May 21, 2025 • 30 mins
Living out mid-life, trying to avoid the "crisis" part, building a business, and finding purpose. And YES a skincare discussion, too. Bethenny sits down with Dr. Sandra Lee aka Dr. Pimple Popper and Founder of SLMD Skincare.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:12):
So this is doctor pimple Popper. First of all, you
really have built a brand. You have built this brand
in doctor pimple Popper. And did that start because of
these like shocking videos.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Yeah, essentially it did. I mean it didn't really start
so shocking. I mean it depends on what you consider shocking.
I guess blackhead extractions and things like that. Do you
can you watch those? Can you not tolerate those at all?
Just like a basic extraction of a blackhead on a nose?
Speaker 1 (00:42):
No, it gives you the heat best, like a combination.
Like I get the satisfaction that people have with it.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yeah, but.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
I'm not drawn to it, but I completely understand why
people are, and sometimes there's something fascinating.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I am the same way. I've never been drawn to it.
I'm a dermatologist. I'm not drawn to it. But I
discovered that people were really into it, and then I
just thought, how far can I push it? And I
call those soft pops, and then I call it hard
pops when you go into like the heavy stuff, like
the triple X kind of pops where you got like
some blood gushing and your surgery. And I see that
(01:19):
there's a range, So I feel like you can sort
of get people into it a little bit.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Sometimes it's like PGR or x NC seventeen exactly fascinating.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Okay, So how much of your time is spent on
social media and the brand of it and actually being
a dermatologist.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
How do you balance both? It's hard.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I mean, just like you, you know, you're doing a
lot of different things, and sometimes you get excited about
something and you put more of your eggs in that basket, right,
and then you move away and you might get bored
with it or something happens with it. I was very
into social media back that was like probably twenty sixteen
or so, when I was just growing and I was
really new. I was one of the only doctors on
social media and just posting these and seeing this sort
(02:03):
of grow really quickly because the algorithm really was there.
People engaged with you, and they responded. They either loved
it or they hated it. Tag the friends. Yeah, so
it's like crazy and I was like, what is this
and what is this crazy strange power?
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Right? You see it?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
You grow and you're like people are like in you know,
Bolivia or watching your rights and you have this weird
sort of influence that was new and interesting, and here
I am just a dermatologist working in my office and
now people were coming to me from like across the
country or other continents.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
That's what I was going to ask. So how much
of it is education versus entertainment in the social media space.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
I maintain that it's primarily education, but I feel like
it's interesting. People don't understand the things.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
That lives beneath. Yeah, and I think it's fascinating to everybody.
I say this all the time.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
It's like, we all know what's normal skin looks like, right,
so we don't really know. I don't really know what
a disease liver may look like by looking at it,
but we know what skin should look like in our eyes,
and so it's more fascinating, I think, to us because
it's all relatable to us.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Right, So I need you to settle something for me
and tell me if I was on or off. I
see influencers beating their face with makeup, then going, we're
gonna get into them just beating their face with makeup
to begin with, which just makes me cringe more than
watching a pimple be popped, way more because I'm like
this is so dumb, which we're going to get into,
which is also ironic because I do a lot of
(03:32):
makeup videos, so I see someone going with a full
beat of makeup onto an airplane for multiple hours. And
here's what my natural instincts which have gotten me everywhere,
and why I have good skin in my opinion, why
I'm thin in my opinion, my natural instincts say, which
people have debated against because they've been like, what's the
difference between being on a plane and walking through a
(03:53):
mall with makeup or through the day, And I'm like, Okay,
an airplane is the most dehydrating, drying place in the
world world. Not to mention you're trapped with other people's germs.
Now you're in a capsule with layers of makeup on,
and compounding that with dehydration, and sometimes being dehydrated can
trap your skin, even make you break out underneath. My opinion,
(04:13):
those underneath bumps. So it's not always what you see.
It's like again, what lies beneath, Like your skin's not breathing.
So I think putting makeup on and going on a plane,
or putting it on on a plane is crazy and
you should have the cleanest skin possible and utilize that
time to cleanse and hydrate because that's the time you're
going to be so dehydrated. Drink water, Do the best
(04:35):
you can. That's my gut instinct. How on or off
am I because people debated me, Yeah, And I think
this was an issue right on social media recently.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Not an issue, just a discussion.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Some people I think we're talking about don't even do
your skincare regimen there because it's like doing it in
the toilet or something. You know, it's like in a
dirty area, So you could think of it that way too.
But I agree with you. Dehydration is big. I don't
love putting having a ton of makeup on in the airplane,
but you know, I also put a little bit of
makeup on, but I don't like heavy coverage.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
And what happens is that there's occlusion.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Like if I have heavy makeup on and I'm doing
some press or something, I want to take that off
as soon as I can, because it just feels like
this weight on you when you trapping. Yes, it doesn't
feel like your skin can breathe properly, And so I
agree with that. I don't know if I like love
the idea of people doing a full skincare regimen there.
I mean it's like you're on the toilet really right,
and you're like, well.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
I do it before, yeah, doing it on? No, I agree,
that's a great point too. You're like putting germs into
the face now, like taking the air, you got to
seal the practice before you get on.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Yes, yes, I don't think it's a huge deal.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Like I mean, if people want to do that and
they don't have the time and they got to run
and do it on the plane, then what are you
going to do?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
You know?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
But do I think like everybody should be, you know,
having pull heads of makeup on the plane or putting
their makeup on on the plane. No, I mean I
think it's not a good idea. It's a different environment.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Yeah, but you're doing it because you feel like you
want to look a certain way. So you're saying it's
the lesser of evils in that moment. You don't want
to feel bad about the way you look, so you're
taking that little risk on the table about trapping your skin,
you know what I'm saying, Like you're deciding what I'm saying.
In an ideal world, if you're on an airplane. Isn't
no makeup a better idea?
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Of course? Okay, that's what I thought.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
I definitely will break out after a couple of things
of makeup, like having it on. This is also ironic
because I talk about makeup like not a lot, and
I've gone to get microdermabration, which I still do love.
And no matter how well you've cleaned your skin, when
they take that little white pad out, it's makeup.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
On there and they tell you look at it.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
And if it is a month where I've done more photoshoots,
you see more like it's very hard to really get
it all out.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Sure, But on that note, you got to be careful
with those sorts of things too, because too much of
a good thing is excessive.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Right.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
There are certainly people who have body dysmorphia and they're
scrubbing their face. Oh no you can't, So you got
to there's like a balance, you know, there's dirt everywhere.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
You could be getting your face.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
If you do a microdermoerbration after not wearing any makeup,
you may still have.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
That would be a nice test.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
An hour after you wake up you didn't do anything,
and there's dirt in your face. It's just dirt in
the world. Yeah, that's a great point too, But I
do think that it's crazy watching influencers talk about their
skin and covering the pounds of makeup and then the
being upset about having bad skin.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Yeah, it's a vicious cycle, right, because then you have
to cover it up and then that promotes it more.
But like, what are you gonna do? It's just the
way the world runs. It's very hard for them to
go bare. It's like going into rehab and like cold turkey.
