Today we’d like to introduce you to Alina Sholar, MD.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
At age seven, I predicted I would be a physician, but it wasn’t until after finishing medical school and two surgery residencies that I discovered, either by accident or by fate, that I really loved entrepreneurship as well. A Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Sciences from Texas A&M University and a Doctorate of Medicine from University of Texas Medical Branch were firm foundations for a career dedicated to surgical specialties, but they didn’t quite prepare me for the ups and downs of owning a small business. To say that the entrepreneurship and management of a business is a rollercoaster is an understatement. For most physicians, the escalation to the practice of your craft is incredibly intellectually challenging, physically utterly demanding, and absolutely consuming of your entire life. We literally lose an entire decade of life to fulfill the dream of caring for our patients. The progression is typically pretty linear to the onlooker, although to the insider, you know the daily difficulties that accompany growth. You finish your undergraduate degree at the top of your class and score well on your MCAT medical school admission test, then you go to medical school and pass two formidable board exams meant to cull more than cultivate to graduation as a Medical Doctor.
Then you match into your chosen residency program, where over the course of 3-7 years, you will be systematically broken down to build you into someone with the grit to handle the human condition and simultaneously demonstrate the grace to be a caretaker of humanity, all the while managing to hang on to a thread of your own sense of person and purpose. Then you take more board exams, get a job, take more board exams. You accomplish one milestone, then move on to the next challenge to be conquered, but this is an all-consuming feat. When you are working 100 hours a week as a surgery resident, you can’t take online courses in your spare time. There is no spare time. When you are finally able to practice medicine, usually in the safety of a practice group and now in your early 30’s, you finally feel like you’ve arrived and it’s now time that you can start “getting a life.” So, here is where the beeline ends. There is no “next step” before you and all of your choices have consequences. You do your best, but sometimes things just do not work out the way they are supposed to. Here is where my story really begins.
I made a mistake right out of the gate that changed the course of my life forever. Yes, the first mistake of my career was a real doozy! Immediately after completing my plastic surgery residency, I partnered with a physician who I didn’t know very well. He made big promises and I got caught up in the idea of “making it big”. I didn’t take the time to learn who he was, what his values were (or lack thereof, in this case), and what his ulterior motives may be. Because our basic ethics and core values were at odds, being in practice with him was a struggle, and my focus and attention were drawn away from my patients. Truth be told, I saw the red flags and my inner cynical girl’s voice was warning me before I even took the job, but the nice girl kept telling her, “Don’t be so judgmental. You don’t even know him yet.” Well, both of them were right in one way. I didn’t know him before I put my newly-minted reputation on the line. When I finally learned the whole truth about him, I was sickened that I, in many ways, had been inadvertently endorsing my partner’s business and life affairs. Unfortunately, his way of doing life was very different from mine. I finally had to make the decision that I must remove myself at all costs, and what followed was nothing short of disastrous for me personally and professionally. I had worked so hard to fulfill my dream, but this person- a fellow physician, no less- threatened to ruin my career before it even got started. I left his practice and he waged an all-out war of humiliation-inducing, patient-manipulating, bank account-draining, gaslighting smear tactics with intent to destroy me so I wouldn’t reveal his secrets.
As difficult as that time was in my life, abruptly leaving his practice was still the right choice, and it ultimately pushed me into another passion- to create my own plastic surgery practice and to become an entrepreneur in healthcare. It taught me so much about what I could withstand (as if surgery residency wasn’t enough of a test) and how I could use my creativity to build the brand that suited me best and served my patients well. Not only did I ultimately recover, but I dared to grow from the adversity and found major success. I also found my purpose. A seemingly insurmountable obstacle that is actually overcome is the source of empowerment, and it is from that point of view that I discovered that I could empower other women to live their best lives, too.
When I first became a plastic surgeon, I wanted to make women pretty. But after getting a taste of true personal empowerment, I wanted other women to have it too. I really had the vision of providing not just cosmetic surgery for my patients but a complete support system where they could feel empowered to be their best. I wanted to operate a totally different type of medical practice business philosophically and literally. Through my years in surgical practice, I realized that women also need an alternative pathway to beauty- smarter skincare and medical aesthetic treatments with scientific substance- but it’s just as much about nurturing her soul. I wanted to encourage women to reflect their beauty and strength within to the outside and in turn, feel their most confident, sexy, and strong in their 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and beyond.
