Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 0:00

Welcome to another episode of Voices in Health and Wellness. This is the show where we spotlight operators, clinicians, and visionaries leading the charge in health-forward care models across the UK and North America. Today's guest is Dr. Ryan Diepenbrock, a board certified expert in cosmetic surgery and founder of Renewed Look. With a foot in both the clinical and strategic realms of patient-centered care, Ryan brings a unique lens to how aesthetic clinics are evolving. So, Ryan, thank you very much for joining us this afternoon and welcome to the show.

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 0:28

Well, thank you very much for having me. This is exciting. I'm glad to uh talk to some uh peer across the pond.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 0:35

So thank you very much. And thank you. So maybe we could start at the top. Can you tell us a little bit about Renewed Look and what your current role is there?

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 0:43

Sure. So uh renewedlook.com, which is the website. The the business name is Deep and Brock Facial Cosmetics Surgery. So as you can imagine, my name's Ryan Diepenbrock. I specialize in facial rejuvenation, both surgical and non-rejuvenation, both surgical and non-surgical rejuvenation of the face, head, and neck. So uh Diepenbrock facial cosmetic surgery actually started about 10 years ago in California when I was an active duty military member. I was fortunate enough to uh and have a wife that would allow me to start a separate private practice outside of my military obligation. And so I did that in California and and grew that as much as I possibly could based on the amount of time that I had. And then when I decided that um uh it was time for for my family and I to separate the military, we took that business to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and I joined up with uh really the the paramount in uh oral and maxillofacial surgery uh in this part uh you know of the country. It's a large group practice that was interested in bringing in facial cosmetic surgery into the maxillofacial surgery practice. So that's how Deep and Brock facial cosmetic surgery had moved from California to Fort Wayne. Ever since uh we moved here in 2019, the brand has just continued to develop and steamroll and grow and grow into an office now where I have three locations. Um we have um uh nurse injectors, assistants, uh surgical facilities within the practice itself. So it's really grown uh to not only a local facial cosmetic surgery practice, but we have patients from uh all over the United States. I even have patients coming from the UK, from Paris, from Dubai, from China. So we've become an international destination as well.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 2:45

Amazing. Always good to hear the backstory for the business. But what originally drew you to the aesthetics and cosmetics surgery space in the first place?

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 2:52

I'll tell you what. So I was fortunate enough uh that I did my maxillofacial training in the United States Air Force. The great thing about my training was it was multi-specialty. So I was learning how to do noses from um otolaryngologists, I was learning how to do skin resurfacing from dermatologists and blephroplastys from oculoplastic surgeons. Uh, and the military is very collegial uh academics and very, very uh patient-centered. So I gained a lot of experience and actually it was my time on otolaryngology doing rhinoplasties that I really first felt like a surgeon. I was a second-year surgery resident. Uh, I was actually uh uh in there learning how to do surgical procedures. From there, I was blessed enough to be afforded the opportunity to do a fellowship in cosmetic surgery. Um, so really it was the collegial environment for my surgical peers that really helped to um provide me that that extra emphasis and extra oomph to bring the the my skills to a more subspecialized area.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 4:05

Got it. So, in terms of what you're doing now, what does a sort of typical day, typical week look like for you? Are you more clinical, strategic, a mix of both? Where do your preferences and passions like at the moment?

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 4:17

Well, my passions always lie in the clinical realm. Um Usually the mornings uh are going to be surgical procedures. That I might have a surgery that's gonna be four, five, six hours and take up the majority of the day. So we might have those big surgeries, we might have more condensed surgeries where I might be doing, you know, a number of blephroplasty surgeries, I might be doing a rhinoplasty accommodation and then doing consultations in the afternoon. And those consultations may be in-person consultations, they may be virtual consultations where we have uh we have it set up where we do a number of virtual consultations for our out-of-town patients. And then unfortunately, I don't have a ton of time during the day uh to get administrative things going, but I do make time to sit with my clinical and non-clinical team for at least about an hour a week to focus on what's coming up in the week, to have strategic plans on what our next uh marketing agenda is, planning any open houses or specials. So I try to do that, but but honestly, a lot of the work comes after the business hours.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 5:26

Got it. Um, you mentioned about your team. Can you tell us a bit more about your team, who's on your team, what's the kind of the scale of your operation, who does what would be interesting to hear? Absolutely.

