Live at MSS 2026

Dr. Mark Tager

You know, I look for passion. I have— I've hired a lot of people in my days. And you know, when I see someone in a med spa who walks the walk, who is excited and enthusiastic about nutrition and exercise, that's the person. That's the champion. That's my champion. And I love finding them.

Max Baybak

We're here in Vegas at the Med Spa Show 2026, and I am joined now by Dr. Mark Tager of San Diego.

Dr. Mark Tager

Right.

Max Baybak

Uh, thank you so much for joining us, Dr. Tager.

Dr. Mark Tager

My pleasure. And I've had the distinct pleasure of working on a panel with you. We've talked together before.

Max Baybak

Yes. That's how we met, and I remember it very well. Several years ago, I was giving a talk in Miami and you were the moderator of the panel, and I— I don't remember if I was sort of nervous or something, but I just remember, because I don't normally get nervous talking, but I remember talking to you and you were very calming to me.

Dr. Mark Tager

Thank you. You know, I actually have a business where I train practitioners to give talks and presentations, and I— to share with you the one thing that I tell every one of them. It's a mantra that I was given years ago. Four statements. You say to yourself, "I'm glad I'm here. I'm glad you're here. I know what I know. And I care about you."

Now, if you walk through those four: I'm glad I'm here. Yay. I'm glad I'm here with you, Max. I'm glad you're— hey, thanks for taking time, buddy. I know what I know. Some people know more, some people know less. My synthesis is my synthesis. And I care about you. So, I'll stop talking now and let you talk.

Max Baybak

Gosh, I love that so much. So, when we do these podcasts here, I used to try to really think about who should be, and I do it off feeling now, you know? I'm like, I really like this person's energy. I want to interview them. And I don't even know everything they're up to, but that's great. I'll ask them in real time right on the podcast and that'll be the show. And I get to know people, and then hopefully our audience gets to know how they're bringing value to the world and what they can bring. You know, we show this to our clients, and our clients can hear about this.

But, um, I remember I think you got up and gave a little preamble before the panel, and I just remember feeling like, oh, I feel great. I'm in the right place. And I went up and I had a packed room and I really felt good about that talk. So I think you helped me.

Dr. Mark Tager

So what's interesting about that is, if you ask many people, they will say, "Wow, giving a talk, I'm so nervous." For me— and I've given many talks— but the one, it's like meditation, because in my world I do a lot of stuff, but when I'm up speaking I only have one thing to do, and that's to be there with the audience and to vibrate with them, to contribute, to stay authentic. My message is my message. It's different from your message.

Max Baybak

Yep.

Dr. Mark Tager

But, uh, that's— it's a fun, it's a fun part of the work that I do.

Max Baybak

I love that. That's so cool. So let's talk about the work that you do, because you are, as I said, Dr. Mark Tager, you are, uh, a doctor by trade initially, but you're not practicing now.

Dr. Mark Tager

No. What I've driven for the last 10 years has been this concept of integrative aesthetics.

Max Baybak

Cool.

Dr. Mark Tager

And that is the confluence, the coming together of two disciplines to create health and beauty. So beauty is both inside out in addition to outside in. And you know, very often I'll have practitioners in the room and say, tell me, why is it that you do the exact same procedure on two different patients, one of them heals beautifully and the other one has delayed wound healing? They're red, they're swollen. Why is that? You did the same thing.

And it has to do with the health of their tissues. And if you don't take into account nutrition, micronutrient deficits, you don't look at a lifestyle, you're not going to be able to help that patient get the optimal result. And you know, that's what I focused on in this book, which is my 12th book, actually. I like writing. I like it.

Max Baybak

Cool.

Dr. Mark Tager

And it's Integrative Aesthetics. And you see from the cover, it's sort of the marriage of these two disciplines. And the nice thing is that I've been preaching this for a long time. The field is finally catching up. And you know who we have to thank— the GLP-1s.

Max Baybak

Oh.