You just cutting yourself off or something. It's really hard
to do that. This is a protection, This is an
armor that a lot of us wear.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Makeup is protection and makes us feel better, makes us
look better to others, and so it has negative effects
certainly if you overdo it.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
So interesting, I just think that I've a guy that
I dated said to me, you are the least vain
person I have ever met in my life, And I
think it might just be that, Like I have so
many other issues like organizational and a rose season whatever.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
But I think it's easy for you too. You look beautiful,
You're thin, you know what I mean. I mean, that's
something you're blessed with no But I have dark circles
and all the things. I just have a thing where
I want to feel like.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
It's I want to feel healthy more than I want
to look good.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
That's just my thing, you know what I'm saying. I
got it.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Yeah, I had the extensions in and I for a
couple of months. I took them out. I was like,
I feel like I'm damaging my hair.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
I think I've talked. I heard you talk about eyelash extensions.
I had them for a while and I hate them now.
I'll never go back to eyelash extensions that kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
My hair and eyelashes have grown like forty percent. They
are like thick an it's wild. And I didn't even
do it for that long. But yeah, I think it's
just I guess you're right. It's about finding the balance
it is. So how do you monetize this business experience,
(08:57):
et cetera.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Is there a product line?
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Yes, I have my own product line. I have SMD Care,
which started as an acne treatment system. You know, because
obviously pimples and sense because all these people around the
world were looking for answers. So that is one thing
that we certainly started. But the monetization was really interesting
in you back then when it first started, like in
twenty seventeen or sixteen or so, because I was monetizing
(09:20):
my Blackhead extractions like on YouTube, and it was going like,
you know, what is it like a penny, like a
thousand views or whatnot, But we have like five point
three or so billion views. I mean, it's crazy how
many people watch these videos over and over again.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
So you were able to just monetize the content itself.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Yes, but things changed a little bit because then now
a lot of the content is not what they deem
advertisable because it's shocking or gross.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
To people, you know.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
So there's been a little bit of a dilemma there,
which is actually things that I'd like to ask advice
from you about, you know. I mean, I think it's
so interesting how I was able to grow this and
then have a TV show from this, and a product
line and you know, a book and all this sort
of thing, which is really beyond anything I ever really imagined.
And it can be very complicated and difficult in what
(10:11):
I do because you don't really want to watch this stuff.
It makes you uncomfortable, it makes you and so people
demit shocking or gross, and so sometimes you can't really
put the graphics stuff up.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Where's the greatest generator of income and all your business?
Where's your money coming from the most?
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Probably?
Speaker 2 (10:27):
I mean, we've got the TV show, We've got my
skincare line. I mean, I think I've got multiple funnels
kind of coming in my work. But I work like
two days a week now, so I'm not working extensively
because the show gets in the way. What's interesting is
that this all happened but I had a day job.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
This wasn't my whole thing.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
So I also feel a little safety in having a
day job that I know I'm good at, I'm successful at,
and that I'm sort of in this world of a
smaller group of people that I have to compete against
to be, you know, a good dermatologists.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Right.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
So I have this show that I love that I
think is really special. I don't know if you've ever
seen it, but it really has to do with the
stories behind the people that you're changing.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Which is such a lovely thing.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
But of course we have to tackle some really big cases,
probably bigger than I ever imagine that i'd really be
doing in my life. You know, but I'm a dermatologic surgeon.
I would say more so than other things. I'm sort
of cosmetic and surgical dermatology.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
It's a little bit like Botched or the two guys
on Eve that had the plastic surgery show like.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
It is, but more like real people in the world.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
You know, Yes, they can't leave their house because they
have like, oh wow, growth on their nose that's like
the size of a grapefruit.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Little.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Yeah, there's some crazy, crazy surgeries that we've dealt with.
So it's been a weird journey, Like it's weird to
be in this world. I live in LA now and
I've grown up in this area outside of La.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Oh, your practice is in LA.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
It's in the Inland Empire. It's between La and Palm Springs.
But it's in Calful, Okay, got upland Clairemont area. But
now I live in LA and I think it's just
weird to be in that industry too, because as a dermatologist,
you go through your life and that's what you do.
You don't really touch these other areas of the world,
and so it's very weird to be, you know, in
this industry where you're a doctor but you're also sort
(12:13):
of an entertainer or you know, or a celebrity.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
So you're trying to find because it's also this show
is not mainstream and the content is often not in
the mainstream. You're trying to find the thing that's gonna
no pun intended pop off and you can monetize.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Is that what you're saying.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
I think we found something, you know, I think we
have something really great.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
I'm very proud of what we do.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
It's just that it's an interesting position that I found
myself in.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
And I but what do you needed? You saying you
could get advice from me about what, like what is
the problem to solve?
Speaker 2 (12:40):
I just think that you have great natural sort of
skills and thinking in this way. And yeah, I think
people say it all the time. We are not business people.
As physicians, that's not really what we're trained to think
or do. And so it's been very interesting and fun
to do that. And I think that I do have
an entrepreneurial side. But it's just like you're always trying
to solve something like you're switching. You're like Muhammad Ali, right,
(13:01):
I feel like we kind of go with the punches
and we sort of move forward as best we can,
and we sort of dog you know, I'm trying to
figure out myself.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
You were reinventing yourself a lot.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
I'm not doing it on purpose though, that's the thing.
I'm not thinking about it at all. This is all accidental.
My philosophy is when the tables go cold, I'm walking
out like this is ridiculous, Like the whole thing is ridiculous.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
So that's how everything has been.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
It's for me, I've just been I'm a very serious
person in a sense that I can't help but have
ten thousand ideas and execute them and market them. And
there's no one that gets things done like I do,
or delegates like I do. But it's been all totally accidental.
It's just almost like a fun garage band for me.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Yeah, like it's weird.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
That's why people ask me to do a skincare line
all the time, a makeup line.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
I don't want to do it. Yeah, I don't want
to do it.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
I don't do anything I don't want to do, Like
I don't go anywhere I don't want to go. I
don't do anything I don't want to do. But it
ends up working because that people ended up really trusting me, right,
So I would say you have it's very very clear
because you keep saying this is crazy, and this is
what my first piece of advice to you would be
very clear on what you want. If there's something that
you do want it, like I want to make a
(14:11):
lot of money in addition to you're helping people. You
don't have to say only that there's nothing wrong. Whatever
your thing is. I don't do anything now that's not charity.
I have a marketing paid because I don't want to
do it, So you can't pay like I make more
than anyone to do any of the things that I
do because I don't give a shit if I do
them or not, because no one moves product like I do,
not a person because I don't care. I care about
(14:33):
what I'm talking about, but I'm saying you have to
be very truthful because the universe hears everything, and be
very honest about what you want, Like you want to
build a global brand, you want to make a billion dollars,
you want to just enjoy your life and have a
balance but still make a good living, Like you have
to be very clear on who you want to be
and what you want to do.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
That's interesting because I mean, you feel like you have
to have a goal in place. You really have to
have a clear cut goal.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
It can change, and it can be concept well, it
doesn't have to be I want to have a skincare line.
It can change, and it can be like playing chess
and checkers at the exact same time. Like you somehow
have these like visions and these fantasies about that board,
but then you're also playing checkers in this moment, and
they have to like dance with each other and change.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Like I said, I literally sat down. I was talking
about makeup.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
I had no makeup, and I'd write a cover girl
thing a foundation, and was like, wait, I didn't know
people did videos on YouTube. I didn't know there were
makeup people doing videos. I didn't know people were getting snatched.
