Why Converting Consults Feels Harder Now — Catherine Maley, MBA (Ep. 341)
Release Date: 12/19/2025
Why This Surgeon “Lives Lean” in Beverly Hills — Faryan Jalalabadi, MD (Ep. 361)
Beauty and the Biz
📅 📕 ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Why this surgeon "lives lean" as a strategic choice in Beverly Hills with only three employees. Faryan Jalalabadi, MD explains. Hello, and welcome to "Beauty and the Biz," where we'll discuss the business and marketing side of plastic surgery. As always, I'm your host, Catherine Maley, author of "Your Aesthetic Practice – What Your Patients Are Saying." and consultant to plastic surgeons, helping them get more patients...
info_outline
The Difference Between Employed… and Free — Suma Maddox, MD (Ep. 362)
Beauty and the Biz
📅 📕 ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Suma Maddox, MD, shares her journey into private practice and the difference between being employed and free. Hello, and welcome to "Beauty and the Biz," where we'll discuss the business and marketing side of plastic surgery. As always, I'm your host, Catherine Maley, author of "Your Aesthetic Practice – What Your Patients Are Saying." and consultant to plastic surgeons, helping them get more patients and more profits....
info_outline
The Difference Isn’t More Leads — Dan Hatef, MD (Ep. 360)
Beauty and the Biz
📅 ⚙️ ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Dan Hatef, MD, explains how the difference isn't more leads when it comes to patient acquisition, fulfillment and retention. Hello, and welcome to "Beauty and the Biz," where we'll discuss the business and marketing side of plastic surgery. As always, I'm your host, Catherine Maley, author of "Your Aesthetic Practice – What Your Patients Are Saying." and consultant to plastic surgeons, helping them get more patients...
info_outline
What it Really Takes to Open Your Own Practice — Kristina Tansavatdi, MD (Ep. 359)
Beauty and the Biz
📅 ⚙️ ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Kristina Tansavatdi, MD shares her experience on what it really takes to open your own practice and what she would have done differently. Hello, and welcome to "Beauty and the Biz," where we'll discuss the business and marketing side of plastic surgery. As always, I'm your host, Catherine Maley, author of "Your Aesthetic Practice – What Your Patients Are Saying." and consultant to plastic surgeons, helping them get...
info_outline
She Started SOLO… Pregnant… and Built THIS — Lindsey Pennington, MD (Ep. 358)
Beauty and the Biz
📅 ⚙️ ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Lindsey Pennington, MD, shares on how she started in solo practice, pregnant, and built this successful practice in Shreveport, LA. Hello, and welcome to "Beauty and the Biz," where we'll discuss the business and marketing side of plastic surgery. As always, I'm your host, Catherine Maley, author of "Your Aesthetic Practice – What Your Patients Are Saying." and consultant to plastic surgeons, helping them get more...
info_outline
What it Really Takes to Start Over — Maryam Saheb-Al-Zamani, MD (Ep. 357)
Beauty and the Biz
📅 ⚙️ ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Maryam Saheb-Al-Zamani, MD, shares her journey into private practice in Beverly Hills, California, and explains what it really takes to start over. Hello, and welcome to "Beauty and the Biz," where we'll discuss the business and marketing side of plastic surgery. As always, I'm your host, Catherine Maley, author of "Your Aesthetic Practice – What Your Patients Are Saying." and consultant to plastic surgeons, helping...
info_outline
From Air Force to Solo to Retirement — Michael Edwards, MD (Ep. 356)
Beauty and the Biz
📅 ⚙️ ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Michael Edwards, MD, shares his journey from being in the US Air Force, going into solo practice, and then transitioning into retirement. Hello, and welcome to "Beauty and the Biz," where we'll discuss the business and marketing side of plastic surgery. As always, I'm your host, Catherine Maley, author of "Your Aesthetic Practice – What Your Patients Are Saying." and consultant to plastic surgeons, helping them get...
