Dr Andrew Greenland: 0:04

Welcome back to Voices in Health and Wellness. This is the show where we speak with frontline leaders reshaping how care, well-being and business intersect in a modern healthcare landscape. Today's guest is someone I've been excited to bring on, not just for his clinical expertise, but for his thoughtful approach to the challenges of leadership, lifestyle and scaling care in a way that actually supports the practitioner, not just the patient. Dr Mark Carter is the founder of Modern Body Clinic, a progressive medical aesthetics and wellness practice that blends clinical precision with a deep respect for work-life balance and patient experience. With a background in medicine and a sharp eye for operational sustainability, mark has carved out a space that many in this industry admire, not just for the results his clinic delivers, but for the culture and clarity he brings to it. So, mark, welcome. Thank you very much for coming on the show.

Dr Mark Carter: 0:50

Yeah, thank you, that was a great intro.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 0:52

You're very welcome, and where are you calling from on this call today? Phoenix, phoenix, arizona, wonderful. So maybe we can kick off talking a little bit about your role. Could you share a little bit about what you do at the Modern Body Clinic and how it all got started?

Dr Mark Carter: 1:08

Oh wow. So the first part is what do we do? So the way I look at it is that really we are looking to transform people, and so there's a version of myself that they want to improve or get to a different level. So that's what I think we really do is transformation. So, whether that's around weight loss or aesthetics, we'll take the route that's going to get them there. How did we start? So I've been at this several years now and really I was looking for to do something different and I wanted to have my own clinic, and weight loss was something I was interested in. And that's really how we started. We started with doing weight loss, then we did some body contouring, just a a natural fit, and from there we just started doing other services. People started asking for other things and you know, that's that's where we are now amazing.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 2:16

So what does a typical day look like for you right now? I imagine it's got a mixture of clinical, operational and leadership work, but I'd be really interested to hear how it plays out for you yeah, I don't know if there's a typical day um.

Dr Mark Carter: 2:28

I can give like a full day is um depends when I start. I generally like to work out before I go in um, just then I know that I have it in, and then the day um around 10 o'clock I'll start. I'll just start seeing patients, and it's various, so it might be weight loss, they just Botox some. I see some people with fatigue or energy issues, so it's really a mix of different types of people I see generally early, early afternoon I'll do some type of administrative work, whether that's meeting with the staff or doing a one-on-one and all the other fun administrative stuff that we get to do Some governmental issues or that type of paperwork chasing down results.

Dr Mark Carter: 3:25

I can't escape that, but those are things that I would do kind of early afternoon, mid-afternoon and that I may go back to seeing patients again. Generally I end at like 5 or 6 o'clock.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 3:43

Okay, interesting. So what proportion of your time overall do you think you spend clinical versus managerial, operational? What's your kind of split?

Dr Mark Carter: 3:54

I would say probably 80-20. It's probably 20% administrative yeah.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 4:02

Thank you. I mean you've been in the space long enough to see some pretty big shifts. I mean what've been in the space long enough to see some pretty big shifts? I mean what changes are you seeing in aesthetics, in the wellness space over the last couple of years or so?

Dr Mark Carter: 4:13

So probably the biggest thing is people. They want the result to be more natural. That's, like I would say the overarching one. They don't want to look like it's been done or they don't want it to be. Even if they have surgery, they don't want it to be an obvious change. And definitely people care about being safe. They care about side effects more, I think, than before.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 4:39

Definitely get more questions around like what's the risk, like how likely is that to happen, and those are like the two biggest things I've seen and I mean with those sort of expectations, how have you had to change what you do to kind of meet those expectations around sort of safety, the natural approach, um?

Dr Mark Carter: 5:02

so the point of big yeah and that's that's a good point is definitely the expectation matters, and so I try to give them something realistic, especially on the aesthetics that we are. We're not going to have a surgical result like it's gonna. It's gonna be better than where we are now, but it's not gonna be a result. And I definitely speak on what's the risk. So I don't want people to be surprised that 1% person has something happen and also like what can we do about it? So I will bring that up to is like if this happens, what can we do about it? They use that to make the decision to which I didn't see that before is more about the outcome. Now it's more like okay, if this happens, is it permanent, is it irreversible, that it definitely comes up more now?

Dr Andrew Greenland: 5:57

interesting. And what about the sort of whole psychological safety of these patients that are coming in? I guess there must be some with psychological issues around appearance. How do you kind of handle all of that in your clinic setup?

