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The Future of Beauty: Dr TJ Tsay of Ageless MD On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Beauty Industry

An Interview with Candice Georgiadis

During my in-depth consultations, I ask the patient to tell me one feature they really like about themselves. I ask them to take some time and really visualize that feature from all different angles and how they would pose for photos to showcase that particular feature. Picture them showing off that trait and smiling in the mirror. Instead of focusing on the negative, this helps one focus on their best traits and attributes.

As a part of our series about how technology will be changing the beauty industry over the next five yearsI had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. TJ Tsay.

Ti Jo “TJ” Tsay, M.D. is a globally renowned cosmetic doctor and the Medical Director/Owner of Ageless M.D., Orange County, California’s premier state-of-the-art aesthetic medicine destination helping thousands of patients look and feel their best at every age. Committed to offering the most advanced innovations in anti-aging, Dr. Tsay is widely recognized for delivering unparalleled results with the distinctive skill of a former E.R. physician. He is featured among California’s top medical professionals and a sought-after international speaker/trainer for many of the latest dermal laser technology methods. He is also known as a trailblazer for elevating the field of PDO

Thread Lifting in the United States. In fact, his recent appearance on the popular reality TV show “Bling Empire” showcased the thread lift procedure for the first time on national television.

Raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. Tsay received a full academic Dean’s Scholarship from Emory University. There, he earned both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Quantum Chemistry within four years, graduating Summa Cum Laude. He then attended the Medical College of Georgia on a full academic scholarship, completing his residency training in Compton, South Central Los Angeles. For 20 years, Dr. Tsay spent his time saving and changing lives as a board-certified Emergency Medicine physician before choosing to practice aesthetics/anti-aging medicine full time.

Dr. Tsay’s unique energetic personality and passion for aesthetic medicine began during his early years as a child actor. Cast in two feature films, he became an official member of the Screen Actors Guild before working as a model for print and television.

The experience led him to discover the link between self-image and self- confidence/overall well-being. Now, Dr. Tsay is a member of IFAAS (International Fellowship in Advanced Aesthetic Science) and the ASLMS (American Society of Laser Medicine and Surgery). He is also a recognized thought leader and speaker/trainer for several thread companies, including Hans BioMed and Miracu threads.

Dr. Tsay’s team at Ageless M.D. provides cutting-edge, non-surgical solutions to help people look and feel their absolute best. His own youthful appearance is a glowing testament to his expertise. Ageless M.D. specializes in non-invasive facial transformation procedures, including Fillers, Botox/ Dysport, PDO Thread Lifts, Lasers/Energy based devices, and Skin Rejuvenation; Acne Scar Treatments; Nonsurgical Butt Augmentation; and Male Enhancement. Dr. Tsay and his trained staff can also address wrinkles, acne/scarring, melasma/abnormal pigmentation, as well as female stress urinary incontinence. More complex treatments are also available at Ageless M.D., including non-surgical facelift, non-surgical nose job, and skin tightening. Dr. Tsay’s 5-star Yelp, Google, and Realself profiles reveal countless reasons why patients keep coming back for more once they step into this office. Learn more about Dr. Tsay and the complete menu of Ageless M.D. services available at Ageless-md.com. Follow @ageless_md on Instagram to see real patient results and seasonal specials/treatment updates.

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?

This is actually my second career. My first career was an emergency medicine physician. I was feeling extremely burned-out out (due to mandatory graveyard shifts, every other weekend shifts, and covering half the holidays). I was extremely frustrated and dreaded going to work. My empathy for patient and human suffering had withered. I could tell I was not doing my best job helping the patients I was supposed to help. A friend of mine recommended that I take some classes on Botox and fillers. I’ve always been interested in this field, but never knew how to get into the industry. After one month of being immersed in aesthetic courses, I knew this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my career as a physician. I submitted my resignation letter to the physician partnership group I was part of and gave them my 60 day notice. I had a very high salary with amazing benefits and pension package and I completely walked away in order to pursue this new business venture in aesthetic medicine.