I didn't know there was a filter. I didn't know anything.
Once it started to pop off, Okay, I'm a person
who's teed up. There are too many fish right here
for me to not take the net. But now that
(15:41):
I have a teamworking for me and it's happening, I
am navigating and making decisions about what it all means.
It doesn't mean, oh I want to have a TV show.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
I want to have that. I want to have that.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
That's not an overall strategy, that's a thing, but my
overall concept. I understand exactly what it is and what
it means at all times. And you have to find
a way to align the skincare, which you do every day.
Even the conversation about wanting to look good and being
on a makeup like, that's a real conversation that like,
I'm a dermatologist, but I want to look good, And
it's a conflict for me because I know this, but
(16:11):
I do that. So I decided this, like be open
and honest in the moment to what's going on and
craft whatever the the is around it, like it all fits.
But you have to make all the puzzle pieces fit,
from the alien thing on someone's nose to this to
the product line. They all have to speak one very clear,
fluent language.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
One thing that I think is interesting is there is
a little bit of a conflict. I don't know if
this will make sense to you, but that there's a
little conflict because I am a professional. I am a dermatologist,
so I feel like I hear it.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
But that's going to be the problem.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
This is literally has nothing to do with you, But
it's what I said is wrong with Megan Markle be
a famous brand, reality store, or be a royal.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
We cannot be in the riptide. We decide who we are.
We led and you left. You can't hang.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Onto a title, bake jam and then also monetize what
you're wearing with an affiliate link.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Who are you? What do you want to be when
you grow up? Decide now and be that.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
If you feel like there's some version of it that
lacks integrity to what you originally do, talk about it,
include it, include it in the whole thing. But as
long as it's truthful, threat it, you're allowed to be
two things at once. Yes, I make a lot more
money now than when I was on reality TV in
a box of what I'm supposed to be, and people
now think I'm just some crazy ant talking to a
(17:28):
chicken salad sitting in an attic. I don't give a
shit what they think. I know what it is and
what I'm doing, and what I mean to women and
what I mean to young women, just my personality.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
So if I say it, people know it's true.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
So whatever it is, just be honest in the moment
about what it is and like bring them with you
on the that talk about this conflict.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
I feel like a sellout.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
I love doing this whatever, but I feel like there's
something that so many women are going to have the same.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
YEA in their field. They're going to relate to that
another way.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
I know.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I'm a nurse and I feel like it's weird that
I want to be whatever. I want to be at
stripper about the airport, that's weird.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
You could do both. You can actually be a nurse
and dance by the airport if you want to. I can't.
You can't. I can't do that. No, I know what's saying.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
One can you feel that you can't, but you have
to thread it together whatever it well, yeah, but do
you want to see a dermatologist who is a stripper?
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Would you be like asol, I couldn't care less. You
don't think that would get in.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
That would decrease your confidence in them as a surgeon.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
It depends how it lands. It's if they can land it.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
But yeah, in twenty twenty five, I absolutely could go
to a doctor that danced at night as long as
they were communicating it. It makes me past I don't
care what anyone does. I would create the best plastic
surgeons in New York have had major problems, like people
have lives. I'm just saying this is went off on
a tangent. You are allowed to be a successful dermatologist.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Right, and a human a person and do stand up comedy.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
And be successful at both. I always bring up Stacy's
Peeda chips. I wonder if she knows that I brought
up twenty five times since she's been on the podcast minimum.
(19:09):
But years ago, Stacey from Stacy's Peter Chips. She sold
it for two hundred fifty million dollars. She was a
sandwich cart. It was freezing every day in Chicago. The
only thing they couldn't run out of is bread. And
when they ran out of the other stuff, her brother
had a recipe and they made these peda chips and
that was the thing. Wasn't the sandwiches. She's not Stacy
sandwiches for two hundred fifty million. So you gotta be
(19:31):
allowed to, like, look where the fish are, yeah, and
go there and keep your base. You don't need to
let go of your practice. And then it might be weird.
But I think that's what happened. With the pimple popping.
That's exactly what happened.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
It's like, what is this random thing, and let's grow
this into something exactly.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
But you need the base for the credibility in that space.
That's why you're staying with it, and so are you're
doing it two days a week.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
I look at.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Doctors who are very good and who are in there
five days a week, all day thinking there's a cap
on it. And if you want to make money, do it.
No matter what you do the math twenty ways, hire
twenty doctors under you. If you have to be there's
still a cap. So you don't want there to be
a cap you want to do other things, Yes, I
would say.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
The only thing I'm getting.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Is the trepidation and the hesitation and you not second
guessing yourself, you knowing exactly what it is, but feeling
like you have to overcompensate and explain it. And I
think that's what you have to just like let go of, Yeah,
this is what it is. And I'm on a journey
and I'm going to put it all together, and when
it doesn't fit, I'm going to tell you it doesn't fit,
and then I'll make something else fit yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
I mean, I feel like your adventure is continuing and
you're just finding yourself in new places, in new ways,
and like you know, and you're taking us all on
that trip.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Really, yeah, you're right.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
It's funny. I talk to my therapist today. I don't
know how whatl do you mind? If I ask au
old you are?
Speaker 3 (20:40):
I am fifty four? Oh, my same age. Oh when's
your birthday? December December twenty oh, so we're very clo
I'm November fourth.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
So my therapist was saying today, it's not exactly related,
but you'll find something in this because you're the same
age that there's a lot different with me. And it's
all on the inside. It's not on the outside. And
this is getting caught up in a superficial thing that
doesn't matter. But whether it's selling sixty bags, it's not
about the bags. It's about why I would have them,
and it's what it represents. I'm super confident inside. I'm
(21:09):
very secure right now inside, and I feel like it's
coming through and it's not an intention even in a
weird way of like dating, where like for the first
time in my adult life of being single, I forget
It's like people who forget to eat, and you're like,
how do you forget to eat? If I'm in something
with someone or dating someone, or someone who's in the
stable who's texting me, and like, this could be a
(21:30):
major really rich, good looking great and I like them
and I'm present when i'm there if I go at them,
but if I don't have it, I don't care.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
And if they don't text, then goodbye. And I've never
been like that.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
I've been more girly where it's like he didn't calling
my friends telling him every stupid detail all day long.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
So you like this new version of you or this
better version of you, that's what you're saying.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Yes, And I think that a lot of these years
that were probably more prime like dating and evolving, were
spent being a little bit drowning in this house. And
I'm going to put the silver lining on the fact
that I think it made me reflect a lot. I
think I've been alone a lot, and I'm alone or anyway,
but I've been alone more than normal and I've done
(22:10):
a lot of reflecting. So I think it ended up
coming out to what this result is now in this
like vortex of moving, well, I'm.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
In a different stage. I'm in a new stage in
my life and the show reflects that a little bit.
