Balancing act

Being an aesthetic practitioner is a very demanding profession.You need to give your patients time and attention in and outside of clinic hours in order to provide the best care possible, but this can make it hard to find time for your personal life. So how do our Women in Aesthetic Medicine members stay connected with their families while excelling in their careers?

PRIORITISE

Dr Sabika Karim set up clear expectations and boundaries around her time even before she opened her clinic. With that prioritisation, she was able to establish a routine that worked for her and allowed her to find a balance that met her priorities.

“If you sit down and think about what’s really important to you as a mum, as an aesthetic practitioner, and as a person, you can say, ‘These are things I won’t compromise on’.”

Dr Karim’s priorities included the morning drop-offs to school, and time off to help her children study for their GCSEs, but she stresses that it’s different for everyone.

To make sure her clinic continues to run smoothly Dr Karim always warns patients in advance of her time off, so they can work out a treatment plan if one is needed. She also sometimes changes her hours to fit in patients, while spending the time that she wants to with her children.

Dr Anna Hemming co-parents with her children’s father and likes to ensure that their time together is 100% devoted to them. However, on days when the children are with their father, her business and her own needs take priority.

“On the days I have my kids, my time is theirs. On the days that I don’t have them, my business has my time, as well as some me time. You have to be very strict with that.”

SELF-CARE

Dr Mayoni Gooneratne recognises that she cannot be her best self, professionally or privately, without looking after herself first. She starts her days by meditating and setting her intentions and tries to engage in other acts of self-care throughout the day.

“Exercise and movement, it’s got to happen. I’ve got a dog, and he is my barometer of self-care. If I’m emailing or doing something at my desk for a couple of hours, he will force me to get out the door. That’s how much I need reminding. It’s not easy.”

BUILD YOUR VILLAGE

The whole group commented that relying on the “village” around them helped with family life, but Tracey Dennison also relies on a village of sorts within her business contacts.

“In East Yorkshire, we have a big aesthetics network. You can put out an SOS with the group that we’ve developed, and somebody will help with a patient if you can’t respond in a timely way.

“For me, a lot of it is about developing those links within the aesthetics world. The perception is that, locally, we’re all in competition when nothing really could be further from the truth,” she explained. “We’ve got a very supportive network locally, where we can help and refer to each other and build up each other’s businesses so that we can maintain and manage our boundaries, time, and responsibilities.”

Aesthetics is a demanding career, but all our group agreed that it’s absolutely manageable to have a family and provide the best care to patients at the same time. All it takes is a bit of extra organising and a lot of passion.

Listen to the full discussion on our WiAM podcast, available on Spotify now.