesting for me to learn that.
Speaker 4:Why don't we start with you, Jordan?
Speaker 5:Yeah, I mean, I think definitely you want to limit your sun exposure, especially during peak hours, being that UV is a carcinogen and is something that kind of ages our skin as well as increases our propensity to develop skin cancer. So, while there are very few exceptions, some of which are certain skin diseases like psoriasis and other skin diseases where UV light can be beneficial, oftentimes we have medical devices that allow us to kind of administer them in a safe way. In general, the amount of sun exposure we get without sun protection whether it be UV clothings or sunscreens or sunblocks is something that I believe and I think most people here would kind of feel the same way should be something that we should minimize compared to how we would receive it otherwise.
Speaker 4:Right. So I mean I agree Along with Dr Jordan. You know significant amount of sun exposure and even a small amount that can create a tan. What I wanted patients to understand and your listeners is enough of the sun exposure to create a tan. Think of a tan as almost like a reflection of sun damage. You already have created enough sun damage on your skin to reflect that brownish look that eventually will translate into more creppiness of the skin, more sunspots, more wrinkles of the skin and potentially cause enough of the DNA changes and other oxidative changes in the skin that would potentially be a precursor for skin cancer, pre-cancers and skin cancers that will need the help of Dr Jordan to remove, as well as the rest of us with skin cancer surgeries. So to minimize those risks, really being careful in the sun is important, especially at the peak hours between 10 and 3. So seeking shade, wearing a hat, sunglasses, some protective clothing and definitely sunscreen that's at least SPF 30 and above. So use those preventative measures to minimize the risk. So, yes, tanning is something that's a reflection of sun damage and potential predisposition for skin cancer, be directly from the sun or tanning salons, so it's very risky for us as individuals.
Speaker 4:Now the controversial issue is that what about a small intermittent exposures to sun maybe not direct sun, maybe early in the morning, late in the afternoon, for about 10 minutes, few times a week, in order to increase the vitamin D levels in our bodies, because our skin is important, manufacture vitamin D as well, as you know, to help us with circadian rhythms. Yeah, and in South Florida that's not difficult to get. You know, we are exposed to sun all the time, even through indirect sunlight, through the car or sitting, you know, in our kitchen, and it goes through the windows. So we get a little bit of that sun exposure enough. And if anybody's ever concerned about their vitamin D levels, they can always get their blood work done with a primary care physician to check, or we can order it to make sure they have enough of vitamin D or get supplements. They don't need to get their skin exposed and predispose themselves to sun damage in order to get enough of the vitamin D level. Leslie, any other additional comments regarding that?
Speaker 3:I think all very important. I think the struggle is is you know how do you enjoy life and be afraid of the sun, and I think it's possible. I always encourage people don't be afraid to do your activities outside. We live in this, you know, glorious environment where we have the ability to do things outside all year round. Or, you know, go hiking, go skiing. It's just the way that you do it.
Speaker 3:So choose to protect yourself. You don't have to look like a mummy when you're doing it. There is, this is a UPF shirt. I was going to go outside and work out so it protects me, but it's breathable. Wear sunscreen, reapply, but do the fun things outside. It is important to be outside for so many things for your mental health, for that little bit of UV exposure that is helping us to maintain our vitamin D levels. It's just you want to be protected because, like you said, no, tan is a good indicator of anything. The minute you tan, it's your skin saying well, it turned color because it received enough to actually cause some damage, and it's just to what extent that damage is going to result in those other things that they mentioned is the question. So it's just you know mitigating, you know the things that we don't want, but still have fun in the sun and just do it the right way, and if you ever have questions, that's a conversation we love having with you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, as with most things in life, balance is key Balance, and I've heard that one of the best things you could do as soon as you get up in the morning is just get outside a little bit in the light to help kind of wake you up in the morning after the night's sleep. So what are some other things that you typically hear from your patients or from people surrounding what you do with dermatology? What are some other misconceptions or myths or things people surrounding what you do with dermatology? What are some other misconceptions or myths or things like that that you hear?
Speaker 5:One thing I hear and it kind of piggyback or kind of continues on what we were talking about.
Speaker 5:Sun exposure is I often hear patients who you know, maybe grew up in the 60s and you know, were putting baby lotion on and vegetable oil and laying in the sun and cooking, as they would call it, as thinking that they were beyond saving.
