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Practice Growth Lessons from Dr. Ritu Chopra, Featured in Beauty and the Biz: The Plastic Surgery Practice Playbook

What does it take to build a premium plastic surgery practice in Beverly Hills, grow through trusted relationships, and stay relevant as branding, social media, SEO, and AI reshape how patients choose a surgeon?

That is what Catherine Maley discussed with Ritu Chopra, MD, on the Beauty and the Biz Podcast, where they talked about practice growth, premium positioning, collaboration, social media, practice structure, associates, second locations, patient experience, and what it really takes to build authority in one of the most competitive aesthetic markets in the world.

Dr. Ritu Chopra on Beauty and the Biz with Catherine Maley

Listen to Dr. Ritu Chopra on Beauty and the Biz with Catherine Maley

Dr. Chopra 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 , where she highlights real-world practice-growth lessons from leading plastic surgeons featured on Beauty and the Biz.

About Dr. Ritu Chopra

Dr. Ritu Chopra is a board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon known for facial plastic surgery, breast surgery, and advanced facial rejuvenation. He practices in Beverly Hills and Rancho Mirage, California, and has built a reputation that blends media visibility, surgical expertise, premium positioning , and patient-centered care.

In his conversation with Catherine Maley, Dr. Chopra discussed his journey from general surgery at Cedars-Sinai to plastic surgery fellowship training in New York, then back to Southern California, where a connection with Dr. Andrew Ordon and Dr. Jay Calvert helped launch a very different career path than the one he might have had in a traditional employed model.

He also discussed appearing on The Doctors, building authority through media, growing a multi-surgeon practice, developing associates, using social media as a personal-brand channel , and navigating the transition from a named practice brand to a broader Plastic Surgery Institute identity.

Podcast Pearl from Dr. Chopra

“At the bottom of the barrel, that’s when you have competition, and at the top, we’re all collaborating. Because there’s enough for all of us, and we all have different patients. It’s the growth mindset versus the lack mindset.” — Ritu Chopra, MD This is a powerful lesson for plastic surgeons, especially those practicing in competitive markets like Beverly Hills, Dallas, New York, Miami, Austin, and other saturated aesthetic hubs. The best surgeons do not grow in isolation. They learn from each other. They refer to each other. They share ideas. They stay connected to people who raise their thinking and challenge their standards. For private-practice plastic surgeons, the message is simple: collaboration is not weakness. It is a growth strategy.

Practice Growth Lesson: Collaboration Builds Authority

One of the biggest takeaways from Dr. Chopra’s episode is that authority is rarely built alone. It is built through training, association, visibility, credibility, and proximity to other high-performing people.

Dr. Chopra talked about the importance of surrounding yourself with like-minded surgeons who are also committed to excellence. He referenced his circle of facelift surgeons who stay connected, exchange ideas, and help each other grow rather than treating every colleague as a threat.

That is a major practice-growth lesson. When a surgeon operates from scarcity, every other surgeon becomes competition. When a surgeon operates from confidence, the right relationships become accelerators.

This is why Dr. Chopra’s story belongs inside The Plastic Surgery Practice Playbook. It is not just about being talented. It is about choosing the right relationships, the right positioning, the right business model, and the right mindset.

A Second Podcast Pearl: Your Team Is the Practice

“When you have somebody that is very capable and good, make sure you pay them well. You just don’t want to lose those people. When you have key people… those are your pillars.”

                                                                       — Ritu Chopra, MD

Dr. Chopra was direct about one of the biggest challenges in private practice: staff performance.

When surgeons play at a premium level, patients expect a premium experience so your operations need to be aligned. That means the team must understand the surgeon’s value, the brand promise, the price point, and the kind of patient experience required to support it.

A great coordinator, nurse, tech, or manager is not just an employee. That person is part of the practice infrastructure. They protect the patient experience, support the surgeon’s reputation, and help the practice grow without the surgeon having to personally control every touchpoint.

This is especially important when a practice is charging premium fees. The surgeon may deliver the result, but the team delivers much of the trust, reassurance, responsiveness, and service experience that makes the patient comfortable converting to booked surgery.

