Practice Growth Lessons from Dr. Miami, Featured in Beauty and the Biz: The Plastic Surgery Practice Playbook
What does it take to turn location, personality, media, systems, and patient demand into one of the most recognizable plastic surgery brands in the country?
That is what Catherine Maley discussed with Michael Salzhauer, MD, better known as Dr. Miami, on the Beauty and the Biz Podcast, where they talked about practice growth, branding, media attention, patient experience, location strategy, consultation flow, social proof, and what it really takes to build a high-demand aesthetic practice.
Dr. Miami is also one of the top plastic surgeons featured in Catherine Maley’s book, Beauty and the Biz: The Plastic Surgery Practice Playbook , where Catherine highlights lessons from 175+ plastic surgeon interviews.
This page is part of Catherine’s Practice Growth Lessons from Top Plastic Surgeons series.
About Dr. Miami
Michael Salzhauer, MD, known publicly as Dr. Miami, is a board-certified plastic surgeon based in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida. He built a highly visible practice brand by combining location strategy, patient education, media attention, social media, before-and-after proof, and an unforgettable public persona.
Dr. Miami’s official practice website positions him as a plastic surgeon in Bay Harbor Islands and highlights consultations, before-and-after photos, procedure information, financing, and recovery support.
In his conversation with Catherine Maley on Beauty and the Biz, Dr. Miami explained that his path into private practice was not glamorous at the beginning. He opened his own shingle, started with one staff member, tried to make the phone ring, and built momentum one decision at a time.
Podcast Pearl from Dr. Miami
“Find the most expensive area you can afford and hang a shingle. Location does part of the branding for you. Being where your ideal patients already are creates instant credibility and shortens the trust curve.”
— Dr. Miami
That is a powerful lesson for plastic surgeons.
Location is not just real estate. Location is positioning . It tells patients something before they ever meet the surgeon. It affects perception, convenience, credibility, referral flow, patient experience, and the kind of patients the practice attracts.
For Dr. Miami, the decision to build his practice in Bay Harbor Islands was not random. He intentionally arranged his practice, home, building, surgery center, and recovery logistics so the patient experience and his lifestyle could work together. That is branding, operations, and lifestyle design wrapped into one growth decision.
Practice Growth Lesson: Location Can Create Instant Credibility
One of the biggest mistakes plastic surgeons make is treating location as only an overhead decision.
They look at rent, square footage, parking, and buildout costs. Those things matter. But the better question is: what does this location communicate to the patient?
Dr. Miami’s story shows that location can do part of the branding for you. When the practice is positioned where the right patients already live, shop, socialize, recover, and seek premium services, the location itself becomes part of the trust-building process.
That does not mean every surgeon needs the most expensive office in town. It means the practice should choose a location that supports the brand, the patient experience, and the type of growth the surgeon wants to build.
That is why this conversation fits so well inside The Plastic Surgery Practice Playbook. It is not just about marketing. It is about making smarter growth decisions.
A Second Podcast Pearl: Build the Practice Around the Life You Want
Dr. Miami talked about building his practice around the life he wanted, not just around what was convenient in the short term. His office, home, and patient recovery arrangements were intentionally close, which reduced friction for both him and the patient.
That is a different way to think about practice growth.
The goal is not just to get bigger. The goal is to build a practice that supports the surgeon’s life, protects the patient experience, and allows the team to operate with more consistency.
For plastic surgeons, the lesson is this: growth decisions should not be made only around volume. They should be made around positioning, control, patient experience, and long-term lifestyle.
What Plastic Surgeons Can Learn from Dr. Miami
This episode includes several practice-growth lessons for plastic surgeons who want to build a stronger, more recognizable, more profitable practice.
- Location is part of the brand Dr. Miami’s mentor told him to find the most expensive area he could afford and hang a shingle. The larger lesson is that location shapes patient perception before the consult ever begins.
- Start before you feel ready Dr. Miami went directly into private practice, started small, and worked through the early months when the phone did not ring. The beginning may be uncomfortable, but clarity and persistence matter.
- Build around your ideal patient His practice decisions were not random. He built around the neighborhood, patient flow, surgery experience, recovery logistics, and the lifestyle he wanted to protect.
- Patient experience must match the brand Dr. Miami discussed shifting the practice from a traditional doctor’s office mentality to a Ritz-Carlton-style service mindset. In cosmetic surgery, the patient is a cash-paying consumer, and the experience has to reflect that.
- Hire for hospitality, not just medical skill He looked for staff with retail, sales, hospitality, or pediatric recovery experience because cosmetic patients need both safety and emotional reassurance.
- Media attention works best when there is a business underneath it Dr. Miami became famous for bold media and social media, but the brand works because it is attached to a real practice, consistent systems, and a clear patient experience.
- Before-and-after proof compounds over time He emphasized building a large online gallery and asking patients for permission to share photos. Social proof is not accidental; it has to be asked for, captured, and organized.
- Some things cannot be outsourced Dr. Miami pointed out that the surgeon must personally ask for photos and social media consent. Certain moments matter more when they come directly from the doctor.
- Free consultations can be strategic when they match the model His approach to free consults reflects how he runs his schedule and manages patient expectations. The lesson is not that every consult should be free, but that the consult policy should fit the practice model.
- Bold branding attracts some patients and repels others A memorable brand is not for everyone. That is the point. Dr. Miami’s visibility, personality, and media strategy attract the patients who resonate with his style.
Episode Highlights
- How Dr. Miami went directly from fellowship into private practice
- Why his mentor told him to choose the most expensive area he could afford
- How Bay Harbor Islands became part of his brand positioning
- How he started with $30,000, one staff member, and a room to rent
- Why location, convenience, and recovery logistics matter to the patient experience
- How he built a building with surgery and recovery support designed to enhance the patient journey
- Why he shifted the practice from a doctor’s-office mindset to a hospitality mindset
- Why retail, sales, hospitality, and pediatric recovery experience can matter when hiring staff
- How social media, media appearances, influencers, and before-and-after proof built attention
- Why surgeons should personally ask for photo and social media permission
- How free consultations can work when they are built into the business model
- Why the Dr. Miami brand is memorable, polarizing, and effective
Featured in Beauty and the Biz: The Plastic Surgery Practice Playbook
Dr. Miami is one of the top plastic surgeons featured in Catherine Maley’s Beauty and the Biz: The Plastic Surgery Practice Playbook.
The Playbook distills lessons from 175+ plastic surgeon interviews into practical growth principles for private-practice plastic surgeons who want more patients, better conversions, stronger teams, and a more profitable practice.
These are not theories. They are real-world lessons from surgeons who have built successful aesthetic practices.
Want more practice-growth pearls from top plastic surgeons?
Watch the Beauty and the Biz Episode
Watch Catherine Maley’s conversation with Dr. Miami on Beauty and the Biz.
Want Results Like This in Your Practice?
If you are a plastic surgeon trying to grow a stronger practice, the answer is not always more leads.
Sometimes the bigger opportunity is fixing what is already happening inside the practice:
- How your phones are answered
- How consults are handled
- How fees are presented
- How your coordinator builds trust
- How consults convert to booked surgery
- How patients are followed up with
- How your brand differentiates you from every other surgeon in your market
Catherine Maley helps plastic surgeons identify the revenue leaks holding them back.
