Dr. B – Queen of the PDO Thread Butt Lift!
Hello, Barbara. Thanks for joining us today. We are crazy excited to be with you this afternoon and look forward to hearing all of your information. For those of you new listeners. My name is Stacey Reynolds. I’m the founder and CEO of Les Encres Threads and today we have with us the lovely Barbara Bedford, who is the owner and nurse injector at skin esteem located in Queens, New York.
Well, thank you. Thank you so much for having me. It’s a pleasure.
Excellent. Barbara, do you want to take just a few minutes and introduce yourself to our guests?
My name is Barbara Bedford, I’m an adult nurse practitioner licensed in the state of New York, I have a DNP, meaning a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. So out of respect, my clients call me Dr. B. I own my own and operate my own medical spa since June 2015. In St. Albans, Queens, seeing probably nearly 3000 or more clients in a year. I really enjoy the medical aesthetic field, I also own a skin and a makeup line. And I am in a predominantly black community where it’s a plus for them, so they don’t have to travel out of town to go and get similar procedures done. Plus, my costs are more affordable. I educate a lot. My number one goal for my clients is patient satisfaction. And I represent every single brand that I’m with, with utmost respect. Another thing I do, I mentor nurse practitioners into opening their own medical spa since 2009, and I do have them come to the spa to watch me work.
And I can personally attest as I’ve been to your location, Dr. B, that you have some incredible energy floating around there. And you can just feel the buzz when you walk in. It’s very exciting. Yes, thank you so much. Let’s start off by having you share with us how you have integrated threads into your daily practice at your spa.
I wanted to do everything that a nurse practitioner is licensed to do in medical esthetics. I got a certificate for thread lifting. But it was only for the mono PDO thread in 2017. It wasn’t barbed, PDO barbed threads were separate. It wasn’t that popular amongst my customers at the time, but some of them knew about thread lifting. And that did a few it was this year, probably around February when your rep Giselle reached out to me in Instagram in my inbox. And about that same week two different women said to me, can you start doing threads again? I see other doctors doing it. I said okay, I was using this other brand but wasn’t that sure about it, but something about Giselle just gave me that energy as something about her. I decided to try and got Trained by one of your nurse injectors in February and because of my large Instagram following, and I guess the trust people have in me and my clients since February until now I’ve done probably 300 different thread procedures with Les Encres Threads. Every single week. I’m doing thread sometimes three in a day.
That’s amazing. Barbara, tell me what are some of your top two or three favorite thread procedures that you’d like to do the most.
Face, butt and tear trough!
Ah, you are the unofficial Queen of PDO threads on the butt, an amazing amount of thread treatments in that area.
I’ve done a few I’ve done one last week. And a lot of people wanting the tear trough because what I do my clients are so nice. They allow me to take pictures they allow me to video, they allow me to share. I actually have an Instagram ad right now with over 20,000 views of me doing a tear trough read and the goal is messages every single day I’m answering messages probably got around 20 something appointments for tear trough just from that and other different procedures with PDO threads, a lady just inbox me. She saw the ad what she wanted to do the face and we have an appointment this week.
Incredible. With the gain and rise in popularity of threads on social media, how would you say threads have fundamentally changed from when you first started using them to now.
Social media is number one, it was 2017, I had the first certificate. My clients have grown since then. And just marketing, doing live videos talking about it doing threads on my sister doing threads on myself, it gained the trust and from the public. And many don’t understand the idea of how PDO threads work. And they do explain when they call, can you tell me the price of this, I will let them know what thread lifting is, and explain the reason and how it works. I redirect them to my page or my website, then I will quote them a course. And I always tell them, I just became master injector, let them know that they’re in good hands.
Very smart. What would you say is the most common misconception about threads that people ask you about?
People think that anybody could do threads. And I say to them, it’s in the United States is actually a medical procedure. Many people think that they don’t work. And I will compare threads to fillers. I’m kind of drifting away from fillers, because threads are much more safer. And the thing I tell them, they’ll compare like other providers, oh, I want to see somebody, I just got to three threads. I explained to them that there are different thread companies that are out there. And because they figure that it’s only one type of thread, if they just don’t understand how threads work in the body. And this is where I come in. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it.
What would you say, has been the most important lesson you’ve learned in your threading career so far?
I always love it and the most important lesson is to have faith in me and trust. And in my head, I always say you know what PDO Thread won’t cause that big of a harm to somebody. So far, so good. With the hundreds of treated, I think it’s very, very safe. It’s one of the safest procedures that I’ve done, where I have to puncture somebody’s skin. The safety of it is number one. You don’t have to go under the knife. I tell people yes, it doesn’t last years like a facelift. But it’s safer. To me. It’s not invasive, it’s much less invasive. And I could do a lot with threads.
