The Future Of Beauty: “Using stem cells to restore healthy skin” With Dr. Greg Maguire

Destress yourself. Mindful meditation is one way, along with other relaxing activities that you enjoy. We’ve all seen people experiencing a traumatic event, such as loss of a loved one that brings on the outward reflection of the stress-inducing event — namely lines and wrinkles and sagging skin. One reason this happens is because of cortisol release during the stressful times that results in a direct breakdown of the skin’s matrix. That matrix is what holds the skin in place, provides thickness and supplety, and when broken down the untoward effects occur. Destressing and reducing the chronic cortisol release will effectively reduce lines and wrinkles.

As a part of our series about how technology will be changing the beauty industry over the next five years, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Greg Maguire, Ph.D., FRSM.

Dr. Greg Maguire, Ph.D., FRSM, is a former professor of neuroscience and ophthalmology at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and a bioengineer at the University of California, Berkeley. His graduate training was at the University of California, Berkeley, University of Houston, University of Texas, The Marine Biological Labs, Woods Hole, MA, and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY. He was visiting associate professor of physiology at Keio University School of Medicine in Tokyo, Japan, visiting assistant professor of molecular neurobiology at the University of Washington, and visiting faculty at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), at Harvard University. Awarded a prestigious Fulbright-Fogarty Fellowship from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Maguire managed his NIH and NSF funded laboratory at UCSD for the study of tissue degeneration and regeneration, and the role of stem cell released molecules(SRM) through paracrine and autocrine actions to maintain, repair, and regenerate human tissues. His NIH funded studies of systems biology and reverse engineering at the University of California, Berkeley and stem cell biology at UC San Diego led to the development of adult stem cell-based S2RM® technology for the development of therapeutics and medical procedures. Dr. Maguire has over 100 publications, a number of patents and is author of three book, including his latest entitled, “Thinking and Eating for Two: The Science of Using Systems 1 and 2 Thinking to Nourish Self and Symbionts.” He is president of the California Physiological Society, and is founder and CEO of BioRegenerative Sciences, Inc and NeoGenesis, Inc.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

As a child I was always interested in science and engineering. Learning new things and creating new things, including artwork, and making rockets and explosives, and electronics was a natural interest and my mother did much to foster my native interest in science. In the fourth grade, my public school teacher, Nathaniel Davidson, had us do a simple experiment on the second law of thermodynamics. He taught us the scientific method, how to perform the experiment, and how to interpret and present the results orally and in writing. When I finished the project an overwhelming understanding came over me that science could answer many of those basic questions we ask as kids. At that point I knew my path forward would be as a scientist. My engineering interest, and I was previously a Research Engineer at UC Berkeley, one of the top 3 engineering schools in the country where I learned much, has been satisfied because I use engineering methods to translate the science from the laboratory to the formulation and creation of new technologies and products.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

Fortunately I’ve had many interesting experiences in my career that has not only given me the privilege to live and work in a number of places in the US, but also in the world. One such privilege that our government afforded me was to be awarded a Fulbright Scholarship from the National Institutes of Health to study and live abroad in Tokyo, Japan at the Keio University School of Medicine. To live with the Japanese people and work with the Japanese scientists and physicians was a means to learn from a very successful culture who do things differently compared to how they’re done here in the US. An example is that there is more of a holistic approach to thought in Japan and the East compared to the more reductionist thought here in the USA. The most successful form of thought is to bring the two together, and bringing different cultures together to learn from one another is one of the successes of the Fulbright program.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?

Yes, I applied for a fellowship to study at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), Woods Hole, Massachusetts, never expecting to be selected from a wide variety of applicants from around the world at leading institutions such as Cambridge University in the UK. There was a new technology being taught at the MBL that I wanted to learn, a biophysical technology for which the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine would be awarded six years later. I was being taught by Nobel Prize winners and those that would go on to be awarded the Nobel Prize. A young Rod MacKinnon, one of those who would go on to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry later in 2003, was one of our close colleagues in the laboratory. When I first arrived at the MBL I felt very intimidated by all of the highly successful and intellectual people in attendance. However, once I began my work and achieved my own success at the MBL I realized that I was accomplished in my own way as much as anyone else. One of the life lessons from these experiences is to face your own doubts and overcome them, and you’ll most likely come away with the confidence that you can achieve those things in life with which you engage. At Berkeley, my next step in life after the MBL, we always learned to have confidence without arrogance. That arrogance, or attitude as some now call it at Berkeley, is the ruination of the scientific mind and precludes engaging in rational, evidence-based thought — something needed in any successful endeavor. Another lesson taught by my days at the MBL and Berkeley is to be a student forever. This goes beyond curiosity. To be a student is to be curious, to ask questions, but to be a student means that you’ll do the work to answer those questions.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Yes, many people have been important to me and given me so much, but if I’m asked to choose just one; that one would be Professor Dr. Frank Werblin, Ph.D at UC Berkeley. Frank was known as a tough guy. Not in a bad sense, but in that he was highly accomplished, intellectual, erudite, and very creative, and demanded the same from anyone in his lab. If you didn’t perform, you didn’t last long with Frank, and many people avoided working with him for that reason. But if you were bright and worked hard, Frank gave a lot back to you. Frank taught me much about science and engineering, but also about how to think, conceptualize my thoughts, and how to communicate those thoughts. I called him a couple of years ago on Father’s Day to thank him for being my scientific father.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. The beauty industry today has access to technology that was inconceivable only a short time ago. Can you tell us about the “cutting edge” (pardon the pun) technologies that you are working with or introducing? How do you think that will help people?