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 5:35

So very uh very large practice. Like I said, I'm one of five surgeons. Um, we we really encompass the entire scope of oral maxillofacial surgery. We have we have cancer and reconstructive surgeons, we have orthanathic surgeons, we have uh the the dental alveolar traditional oral surgery uh surgeons as part of it. Obviously, I'm doing the cosmetic surgery. So we have uh, I think at this point, about 74 employees, uh, and that'll range everywhere from office managers to marketing to billing uh to the clinical staff to the front desk to IT. So very robust practice. My group, I'll have uh a registered nurse who's with me, um, helping with pre and post-ops, helping with sedations, IVs, uh, and then I'll have my six um surgical assistants as well as a nurse injector. Uh, and she's gonna be doing my pre-ops and post-ops as well, suture removal, but she's also doing skin resurfacing, uh, neuromodulators, facial fillers, laser resurfacings, microneedlings, and then I have the scheduling team as well as the marketing department.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 6:47

Very robust, very comprehensive. Um, in terms of the space at the moment, what sort of shifts are you seeing in aesthetics and the medspar industry right now from your perspective?

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 6:58

Well, what I see is I think that the trend over the last few years had gone from doing minimally invasive procedures. Everyone wanted to have something that was going to be effective and quick with no downtime and wasn't expensive. Well, what you find out is that's something that we'll never be able to obtain. So I think the the paradigm has shifted a bit, where the neuromodulators are still hot. You know, your Botox and Disboard and Java are still hot. Facial fillers, I think we're starting to see a trend where that's started dropping off. And a lot of that's because of some of the um attention that some MRI studies have got about how these facial fillers aren't dissolving like we were told that they were going to? This is a whole nother topic. But what I'm starting to see now is I think patients want to have realistic, natural results, and they're leaning more toward surgical interventions that are going to be permanent.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 8:02

Interesting. And what about um the patients and the clients that you see? What's the sort of have there been any shifts in patient behavior expectations in the last few years? And I mean, including that time period, COVID, because COVID's done all sorts of things to all industries. And I just wonder whether that's made a difference to what you see in your clients.

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 8:20

Well, you know, this is completely anecdotal, but I think a lot of my peers would agree with me. At least in the United States, there seemed to be a lot of influx of money that was thrown into the economy immediately after uh and during COVID. And what I what I saw was I think that some of these people who necessarily weren't getting procedures done, they were more interested in having procedures done, frankly, because they had a lot more downtime and they had some discretionary income that they could spend. So actually, in the United States, in my opinion, uh the post the immediate post-COVID era was really, really hot. And then just like it it does with um uh with politics, the political nature with the elections, people tend to uh hold on to their discretionary income when maybe there's some insecurity in what the economy may do. Right now, I'm starting to see things definitely um pick up in terms of both surgical and non-surgical um procedures. So there's a lot of ebbs and flows. It comes and goes. And that's why it's always important to make sure that uh, you know, we can remain versatile, flexible, uh, add procedures that are less um expensive uh as well to still give those patients uh their a desired result.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 9:47

And have been any shifts in expectations of patients more demanding? Do they have um with you with social media and what they see being put out there and then trying to live up to a particular kind of imagery? Do you see that playing out in patient demand?

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 10:00

Sure. I think there's patient demand is always high, especially when you're dealing with elective procedures. That's why it's important as a surgeon to make sure that you are giving realistic expectations. Okay. And I think that our practice is really good at doing that. You know, I cannot make someone who is 70 years old look the way they looked when they were 30. And I think it's really important to have that conversation. You're obviously still gonna have people that you've done great work, you've had a very nice outcome, but there's still gonna be some things that they um aren't pleased with. And so I think that's really important up in the in the consultation phase to make sure that they understand that you're not going to have you know always a perfectly sculpted neck or jawline because there are other factors that are coming into play.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 10:57

Got it. What about the um regulatory organizations like the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery? Do they have an important role in sort of managing these expectations and the people practicing in your space?

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 11:10

Uh, you know, the the Academy itself is a fantastic organization. The thing I like about the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery is it's multi-specialty. Uh there inevitably you can get within your core specialty. Mine's oral maxillofacial. We do things with a certain way. But the nice thing about the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery is I can call up a dermatologist and ask a dermatologist how he or she would manage the skin condition. I can call up a plastic surgeon and ask him or her how they would manage this. Same thing with um, you know, an ENT or oculoplastics. That's what's really great about the AACS is it the multi-specialty nature helps us to provide the best care that we can for our patients. Um, you know, in terms of not only positive things, but also how would you manage some certain complications? So the AACS does a really good job connecting us with peers.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 12:09

Got it. I think you mentioned earlier on um that you become a destination. What do you what do you think is behind that? And why are people not able to access what you do in their own country, or is there a perception around the difference in quality in having treatments done in different countries? What's your kind of take on this?

