In this episode of The Beauty Equation Podcast, hosts Dr. Christelle Oliver-Dussault, Dr. Harpreet Lotay, and Amanda Manholt share their personal journeys in the world of aesthetics—shaped by backgrounds in art, medicine, and psychology. They reflect on how these perspectives come together to inform their approach, from understanding beauty standards to supporting confidence and self-image. The discussion highlights the responsibility practitioners hold in guiding patients, the evolving nature of the aesthetics industry, and the importance of empowering individuals to make choices that align with their own definition of beauty.

About the Hosts:

Dr. Harpreet Lotay is a family physician specializing in aesthetic medicine. She is the founder of Sona MD in Kamloops, BC, and serves as Chief Medical Officer at Bios Wellness Clinics. Known for her artistic approach and comprehensive non-surgical treatments, Dr. Lotay combines medical expertise with an eye for natural results. She is also an educator, a national trainer and holds academic appointments where she shares her knowledge in clinical dermatology and aesthetics. You can get in touch with her on Instagram @hlotaymd

Dr. Christelle Oliver-Dussault is a family physician specializing in aesthetic medicine, women’s health, and psycho-education. She brings a holistic, whole-person perspective to her clinical work, blending science with a deep understanding of the mind-body connection.

She is also the founder of Reclaim The Pink Within, a movement that empowers women to rediscover themselves during life’s most transformative stages. In addition, she is passionate about medical education and mentors the next generation of family physicians through her work with the department of Family Medicine at the University of British Columbia.

You can connect with her on Instagram @drchristellemd

Amanda Manholt is a clinic manager, patient consultant, and co-host of The Beauty Equation Podcast. With over 30 years of experience in beauty, aesthetics, and leadership, she has guided patients and teams alike toward confidence, growth, and empowerment. Known for her ability to connect with people and simplify the often-overwhelming world of aesthetics, Amanda brings a warm, practical, and relatable perspective to every conversation. You can find her on Instagram @crowsfeetandconfidence.

Websites

https://sonamd.ca/

https://www.getyourpinkbackproject.com/

Disclaimer: The Beauty Equation is for informational purposes only and not medical advice. This podcast does not create a doctor–patient relationship. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before making medical or aesthetic decisions. Information may change as the field evolves.

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It really does combine and marry my love of

art along with the technical aspects. Because when I was in medical

school, I was. I was awarded the gold medal in surgery. So for

those technical things, the culture of surgery didn't really fit me,

but aesthetic medicine is perfect. So I've been very, very

lucky. And I love empowering people like you both

do. And to Amanda's points about, you know, how

you look impacting, how you might succeed in the world,

I did see that. And one of the things that really motivates me

is to help even the playing field. So people might not have

the genetics, they may not have the looks, but they're. They're

extremely valuable to society and they have a lot to offer. They might be

very intelligent, very witty, and if they find that their

appearance is holding them back, you know, we're here to even

that playing field for them. And I love that aspect of aesthetic

medicine. Welcome back to the Beauty Equation. I'm Christelle.

I'm Harpreet. And I'm Amanda. And last time we

spoke about the reason why we all came together to talk

about the beauty industry, this famous beauty

equation. Today we're going to dig a little bit deeper and talk

about our backgrounds and how we all came to know each other. So,

Amanda, I might start with you today. Okay.

I guess we were going to talk about sort of like how we got to

this point. Right. I started my journey in

aesthetics very, very young. Basically right out of high school, I

went and did aesthetics training, and from there

I moved into more of a retail space

and retail management. And then about seven or eight years ago,

I made the switch into medical aesthetics.

So it's been a very long time and

very many hats, but I'm pretty excited to be where I'm at now

and how, of course, I met both of you as I

came and worked for Dr. Elote. And then, of course, you joined us as well.

So, yeah, I'm going to tell on you a little bit. Amanda, I remember you

telling me a story that when you were, I don't know,

I'm going to say seven or eight, you used to take cosmetic products

and shampoo and sit, stand in your bathroom

and tell everybody the.

Extol the virtues. Extol the virtues of any product

like this. Yes, I know, it's hilarious.

The writing was on the wall. I have

a dear friend, and we've literally been friends since we were 7, and she just

thinks it's absolutely hysterical that, you know, this is where I ended up

because, yeah, we'd stand on the side of the bathtub and sell whatever

products. You know, this is before we had our phones in the bathroom. Yeah.

