May 9, 2025 • 53 mins
What happens when rejection becomes the catalyst for something extraordinary? In this revealing episode of All Things Skin, the tables are turned as Dr. Missy Clifton shares her remarkable journey from being fired from her first dermatology position to founding Premier Dermatology—now a cornerstone of innovative skincare in Northwest Arkansas. With raw honesty, Dr. Clifton reveals the fear and uncertainty she faced when starting her own practice after being told she would fail. "I was absolutely terrified," she admits, describing sleepless nights and the immense pressure of supporting the team who took a chance by following her. This vulnerability transforms into a powerful narrative about perseverance, showcasing how that initial rejection sparked a twenty-year journey of growth and innovation that continues to evolve. The conversation delves deep into the entrepreneurial mindset that drives medical innovation, with Dr. Clifton crediting her business acumen to watching her parents run their own companies. "My mom wanted to build something incredible as her legacy," she explains, contrasting this with her father's more lifestyle-focused approach to business ownership. These dual influences shaped her balanced perspective on building Premier Dermatology while maintaining boundaries that previous generations of entrepreneurs often lacked. Most fascinating is Dr. Clifton's evolution into integrative health and preventative medicine—a path she pursued after experiencing her own health challenges and witnessing gaps in patient care. Her passionate advocacy for looking at the "whole person" rather than just treating symptoms reflects a progressive approach that's transforming how we think about skincare and wellness. "Your skin is a representation of what's going on inside your body," she emphasizes, highlighting the interconnected nature of health that drives her practice philosophy today. Ready to be inspired? Listen now to discover how one doctor's unwillingness to accept limitations created a healthcare legacy that continues to push boundaries and redefine what's possible in dermatology and beyond.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So we did something a little interesting today at the
podcast studio for All ThingsSkin.
We were running late with oneof our guests so our second
guest wasn't able to jump ontoday.
We're going to reschedule that,but we did a little interview
with my pal, Chris Colon fromColumbus Media Group, who is my
(00:21):
social media guy, my guru.
He's like why don't we justchat about you and talk about
your story and how you startedPremier?
So tune in to an episode of AllThings Skin podcast where we
talk about the Missy Cliftonstory.
Would love to have you join us.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Tell me about starting your career in
dermatology.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Well, you know it's a it's a long road to become a
dermatologist.
So you know, it's like fouryears after college for, you
know, med school and then fouryears for residency, so it's a
long road.
So I was really excited toactually be out, you know, have
a job.
You know was recruited toNorthwest Arkansas by a
(01:01):
physician named Dr James Whartongreat dermatologist, super
smart guy.
He had started NorthwestDermatology so I was employed by
Northwest Dermatology for ayear.
That did not really pan out tobe the best plan because he was
at that time he was very muchkind of an old school general
(01:23):
dermatologist.
He really wasn't interested inbeing kind of on the cutting
edge of things, and I think thefirst thing that we had kind of
an argument about was somethingcalled photodynamic therapy,
because at that time it was afairly new treatment for
precancerous lesions, for peoplethat have a lot of precancerous
lesions on the skin.
Instead of just freezing themlike we used to For people that
(01:44):
have a lot of precancerouslesions on the skin, instead of
just freezing them like we usedto, you actually put a medicine
on the skin that gets absorbedby those precancerous lesions
and you put the person under alight and it destroys all of
this.
So it gets rid of thoseprecancerous lesions in bulk.
So it was an amazing treatment,kind of cutting edge, and he
was totally opposed to it.
Didn't feel like there wasenough research, didn't feel
(02:06):
like there was enough research,you know, didn't feel like there
whatever, even though it wasbecoming standard of care.
And it now is standard of care.
So it's real.
That was interesting.
And then I think the straw thatkind of broke the camel's back
between us is that he was not atall interested in doing
aesthetics.
And you know I've been trainedby Suzanne Yee.
I've been trained by Dr SandyJohnson.
You know these are, you know,ladies that are badasses in
(02:32):
their own right, that own theirown amazing dermatology.
And Dr Sandy is in Fort Smith.
She owns her own practice there, she and her husband.
And Suzanne is a plasticsurgeon down in Little Rock,
very well respected for decadesand decades.
So I had learned from thesereally amazing people how to do
aesthetics and I was really goodat it and I loved that.
(02:53):
And I was the first woman inNorthwest Arkansas doing
dermatology at that time andreally I was the only
dermatologist doing anything youknow Botox or filler related.
Some of the plastic surgeonswere kind of dabbling in it at
that point, but fillers werepretty new, botox was pretty new
and I knew that was something Iwanted to do.
So after a year he said youcan't do those things here at
(03:19):
Northwest Dermatology, so youneed, you need to go find an
opportunity somewhere else.
So basically I got fired frommy first job.
That's how that went, which isnot a real fun thing for the
overachiever girl that likes tobe perfect and first in her
class and do all of the thingsright.
So that was a huge ego blow.
(03:40):
And you know there were gosh,let's see.
There was Lindsay, there wasTara, there was Christy, there
was Ashley.
There were five of us that leftPremier Dermatology or, I'm
sorry, northwest Dermatology tocreate Premier Dermatology.
And you know we were.
We were told that we would fail, that you know that I didn't
(04:02):
have any business acumen.
You know that there was no waythat I would be able to you know
pay for their salaries, that Iwould be able to offer insurance
and 401k.
You know I was basically toldthat there was no way that I was
going to succeed.
And my former partner and allof the people that were coming
with me were told that as well.
So you know, you have that kindof negative talk and when
(04:26):
you're first out of school andyou don't have a business degree
and you're so I was literallyterrified, I mean absolutely
terrified.
How old were you?
Oh gosh, let's see.
So I was right out of residency, so that was 1999.
That was the beginning ofresidency.
It was over in 2003, so thiswas the end of this was 2004.
(04:50):
So you were 22, wow, yeah.
So I was a tiny little baby.
No, I wasn't 22.
I was almost 30, yeah, butstill, you know, I was a baby
and I had no idea what I wasdoing.
So, thankfully, I had reallygood people that did go with me
and we did start PremierDermatology and, amazingly, like
(05:14):
I built it and people came.
It was like a really wonderfulthing.
It was a huge thing.
But I remember being thinnerthan I've ever been in my life
because I didn't eat, I didn'tsleep.
You know, I was absolutelyterrified to hang out my own
shingle.
So it was a huge, huge thingwhen I was actually able to pay
(05:35):
the bills and pay for mypeople's salaries and actually
give them 401k and benefits andyou know all of that stuff and
you know all of that stuff.
So fast forward 20 years later,and you know, I don't even
recognize that terrified littlehuman that I was back then.
(05:55):
So, but it's come full circle.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
It's been a big transition, for sure.
When you think about back then,I feel like there's always the
old guard and the new guard andthere's people that are
constantly trying to push and donew things and learn, like you,
and I think there's otherpeople that are very much
opposed to that.
I think for me, the idea isthat they it's a threat.
(06:18):
I built this thing, the old wayof doing things, and you're
you're about to mess with that.
Right, why is?
Why do you think that you'rethe latter?
Why do you think that you'reable to kind of look at things
and go I constantly want to pushand do new things and innovate.
What's?
Why are you more?
Look, I built this beautifulthing over 20 years.
I just want to protect this.
(06:38):
I don't want to grow anywhere.
You just got anothercertification and you're adding
more and more to Premier everysingle day, right.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Why?
Well, I just think that thatmedicine and innovation waits
for no one.
And you know, if you want toprovide the best treatments, the
best services, the best youknow medication offerings, the
best skin care offerings youhave to constantly be educating
yourself.
This industry beyond, probably,you know, there's lots of
(07:10):
industries that are constantlychanging.
You know biotech, whatever, butaesthetics, the world of
aesthetics, is changing everysingle day.
There's a new product, there'sa new service, there's a new
line of skincare.
You know, and if you don't stayon the cutting edge of that,
you're going to get very behindvery, very quickly.
(07:30):
And you know I think you knowthis about me I've always had a
huge chip on my shoulder aboutpeople thinking Arkansas is, you
know, like this little podunkredneck place where nobody has a
brain and you know nobody'sable to do anything.
You know extraordinary and youknow nobody's able to do
anything.
You know extraordinary, yeah,and you know I guess that's one
reason I love being inBentonville, because I'm
surrounded by entrepreneurs likeyou know the legacy of Sam
(07:53):
Walton, you know JB Hunt, youknow the Tyson family.
All of these people, you knowthat have really done
extraordinary and exceptionalthings here in the community and
brought the best of the best toNorthwest Arkansas and I want
to be a part of that.
You know, and the last thing Iwant people to do is say you
know, missy, she was lazy, shegot complacent, you know she
(08:17):
started resting on her laurelsand you know she built this
practice and then she just kindof quit.
And you know, that's just notmy personality.
If there's something new andsomething fantastic that I think
is going to be a huge benefitto my patients, I'm going to do
everything in my power to buythat thing and bring it here,
because I want NorthwestArkansas to be, you know, just
(08:38):
like New York, or you know,dallas or Los Angeles or Miami
or any of these places whereaesthetics are.
You know, king, why not here?
Yeah, why not me?
Speaker 2 (08:49):
You do love your devices.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
I do love my devices more than shoes, more than
purses.
I love buying lasers anddevices and things like that.
What's?
Speaker 2 (09:00):
cool.
I feel like Sam Waldenessentially established the
culture here in NorthwestArkansas.
You probably know more aboutthis than me, but when I moved
here, one of the first things Iwas told is he made it a rule
that if you sell at Walmart, youhave to have a physical
presence here, because he wantedto build this area up.
But what you're finding is theother people in his line of
succession, his kids and hisgrandkids they're doing the same
(09:21):
thing, and I feel like it'sestablished a culture of build
here.
Other people in his line ofsuccession, his kids and his
grandkids they're doing the samething, yep, and I feel like
it's established a culture ofbuild here.
Don't start here and then growelsewhere.
Yep, grow here.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Let's make our home as cool as we can make it.
Yeah, I mean, look at whatAlice has done.
I mean Crystal Bridges Hello,that's in our backyard people
it's the most amazing collectionof American art in the world
and we I mean, we get art fromall over the universe and we're
in Northwest Arkansas, guys.
She's bringing a medical school, like a holistic, integrative
(09:54):
health medical school, toNorthwest Arkansas.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Can you talk about that?
I don't know how much you cansay about that, but can you talk
about it?
I mean, it's awesome.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
I mean, literally, it's awesome.
Alice Walton School of MedicineAwesome, that's crazy that
that's her name.
Did you know that's what it'scalled, awsom?
Yeah, that's cool, it's awesome.
That's awesome Literally.
So I just, you know I'm so Iguess I look up to her so much.
I think what, what she and herfamily have done for this area,
(10:25):
it's just incomparable really.
Everything from mountain bikingto cultural, to restaurants, to
, you know, new hotels, newthings that are moving into the
area, that would not be here,you know, if it wasn't for the
efforts and the incredibleamount of financial resources
they've thrown into ourcommunity and our area.
(10:45):
So, you know, I want to giveback.
You know, I feel like,thankfully, I've been pretty
successful, thanks to all theincredible staff members and
partners that I have.
Thanks, you know, to theamazing patients that trust us
and, you know, want to be a partof what we're doing here.
So I just, I want to leave alegacy of she we're doing here.
So I just, I want to leave alegacy of she.
She left something cool for thecommunity.
(11:07):
She built something here thatwas good for the people of
Northwest Arkansas.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
She built a legacy.
That's the goal.
Yeah, yeah, that's the goal.
When you think about the teamthat left your old dermatology
practice to help you to startpremier, I know Lindsay is one
of them.
Shout out, lindsay Jeffs yes.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Who are the others that?
Speaker 2 (11:25):
came with you the other six.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Okay.
So there was Lindsay Jeffs, whois now my cosmetic practice
manager.