That I'm an empty nester now. My kids both went
to school in the East Coast, so I'm with my
husband now, and I mean, which is great, but also
like you're hanging out with them all the time, you know,
we moved to a new area. I have great girlfriends,
but they're not living in this area. So it's actually
a weird transition with me, like where I think I'm
(22:40):
like you too, like I have to be busy.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
I don't want to be. It just comes to me.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
I say yes to pretty much everything. I mean, I
think I'm a yes person. I'm a people pleaser, but
I also like what I do. I like to stay
very busy, and so it's actually really hard for me
sometimes because I'll have a day off and then I'll
have sort of a free plan because I'm used to
go and work right patients and doing things, so like
it gets a little bit like, oh my gosh, what
am I doing with my life?
Speaker 3 (23:06):
But I'm busy. But I'm also I understand.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
I'm like, ah, okay, so it's different my therapist today,
but no, I like this, but it's different because I
don't want anything on my calendar, and my entire life
is about the opposite. I'm not a people person, and
it's about pushing it off. But because I have endless ideas,
as the CMO of Beam Global once said, You're an
idea hamster, it seeps in. I don't want it. It's
(23:29):
like an addiction to me. It's different. It's like fuck
for me. I don't want it, and I don't want
to be busy, and I want to be like walking
on the beach and wandering, and I want the data
just dissolve into nothing. That's literally an analogy to my
entire career right now. I didn't want any of this,
But it's not like I don't like it. It's just
like I'm constantly saying no. Like the whole move is,
I'm never going back to this life in this house again,
(23:50):
where it was busy and the stuff and everyone's sending me.
You'd think I was a crazy person because I've told
my entire staff, do not accept one thing.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
I don't want it.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
I mean literally diamonds and cars and coffee. I'm like,
I don't want it because I want to preserve my peace.
But I relate to what you're saying, because even with
the depth of busy that I have and the depth
of demand, I still feel like, what is this all?
Speaker 3 (24:12):
What does this even mean?
Speaker 1 (24:13):
And even if you're busy, it's just not it's just
distracting from thinking about what this all is. And that's
the core thing that I actually got to call my
therapist back and talk about, because that's the core thing
you're going through. And I could say something stupid to you,
like you should take up meditating, and then you're like,
why don't you fuck off? Because you should take up
meditating just as much as I should. So the whole
thing I think is about us at this age because
(24:34):
you know we're older, you know the health is different,
you know the kids are older. You're thinking you're not
like dreading death, but you know that you don't have
that many years to look this good.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
It's kind of like, yes, you look good.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
And you could just say, Okay, I'm gonna be retired
now because what's the point of all this because life
is short? But like them, what are you gonna do?
Sit and just look at a sunset for two hours?
So you're doing what I'm doing, which is.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Not the same way, but it's a stage you're just
trying to figure yourself out now in this new sort
of era of your life, and there's a lot of
other things that are going on. And it's such a
weird stage because when you have kids, it's sort of
like you're focused around them. Now you have this thing
where you're like, it's me and I got to figure
out what I need to do to be happy, because yeah,
(25:18):
you're thinking about the end of your life.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
You still have many years.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
I know, but you're understand how lucky you are, not
because of being privileged, you know, and having money, but
because you have a thing. And this is connected to
what I say on this podcast all the time. Many
women our age because I've met all the men that
are divorced from them, have lost custody of their children.
They're drinking, they're taking pills because they.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
Are where we are.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
They don't even have the career to cling on to
because you can't go shopping in a circular reference or
sewing costumes is over if your kids get older. So like,
pretend you don't have money, you don't sew costumes, you
haven't built a career. Your husband could have had his
own mid life crisis glove up. A lot of these
guys are working out in their garage and they've got
stuff going on. They're playing golf, and you feel like, wait,
(26:05):
I'm left behind. So we are very lucky to even
have a thing to cling to. And it's why I
try to tell young women, you cannot see the whole board.
Why don't you just get the bag and get married.
This is a long road and if you do not
cultivate something, you're going to feel like you don't have purpose.
Because I often feel like and that's ridiculous. It's ridiculous
with the things that I'm going on that I would
(26:26):
think that. So that's what the podcast is for the
social media too. I always feel like, just naturally have
an inclination to talk to younger women about the mistakes
that they could be making in a way that they
could actually digest. Because I didn't have any parenting.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
I think that's really important because I don't think there
are many voices that are our age that are talking
to young people about that. I've never had a therapist,
and I probably should, but I did never have, and
I feel like a lot of times my patients have
sort of been little therapist here and there. It's like
literally you're talking to somebody at the grocery store and
the person turns around and you have to talk to them.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Yes, that's how I feel like when I.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Deal with my patients, because you've talked a round them,
people that you may never talk to in your life,
and you learn so much from them.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
That's great. That, by the way, that's like a book. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
But also you're like me and that you're a crowdsourcer
and then you make your own decision. You crowdsource, and
but you're on the stove making the recipe. Ultimately, Like
I'm a big crowdsourcer. I don't listen to what anyone
tells me to do, but I love to hear other
people's perspectives to mold my own way to do it.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
But I think one of my problems is I have
a hard time delegating. I will end up trying to
do it mysef horrible. I do that too, But no,
that's horrible. It's very hard though. How do you do that?
How do you let it go to somebody else?
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Because you have to find your one Huna Huma Abidin
or Cheryl Samberg to your right that I found that,
and you have to find that person who they understand
your body and they're in it with you the whole way.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
I have that at work, like you know, as a physician,
as a dermatologist, but I don't think I have that
in this other sort of a career that sort of happened.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
You know, you have to find that. You have to
find that. It's not an assistant. You have to find that.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
You have to find that, and you have to pay
them because it's gonna be expensive, it's gonna hurt, it's
gonna make a lot of money. So it's funny because
Tanks came on and she said this was therapy. So
I guess I guess I should have been a therapist
in another life for myself too, though it was therapy
for me too, So fine, I.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Have no idea.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Oh that's it is really like I would have never
thought that this conversation goes this way.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
You know that is that is really cool?
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Well, all right, so your show is Doctor Pimple Popper
breaking Out. I feel like we covered like a lot. Yeah,
it's on Lifetime. I moved love Lifetime.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
I did a Lifetime show. I love Lifetime.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Mondays at nine and we have we just made twenty
episodes and so that's like three patients per episode, and
they're big cases wow craziness. And you know, we'll see
what happens. We'll see if there's another season and there'll
be another another twenty or so, we'll see what happens there.
But it's very exciting, really proud of it. It really
is an amazing show because it's the opposite of other
(28:58):
reality shows.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
I say this all the time.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Reality shows like Real Housewives, they're dealing with people who
are normal who are trying.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
To be crazy. I mean, first of all, okay, maybe
they're not always normal.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
We can unpop that on a later episode, yes, but
I think like for me, it's like the crazy. It's
sort of walking in and you're trying to make them
everything put back in place and be normal.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
So it's like the opposite almost. Yeah, I understand that
the upside down.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Yes, it starts with the thing that's atypical and gets
to hopefully some version of normal and this other thing
like like it is.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Like a roller coaster and it like ratchets up.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
I don't think I could ever do The Real Housewives
myself because I don't. I would feel again, like I said,
like I'm a physician, like I would be really stressed
about being crazy at some point, you know, or something
like that.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
It's not for you. Yeah, it's not for me. So
I think this has been perfect. Well, well, it's so
nice to meet you and talk to you so interesting.