Dr. Mark Tager

Because if you look at the med spas, 70— 60, 70% are doing GLP-1s.

Max Baybak

Yes.

Dr. Mark Tager

They have moved from outside in to inside out. Which means now they have to confront metabolism, personal genetics. Why is that patient losing weight but not looking good, now having fatigue, having their hair fall out, um, muscle issues? So I think this is an exciting time for me to be in this space. I mean, I had my sail up a long time. Finally, the wind is coming up.

Max Baybak

I love that. Uh, we've seen a huge merging of wellness and aesthetics. Um, broadly speaking, wellness, integrative medicine coming into a lot of what would traditionally have just been considered med spas. And there's almost a new term that's needed for it. Perhaps it's what you've coined.

Dr. Mark Tager

Well, it's integrative aesthetics. Uh, you know, there's a point that I'd like to reference that I think is really important, and this is the unique aspect that med spas need to consider. For the most part, a med spa, aesthetics is something you do to a patient. I'm going to stick this needle here. We're going to—

Max Baybak

It's a transitive verb.

Dr. Mark Tager

It's a transitive verb. When you move into this integrative aesthetics, and now you're dealing from health inside out, it is more of what you do with your patient. So I think there's a philosophical shift that has to take place. Now look, if you stay transactional, that's okay in the short run, but you will lose your patients to the practitioner who takes that time and that energy and works with the patient. I mean, there's things like diet.

Max Baybak

Yeah. Yeah.

Dr. Mark Tager

Nobody makes money on diet, trust me, on nutritional guidance. But if you don't do it, you miss something. And you don't have to become a nutritional expert to foster introspection. So if I say to you, Max, you know, your skin's looking really crappy these days, what are you eating? How's your diet? Are you drinking a lot, eating a lot of sugar? And then now you're going to tell me that you're up all night knocking out that quart of, uh, of ice cream.

Max Baybak

Häagen-Dazs. Yep.

Dr. Mark Tager

Häagen-Dazs. So, so I think that there's an aspect of that that's important, and you layer on top of that this concept of personalization and genetic testing, the biomarkers, all the exciting information that we can bring to bear to craft a personalized plan for a patient.

Max Baybak

It's wonderful. So, I mean, I love the holistic approach, when you could say to aesthetics. What does that process look like when you work with a provider?

Dr. Mark Tager

Yeah.

Max Baybak

To bring this into their practice. Are they working with you on a project basis? Are you educating them or providing them courses? How does that look?

Dr. Mark Tager

Uh, yes and yes and yes. Uh, you know, I think there are a number of great practice management people who go into, uh, groups. I tend to work with the larger groups, with, you know, where they've got teams of people there. It's harder for me. It's just not a good use of time and energy to go into a smaller practice.

Max Baybak

Okay.

Dr. Mark Tager

But, you know, there's conferences, there's workshops. For example, at the aesthetic show, I'll be conducting a one-day precon with about 10 of my buddies called the Integrative Aesthetics Symposium. So, that's a one-day immersion into all the steps that you can take. And my book is essentially that as well.

Uh, the book is in part a practice management book, which is, how do you introduce successfully a new product or service? And then which products and services do you choose from? Are you going to do hormones, peptides, metabolism, muscles, longevity, gut, brain, skin work? So part of that has to do with finding the champion in the practice, getting your people up to speed and getting them trained.

Um, you know, I look for passion. I have— I've hired a lot of people in my days, and you know, when I see someone in a med spa who walks the walk, who is excited and enthusiastic about nutrition and exercise, that's the person. That's my champion, and I love finding them. If you don't have a champion, it's hard to succeed.

Max Baybak

I so agree on so many— there's so much that you're saying that I love. First of all, even in our own business, totally different, but we want to offer a new service when we don't— I haven't used that word, but we don't have a champion to really be the ambassador of that, the quarterback of that, the operator that's going to keep that going. We can have good ideas all day, but they just fall short.