She was a little kid who workedon the front desk and checked
people in and out when shestarted, and then she morphed
herself into a cosmeticcoordinator my very first
cosmetic coordinator.
Lindsay literally knowseverything about my practice,
(11:51):
top to bottom, in and out, andif she ever leaves I'll have a
nervous breakdown because youknow, she just, she just knows
it all.
She's so great and so helpful.
And then my two nurses.
So Christy McClellan and TaraHawley now is her last name.
They had the guts to jump outand come with Dr Clifton.
(12:11):
Tara was with me until just ayear or so ago.
She's now teaching nurses atthe university.
Christy is still with us.
She's my phone nurse.
She's also part time teachingas well, because you know, I
think maybe we had the samedrive.
You know they they want toleave a mark too.
(12:32):
You know they want to leave alegacy in what they're doing,
and so now they've gone back toteach.
So I'm so proud of both of them.
I think that's so cool.
Ashley was another one of ourfront office people.
She was with us for a few yearsand then she started a family,
(12:55):
moved out of the area.
And then we had one other nursethat died tragically from an
overdose.
So that was really the worstthing.
Losing Mary Carol was really areal hard start.
She'd had lots of demons,amazing, and just god rest her
soul.
She, she helped us get started.
She was great, yeah, um, and sothat was that was really the
team.
And then, you know, myex-husband was, you know he had
(13:19):
no business, you know, being myoffice manager, but there was
really nobody else to help meout with that.
And so he, he did that for thefirst year and really was
instrumental in helping me getstarted and getting the location
.
And it was a strip mall on 28thstreet, tiny little place on
28th street in Bentonville, butit worked, you know it.
(13:41):
It was a place to start and wegradually built up to take over
the entire strip mall and atthat point realized that
basically our flow was anightmare trying to get patients
in and out because we weresnaking through three different
buildings trying to geteverything done for that patient
.
So like it's time to build.
So at that point uh, that'swhen we built um, the flagship
(14:04):
location on in fountain plaza.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Now- yeah, when you think back on those times, I
think for me personally there'sa lot of people that are able to
go from.
I shouldn shouldn't say a lot,but there's a decent amount of
people that are able to start abusiness and then build it to a
certain point.
But it's really hard to kind ofscale beyond that, and I also
think it's really hard to findpeople and build people in a
(14:27):
team that's willing to trust youenough to take a big jump like
that.
Yeah, what are the things thatyou did to establish those
relationships with them wherethey said, yeah, I'm willing to
risk my career and leave astable thing to take an
opportunity to start somethingnew with you.
That's really hard to do.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
It was, and I have no idea why they trusted me.
I really don't, I really haveno idea, because it was a wing
and a prayer at that point wereally I had had, you know, both
of my parents own their ownbusiness, you know.
So I have, you know, worked inboth of their places.
I mean, my dad owned a sportinggoods store and my job was to
(15:06):
go and scoop the minnows andweigh the minnows and sell the
minnows.
That was my job at his store.
My mom owns a gift store bridalregistry so and I'm the queen
of, you know, gift wrapping.
So you know, I learned bywatching them, you know, I think
, more than anything, I learnedthat it ain't easy and when
(15:26):
you're the boss, you are thehead toilet paper cleaner,
you're the head sidewalk sweeper, you're, you know, you're the
head everything.
When you first get started insomething like this, and if you
think that you're too good to doany job at that practice, then
you're probably not going to besuccessful.
And I think, hopefully, I thinkthat the people that came with
(15:49):
me knew that it was a teamapproach and that I needed them
just as bad as they needed meand that, you know, none of us
wanted to fail and I think thatthe kind of the negative words
that were thrown at us were likefuel to that fire and it was
almost like we'll show you, you,son of a gun, son of a P.
(16:11):
Yeah, we'll show you, and Ithink we did.
And you know, I'm an an onlychild, I think you know this my
mother is I call her mynon-asian tiger mother because
she's always really expected meto be, you know, number one at
everything.
You know she was the one thatwould get extra work from me,
from my teachers, you know, inhigh school, and I needed to do
(16:32):
extra work just to stay ahead onthe weekends, and you know she
would read my notes into the oldschool tape recorder, yeah, and
play the notes while I wastrying to sleep, because she
thought that that was going to,you know, go into my brain.
So I don't, I don't know thatthat worked, but you know, yeah,
so I've always been sort of,you know, had that drive of
(16:55):
you're not going to, you're notgoing to fail.
It's not an option.
You know, first of all I'd haveto tell my mom I failed and
that would be the worst thingever.
Yeah, yeah, that'd be prettybad.
Nobody wants to upset Mimi andshe's like you're going to
listen to this tape again.
Again, we're going to, we'regoing to rewind and go again.
So I think it was ingrained inme that failure is not an option
(17:17):
and that if you're going to dosomething, you know you're not
going to half ass it, you'regoing to, you're going to put go
all in for it.
And I think the team that camewith me knew that mentality and
I think we just were able to besuccessful because we knew we
were in it together and weweren't going to let it fail.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Yeah, but do you think that your parents being
like that had a bigger impact,or them being entrepreneurs and
passing you down their lessonshad a bigger impact on you?
Speaker 1 (17:45):
I think a little bit of both.
My mom and dad were verydifferent entrepreneurs.
My mom was much more driven tobe, you know, number one.
Her store is probably one ofthe coolest gift shops you'll
ever walk into still to this day.
I mean, she's 80 years old andshe's on Instagram doing her
little.
You know stories about thedifferent things in her store.
(18:08):
I mean, she's just a she's aforce to be reckoned with and
you know she wanted to to buildsomething incredible.
That was her legacy.
She wanted to.
You know she wanted to to buildsomething incredible.
That was her legacy.
She wanted to, you know, makeenough money.
She started out as a teacher.
She realized she very quicklycould not live the lifestyle she
wanted for herself or herfamily on a teacher salary and
(18:28):
so she started Malin's gift shopwith my grandmother Mildred and
Lynn Malin's gift shop.
Malin's gift shop with mygrandmother Mildred and Lynn
Malin's gift shop.
And she, you know she workedseven days a week sometimes and
would go up in the middle of thenight.
She would pick me up, take meup to the store in the middle of
the night because back then shewas doing mats and frames for
(18:48):
pictures and she would do all ofthat at three or four in the
morning and I would sleep in therecliner at her store.
So you know I learned what hardwork looked like.
I learned that from early and Ilearned that you're you know if
you're going to do it right,you're, you will make whatever
sacrifice you have to make to dothat.
And you know that was her, herdrive.
(19:08):
My dad, you know, startedmurphy's sporting goods because
he likes to hunt and fish.
So it's like you know, I'mbasically just going to make my
hobby my job.
And you know that was freakingbrilliant and you know he loved
it.
And when he just when he wantedto go fishing, he turned the
sign over and said gone fishing.
And you know, so his reason forbeing an entrepreneur was so
(19:33):
that he could live the lifestylehe wanted to live and go
fishing whenever the hell hewanted to.
My mother's, you know,motivation was totally different
, but I think I'm a very goodblend between the two of those,
you know, because I don't workseven days a week, you know, I
don't work on weekends.
I think my life is a lot morebalanced, probably than my mom's
(19:55):
life is.
And you know friends and youknow social things are very
important to me, never been thatimportant to my mom.
That was very important to mydad.
So I think I'm a real good mixbetween the two of them.
And yeah, I mean, theexpectation was always there.
I knew that if I failed, thatwas not really an option.
(20:16):
But I think you're right.
I think it's their example andthe way that they worked and why
they did the things they did.
That sort of morphed me intothe kind of business person I am
today.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Yeah, a lot of people don't think about how important
that is.
Like your daughter's in theprocess of starting her own
business, yeah, so proud of herand the lessons that your
parents taught you.
you're now able to both passthat down, but also include the
lessons that you've learned.
Yeah, and pass that down to hertoo.
(20:50):
Oh, yeah, and it's.
You know.
I think you hear a lot ofpeople talk about generational
trauma, but I think it goes theother way too.
It's like you get to take allof the good things that your mom
has learned and that her momhas learned and that her mom has
learned.
So maybe your journey is alittle bit easier as you start
your stuff, because you don'thave to make the same mistakes.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Yeah, and you know, allie's entrepreneurial approach
is very different than mine.
How so?
You know, she knows, right nowthat her, you know, being a mom
is that's definitely going to,that's her thing.
She has, that's all.
She's always wanted to be a mom.
And I don't, I don't thinkshe'll work when she has
(21:29):
children.
You know, I think she willactually take time off and I
think she will.
You know, she'll do thingsdifferently than I did.
You know I got pregnant withAllie in residency and I had
zero choice.
I had five weeks to take offand that's it.
So you know, and you know, whenyou're in residency it's not
(21:51):
like you can say, hey guys,sorry, I'm just going to skip
out and have this baby, thatthat that doesn't work.
So yeah, you know I didn't havethat long time home with them
and you know they went todaycare.
You know, early, young thetwins, you know, when they came
along I was so panicked that,you know, I hired one of my
(22:12):
nurses to be my nanny because Iwas like I can't find anybody,
I'm not sending these two todaycare, I can't.
You know, we'll be sick all thetime.
And so, you know, my approachwas always I have to build this
business because my family's notgoing to be financially OK.
If I don't, you know I was, Iam probably forever will be the
(22:34):
breadwinner, and that was a lotof pressure.
And I think you know Ali Ali'sgoing to marry a guy that's
going to be very successfulfinancially.
I mean we love Dakota, he's gota drive, he's got a great job
and I mean I think their theirgoal is for her to be home with
children, and so it's just she'sgoing to have a, she's going to
(22:56):
have a different outlook on,you know, being the boss, and I
think she'll, she'll build thisup and she'll franchise it and
she'll have it as a well-oiledmachine that she can just kind
of run from the periphery and Ithink that'll make her very,
very happy and then she can bein it as much as she wants to be
in it and kind of away from itas much as she wants to be away
(23:16):
from it.
And that was just never.
It was like it's this is thispremier dermatology and
aesthetics thing is just notgoing to go unless I put all of
myself into it, and so that'sprobably the biggest regret I
have is that I didn't have thetime, you know, to stay home and
to be with the kids, like I,you know, potentially could have
(23:38):
.
But you know they've learnedfrom the good stuff I've done.
They've learned from the not sogreat stuff.
I've done so.
And I think any parent out there, you know that thinks that your
kids are only going to learnfrom the good stuff and that's
what they'll remember.
I mean, I don't know thatthat's really what you want.
You want them to know thatyou're human and that you made
(23:58):
choices that maybe you shouldn'thave made and made mistakes and
you learn from them and itmakes you better.
And so I don't know, I just Idon't think she's as.
I don't think she's as scaredas I was and I don't think she
feels the absolute urgency thatit has to be.
It's got to work, it has to bethe most successful thing in the
(24:20):
planet.
You know she, she wants, it'sgoing to work and she's going to
do amazingly well.
But I think her focus is just alot more balanced, probably,
than mine was.
I'm very proud of that.
I think that's a good thing.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
That's amazing.
I'm curious when you say regretlike what.
What do you regret?
Like, if you could go back andredo the premier journey, what
would you?
What would you change?
Speaker 1 (24:44):
You know, I think I probably would have earlier on.
You know, tried to make my,make my days a little shorter,
maybe not work quite as much onthe on the nights and the
weekends, you know, try to makemy, make my days a little
shorter, maybe not work quite asmuch on the on the nights and
the weekends, you know, onthings.
But in retrospect you know mykids are uber self-sufficient
(25:05):
and they're really they've gottheir act together.
I mean, they all know how to dotheir own laundry.
They all know how to makethemselves something to eat
laundry.
They all know how to makethemselves something to eat.
You know, they all know how todo stuff that a lot of kids this
day and age don't have a cluehow to do because they had that
mom that was home just doingeverything for them.
