You can’t just look at your feet when you’re walking, you need to look at the horizon to keep you on the right track to reach your goal. And having a passion about what you do and what you can achieve is the motivator.
World-famous plastic surgeon Dr. Randal Haworth is based in Beverly Hills, California and is the founder of The Haworth Institute and Self-Centered Aesthetics™ , a clinic that dedicated to non-invasive Solutions to all aesthetic concerns. Dr. Haworth is also the inventor of the Jaw Thruster, a patented medical device used to protect a patient’s airways to ensure their breathing while under anesthesia. He is also the founder, of NightLift®, a bra with his patented support system B.U.S.T.® (bilateral uplift support technology) that protects a woman’s cleavage from going “south.”
Dr. Randal Haworth has been in several publications, including W Magazine, Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Los Angeles Times and has made several television appearances, including Fox Television’s The Swan. Dr. Haworth has also authored several medical papers and has chapters to major textbooks over the last few years. When not working long hours, Dr. Randal Haworth is an acclaimed artist, who has paintings in several well-known galleries throughout the country. He’s currently practicing in Beverly Hills and is the proud owner of one dog, Maximus.
Where did the idea for The Haworth Institute come from?
I wanted to be in private practice, and I wanted to be the best I could, so I thought why not try Beverly Hills. I liked dealing with aesthetic work because I naturally excelled at that. I did a lot of thinking on whether I wanted to join a group practice, go the academic route, or go solo. I took the plunge and went solo. I started in a kitchen at a local plastic surgeons office, because he was in the best building in Beverly Hills and I wanted to look the part.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
There are two types of days that I have as a surgeon. There are my clinical days which begin at 8:30- 9:00 am. From there, I spend my mornings doing follow-ups, and new consultations. Then I perform non-invasive procedures and small surgeries in the afternoons. My surgical days begin much earlier, typically around 7:00 am when I make it to my surgery room and can go as late as 9:00 pm. Most days I am out of the office and heading home by 10:30 pm.
As a surgeon you see patients and you perform surgery. You have to be your best at all times. You also have to be able to explain things in a way that is understandable to a non-medical person and to those in the medical industry. Sometimes the clinical days are more hectic than my surgical days. I get through this by being highly organized and keeping to a tight schedule that works for me.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I think the best way to answer it is passion. You have to believe in the idea and be a bit creative and crazy at times. Individual doctors, in general, can be “color-by-number” at times, but I consider myself to fall in the creative category, for better or for worse. I get bored doing the same thing day and night because it’s just mind-numbing.
There are so many noses and other parts to operate on, so I like to explore ways of making things better with new ideas, new concepts and surgeries. I also get inspiration from walking, similar to Steve Jobs. It is an introspective, almost meditative time for me. It gives me the opportunity to think in an unfettered fashion not just about professional challenges but also about life in general. The shower is another place where I come up with new ideas because it is a rare private place where nothing is bothering me. You have to have the passion and the language to achieve it. Of course, when formulating better procedures, you aren’t going to do anything that will put a patient’s wellbeing at risk. Therefore making advances in the plastic surgery arena, I aim for more for evolutionary steps rather than revolutionary.
What’s one trend that excites you?
First of all, the future of plastic surgery does not lie in the operating room; it will lie in the lab. Noninvasive techniques are becoming more the norm. The future is more along the lines of gene therapy as ways to stop the look of aging along with lasers and fillers. I am super enthused about new uses to unleash the full potential of injectable fillers. By understanding the true pathophysiology of aging, fillers can be more strategically placed with lesser volumes and better, more natural results. The results I am able to achieve with this new injection method underscores the hypothesis that we age not by sagging but by collapsing. I have termed this particular strategy of injection the Caisson technique, since it provides vertical support to the collapsing face in the same way solid construction pillars provide vertical support for a building.
I discovered this while addressing the aesthetics of the lower lip and chin, which I consider as a single complex or unit. By injecting vertically instead of more horizontally, I was able to achieve dramatic results at eclipsing those obtained by more traditional methods. Rather than injecting near the cheekbones, I insert near the chin. It gave such dramatic results that the theory about our jaw collapsing is proven a bit more. I have been super excited and have a different outlook on fillers now. Instead of ho-hum, I will do some fillers here and there.
Of course, as an expert in lip reshaping, pioneering and perfecting new surgical techniques is always exciting, but I must admit the new skin tightening devices such as Face- and BodyTite are catching my attention. I feel this new device finally lives up to some of the promises earlier Radio Frequency (RF) skin heating technologies failed to deliver.
I now offer BodyTite with confidence. It helps tighten skin in an impressive and near permanent manner around different areas of your body. So you can tighten up the thighs, abdomen, arms and the other regions, all without the scars associated with the standard surgical procedures. I am truly excited by the possibilities of BodyTite and FaceTite and patients know when I’m are excited because they hear it in my voice and read it on my face.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
The one habit that keeps me on track is more of a philosophy. I like to have a list of things to do for the day, but honestly, a person needs a vision. You can’t just look at your feet when you’re walking, you need to look at the horizon to keep you on the right track to reach your goal. And having a passion about what you do and what you can achieve is the motivator,-the fuel to keep you walking, moving forward with a rapid pace. One mustn’t forget about common sense, which you will need to overcome the many obstacles, big and small, along the way. Realizing that these obstacles may lead to failures should not discourage you if you look at these as opportunities to learn.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I think I would say to be more patient with things. Patience can get you further quicker. You can be sabotaged by moving fast all the time because you don’t think of the consequences. As you get older, you start to realize this and perhaps I should have been a little more patient and disciplined. Life is a marathon and not a sprint.