And then I also quite love the strategic thinking. We try to preach this as much as we can from a marketing perspective, because that's what we do. That's our lane. We stay in that. We don't tell people how to manage their practices. However, when they market sort of reactively versus according to a business strategy, I find that quite— when I say reactively, maybe they just sort of impulsively bought a device or decided to get into a particular service vertical, and now they're trying to come up with a marketing plan afterward. There are things that we can do to help them, but it's never as effective as if they're looking at it holistically from the top down.

Dr. Mark Tager

Exactly.

Max Baybak

Yeah. So, I love that you're helping them lay all the tracks to pick the right procedures. And—

Dr. Mark Tager

So interesting. 15 years ago, I wrote the first practice management book in aesthetics, called The Art of Aesthetic Practice, with Steve Mulholland. He was a great plastic surgeon, uh, brilliant marketer guy. And we looked at, uh, the conversion cascade, the stages that people go through where you have to, quote unquote, sell them something, you know. And for this book, I flipped that around and looked at the patient experience. What are all the touch points that you have with the patient, that you have the ability to wow them or lose them?

Max Baybak

And I think that's a really, really helpful—

Dr. Mark Tager

I've advocated, uh, you know, mystery shopping your practice for a long time. I mean, I can't tell you how valuable that is. When I was in the bathroom and it's kind of messy, and there was dust on the blinds in the treatment room, and, uh, you know, little—

Max Baybak

Being able to see your business through the eyes of the way your patients see it is incredible.

Dr. Mark Tager

And I have to tell you something— it lost me a few friends. But when I was doing A4M, I was running practice management for them, I would get a hundred people in a room and say, "I tell you what, I need three volunteers, and we're going to call your practice and we're going to play it on the loudspeaker." I can tell you, I've lost three friends every time. "Doctor's office, can I help you? Oh, can you hold?"

When you ask them about the procedures, they say, "Well, we kind of just got that laser in, I really don't know much about that." They never affirmed the practitioner. They never said, you know, "Dr. Smith is so good with his hands. When you come in, you will feel comfortable. You know, he treats his mother."

Max Baybak

Right?

Dr. Mark Tager

His mother is going to be the toughest critic in the whole world. So, you know, there's so many places where you really need to make sure you've got a magnificent patient experience.

Max Baybak

Good question. Question. Um, I think a lot of people maybe think that you have to answer these questions at face value, when it's not to say that you're dodging the point, but it's too much to answer over the phone. And really, you just need to answer— it's not about answering their questions. It's about leaving them feeling a certain way.

Dr. Mark Tager

Exactly. No, these are great. Affirm them. "These are great questions."

Max Baybak

Yeah.

Dr. Mark Tager

"I know you've got so much on your mind." And when you— and always go for the affirmative close. "When you come to see us." Assume it. Assume it. "When you work with Dr. Smith—"

Max Baybak

Yeah.

Dr. Mark Tager

"Not only is he going to answer all those questions for you, but I know you've talked a little bit about nutrition, and we've got a whole approach to getting you beautiful from the inside as well. So, come on in. We'll be glad to answer your question."

Max Baybak

I love this so much, because what you've done is you've taken, uh, "I can't really answer that for you, it's personal, it depends on everybody, you have to come in"— to all this value you're going to get when you come in and we walk through this and learn all about you, and this expert is going to take his or her time with you. And you still didn't answer the question, but they go, "Wow. Value, value."

Dr. Mark Tager

So the goal of that person answering the phone is to be so engaging and so charming and so positive that they suck that person through the phone lines.

Max Baybak

Yes, sir.

Dr. Mark Tager

So that their butt is planted in your reception.

Max Baybak

Yeah.

Dr. Mark Tager

And that is their goal. And, uh, it's not to be the knowledge keeper, the gatekeeper. And you know, so often they start off and they start talking about peptides, or they start talking about a procedure. That's not their place. But at every point along the way— and I think this is going to be more important now than ever.