It's really nice to meet you.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
I hope I can be out there in the Hamptons
or something or my something like that will see well, yes,
I'm moving and I'm in the Hampton and this is
our new era.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
You and I. We'll see how we both land.
So this is doctor pimple Popper. First of all, you
really have built a brand. You have built this brand
in doctor pimple Popper. And did that start because of
these like shocking videos.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Yeah, essentially it did. I mean it didn't really start
so shocking. I mean it depends on what you consider shocking.
I guess blackhead extractions and things like that. Do you
can you watch those? Can you not tolerate those at all?
Just like a basic extraction of a blackhead on a nose?
Speaker 1 (00:42):
No, it gives you the heat best, like a combination.
Like I get the satisfaction that people have with it.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yeah, but.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
I'm not drawn to it, but I completely understand why
people are, and sometimes there's something fascinating.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I am the same way. I've never been drawn to it.
I'm a dermatologist. I'm not drawn to it. But I
discovered that people were really into it, and then I
just thought, how far can I push it? And I
call those soft pops, and then I call it hard
pops when you go into like the heavy stuff, like
the triple X kind of pops where you got like
some blood gushing and your surgery. And I see that
(01:19):
there's a range, So I feel like you can sort
of get people into it a little bit.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Sometimes it's like PGR or x NC seventeen exactly fascinating.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Okay, So how much of your time is spent on
social media and the brand of it and actually being
a dermatologist.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
How do you balance both? It's hard.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I mean, just like you, you know, you're doing a
lot of different things, and sometimes you get excited about
something and you put more of your eggs in that basket, right,
and then you move away and you might get bored
with it or something happens with it. I was very
into social media back that was like probably twenty sixteen
or so, when I was just growing and I was
really new. I was one of the only doctors on
social media and just posting these and seeing this sort
(02:03):
of grow really quickly because the algorithm really was there.
People engaged with you, and they responded. They either loved
it or they hated it. Tag the friends. Yeah, so
it's like crazy and I was like, what is this
and what is this crazy strange power?
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Right? You see it?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
You grow and you're like people are like in you know,
Bolivia or watching your rights and you have this weird
sort of influence that was new and interesting, and here
I am just a dermatologist working in my office and
now people were coming to me from like across the
country or other continents.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
That's what I was going to ask. So how much
of it is education versus entertainment in the social media space.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
I maintain that it's primarily education, but I feel like
it's interesting. People don't understand the things.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
That lives beneath. Yeah, and I think it's fascinating to everybody.
I say this all the time.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
It's like, we all know what's normal skin looks like, right,
so we don't really know. I don't really know what
a disease liver may look like by looking at it,
but we know what skin should look like in our eyes,
and so it's more fascinating, I think, to us because
it's all relatable to us.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Right, So I need you to settle something for me
and tell me if I was on or off. I
see influencers beating their face with makeup, then going, we're
gonna get into them just beating their face with makeup
to begin with, which just makes me cringe more than
watching a pimple be popped, way more because I'm like
this is so dumb, which we're going to get into,
which is also ironic because I do a lot of
(03:32):
makeup videos, so I see someone going with a full
beat of makeup onto an airplane for multiple hours. And
here's what my natural instincts which have gotten me everywhere,
and why I have good skin in my opinion, why
I'm thin in my opinion, my natural instincts say, which
people have debated against because they've been like, what's the
difference between being on a plane and walking through a
(03:53):
mall with makeup or through the day, And I'm like, Okay,
an airplane is the most dehydrating, drying place in the
world world. Not to mention you're trapped with other people's germs.
Now you're in a capsule with layers of makeup on,
and compounding that with dehydration, and sometimes being dehydrated can
trap your skin, even make you break out underneath. My opinion,
(04:13):
those underneath bumps. So it's not always what you see.
It's like again, what lies beneath, Like your skin's not breathing.
So I think putting makeup on and going on a plane,
or putting it on on a plane is crazy and
you should have the cleanest skin possible and utilize that
time to cleanse and hydrate because that's the time you're
going to be so dehydrated. Drink water, Do the best
(04:35):
you can. That's my gut instinct. How on or off
am I because people debated me, Yeah, And I think
this was an issue right on social media recently.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Not an issue, just a discussion.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Some people I think we're talking about don't even do
your skincare regimen there because it's like doing it in
the toilet or something. You know, it's like in a
dirty area, So you could think of it that way too.
But I agree with you. Dehydration is big. I don't
love putting having a ton of makeup on in the airplane,
but you know, I also put a little bit of
makeup on, but I don't like heavy coverage.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
And what happens is that there's occlusion.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Like if I have heavy makeup on and I'm doing
some press or something, I want to take that off
as soon as I can, because it just feels like
this weight on you when you trapping. Yes, it doesn't
feel like your skin can breathe properly, And so I
agree with that. I don't know if I like love
the idea of people doing a full skincare regimen there.
I mean it's like you're on the toilet really right,
and you're like, well.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
I do it before, yeah, doing it on? No, I agree,
that's a great point too. You're like putting germs into
the face now, like taking the air, you got to
seal the practice before you get on.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Yes, yes, I don't think it's a huge deal.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Like I mean, if people want to do that and
they don't have the time and they got to run
and do it on the plane, then what are you
going to do?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
You know?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
But do I think like everybody should be, you know,
having pull heads of makeup on the plane or putting
their makeup on on the plane. No, I mean I
think it's not a good idea. It's a different environment.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Yeah, but you're doing it because you feel like you
want to look a certain way. So you're saying it's
the lesser of evils in that moment. You don't want
to feel bad about the way you look, so you're
taking that little risk on the table about trapping your skin,
you know what I'm saying, Like you're deciding what I'm saying.
In an ideal world, if you're on an airplane. Isn't
no makeup a better idea?
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Of course? Okay, that's what I thought.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
I definitely will break out after a couple of things
of makeup, like having it on. This is also ironic
because I talk about makeup like not a lot, and
I've gone to get microdermabration, which I still do love.
And no matter how well you've cleaned your skin, when
they take that little white pad out, it's makeup.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
On there and they tell you look at it.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
And if it is a month where I've done more photoshoots,
you see more like it's very hard to really get
it all out.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Sure, But on that note, you got to be careful
with those sorts of things too, because too much of
a good thing is excessive.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Right.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
There are certainly people who have body dysmorphia and they're
scrubbing their face. Oh no you can't, So you got
to there's like a balance, you know, there's dirt everywhere.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
You could be getting your face.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
If you do a microdermoerbration after not wearing any makeup,
you may still have.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
That would be a nice test.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
An hour after you wake up you didn't do anything,
and there's dirt in your face. It's just dirt in
the world. Yeah, that's a great point too, But I
do think that it's crazy watching influencers talk about their
skin and covering the pounds of makeup and then the
being upset about having bad skin.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Yeah, it's a vicious cycle, right, because then you have
to cover it up and then that promotes it more.
But like, what are you gonna do? It's just the
way the world runs. It's very hard for them to
go bare. It's like going into rehab and like cold turkey.