So you know in the same breaththat I regret not having a ton
(25:30):
of time just being home withthem.
I also don't regret it becauseI think I've made them a lot
stronger, you know, and moreself-sufficient humans, because
I wasn't there.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
But there's always the mommy guilt.
Mommy guilt is a thing that Idon't care what mom, who you are
, whether you stay at home,whether you work outside the
home, you're going to be guiltyof something.
You're going to feel like youdidn't do something right
Because you can't be perfectyeah, can't.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
What's interesting to me, though, is that I don't
think a lot of my friends that Italk to about business.
They will say stuff like you'rereally lucky, like you have
freedom and you control yourtime and like you can do what
you want, but the reality is youjust work significantly longer
and harder and you can't everreally turn it off, and it's.
I think it's easy to say likein retrospect I wish I could go
(26:23):
back and change some things, butthere's a piece of me that
believes you kind of have to.
You got to give everything ifyou want to be as successful as
you are, and I think peopledon't understand how much you
have to really give up andsacrifice.
You know you lose friends, youlose touch with family.
You don't get to go to weddingsor events because there's stuff
that's happening.
(26:43):
I think it's very easy forpeople to look at you now and go
well, she's lucky.
It's like bitch, I ain't lucky.
Like I worked really hard, Igave up a lot.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Yeah, I think there's this quote.
I can't remember who said it,but luck is where, preparation
and what is it when?
Speaker 2 (27:03):
preparation meets opportunity.
Yeah, they all.
Everybody gives that quote toWinston Churchill, but I think
it's called like the Churchillparadox or something where
everybody gives every quote toWinston Churchill.
I don't know who said it, but Ido like that quote a lot.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Well, it's true, because you know opportunity is
one thing and you know peoplesay, well, oh, you've been so
lucky.
Yeah, well, you know, ok, yeah,I'm lucky, but I absolutely
studied my ever loving backsideoff.
You know I had to be first inmy class in college to get into
(27:37):
med school, had to be first inmedical school, you know, to get
into dermatology residency, youknow, it's not like it just
doesn't fall in your lap, youknow.
And then when you get, when youget to that point you're like
golly, if, especially if, I'mgoing to start my own company.
That point you're like golly,especially if I'm going to start
(27:57):
my own company.
It's not just about me now.
Now, it's about all of thesepeople.
Every nurse, every front officeperson, every back office
person, every manager isdepending on me to make it fly.
And yes, they have to do theirpart and yes, it's a team effort
, 100 percent.
And you know, everybody'sreplaceable for sure, and I
realize that I am replaceable.
(28:19):
But when you're the, when you'rethe one where literally the
buck stops, you know you have tomake a lot of decisions and you
have to make decisions that youhate, you know.
And sometimes you look at thenumbers and you realize that
you've got to let some peoplethat have been with you for a
very long time, that you love aspeople.
(28:39):
You got to let them go becausethey're not bringing in you know
the revenue that they need tobring in to cover their salary
and to cover you know what'shappening, because if I let
those loss leaders go, then Ican't afford insurance and 401k
for everybody else.
Then I can't, you know,continue to do all the things in
(29:00):
the community that we want todo, and so letting people go is
really, really hard.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Yeah, I can't even imagine, especially people that
have been with you for a longtime.
Yeah, it's awful.
It's awful.
It's like you said, though,it's it's business and
unfortunately, you know,sometimes you got to do those
things that you don't like to do.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
Well, and you know, being responsible in a in a
business standpoint and beingresponsible to people and
socially is that's a hardbalance.
You know, I recently had to letgo of two estheticians that are
wonderful people, I absolutelylove and adore them, um, but you
(29:42):
know, there just wasn't thevolume there and you know it
just, it was just one of thosethings that you, you can't.
You can't make certain thingshappen for certain people unless
they have the drive to makethose happen for themselves too.
Yeah, and that's really hard.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
There's a pressure I think that people don't
understand when you were talkingabout like these people rely on
you.
There's a pressure that I don'tthink most people get when it's
like if you do something riskyand it fails, it's just you.
When it's like if you dosomething risky and it fails,
it's just you.
But when three, four, five, sixpeople go, I believe in you and
(30:21):
I believe in your vision andI'm willing to get on this plane
with you as you're trying toput parts on the plane while
it's moving.
There's a different level ofpressure and sleeplessness.
I think that comes from thatBecause, like you said, if it
fails now, seven people are nowaffected, not just me At the
beginning, when you were working, I'm assuming, seven days a
week, a hundred hours a week.
How do you manage that andbalance that?
(30:44):
What are the best practicesthat you've found over the years
that can help you to kind ofcalm your anxiety down a little
bit, calm the stress down alittle bit?
I think writing everything down.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
Um, you know one of the stress down a little bit, I
think, writing everything down.
You know, one of the thingsthat my mother taught me is plan
your work and then work yourplan.
And that's probably the mostprofound piece of just practical
advice anybody's ever given me.
Because you can.
You can dream about things.
You can think, oh, I want to gothis way with the practice, or
(31:14):
I want to go that way, but ifyou don't really write it down
and say this is the goal that Iwant to have and this is when I
want to reach it and this is howI'm going to reach it, then
it's just a dream, you know,it's not really a goal unless
you're really willing to put inthe work to get to that goal and
(31:34):
the time to make it happen.
And that's why I got this, youknow.
Second, board certification inlaser surgery.
You know, because I didn't wantus to be, you know, not
offering the best and the mostsafe and the most, you know,
cautious treatments that wecould.
That's why, when this wellnessthing, you know, really hit my
(31:57):
heart, I decided to actually getboard certified in anti-aging
and integrative health insteadof just, you know, halfway doing
it like most of the people outthere are.
You know, I wanted to make sureI was legit and that I'm doing
it right.
So I just feel like I have toconstantly stay educated and
constantly stay on top of things.
And it is because I have thisdeep seated thought is that I
(32:21):
don't, I don't want it to failand I want, you know, my staff
members to know that they'regoing to have a safe place to
come in and go to work andthey're going to get paid and
everything's going to be fine.
Even still after 20 years, youstill feel that I worry about it
all the time.
I worry about it all the time.
That never goes away.
Never goes away, and every year, as insurance gets more and
(32:41):
more expensive, it's just likeokay, so how do we cut costs?
How do we?
You know, and that's the otherthing you know you look at the
things that are making money inthe practice and the things that
aren't.
And to be a responsiblebusiness person, you got to make
really crappy decisionssometimes.
And you know, man, I boughtdevices that were stupid and
(33:04):
didn't work, didn't do what theysaid they were going to do, so
we just sold them you know, I'dlove to ask you which devices,
but we don't need to put them onblast.
I really hate to slam on somepeople, but I could.
There's some devices out therethat I could slam on because
they are a bunch of snake oil.
But at any rate, I kind ofdigressed there.
I don't know what we're talkingabout now.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
That's all right.
So you start the flagship placein Bentonville, you get the
second board certification theteam is now scaled to what
you're at today and you get yourthird board certification
recently in anti-aging andintegrative health.
Where did you first hear aboutthat and then you've talked
(33:48):
about?
It was Allie, but where?
How did that first come on yourradar?
And then, at what point?
Were you like man?
I really need to dive deep intothis.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
Yeah, I mean, I think it was that was a personal
thing.
You know, when I started goingthrough menopause and having,
you know, this weight gain andthis energy loss, this brain fog
and horrible night sweats, andyou know, just feeling like
death, and you know horriblenight sweats, and you know, just
feeling like death, and, youknow, started doing the research
(34:20):
and you know, allie at thatpoint was, you know, deep into
her master's in biochemistry andshe's nerding out, you know, on
all things nutrition, which isjust her huge, her passion.
And so I started, you know,looking into things like that.
What can I do from a nutritionstandpoint, what can I do from a
health and wellness standpoint?
And it just it seemed soglaring to me that a lot of the
(34:44):
doctors in the region were notkeeping up with.
You know, what's the cuttingedge in bioidentical?
You know, hormone replacementtherapy.
A lot of doctors are stillproviding or still writing
synthetic estrogens andsynthetic progesterones which
have actually been linked tocancer and linked to causing,
you know, other other issuesdown the road, whereas the
(35:06):
bioidentical hormones were justnot really much of an option.
I wasn't seeing a lot of thataround here, and then I was
seeing tons of patients comingin on the GLP-1s.
You know losing lots and lots ofweight so so quickly, losing
tons of muscle mass, losing thestructure of their skin or their
face and their body, and youknow just not doing it healthy
(35:27):
and not doing it well.
And I'm like you know this is athis is a thing.
Everybody you know that's doingthis needs to be making sure
they're keeping their nutrition.
And you know, doing theirexercises appropriately so
they're not losing muscle mass.
And you know losing the weightslow enough and building
collagen in other ways withtreatments.
(35:47):
And you know collagen oralcollagen, optimal human you know
all of the things to help yourbody stay healthy.
And so I just saw that there wasnobody doing all of it and
nobody making a holisticapproach to the whole person.
You know some people arethrowing them the weight loss
medication and just seeing themevery few minutes.
(36:08):
And you know there were somedoctors around that were putting
pellets in people and nevereven checking their labs again.
You know I mean I saw men thatwere coming in with their
hemoglobin and hematocrit atdangerous like stroke level high
because they've been on suchmassive doses of testosterone
that their body was making waytoo many red blood cells and it
(36:29):
was dangerous.
You know, I'm seeing women thatare that are given synthetic
estrogen instead of givingbioidentical hormones, and I
just thought we got to get theword out first of all that there
are options out there and thereare safe options out there, and
there's a right way to do thisand a wrong way to do this stuff
.
And it's kind of the wild wildwest and I just wanted to be the
(36:51):
voice of reason and I didn'twant my colleagues to say why is
a dermatologist, why do youhave the right to do that?
So that's why I got the boardcertification, because I wanted
to be able to say well, I wantedto do this right for myself and
for my patients, and so I'm adermatologist, but now I'm also
a wellness and integrativehealth specialist.
So yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
So that's what's super cool is there seems to be
a push to preventative medicine,which I know we've talked a lot
about.
But instead of waiting forsomething to happen and then
we'll see how we can do what wecan do, right, there seems to be
a big push online.
I don't know if it's really hitthe healthcare industry is
heavy yet but online with peoplelike Dr Peter Atia and Andrew
(37:37):
Huberman, you kind of are nowlooped into that category of
people that say, well, let'sreally focus on where you're at
now and prevent the things thatcould potentially happen For
somebody that you know.
I think you're going to hear alot of skeptics that say, like,
oh, it's like voodoo, you knownonsense.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
What would you say to those people to say you know,
look, this is why it's importantto focus on preventative stuff,
so that we can avoid all ofthis, right?
Well, it's.
The biggest flaw in all ofmedicine is that, and it's how
all doctors were taught, and soyou can't be hating on your
doctor because they they werenot taught to prevent disease
from happening.
We were in medical school.
That was not even.
It wasn't even a topic ofdiscussion.
What was taught is somebody'sgoing to come in and they're
(38:24):
going to have high bloodpressure.
Somebody's going to come in andthey're going to be obese.
Somebody's going to come in andthey're going to have diabetes.
So you're going to put them ona blood pressure medicine,
you're going to put them on astatin, you're going to put them
on metformin or insulin.
You're going to put them on allthese drugs and then you're
going to follow their labs andsee how they do.
Rather than someone with afamily history of those things
(38:46):
is coming in to see you and youjust say, ok, you look great,
see you later.
You actually talk to them.
Oh well, you have the familyhistory of this.
Maybe.
Maybe you need to be on.
You know something preventative.
Maybe you're a little heavy.
Maybe let's get you on thatGLP-1 now and get you back to
that healthy weight.
You know, maybe you need to beon the right supplements and the
(39:06):
right, you know, probioticsprebiotics to prevent disease,
you know, to prevent thesethings from happening, and so
that's the.