Speaker 5:At this point they say they've accumulated so much photo damage, so much sun damage, that they're saying does it even make a difference if I were to start wearing sunscreen or start wearing UV protective clothing? At this point the damage is done and I think that is a bit of a myth. I think that while there is some truth to that, that you know, with the prior sun exposure you do accumulate mutations and UV damage that does increase your risk of skin cancer and things like that. But there's also evidence that UV also suppresses our immune cells, and these immune cells are important in what actually identifies and finds but also fights skin cancer, for example. So I think that's a kind of a myth I deal with sometimes where I'm like, even though you may have had your fair share of sun exposure, it's never too late to start trying to protect yourself in one way or the other.
Speaker 4:Right and to continue on the same vein is I think that sometimes the concept of dermatology can be skewed toward more of pimple popper. I mean, doesn't help that this big, prominent dermatologist calls herself Dr Pimple Popper and is all trendy on social media and other venues and other channels. But we are not just pimple poppers, you know, going back to that Seinfeld episode, we do provide comprehensive care, skin cancer screenings, you know skin checks. Anyone 30 and above or has family history of skin cancer should be getting an annual skin checks as a recommendation of preventing skin cancer. And if we do find a suspicious lesion we do biopsy it and then at that point we do recommend removal. If it's in certain areas of the body and certain type of skin cancer, we recommend a unique type of skin surgery that is called most micrographic surgery, and Dr Rosen would love to tell us a little bit more about it, because I think we're about to launch it in our practice and we're really proud of that.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I think kind of what, owing to precision, skin and body as a whole is the holistic approach, and when it comes to skin cancer, we bring that same kind of approach, and there's lots of different ways to treat skin cancer. Fortunately, many of them are very treatable with small procedures, even topical medications, but sometimes in more aggressive forms. In certain locations, different types of procedures or excisions are required, or at least recommended, some of those being basic excisions that we do in the office and some of those being a specific type of procedure called MOSE that we're bringing to the office as well, that allows us to give a higher cure rate than may be possible with other means. So that's something we'll be launching in a few weeks and we're very excited to offer to our patients.
Speaker 2:So MOSE, what exactly is MOSE?
Speaker 5:MOSE is a procedure that was invented by a doctor, Fred MOSE, who why is that name?
Speaker 2:The name does sound familiar to me.
Speaker 5:Yeah, he's old, he's gone. Mose Microscopic Surgery or MMS. It's a type of procedure where, essentially, when skin cancer is removed in office, it's almost like the entire peripheral margin is examined under the microscope by the person who's removing it, and that allows localization of any areas of tumor that may be residual or leftover in the body that could then, at that moment, while the patient's still in office, be removed entirely and focused on getting complete margin control or complete removal of the lesion, without having to take necessary larger margins that may not necessarily encompass or remove the entire lesion. So it's a specialized form of skin cancer that's something that's sometimes offered for higher risk tumors.
Speaker 4:Traditional benefit, I think, is the cosmetic aspect of it, because you know you're limiting the amount of tissue, which is limited in itself, in certain cosmetic areas that you're removing so that you minimize the disfigurement aspect of a potential scarring. So it's almost like this unique I don't want to call a plastic surgery but when you remove a skin cancer you want to minimize of how much tissue you remove in order to have the best cosmetic outcomes. And cosmetic outcomes are important because the aesthetic result of a left behind scar from the removal of a skin cancer can have a significant impact of how individuals sees and thinks and feels about themselves. So minimizing that impact is very important.
Speaker 2:How. That's the word I'm looking for. I'd imagine there's a genetic component to having skin problems, like with any other things. How much of that, in terms of your patients, do you see from genetics versus environment?
Speaker 3:I think that's a hard one to answer. We appreciate both aspects and the best way to you know, there's not going to be always the best way to differentiate, other than history, but we know how important our environmental exposures and lifestyle are in terms of impacting our risk for the development of skin cancer, and most common things are going to be UV exposure and smoking. Smoking is a known, you know, outside influence to changing the quality and health of our skin. So, both from how it appears but also how it behaves, and you know, you kind of tip on something that I'm really interested in. I think a lot of us are.
Speaker 3:They're going to laugh when I say this, but it's this buzzword of epigenetics and you'll hear that lots more and you'll read about it in the lay press, because it's really this awareness of all these things that are happening around. So they call it epi are genetics that can influence DNA encodes, so it's how it is actually being transcripted and how our you know what we're born with is affected by what we do and we can influence that, we can change that, and we're looking at how skincare can modify that and help us out and how some of the procedures that we do in the office. You know whether it's doing a laser treatment to what we used to consider improve the appearance of the skin. We can actually be improving the behavior of the skin and reducing your risk for the development of skin cancers. So you know whether or not it's something you were born with or something that you're doing. The great news is that we can do something about what's influencing our own DNA, which is pretty cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and not only that you said influenced by what we do, but also like what we think and what we tell ourselves and how we you know, the thoughts that we have are so powerful. I listened to Joe Dispenza a lot about changing gene expression through basically thought and everything. It's so fascinating.