You just cutting yourself off or something. It's really hard
to do that. This is a protection, This is an
armor that a lot of us wear.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Makeup is protection and makes us feel better, makes us
look better to others, and so it has negative effects
certainly if you overdo it.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
So interesting, I just think that I've a guy that
I dated said to me, you are the least vain
person I have ever met in my life, And I
think it might just be that, Like I have so
many other issues like organizational and a rose season whatever.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
But I think it's easy for you too. You look beautiful,
You're thin, you know what I mean. I mean, that's
something you're blessed with no But I have dark circles
and all the things. I just have a thing where
I want to feel like.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
It's I want to feel healthy more than I want
to look good.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
That's just my thing, you know what I'm saying. I
got it.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Yeah, I had the extensions in and I for a
couple of months. I took them out. I was like,
I feel like I'm damaging my hair.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
I think I've talked. I heard you talk about eyelash extensions.
I had them for a while and I hate them now.
I'll never go back to eyelash extensions that kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
My hair and eyelashes have grown like forty percent. They
are like thick an it's wild. And I didn't even
do it for that long. But yeah, I think it's
just I guess you're right. It's about finding the balance
it is. So how do you monetize this business experience,
(08:57):
et cetera.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Is there a product line?
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Yes, I have my own product line. I have SMD Care,
which started as an acne treatment system. You know, because
obviously pimples and sense because all these people around the
world were looking for answers. So that is one thing
that we certainly started. But the monetization was really interesting
in you back then when it first started, like in
twenty seventeen or sixteen or so, because I was monetizing
(09:20):
my Blackhead extractions like on YouTube, and it was going like,
you know, what is it like a penny, like a
thousand views or whatnot, But we have like five point
three or so billion views. I mean, it's crazy how
many people watch these videos over and over again.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
So you were able to just monetize the content itself.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Yes, but things changed a little bit because then now
a lot of the content is not what they deem
advertisable because it's shocking or gross.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
To people, you know.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
So there's been a little bit of a dilemma there,
which is actually things that I'd like to ask advice
from you about, you know. I mean, I think it's
so interesting how I was able to grow this and
then have a TV show from this, and a product
line and you know, a book and all this sort
of thing, which is really beyond anything I ever really imagined.
And it can be very complicated and difficult in what
(10:11):
I do because you don't really want to watch this stuff.
It makes you uncomfortable, it makes you and so people
demit shocking or gross, and so sometimes you can't really
put the graphics stuff up.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Where's the greatest generator of income and all your business?
Where's your money coming from the most?
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Probably?
Speaker 2 (10:27):
I mean, we've got the TV show, We've got my
skincare line. I mean, I think I've got multiple funnels
kind of coming in my work. But I work like
two days a week now, so I'm not working extensively
because the show gets in the way. What's interesting is
that this all happened but I had a day job.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
This wasn't my whole thing.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
So I also feel a little safety in having a
day job that I know I'm good at, I'm successful at,
and that I'm sort of in this world of a
smaller group of people that I have to compete against
to be, you know, a good dermatologists.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Right.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
So I have this show that I love that I
think is really special. I don't know if you've ever
seen it, but it really has to do with the
stories behind the people that you're changing.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Which is such a lovely thing.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
But of course we have to tackle some really big cases,
probably bigger than I ever imagine that i'd really be
doing in my life. You know, but I'm a dermatologic surgeon.
I would say more so than other things. I'm sort
of cosmetic and surgical dermatology.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
It's a little bit like Botched or the two guys
on Eve that had the plastic surgery show like.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
It is, but more like real people in the world.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
You know, Yes, they can't leave their house because they
have like, oh wow, growth on their nose that's like
the size of a grapefruit.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Little.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Yeah, there's some crazy, crazy surgeries that we've dealt with.
So it's been a weird journey, Like it's weird to
be in this world. I live in LA now and
I've grown up in this area outside of La.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Oh, your practice is in LA.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
It's in the Inland Empire. It's between La and Palm Springs.
But it's in Calful, Okay, got upland Clairemont area. But
now I live in LA and I think it's just
weird to be in that industry too, because as a dermatologist,
you go through your life and that's what you do.
You don't really touch these other areas of the world,
and so it's very weird to be, you know, in
this industry where you're a doctor but you're also sort
(12:13):
of an entertainer or you know, or a celebrity.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
So you're trying to find because it's also this show
is not mainstream and the content is often not in
the mainstream. You're trying to find the thing that's gonna
no pun intended pop off and you can monetize.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Is that what you're saying.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
I think we found something, you know, I think we
have something really great.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
I'm very proud of what we do.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
It's just that it's an interesting position that I found
myself in.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
And I but what do you needed? You saying you
could get advice from me about what, like what is
the problem to solve?
Speaker 2 (12:40):
I just think that you have great natural sort of
skills and thinking in this way. And yeah, I think
people say it all the time. We are not business people.
As physicians, that's not really what we're trained to think
or do. And so it's been very interesting and fun
to do that. And I think that I do have
an entrepreneurial side. But it's just like you're always trying
to solve something like you're switching. You're like Muhammad Ali, right,
(13:01):
I feel like we kind of go with the punches
and we sort of move forward as best we can,
and we sort of dog you know, I'm trying to
figure out myself.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
You were reinventing yourself a lot.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
I'm not doing it on purpose though, that's the thing.
I'm not thinking about it at all. This is all accidental.
My philosophy is when the tables go cold, I'm walking
out like this is ridiculous, Like the whole thing is ridiculous.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
So that's how everything has been.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
It's for me, I've just been I'm a very serious
person in a sense that I can't help but have
ten thousand ideas and execute them and market them. And
there's no one that gets things done like I do,
or delegates like I do. But it's been all totally accidental.
It's just almost like a fun garage band for me.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Yeah, like it's weird.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
That's why people ask me to do a skincare line
all the time, a makeup line.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
I don't want to do it. Yeah, I don't want
to do it.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
I don't do anything I don't want to do, Like
I don't go anywhere I don't want to go. I
don't do anything I don't want to do. But it
ends up working because that people ended up really trusting me, right,
So I would say you have it's very very clear
because you keep saying this is crazy, and this is
what my first piece of advice to you would be
very clear on what you want. If there's something that
you do want it, like I want to make a
(14:11):
lot of money in addition to you're helping people. You
don't have to say only that there's nothing wrong. Whatever
your thing is. I don't do anything now that's not charity.
I have a marketing paid because I don't want to
do it, So you can't pay like I make more
than anyone to do any of the things that I
do because I don't give a shit if I do
them or not, because no one moves product like I do,
not a person because I don't care. I care about
(14:33):
what I'm talking about, but I'm saying you have to
be very truthful because the universe hears everything, and be
very honest about what you want, Like you want to
build a global brand, you want to make a billion dollars,
you want to just enjoy your life and have a
balance but still make a good living, Like you have
to be very clear on who you want to be
and what you want to do.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
That's interesting because I mean, you feel like you have
to have a goal in place. You really have to
have a clear cut goal.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
It can change, and it can be concept well, it
doesn't have to be I want to have a skincare line.
It can change, and it can be like playing chess
and checkers at the exact same time. Like you somehow
have these like visions and these fantasies about that board,
but then you're also playing checkers in this moment, and
they have to like dance with each other and change.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Like I said, I literally sat down. I was talking
about makeup.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
I had no makeup, and I'd write a cover girl
thing a foundation, and was like, wait, I didn't know
people did videos on YouTube. I didn't know there were
makeup people doing videos. I didn't know people were getting snatched.