It was a different time. Yeah. You aren't making

TikToks. Yeah, no, no. Thank God. That wasn't around when

we were younger. Right. Much harder space to be in now.

Yeah. What was it about? Just beauty and aesthetics in

general, do you think that attracted you to the field?

I think there's just something about how

impacts the way you feel and the way you show up in the world

and you know, I would love to say that

appearance and it didn't matter, but it does.

Yeah. You know, when, when we look better, we feel better and you

know, and it does really. And I think that's just always fascinated me.

Plus I was born with white eyebrows so I

needed to know how to fix that.

And then you mentioned that, you know, obviously you worked in cosmetics for a long

time but eventually you made the switch into more the medical aesthetics

realm. What spawned that switch?

I think I, I just needed more, you know, I always

loved the training and you know, the learning aspect

but I just felt like it was just more surface level information and it

really. I loved the idea that I could go

deeper, learn more to help more people. Yeah.

And for those who haven't been to the clinic and don't know you, what do

you tend to do on a day to day basis? I know you wear lots

of hats, but if someone was to come in, what

would they expect? Well, often I'm the

sort of first point of contact after you of course speak

with our lovely reception. But I'm there to

help people sort of understand what it

is they're seeing and give them some perspective as to

what options that they have available to them and really help to educate

them in terms of treatments and products and so that you know,

they can make an informed decision. So you sort of see me

first. I get to know you, get to listen, understand, and then of course I

can pass them on to providers like yourselves. Yeah.

Thanks for sharing, Hartreet. You have quite an

impressive resume. I'm not going to go into the details, but you

did open the fantastic clinic where we all met.

And I'm so glad we connected when I first met to Kamloops because I have

grown so much thanks to the two of you actually from both a medical and

a business point of view. Tell us a little bit about your journey. Maybe

a bit before the aesthetics and how I suppose beauty and art

intertwined itself into your life. Yeah, you know, quite

serendipitously I have lived in various

places. So I was born in Africa. I

moved to the UK and then Canada, and I've lived in the US

and, you know, it's interesting how

beauty standards do differ and how they sort of

diverse sort of beauty standards shape identity.

And I was also always a visual person. I love the visual

arts. I was fascinated by Leonardo da Vinci when I was like,

child, like, you know, this. Every man that knew science

and art and, you know, had, you know,

sort of experienced the world very holistically, and I

really admired that. And, you know, his focus on science

and anatomy sort of drew me towards medicine.

And I. I did family practice

and practiced a full spectrum of family practice and

have really enjoyed my ability to connect

with people at various stages in their. Their life. You know,

I've delivered babies, I've flown up north and done

some rural clinics, and I've practiced sports medicine down in the

States. But I've always had a love for visual

arts. And aesthetic medicine really found me. I didn't go

looking for it. I liked to paint.

And my husband was. Was in a

preceptor in an internship with an oculoplastic surgeon

who had an interest in the fine arts as well, and he liked to

sketch. And one day they were chatting, and my husband shared

one of my paintings with. With this gentleman, and

he said, you know, I really, really like that painting. I know your

wife's a family physician, but if she gives me that

painting, I will let her do a fellowship with me for six months

in this new thing coming up called aesthetic medicine. And

that's where it all started. And it's been an amazing journey.

I've loved it, and it really does combine

and marry my love of art along with the

technical aspects. Because when I was in medical school, I was,

you know, I was awarded the gold medal in surgery. So for those technical

things, the culture of surgery didn't really fit me, but

aesthetic medicine is perfect. So I've been very, very

lucky. And I love empowering people like you

both do. And to Amanda's

points about, you know, how you look,

impacting, how you might succeed in the world,

that really. I did see that. And one of the things that

really motivates me is to help even the playing field.

So people might not have the genetics, they may not have the looks, but

they're extremely valuable to society and they have a lot to offer.

They might be very intelligent, very witty, and if

they find that their appearance is holding them back,

you know, we're here to even that playing field for them. And

I love that aspect of esthetic medicine. I always think

about that. What was that book, that 4050

shades or whatever was that, like, book that was

50 shades of gray? Are we talking 50 shades of gray now?