Speaker 3:And that's epigenetic.
Speaker 4:A hundred percent yeah.
Speaker 4:That's why mental wellbeing is so important and approaching. You know the the care be in our practice dermatological care, but I'm seeing a lot of other physicians are navigating toward more of that. Holistic approach is important because you know, as we're doing the procedures on our patients, we're also guiding them with understanding of how those procedures can be incorporated in their overall healthier lifestyle approach. So you know it's doing a laser or injectable procedure or surgical procedure. We have these conversations how are you sleeping? What are you eating? What are you doing to expose your skin to the other risk factors like smoking and the sun? And that is the more unique approach to our precision dermatology care.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and this entire holistic, whole body approach. It makes a lot of sense because I've heard this before. I think this is true the skin is the largest organ in the body.
Speaker 4:Correct.
Speaker 2:Right and it covers everything. Largest organ in the body, correct Right, and it covers everything. So it's connected to everything Right, it's like the foundation.
Speaker 4:And it's our shield, the most important function of our skin. It has many functions besides sensation and sweat and thermoregulation. But it's our shield against those environmental exposomes that can change the epigenetics that those environmental exposomes that could change the epigenetics would work to post. Those stressors, the infrared, the ultraviolet radiation, all kinds of things that are constantly bombarding and potentially either cause ailments in our skin or affect the beauty of our skin, the aesthetic aspect.
Speaker 2:Indeed, indeed. So I wanted to ask you, ladies, a question. I like to ask this when I have co-owners of a business that were friends before and are now in business together, what would you say would be one of the most challenging things about being close friends and working together if anything, if you want to share and on the other side of that, what would be maybe one of the most rewarding things about that relationship?
Speaker 4:Do you want to go?
Speaker 3:first let's go. I mean, I think, the most challenging, and it's really not about being friends and going into business, I think. It's just that. I think we were accidental business owners. You know, we were very qualified to practice our profession, were very qualified to practice our profession, but we had to learn on the fly how we didn't go. You know, get our MBA and certainly when you're training in medicine, unless you make a concerted effort, you are trained completely in the opposite direction of you know business, learning how to run a business. So I think that was the biggest challenge and scary part of starting the practice and that we're always learning. But this was like a new language and having the confidence to make these decisions and being comfortable making bad decisions on occasion and being open to learning from them. So that's something I think, just in life that's so important. So we have learned a lot along the way and just being there for one another during that process I think is the most rewarding, because it's scary, yeah.
Speaker 4:I would have a hundred percent agree with Leslie. It's it's the two sides of the coin. One aspect is that the most challenging is the business sense learning together, the business sense of running a practice and expanding a practice. As multi-potentials, we have so many visions and dreams and things that we want to see, the goals that we want to achieve in our practice and within our lives, personal and professional, one another, and having these constant inflows of ideas that can truly be realized into a vision. That's the most rewarding aspect, and doing that in a meaningful way, by connecting with other providers, bringing more providers together, as well as through patient care, because ultimately it always comes back to why? Because we care about our patients and we want them to have the best skincare.
Speaker 2:Yeah, good stuff. So, as with almost every guest I have on the show, I like to ask a little bit about family, because it's typically what drives us, what makes us better, and it's so important and I know you mentioned earlier that you both do have kids why don't you go through and each of you talk a little bit about your family and how you draw inspiration in your life from them?
Speaker 4:do you want to start by your family?
Speaker 5:yeah, I think this may be the last question I'll be able to take it, I have to go sure sure yeah uh, but thanks for having us, Jeremy Of course, and us and I really enjoyed our conversation today.
Speaker 5:As far as my family, it's me, my wife and my dog right now Life's busy but life's good, excited with the way that things are we have a big old Labradoodle 90-pound guy that takes up a lot of our time, and my wife and I are both South Florida locals, so we both grew up down here and we chose to stick around.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and he also comes from a family of physicians.