That's the approach that needsto be taken in medicine, but
it's going to take a long timebecause the you know it's going
to take.
It's going to take a total,fundamental switch and how
(39:27):
doctors are educated.
And that's what Alice Walton'sdoing with awesome, and that's
why I think it's so incredible,because she is going to teach
students in that preventativemedicine approach and that's
that's something that has neverbeen taught in a traditional
medical school so alice wallen'sschool of medicine, aka awesome
(39:49):
.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
Is it going to be both preventative and then like
traditional medicine?
Yep.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
I think she's doing a fusion of Eastern thought,
western thought, integrativehealth, traditional medicine.
She's trying to find the bestof all of the realms and bring
that together in a more balancededucational approach for
physicians, and I think it's theway medicine, the only way
(40:14):
medicine can really changewhat's happening in America is
to switch back to thatpreventative profile and stop
the disease before it start, youknow, really starts.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
Vizia tool that will do a full analysis, Like we
filmed the video where we'reshowing here's the results but
then here's how we use thoseresults to build a preventative
plan.
Right, what could you walk methrough with Premier kind of how
(40:45):
you approach this newintegrative?
You know, preventative style ofmedicine for skin care.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
Yeah.
So when people come in nowwe're doing, of course, the
Vizia skin analysis, which shows, you know, where your sun
damage is, you know how healthyor unhealthy basically your skin
is, how hydrated or dehydratedit is.
And then we're doing aquestionnaire.
You know we're not traditionalmedical history.
We want to know what yourfamily history look like.
You know, and right now, what'syour weight like?
(41:21):
You know what's your total.
We measure your muscle mass, wemeasure your fat mass, we
measure your bone density, wemeasure all of these things.
We even do a metabolicassessment, called a PNOE, which
tells you what is yourmetabolic age, what micros and
macros do you need to be takingin?
What kind of you know workouts?
Should you be doing resistancetraining this many times a week,
or cardio this many times aweek?
(41:43):
Or you know, maybe you shouldbe doing Tabata or interval
training, things like that,several times a week?
So it's going to customize thatkind of overall approach to
each and every client and thenwe make customized plans based
on do you need a weight lossmedication?
Do you need a growth hormoneagonist?
(42:04):
Do you need to be onglutathione or NAD because you
have lots of inflammation inyour body?
Do you need to be on thyroidreplacement.
We're looking at the wholeperson, because your skin, of
course, is a representation ofwhat's going on inside your body
.
Your skin's your biggest organ.
If you're not healthy on theinside, you don't have a chance
(42:25):
to look great and your skin, youknow, look fantastic, you know,
on the outside.
So it's a much more holisticapproach and it stems from many,
many years of my patientssaying I just wish you could be
my doctor for everything.
I'm like, well, I can't be yourdoctor for everything, but you
know there are certain thingsthat I can, I can do really,
(42:47):
really well.
And now, with this advanceddegree, I feel like I have the
tools that a lot of physiciansdon't have.
Degree, I feel like I have thetools that a lot of physicians
don't have, and the wellnesspart of it has just become an
absolute passion for me.
It's just, it's been a littlebit of a switch, you know, kind
of a shift away from traditionalmedicine and a little bit of a
shift away from my partners.
(43:08):
You know some of my partnersare much more on the traditional
old school dermatology.
We're going to stay the courseand just do this.
We don't really want theinnovation, we don't really want
to be a part of the wellnessside of things.
We don't really want to do allof that aesthetic and laser
stuff that you're doing.
So there's a little.
There's been a little, you know, a little hiccup with some of
(43:29):
that Sounds familiar.
Uh-huh, there's a little hiccup, but the beautiful thing about
that is that you know practicesevolve over time, people evolve
over time and there's no harm,no foul.
You know they can do reallygood things for the community
with their approach and I can doreally good things for the
community with my approach andwe'll just do it and still be
(43:51):
friends.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
I love it and still be friends.
I love it when you think about,when you say that like the skin
essentially is a representationof like health inside your skin
looks phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (44:02):
Well, thank you, thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (44:04):
What is your routine?
What does Dr Clifton do fromthe time that she wakes up to
the time that she goes to bed?
Speaker 1 (44:10):
Oh gosh, there's lots of steps there, chris.
So I do my optimal human, whichis my greens and my prebiotic
probiotic powder.
I mix that with a proteinpowder from Momentous every
morning.
That my daughter has got meturned on to that I love.
I add my fiber to that All inone shake, uh-huh.
(44:32):
I add my collagen to that.
I add colostrum to that forimmunity support.
It's a thick shake, it is, so Iusually put some fruit and some
water you know things like thatin it, and so it tastes
delicious.
And that's what I do everysingle morning, along with a
(44:53):
handful of supplements that Ibelieve in that I talk about on
the podcast a lot and talk topatients about all day.
I try to work out.
At least four or five times aweek I go to J Street Gym, which
is a hardcore lift weights, youknow, with very serious people
that don't do anything, but theygo and they lift weights.
(45:14):
I mean, it's a serious thing atJ Street.
Nobody's socializing, nobody'schatting you up.
You get in, you lift theweights, you get the heck out.
So I do that a couple of timesa week with my boyfriend, who is
probably the most fit human onthe planet.
It's very, very fit.
He's jacked, he's jacked.
(45:37):
So.
And then I love Pilates.
So I do Pilates a few times aweek.
I'm a big fan of red lighttherapy, so I stand in front of
my red light wall at least threeor four times a week.
I do a red light helmet forhair growth.
Let's see what else do I do.
I love saunas.
We're actually buying aninfrared sauna with red light
therapy for premier.
That has seven differentsettings for anti-aging and you
(46:00):
know different things that youcan literally pick your program.
So that's going to be a bigpart of our wellness initiative.
So you'll have to, you'll haveto try that out when you're in
doing some some filming with us.
Chris, you have to go in thesauna, would love to um, you can
bring your girlfriend.
It's big enough for two.
You guys can sauna together.
I'll ask her.
It could be good for you.
(46:20):
Saunas are hugely good for you.
Drink tons of water.
I try to eat super healthy,although pizza is a huge
weakness for me.
So every now and then I reallysplurge and have some pizza.
What's the move?
Every now and then, I reallysplurge and have some pizza.
What's the move?
Pepperoni Full on pepperoni.
Yeah, I'm a big pepperoni fan.
I love it.
Speaker 2 (46:40):
The infrared sauna.
Can you talk about that?
For a little bit?
I didn't even.
I don't know what that is.
What's the difference between aregular, like traditional heat
sauna and an infrared sauna?
Speaker 1 (46:49):
So it's just the heating mechanism is different
in the sauna, so the infraredactually penetrates deeper into
your skin, stimulates yourmitochondria, which is, you know
, the energy production cell ofyour body.
So very anti-inflammatory, youknow, heat is just soothing to
the body, but the infrared heatin particular is healing and
(47:11):
it's very stimulatory forrecovery.
You know it helps your body ifyou've had a hard workout, if
you've been through a surgery orbeen through a stressful event.
It helps with recovery.
So all of that is just greatfor longevity.
Yeah, big on certainsupplements like TA-65, which
(47:31):
lengthens your telomeres.
I take that every day.
I take Vasconox and ArteriaSylbecause I have that's a mouthful
.
Yeah, these are medications foryour vasculature to stabilize
your endothelial lining of yourblood vessels and to lower your
blood pressure.
So I take that every day,trying to.
(47:52):
You know what else do I take,gosh?
So many things?
Oh, I take my Nutrafol, ofcourse.
What else do I take Gosh somany things?
Oh, I take my Nutrafol, ofcourse.
For my hair, yeah, just allkinds of things I take.
Speaker 2 (48:01):
How important do you think supplementation is like to
a daily regimen, like I think alot of people just think you
can take a one-a-day pill andthat's perfectly fine.
Yeah, I think.
Speaker 1 (48:21):
The most fit people in the world.
They don't just take a one aday.
Yeah, a lot, of, a lot ofpeople are taking, you know, a
lot more longevity type typesupplements these days, and
there's just so much you can'tget from diet alone.
If you, you know, if youliterally grew your own farm and
sat around juicing and you knowcanning and all the things all
day, you know you might be ableto do it.
You know, go out and kill yourown chickens and harvest your
own eggs and all of those things.
(48:41):
But most of us ain't got notime for that.
So what I do is, you know, justtry to put it all into into a
shake.
I love a big shake in themorning because I feel like that
gets my day started and Iliterally have to schedule my
workouts or they won't get done.
You know it has to be on mycalendar, just like a meeting
with you to do social media.
(49:02):
That meeting at the gym has tohappen.
So those are some of the thingsI do.
Speaker 2 (49:10):
I do want to talk a little bit about your charity
work.
We went and shot at AppleseedsFarm in Fayetteville.
Yeah, how did you findAppleseeds Farm?
Why do you enjoy working withthem?
Speaker 1 (49:24):
My really good friend Savin, who's in my book club.
I also have a book club andbunco group for my mental health
because my girls are awesome.
They keep me grounded.
Speaker 2 (49:34):
Shout out to my bunco group.
Speaker 1 (49:35):
Yeah, shout out to my bunco group in my book club.
But so then she knew aboutapple seeds.
And you know, arkansas.
You know I have a huge issuewith Arkansas.
You know want it to be the bestof the best, and Arkansas is
number I think it's number twoin the United States for food
(49:56):
insecurity.
So a lot of our kids don't haveaccess to healthy food.
Some of them don't even haveaccess to food at all.
And I just think, you know,especially in such a wealthy,
the affluent looking community,it's hard to believe that there
are that many people, especiallythat many children, that may
not have a meal, you know,through the weekend they may go
(50:19):
home and go to bed hungry and Ijust I think that's tragic.
You know, I know a lot ofpeople.
You know they have a drive togo overseas and, you know, do
mission work and this, that andthe other.
But to me, if you don't startyour own community and you don't
try to fix what's around you,you know the rest of the world
is not going to get much bettereither.
(50:40):
So I think if we can focus onthe things that we see that we
can have an impact on locally,you know, hopefully that's going
to build and make an impactglobally too.
Speaker 2 (50:49):
Yeah, I think we've.
We've obviously covered a lot.
I wanted I thought this wouldbe really cool to kind of have a
conversation with you aboutyour journey and your life.
Is there anything that we didnot hit on that you think would
be important to talk about?
Because I do think now there'sa lot of people that are
watching you and a lot of peoplethat are following your journey
(51:09):
.
And I know for me, like beforeI started my business, there was
a lot of people that I followedthat it's like well, if they
can do it, then then I can do it.
And that person is like me.
And you know, you don't reallysee a lot of women business
leaders getting pushed in medianow and I think social media has
(51:31):
allowed it where you can findthem a lot easier.
And you have people like SarahBlakely, who started Spanx.
You have people like LaylaHormozy that's doing
Acquisitioncom, and now you haveDr Missy Clifton.
Speaker 1 (51:39):
Well, thank you for putting me in the ranks of those
ladies.
That's very kind, of course,that's very kind.
Speaker 2 (51:47):
What's the message that you would give to those
people?
The high school girl or thecollege girl that goes?
Speaker 1 (51:50):
I want to do that.
I want to do and realize thatyou're a part of a community and
(52:12):
that you're serving thatcommunity and anything that you
can do, you know, to getyourself out there and give back
to the community and show thatyou want your business to be,
you know, not just a moneymakerfor you, but something that is a
service and something that is apart of a growing or thriving
community.
You know, I think as long asyou keep that perspective, you
(52:34):
will be successful.
As long as you know you have towork.
You know it's not easy and youknow you can't just start
something and then not show upto it and not keep.
You know, working at it everysingle day and not keep looking
at the numbers.
And every month we sit down andI look at the numbers, year over
year, month over month.
Where are we?
(52:54):
What's happening?