Don’t Lose the Patient Because of Price

Dr. Chopra discussed a smart growth model: bringing in trusted associates so patients have options inside the same practice ecosystem.

As Catherine pointed out in the episode, this gives the caller a “yes-yes” choice. The patient can wait longer and pay more to see the senior surgeon, or they can choose a vetted associate who has been trained and endorsed by the senior surgeon, at a lower price point.

That is not discounting. That is strategic positioning. It protects the premium surgeon’s value while keeping more patients inside the practice instead of sending them to a competitor.

This also creates a powerful transfer of credibility. When the patient trusts the lead surgeon, and the lead surgeon trusts the associate, the patient is more likely to trust the associate.

What Plastic Surgeons Can Learn from Dr. Chopra

  1. Collaboration beats scarcity Dr. Chopra’s point about top surgeons collaborating is a reminder that the right peer group can raise your standards, thinking, and confidence.
  2. Media can accelerate authority, but results sustain it Early exposure on The Doctors gave Dr. Chopra visibility, but he emphasized that surgeons still have to do great work and take care of patients to build real reputation.
  3. Personal brand and practice brand can work together Dr. Chopra discussed the importance of individual Instagram profiles feeding into a shared practice website. That lets each surgeon build personal authority while still supporting the larger practice brand.
  4. Associates can expand capacity without diluting the brand When associates are trained, trusted, and positioned properly, they can help the practice serve more patients at different price points while preserving the senior surgeon’s premium position.
  5. Second locations need a clear purpose Dr. Chopra described the Beverly Hills/Rancho Mirage model and how the spa side can help support overhead while also feeding the surgical practice.
  6. Premium pricing requires premium service When patients are paying high fees, the team must understand why the surgeon is worth it and how to deliver a service level that matches the price point.
  7. Your digital footprint matters more than ever The episode included a discussion about social media, websites, AI, and how patients increasingly vet surgeons online before they ever call the office.

Episode Highlights

  • How Dr. Chopra went from Cedars-Sinai to plastic surgery fellowship training in New York and back to Beverly Hills
  • How his connection with Dr. Andrew Ordon and The Doctors changed the trajectory of his career
  • Why the real work starts after fellowship because no one simply hands you patients

How media visibility, PR, referrals, and word-of-mouth helped build early credibility

  • Why collaboration among top surgeons is more powerful than competition
  • How Dr. Chopra thinks about associates, fellows, partnership structure, and growing through trusted people
  • How he uses surgeon boundaries, price tiers, and trust transfer to keep more patients inside the practice
  • The role of Instagram as the personal-brand channel and the website as the credibility/vetting tool
  • How the practice is transitioning its brand toward Plastic Surgery Institute of Beverly Hills and Rancho Mirage
  • Why staff must understand the premium patient experience when the surgeon is charging premium fees
  • How AI and online footprint may change the way patients discover and vet plastic surgeons
  • Why the DEFINE Deep Plane Facelift helps differentiate Dr. Chopra in a crowded facial rejuvenation market
  • His role in mentoring up-and-coming plastic surgeons via the Aesthetic Surgery Fellowship of Los Angeles

Featured in Beauty and the Biz: The Plastic Surgery Practice Playbook

Dr. Chopra is one of the top plastic surgeons featured in Catherine Maley’s Beauty and the Biz: The Plastic Surgery Practice Playbook.

Beauty and the Biz: The Plastic Surgery Practice Playbook by Catherine Maley
Get Your Copy Here

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.

Watch the Beauty and the Biz Episode

Catherine Maley’s video conversation with Dr. Ritu Chopra on Beauty and the Biz can be watched here.

Beauty and the Biz videocast with Dr. Ritu Chopra and Catherine Maley
Watch the Video

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 and certainty
  • How consults convert to booked surgery
  • How patients are followed up with
  • How your brand differentiates you from every other surgeon in your market
  • How your team supports the premium patient experience


Catherine Maley helps plastic surgeons identify the revenue leaks holding them back.