Speaker 5:Yeah, my father is a family physician and that was a big part of what I thought I was going to go into in medical school and I kind of decided not to. But I think that a lot of what I enjoy about dermatology and what I try to bring to the care that I provide is that same kind of QB mindset holistic whether it's like a patient coming in with an ankle injury or a swollen lymph node. I may not be able to offer, you know, the same degree of care, but I try to give the right guidelines and the right direction so that I can't I don't just kind of brush those things off. But thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2:It's our pleasure. It was nice, nice meeting you, man. Take care, have a great day. Thanks, bye-bye.
Speaker 4:Thanks, Jordan.
Speaker 3:I guess I'll go next. So I have three children. I have two that are college age a 21-year-old and a 19, and they both go to University of Michigan, and I have a 14-year-old entering into high school. All of my children have either attended or currently attending a university school over at Nova Southeastern, across the street Very convenient for us and, like you mentioned, they are 100% my why?
Speaker 3:why I try and live life the way I do practice medicine, the way I do run a business, the way I do, because they influence me all the time and I know that we also set really a standard for approaching life, whether it's your ethics and values and, you know, just drive in general, a big thing. I mentioned that my parents are both in medicine, so that clearly has had an impact in me and I always value kind of the influence that they've had on me and how they lived life. So I tell my kids, you know, even though I grew up, you know, middle class or upper middle class, there's this really important aspect, I think, of being hungry in life. Our kids have almost, you know, everything they could need, maybe sometimes too much of what they want, but being hungry for knowledge, being hungry for, you know, success, even if that's interpersonal relationships, financial, you know, just intellectual success, I think being hungry is so important. So that's just my little thing.
Speaker 3:Oh, and I have two dogs, like Jordan. I have two doodles. I have a golden doodle and a cabbapoo Lovely, lovely.
Speaker 2:You mentioned 14-year-old in high school, boy or girl?
Speaker 3:Girl.
Speaker 2:Okay, good, because I have a 12-year-old daughter who just finished her first year of middle school. You have some experience, any tips or pointers that you could share with me as I enter into this void.
Speaker 3:If they come back to you, put on your seatbelt, bumpy road and it's all normal.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:I can share a tip. My older one is just a year younger than Leslie's daughter. She's starting eighth grade this fall, and you know, I know it sounds a little cliche, but books has always been my guide, and now there's various forms of consuming them. I like audio books more now. When I was growing up, I was a bookworm and I love to read the actual hard books. Now they're just putting me to sleep after all the um medical journals I have to consume in the evening. So, um, there is a book that I find is really helpful, uh, as a parent, for, especially for, teenage girls, and it's called untangle and um, and the author's name will come to me or if, if it doesn't, I can DM you later.
Speaker 4:And I think it's just a good way to understand that this is just another stage in our lifespan and not focusing on how especially approaching it in preteen years, and that it's going to be something that is stormy or anxiety provoking. Any stage of parenthood and childhood is going to be a challenge. You know, babyhood, it's the brain fog, and toddlerhood is constantly aching in the back. That's kind of like how I associate it. And, you know, teenagers just another milestone in your child's life and just embracing it with empathy and understanding where the red flags and how to seek help when it needs to be. And that's what the book touches upon. And so, you know, take a look and see if that can help you and better really your relationship with your daughter. I also have eight-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. They're starting third grade and so, yeah, my kids are a little bit younger. And then I have a zoo and a house of various fish and a turtle that we rescued and that ended up in a pool during COVID and now is in my son's room. And then we have a dog whose name is Walter, so he's very distinguished, human like personality. And so you know we live in Davie and it's a very family oriented community. We love the parks, we love Flamingo Gardens and we go to nurseries. We like to garden and exercise outside biking, and it's a huge privilege to be part of this community.
Speaker 4:And going back to Leslie's talk about hunger, my origins I'm an immigrant. I'm a first generation immigrant. I immigrated with my family from former Soviet Union, from Estonia, when I was in my early teens, like about the same age as your daughter, and I know what it means to be hungry, growing up in a communist society. I know what it means to strive for that American dream, and I'm trying to instill that lesson, those learnings, those lessons, those type of, you know, drive toward extraordinary, something incredible and different and unique in my kids. But it's not easy in the current environment of them growing up with most of their needs met, like what we're talking about, and how to continue with that growth mindset of resiliency. So continue to learning. That's the most important books that I mentioned, and others.
Speaker 2:It is key for sure. What would be? Before we wrap up here, what would be? I would normally ask the one thing that you'd like to leave our listeners with, but there's two of you, so you get two things. It can be either about your business or it could be just a piece of wisdom that you'd like to share with listeners, just generally speaking about life. Go, okay.