What's working, what's working,what's not working.
You know devices get old,Devices need to be upgraded.
We sell them, we look for thenext great thing.
Go to meetings.
You know you just keepeducating yourself and putting
yourself out there.
But then you come back and youget grounded and you stay a part
(53:14):
of the community and you'll befine, Just work.
Plan your work and work yourplan.
Speaker 2 (53:20):
I love it.
Well, thank you for letting meturn the tables on you today.
That was fun and interview you.
Speaker 1 (53:24):
So, guys, thank you so much for tuning in to an
episode of All Things Skin.
We sure appreciate you beingone of our listeners.
Not only do we thank you forlistening, but please continue
to follow us.
Give your our listeners.
Not only do we thank you forlistening, but please continue
to follow us.
Give your reviews on any of thepodcast platforms that you're
listening on, and we can't waitto see you on another episode of
All Things Skin.
So we did something a little interesting today at the
podcast studio for All ThingsSkin.
We were running late with oneof our guests so our second
guest wasn't able to jump ontoday.
We're going to reschedule that,but we did a little interview
with my pal, Chris Colon fromColumbus Media Group, who is my
(00:21):
social media guy, my guru.
He's like why don't we justchat about you and talk about
your story and how you startedPremier?
So tune in to an episode of AllThings Skin podcast where we
talk about the Missy Cliftonstory.
Would love to have you join us.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Tell me about starting your career in
dermatology.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Well, you know it's a it's a long road to become a
dermatologist.
So you know, it's like fouryears after college for, you
know, med school and then fouryears for residency, so it's a
long road.
So I was really excited toactually be out, you know, have
a job.
You know was recruited toNorthwest Arkansas by a
(01:01):
physician named Dr James Whartongreat dermatologist, super
smart guy.
He had started NorthwestDermatology so I was employed by
Northwest Dermatology for ayear.
That did not really pan out tobe the best plan because he was
at that time he was very muchkind of an old school general
(01:23):
dermatologist.
He really wasn't interested inbeing kind of on the cutting
edge of things, and I think thefirst thing that we had kind of
an argument about was somethingcalled photodynamic therapy,
because at that time it was afairly new treatment for
precancerous lesions, for peoplethat have a lot of precancerous
lesions on the skin.
Instead of just freezing themlike we used to For people that
(01:44):
have a lot of precancerouslesions on the skin, instead of
just freezing them like we usedto, you actually put a medicine
on the skin that gets absorbedby those precancerous lesions
and you put the person under alight and it destroys all of
this.
So it gets rid of thoseprecancerous lesions in bulk.
So it was an amazing treatment,kind of cutting edge, and he
was totally opposed to it.
Didn't feel like there wasenough research, didn't feel
(02:06):
like there was enough research,you know, didn't feel like there
whatever, even though it wasbecoming standard of care.
And it now is standard of care.
So it's real.
That was interesting.
And then I think the straw thatkind of broke the camel's back
between us is that he was not atall interested in doing
aesthetics.
And you know I've been trainedby Suzanne Yee.
I've been trained by Dr SandyJohnson.
You know these are, you know,ladies that are badasses in
(02:32):
their own right, that own theirown amazing dermatology.
And Dr Sandy is in Fort Smith.
She owns her own practice there, she and her husband.
And Suzanne is a plasticsurgeon down in Little Rock,
very well respected for decadesand decades.
So I had learned from thesereally amazing people how to do
aesthetics and I was really goodat it and I loved that.
(02:53):
And I was the first woman inNorthwest Arkansas doing
dermatology at that time andreally I was the only
dermatologist doing anything youknow Botox or filler related.
Some of the plastic surgeonswere kind of dabbling in it at
that point, but fillers werepretty new, botox was pretty new
and I knew that was something Iwanted to do.
So after a year he said youcan't do those things here at
(03:19):
Northwest Dermatology, so youneed, you need to go find an
opportunity somewhere else.
So basically I got fired frommy first job.
That's how that went, which isnot a real fun thing for the
overachiever girl that likes tobe perfect and first in her
class and do all of the thingsright.
So that was a huge ego blow.
(03:40):
And you know there were gosh,let's see.
There was Lindsay, there wasTara, there was Christy, there
was Ashley.
There were five of us that leftPremier Dermatology or, I'm
sorry, northwest Dermatology tocreate Premier Dermatology.
And you know we were.
We were told that we would fail, that you know that I didn't
(04:02):
have any business acumen.
You know that there was no waythat I would be able to you know
pay for their salaries, that Iwould be able to offer insurance
and 401k.
You know I was basically toldthat there was no way that I was
going to succeed.
And my former partner and allof the people that were coming
with me were told that as well.
So you know, you have that kindof negative talk and when
(04:26):
you're first out of school andyou don't have a business degree
and you're so I was literallyterrified, I mean absolutely
terrified.
How old were you?
Oh gosh, let's see.
So I was right out of residency, so that was 1999.
That was the beginning ofresidency.
It was over in 2003, so thiswas the end of this was 2004.
(04:50):
So you were 22, wow, yeah.
So I was a tiny little baby.
No, I wasn't 22.
I was almost 30, yeah, butstill, you know, I was a baby
and I had no idea what I wasdoing.
So, thankfully, I had reallygood people that did go with me
and we did start PremierDermatology and, amazingly, like
(05:14):
I built it and people came.
It was like a really wonderfulthing.
It was a huge thing.
But I remember being thinnerthan I've ever been in my life
because I didn't eat, I didn'tsleep.
You know, I was absolutelyterrified to hang out my own
shingle.
So it was a huge, huge thingwhen I was actually able to pay
(05:35):
the bills and pay for mypeople's salaries and actually
give them 401k and benefits andyou know all of that stuff and
you know all of that stuff.
So fast forward 20 years later,and you know, I don't even
recognize that terrified littlehuman that I was back then.
(05:55):
So, but it's come full circle.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
It's been a big transition, for sure.
When you think about back then,I feel like there's always the
old guard and the new guard andthere's people that are
constantly trying to push and donew things and learn, like you,
and I think there's otherpeople that are very much
opposed to that.
I think for me, the idea isthat they it's a threat.
(06:18):
I built this thing, the old wayof doing things, and you're
you're about to mess with that.
Right, why is?
Why do you think that you'rethe latter?
Why do you think that you'reable to kind of look at things
and go I constantly want to pushand do new things and innovate.
What's?
Why are you more?
Look, I built this beautifulthing over 20 years.
I just want to protect this.
(06:38):
I don't want to grow anywhere.
You just got anothercertification and you're adding
more and more to Premier everysingle day, right.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Why?
Well, I just think that thatmedicine and innovation waits
for no one.
And you know, if you want toprovide the best treatments, the
best services, the best youknow medication offerings, the
best skin care offerings youhave to constantly be educating
yourself.
This industry beyond, probably,you know, there's lots of
(07:10):
industries that are constantlychanging.
You know biotech, whatever, butaesthetics, the world of
aesthetics, is changing everysingle day.
There's a new product, there'sa new service, there's a new
line of skincare.
You know, and if you don't stayon the cutting edge of that,
you're going to get very behindvery, very quickly.
(07:30):
And you know I think you knowthis about me I've always had a
huge chip on my shoulder aboutpeople thinking Arkansas is, you
know, like this little podunkredneck place where nobody has a
brain and you know nobody'sable to do anything.
You know extraordinary and youknow nobody's able to do
anything.
You know extraordinary, yeah,and you know I guess that's one
reason I love being inBentonville, because I'm
surrounded by entrepreneurs likeyou know the legacy of Sam
(07:53):
Walton, you know JB Hunt, youknow the Tyson family.
All of these people, you knowthat have really done
extraordinary and exceptionalthings here in the community and
brought the best of the best toNorthwest Arkansas and I want
to be a part of that.
You know, and the last thing Iwant people to do is say you
know, missy, she was lazy, shegot complacent, you know she
(08:17):
started resting on her laurelsand you know she built this
practice and then she just kindof quit.
And you know, that's just notmy personality.
If there's something new andsomething fantastic that I think
is going to be a huge benefitto my patients, I'm going to do
everything in my power to buythat thing and bring it here,
because I want NorthwestArkansas to be, you know, just
(08:38):
like New York, or you know,dallas or Los Angeles or Miami
or any of these places whereaesthetics are.
You know, king, why not here?
Yeah, why not me?
Speaker 2 (08:49):
You do love your devices.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
I do love my devices more than shoes, more than
purses.
I love buying lasers anddevices and things like that.
What's?
Speaker 2 (09:00):
cool.
I feel like Sam Waldenessentially established the
culture here in NorthwestArkansas.
You probably know more aboutthis than me, but when I moved
here, one of the first things Iwas told is he made it a rule
that if you sell at Walmart, youhave to have a physical
presence here, because he wantedto build this area up.
But what you're finding is theother people in his line of
succession, his kids and hisgrandkids they're doing the same
(09:21):
thing, and I feel like it'sestablished a culture of build
here.
Other people in his line ofsuccession, his kids and his
grandkids they're doing the samething, yep, and I feel like
it's established a culture ofbuild here.
Don't start here and then growelsewhere.
Yep, grow here.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Let's make our home as cool as we can make it.
Yeah, I mean, look at whatAlice has done.
I mean Crystal Bridges Hello,that's in our backyard people
it's the most amazing collectionof American art in the world
and we I mean, we get art fromall over the universe and we're
in Northwest Arkansas, guys.
She's bringing a medical school, like a holistic, integrative
(09:54):
health medical school, toNorthwest Arkansas.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Can you talk about that?
I don't know how much you cansay about that, but can you talk
about it?
I mean, it's awesome.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
I mean, literally, it's awesome.
Alice Walton School of MedicineAwesome, that's crazy that
that's her name.
Did you know that's what it'scalled, awsom?
Yeah, that's cool, it's awesome.
That's awesome Literally.
So I just, you know I'm so Iguess I look up to her so much.
I think what, what she and herfamily have done for this area,
(10:25):
it's just incomparable really.
Everything from mountain bikingto cultural, to restaurants, to
, you know, new hotels, newthings that are moving into the
area, that would not be here,you know, if it wasn't for the
efforts and the incredibleamount of financial resources
they've thrown into ourcommunity and our area.
(10:45):
So, you know, I want to giveback.
You know, I feel like,thankfully, I've been pretty
successful, thanks to all theincredible staff members and
partners that I have.
Thanks, you know, to theamazing patients that trust us
and, you know, want to be a partof what we're doing here.
So I just, I want to leave alegacy of she we're doing here.
So I just, I want to leave alegacy of she.
She left something cool for thecommunity.
(11:07):
She built something here thatwas good for the people of
Northwest Arkansas.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
She built a legacy.
That's the goal.
Yeah, yeah, that's the goal.
When you think about the teamthat left your old dermatology
practice to help you to startpremier, I know Lindsay is one
of them.
Shout out, lindsay Jeffs yes.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Who are the others that?
Speaker 2 (11:25):
came with you the other six.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Okay.
So there was Lindsay Jeffs, whois now my cosmetic practice
manager.
She was a little kid who workedon the front desk and checked
people in and out when shestarted, and then she morphed
herself into a cosmeticcoordinator my very first
cosmetic coordinator.
Lindsay literally knowseverything about my practice,
(11:51):
top to bottom, in and out, andif she ever leaves I'll have a
nervous breakdown because youknow, she just, she just knows
it all.
She's so great and so helpful.
And then my two nurses.
So Christy McClellan and TaraHawley now is her last name.
They had the guts to jump outand come with Dr Clifton.
(12:11):
Tara was with me until just ayear or so ago.
She's now teaching nurses atthe university.
Christy is still with us.
She's my phone nurse.
She's also part time teachingas well, because you know, I
think maybe we had the samedrive.
You know they they want toleave a mark too.
(12:32):
You know they want to leave alegacy in what they're doing,
and so now they've gone back toteach.