Dr Mark Carter: 6:12

So it's really around expectations. You asked do they have a realistic expectation? And so when we're doing weight loss, that's not as much of an issue. Um, I think aesthetics is more that we have to be clear on, like what, what we can do, and like what the result will be. Um, both of those groups of people, there are some um psychological things that do go with it, and so we we have to address it, and if there's something underlying that's the real issue then whatever we do, it's not going to matter unless we really address, um, what's, what's driving it. So, um, yeah, we definitely have to pay attention.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 6:57

Sometimes I have to refer people.

Dr Mark Carter: 6:59

I think you know I'll tell someone. I think you should see this person, um, before we do anything, because, um, whatever we do, I don't think you're going to be happy. Whatever we do, it's not going to matter. We need to address what's going on inside first.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 7:15

Interesting. And on that note, I mean are patients generally more demanding? I mean, I'm not using that in a derogatory way, but I'm just wondering. As the years have gone by and you've had experience in this in this space, I just wonder whether people are more demanding, for whatever reason, in terms of what they're expecting and what the outcomes might be.

Dr Mark Carter: 7:33

Um, I don't know if I would say more demanding. I think more they know what they want and with that I do feel like people are more appreciative, because I think before it would be less like you know, there'd be less appreciation. But yeah, there's a lot more people know what they want. They become more steady. They've done more homework before I actually see them. They're asking better questions, so like they're more prepared.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 8:05

Got it? Have you noticed anything around the pandemic in terms of any sort of lasting impact from the pandemic in terms of how the clinic is run or how patients engage with services? It was a big blip for most of us in any space, but I just wondered how it's affected the health and wellness space that you operate in.

Dr Mark Carter: 8:29

Probably, if I say last thing, probably the biggest thing is televisits, so people are more open to doing that. So it's something that we didn't really do before and like now it's. You know, it's part of what we do. That's probably the biggest thing for us, and this may have been related by just them being more prepared, doing more research and being more concerned about safety.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 8:56

With the tele-visits. Obviously there's certain treatments you can't do remotely, so is that more about the initial consults or the follow-ups? I mean, how do you factor that into the in-person versus remote mix?

Dr Mark Carter: 9:09

yeah. So if it's um aesthetics related, then yeah, I kind of have to like see you at um. Even if we're on screen I can make some determination, but and I still have to see him or like to say this is the final recommendation. I see it more in weight loss or some wellness service that we can do it. You know, a telehealth visit before they even come in, or they may not need to come in, we can just do it through video.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 9:39

I understand. I think there's a general interest in wellness and longevity in society. Is that shaping how you think about the services that you provide?

Dr Mark Carter: 9:52

Yeah, we do pay attention to what the trends are and what people want, certainly paying attention to what people are asking for, and if there's a gap, like we can't provide it, then okay, let's look at that deeper and see is it in line with what we're trying to do here, is aligned with our values? And, yeah, we started to incorporate a stuff that we weren't doing five years ago.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 10:20

Interesting. Are there any particular trends that you've got your eye on at the moment, either because they excite you or because they may raise concerns? Is there anything you're thinking about bringing online for patients?

Dr Mark Carter: 10:32

um, there is one actually there's several that I kind of think about. One is um men's health in this space. So it's, depending on your ass, 85% women in regards to aesthetics. So we're looking at growing that and then we're becoming more interested in getting aesthetic treatments.

Dr Mark Carter: 10:54

Mental health is something that's growing. So that's something that we're looking at, and particularly as underserved. But also it goes with what we're treating. I mentioned before that we definitely care about the psychology, because maybe that's more the issue than whatever we might be treating. Those are the two main ones that I would say we're looking at. There's some other minor ones around technology or innovation. So I will say we're actually looking at doing more regenerative medicine. So I do some of that and it's kind of, if it comes up, we don't really have it as a menu offer, but if it comes up, yeah, that's something we can do as well and that seems to be growing as well.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 11:50

Interesting what's working well for you operationally right now in the clinic. Obviously, every clinic has its rhythm, but I just want to get a sense of what you're really focused on, because it's working and you're really happy with yeah.

Dr Mark Carter: 12:08

I think communication is important. So we do have a weekly meeting, and so that's good in the regards that it helps us stay on track. Nothing goes undone too long. As well as, like everybody knows where we're at, we're all on the same page. Well as, like everybody knows where we're at, we're all on the same page. Um, I worked in different settings where they maybe they meet once a month or quarterly, or I had one place I worked. They never met and because you know they had their reasons, I was like, well, how can we all be on the same page if you know we don't know what's going on or what's coming? So I feel like the meetings are super helpful and you know we can get feedback. I get to see like what's really going on, because you know I'm not there every day, all day, and so I can get feedback on, like what's going on here, why is this not working, or why is this working? Okay, we need to do more of that. So that's probably been like the most helpful thing.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 13:13

Sounds very productive. Tell us a little about your sort of staffing that you have at the clinic, just to give us a sense of the operation that you have there.