In medicine there is an edict, “Primum non nocere,” translated to the English from Latin, meaning “First, do no harm.” While I was working with stem cell technology at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, my laboratory was focused on a new means of therapeutic development that would renormalize the physiology of the brain in diseases such as Alzheimer’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This was a new strategy that departed from the previous strategies of putting something foreign into the brain, or removing part of the brain to fix the disease. My new strategy, called “Physiological Renormalization” is to return to the brain or other diseased tissue what was normally present when that tissue was young and healthy. Key to this strategy is doing no harm, instead giving the tissue back what it needs to be healthy. I just published a peer-reviewed scientific paper in Future Science that details the success of this strategy in treating nervous system diseases, skin diseases, and in treating cancer. A fellow colleague of mine, Prof. Dr. James Allison, Ph.D, while we were both at Berkeley, developed a new cancer treatment, called “checkpoint inhibitors,” using physiological renormalization for which he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2018. This a very powerful technology that renormalizes the immune system so that it can once again kill the cancer cells. If you heard about President Jimmy Carter being treated with a new type of drug to successfully treat brain cancer, you’ve heard about Dr. Allison’s “checkpoint inhibitor” technology. As described in my Future Science paper we turned this technology toward the treatment of skin conditions too. As an entrepreneur one creates an entity to solve a problem, as I did with NeoGenesis, Inc. Entrepreneurs are therefore often asked, “What problem are you solving?” I can answer this at two levels. First, drugs and therapeutics often cause more harm than benefit. Our technology solves this problem by simply making your tissues normal again by putting back into the tissue what’s missing. Second most of the drugs currently on the market don’t work well. Our strategy for physiological renormalization has been found to work well for many cancers, for neurodegeneration, and for skin inflammation and barrier breakdown.

More specifically for skin, we have two basic ways of treating the skin with this new “do no harm” strategy to renormalize the skin’s physiology. Both means of renormalizing the skin’s physiology involve renormalizing stem cell function in the skin. First, we use an adult stem cell-based technology (S2RM technology) that I first developed for brain diseases while I was a professor at UCSD School of Medicine. Different types of adult stem cells are resident in any of our given tissues, including brain and skin. Those different type of stem cells in the skin each release a collection of molecules, called stem cells released molecules (SRM), that provide the building blocks for the skin (collagen and laminin for example), instruction set molecules that direct the building block molecules to form the skin’s structure (HAPLN-1 for example), antioxidants that protect the proteins and the DNA, proteins that repair or clear-away damaged proteins (heat shock proteins for example), and molecules that control and resolve inflammation. Each of the different adult stem cells releases its own specific set of molecules, and the pools of molecules from the different stem cell types work together synergistically. This is how our skin is maintained and healed, through the release of these different molecules into the skin from our stem cells. Unfortunately, as we age, or become ill, or have a poor lifestyle, these molecules released from the stem cells can become degraded and their numbers reduced. A loss or reduction of function results. The outward signs of this include lines and wrinkles, sagging skin, redness, irritation, and discoloration. So returning to the skin what was there when the skin was young and healthy, that collection of different molecules from the stem cells, simply returns to the skin what it needs to maintain and heal itself. The skin becomes healthier as a result. Healthy skin is beautiful skin. So this improved health state is all a result of our S2RM technology, the stem cell released molecules from more than 2 types of stem cells, hence the “2” in S2RM.

The second basic means of improving skin health is to feed one of the stem cell types, called keratinocytes, the lipids they need in order to make the skin’s barrier function. The barrier is critical because it not only prevents infectious agents and irritant from entering of bodies, the barrier also prevents moisture from leaving the skin. If the moisture content of the skin is reduced, many conditions can result including disruption of the barrier and inflammation. Because the keratinocytes can’t themselves produce all of the molecules they need, such as linoleic acid, normally the blood supply and the surrounding cells provide what is needed for the keratinocytes to produce the barrier, the fatty structure of the outermost layer of the skin’s epidermis called the stratum corneum. Without the proper amount of linoleic acid in the diet sourced from plants, the keratinocytes can’t make a fully intact barrier. Consumption of too much fats, such as that from processed oils, can induce inflammation and reduce the transport of the linoleic acid from the blood into the keratinocytes, Other factors too, such as aging, disease, and poor lifestyle can also induce chronic inflammation such that the linoleic acid doesn’t transport from the blood to the keratinocytes, and thus the barrier is not fully formed. Without the proper barrier, more inflammation ensues. What results is a positive feedback loop for inflammation and further barrier disruption. But here’s something powerful that a number of scientists discovered over the years; instead of feed the 3 lipid molecules to the keratinocytes from the blood supply, you can feed the 3 lipid (fat) types to the keratinocytes by applying them to the outside of the skin. Yes, you can topically apply the 3 types of lipids to the skin in order to naturally and completely rebuild the skin’s barrier. So this is exactly what our second product does, feeds the keratinocytes the 3 lipids to rebuild the barrier formed by the stratum corneum.