So I'm so proud of both of them.
I think that's so cool.
Ashley was another one of ourfront office people.
She was with us for a few yearsand then she started a family,
(12:55):
moved out of the area.
And then we had one other nursethat died tragically from an
overdose.
So that was really the worstthing.
Losing Mary Carol was really areal hard start.
She'd had lots of demons,amazing, and just god rest her
soul.
She, she helped us get started.
She was great, yeah, um, and sothat was that was really the
team.
And then, you know, myex-husband was, you know he had
(13:19):
no business, you know, being myoffice manager, but there was
really nobody else to help meout with that.
And so he, he did that for thefirst year and really was
instrumental in helping me getstarted and getting the location
.
And it was a strip mall on 28thstreet, tiny little place on
28th street in Bentonville, butit worked, you know it.
(13:41):
It was a place to start and wegradually built up to take over
the entire strip mall and atthat point realized that
basically our flow was anightmare trying to get patients
in and out because we weresnaking through three different
buildings trying to geteverything done for that patient
.
So like it's time to build.
So at that point uh, that'swhen we built um, the flagship
(14:04):
location on in fountain plaza.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Now- yeah, when you think back on those times, I
think for me personally there'sa lot of people that are able to
go from.
I shouldn shouldn't say a lot,but there's a decent amount of
people that are able to start abusiness and then build it to a
certain point.
But it's really hard to kind ofscale beyond that, and I also
think it's really hard to findpeople and build people in a
(14:27):
team that's willing to trust youenough to take a big jump like
that.
Yeah, what are the things thatyou did to establish those
relationships with them wherethey said, yeah, I'm willing to
risk my career and leave astable thing to take an
opportunity to start somethingnew with you.
That's really hard to do.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
It was, and I have no idea why they trusted me.
I really don't, I really haveno idea, because it was a wing
and a prayer at that point wereally I had had, you know, both
of my parents own their ownbusiness, you know.
So I have, you know, worked inboth of their places.
I mean, my dad owned a sportinggoods store and my job was to
(15:06):
go and scoop the minnows andweigh the minnows and sell the
minnows.
That was my job at his store.
My mom owns a gift store bridalregistry so and I'm the queen
of, you know, gift wrapping.
So you know, I learned bywatching them, you know, I think
, more than anything, I learnedthat it ain't easy and when
(15:26):
you're the boss, you are thehead toilet paper cleaner,
you're the head sidewalk sweeper, you're, you know, you're the
head everything.
When you first get started insomething like this, and if you
think that you're too good to doany job at that practice, then
you're probably not going to besuccessful.
And I think, hopefully, I thinkthat the people that came with
(15:49):
me knew that it was a teamapproach and that I needed them
just as bad as they needed meand that, you know, none of us
wanted to fail and I think thatthe kind of the negative words
that were thrown at us were likefuel to that fire and it was
almost like we'll show you, you,son of a gun, son of a P.
(16:11):
Yeah, we'll show you, and Ithink we did.
And you know, I'm an an onlychild, I think you know this my
mother is I call her mynon-asian tiger mother because
she's always really expected meto be, you know, number one at
everything.
You know she was the one thatwould get extra work from me,
from my teachers, you know, inhigh school, and I needed to do
(16:32):
extra work just to stay ahead onthe weekends, and you know she
would read my notes into the oldschool tape recorder, yeah, and
play the notes while I wastrying to sleep, because she
thought that that was going to,you know, go into my brain.
So I don't, I don't know thatthat worked, but you know, yeah,
so I've always been sort of,you know, had that drive of
(16:55):
you're not going to, you're notgoing to fail.
It's not an option.
You know, first of all I'd haveto tell my mom I failed and
that would be the worst thingever.
Yeah, yeah, that'd be prettybad.
Nobody wants to upset Mimi andshe's like you're going to
listen to this tape again.
Again, we're going to, we'regoing to rewind and go again.
So I think it was ingrained inme that failure is not an option
(17:17):
and that if you're going to dosomething, you know you're not
going to half ass it, you'regoing to, you're going to put go
all in for it.
And I think the team that camewith me knew that mentality and
I think we just were able to besuccessful because we knew we
were in it together and weweren't going to let it fail.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Yeah, but do you think that your parents being
like that had a bigger impact,or them being entrepreneurs and
passing you down their lessonshad a bigger impact on you?
Speaker 1 (17:45):
I think a little bit of both.
My mom and dad were verydifferent entrepreneurs.
My mom was much more driven tobe, you know, number one.
Her store is probably one ofthe coolest gift shops you'll
ever walk into still to this day.
I mean, she's 80 years old andshe's on Instagram doing her
little.
You know stories about thedifferent things in her store.
(18:08):
I mean, she's just a she's aforce to be reckoned with and
you know she wanted to to buildsomething incredible.
That was her legacy.
She wanted to.
You know she wanted to to buildsomething incredible.
That was her legacy.
She wanted to, you know, makeenough money.
She started out as a teacher.
She realized she very quicklycould not live the lifestyle she
wanted for herself or herfamily on a teacher salary and
(18:28):
so she started Malin's gift shopwith my grandmother Mildred and
Lynn Malin's gift shop.
Malin's gift shop with mygrandmother Mildred and Lynn
Malin's gift shop.
And she, you know she workedseven days a week sometimes and
would go up in the middle of thenight.
She would pick me up, take meup to the store in the middle of
the night because back then shewas doing mats and frames for
(18:48):
pictures and she would do all ofthat at three or four in the
morning and I would sleep in therecliner at her store.
So you know I learned what hardwork looked like.
I learned that from early and Ilearned that you're you know if
you're going to do it right,you're, you will make whatever
sacrifice you have to make to dothat.
And you know that was her, herdrive.
(19:08):
My dad, you know, startedmurphy's sporting goods because
he likes to hunt and fish.
So it's like you know, I'mbasically just going to make my
hobby my job.
And you know that was freakingbrilliant and you know he loved
it.
And when he just when he wantedto go fishing, he turned the
sign over and said gone fishing.
And you know, so his reason forbeing an entrepreneur was so
(19:33):
that he could live the lifestylehe wanted to live and go
fishing whenever the hell hewanted to.
My mother's, you know,motivation was totally different
, but I think I'm a very goodblend between the two of those,
you know, because I don't workseven days a week, you know, I
don't work on weekends.
I think my life is a lot morebalanced, probably than my mom's
(19:55):
life is.
And you know friends and youknow social things are very
important to me, never been thatimportant to my mom.
That was very important to mydad.
So I think I'm a real good mixbetween the two of them.
And yeah, I mean, theexpectation was always there.
I knew that if I failed, thatwas not really an option.
(20:16):
But I think you're right.
I think it's their example andthe way that they worked and why
they did the things they did.
That sort of morphed me intothe kind of business person I am
today.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Yeah, a lot of people don't think about how important
that is.
Like your daughter's in theprocess of starting her own
business, yeah, so proud of herand the lessons that your
parents taught you.
you're now able to both passthat down, but also include the
lessons that you've learned.
Yeah, and pass that down to hertoo.
(20:50):
Oh, yeah, and it's.
You know.
I think you hear a lot ofpeople talk about generational
trauma, but I think it goes theother way too.
It's like you get to take allof the good things that your mom
has learned and that her momhas learned and that her mom has
learned.
So maybe your journey is alittle bit easier as you start
your stuff, because you don'thave to make the same mistakes.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Yeah, and you know, allie's entrepreneurial approach
is very different than mine.
How so?
You know, she knows, right nowthat her, you know, being a mom
is that's definitely going to,that's her thing.
She has, that's all.
She's always wanted to be a mom.
And I don't, I don't thinkshe'll work when she has
(21:29):
children.
You know, I think she willactually take time off and I
think she will.
You know, she'll do thingsdifferently than I did.
You know I got pregnant withAllie in residency and I had
zero choice.
I had five weeks to take offand that's it.
So you know, and you know, whenyou're in residency it's not
(21:51):
like you can say, hey guys,sorry, I'm just going to skip
out and have this baby, thatthat that doesn't work.
So yeah, you know I didn't havethat long time home with them
and you know they went todaycare.
You know, early, young thetwins, you know, when they came
along I was so panicked that,you know, I hired one of my
(22:12):
nurses to be my nanny because Iwas like I can't find anybody,
I'm not sending these two todaycare, I can't.
You know, we'll be sick all thetime.
And so, you know, my approachwas always I have to build this
business because my family's notgoing to be financially OK.
If I don't, you know I was, Iam probably forever will be the
(22:34):
breadwinner, and that was a lotof pressure.
And I think you know Ali Ali'sgoing to marry a guy that's
going to be very successfulfinancially.
I mean we love Dakota, he's gota drive, he's got a great job
and I mean I think their theirgoal is for her to be home with
children, and so it's just she'sgoing to have a, she's going to
(22:56):
have a different outlook on,you know, being the boss, and I
think she'll, she'll build thisup and she'll franchise it and
she'll have it as a well-oiledmachine that she can just kind
of run from the periphery and Ithink that'll make her very,
very happy and then she can bein it as much as she wants to be
in it and kind of away from itas much as she wants to be away
(23:16):
from it.
And that was just never.
It was like it's this is thispremier dermatology and
aesthetics thing is just notgoing to go unless I put all of
myself into it, and so that'sprobably the biggest regret I
have is that I didn't have thetime, you know, to stay home and
to be with the kids, like I,you know, potentially could have
(23:38):
.
But you know they've learnedfrom the good stuff I've done.
They've learned from the not sogreat stuff.
I've done so.
And I think any parent out there, you know that thinks that your
kids are only going to learnfrom the good stuff and that's
what they'll remember.
I mean, I don't know thatthat's really what you want.
You want them to know thatyou're human and that you made
(23:58):
choices that maybe you shouldn'thave made and made mistakes and
you learn from them and itmakes you better.
And so I don't know, I just Idon't think she's as.
I don't think she's as scaredas I was and I don't think she
feels the absolute urgency thatit has to be.
It's got to work, it has to bethe most successful thing in the
(24:20):
planet.
You know she, she wants, it'sgoing to work and she's going to
do amazingly well.
But I think her focus is just alot more balanced, probably,
than mine was.
I'm very proud of that.
I think that's a good thing.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
That's amazing.
I'm curious when you say regretlike what.
What do you regret?
Like, if you could go back andredo the premier journey, what
would you?
What would you change?
Speaker 1 (24:44):
You know, I think I probably would have earlier on.
You know, tried to make my,make my days a little shorter,
maybe not work quite as much onthe on the nights and the
weekends, you know, try to makemy, make my days a little
shorter, maybe not work quite asmuch on the on the nights and
the weekends, you know, onthings.
But in retrospect you know mykids are uber self-sufficient
(25:05):
and they're really they've gottheir act together.
I mean, they all know how to dotheir own laundry.
They all know how to makethemselves something to eat
laundry.
They all know how to makethemselves something to eat.
You know, they all know how todo stuff that a lot of kids this
day and age don't have a cluehow to do because they had that
mom that was home just doingeverything for them.
So you know in the same breaththat I regret not having a ton
(25:30):
of time just being home withthem.
I also don't regret it becauseI think I've made them a lot
stronger, you know, and moreself-sufficient humans, because
I wasn't there.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
But there's always the mommy guilt.
Mommy guilt is a thing that Idon't care what mom, who you are
, whether you stay at home,whether you work outside the
home, you're going to be guiltyof something.
You're going to feel like youdidn't do something right
Because you can't be perfectyeah, can't.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
What's interesting to me, though, is that I don't
think a lot of my friends that Italk to about business.
They will say stuff like you'rereally lucky, like you have
freedom and you control yourtime and like you can do what
you want, but the reality is youjust work significantly longer
and harder and you can't everreally turn it off, and it's.
I think it's easy to say likein retrospect I wish I could go
(26:23):
back and change some things, butthere's a piece of me that
believes you kind of have to.