Totally. We are taking a turn. But think

about it. Okay. Like, so the guy in the book

is, like, this handsome,

gorgeous, powerful millionaire.

If he was, like, unattractive and,

like, lived in a rundown shack, it would have been a horror story.

Just saying. True, right? Yeah. Yeah. And that's why

I'm like, you know, like it or not, that's just kind of the reality that

we live in in our culture.

Yeah. Appearances matter and they change perspective and how we. How we approach

in our scene in the world. Yeah. What about. And what about you, Crystal?

Yeah, I think I've had an interesting path into

medicine. To me, aesthetics is where medicine and art meet.

And I've had this creative side that's always been there

but was repressed for a long time as I

focused on more the science side of things. I

grew up, you know, dancing in my living room, and I was

involved in gymnastics. I went to circus camp when I was 12 and decided

I was going to join the circus. At that point, my parents

steered me in the right direction and were like, you should probably

keep studying. And then

I knew I wanted to do medicine, but it's postgraduate

in North America, so there's other parts of the world, like Australia, Ireland, UK, or

Europe, where you can go straight out of high school. So when I was looking

to decide what I studied before I do medicine, physiology kind of came

naturally, just because it's. I was fascinated by, like, how does the body work?

And my roommates at the time were all doing arts degrees, and one of them

was doing anthropology. And I had a few spare classes to take,

and I fell into the field of anthropology and

loved it. And I never really realized

how useful it would be down the line

where now that ability to understand different

cultures and different mindsets comes into play.

And believe it or not, like, Calvinist is quite multicultural, and we get

people from all over the world, and it's very helpful to be able

to understand different perspectives. And

then in med school, I didn't. I never really knew what I

wanted to. I remember when I started medicine, I was like, well, I really like

dermatology and I really like women's health, and I like a bit of emergency medicine.

But medicine tries to box you in, you know, And I

think a lot of careers do that to make you go down One route.

And because I liked so many different fields. And

really the draw to medicine was connecting with

humans and speaking to them, understanding them and helping them.

That's why I ended up doing family medicine and

loved it and still practice it. I still have some roles

in that field and teach residents in the

field of family medicine. But I wanted

something else, something more. And I

happened to have an opportunity, kind of like you, Dr. Lotte, to

spend some time in someone who did a bit more, who was a GP by

training, but did medical dermatology and aesthetics. And

I really loved the artistry of it and how playful it can be

as well, too. You just. You have the ability to create something

with someone and guide them in the process. And it's a

really rapidly evolving field, really in its

infancy. I mean, Dr. Lutte, you were there as it was emerging

and it's a really exciting space to be in. And

it's funny how things come full circle and all these different

interests that I had in my 20s that I didn't really understand

why I was doing them or why it mattered,

and now they have all had their place and getting to

me, to where I am today. Life is interesting

that way. It is. It really is. Yeah. It's a

journey. Right. I think the other aspect. And, you

know, Harpreet, we had talked about this, you know, I. The way I

envision sort of the ideal aesthetic provider, I think of like

a triangle. And, you know, in one aspect, they have to have

the knowledge of anatomy and physiology, and in the other corner,

equally as important, they have to have that artistic ability to really

assess a face and understand what would make it more attractive.

Right. And the other corner is really the psychology piece, which I.

It just fascinates me to no end. And it's really.

It isn't just about giving people giant lips or freezing their

foreheads so that they aren't moving. And it's. It's

a shame that it gets such a big. Honestly, it gets such a bum rap

because you know that every one person that you see

walking around that looks odd because their anatomy isn't,

you know, correct anymore. You know, there could be a hundred behind

her where you don't know that they've done anything. Yeah,

Yeah. I initially felt guilt when I was interested in this field

because of the mentality around

it and how it's seen and felt. The need

to justify why I enjoyed this aspect of

medicine. I don't feel like. Yeah, that's. That, that's. That's

interesting. And, And I, I don't think I

ever felt that need because the thing

that motivated me so much was the psychology

and the. The aspect of improving people's quality

of life. And then I. It is a very technical field, if you.

If you really want to do it. Well, yeah. So I

never felt that. But I certainly got attitude from

other providers, which is very interesting. So other

family practice physicians or other

academics. And I've practiced in an academic setting, too, because I taught

family practice at the University of Texas in San Antonio.