Speaker 3:Let's see. Wow, I didn't see that question. Okay, two little things quickly. Well, never stop learning, and that's something we alluded to. So never stop learning in life and just from our own experience and I think, personal experiences you know, don't be afraid to fail, because your failures and what you can take from them really lead to your future success. I think we've, all, you know, taken a deeper look at that in life and I think that it is something that I remember every day, because I was and, without checking in, can be a bit of a perfectionist, and that can get in your way more than learning from your failures, because when you are afraid to fail, you will not take chances like building our practice, opening it open so many doors and makes your life so much more fulfilling and, you know, greater, for lack of a better word. So never stop learning and don't be afraid to fail.
Speaker 2:Love it yeah.
Speaker 4:Dream big. Just like what you said dream big, think outside the box, experiment, and sometimes you have to learn on the go. When we found our practice location and signed the lease, literally a month after I found out, I was pregnant with two little twins and I almost backed away from this incredible opportunity because, you know, fear is a big component of our drive, our motivation, and I said I can't do this, I can't have the twins, and open the practice two months after that would be extremely overwhelming. And Leslie looked at me and said you got this, we can do this, we got this together and you know, we're just going to have to figure it out.
Speaker 4:So I think that the biggest takeaway that I want your audience to listen to and friends to help you along the way, have the resources and be resourceful of learning and constant learning, and you know, and then things may come just in the right way at the right time. And you know, and if they don't, don't think of that setback or as a failure, think of it as a learning opportunity to jumpstart you and eventually those leaps will lead to success. And we're really proud of our success here at Precision Skin and Body Institute expanding into education, research, more surgery for the community that removes a variety of skin cancers, and then Body360, which is a new concept which is like initially when we thought of it together, people looked at us like we are out of this world, like aliens. But it's, yeah, bringing weight management and aesthetics and health coaching, nutritional health coaching all part of dermatology practice. So if there is a dream, follow it and I wish everyone to be well and lots of success.
Speaker 3:Jeremy, you have to come visit us, yes.
Speaker 2:I absolutely will. I got to say Coach Carrie Best wasn't kidding when she nominated you guys to come on the show. She spoke so highly of you. She's just fantastic as well. She wasn't kidding. It's nice. Now I know I'm glad we did this because, like I said, I do drive by there so often. Now when I see the bill, it's not some nameless, faceless office. Now I feel like I got a good chance to get to know you. I love what you're doing for our community. I think this is a great message to spread to everyone. So, with that in mind, how can everyone learn more If somebody is out there? I don't know, maybe they have some kind of skin condition, Maybe they just want to reach out to learn more. Maybe when I connect with you guys, what's the best way to do that?
Speaker 4:You can look us up in Google maps. You can look us up in Google Maps.
Speaker 3:Precision Skin and Body Institute. Our website so full disclosure is under reconstruction. So our under construction or reconstruction. It's not ideal. We're working on it, so it is not entirely comprehensive, it's getting a refresh, but our website oftentimes is a good resource. We also are on social media. We are on Instagram. Mariana, I think you started our tiktok.
Speaker 3:I don't even know how to tiktok um and then facebook, but you know we we try and connect with our community. We also like to do community events. Uh, we started our first annual melanoma monday, mother's day boutique, so I hope everybody can come join us, a way to give back to the community. We partnered with Miami Dolphins Challenge Cancer and we'll try and do that the first Monday of every May to come, and they can just always call the office. The other thing that we didn't mention, that we do really feel strongly about, is honoring cancer survivors and we use blazers compassionately to help treat breast cancer related scars, other cancer related scars, so at no cost to patients. So we are there as a resource for you. Come, you know to your listeners, just come, even if it is to stop by, if you can't get through, because sometimes our phones truly suck, sorry, but just pop in and we have some smart people at the front desk if you want more information or just to schedule an appointment that way, all right.
Speaker 2:Well, we're going to put a link in the description below to all of your contact information. Ladies, thanks so much for joining us today. It was a pleasure getting the opportunity to meet you and learn all about what you do for our us today. It was a pleasure getting the opportunity to meet you and learn all about what you do for our great community.
Speaker 3:So truly thanks. Thank you, have a great week.
Speaker 2:You too, and to our listeners, thanks as always for tuning in, and we will catch everyone next time on the next episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast. Everyone, take care.
Speaker 3:Take care.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Cooper City. To nominate your favorite local business to be featured on the show, go to GNPCooperCitycom. That's GNPCooperCitycom, or call 954-231-3170.