Excellent. So you and I’ve had a chance to meet out in the field. Really when I say that it’s such a unique level of energy that you have there. You’ve got an amazing story of how you’ve come to be Dr. B, and have a large social media following. What would you say using all of your vast level of experience even outside of just PDO threads? What do you think is the biggest challenge facing in facing in the aesthetic industry today?
People who are not licensed are doing a standard procedure that really upsets me. Last night, a friend of mine sent me some videos that three or two ladies to in threads they got from Korea who are not nice and medical providers on YouTube. And the amount of followers they got, the amount of comments and so on forth in a positive energy. And I said, you know, look at that, and I was kind of offended by those videos in that. I think that that Department of Medicine or the American Medical Association, or some kind of organization really needs to put a stop to it. Because it’s unsafe to have the misconception of the public looking up to these people and they I have clients who come to me with those videos. Yeah, can I have my Face do it without even knowing that I will have to explain to them. Right through a lot of education around social media to your patients and really helping them understand. Yes, it’s important to be a licensed medical professional, operating this treatment and really understanding how to execute properly on the treatment.
Where do you, with all of your vast knowledge and education, where do you self educate? Or how do you self educate?
I self-educate from your YouTube page. From the Les Encres nice fancy manual that I keep in my phone. So whenever I have spare time, I will read it, read it, read it, read it, read it. I will attend live conferences. But since the pandemic I don’t, so I do everything online, and I take online certification courses, I do get a lot of emails from companies. And I do read, sometimes I will go on YouTube. And I will follow doctors who offer the similar threads lock on crop last time cross threads, and I watched the videos.
What would you say when you’ve got new trainers or trainees at your disposal when you’re working with them? What is something you really hone in? Whether it’s threads or any other aesthetic modality? What’s one thing that you really kind of drive home to them that will help them with their success.
They have to continue to learn. Even after I train, I let them stay in touch with me. And I actually let them come back for free. I do because they seem to have a difficulty using the barbed threads. So I allow them to come back and practice on my clients who signed up to be models, those models, I give them a discount off. I do have them enroll, of course with the brand. And I do send them that book that they need to read. And I’m just a guide for them. And I really take the trade serious. I’m just a guide for them. But of course, you know with this is new to them. So they’re kind of nervous, they kind of anxious. I do live videos after the training with them. So to close up any gaps and have any questions they need. I had a video this morning before I came on with a later train last Saturday. So she’s coming back this Saturday.
You know, I like what you said there. For anybody who knows me for years have always said, you know, there’s a difference between a sage on the stage and a guide on the side where it’s one thing to watch someone perform a treatment. And it’s a whole different thing to really learn yourself and to have someone teach you rather than just show you, you definitely have that guide on the side. And I appreciate that you offer that ongoing mentoring for students who have completed your training, because it’s, it’s so important for them to have the confidence to know that they can do it in addition to the skill at exact thing to kind of master over time. My other favorite question? Okay. PDO plla are PCL threads, which one is your favorite thread? And why?
All right. I use videos mostly. They work anywhere on the body. They do create volume, no matter what they say. PDO Threads work. I like plla Yeah, I like plla because they create more volume as passionate areas where it’s needed. I use plla in the inner thighs and the arms the batwings a lot because it’s even the belly where their skin is very loose plla threads the twist ones are amazing. PCL Threads are good. You know, I give my clients the option. I say you have threads that last 18 to 24 months and there’s threads that last two to four years. Choose great. PCLs are good because I do a lot of sharp threads a lot. So I love the PLLAs because they work immediately and they create more volume. But all the threads do work, though immediately they do even the PDOs. But the PLLAs I reserved those threads for areas that I think that really need that tightness and that volume. Excellent.
Well, I can certainly tell you have passion about the threads themselves in the technology. But tell us a story about a patient of yours that has really touched your heart. And whether it’s a thread patient or another aesthetic modality patient, someone who’s really…
Okay, I have a few but I’m gonna touch on a thread patient. So when I started using Les Encres, I think this was in March this lady, nearly 60. She follows me on Instagram, she came to me and she wanted facelift. Now, I was new, doing Les Encres PDO Threads. I think she was probably the third or fourth client, it was a Saturday. So I lifted her face. The video is actually on my Instagram page. All she loved it. She loved it so much instant instant look. So what I did with her and my clients with facelift, I usually make one face first and show them the comparison. So she loved it. She didn’t want to leave the spa, she sat there with me, she was so excited. She called one of her colleagues and show her picture. And the colleague didn’t know what she got. And a colleague did recognize that her face looked younger, and it lifted. So just to create that joy in her and the first time she ever met that day. Of course, she became a long time client. She comes every week now for something else. But that really melt my heart that I was able to make this leader so happy because she wasn’t that happy with how her face was drooping. And just to bring that joy to her where she had to call a colleague and said, Look, do you see something different? Even today, she’s still instant brag about her face. And this was like in February, March.