Dr Mark Carter: 13:21

Yeah, so it's me. We have an MA, and then we have two laser technicians estheticians, so they can do laser treatments as well as aesthetic procedures like microneedling and those type of things, and then we have a practice administrator.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 13:43

Okay and we were asking about what's going well and what you're happy with. Is there anything that's frustrating or more challenging in your operation?

Dr Mark Carter: 13:52

Where do I start? For me it's going to be around administrative, regulatory stuff that we have to comply with. I don't like that. If I would say what's not working or what I think we can improve on, it's probably the consultations. So as providers we're not really trained how to do sales in this type of setting. Sales and this type of setting, and it's almost kind of like a hurdle, because you know we're trained to. You know take care of the person in front of us. And now we are making recommendations and there's finances involved, and so you kind of think about that in the back of your head like can they afford it when? Okay, that's not for me to say that, I'm saying it's still. It should be the same. Here's my recommendation and you can say yes or no to it, so that's that's something we're working on.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 15:00

Interesting, you mentioned the regulatory stuff and I've had lots of conversations with people in North America. Is that around the whole billing thing, or is it more about the law and various standards that you have to kind of maintain? I ask the question because I'm based in the UK, you're in the US and obviously things are very different. So just quite interested to hear what the regulatory stuff looks like for you.

Dr Mark Carter: 15:22

Yeah, there's not so much billing, though billing that comes up. We don't take insurance. But even if I order lab, sometimes they want to deny the lab for whatever reason, and then we have to figure out why. Why did they deny it? It's just extra work. But the main ones would be just like the state has its regulations, just as a medical facility, and then there's a laser licensing, and so they have all this stuff that they want you to do, you know. Then there's, you know, business license and taxes and the EA, and I mean there's like layers, and sometimes it feels like they just add stuff and like, okay, does that really benefit the patient? Is that really making things safer? And so, yeah, it's just all those other things.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 16:23

Got it. If you had a magic wand, what would be the one fix that you would fix in the business overnight? Just wave it and it's done. What would it be?

Dr Mark Carter: 16:33

um, I would say consistently. Um, because it does feel like something you have to work at and stay up front of, you know, because you know the landscape changes so quickly. Yeah, if I had a magic wand I'd be like yeah, just the leads, if we just have them consistent that would really help.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 16:59

Got it At the moment. Where do most of your leads come from? I guess it's multi-channels, but where do you think most of your leads come from?

Dr Mark Carter: 17:06

I would say we get a lot of referrals and that's great. So we're doing more paid ads now, and so I want that to be more of where we get leads, primarily because I can predict it more. It's more predictable. At least primarily because I can predict it more it's more predictable. But right now I would say, yes, majority referrals and then paid ads, and then Google search or probably last would be organic social media.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 17:42

Got it. So if your clinic suddenly saw a massive influx in leads next week, I think we you know if you said we could double, I think we could accommodate that.

Dr Mark Carter: 18:17

But yeah, first would be like just getting them scheduled and then, if that was working, then it would be like having being able to provide the service in a timely fashion. So we want to do it within seven days. A new person, so yeah, that would kind of be.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 18:38

I would be the next issue got it and I mean you've been in a space for a while and if you could go back and do it all over again and you have to start the clinic fresh tomorrow, what would you do differently?

Dr Mark Carter: 18:51

oh man, um by the uh, I think I would have um committed more to marketing and um, looking back, I think I was nervous about it. I think, and when're starting marketing or you haven't done it before you think that you should put the dollar in and it should immediately come back to you. And not true at all, especially on Google. You have to figure out what offer is going to work, you have to figure out the messaging, and then it still is going to work. You have to figure out the messaging, um, and then you it still. It's going to take time, as you know. You have to be okay, like not getting anything for a few months, like you could just literally not get anything and I didn't have that. I was like no, let's just forget it, we're going to do something else. So I would have committed more to uh doing paid marketing.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 19:46

I understand, and if you had a particular point, say in the last six months that's been a particular, I would have committed more to doing paid marketing. I understand, and have you had a particular point, say in the last six months that's been particularly difficult, where you felt stuck or unsure of what your move was going to be, if at all?

Dr Mark Carter: 19:59

Yeah, we did have, like this year, we did have a couple of down months and I was like what is going on? Um, a couple down months and I was like what is going on? And, um, so we, so we I mean we had to just make some shifts and really lean on the people that we have already. Um, now we were getting, you know, we're getting the leads where we'd normally get, but we just had to really diagnose what's missing here. Why is our revenue down? And it happens in some of the seasonal, but yeah, that was difficult. We had to really drill down and see what the issue was, and was there anything that particularly came to light?

