We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Armando Retana. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Armando below.
Armando, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.
A defining moment in my career was when I was kicked out of college because of my immigration status. I had to transfer from a public college in Maryland to a private, catholic school in Kentucky. After that, my GPA went up to a 4.0 average. That moment gave me a lot of appreciation for education and I continue to become a surgeon and be where I am today.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
As a teenager growing up in the Washington DC area, I always heard my family and friends wanting plastic surgery but they would always travel outside of the area for it. Some Would say “there are no good surgeons here that can deliver amazing results like the surgeons in Latin America and none of them speak Spanish” That really stuck with me. I told myself that I will train myself with the best including plastic surgeons from Colombia, and I will bring back great surgical techniques to the Washington DC area. I’m also proud to say that my staff is very diverse and Spanish speaking parients feel very comfortable during their consultation and post operative process because of it.
My approach is quality over quantity. I care about every single one of my patients’ outcomes. I want them to be the most optimal results they can achieve. It starts with listening to their concerns during a long consultation. We don’t rush the process. We make sure that we are a good fit for them and that they are a good fit for us. I think that’s critical. We help them get organized with their medical clearance, their post op care at local spas that we work with, and supplies that they will need afterwards.
Another thing that sets me apart is communication with patients. I have an open communication policy. Anyone can reach me through my social media platforms at any time and get their questions answered withing 24 hours. But most importantly, all of my surgical patients have my cell phone. I do this so that they or their significant others can reach me at anytime. Surgery can be a scary process, especially if it is your first time. I’m available to answer any questions throughout the process. I find this very effective at making sure my patients know exactly what to do at all times. And to be honest, they all have very good questions when they do reach out via call, text, or video chat.
At the end, I want all of my patients to feel that they are part of our family and not just one more patient that came and went. We have received amazing feedback regarding patient’s experience with us and I’m very satisfied with the level of service have have been able to provide thus far.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
I think I have grown my clientele in several ways. The most important one is by being honest and sincere with people. I never do surgery on anyone that I don’t believe I can help with the level of education and skills I posses. If something is over my level of experience, I tell them that I’m not the right surgeon for them and usually try to help them find someone that can help them. I don’t consider myself the jack of all traits. I have been spending a lot of time perfecting my craft to be able to offer the best of me to every patient that I perform a surgery on. The second strategy is education through social media. Giving people knowledge through social media empowers them and also makes them more comfortable with choosing you as their surgeon.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
Honestly, I watch a lot of motivational videos by great athletes and business man in order to help me grow philosophically. One of my favorites videos are Kobe Bryant’s videos on the “Mamba Mentality”. It basically says that you should strive to be the best version of yourself every single day and that you should work hard daily to get better every day, every month, every year in order to set yourself apart from others in your field. That’s something that is always in my mind and I live by it
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