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

One of the most interesting things that has happened to me since I started this career was being featured on the reality TV show “Bling Empire.” I had watched season one, the reality TV show during the pandemic, and it was one of the most watched shows on Netflix in the world. As it happens, one of my patients knew Kane, one of the main characters of the show, and introduced me to him. He tried some of my services, including my specialty: PDO Threads and he absolutely loved my work. He was able to then convince the producers of the show to film a scene showing me performing a procedure on him. This definitely garnered a lot of attention for me and my practice and catapulted the brand to a national and international stage. Since Netflix is worldwide, millions of people around the world were able to see the scene I was in and see me in action.

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?

I would say there was a tipping point when patients would travel from out of state and even out of the country to get services done by me. I used to think: “how many medical spas or cosmetics places are in business where they are coming from, but they decided to fly half way around the world to see me?” It was then that I knew the value of my work. I still did things I normally would do before, such as providing the best patient experience, show the patient I really do care about giving them the best outcome, and just making them feel good about themselves when they leave my office. The only thing I did different was that I was at the point in my career where I could actually turn away patients. Meaning I would discharge patients that were rude to me or my staff, patients that carried too much negative energy that I felt would hurt or harm me and my staff. I only wanted to work with nice, caring, and positive people. The takeaway lesson here is to never doubt the potential of your worth.

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?

I believe every successful person has someone that has helped them along the way. This person I want to honor is Lieber Sarmiento the owner of Devine Image, a thriving and successful medical spa in Tustin, California. I have a friend that was a PA aesthetics injector that was working in Devine Image two days a week. I approached Lieber who was her boss at the time and asked if he would be willing to share office space and I pay half his rent. He accepted my offer and I immediately had a partial office space. During the days my friend was not working, I was able to inject their patients and gained a tremendous amount of experience for the first year. Eventually my patient census grew and I had to get my own location/space. We are still great colleagues and friends to this day and support one another.

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” technologies that you are working with or introducing? How do you think that will help people?

The world is so interconnected today and people can travel to any country they want. The FDA in the US is extremely stringent (for valid reasons such as protecting consumer and patient safety) and limits the technology, products, and procedures that can be offered here in the US. Other countries have less strict rules and are able to acquire new products and technologies that may take a longer time to become approved or cleared in the US. Therefore, I enjoy traveling to other countries and specifically Korea, which is known to be world leaders in the beauty, and cosmetic space. The technology and products that are already there are 3–5 years ahead of what we currently have in the US. By going to international conferences in Europe, Asia, and South America, I can see the future of what will eventually land in the US. I think one of the biggest trends we will see in the coming years is the influx of regenerative medicine merging with aesthetic medicine. Regenerative medicine includes stem cells, exosomes, or biostimulatory agents. Any of these can stimulate our bodies own physiology to reverse aging, grow collagen and elastin, and revert to an earlier version of yourself.

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?

A general rule of thumb that applies to almost anything in life is to “do things within moderation.” What I’m concerned about are people taking the cosmetic field and physical alterations to the extreme. For example, someone may want a little filler to correct a small imperfection on their nose. But if they go too far with the nose filler they can look like the character in the movie Avatar. Different trends tend to come and go but they do influence the cosmetic/beauty space. If these trends go too far as to promote human body altering traits, and people actually get procedures to be in alignment with these trends, what happens when the trend is no longer in style. They then have to undergo several procedures to reverse their alterations to their face/body and that could come with potentially harmful side effects.

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

  1. When beauty and technology collide…we get better results with less downtime.
  2. We now offer new modalities to turn back the clock on our body beyond fillers and Botox. The nonsurgical space is really heating up. We still need surgeons, of course, but the options for nonsurgical modalities are growing exponentially.
  3. New regenerative medicine technologies that will utilize our bodies own healing properties to repair itself.