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 12:28

You know, I can't really speak for many of the other uh other nations how their patients view cosmetic surgery. I just know that at least in the terms of elective surgery, people will tend to travel somewhere where they feel comfortable and and obviously they like the work. I think social media has been very helpful in getting the the word out about different surgeons. And I don't think that people are afraid to travel. And so our job, and especially that of my surgery coordinator, who is exceptional at what she does, is making that process simple, providing them uh locations where they can stay, providing them nursing uh transportation to and from the surgery and their post ops. So I think if we take a lot of the guesswork out of it, people are more willing to travel.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 13:28

I understand. Um what's so what's working well in um your business at the moment, whether it be clinically, operationally, marketing strategy, because I mean you sound like you've got a very robust team and everything is covered. What's your kind of secret source in your business, do you think?

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 13:45

I don't have a secret sauce. I have great people that work with me, I have great ideas. I think, not me personally, I mean, I have some good ideas as well, but the the people who work with me have fantastic ideas. And I think that being humble and being a leader who listens to the team, that's gonna make you more successful. Like I said, we meet, try to meet at least once a week. And that's an and that's an open forum. I mean, we have we have an open door policy where um if somebody has a suggestion, they're not afraid to speak that suggestion. And when you collectively develop an environment like that, I think inevitably you're gonna be better. And that's gonna range everywhere from the the front desk women who are doing front desk and checkout to the marketing director to the um to the surgical techs. Just the flow is so much better. And when you can establish that type of environment, and I can be a leader that I don't have any uh misconceptions that that I know everything, and when I can listen and help to guide, it makes the team stronger, which helps our patients.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 14:59

Got it. Marketing, this must be quite an interesting thing. And you mentioned you've got a very good marketing team. What what's what is it they do that works and draws in people and has this reach across um you know international borders to draw people in and make it a destination from from your perspective?

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 15:17

I I think honestly, the the the work that we do is is good, but I also think it's really uh uh a relaxed, friendly environment. I I really pride myself and I and I and I would say the same thing for everyone on the team. Um, we treat people like their family, and I and I don't want to I don't mean to sound cliche with that, but we really truly do. And we care about uh not not only our image, but we care how we treat people from the second they make their first phone call to the second they have their last follow-up with us. Um and so I think that we show that in our social media posts. We show that with our um and and how we interact with people within the office.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 16:09

So you're really big on the patient experience from starting to.

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 16:11

Oh, 100%.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 16:13

Got it. On the flip side, is there anything that's frustrating that you haven't quite nailed in in the way your business runs that you're kind of just trying to kind of fine-tune?

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 16:23

Oh, of course, of course. I I wish I wish my best friend was someone who worked in uh the the the analytics of Instagram or Facebook or Google because I wish I could figure out how they pick and choose um what accounts get shown. I mean, that's to me, that's that's that's frustrating. You know, we don't have an enormous social media following by any stretch of the imagination, but we have a loyal uh social media following. So what's frustrating, I wish I could crack the metric and figure out how to grow this even bigger and get our message out to even more people.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 17:01

I think you and everyone else in business would love to know that, but I think it's never going to be something that's revealed. We have to kind of work these things out by trial and error and spend spending money on ads, I guess. Yes. Um other bottlenecks that you're constantly. I mean that the obviously the marketing side of things and social media is interesting. Do you have any other bottlenecks or things that challenge you, your colleagues, your business?

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 17:25

Hmm. Um you have to come. Let me let me let me ponder on that one a little bit and and see if I can get back with you with something.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 17:35

No worries, no worries, we'll come back to it. Um if you had a magic wand and could fix one thing in the business, or maybe even more widely in the specialty, the specialty even niche, what would that be?

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 17:48

If I had a magic wand, I would want to see collaboration and collegial nature amongst peers. Um, I think, like I said, in the military, there was this great collegial uh environment. Everyone was very patient-centric. We were all going to help each other because frankly, I think everyone was getting paid the same amount of money and we all had the same mission. In the private sector, it's different because there's a lot more competition. Uh, and there can um there can certainly the the competitive nature can can hurt um one surgeon you know over another. And I would just like to see everyone really work for the for the betterment. I think there's plenty of work that goes on out there, there's plenty of um uh procedures and fillers and things that can be done, and I just think we'll all be better if we work together as a team.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 18:50

So is it quite cutthroat? Is that what you all suggest?