I love that. Also know as the Queen of butt lifts right now. Dr. B, what are you doing? What’s your secret sauce? Or what do you think you’re doing a little different that makes it work so well, because I’ve seen your results.
They are absolutely incredible. Um, it’s just common sense. Just know where threads go and what they do. Just a view that with aging, we lose volume, so everything drops. So I know that definitely. And I do watch videos. I never knew about the spider web designs until design until Giselle showed that video. And nobody showed me how to do it. I knew what I knew what threads to use. PLLA twist or the PDO twists, perfect for volume. And the Les Encres PDO Barbs are perfect for lifting. And I just picture the butts and I said, Okay, if this is how I’m gonna do it, this is how I’m gonna do that. And it works.
With all of the success you’ve had in doing 300 plus thread treatments this year alone, do you have a common complication that you run into?
With barbed threads, I come to realize that always assess the amount of volume somebody has, okay. I have predominantly black people, as clients and in some cultures, they use bleaching creams a lot to lighten spots. And with consistent use, it thins the skin. So I have clients, when they come in, I see the skin, they want threads, I tell them, you may not get the lift that you’re supposed to get. Your skin is so thin and they understand. But rarely, when I do a thread like the end of the Barbed thread will sometimes stick out if it doesn’t go deep enough. Sometimes I do clients who are so afraid they’ll shift their position no matter how I love them but in their thoughts. And sometimes I have clients who don’t follow post instructions by massaging. So every single thread procedure I do I always take up before and After photo, and I tell my trainees that always because you need to track the progress, and it’s easy to fix, customers will get scared. Okay, come back, and I will massage it out. If the area is sticking out and numb the area again, I use a needle to puncture the area and push the thread down. And that usually works that usually work, but rarely any complications for PDOs. Sometimes they will feel the sticky, pinprick feeling for a few days. And I tell them is expected and I tell them to sit on a cushion or something. But after a few days, it’s gone.
We I’m one of our injectors in Texas, calls that spicy! So it’s going to be spicy for a few days.
Yes, yes. And it does happen. It happens in all my books, but all of our few days.
Well the PLLA Threads are more rigid than the PDO threads. So people will feel that spiciness or that the prickliness with the plla just because of its rigidity. But it does go away in a few days. With all of the activities that you do, and all of the different parts you have your hand and with training and mentoring and running a very successful spa yourself. What are your time hacks? How are you managing all of these different balls in the air?
I have a very happy home life. My personal life is very happy. And you can’t bring your stress to work even though it’s so avoidable, avoidable. And many people but I’m just not that type of person. I’m a people person. I love being around people. I network with a lot of my Instagram followers, whether I know them or not, I do a lot of live videos. And we not only talk about business, we talk about personal issues. So I network a lot, I do find the time to go out and you know, have something to eat. You know, I went out last night Mondays, I’m off when I’m finished with you, I’m going to the mall, I do stuff like that. Like I I schedule my appointments accordingly. I actually work alone in my spa and our clients to understand. So I scheduled my work accordingly. And they actually like that, and it works. And everybody asks me how do you manage all of this at once sometimes I’m running back and forth in my office, I have a friend who does come and help me out when not doing any procedures but like will guide my clients she’ll sweep she does, she’ll mop she’ll clean up after I’m done. And just to have somebody there but it’s just to be happy. I’m just a happy person overall.
Now there is one word I would certainly use to describe you! Electric magnetic happy. Sunshine. So just to kind of round things out. That is often the biggest question of the podcast is what is the most important thing you’ve learned in your life?
To be kind to be kind to share a lot of my Instagram followers we say oh, you share so much information that many people will charge to do. Just to be kind everything is not about money. And as long as my clients are very, very satisfied that comes first. Love it. Yes. Yes. Love it. Thank you.
Okay a lot about social media. where can our listeners find you?
Well, they could find me social media is where I have the most followers Instagram, medical spa, Queens, ny ny stands for New York and Facebook. You could find me with my name Barbara back for the business page is skin esteem. If you type Barbara Beckford. You’ll see all my business Instagram pages pop up. My website is skinesteem.com but I live on Instagram more because you better believe that is where I get our says 75% of my customers is Instagram. Yeah, so this is why I live on it so much and almost everything that I do is on Instagram. Wonderful.
Well Barbara, thank you for your time today and your listeners learned a lot. And I know I myself will be going to check out your Instagram account again.
Can y’all see me and you’ll see videos of me dancing to me or my friends.
Love it, love it, love it. Well enjoy your time at the mall today. And, and thank you again for all you do for the community. Have a great day!