Dr Andrew Greenland: 20:46

Did you make any discoveries or aha moments that have helped you moving forward?

Dr Mark Carter: 20:53

Yeah, we had some internal changes. Someone had to go off, so we had less capacity, so that was one thing. I think that, with that, the sales part, so I didn't realize how valuable that person was and so, yeah, so it really showed. So, okay, we had to shore up everything else and really I think it was hopeful because now it's something that we can specifically look at and so it won't be something that we get caught off on around ourselves is like how we're interacting with people. You know we can actually measure the number and like, ok, we need to work on X or we need to work on how we talk to people, or we really doubted in like the whole sales process and how it works for people thank you.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 21:52

Is there a part of your role that feels particularly heavier than it should do at the moment? Obviously, you're a clinician, you're working clinically, you're seeing patients, you have managerial responsibility for the clinic, but is there anything that's particularly um rolls heavier than it should be right now for you?

Dr Mark Carter: 22:10

um heavy, um no, I mean I always. I mean I I feel like I'm I'm responsible, like I've always felt like I'm 100 responsible for everything that happens. Even if you know someone does something wrong, then okay, I didn't make it clear that that's the way we do it or this is what I was looking for. So, yeah, I don't feel necessarily that there's undue pressure or heaviness. There's just an opportunity to address whatever the issue is. So you know, whether it's me I wasn't clear on something, or the person's not understanding what the job is, or maybe they're just not performing period, then that's on me to have a conversation Got it, and is there anything in terms of a blind spot?

Dr Andrew Greenland: 23:03

you're currently aware of Things you know that might need attention, but just haven't got the bandwidth to address it yet, because obviously there's so many different things that we do in running these things. I just wonder there's something in the back of your mind that you know you've got to get around to?

Dr Mark Carter: 23:15

um no, yeah, I have a list so, um, and it's, it's this, it's a fire that's burning. I just have to let it burn because we have other priorities. So the one thing that I'm kind of not addressing, that we need to, is our website. So there's a lot of stuff, but there's a lot of little things that we need to work on. Particularly, there's this recent Google update, and so a lot of our pages got hit by that. That's across the board. Other companies, other medical spas they've been hit too by this. That's certainly something that we need to address, but it's not the single most important thing Of course, of course.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 24:05

Where is the future for Modern Body Clinic? Where would you like to be say in the next 12 months or so?

Dr Mark Carter: 24:12

Good question. Well, in the next one month I really like to see that we address those, particularly the men's stuff, that we address that and like we have a program around that, and then more doing more regenerative medicine. I'd like to see us doing more of that particularly. I'd like it that just the difference you can see for people is profound. They don't primarily, they're having some type of pain issue and how you can just take them from here to this.

Dr Mark Carter: 24:49

Like you know, they're functional. They can go golf now or hike or whatever. The issue was that they were just totally debilitated by before and they tried all this other stuff that didn't work.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 25:04

Got it In terms of thinking about growth, expansion, more clinics, or are you just happy with, or content with, your operation there in Phoenix?

Dr Mark Carter: 25:15

I'm open to expanding. I would. I mean, I'd really like to see this really dialed in and we're almost there, but that would be something, yeah. Yeah, we'd be open to that and yeah, that would be interesting.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 25:35

And presumably there's opportunities for things like sort of partnerships, and you've already talked about other services in this space. Are those things that crop up for you in your business? You mean partnership with other businesses or providers Other businesses or I don't know tech providers, or sponsoring particular products. Um, I don't know tech providers or um sponsoring particular products, I don't know how. It's probably more something that happens in the us, perhaps, versus over here in our health service.

Dr Mark Carter: 26:02

So just curious to know whether those are things that come up for you yeah, I mean I would like to develop more um, at least informal partnerships, so like um, at least informal partnership, so like, for instance, like with a yoga studio or a gym or something like that, because they're, you know, we serve as the same type of people but we're doing different things, and so certainly I I talked to clients a lot about doing exercise and training and all that, especially with weight loss.

Dr Mark Carter: 26:34

But I'm not a trainer. Um, I can't give your program necessarily or won't be good, or I'm not good at it. Um, so they'd be better served by doing someone that can give them a structured program. So yeah, yeah, that is that is something we're interested in doing, and it's on that list too. Amazing, mark. Thank you so much for your time this afternoon. It's been a really interesting, amazing.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 26:53

Mark, thank you so much for your time this afternoon. It's been a really interesting conversation talking about you and the Modine Body Clinic, some of the things that you've been trying to do, the challenges, because I think these are things we're all learning from and I'm sure this will resonate with lots of fellow clinic owners and entrepreneurs. So thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it.

Dr Mark Carter: 27:12

You got it.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 27:13

Thank you.