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 18:54

I I think it can be, and I think especially in in other markets, uh, it can be. But you know, I don't focus on what naysayers may say or do. I focus more on what what I can do to be the best I can be.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 19:11

What do you think the solution is? What would it take to make this more collegiate space across the niche and specialty?

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 19:18

You know, I I think just spending time listening uh to to what others have to say and to not uh have you know such a such a steadfast uh dogmatic approach to surgery, say, you know, my specialty does it this way, and so this is how it has to be done. I think when we all work as a team and we learn from one another, we're gonna be a lot better off.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 19:45

Obviously, we knew um look is a very successful business from the way you described things, but if you were gonna start again from scratch tomorrow, would you do anything differently?

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 19:56

I I think if I had to do it all over again, I think I would be more willing to invest in marketing. Um, and I think I would have changed the marketing approach. For example, um you know what what what we have done ever since I moved here six years ago, every patient that comes through the door, uh they every new patient fills out a uh postcard that says how they found out about us. What what media was that? Was it you know Google, was it a website, was it Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, newspaper, billboard, whatever that may be. And so we track that. And I think early on in the business, I was investing um money in things like newspaper print ads, which I don't think are nearly as successful for what I do uh in 2025 as what maybe they would have been 15 years ago before the uh uh normalization of the social media world.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 21:04

Um I don't know if you've got anything um in response to the magic wand question. I can loop back to that a bit later if you if you'd like. I'm just very curious to know if there's anything that you'd uh like to waive a magic wand to fix in the business.

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 21:19

Yeah, I I I um you have me speechless on that one. That's a great question. I can't think of a magic, I can't think of a magic wand answer right now.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 21:29

Okay, no worries. Um, another uh hypothetical. If you had a sudden inflex of patients tomorrow, I don't know, 20, 30, 50 patients, what would break first?

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 21:42

Uh what would break first would be uh hopefully not you. Yeah, no, it wouldn't be me. Uh what would break first would be the access to care to be able to get that many patients in. Um the the nice thing is my my my nurse uh injector Jen is extremely talented. She's done a wonderful job being able to really step up to help with pre and post ops. That was hard for me, um, is giving up the the the stranglehold that I had um you know on on post-op, you know, post-hopping patients. I was I was taking all the sutures out until a number of years ago. And so that was challenging, but she is fantastic uh in making the patients feel at ease. So the the first thing that would be hard, the first roadblock would be simply the schedule, trying to get in these number of consults because you know I still do uh oral maxillofacial surgery as well. I still do uh wisdom teeth extractions and and implants and um you know biopsies and things like that. I love that part of my specialty as well. So that would be the hardest part is if the cosmetic surgery practice continues to grow, where where am I going to put all these new patients?

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 23:10

Got it. I'm thinking ahead, where would you like to be in six to 12 months, either professionally or um as the business grows?

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 23:18

Uh six to 12 months from now, I'd like to continue to grow and develop uh some of our non-surgical procedures uh that I think are going to be effective. I had mentioned earlier that I think the filler use is decreased. And I think that any of the major um uh hyaluronic acid filler companies will tell you the same thing. So growing and expanding our platelet-rich plasma, um, some of our biomaterials, platelet-rich fiber and injections, uh, that I think is really appealing right now to the consumer. People want to have things that came from them as opposed to something that came from a laboratory.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 24:08

I hear you. And is there anything exciting on the cards in terms of where research is going? Um, that maybe sort of new procedures online that you're very excited to get your hands on at some point?

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 24:18

Yeah, I think that I think that continuing to develop um fat transfer, which is a big part of my practice, continuing to figure out how uh platelet-rich plasma and stem cells and uh exosomes and these types of things can all work together to help increase the longevity or the what we call the take rate or acceptance rate of fat grafting. I think we've come a long way in the past 15 years, um, but I think there's so much more to go in terms of um, you know, uh uh using um platelet-rich plasma and stem cells.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 24:58

Ryan, thank you so much for your time this afternoon. I really appreciate hearing about um your business, your work, what you've created, uh renewed look, and um wish you obviously lots of continued success with it. It sounds an amazing operation. So thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate it.

Dr_Ryan_Diepenbrock: 25:14

Well, I appreciate it and thank you very much for having me. And again, I couldn't do this without every single person on my team. And um, you know, I have been blessed and very fortunate to get to work with such amazing people.

Dr_Andrew_Greenland: 25:27

Amazing, thank you.