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?

  1. There are always bad apples in any industry that just want to make a quick buck. It is not hard to spot these characters because they don’t really care about their product or service. They are fly-by-night companies that just come and go quickly. They rise quickly and they also fall quickly.
  2. This happens in any industry, where companies, doctors, and practitioners try to elevate themselves by putting down others. This is really unnecessary and only hurts the industry. We should all elevate one another because it elevates the entire industry. Plus, putting down others does not really make one look better. It actually backfires because patients can see the lack of integrity when someone does this.
  3. Unscrupulous practitioners that put profit over safety. Practitioners should always put safety first. Safety trumps everything. Without that there is no beauty industry.

3 ways I would reform the industry:

  1. Elevate the education that is absolutely required to deliver the best and safest care to patients. Being a trainer for several companies definitely keeps me on my toes.
  2. Educate the public on the misconceptions about cosmetic procedures. Much of the information out there is completely false and not based on any valid research or data.
  3. FDA needs to lighten up on their stringent requirements which are archaic and politically biased and puts a hamper on ingenuity. So many countries are ahead of the US when it comes to medicine and specifically cosmetic medicine. The US can learn from other countries that have extremely high standards in medical therapeutics and are technologically more advanced.

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.)

  1. During my in-depth consultations, I ask the patient to tell me one feature they really like about themselves. I ask them to take some time and really visualize that feature from all different angles and how they would pose for photos to showcase that particular feature. Picture them showing off that trait and smiling in the mirror. Instead of focusing on the negative, this helps one focus on their best traits and attributes.
  2. Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen. Not only do we need to apply it once a day but also re-apply it when spending a significant amount of time outdoors. Finally apply it on the face, neck, and décolletage to create an even skin tone from those exposed areas. Some people take extremely good care of their face and look amazing from their jawline up. When I look at their neck and décolletage, that can give away their true age. It’s a very simple concept but frequently overlooked.
  3. Find a physical activity you like to do that can help you become more physically fit. One common trait I’ve noticed over the years when I meet people that look 15–20 years younger than their actual age is that they spend time taking care of their bodies. This also attributes to their youthfulness.
  4. Drink lot of water. 60% of our body is made of water. When you keep your body well hydrated, you skin will glow and appear healthier.
  5. Finally, smile as much as possible. You never know who is looking at you and you never know how your smile can make someone else’s day. Smile genuinely. A “fake smile” is obvious because one is using only their mouth to smile. A genuine smile engages the mouth and eyes. Look in the mirror and try so smile with both your mouth pulling the corners of the lip from ear to ear and engaging the muscles around the eyes. That’s why when I administer Botox on someone, I want to preserve their ability to give a genuine smile.

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’ve noticed that as I’ve gotten older (I just turned 50) the more I give unconditionally (without expecting anything in return) the more I eventually receive. It doesn’t have to be monetary donations or fancy gifts. Giving your time to someone in need, or just being there to listen to someone who needs a lending ear, can change someone’s life. That doesn’t mean you give away your life savings. As an example, I hold trainings regularly in my office where I train other providers on PDO thread lifts. Sometimes I need models to work on for the students and I will choose certain people that I have met that are doing something extraordinary for the community or for example a hard working single mother taking care of her disabled child. They get a free treatment and it truly means the world to them to have the opportunity to receive this treatment.

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

When you interact with someone, be present. During my consultations, I completely zone out my office and work and make the person sitting in the chair the most important person in the world at that moment. It seems simple, but the other person will know and feel your presence, giving them my undivided attention. They will feel the sincerity of your conversation and energy. They will feel special. And when they feel special, that makes you feel special because you had the ability to have that effect on someone.

How can our readers follow you online?

Follow us on Instagram at ageless_md or twitter @Ageless_DrTsay

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

The Future of Beauty: Dr TJ Tsay of Ageless MD On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.