Good Neighbor Podcast: Milton & More

EP #148: Thrive Medical Spa with Dr. Vincent Zubowicz, MD and Lisa Konz

Stacey Poehler

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0:00 | 13:25

Discover the transformational world of medical aesthetics with Milton's newest gem, Thrive Medical Spa, as I, Stacey Poehler, sit down with founders Dr. Vincent Zubowicz, MD and Lisa Konz. They share not just the treatments but the passion and philosophy that shape their cutting-edge beauty and wellness sanctuary. From the origins of their partnership to the intricate offerings that cater to every level of aesthetic need, this episode promises a journey through the art of personal enhancement, where science and self-care harmoniously intersect.

Listen as Dr. Zubowicz recounts the milestones of his medical career, shedding light on the evolution of cosmetic procedures from simple to sophisticated. Meanwhile, Lisa underscores the value of their client-centered approach, highlighting how comprehensive consultations lay the groundwork for each individual's journey toward their beauty goals. Whether you're a skincare enthusiast or toying with the idea of cosmetic surgery, tune in for an insider's look at the fusion of skill, technology, and personalized care that is the hallmark of Thrive Medical Spa.

Speaker 1

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Stacey Poehler.

Speaker 2

Hey everybody, I'm excited to be talking today with Dr Vincent Zubowitz and Lisa Kahn. They are from Thrive Medical Spa, which is right here in Milton. Welcome guys, Hi. Thank you.

Speaker 3

Yeah.

Speaker 2

So why don't you start off by telling us about Thrive Medical Spa, which is right here in Milton? Welcome guys, hi, thank you, yeah, so why don't you start off by telling us about Thrive Medical Spa?

Speaker 4

Well, Thrive Medical Spa was opened in December of 2022, 23 rather and it was opened as a vertically integrated medical spa full service. The reason that we decided to do it that way is because the complexity of the treatments for various aesthetic problems has grown exponentially over the last few decades and we wanted to provide different possibilities for correcting problems at all different levels. So when a patient comes in, they're not offered just one thing. They're offered any of a number of solutions that might handle their problem and they can pick the one that works best for them.

Speaker 2

Awesome, Awesome. Lisa, do you want to talk? You know, talk some more about that, maybe about the consultations and what people can expect.

Speaker 3

Sure, sure. So Dr Zubowitz has been doing this for a very long time. All of us that work here at Thrive have many, many years in the industry, so it's exciting that we've all come together for this new medical spa in the heart of Milton. Like he said, we can do a consultation, a complimentary consultation, and we can do anything from the least invasive thing like a beautiful facial. We even do spray tans. We go all the way up through a full laser suite so we can do ablative lasers and light lasers, and then we also, of course, offer plastic surgery with Dr Zubowitz. So we are kind of a one-stop shop.

Speaker 2

Awesome. And Dr Zubowitz, do you want to share a little bit kind of about your medical journey and how you got into the field of medical aesthetics and plastic surgery?

Speaker 4

Sure, I went to medical school at the University of Kansas in Kansas City and while there I decided that I like general surgery.

Speaker 4

University of Kansas in Kansas City. And while there, I decided that I like general surgery, so went through what's called a match program and ended up in the general surgery program at Emory University. And while there, just by chance, I was offered an opportunity to train in plastic surgery, which at that time was probably the best plastic surgery training program in the world. So, just by caprice, I decided that I would sign up with that and went, followed through with it, and it turns out that it was really one of the best professional decisions that I ever made.

Speaker 4

When I began my career, I was in academia at Emory University, and in those days aesthetic surgery was considered rather simple, and so aesthetic surgeons were sort of second tier. The big time reconstruction was what everyone wanted to do, and that included me. And then, as the years passed, the aesthetic part of the plastic and reconstructive surgery practice has grown. The operations have become very complex and, in addition to that, operations aren't the only thing that we're responsible for. We have a host of services, everything from skincare products and, as Lisa was talking, all the way through lasers and finally the most complex of all, which are the surgical procedures. So when I got into it, I decided that I wanted to be with a team that could provide all of those things, and that's how Thrive came to be.

Speaker 2

And did you guys own another spa in another location before coming here to Milton?

Speaker 4

No, but in my practice private practice we would offer it Again. This was years ago, when many of these services were very embryonal. We had skincare people, a person and an injector. Well, in those days the injections were very limited and the skincare was very limited. But, as we'll probably talk about in a little bit, they've become very sophisticated. So we needed more space and of course we now have a variety of lasers that simply wouldn't fit in a small plastic surgeon's office. So for that reason we've gotten into the spa, a medical spa business which is an extension of a plastic surgeon's private practice.

Speaker 2

Got it. Got it. So really kind of creating a one stop shop for aesthetics. You know you provide everything you know under one umbrella Can you talk about? You know some of the different services you offer and the benefits Maybe, you know, maybe start with something like the lasers I don't think people are as familiar with that modality and how that can help and enhance their lives.

Speaker 4

Yeah, we start at the very bottom. We have skincare products, which is the simplest thing of all, but there are different manufacturers that formulate different products that work with different types of skin for different clinical issues, and it's the reason I said different.