So our two pronged approach to rebuilding the skin, including the deep layers, the dermis, and the outer layer, the epidermis and its most outer, protective layer, the stratum corneum, is to: 1. Mimic what the stem cells release into the skin so that we feed the skin what the stem cells naturally make for us, the S2RM molecules, and 2. Feed the stem cells the 3 lipids they need in order to make the stratum corneum, our natural protective layer or barrier. These two methodologies renormalize the physiology of the skin to better create the youthful, healthy state. You look better, feel better, and most importantly, become healthier.

Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?

In theory and in practice, this technology has been found to be the safest and most effective way to treat a number of skin conditions, including aged skin. We and others have published many peer-reviewed scientific and medical papers on this technology, including safety studies, and these types of products have been on the market for many years without negative side effects, such that their safety and efficacy is well recognized by scientists and practicing physicians. However, care must be taken to select the right types of stem cells to use in the formulation of these products. Some stem cell types can induce too much inflammation and proliferation, states related to scarring and cancer. There are several companies using a like technology that was created by scientists and perfectly safe, but there are two companies with which I am aware, where scientists weren’t involved, and the products are potentially very dangerous. I write about this in some of my scientific peer-reviewed papers. I’m happy to share those papers with anyone who may be interested.

Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the “beauty-tech” industry?

First, I’m pleased that a number of companies and practitioners have embraced non-destructive or minimally destructive means to treat the skin during “anti-aging’” procedures. Scientists appreciate that one of the most dangerous things a cell can do is to divide. Of course this is what happens during procedures, or using products, that induce injury and proliferation of cells. The cells must divide in order to proliferate. Each time a cell divides, the process creates mutations in the cell’s DNA. There are many repair mechanisms that the cell uses to repair the DNA mutations, but these repair mechanisms become overwhelmed when the cells are dividing rapidly during proliferative states such as wounding of the skin during these destructive procedures. DNA mutations in cells if coupled with wounded skin can induce a state of cancer, especially so when repetitive wounding procedures are performed on the skin, such that the skin is setup for a potential increase in cancer. Second, there are a number of companies embracing evidenced based technologies that do no harm and help the skin become healthier. Third, the science of the skin and the immune system of the skin is rapidly advancing at our major research universities, and a great opportunity exists for people to translate that knowledge base into meaningful new technologies.

Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry? If you had the ability to implement 3 ways to reform or improve the industry, what would you suggest?

Unfortunately there are a number of technologies on the market for which there is no evidence of efficacy, and worse, no evidence that they don’t do harm. Given that the industry is not highly regulated, I encourage everyone to bring to the market only those technologies that work well, and are safe. If we fail to self-regulate our industry and cause harm, then regulatory agencies will step in to control us, as they should if we fail to do it ourselves.

You are an expert about beauty. Can you share 5 ideas that anyone can use “to feel beautiful”? (Please share a story or example for each.)

Destress yourself. Mindful meditation is one way, along with other relaxing activities that you enjoy. We’ve all seen people experiencing a traumatic event, such as loss of a loved one that brings on the outward reflection of the stress-inducing event — namely lines and wrinkles and sagging skin. One reason this happens is because of cortisol release during the stressful times that results in a direct breakdown of the skin’s matrix. That matrix is what holds the skin in place, provides thickness and supplety, and when broken down the untoward effects occur. Destressing and reducing the chronic cortisol release will effectively reduce lines and wrinkles. Another important idea is to eat well, including lots of fruits and vegetables containing soluble and insoluble fiber. Many key, essential nutrients for skin function are brought to the skin through the blood supply after eating plants. Many types of antioxidants are brought to the skin this way. You need many types of antioxidants to bring about the antioxidant cascade effect. This helps to protect your DNA from mutations, and helps to protect the collagen in your skin from degradation. Most people think that all collagen renews itself often, but actually some collagens are what we call “long-lived proteins” and you may keep some of the collagen fibers in your skin throughout your whole life. Oxidation is one way that collagen can be badly damaged, and if the collagen remains with you throughout your life, then you’d be living with that damaged collagen forever. Additionally, the fiber in vegetables will reset the immune system to better fight infection and damage to the skin, and better resolve inflammation. Eating plants rich in fiber has been found to help fight influenza and even protect against cancer, and help cancer drugs, such as those checkpoint inhibitors I talked about previously, to be more effective. Feeding the skin from the “inside-out” is important, and remember that “feeding the skin from “outside-in” can also be beneficial. So eating well, and then carefully using good skin care products, and reducing the stress in your life is sure to bring radiance to your skin and enhance your overall well being.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I’m trying to educate people not to rely on the “healthcare” system to improve their health and well being. About 90% of your health status is dependent on your exposome, not heredity or genetics (they’re not the same). As I describe in my third book, “Thinking and Eating for Two: The Science of Using Systems 1 and 2 Thinking to Nourish Self and Symbionts” using well over 2,000 references, including most from science and medical journals, the “medical-industrial complex” is not there to make you healthy, rather the system, including physicians, are often incented to perform procedures and to sell you drugs. Over half of these procedures, and over half of the drugs don’t work, but do harm. This is hard to believe, but in my book I provide the evidence that it’s true with many peer-reviewed journal articles. The system is dangerous, and one way to avoid reliance on the system for your health is to eat well, exercise, and avoid toxic ingredients in the environment. This is what is meant by the term exposome; all of those molecules that you’re exposed to in life, such as those molecules in your food, drink, air, water, and what you put on your skin are part of your exposome. Even the molecules created in your body are part of your exposome. Did you know that when you eat insoluble fiber in vegetables, that fiber is fermented in the large intestine (colon) by bacteria (symbionts) to make short chain fatty acids, such as butyrate, leading to your innate and adaptive immune system to function better, with less inflammation? If you eat processed oils, including coconut oil and MCTs, just the opposite occurs; T cells in your adaptive immune system are set into a pro-inflammatory state. And exercise will positively affect your exposome by, as one example, inducing your body to produce a cascade of beneficial antioxidants. If your exposome is healthy, then you’ve greatly improved the chances you’ll be healthy, obviating the need for drugs, diagnostics, and medical procedures all of which have negative side effects, and often provide little or no benefit.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“To inquire into the origin of life is like seeking the origin of electrical machinery or the origin of music. Every increase in complexity of arrangement, of form, of substance, leads to new and often incalculable properties.” This quote is from Prof. Dr. Gilbert Newton Lewis, Ph.D, a UC Berkeley professor who discovered the covalent bond and electron paring, and first described the quantum behavior of the photon as an exchange of energy. What do Dr. Lewis’ words mean? Basically, the more you look, the more you see. Every time you see something new, that new something opens more questions about the thing that is new. If you are a “student forever” with an open mind, then you can always see new things, in other words, see what is there as something that is new. This of course opens the opportunity to learn more about that something, and potentially create something new and useful to mankind from your new understanding. This is relevant to my professional life in understanding and creating new technologies and products that are of benefit to mankind. Also my personal life benefits greatly. For instance, having learned about Systems 1 thinking (unconscious thinking that controls you, and predominates in most people’s lives) and Systems 2 thinking (intentional, rational, evidence based thinking) and how to harness these ways of thinking to better myself, my health, and my interactions with others has greatly benefited my personal well-being, and hopefully those with whom I interact. If one is a student for life, working with passion and compassion, a life of meaning and satisfaction can be achieved.