Why is that? I've gone through a couple of recessions already. I'm old enough to know that we've got a real rise in the number of med spas that are popping up. I mean, every injector who wants to be free is doing their thing. Well, that's great. They're exploding. But at the same time, I think we're going to see some constriction with income and discretionary spending. I mean, we're starting to feel that now.

We will be recession proof in the sense that people will probably skip their grocery monies to do their Botox. They'll do a lower cut of meat. But I do think that the practice that excels right now, that really takes your guidance, what you do, and takes that to heart and listens to the recommendation and works with you to build that unique branded experience and base—

Max Baybak

Yes.

Dr. Mark Tager

They're the ones that will win.

Max Baybak

I completely agree with you, Dr. Tager. We do see— through myself, I'm about 15 years in this space— we do see some resilience, some, um, being recession proof, but it doesn't mean that you don't need to really tighten up. At those times, the practices that are really on their game and are airtight really do the best. And I was just talking with a colleague in marketing about how, you know, if you can get the same amount of leads but increase your conversion rate a small amount on those leads, you can actually increase your revenue by a large amount, and you haven't done any more marketing or spent any more marketing.

Dr. Mark Tager

You know, I love the concept— well, in this book, uh, my favorite chapter is the art of ethical selling.

Max Baybak

Cool.

Dr. Mark Tager

And you know, you ask practitioners, when I say the word selling, what comes to mind? 90%: "Oh, I hate it. It's ugly. It's, you know, a used car salesman." 10% of the people say, "Oh, it's exciting. It's positive." But I think there's a taint to the word selling, when the truth is, anytime you are trying to influence another human being, you are doing selling behavior. You want to get your kids to clean up after themselves, you're selling. Okay?

So, it's intriguing to me that what we're trying to do ultimately is to ignite in the minds and hearts of our prospects and patients a new possibility for them.

Max Baybak

I love that.

Dr. Mark Tager

So, we're not selling them a syringe of Restylane. We are not selling them a device. What we're doing is we are selling them the possibility in their minds and their hearts of something new for them. And if you get that, then you're not selling, you are igniting possibilities, and it's their decision.

Max Baybak

I love it. I'm not one of those people that thinks selling is a dirty word. I think there are very unethical practices that can take place in selling, and I really think those are just such terrible ideas. Even— not even if— while we of course need to care about the end consumer if they're being sold to unethically, but even if you're only looking at it selfishly, they don't hold up. You will have no longevity. No business can sustain those kind of practices.

But I believe selling is a beautiful thing. And the way I think of it, which I think is very compatible with what you just said, uh, the way I think of it is, it's enlightenment.

Dr. Mark Tager

Ah, you might take that approach. I'm going to enlighten you on this. And at the other side of it, if once enlightened, it's not for you, then fine.

Max Baybak

Yeah.

Dr. Mark Tager

And if— by, if you've chosen wisely and you're spending your time with a person who you think is a good candidate, by the time you've enlightened them, they're reaching for it. And that's the new poss— you've enlightened them.

Max Baybak

That's why I say it's compatible. I love it.

Dr. Mark Tager

Flashed up in their brain, in their mind, and their heart. Don't forget the heart part too, because if you are a highly logical individual and you are just trying to sell on logic, you miss that emotive component.

Max Baybak

I totally agree. Totally agree. Well, this is all wonderful, and it's cool. I didn't realize that the book and your training and your— what you do— it crosses over so much. It touches all kinds of parts of the practice, it sounds like, not just the clinical.

Dr. Mark Tager

Yeah. I want to leave, uh, our viewers with one more little resource.

Max Baybak

Yes, sir.

Dr. Mark Tager

They go to healingjourneysfilm.com.

Max Baybak

Healingjourneysfilm.com.

Dr. Mark Tager

Uh, it's a documentary series I'm writing and producing. We've got the first two up on our YouTube channel. We've got two more coming down the pike. One on metabolism and, ironically enough, one on hair regeneration.