info_outline
Partnership Mistakes to Avoid — Alexandra Hart, MD (Ep. 355)
Beauty and the Biz
📅 ⚙️ ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Alexandra Hart, MD, explains from her own experience on which cosmetic practice partnership mistakes to avoid. Hello, and welcome to "Beauty and the Biz," where we'll discuss the business and marketing side of plastic surgery. As always, I'm your host, Catherine Maley, author of "Your Aesthetic Practice – What Your Patients Are Saying." and consultant to plastic surgeons, helping them get more patients and more...
info_outline
This Fellowship Was Priceless — Steven A. Hanna, MD (Ep. 354)
Beauty and the Biz
📅 ⚙️ ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Steven Hanna, MD, shares how his fellowship experience was priceless in that it gave him the tools to succeed as a surgeon as well as a businessman. Hello, and welcome to "Beauty and the Biz," where we'll discuss the business and marketing side of plastic surgery. As always, I'm your host, Catherine Maley, author of "Your Aesthetic Practice – What Your Patients Are Saying." and consultant to plastic surgeons, helping...
info_outline
Young, Pretty, Smart and Crushing it — Pamela Brownlee, DO (Ep. 353)
Beauty and the Biz
📅 ⚙️ ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Pamela Brownlee, DO — a young, pretty, and smart cosmetic surgeon who's absolutely crushing it with branding, marketing, and patient attraction. Hello, and welcome to "Beauty and the Biz," where we'll discuss the business and marketing side of plastic surgery. As always, I'm your host, Catherine Maley, author of "Your Aesthetic Practice – What Your Patients Are Saying." and consultant to plastic surgeons, helping...
info_outline📅 Schedule Your Practice Growth Strategy Review
⚙️ Restart your practice in 7 days
⬇️⬇️⬇️
Catherine Maley, MBA, author and renowned cosmetic practice business coach, explains why converting consults feels harder now.
Indeed, welcome to "Beauty and the Biz," where we'll discuss the business and marketing side of plastic surgery.
As always, I'm your host, Catherine Maley, author of "Your Aesthetic Practice – What Your Patients Are Saying." and consultant to plastic surgeons, helping them get more patients and more profits.
Why Converting Consults Feels Harder Now
Across cosmetic practices nationwide, one pattern keeps showing up.
Instead, surgeons are not struggling because they lack leads. Rather, they are struggling because patients hesitate longer. Consequently, decisions are delayed. Ultimately, patients quietly fall out of the pipeline.
Meanwhile, most practices misdiagnose the problem.
Often, they assume it is pricing. Alternatively, they blame competition. Sometimes, they point to marketing changes. Frequently, they cite “today’s patient.”
Afterward, after 25 years of training hundreds of patient coordinators, the cause is clear. Additionally, I have reviewed real conversion data.
Importantly, what is breaking conversions today is not clinical skill. Likewise, it is not lead volume. Instead, it is the emotional gap inside the consultation process.
Fundamentally, cosmetic patients decide emotionally first. Then, they justify logically later. When, when no one bridges that emotional gap, hesitation appears. Typically, it sounds like, “I need to think about it.”
That’s why that is exactly what I unpack in my newest “Beauty and the Biz” podcast episode, “Why converting consults feels harder now.”
Specifically, in this episode, I explain:
- First, why cosmetic conversions feel harder than they used to
- Next, how the patient coordinator role has quietly changed
- Additionally, the most common blind spots in modern consultations
- Then, why even good coordinators still miss bookings
- Finally, what high-performing practices are doing differently heading into 2026
In short, if you are seeing schedule inconsistency, this will resonate. Likewise, if follow-through feels weak, it will land. Similarly, if patients need more certainty than they used to, this episode will feel familiar.
P.S. Most patient coordinators have never been professionally trained to guide emotional decisions with confidence. Therefore, that gap is exactly why I created The Converting Academy. 2026 enrollment with extra bonuses is now open.