How can our readers follow you online?

You can follow my research papers online here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=maguire+greg

My blog is here: https://drgregmaguire.org/

My newest book is here: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Eating-Two-Science-Symbionts/dp/B084FKJXF3/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=thinking+and+eating+for+two&qid=1581628549&sr=8-1

And my skincare company is here: https://www.neogenesis.com/

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.


The Future Of Beauty: “Using stem cells to restore healthy skin” With Dr. Greg Maguire was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dreamers: “They told me it was impossible and I did it anyway” with Liana Pavane of TTYL

As I mentioned earlier, I had a lot of family members shut my idea down in the beginning. The concept of millennials giving up their phones to play seemed foreign to them. Over the years, some of these earlier naysayers have been able to attend my events in order to experience TTYL firsthand to get a better understanding.

Ihad the pleasure of interviewing Liana Pavane. Liana is a digital wellness expert and founder of TTYL — a tech-free community dedicated to human connection. Liana founded TTYL in 2018 to help people have a healthier relationship with technology and social media. Since launching, she has been featured on NY1, Bedford + Bowery, The Joy List, the SHIPS podcast, and more for her work in digital wellness. As a professional community builder, Liana believes in the power of unplugging and living in the present moment. Her tech-free events have been hosted at prominent spaces such as Athleta, Showfields, The Assemblage, The Phluid Project, and Tijuana Picnic. Liana is also a born and raised New Yorker who studied theatre at Ithaca College. When she’s not growing her business or hosting an event, you can find Liana networking with like-minded people or finding joy away from her phone.

Thank you so much for joining us! Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I am! I’m working on a dating series called PLAYdate. In today’s society, especially in New York City, the dating world is rough. Everyone is on the apps and swiping primarily based on looks. At PLAYdate, personality becomes the most important component for a match. Nostalgic activities, such as board games, coloring, and play-doh, also allow everyone to feel comfortable without their phones. In addition, there will be a dating & sex professional providing group programming for the evening. I believe this will break down boundaries and invite everyone to be themselves rather than what they portray on an online dating profile.

In your opinion, what do you think makes your company or organization stand out from the crowd?

Unlike other social clubs, TTYL is a tech-free community which is already a huge differentiator. . Imagine a space where nobody cares what you look like because nothing is being documented. Without your phone, you worry less about the superficial stuff and become more engaged with what’s going on in the present. TTYL provides freedom away from the world’s distractions — like social media and the news — that we are constantly reminded of on our personal devices. Unlike other social clubs, TTYL also encourages both individual reflection and social engagement. We encourage you to free your kid at heart, let loose, and truly be yourself. By removing phones from our events, it forces people to interact, which is, in turn, solving the biggest issue in today’s society: loneliness. Also, TTYL is as much of a community as it is a fun pop-up experience. It’s a place for people to catch up with their friends, to walk out with a new one, and reconnect with themselves. TTYL is a self-care movement, and I believe New Yorkers are going to search for even more tech-free spaces in the years to come.

Ok, thank you for that. I’d like to jump to the main focus of this interview. Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us? What was your idea? What was the reaction of the naysayers? And how did you overcome that?

When I first came up with my idea for TTYL, a tech-free community for adults dedicated to human connection, I got a lot of scoffs — mostly from older family members, including my parents, and some friends as well. No one thought that millennials would want to give up their phones for anything. Social media was at its peak and influencers were reaching celebrity status while actually making a living off of their posts. I held the idea in the back of my head for months.