I didn't know there was a filter. I didn't know anything.
Once it started to pop off, Okay, I'm a person
who's teed up. There are too many fish right here
for me to not take the net. But now that
(15:41):
I have a teamworking for me and it's happening, I
am navigating and making decisions about what it all means.
It doesn't mean, oh I want to have a TV show.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
I want to have that. I want to have that.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
That's not an overall strategy, that's a thing, but my
overall concept. I understand exactly what it is and what
it means at all times. And you have to find
a way to align the skincare, which you do every day.
Even the conversation about wanting to look good and being
on a makeup like, that's a real conversation that like,
I'm a dermatologist, but I want to look good, And
it's a conflict for me because I know this, but
(16:11):
I do that. So I decided this, like be open
and honest in the moment to what's going on and
craft whatever the the is around it, like it all fits.
But you have to make all the puzzle pieces fit,
from the alien thing on someone's nose to this to
the product line. They all have to speak one very clear,
fluent language.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
One thing that I think is interesting is there is
a little bit of a conflict. I don't know if
this will make sense to you, but that there's a
little conflict because I am a professional. I am a dermatologist,
so I feel like I hear it.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
But that's going to be the problem.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
This is literally has nothing to do with you, But
it's what I said is wrong with Megan Markle be
a famous brand, reality store, or be a royal.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
We cannot be in the riptide. We decide who we are.
We led and you left. You can't hang.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Onto a title, bake jam and then also monetize what
you're wearing with an affiliate link.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Who are you? What do you want to be when
you grow up? Decide now and be that.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
If you feel like there's some version of it that
lacks integrity to what you originally do, talk about it,
include it, include it in the whole thing. But as
long as it's truthful, threat it, you're allowed to be
two things at once. Yes, I make a lot more
money now than when I was on reality TV in
a box of what I'm supposed to be, and people
now think I'm just some crazy ant talking to a
(17:28):
chicken salad sitting in an attic. I don't give a
shit what they think. I know what it is and
what I'm doing, and what I mean to women and
what I mean to young women, just my personality.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
So if I say it, people know it's true.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
So whatever it is, just be honest in the moment
about what it is and like bring them with you
on the that talk about this conflict.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
I feel like a sellout.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
I love doing this whatever, but I feel like there's
something that so many women are going to have the same.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
YEA in their field. They're going to relate to that
another way.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
I know.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I'm a nurse and I feel like it's weird that
I want to be whatever. I want to be at
stripper about the airport, that's weird.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
You could do both. You can actually be a nurse
and dance by the airport if you want to. I can't.
You can't. I can't do that. No, I know what's saying.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
One can you feel that you can't, but you have
to thread it together whatever it well, yeah, but do
you want to see a dermatologist who is a stripper?
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Would you be like asol, I couldn't care less. You
don't think that would get in.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
That would decrease your confidence in them as a surgeon.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
It depends how it lands. It's if they can land it.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
But yeah, in twenty twenty five, I absolutely could go
to a doctor that danced at night as long as
they were communicating it. It makes me past I don't
care what anyone does. I would create the best plastic
surgeons in New York have had major problems, like people
have lives. I'm just saying this is went off on
a tangent. You are allowed to be a successful dermatologist.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Right, and a human a person and do stand up comedy.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
And be successful at both. I always bring up Stacy's
Peeda chips. I wonder if she knows that I brought
up twenty five times since she's been on the podcast minimum.
(19:09):
But years ago, Stacey from Stacy's Peter Chips. She sold
it for two hundred fifty million dollars. She was a
sandwich cart. It was freezing every day in Chicago. The
only thing they couldn't run out of is bread. And
when they ran out of the other stuff, her brother
had a recipe and they made these peda chips and
that was the thing. Wasn't the sandwiches. She's not Stacy
sandwiches for two hundred fifty million. So you gotta be
(19:31):
allowed to, like, look where the fish are, yeah, and
go there and keep your base. You don't need to
let go of your practice. And then it might be weird.
But I think that's what happened. With the pimple popping.
That's exactly what happened.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
It's like, what is this random thing, and let's grow
this into something exactly.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
But you need the base for the credibility in that space.
That's why you're staying with it, and so are you're
doing it two days a week.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
I look at.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Doctors who are very good and who are in there
five days a week, all day thinking there's a cap
on it. And if you want to make money, do it.
No matter what you do the math twenty ways, hire
twenty doctors under you. If you have to be there's
still a cap. So you don't want there to be
a cap you want to do other things, Yes, I
would say.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
The only thing I'm getting.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Is the trepidation and the hesitation and you not second
guessing yourself, you knowing exactly what it is, but feeling
like you have to overcompensate and explain it. And I
think that's what you have to just like let go of, Yeah,
this is what it is. And I'm on a journey
and I'm going to put it all together, and when
it doesn't fit, I'm going to tell you it doesn't fit,
and then I'll make something else fit yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
I mean, I feel like your adventure is continuing and
you're just finding yourself in new places, in new ways,
and like you know, and you're taking us all on
that trip.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Really, yeah, you're right.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
It's funny. I talk to my therapist today. I don't
know how whatl do you mind? If I ask au
old you are?
Speaker 3 (20:40):
I am fifty four? Oh, my same age. Oh when's
your birthday? December December twenty oh, so we're very clo
I'm November fourth.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
So my therapist was saying today, it's not exactly related,
but you'll find something in this because you're the same
age that there's a lot different with me. And it's
all on the inside. It's not on the outside. And
this is getting caught up in a superficial thing that
doesn't matter. But whether it's selling sixty bags, it's not
about the bags. It's about why I would have them,
and it's what it represents. I'm super confident inside. I'm
(21:09):
very secure right now inside, and I feel like it's
coming through and it's not an intention even in a
weird way of like dating, where like for the first
time in my adult life of being single, I forget
It's like people who forget to eat, and you're like,
how do you forget to eat? If I'm in something
with someone or dating someone, or someone who's in the
stable who's texting me, and like, this could be a
(21:30):
major really rich, good looking great and I like them
and I'm present when i'm there if I go at them,
but if I don't have it, I don't care.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
And if they don't text, then goodbye. And I've never
been like that.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
I've been more girly where it's like he didn't calling
my friends telling him every stupid detail all day long.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
So you like this new version of you or this
better version of you, that's what you're saying.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Yes, And I think that a lot of these years
that were probably more prime like dating and evolving, were
spent being a little bit drowning in this house. And
I'm going to put the silver lining on the fact
that I think it made me reflect a lot. I
think I've been alone a lot, and I'm alone or anyway,
but I've been alone more than normal and I've done
(22:10):
a lot of reflecting. So I think it ended up
coming out to what this result is now in this
like vortex of moving, well, I'm.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
In a different stage. I'm in a new stage in
my life and the show reflects that a little bit.
That I'm an empty nester now. My kids both went
to school in the East Coast, so I'm with my
husband now, and I mean, which is great, but also
like you're hanging out with them all the time, you know,
we moved to a new area. I have great girlfriends,
but they're not living in this area. So it's actually
a weird transition with me, like where I think I'm
(22:40):
like you too, like I have to be busy.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
I don't want to be. It just comes to me.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
I say yes to pretty much everything. I mean, I
think I'm a yes person. I'm a people pleaser, but
I also like what I do. I like to stay
very busy, and so it's actually really hard for me
sometimes because I'll have a day off and then I'll
have sort of a free plan because I'm used to
go and work right patients and doing things, so like
it gets a little bit like, oh my gosh, what
am I doing with my life?