Honoring my professional upbringing in biomedical sciences, medicine, surgery, and finally business, I mentor young women in STEM and medicine, young female physicians and non-physician entrepreneurs. In the medical field, only 35% of physicians are women, so it already starts out as a lonely group. By the time they finish residency, only 19% of surgeons are female. As far as plastic surgeons, just 2% are women. And to narrow it down even further, an estimated measly .025% are also independent entrepreneurs running their own businesses full of regulation and commitment above and beyond any ordinary business environment. So, I understand how difficult it can be for them to do it alone.
Some of the issues challenging women in leadership positions in medicine are the same as those in the non-medical business world such as pay disparity, sexual harassment, gender inequality and perception from colleagues, the public, and patients alike. It is difficult for women in any business to navigate without mentorship and support, so I tackle topics with them like body shaming, imposter syndrome, and other issues that are bothersome for many female leaders and can hold them back in the operating room, in the business office, and in executive meetings in the boardroom, so guiding them to make solid decisions for their careers in and outside of medicine is a privilege.
On the global scale, I have coached women to start their own medical billing management companies. For one young lady in India, this meant that she gained financial independence for herself, but she also now employs three other women whose families are 100% sustained by her business as well- a beautiful example of the ripple effect we have on women.
In the years since I left my first job, I have had other entrepreneurial peaks and valleys, but that first experience was the one that taught me I could handle the rest. I have had well thought-out plans completely fall apart and started over from scratch with (literally) five dollars in my bank account. From that out-of-the-gate mistake has evolved an ever-arborizing effect that has not only benefitted me but many women around me. I’ve enjoyed the fruits of my labors of love when I see how both my patients and my mentees bloom with confidence and have their own successes, and know I’ve played a role.
I still want to give women beauty, but now to do so with a much richer experience and perspective, and with my own life’s mission to empower women to feel confident and beautiful both inside and out.
Sidenote: I own two medical practices. Skin Science Soul by Dr. Sholar and Serenity Medical Centers.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
When you study why people choose products, they normally do so based on marketing and packaging, and oftentimes also by its fragrance, but those are all the wrong reasons to choose a product. Those things mean nothing when it comes to the health of your own individual skin.
Defeated, one often then finds themselves in a medspa asking for help with their skin, but they are given something off the shelf solely based on a “skin type.” Still, this doesn’t address the real need of the patient, and too often these products are not able to deliver results, even if they are “professional-grade”.
The beauty of what we do at Skin Science Soul is what we call skintelligence – knowing and understanding that every person’s skin is unique. This is of utmost importance when we treat it.”
So, Skin Science Soul operates on an altogether different philosophy: when we focus on identifying each person’s unique lifestyle and beauty needs and take a scientific approach to learning about each woman’s skin physiology, we promote healthy, beautiful skin naturallly. Unlike traditional skincare product choices, we recognize there is more to your skin that just “oily”, “dry” or “combination.” Genetics, lifestyle, and life stage impact your skin’s biochemistry- all going on in complex processes behind what you actually see in the mirror on the surface. So, we take a deep dive into the unique physiology of your skin. We give you truly intelligent skincare options and individualized high-tech, best-in-class treatments.
We start by identifying the science within your individual skin with our exclusive SkinRx Comprehensive Skin Analysis.
It turns out deciding what treatments are right for you doesn’t have to be a matter of guesswork. We use our exclusive 3-part SkinRx Skin Analysis using Dermalab Biometric Measurements, the Observ Optical Analysis to determine which treatments would bring the most benefits to our patients, and the Vectra Volumetric Analysis to assess facial volume asymmetries and losses.
There is no other place in Austin that can do this, so it makes us extraordinarily unique.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Oh, that’s easy. My dogs, especially my dachshund office assistant, Presley. I am also a professional artist, but I enjoy just getting messily creative. It both relaxes me and fuels me.
Contact Info:
- Email: drsholar@skinsciencesoul.com
- Website: www.skinsciencesoul.com
- Instagram: @skinsciencesoul
- Facebook: facebook.com/skinsciencesoulbydrsholar
Image Credits
Korey Howell Photography