As I entered the corporate world, I became even more fed up with social media and how much of a time sucker it was. After deleting my Snapchat and going on a five-day detox in the fall of 2017, I knew that this feeling of liberation from social media was something that other people felt (or needed) as well. I decided to trust my gut and brought the idea up again to my close friends. My best friend was ultimately the one who encouraged me to go for it (and offered to create my logo). As soon as she presented me with the logo, there was no turning back and it was the very moment it all became real.

In the end, how were all the naysayers proven wrong? 🙂

I hosted my first TTYL pop-up event at The Phluid Project on 1/18/2019. When 50 people showed up to my first event, I knew I was onto something. Even my parents couldn’t believe it when they saw all of these strangers coming together and mingling — WITHOUT their phones — over board games, coloring books, and play-doh. Of course, like any new business, there have been some ups and downs over the years, but whenever I’d hear feedback like “this was just like therapy,” I knew that people really needed these tech-free zones in their lives and I was going to do whatever it took to bring them to even more people. The “naysayers” began to trust my idea as more and more articles about digital wellness began showing up in the paper, and then the press began to knock on my door as well. In the end, I felt completely supported and was told to follow my dreams no matter what. It’s been extremely exciting to watch my dreams become a successful reality.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

There have been so many people in my life that have helped me during this entrepreneurial journey. Around the same time that I was starting TTYL, my sister was also starting her own recruiting company, The Hire. Since we were both building businesses from the ground up, she had tons of insight to provide, particularly on the business side. Perhaps the thing I am most grateful for was that she suggested I become a recruiter while I grew TTYL. I took her advice and that experience taught me how to be an excellent salesperson, which I’ve been able to apply to everything from selling my events to following-up with business contacts in a professional manner. It was also really nice to be able to talk to someone who was going through similar challenges as me — something I’m still grateful for today.

It must not have been easy to ignore all the naysayers. Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share the story with us?

I studied theater in college, which is perhaps the hardest industry to throw yourself into. Although I wasn’t on the auditioning side (since I focused on directing and playwriting) it still involved a lot of competition. I found myself constantly comparing my talents to other classmates and competing with them for summer internship opportunities. That experience taught me how to stay true to myself and bounce back if I heard “no.”

Another experience that helped me build resilience was after my first year of college when I got a job as a sales associate at a boutique in New York City. Having that on-the-floor customer service experience definitely taught me how important it was to have thick skin and maintain your cool under pressure. As mean comments were thrown my way almost every day, I learned that whenever people were rude, they were just projecting their own issues onto me. From that point on, I’ve been a lot better at handling constructive criticism and moving on gracefully.

Based on your experience, can you share 5 strategies that people can use to harness the sense of tenacity and do what naysayers think is impossible? (Please share a story or an example for each)

  1. Your brand values matter…

I was out to dinner with two people who have continuously supported my events and wanted to partner with me for their own tech-free event. While we were discussing my involvement at the event, one of them mentioned how my slogan sounded sexual. My slogan, for reference, is “move your lips, not your thumbs.” Not only was the comment inappropriate, but it was child-like and derailed the conversation for the rest of the dinner. Instead of getting defensive, I stood my ground and simply stated, “you’re the first person who has said that to me” and attempted to move on.. My takeaway from that experience was that that person’s criticism was a manifestation of their own jealousy and an attempt to bring me down. Ultimately, I decided not to partner with them. After all, TTYL is a judgment-free zone, and that’s what I look for in potential partners too.

2. Nothing but a number…

As a young entrepreneur, I believe it’s valuable to surround myself with older generations and receive guidance. Since they’ve had way more life experience than me, I appreciate hearing advice on what they wish they would’ve done differently. However, sometimes some begin to spew their opinions at me even when I didn’t ask for it. For example, I recently met someone for coffee because they had reached out to me with an idea of how they could help me with my business. I thought, great! The more ideas I could get, the better. However, the conversation began to derail as they began to tell me that, to them, my business model was “small-minded” and that I should be thinking about x, y, and z instead. In response, I kindly explained to them my business mission and how what they had in mind wasn’t the goal of what I was trying to achieve with TTYL. My takeaway from this experience was that not everyone will relate to your business, and that’s okay. I chose to shake off the encounter and use it as a lesson on how to stay true to the people I serve rather than worrying about the people I ultimately can’t serve..

3. Keep competition friendly

As one of the pioneers of the digital wellness space, everyone knows everyone. There are a ton of groups and collectives I’ve leveraged to connect with like-minded individuals and companies all over the world. I ended up meeting someone from one of these groups for coffee with another friend of mine in the wellness industry. The two of them seemed to hit it right off, however, the same didn’t go for me. The person who’d invited me to join their coffee date oddly wouldn’t give me the time of day. She spent the conversation painting herself as superior and remained dismissive. . Then, at the end of the conversation, she concluded by offering her services to us. Yes, she literally pitched my friend and I to purchase her offers. I instantly realized that she was in this for all the wrong reasons. Of course, monetizing your ideas is important, but so is relationship building. I used this experience as a way to be grateful for the genuine connections I’ve been able to make in the wellness community and to continue manifesting more meaningful relationships that don’t come with a price tag.

