We recently connected with Mai Kaga MD and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Mai thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about the best advice you’ve ever given to a client? (Please note this response is for education/entertainment purposes only and shouldn’t be construed as advice for the reader)
The best advice I’ve ever given a patient is the same advice I give my patients every single day: If it doesn’t bother you, it doesn’t bother me. So much of the Aesthetic beauty industry is overwhelmed by trends instead of personalized standards. Overfilled lips and overdone faces are not the only option anymore. We are not in the business of recommending trendy treatments or doing consultations based on beauty “standards.” We cater to a patient’s personal anatomy and highlight their own unique beauty by enhancing what they love about themselves already. When a patient sits in my chair and says “what do you think?” my answer is always the same, “if it doesn’t bother you, it doesn’t bother me.”
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
The Kaga Academy of Aesthetic & Concierge Medicine is where people come to restore, rejuvenate, and rewind time- all while still looking like themselves. It was my love of art that first propelled me into the Aesthetic side of Medicine, but it was the need for natural-looking outcomes that motivated me to open The Kaga Academy. We don’t oversell, we don’t bully, and we never criticize. We offer only the best technology, lasers, and devices paired with the highest quality fillers and botox. When patients come looking for unnecessary treatments, we often give them a hug and tell them to go buy some new shoes and send them on their way. With us, it’s not always about looking younger. Patients come to us to gain back their confidence, and often their sense of self. With The Kaga Academy, we address not only the effects of aging but also weight loss, weight gain, simple side sleeping, or the physical effects of stress. Frequently it’s about looking more like yourself before life happened.
Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?
The field of Aesthetics is an intensely personal business. Patients come to you, stripped bare down to their most vulnerable selves to share what’s bothered them for the last 5, 10, 20 years. Sometimes it is a softball accident from when they were 10 years old that disfigured their jaw. It could be a nose job in their 20s that left them unhappier than before the surgery. Patients come after a divorce, with hallows in their faces from the most stressful 5 years they’ve ever experienced. I lead every patient consult with compassion and empathy to meet my patients where they are at in their journey. Remembering to treat every patient, firstly as a human, during each interaction is the most important advice I could give any business owner to succeed in this field.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
In Aesthetic Medicine training, you are taught very specific anatomical landmarks and measurements. While this is imperative to master for the safety of our patients, the very best injectors have to unlearn this practice- to an extent. I treat every face and feature I encounter to bring out the best of every patient’s favorite features and distinctive traits. In creating a goal outcome that ignores “measured beauty,” we have mastered the art of rejuvenation while maintaining patients’ beauty. We don’t create cookie-cutter faces at The Kaga Academy.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thekagaacademy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thekagaacademy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thekagaacademy
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/thekagaacademy
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thekagaacademy
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/thekagaacademy
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/thekagaacademy