I would have learned how to trust my instincts more, because I have made mistakes by trusting and believing in other people, including business partners and employees. I ended up getting burnt in the end and it cost me a lot of time and money. I would train myself to trust my gut.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on?
First of all, I took a chance and built my operating room in 1996. Most plastic surgeons worked in corporate surgical centers where operating rooms are shared by other specialists. It was rare for one to open their own. Another doctor, who now ironically later built his operating room, gave me a left-handed compliment by saying, “one thing I can give you is that you’re brave for opening your own OR.” Another thing was when I created a bra called NightLift that helps reverse gravity, while the patient is sleeping. When you’re lying on your side, your breasts fall to the side, into your armpit. The bra does not have an underwire, is super comfortable and is constructed with my patented B.U.S.T.® (bilateral uplift support technology). It is so comfortable in fact that many women ask whether they can wear it during the day and just at night..
I went out on a limb for the bra by investing a lot of money into the project, including the design, the marketing, the packaging, the website and patents while others in my field were investing in real estate. People thought I was crazy, but it became very successful. Another idea that people didn’t initially get on board with was my Jaw Thruster. My colleagues thought me mad, especially since they had little faith a plastic surgeon could make an anesthesia device. Once they tried it out, though, they realized it was a fantastic, life-saving device. It was immensely satisfying that it worked. If you have a passion and drive for building a product, especially one which you yourself would use, you should believe in yourself and follow that passion. As Steve Jobs says, “it’s the crazies that make a difference.”
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Making a list of things that you want to do first thing in the morning or the night before. When I wake up in the morning and I want to get on my cell phone or check my email, I resist that temptation and complete some of the items on my list first. The best way to do this is by finishing two thirds of your list before even considering things you are tempted by such as social media, text conversations, etc..
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
For me personally, it’s all about highlighting how I am different as a plastic surgeon. Why am I different compared to other people? As with any business, you can be derivative and unoriginal, but it’s all about creating the better mousetrap, so to speak. Even if you don’t have a new type of surgery or you don’t have a niche, then you just do what you do and try to do it better than others in your field.
Another thing that you want to do is exposure, whether it is marketing or bringing yourself exposure through interviews, writing papers, social media, and much more-just like I am doing here! It’s all about building a better brand.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
I had this foot spray called Heel No Pain. It was made with lidocaine, and it numbed the pain without numbing the feet. I owned the company and the word “Biochemistry”, which I cannot believe I still hold the rights to. Things were going swimmingly well. We went on a two-day tour, and The Daily Mail ran a piece on it, and Good Morning America interviewed me two days later. Women were flocking from everywhere purchasing this product, and it was immensely popular.
Unfortunately, I had this COO who was embezzling money from the company by inflating the manufacturing cost and skimming money off the top of that. It turned into a substantial ugly lawsuit. It ruined the brand altogether, and I had a hard time moving on. But the only way I was able to move past things was to forgive myself for trusting a con man and find greener pastures elsewhere.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
I think that creative minds think alike and there are many. My bra, the foot spray, and the Jaw Thruster are not genius inventions. I am not an Einstein or a Steve Jobs. I am not disrupting the world. I find problems and try to come up with a way to solve them. For example, every day we tie our shoes. For most people it’s a waste of time, but there maybe solutions out there. More and more people are inventing things and bringing them to market to save you two minutes of your time.
Like with the Jaw Thruster, there was an issue, and I connected the dots and in the end, created a solution. I like listening to people to try to develop ideas off of them. Sometimes you can hear something that inspires you, so if you have the discipline to make it happen, then you are going to be successful.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
The best personal thing that I got recently was the Alexa, The Amazon Echo. I love that concept. Whoever thought that would be useful? I say, “Alexa, what’s my schedule for tomorrow?” and it answers me. If I’m in bed I can tell Alexa to wake me up at 7:30 in the morning and it does it. “Alexa, turn off my lights” or “Call so-and-so”. I have a brilliant, very connected smart home and I love that. That simple yet complex thing is beneficial.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
I have been a staunch advocate of dictation software since 1993. I love wild apps. I do a lot on my phone; I do editing, I do filing, I do scanning. The one I like the most is called Dragon Everywhere; it is dictation software. I used dictate to exclusively to my computer but now I can do so over my phone and it will transcribe it. It Provides excellent dictation on my phone, while saving time and money in the process.. I don’t have to go to my desktop anymore, as I can do the transcriptions during my surgeries or while making an appointment.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
The one I love is the “Autobiography of Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different”. It documented the fascinating journey of how Steve Jobs started and how he made the most valuable company in the world. It was fascinating and inspiring.. almost 20 years ago, I started investing in Apple, while my stockbroker was like “Nah”. But I followed my gut anyway, and then when Steve Jobs came back, The floodgates opened.. Follow your gut.
What is your favorite quote?
One that I came out with: “fake is the new real” is so applicable in today’s urban environment and pervasive social media..Another one I like to use is: “Expect nothing, but expect anything in life.” This way surprise does not catch you off guard.
Key learnings:
● Inspired by Steve Jobs.
● Dr. Haworth was driven to become successful by creating solutions to everyday problems.
● Every day is a new experience for Dr. Haworth, and each day he strives to become better than the day before.
Connect:
Dr. Randal Haworth on Twitter:
Dr. Randal Haworth on Instagram: \
Haworth Institute on Facebook:
Carlyn runs the day-to-day publishing operation here at ideamensch and interacts with our awesome customers and entrepreneurs. She is likely editing this with a cat on her lap.