You got to give everything ifyou want to be as successful as
you are, and I think peopledon't understand how much you
have to really give up andsacrifice.
You know you lose friends, youlose touch with family.
You don't get to go to weddingsor events because there's stuff
that's happening.
(26:43):
I think it's very easy forpeople to look at you now and go
well, she's lucky.
It's like bitch, I ain't lucky.
Like I worked really hard, Igave up a lot.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Yeah, I think there's this quote.
I can't remember who said it,but luck is where, preparation
and what is it when?
Speaker 2 (27:03):
preparation meets opportunity.
Yeah, they all.
Everybody gives that quote toWinston Churchill, but I think
it's called like the Churchillparadox or something where
everybody gives every quote toWinston Churchill.
I don't know who said it, but Ido like that quote a lot.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Well, it's true, because you know opportunity is
one thing and you know peoplesay, well, oh, you've been so
lucky.
Yeah, well, you know, ok, yeah,I'm lucky, but I absolutely
studied my ever loving backsideoff.
You know I had to be first inmy class in college to get into
(27:37):
med school, had to be first inmedical school, you know, to get
into dermatology residency, youknow, it's not like it just
doesn't fall in your lap, youknow.
And then when you get, when youget to that point you're like
golly, if, especially if, I'mgoing to start my own company.
That point you're like golly,especially if I'm going to start
(27:57):
my own company.
It's not just about me now.
Now, it's about all of thesepeople.
Every nurse, every front officeperson, every back office
person, every manager isdepending on me to make it fly.
And yes, they have to do theirpart and yes, it's a team effort
, 100 percent.
And you know, everybody'sreplaceable for sure, and I
realize that I am replaceable.
(28:19):
But when you're the, when you'rethe one where literally the
buck stops, you know you have tomake a lot of decisions and you
have to make decisions that youhate, you know.
And sometimes you look at thenumbers and you realize that
you've got to let some peoplethat have been with you for a
very long time, that you love aspeople.
(28:39):
You got to let them go becausethey're not bringing in you know
the revenue that they need tobring in to cover their salary
and to cover you know what'shappening, because if I let
those loss leaders go, then Ican't afford insurance and 401k
for everybody else.
Then I can't, you know,continue to do all the things in
(29:00):
the community that we want todo, and so letting people go is
really, really hard.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Yeah, I can't even imagine, especially people that
have been with you for a longtime.
Yeah, it's awful.
It's awful.
It's like you said, though,it's it's business and
unfortunately, you know,sometimes you got to do those
things that you don't like to do.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
Well, and you know, being responsible in a in a
business standpoint and beingresponsible to people and
socially is that's a hardbalance.
You know, I recently had to letgo of two estheticians that are
wonderful people, I absolutelylove and adore them, um, but you
(29:42):
know, there just wasn't thevolume there and you know it
just, it was just one of thosethings that you, you can't.
You can't make certain thingshappen for certain people unless
they have the drive to makethose happen for themselves too.
Yeah, and that's really hard.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
There's a pressure I think that people don't
understand when you were talkingabout like these people rely on
you.
There's a pressure that I don'tthink most people get when it's
like if you do something riskyand it fails, it's just you.
When it's like if you dosomething risky and it fails,
it's just you.
But when three, four, five, sixpeople go, I believe in you and
(30:21):
I believe in your vision andI'm willing to get on this plane
with you as you're trying toput parts on the plane while
it's moving.
There's a different level ofpressure and sleeplessness.
I think that comes from thatBecause, like you said, if it
fails now, seven people are nowaffected, not just me At the
beginning, when you were working, I'm assuming, seven days a
week, a hundred hours a week.
How do you manage that andbalance that?
(30:44):
What are the best practicesthat you've found over the years
that can help you to kind ofcalm your anxiety down a little
bit, calm the stress down alittle bit?
I think writing everything down.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
Um, you know one of the stress down a little bit, I
think, writing everything down.
You know, one of the thingsthat my mother taught me is plan
your work and then work yourplan.
And that's probably the mostprofound piece of just practical
advice anybody's ever given me.
Because you can.
You can dream about things.
You can think, oh, I want to gothis way with the practice, or
(31:14):
I want to go that way, but ifyou don't really write it down
and say this is the goal that Iwant to have and this is when I
want to reach it and this is howI'm going to reach it, then
it's just a dream, you know,it's not really a goal unless
you're really willing to put inthe work to get to that goal and
(31:34):
the time to make it happen.
And that's why I got this, youknow.
Second, board certification inlaser surgery.
You know, because I didn't wantus to be, you know, not
offering the best and the mostsafe and the most, you know,
cautious treatments that wecould.
That's why, when this wellnessthing, you know, really hit my
(31:57):
heart, I decided to actually getboard certified in anti-aging
and integrative health insteadof just, you know, halfway doing
it like most of the people outthere are.
You know, I wanted to make sureI was legit and that I'm doing
it right.
So I just feel like I have toconstantly stay educated and
constantly stay on top of things.
And it is because I have thisdeep seated thought is that I
(32:21):
don't, I don't want it to failand I want, you know, my staff
members to know that they'regoing to have a safe place to
come in and go to work andthey're going to get paid and
everything's going to be fine.
Even still after 20 years, youstill feel that I worry about it
all the time.
I worry about it all the time.
That never goes away.
Never goes away, and every year, as insurance gets more and
(32:41):
more expensive, it's just likeokay, so how do we cut costs?
How do we?
You know, and that's the otherthing you know you look at the
things that are making money inthe practice and the things that
aren't.
And to be a responsiblebusiness person, you got to make
really crappy decisionssometimes.
And you know, man, I boughtdevices that were stupid and
(33:04):
didn't work, didn't do what theysaid they were going to do, so
we just sold them you know, I'dlove to ask you which devices,
but we don't need to put them onblast.
I really hate to slam on somepeople, but I could.
There's some devices out therethat I could slam on because
they are a bunch of snake oil.
But at any rate, I kind ofdigressed there.
I don't know what we're talkingabout now.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
That's all right.
So you start the flagship placein Bentonville, you get the
second board certification theteam is now scaled to what
you're at today and you get yourthird board certification
recently in anti-aging andintegrative health.
Where did you first hear aboutthat and then you've talked
(33:48):
about?
It was Allie, but where?
How did that first come on yourradar?
And then, at what point?
Were you like man?
I really need to dive deep intothis.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
Yeah, I mean, I think it was that was a personal
thing.
You know, when I started goingthrough menopause and having,
you know, this weight gain andthis energy loss, this brain fog
and horrible night sweats, andyou know, just feeling like
death, and you know horriblenight sweats, and you know, just
feeling like death, and, youknow, started doing the research
(34:20):
and you know, allie at thatpoint was, you know, deep into
her master's in biochemistry andshe's nerding out, you know, on
all things nutrition, which isjust her huge, her passion.
And so I started, you know,looking into things like that.
What can I do from a nutritionstandpoint, what can I do from a
health and wellness standpoint?
And it just it seemed soglaring to me that a lot of the
(34:44):
doctors in the region were notkeeping up with.
You know, what's the cuttingedge in bioidentical?
You know, hormone replacementtherapy.
A lot of doctors are stillproviding or still writing
synthetic estrogens andsynthetic progesterones which
have actually been linked tocancer and linked to causing,
you know, other other issuesdown the road, whereas the
(35:06):
bioidentical hormones were justnot really much of an option.
I wasn't seeing a lot of thataround here, and then I was
seeing tons of patients comingin on the GLP-1s.
You know losing lots and lots ofweight so so quickly, losing
tons of muscle mass, losing thestructure of their skin or their
face and their body, and youknow just not doing it healthy
(35:27):
and not doing it well.
And I'm like you know this is athis is a thing.
Everybody you know that's doingthis needs to be making sure
they're keeping their nutrition.
And you know, doing theirexercises appropriately so
they're not losing muscle mass.
And you know losing the weightslow enough and building
collagen in other ways withtreatments.
(35:47):
And you know collagen oralcollagen, optimal human you know
all of the things to help yourbody stay healthy.
And so I just saw that there wasnobody doing all of it and
nobody making a holisticapproach to the whole person.
You know some people arethrowing them the weight loss
medication and just seeing themevery few minutes.
(36:08):
And you know there were somedoctors around that were putting
pellets in people and nevereven checking their labs again.
You know I mean I saw men thatwere coming in with their
hemoglobin and hematocrit atdangerous like stroke level high
because they've been on suchmassive doses of testosterone
that their body was making waytoo many red blood cells and it
(36:29):
was dangerous.
You know, I'm seeing women thatare that are given synthetic
estrogen instead of givingbioidentical hormones, and I
just thought we got to get theword out first of all that there
are options out there and thereare safe options out there, and
there's a right way to do thisand a wrong way to do this stuff
.
And it's kind of the wild wildwest and I just wanted to be the
(36:51):
voice of reason and I didn'twant my colleagues to say why is
a dermatologist, why do youhave the right to do that?
So that's why I got the boardcertification, because I wanted
to be able to say well, I wantedto do this right for myself and
for my patients, and so I'm adermatologist, but now I'm also
a wellness and integrativehealth specialist.
So yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
So that's what's super cool is there seems to be
a push to preventative medicine,which I know we've talked a lot
about.
But instead of waiting forsomething to happen and then
we'll see how we can do what wecan do, right, there seems to be
a big push online.
I don't know if it's really hitthe healthcare industry is
heavy yet but online with peoplelike Dr Peter Atia and Andrew
(37:37):
Huberman, you kind of are nowlooped into that category of
people that say, well, let'sreally focus on where you're at
now and prevent the things thatcould potentially happen For
somebody that you know.
I think you're going to hear alot of skeptics that say, like,
oh, it's like voodoo, you knownonsense.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
What would you say to those people to say you know,
look, this is why it's importantto focus on preventative stuff,
so that we can avoid all ofthis, right?
Well, it's.
The biggest flaw in all ofmedicine is that, and it's how
all doctors were taught, and soyou can't be hating on your
doctor because they they werenot taught to prevent disease
from happening.
We were in medical school.
That was not even.
It wasn't even a topic ofdiscussion.
What was taught is somebody'sgoing to come in and they're
(38:24):
going to have high bloodpressure.
Somebody's going to come in andthey're going to be obese.
Somebody's going to come in andthey're going to have diabetes.
So you're going to put them ona blood pressure medicine,
you're going to put them on astatin, you're going to put them
on metformin or insulin.
You're going to put them on allthese drugs and then you're
going to follow their labs andsee how they do.
Rather than someone with afamily history of those things
(38:46):
is coming in to see you and youjust say, ok, you look great,
see you later.
You actually talk to them.
Oh well, you have the familyhistory of this.
Maybe.
Maybe you need to be on.
You know something preventative.
Maybe you're a little heavy.
Maybe let's get you on thatGLP-1 now and get you back to
that healthy weight.
You know, maybe you need to beon the right supplements and the
(39:06):
right, you know, probioticsprebiotics to prevent disease,
you know, to prevent thesethings from happening, and so
that's the.
That's the approach that needsto be taken in medicine, but
it's going to take a long timebecause the you know it's going
to take.
It's going to take a total,fundamental switch and how
(39:27):
doctors are educated.
And that's what Alice Walton'sdoing with awesome, and that's
why I think it's so incredible,because she is going to teach
students in that preventativemedicine approach and that's
that's something that has neverbeen taught in a traditional
medical school so alice wallen'sschool of medicine, aka awesome
(39:49):
.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
Is it going to be both preventative and then like
traditional medicine?
Yep.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
I think she's doing a fusion of Eastern thought,
western thought, integrativehealth, traditional medicine.
