It's good from time to time to meet the humans behind the needles and delve a little into how they feel about their job. One of the things that distinguishes medics from non-medics is the fact they are often motivated by way more than just running a business and making money. Often, their motivation is driven by the impact they make on other people's lives (which I guess is why they went into medicine in the first place!). Here, Dr Sarah McCrindle from Rox and Rose Aesthetics, shares her challenging journey and why, for Sarah, aesthetics is so much more than injecting lips.
The Woman, The Gynaecology Doctor, The Mother, The Injector, The Feminist.
A Girl's Girl.
I have always viewed myself as an advocate for women.
Having worked incredibly hard to become a doctor, earning my place in a competitive work environment, I have come to feel very strongly that hard work should be recognised. That women should be judged on who they are and what they can do, not how they look.
If I were to be completely honest my first steps into aesthetics were not comfortable ones. However as a woman, a friend, a colleague, a carer of women, I realised aesthetics was less about chasing an impossible and ill advised standard of beauty and more about how you can make people feel within themselves, for themselves.
Responsible, honest aesthetics done in true consultation with a patient can build on natural beauty and individuality.
An advocate for women is our kind of women!
More Than Vanity
Before I first embarked on this journey, I could not imagine ever being someone who encouraged people to focus on the way that they looked. I still do not consider myself to be that person.
However I came to appreciate the difference that it could make to help people address issues which impact their confidence.
The confidence you feel in the self you put out into the world impacts on everything you do.
I realised aesthetics was about helping build confidence, not shaking it. That when a truly consultative, honest approach is taken you can build on natural individual beauty and take no part in chasing the elusive beauty ideal.
The impact an aesthetic procedure can have on the patient is such a huge part of why I began and chose to continue this journey. However the impact on me I did not anticipate. I had been a gynaecology doctor, I had never wanted to be anything else, I reached my goal and loved every minute. I felt successful, I felt fulfilled and I felt I was contributing my little bit to the progress of women.
Why would I make a change?
Aesthetics has challenged me in ways I would never have anticipated. It has encouraged me to learn and develop new skills. Encouraged me to embrace a creative side I had suppressed for a long time. It is a fast paced and rapidly changing industry and so learning and professional development are essential and constant.
Aesthetics has challenged me to learn and develop new skills in business and in marketing. Skills which are a world apart from my life as a doctor.
It has exposed me to new people and revealed a new relationship that can exist with your patients, one with perhaps just a little more time.
It has pushed me out of my comfort zone and encouraged me to evaluate my own struggles with confidence - nothing can do that like trying to become an instagram presence!
Taking Control
My journey into aesthetics has challenged me and developed me. It has given me back control over my own destiny in many ways but also completely changed the path I thought I would always take.
As a doctor, having worked for years in the strict structure of the NHS this is terrifying, however I am slowly learning to embrace that…. And now even love it.
In short aesthetics has allowed me to help women feel more confident, to spend time with them, to listen (and believe me it is rarely just about the dermal fillers). I am still a doctor but I am slowly becoming a business woman and a marketer. I get to embrace a creative side, take control back…. And as a feminist, I am very comfortable with that indeed.