Max Baybak

I need that. So, we both need that. And we are follicularly challenged.

Dr. Mark Tager

That's correct. Of course, in my day and time, we didn't really have much, but I do now have my, uh, my Influx, uh, R&D hat. And, uh, you—

Max Baybak

That's the Influx Labs hat. Here, take off your headphones and pop that on. Yeah, pop that on. That looks so clean on you, dude. That's my favorite hat, uh, that I made. And I love that you picked it, because it looks so cool.

What do you think, audience? Uh, yeah. Yeah, we're still going. This is— we're still doing it. He's just— he's just trying on the hat for now. We think it's a— they're all giving you thumbs up. You have the colors, you know, and it goes with the outfit. It goes so good with this outfit.

Dr. Mark Tager

Aesthetics. You've got to rock the outfit.

Max Baybak

Yes, sir. You do, dude. You look so good. Dr. T, tell us about the— what is the name of the panel you're doing? I hope we'll have this episode out before, uh, the aesthetic meeting. I'm not sure. But what's the name of the panel you're doing?

Dr. Mark Tager

The one-day precon. It's the Integrative Aesthetics Symposium. It's on the Thursday before the aesthetic show, and we've got a cast of thousands. We've got some of the best people, like Steve Sor, Amanda Holden, uh, some really, really good folks there. And, uh, you know, we're just going to nail all the stuff— the hormones, peptides, the personalized nutrition, genomics testing, et cetera, et cetera.

Max Baybak

And you're leading that whole one day?

Dr. Mark Tager

Well, I'm the architect of it. I'm actually going to speak to muscles, mitochondria, and, uh, the microbiome for metabolism, which is kind of, uh, something I've come to appreciate. You know, I've tracked my body composition now for 15 years. I've stayed within three pounds in 15 years. But what happens with aging is, you know, you lose muscle mass.

Max Baybak

Yeah.

Dr. Mark Tager

And you gain, you know, fat, and you get— but if you are intelligent about that, and that's what longevity is about, you slow that progression. So I'm really at this phase in my life interested in, what do we do to slow that process down?

And if you think about it, you know, I started out— my second book was called Planning for Wellness. It was in the 80s, early 80s, and wellness was the big word, the big rage. But now that's been supplanted to some extent by longevity, and a segment of the population that's aging. You know, you hit menopause, you get older, manopause, you turn and become more in longevity. But what that is is an umbrella upon which we do this.

And I think this concept of really tracking your biometrics— uh, particularly I like body composition, heart rate variability. I, um, co-founded with Dr. Peter Staats the Vagus Nerve Society. That's with an A— we're here with an E. But, uh, the big difference, big difference. So I think all of those are, you know, important, important things towards a journey.

And yeah, what I really believe about what we do is it's about transformation. And you know, as a clinician, when I used to see patients, I would sit there— you were my patient— and I would listen to you and I would look for the hook. Can I find your hook? Can I find your why? Can I— is there anything that I can say or do to unlock new motivations for you to change behavior? Now, I can always inject you. So what? But if I want to make a meaningful shift in what you eat, how you exercise, what you think, what you feel, the kind of quality human being you are, then I have to find those hooks. And that brings us back to: aesthetics is doing something to people. Integrative aesthetics is doing something with people.

Max Baybak

Yeah. I love that. I love that. And also for people.

Dr. Mark Tager

And for— yes. And it's for them.

Max Baybak

Yeah. Yeah.

Dr. Mark Tager

Not for me, as you stated. Yeah. Yeah.

Max Baybak

And I'm here with you and I'm grateful.

Dr. Mark Tager

Glad— I'm glad I'm here. I'm glad you're here. I know what I know. I care about you. So I care about you, Max. And, uh, so I'll let you go and—

Max Baybak

Well, I know more now, and I care even more about you now. And so thank you so much, Dr. T. I appreciate it. Let's get up here and take a picture, because you look so cool in that hat and it goes so good with your outfit. So, we've got to get a picture.