Speaker 3 (23:06):
But I'm busy. But I'm also I understand.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
I'm like, ah, okay, so it's different my therapist today,
but no, I like this, but it's different because I
don't want anything on my calendar, and my entire life
is about the opposite. I'm not a people person, and
it's about pushing it off. But because I have endless ideas,
as the CMO of Beam Global once said, You're an
idea hamster, it seeps in. I don't want it. It's
(23:29):
like an addiction to me. It's different. It's like fuck
for me. I don't want it, and I don't want
to be busy, and I want to be like walking
on the beach and wandering, and I want the data
just dissolve into nothing. That's literally an analogy to my
entire career right now. I didn't want any of this,
But it's not like I don't like it. It's just
like I'm constantly saying no. Like the whole move is,
I'm never going back to this life in this house again,
(23:50):
where it was busy and the stuff and everyone's sending me.
You'd think I was a crazy person because I've told
my entire staff, do not accept one thing.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
I don't want it.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
I mean literally diamonds and cars and coffee. I'm like,
I don't want it because I want to preserve my peace.
But I relate to what you're saying, because even with
the depth of busy that I have and the depth
of demand, I still feel like, what is this all?
Speaker 3 (24:12):
What does this even mean?
Speaker 1 (24:13):
And even if you're busy, it's just not it's just
distracting from thinking about what this all is. And that's
the core thing that I actually got to call my
therapist back and talk about, because that's the core thing
you're going through. And I could say something stupid to you,
like you should take up meditating, and then you're like,
why don't you fuck off? Because you should take up
meditating just as much as I should. So the whole
thing I think is about us at this age because
(24:34):
you know we're older, you know the health is different,
you know the kids are older. You're thinking you're not
like dreading death, but you know that you don't have
that many years to look this good.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
It's kind of like, yes, you look good.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
And you could just say, Okay, I'm gonna be retired
now because what's the point of all this because life
is short? But like them, what are you gonna do?
Sit and just look at a sunset for two hours?
So you're doing what I'm doing, which is.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Not the same way, but it's a stage you're just
trying to figure yourself out now in this new sort
of era of your life, and there's a lot of
other things that are going on. And it's such a
weird stage because when you have kids, it's sort of
like you're focused around them. Now you have this thing
where you're like, it's me and I got to figure
out what I need to do to be happy, because yeah,
(25:18):
you're thinking about the end of your life.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
You still have many years.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
I know, but you're understand how lucky you are, not
because of being privileged, you know, and having money, but
because you have a thing. And this is connected to
what I say on this podcast all the time. Many
women our age because I've met all the men that
are divorced from them, have lost custody of their children.
They're drinking, they're taking pills because they.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
Are where we are.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
They don't even have the career to cling on to
because you can't go shopping in a circular reference or
sewing costumes is over if your kids get older. So like,
pretend you don't have money, you don't sew costumes, you
haven't built a career. Your husband could have had his
own mid life crisis glove up. A lot of these
guys are working out in their garage and they've got
stuff going on. They're playing golf, and you feel like, wait,
(26:05):
I'm left behind. So we are very lucky to even
have a thing to cling to. And it's why I
try to tell young women, you cannot see the whole board.
Why don't you just get the bag and get married.
This is a long road and if you do not
cultivate something, you're going to feel like you don't have purpose.
Because I often feel like and that's ridiculous. It's ridiculous
with the things that I'm going on that I would
(26:26):
think that. So that's what the podcast is for the
social media too. I always feel like, just naturally have
an inclination to talk to younger women about the mistakes
that they could be making in a way that they
could actually digest. Because I didn't have any parenting.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
I think that's really important because I don't think there
are many voices that are our age that are talking
to young people about that. I've never had a therapist,
and I probably should, but I did never have, and
I feel like a lot of times my patients have
sort of been little therapist here and there. It's like
literally you're talking to somebody at the grocery store and
the person turns around and you have to talk to them.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Yes, that's how I feel like when I.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Deal with my patients, because you've talked a round them,
people that you may never talk to in your life,
and you learn so much from them.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
That's great. That, by the way, that's like a book. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
But also you're like me and that you're a crowdsourcer
and then you make your own decision. You crowdsource, and
but you're on the stove making the recipe. Ultimately, Like
I'm a big crowdsourcer. I don't listen to what anyone
tells me to do, but I love to hear other
people's perspectives to mold my own way to do it.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
But I think one of my problems is I have
a hard time delegating. I will end up trying to
do it mysef horrible. I do that too, But no,
that's horrible. It's very hard though. How do you do that?
How do you let it go to somebody else?
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Because you have to find your one Huna Huma Abidin
or Cheryl Samberg to your right that I found that,
and you have to find that person who they understand
your body and they're in it with you the whole way.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
I have that at work, like you know, as a physician,
as a dermatologist, but I don't think I have that
in this other sort of a career that sort of happened.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
You know, you have to find that. You have to
find that. It's not an assistant. You have to find that.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
You have to find that, and you have to pay
them because it's gonna be expensive, it's gonna hurt, it's
gonna make a lot of money. So it's funny because
Tanks came on and she said this was therapy. So
I guess I guess I should have been a therapist
in another life for myself too, though it was therapy
for me too, So fine, I.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Have no idea.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Oh that's it is really like I would have never
thought that this conversation goes this way.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
You know that is that is really cool?
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Well, all right, so your show is Doctor Pimple Popper
breaking Out. I feel like we covered like a lot. Yeah,
it's on Lifetime. I moved love Lifetime.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
I did a Lifetime show. I love Lifetime.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Mondays at nine and we have we just made twenty
episodes and so that's like three patients per episode, and
they're big cases wow craziness. And you know, we'll see
what happens. We'll see if there's another season and there'll
be another another twenty or so, we'll see what happens there.
But it's very exciting, really proud of it. It really
is an amazing show because it's the opposite of other
(28:58):
reality shows.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
I say this all the time.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Reality shows like Real Housewives, they're dealing with people who
are normal who are trying.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
To be crazy. I mean, first of all, okay, maybe
they're not always normal.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
We can unpop that on a later episode, yes, but
I think like for me, it's like the crazy. It's
sort of walking in and you're trying to make them
everything put back in place and be normal.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
So it's like the opposite almost. Yeah, I understand that
the upside down.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Yes, it starts with the thing that's atypical and gets
to hopefully some version of normal and this other thing
like like it is.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Like a roller coaster and it like ratchets up.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
I don't think I could ever do The Real Housewives
myself because I don't. I would feel again, like I said,
like I'm a physician, like I would be really stressed
about being crazy at some point, you know, or something
like that.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
It's not for you. Yeah, it's not for me. So
I think this has been perfect. Well, well, it's so
nice to meet you and talk to you so interesting.
It's really nice to meet you.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
I hope I can be out there in the Hamptons
or something or my something like that will see well, yes,
I'm moving and I'm in the Hampton and this is
our new era.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
You and I. We'll see how we both land.
Host
Bethenny Frankel
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