She's trying to find the bestof all of the realms and bring
that together in a more balancededucational approach for
physicians, and I think it's theway medicine, the only way
(40:14):
medicine can really changewhat's happening in America is
to switch back to thatpreventative profile and stop
the disease before it start, youknow, really starts.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
Vizia tool that will do a full analysis, Like we
filmed the video where we'reshowing here's the results but
then here's how we use thoseresults to build a preventative
plan.
Right, what could you walk methrough with Premier kind of how
(40:45):
you approach this newintegrative?
You know, preventative style ofmedicine for skin care.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
Yeah.
So when people come in nowwe're doing, of course, the
Vizia skin analysis, which shows, you know, where your sun
damage is, you know how healthyor unhealthy basically your skin
is, how hydrated or dehydratedit is.
And then we're doing aquestionnaire.
You know we're not traditionalmedical history.
We want to know what yourfamily history look like.
You know, and right now, what'syour weight like?
(41:21):
You know what's your total.
We measure your muscle mass, wemeasure your fat mass, we
measure your bone density, wemeasure all of these things.
We even do a metabolicassessment, called a PNOE, which
tells you what is yourmetabolic age, what micros and
macros do you need to be takingin?
What kind of you know workouts?
Should you be doing resistancetraining this many times a week,
or cardio this many times aweek?
(41:43):
Or you know, maybe you shouldbe doing Tabata or interval
training, things like that,several times a week?
So it's going to customize thatkind of overall approach to
each and every client and thenwe make customized plans based
on do you need a weight lossmedication?
Do you need a growth hormoneagonist?
(42:04):
Do you need to be onglutathione or NAD because you
have lots of inflammation inyour body?
Do you need to be on thyroidreplacement.
We're looking at the wholeperson, because your skin, of
course, is a representation ofwhat's going on inside your body
.
Your skin's your biggest organ.
If you're not healthy on theinside, you don't have a chance
(42:25):
to look great and your skin, youknow, look fantastic, you know,
on the outside.
So it's a much more holisticapproach and it stems from many,
many years of my patientssaying I just wish you could be
my doctor for everything.
I'm like, well, I can't be yourdoctor for everything, but you
know there are certain thingsthat I can, I can do really,
(42:47):
really well.
And now, with this advanceddegree, I feel like I have the
tools that a lot of physiciansdon't have.
Degree, I feel like I have thetools that a lot of physicians
don't have, and the wellnesspart of it has just become an
absolute passion for me.
It's just, it's been a littlebit of a switch, you know, kind
of a shift away from traditionalmedicine and a little bit of a
shift away from my partners.
(43:08):
You know some of my partnersare much more on the traditional
old school dermatology.
We're going to stay the courseand just do this.
We don't really want theinnovation, we don't really want
to be a part of the wellnessside of things.
We don't really want to do allof that aesthetic and laser
stuff that you're doing.
So there's a little.
There's been a little, you know, a little hiccup with some of
(43:29):
that Sounds familiar.
Uh-huh, there's a little hiccup, but the beautiful thing about
that is that you know practicesevolve over time, people evolve
over time and there's no harm,no foul.
You know they can do reallygood things for the community
with their approach and I can doreally good things for the
community with my approach andwe'll just do it and still be
(43:51):
friends.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
I love it and still be friends.
I love it when you think about,when you say that like the skin
essentially is a representationof like health inside your skin
looks phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (44:02):
Well, thank you, thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (44:04):
What is your routine?
What does Dr Clifton do fromthe time that she wakes up to
the time that she goes to bed?
Speaker 1 (44:10):
Oh gosh, there's lots of steps there, chris.
So I do my optimal human, whichis my greens and my prebiotic
probiotic powder.
I mix that with a proteinpowder from Momentous every
morning.
That my daughter has got meturned on to that I love.
I add my fiber to that All inone shake, uh-huh.
(44:32):
I add my collagen to that.
I add colostrum to that forimmunity support.
It's a thick shake, it is, so Iusually put some fruit and some
water you know things like thatin it, and so it tastes
delicious.
And that's what I do everysingle morning, along with a
(44:53):
handful of supplements that Ibelieve in that I talk about on
the podcast a lot and talk topatients about all day.
I try to work out.
At least four or five times aweek I go to J Street Gym, which
is a hardcore lift weights, youknow, with very serious people
that don't do anything, but theygo and they lift weights.
(45:14):
I mean, it's a serious thing atJ Street.
Nobody's socializing, nobody'schatting you up.
You get in, you lift theweights, you get the heck out.
So I do that a couple of timesa week with my boyfriend, who is
probably the most fit human onthe planet.
It's very, very fit.
He's jacked, he's jacked.
(45:37):
So.
And then I love Pilates.
So I do Pilates a few times aweek.
I'm a big fan of red lighttherapy, so I stand in front of
my red light wall at least threeor four times a week.
I do a red light helmet forhair growth.
Let's see what else do I do.
I love saunas.
We're actually buying aninfrared sauna with red light
therapy for premier.
That has seven differentsettings for anti-aging and you
(46:00):
know different things that youcan literally pick your program.
So that's going to be a bigpart of our wellness initiative.
So you'll have to, you'll haveto try that out when you're in
doing some some filming with us.
Chris, you have to go in thesauna, would love to um, you can
bring your girlfriend.
It's big enough for two.
You guys can sauna together.
I'll ask her.
It could be good for you.
(46:20):
Saunas are hugely good for you.
Drink tons of water.
I try to eat super healthy,although pizza is a huge
weakness for me.
So every now and then I reallysplurge and have some pizza.
What's the move?
Every now and then, I reallysplurge and have some pizza.
What's the move?
Pepperoni Full on pepperoni.
Yeah, I'm a big pepperoni fan.
I love it.
Speaker 2 (46:40):
The infrared sauna.
Can you talk about that?
For a little bit?
I didn't even.
I don't know what that is.
What's the difference between aregular, like traditional heat
sauna and an infrared sauna?
Speaker 1 (46:49):
So it's just the heating mechanism is different
in the sauna, so the infraredactually penetrates deeper into
your skin, stimulates yourmitochondria, which is, you know
, the energy production cell ofyour body.
So very anti-inflammatory, youknow, heat is just soothing to
the body, but the infrared heatin particular is healing and
(47:11):
it's very stimulatory forrecovery.
You know it helps your body ifyou've had a hard workout, if
you've been through a surgery orbeen through a stressful event.
It helps with recovery.
So all of that is just greatfor longevity.
Yeah, big on certainsupplements like TA-65, which
(47:31):
lengthens your telomeres.
I take that every day.
I take Vasconox and ArteriaSylbecause I have that's a mouthful
.
Yeah, these are medications foryour vasculature to stabilize
your endothelial lining of yourblood vessels and to lower your
blood pressure.
So I take that every day,trying to.
(47:52):
You know what else do I take,gosh?
So many things?
Oh, I take my Nutrafol, ofcourse.
What else do I take Gosh somany things?
Oh, I take my Nutrafol, ofcourse.
For my hair, yeah, just allkinds of things I take.
Speaker 2 (48:01):
How important do you think supplementation is like to
a daily regimen, like I think alot of people just think you
can take a one-a-day pill andthat's perfectly fine.
Yeah, I think.
Speaker 1 (48:21):
The most fit people in the world.
They don't just take a one aday.
Yeah, a lot, of, a lot ofpeople are taking, you know, a
lot more longevity type typesupplements these days, and
there's just so much you can'tget from diet alone.
If you, you know, if youliterally grew your own farm and
sat around juicing and you knowcanning and all the things all
day, you know you might be ableto do it.
You know, go out and kill yourown chickens and harvest your
own eggs and all of those things.
(48:41):
But most of us ain't got notime for that.
So what I do is, you know, justtry to put it all into into a
shake.
I love a big shake in themorning because I feel like that
gets my day started and Iliterally have to schedule my
workouts or they won't get done.
You know it has to be on mycalendar, just like a meeting
with you to do social media.
(49:02):
That meeting at the gym has tohappen.
So those are some of the thingsI do.
Speaker 2 (49:10):
I do want to talk a little bit about your charity
work.
We went and shot at AppleseedsFarm in Fayetteville.
Yeah, how did you findAppleseeds Farm?
Why do you enjoy working withthem?
Speaker 1 (49:24):
My really good friend Savin, who's in my book club.
I also have a book club andbunco group for my mental health
because my girls are awesome.
They keep me grounded.
Speaker 2 (49:34):
Shout out to my bunco group.
Speaker 1 (49:35):
Yeah, shout out to my bunco group in my book club.
But so then she knew aboutapple seeds.
And you know, arkansas.
You know I have a huge issuewith Arkansas.
You know want it to be the bestof the best, and Arkansas is
number I think it's number twoin the United States for food
(49:56):
insecurity.
So a lot of our kids don't haveaccess to healthy food.
Some of them don't even haveaccess to food at all.
And I just think, you know,especially in such a wealthy,
the affluent looking community,it's hard to believe that there
are that many people, especiallythat many children, that may
not have a meal, you know,through the weekend they may go
(50:19):
home and go to bed hungry and Ijust I think that's tragic.
You know, I know a lot ofpeople.
You know they have a drive togo overseas and, you know, do
mission work and this, that andthe other.
But to me, if you don't startyour own community and you don't
try to fix what's around you,you know the rest of the world
is not going to get much bettereither.
(50:40):
So I think if we can focus onthe things that we see that we
can have an impact on locally,you know, hopefully that's going
to build and make an impactglobally too.
Speaker 2 (50:49):
Yeah, I think we've.
We've obviously covered a lot.
I wanted I thought this wouldbe really cool to kind of have a
conversation with you aboutyour journey and your life.
Is there anything that we didnot hit on that you think would
be important to talk about?
Because I do think now there'sa lot of people that are
watching you and a lot of peoplethat are following your journey
(51:09):
.
And I know for me, like beforeI started my business, there was
a lot of people that I followedthat it's like well, if they
can do it, then then I can do it.
And that person is like me.
And you know, you don't reallysee a lot of women business
leaders getting pushed in medianow and I think social media has
(51:31):
allowed it where you can findthem a lot easier.
And you have people like SarahBlakely, who started Spanx.
You have people like LaylaHormozy that's doing
Acquisitioncom, and now you haveDr Missy Clifton.
Speaker 1 (51:39):
Well, thank you for putting me in the ranks of those
ladies.
That's very kind, of course,that's very kind.
Speaker 2 (51:47):
What's the message that you would give to those
people?
The high school girl or thecollege girl that goes?
Speaker 1 (51:50):
I want to do that.
I want to do and realize thatyou're a part of a community and
(52:12):
that you're serving thatcommunity and anything that you
can do, you know, to getyourself out there and give back
to the community and show thatyou want your business to be,
you know, not just a moneymakerfor you, but something that is a
service and something that is apart of a growing or thriving
community.
You know, I think as long asyou keep that perspective, you
(52:34):
will be successful.
As long as you know you have towork.
You know it's not easy and youknow you can't just start
something and then not show upto it and not keep.
You know, working at it everysingle day and not keep looking
at the numbers.
And every month we sit down andI look at the numbers, year over
year, month over month.
Where are we?
(52:54):
What's happening?
What's working, what's working,what's not working.
You know devices get old,Devices need to be upgraded.
We sell them, we look for thenext great thing.
Go to meetings.
You know you just keepeducating yourself and putting
yourself out there.
But then you come back and youget grounded and you stay a part
(53:14):
of the community and you'll befine, Just work.
Plan your work and work yourplan.
Speaker 2 (53:20):
I love it.
Well, thank you for letting meturn the tables on you today.
That was fun and interview you.
Speaker 1 (53:24):
So, guys, thank you so much for tuning in to an
episode of All Things Skin.
We sure appreciate you beingone of our listeners.
Not only do we thank you forlistening, but please continue
to follow us.
Give your our listeners.
Not only do we thank you forlistening, but please continue
to follow us.
Give your reviews on any of thepodcast platforms that you're
listening on, and we can't waitto see you on another episode of
All Things Skin.
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