Speaker 4

It's like different to the sixth and that sort of corrals, the idea that there's a lot of complexity. And then, as you move up the ladder, you go to the skin care estheticians and they can do superficial things, like facials, to more invasive things using electromagnetic energy like lasers or radio frequency, lasers or radio frequency. And then we have our injectors, and the injectors use neuromodulators like Botox, which immobilize muscles that generate unwanted facial features through injectables. Again, there's a myriad of products that are available with different compositions for use in different parts of the body and of course, that again emphasizes the complexity of what we do right now. Then, as you get to the most serious of the treatments, which are the operations, they're sort of last resort, but oftentimes they're the only available solution to a given problem.

Speaker 3

And Stacey. Just to add on to that real quick, we have three injectors here that do the Botox and the fillers and we're very honored to just be voted the best Botox in Roswell Crabapple Milton. So that's quite an honor for the three girls.

Speaker 2

Cool, cool. And what type of plastic surgery procedures are you able to perform in the office there?

Speaker 4

We perform operations that can be done with what's called oral sedation and local anesthesia, in other words we're not going to use an anesthesiologist to put the patient to sleep. If that's necessary, then we use ambulatory surgery centers to do that. But many of the procedures that we do at Thrive can be done very comfortably with oral sedation and the proper administration of local anesthesia, and that can be anywhere from liposuction any part of the body. Gynecomastia, which is breast development in a male at the moment is the most common aesthetic procedure done on males. Procedure done on males we do eyelid surgery, fat grafting to the face and to the hands eyelid surgery and things of that variety Got it, Got it.

Speaker 2

Are there any myths or misconceptions out there about what you guys do that you'd like to take a minute to address?

Speaker 4

take a minute to address. I think the biggest misconception is that all medical spas are the same, and they really are not. There's different levels of service, there's different levels of expertise, and I think it's really important that when patients go and visit a med spa, they know, first of all, the quality of the people that are going to be delivering the services and also make certain that the various options that might deal with a particular problem are available to them anything to add on that, lisa?

Speaker 3

just that our medical director is a plastic surgeon, so he knows all the anatomy. He overseeses everything we do here. Some med spas are overseen by maybe even a dentist or someone that's not a plastic surgeon, so I feel like that gives us one step ahead for sure.

Speaker 2

Yeah, definitely. Can you think about any challenges or obstacles y'all have had to overcome since opening the business in December?

Speaker 4

Lisa, what about the business side of it?

Speaker 3

Really the only kind of fun thing is we're on Mayfield Road right across from the library, but to get to our parking lot you have to go to Heritage Walk. So we've had some people have a little bit of a hard time finding us. I feel like now we're getting a lot of repeat business, but I feel like the first month we were open, everyone just they had a little hard time finding us. We're in a white brick building, second floor, just across from the Milton Library. So other than that it's been great. Lots of repeat business, lots of friends sending friends. We're really friendly and nice and welcoming. So thankfully we've gotten a wonderful response. We're very much into community involvement so anything in the Milton community will be there supporting. Dr Zubowitz and his wife Christina are just wonderful philanthropists and will give to the community, give back all the time, so that's been nice to see. On my end.

Speaker 4

The other thing, stacey, that we didn't have to do is when we opened up the personnel that are here I've known for years. So it wasn't a matter of going out and recruiting and then deciding who would be good and who would be bad. Our team was in place not in one location, but at various locations, and they just congealed here, which made the startup really fairly easy from a professional point of view.

Speaker 2

Yeah, and you knew then that you had good people who had the right experience and, you know, could deliver the service at the expectations that you had. So that's great. What does your staff do for fun? What do you guys like doing when you're not working?

Speaker 4

Oh, that's a good question.

Speaker 2

Let's see.

Speaker 4

I think I spend most of my free time trying to keep my wife, christina, happy. I was. I got my pilot's license when I was a teenager, so I've been in aviation for a long time. So I fly airplanes for fun, and then I play golf but, poorly, and I play the piano poorly as well.

Speaker 3

So that's how I have fun. Myself. I love to play tennis. I try to play as much Thursday tennis as I can. I'm also on a Sunday team and then I am a photographer, so I do all the photography for Thrive and then outside of Thrive I do headshots and I just did a few trips to a couple campuses to do college seniors. So that keeps me busy and I'm now an empty nester and have my hubby and my sweet dog, so stay pretty busy, that's great.

Speaker 2

That's great. Is there one last thing that you'd like the listeners to know about the business?

Speaker 4

I think another thing that distinguishes us and this is important to Christina and me was that the employees are also owners. So by doing that, a couple of things are accomplished. Number one everyone is interested has a vested interest in the success of the business long term. And since we're a service industry, we'll survive because we provide the best of service. So there's that and the other thing it engenders loyalty because we've got good people. I don't want to lose them.

Speaker 3

And if they're part owners, they'll stick around. That's great. Yeah, you don't find that out there at all, so it's a very special place.

Speaker 2

For sure, for sure. Lisa, do you want to share the contact info and where?

Speaker 3

folks can find you. I would love to Thank you, stacey, and thank you for having us. It's been great. We are located, like I said, off Mayfield Road. We are at 850 Mayfield Road, suite 202, pretty much most of the second floor in the building, and then our phone number is 470-462-2915. And our website is thrivemedicalspacom.

Speaker 2

We're also on.

Speaker 3

Instagram, facebook and.

Speaker 2

YouTube Awesome. Well, thank you both so much for joining me today.

Speaker 4

Thanks for having us.

Speaker 1

Thanks, Stacey. Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Milton More. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPMiltoncom. That's GNPMiltoncom, or call 470-664-4930.