4. Use real life to inspire your business…

Can I tell you how fun it is to date as an entrepreneur on a scale of 1 to 10? A negative 100. The second anyone on a dating app asks what I do, I’m either ghosted or get harassed with questions about my business plan. Through dating, I’ve learned that most men are still intimidated by bold and entrepreneurial women. So, it’s proven difficult for me to meet someone who respects my ambition and can match it in their own industry. Still, what I’ve learned from is, if you’re communicating with someone via the internet, just ask to grab a drink or coffee sooner rather than later and let them ask you all the questions they want in real life. Entrepreneurship gets a bad rep for being pretentious, so I find that having them see my down-to-earth personality first is the way to go. Besides, the purpose of dating apps isn’t to have an online relationship… It’s to make in-person dating even easier. Another perk to this experience was the idea for PlayDATE, which I had mentioned earlier. This goes to show that sometimes our negative real-life experiences can help create positive business ideas!

5. Spread the word, mindfully

As I mentioned earlier, I had a lot of family members shut my idea down in the beginning. The concept of millennials giving up their phones to play seemed foreign to them. Over the years, some of these earlier naysayers have been able to attend my events in order to experience TTYL firsthand to get a better understanding. Even those who haven’t been able to make it in person have started to receive my monthly newsletter, Wellness Unplugged. In my newsletter, they get to virtually witness the growth of TTYL through upcoming events, photos of past events., press, and partnerships. That’s one of the huge benefits of technology — being able to spread the word on new ideas, events, and perspectives. The trick, to me, is to use the technology we have available more mindfully and that’s the goal of my newsletter. This way, I’m not focusing my energy on trying to convince anyone about my business. I’m simply letting them see it for themselves and let TTYL speak for itself!

What is your favorite quote or personal philosophy that relates to the concept of resilience?

My personal philosophy and favorite quote is, “You can do anything, but you can’t do everything,” from Gretchen Rubins of “The Happiness Project.” This has become my mantra in everything I do, specifically when it relates to my business. Recently, I hired someone to help me with marketing because I was overwhelmed with the amount of administrative work I had to do and needed help to take my brand to the next level. This shift in mindset helped me devote more time to focus on “CEO tasks” rather than administrative ones. It wasn’t that I couldn’t do all the things, it’s that — if I really wanted to grow my business — my time was better served elsewhere

Similarly, in my personal life, I no longer force myself into situations that I know I won’t enjoy. If I get invited to an event or even a friend’s party that I know I won’t enjoy, I just don’t go. Instead I choose to do something that will truly fulfill me. I’ve come to realize that life is too short to put yourself into awkward situations on purpose. I’d much rather thrive in situations where I can be myself and those are the experiences I seek.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I’m happy to say that my movement already exists, and it’s what my brand, TTYL, is all about. I’m calling the tech-free movement the next self-care movement of the 21st century. Why? Because I believe there’s a considerable need for connection in today’s increasingly lonely society. As I’m writing in a coffee shop, I see two couples actually engaging with one another. One with their phones in front of them. When I leave this coffee shop and walk around this city, I know I’ll see everyone walking with their heads down. No one is smiling at each other anymore. No one is going about their day to take care of themselves. So I ask you, what if we actively chose to take care of ourselves before anyone else? What if we designated time to our technology throughout our day rather than being attached to it 24/7? What if we decided to take our lives back in our own hands — the same hands that usually have a cellphone in them? That’s what TTYL is all about, and I believe it’s a movement with so much potential because it’s focusing on reconnecting by disconnecting for the greater good. TTYL is a mindful force that helps remind everyone that they can, in fact, play again without worrying about the judgment of others Because since when did we become too old to be ourselves? I don’t think we have, and I want to change that, one tech-free space at a time.

Can our readers follow you on social media?

Readers can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Medium, and LinkedIn!


Dreamers: “They told me it was impossible and I did it anyway” with Liana Pavane of TTYL was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future of Beauty: “LEDs that can help with the reduction of acne and scarring” with Don Feak of

The Future of Beauty: “LEDs that can help with the reduction of acne and scarring” with Don Feak of Azure

This field is so very fluid, constantly changing in many ways and this is refreshing to me personally, as I come from a professional background where frankly things are much slower, almost glacially moving due to the cautious use of new technology and inherent lack of desire to take risks in avionics.

Ihad the pleasure of interviewing Don Feak. With over 30 years experience in aerospace, avionics and medical electronics engineering, Don Feak is Azure Medical’s Chief Technologist. Prior to joining Azure, Feak’s focus was on High Reliability Avionics and Spaceborne Electrical and Systems Engineering, in positions from Flight Avionics for Boeing/McDonnell Douglas and Lear Astronics, to Satellite Communications with Hughes / Raytheon Space, to his most recent position of managing a group of engineers for numerous JPL Pasadena NASA and Goddard Space Flight projects. He is a graduate in computer science by Cal Polytechnic University.

Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

My experience prior to Azure Medical Technologies (Azure) focused on high reliability avionics and space borne electrical and systems engineering in positions from flight avionics for Boeing/McDonnell Douglas and lear astronics to satellite communications with Hughes / Raytheon Space to my last gig managing a group of engineers for numerous JPL Pasadena NASA and Goddard Space Flight projects. So I managed to learn a few things about lasers and LEDs in high reliability designs. This mentality is “built into me” and into what Azure designs and produces.