Practice Performance Audit by Catherine Maley, MBA
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TESTIMONIALS

Rated 5 out of 5
"Catherine outlined a plan that put key metrics in place, gave us a clear plan to follow throughout the year and trained our staff to increase their conversions by at least 10%. Since engaging with Catherine, I’m happy to report that revenues are up 15% over the last three months - 22% in the last month alone! I highly recommend Catherine’s consulting services to any practice looking for “best practice” additions to their operation."
drsigal 3
Robert Sigal, MD
"I have finally tapped into the most efficient way to grow my cosmetic practice and that is to “fish in the pond of my own patients”. When patients return to my practice, over 85% will purchase another service, product, or procedure. Not only was it worth over $200,000 in revenues this past year, it also reminds my patients I’m still around so they don’t wander off to my competitors. Catherine’s group has far exceeded our expectations and goals we had set up for them to achieve."
Victor Ferrari, MD
Victor Ferrari, MD
"Our consult conversions were running at 40-50%. Then we attended Catherine’s online training and implemented her strategies. They immediately increased conversion rates to 75-80%."
Anthony Corrado, MD
Anthony Corrado, MD
"I know how to run a profitable practice; however, it was not without major staff issues, inefficiencies and unproductive drama. With Catherine's guidance, I reorganized staff, set up processes for them to carry more of the workload and hold them accountable so I have more time to focus on patient care. The changes we put in place and the staff training to convert more callers and consultations will easily increase my revenues by 15% as well as save us time, money and costly mistakes. "
Evan Sorokin, MD
Evan Sorokin, MD
"Working with Catherine and her team has been very profitable. We’re only half way through the year and I’m up $200K and I’m booked out for the next 2 months even though we typically go into our slow summer months now. Her recent promotion brought in an extra $63,782 with more surgeries scheduled. I never realized how much money was sitting in my patient list but I’m a believer now!"
Plastic Surgeon Consulting Services
Robert Langdon, MD
"Catherine Maley has one of the best Marketing Minds in the aesthetic industry, bar none. She understands the aesthetic patient and she also understands the challenges and frustrations we face as aesthetic surgeons. You will benefit from Catherine's tools whether you are new in practice or a seasoned professional.Turn to Catherine for guidance - she knows what she's talking about."
Edwin Williams, MD
Edwin Williams, MD
“Catherine’s Cosmetic Patient Marketing Service has been a great addition to our practice-building overall plan. While we still invest in our online presence, we also found immense value in the internal marketing efforts. We especially like that all results are tracked so we know we are getting a great return ... last year it was 1,148% and no staff time was used. That’s a much easier way to grow my cosmetic practice.”
Mark Mason, MD
Mark Mason, MD
"Catherine Maley turned our practice around. We converted more consultations in one week than we did in an entire month. Our practice went from a painful 50% no show rate to a remarkable 85% show rate. Even more impressive was our close ratio - from 35% to 80% and still increasing. We would recommend her to any practice that’s looking to not only increase their profits today, but sustain a healthy flow of income for many years to come. Thanks Catherine!"
Sam Assassa, MD
Sam Assassa, MD
"Catherine found me the best patient care coordinator I could have asked for. She worked out a payment plan that was fair to me and motivating to my coordinator. She also provided training tools to help my coordinator convert better, even though she was already experienced. The results have been phenomenal. So good, in fact, that my income increased 250% and I’m booked out for 3 months. Don’t waste any more time or money doing it yourself. Outsource to someone you trust!"
Andrew Lofman, MD
Andrew Lofman, MD
"Since we’ve been working with Catherine and her team for the past 5 months, we’ve brought in $79K in surgeries and have booked an additional 17 surgical procedures and 20 non-invasive body procedures since then. This does not include the additional new patient referrals and revenues we are seeing from the on-going nurturing of my current patient database."
Verne Weisberg, MD
Verne Weisberg, MD
"I had given my staff the goal to convert at least $35K per week in surgeries AND I gave them the tools to help which was Catherine’s Online Learning Center at More Patients Academy. They watched Catherine’s modules and implemented her strategies and converted $80K! That equaled a 2,550% ROI. Nice!"
Adam Stein, MD
Adam Stein, MD