What brought me into a consumer product realm from the particularly rigid environments of my prior endeavors? Short answer — — my wife.

She bought some LED gadget from Nordstrom that supposedly was to reduce wrinkles and keep her youthful appearance going strong. It did nothing. She said something like “you know a few things about lasers, correct?” She asked me to investigate this LED/laser “thing” and see if I could make something that works. So I did.

I’m set on my successful aerospace career — — done a lot of pretty cool stuff — — now hoping to broaden the “what I’ve done” part of my story.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

Not so much a particular story, but rather some observations made. My experience in rigid design environments where everything done was subject to strict control parameters to meet intense performance requirements with a “zero defect” mindset has taken some readjustment effort to understand how this consumer-focused market functions. This medical consumer market environment where performance criteria are “fluffy,” with so many transitory trends and “fads” coming and going, mixed in with a vast field of manufactures from flimsy junk to top of the line professional products, is certainly perplexing. With that said, Azure will blend in to traffic starting with the rightmost lane and rapidly and carefully move our way over to the fast lane.

What will not happen is Azure will not homogenize and sacrifice our core design principles. Azure will not cut corners — — there will be no box corner cutting so many times that the boxes end up as circles. Because my reputation/legacy is now based on Azure’s reputation.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?

Azure’s tipping point came with the realization that no matter how much better a product we design than our competitors, without “the other side of the coin” being competent marketing and brand building, Azure would disappear “into the weeds” like so many other companies have.

Apple is a perfect example: no matter how good Steve Wozniak was with his fantastically innovative design concepts, no matter how good a product concept and marketing guy Steve Jobs was, neither would likely have gone very far without Jobs making the world aware of what Wozniak had come up with.

Azure recognized this as we were stumbling along never making much of a dent. We then brought in Kultura PR as our partner — — an on again off again relationship we hope to continue. What will tip your point positively is to strive for the highest peak of course, but further to plan for and implement the best marketing and brand building effort you can muster.

Azure is in a niche market supplying FDA Cleared OTC medical devices. There are few legitimate competitors and having limited competition is an advantage for consumers looking for what we all make.

Health / Wellness / Beauty sector “soft technology / skincare pharma” companies are comprised of gargantuan entities all the way down to mom and pop operations. Those mom and pops and every one “in between” cannot climb much against the gargantuan competition without aggressive market and brand building as early as possible, leading to sales channels opening up.

As an aside, I’d like to think if you make junk and market it well you will fail. The nature of the beast proves that is not be the case though. Companies can and will continue to make trash and market it very well. Best advice for your reputation is — — don’t make junk. Good for you — — good for consumers — — good for our industry as a whole.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. The beauty industry today has access to technology that was inconceivable only a short time ago. Can you tell us about the “cutting edge” (pardon the pun) technologies that you are working with or introducing? How do you think that will help people?

Azure’s core plan is to design for the home-use consumer, medispa and dermatological practice energy emitting devices that are USFDA OTC 510K certified utilizing emerging technologies in LEDs , mid-infrared “eye safe” lasers , directed RF, thermal acoustic methods AND where possible to add as naturally derived as possible, reagents and serums that positively and safely assist in success of a specific treatment protocol.

Azure has the requisite “horsepower” with electro-optic engineering experience coupled with two premier doctors — one cellular regenerative medicine expert and author of more than 105 US patents, as well as sitting as a Prestigious Allergan Fellow; the second is a celebrity multi-board certified dermatologist with four Los Angeles offices and is a UCLA Medical School professor. Both are conference speakers at worldwide specialist symposiums, conduct USFDA clinical trials and are internationally peer reviewed and published in numerous journals.

Most of our device competitors have their designs done by consultants. I’m personally aware of this as my company has been approached numerous times to perform exactly that engineering study, design and implementation service.

On a larger scale company wise — two recent examples of this “outsource” method for Azure’s design efforts come from LVMH and L’Oréal.

Azure’s Orion and Radiance handheld devices are now in the market. These two devices are clinically efficacious in dermal collagen regrowth and full face wrinkle reduction.

Later this year Azure will introduce variants of Orion and Radiance using three novel wavelengths of LEDs alongside photoreactive serums for reduction of acne and scarring alongside the same anti-aging and anti-acne therapies with full sized array of Genesis medispa and dermatology office devices.

  1. SuperIntense LEDs : For Azure, as scientist/engineers with a current core of LED focused devices, we are at the forefront of implementing the latest LED material science.
  2. Other LED device companies in today’s market are using 10 year old LED technology … because 10 year old stuff is cheap, plentiful and they can put tens, hundreds or thousands of these little low power LEDs in their products and they look impressive to the customer.

Azure is actually “New Technology” with SuperIntense industrial grade LEDs.

Here are some examples of the difference this new technology brings.

Azure’s Genesis arrays use 27 of these “Turbo LEDs” that output eight times more therapeutic wavelength energy that the closest dermatologist panel that uses close to 1000 old technology LEDS.

  1. MicroStructure lenses : What are these new technology lensing things? Azure uses these specially designed proprietary lens arrays in our devices to form or shape the output patterns of LEDs into idealized beneficial “concentrated” treatment areas. Scattered and diffused “non-captured” light patterns that are not focused in optimal intensities on treatment areas just cannot be as efficient or provide the benefits quickly and reliably.
  2. BioScience : Azure’s two Doctors will be developing proprietary serums with cellular benefiting properties (hyaluronic, glycolics, penta and tetra peptides, Vitamins A, E and C) as well as photo-reactive / photoacidic serums for pre-treatment protocols in anti-aging and acne prevention and scarring therapy (Photoacidic sounds a bit nasty but it’s really quite safe and effective when designed properly — — there’s no “torching your face off” rather this method will be designed to gently cause photo-dissociation or dissociation of protons upon photoassociation to prepare the dermis for optimal therapy.)
  3. Directed radio frequency, thermal acoustic and laser actuated micro thermal zone therapy. Much of this is Azure proprietary and will be part of Azure’s hair growth and home “reverse of Cool Sculpting” devices in planning stages.

All of these technology leaps are or will be implemented by Azure. It’s why we are in this business.

Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?

LEDs in Azure devices are eye and dermal safe so no real issues there — certainly not with Azure’s foundational requirement that all home use devices we make will be USFDA 510K certified, as well as additional applicable EU or Asia FDA type certifications as need arises.

As Azure moves into bioscience, radio frequency and sophisticated non-ablative laser methods, we’ll ensure by way of rigorous testing and certifications that what we make works without contraindications near and far term.

We are in this business to “build up,” not to damage or break down.

Can you share three things that most excite you about the “beauty-tech” industry?

  1. This field is so very fluid, constantly changing in many ways and this is refreshing to me personally, as I come from a professional background where frankly things are much slower, almost glacially moving due to the cautious use of new technology and inherent lack of desire to take risks in avionics.
  2. I’ve not been much of a people person to date (my pets are my closest buds other than wife and son and best friends). In the skincare environment, engaging new people from a broad spectrum of doctors through to licensed estheticians at the various events and symposiums is an enjoyable (most times) new experience — — (instead of the stodgy bubble of engineering labs).
  3. Knowing what has been done and tried, and then looking for both ways to “do it better,” implementing that way to do it better, and then seeking the “what’s behind the next door” to what you just discovered.

Opportunity for advancements in directed energy methods and biosciences/nanotechnology for the beauty/skincare/wellness sectors are growing by leaps and bounds — (Actually somewhat arrogantly stated yet substantively claimed, this will occur when Azure does it) and this particular market has huge receptivity for accepting “new stuff.’

Can you share three things that most concern you about the industry? If you had the ability to implement 3 ways to reform or improve the industry, what would you suggest?

  1. Fake news/claims. Bloviation on claims is rampant. People want to believe what they are told and if they see some “photoshop” miracle they many times fall for it. Some of those naive people who see none or little of what they hoped for, go right to Social Media and publicly trash whatever “miracle thing” they bought into. This can be damaging to entire focused sectors like Azure’s where we make LED skincare therapy. These naive unhappy campers who bought some winky-blinky car taillight junk that did nothing post “LED therapy is worthless.” That is further “fake news” from whoever believed the bloviating advertising.

Solution A: US FTC regulation and enforcement of online and airwave advertising of products.

2 . Junk Science: Whatever is the latest trendy junk science can quickly rise to the public peak perception. Phony gold dust particles, dubious stem cell protocols, claims of serums with collagen that mysteriously find some way to penetrate through the dermis while not mysteriously penetrating right back out to the surface of the dermis.

Solution B: Common sense on the consumer’s part.

3 . Lack of oversight from USFDA. The FDA is similar to a paper tiger and typical DMV type organization. There are many devices in Azure’s markets claiming they are FDA 510k devices. Many of them have NO FDA 510k. Many make outlandish phony claims in results or even what can be treated with their device or product. There is not ONE competitor device (and we test them all in our Lab) which meets even the manufacturers claims to the FDA in 510K filings that match what they actually manufacture and sell to market. Azure makes what we FDA 510k Cleared. Azure has certifiable true clinical support trial evidence and will continue to add to that portfolio with new products. There is considerable amount of bold lying with no consequences ever observed, which leads to even more bold lying.

Solution C: About as likely to occur as Solution A.

You are an expert about beauty. Can you share 5 ideas that anyone can use “to feel beautiful”? (Please share a story or example for each.)

This will be a bit tough , a little trite and commonly packaged — — I’m a grungy alpha-male.

  1. Do not follow Keith Richard’s (see Rolling Stones) lifestyle plan in any facet.
  2. UV is bad, so wear sunscreen.
  3. Exercise as regularly as possible so people can actually have you around on this earth to admire your beauty as long as possible.
  4. Buy Azure products, as they’ll bring a smile to your face.
  5. Do good as much as you can and don’t be evil much at all. When you build yourself up with all the good you do for others, it will overflow to the outside of you and that’s all part of being a cool beautiful person.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

This is my Forrest Gump moment and frankly I’m drawing a blank.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

One plus two extra quotes (covering for my lack of self-recognition in the prior “I’m a Person of Great Influence” section)

“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool” — Nobel Laureate Theoretical Physicist Richard P. Feynman

”Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” — Steve Jobs

“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to “remember” what you said.”

Passed down from my dad as something that was taught him as well.

How can our readers follow you online?

www.azuremedtech.com

https://www.facebook.com/AZURE-AMT-Global-110172923727014/

Thank you for all of these great insights!


The Future of Beauty: “LEDs that can help with the reduction of acne and scarring” with Don Feak of was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.