"Catherine outlined a plan that put key metrics in place, gave us a clear plan to follow throughout the year and trained our staff to increase their conversions by at least 10%. Since engaging with Catherine, I’m happy to report that revenues are up 15% over the last three months - 22% in the last month alone! I highly recommend Catherine’s consulting services to any practice looking for “best practice” additions to their operation."
Robert Sigal, MD
Robert Sigal, MD
"I have finally tapped into the most efficient way to grow my cosmetic practice and that is to “fish in the pond of my own patients”. When patients return to my practice, over 85% will purchase another service, product, or procedure. Not only was it worth over $200,000 in revenues this past year, it also reminds my patients I’m still around so they don’t wander off to my competitors. Catherine’s group has far exceeded our expectations and goals we had set up for them to achieve."
Victor Ferrari, MD
Victor Ferrari, MD
"Our consult conversions were running at 40-50%. Then we attended Catherine’s online training and implemented her strategies. They immediately increased conversion rates to 75-80%."
Anthony Corrado, MD
Anthony Corrado, MD
"I know how to run a profitable practice; however, it was not without major staff issues, inefficiencies and unproductive drama. With Catherine's guidance, I reorganized staff, set up processes for them to carry more of the workload and hold them accountable so I have more time to focus on patient care. The changes we put in place and the staff training to convert more callers and consultations will easily increase my revenues by 15% as well as save us time, money and costly mistakes. "
Evan Sorokin, MD
Evan Sorokin, MD
"Working with Catherine and her team has been very profitable. We’re only half way through the year and I’m up $200K and I’m booked out for the next 2 months even though we typically go into our slow summer months now. Her recent promotion brought in an extra $63,782 with more surgeries scheduled. I never realized how much money was sitting in my patient list but I’m a believer now!"
Robert Langdon, MD
Robert Langdon, MD
"Catherine Maley has one of the best Marketing Minds in the aesthetic industry, bar none. She understands the aesthetic patient and she also understands the challenges and frustrations we face as aesthetic surgeons. You will benefit from Catherine's tools whether you are new in practice or a seasoned professional.Turn to Catherine for guidance - she knows what she's talking about."
Edwin Williams, MD
Edwin Williams, MD
“Catherine’s Cosmetic Patient Marketing Service has been a great addition to our practice-building overall plan. While we still invest in our online presence, we also found immense value in the internal marketing efforts. We especially like that all results are tracked so we know we are getting a great return ... last year it was 1,148% and no staff time was used. That’s a much easier way to grow my cosmetic practice.”
Mark Mason, MD
Mark Mason, MD
"Catherine Maley turned our practice around. We converted more consultations in one week than we did in an entire month. Our practice went from a painful 50% no show rate to a remarkable 85% show rate. Even more impressive was our close ratio - from 35% to 80% and still increasing. We would recommend her to any practice that’s looking to not only increase their profits today, but sustain a healthy flow of income for many years to come. Thanks Catherine!"
Sam Assassa, MD
Sam Assassa, MD
"Catherine found me the best patient care coordinator I could have asked for. She worked out a payment plan that was fair to me and motivating to my coordinator. She also provided training tools to help my coordinator convert better, even though she was already experienced. The results have been phenomenal. So good, in fact, that my income increased 250% and I’m booked out for 3 months. Don’t waste any more time or money doing it yourself. Outsource to someone you trust!"
Andrew Lofman, MD
Andrew Lofman, MD
"Since we’ve been working with Catherine and her team for the past 5 months, we’ve brought in $79K in surgeries and have booked an additional 17 surgical procedures and 20 non-invasive body procedures since then. This does not include the additional new patient referrals and revenues we are seeing from the on-going nurturing of my current patient database."
Verne Weisberg, MD
Verne Weisberg, MD
"I had given my staff the goal to convert at least $35K per week in surgeries AND I gave them the tools to help which was Catherine’s Online Learning Center at More Patients Academy. They watched Catherine’s modules and implemented her strategies and converted $80K! That equaled a 2,550% ROI. Nice!"
Adam Stein, MD
Adam Stein, MD
READ MORE
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Catherine Maley

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