So it's interesting to see people's reaction

to you when you decide to use

your resources in this field. They almost

feel like it's a waste or you're meant you were made to feel that way.

Or they often make comments

that. That suggest that this is not

a worthwhile endeavor, let's put it that way. Yeah. And I think that's what

came in for me. It wasn't the general public. It was more, you know, you're

often surrounded by your professional social circle. Yes.

And because the drive is always, you know, I find my happy, safe

spaces in that consult room, whether it's general practice or medical aesthetics,

as having. It's such a privilege to be in that

space and be trusted absolutely in front of

you. And I think that's what drives all of us. To me, it's no different

whether it is family medicine or medical aesthetics. I approach it with the

same mindset, the same openness, and the same kind of

mind, body, social context approach. And I think to

your point, around all of our skills coming together,

culminating in this, I feel if

you're a very, very good family physician and you're

technically, you can use your hands, well, you can be a very, very

good aesthetic physician because the

starting point of every patient's journey is

being able to express and be understood. Right.

And in family practice, the communication

aspect is stressed in our training, as it

was in mine, in terms of how do you

connect with a patient well enough for them to be able to divulge

their closest fears and their closest aspirations?

And that's really what we do in aesthetics. And then the.

The technical part is

also important. But I feel that

family practice docs, they can certainly do this and do this very

well. Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's

also important. Listening is so critical when you're in the

consult with a patient, and oftentimes I find they don't

actually have the words. Yeah. To try and so,

you know, you're kind of reading between those lines and kind of.

There's a lot of investigating in that first initial meeting, which I

love because I just really like to sort of try and understand people and,

you know, what's going to make them feel

confident again and feel like they belong in their own skin once

again. And yeah, often they can't put it into words. I mean, we've had

cases where, you know, we had a lovely patient come

in and it was back when we were all wearing masks and you know, those

times and. And she came in

and was having a consult time or she was booked in for a lip touch

up, but we've never seen her before. So I got to

chat with her at first and when she took her mask off, I remember thinking,

oh, I don't. Where are we going to put it, like

you? And it turned out that she had been

getting filler in her lips again and

again and again and again. And no one had

ever really sort of sat down with her. And we did

photos. We looked at them together. And when she looked at her photos, I

remember breathing a sigh of relief because she said I look weird.

And I was like, oh, thank God I don't have to tell her because. But

where I was going with all this. And, you know, we ended up dissolving and

it was great in the end helping her out, but I think

that what got her into that trouble was that she wasn't able

to clearly express what she wanted. And

unfortunately, whoever she was seeing

didn't really pick up on her cues and it was easy just to

keep treating her. So I don't know where I'm going with this story,

but really, I think that's, it's. I think you're touching on the

responsibility that we hold, not only in

understanding them, but also it's very

easy to develop a dysmorphia because you

get used to how you look every day. And if you're changing that

gradually over time, you may not realize that

your appearance and your anatomy has become distorted. And

we will often try to. Show.

Patients that in a very delicate way. And

sometimes, yeah, we will refuse treatments.

I think it just goes to show again that vulnerability

piece. Right. And how important it is with. With what

both of you do. And that you can really

be that guide for those patients. Right.

And not lead them down the wrong

path. Exactly. So now that you have all

heard a little bit about us, what

is one thing that you would say you love the most about aesthetics?

Before we finish up it in. Oh, I have to pick one thing.

Yeah, well, if I had to pick one thing,

it's really when I hand the patient a mirror, and they

say, there I am.

That's the best. Yeah, that's pretty

cool. That's pretty cool. I. I think for me, it's, It's.

It's similar, but it's giving people agency.

Yeah. You know, giving. Giving them some tools and a little

bit of power back. And I, I really despise the word

anti aging. I really do, because as you've mentioned before,

you know, it's not something all of us unfortunately

get to experience. But yeah, I. I just like people to have

a little control and a little agency over this, this whole process.

How about you, Christelle? It's usually

at the follow up, when I see them walking with more confidence.

Yeah. That is just. Yeah, that's priceless

to me. Yeah, it's. It's a pretty good feeling. Yeah. Anytime we can

help. So our next episode, I'm excited to film that one.

We're gonna start digging around into aging and beauty and, you know,

what actually matters, what's worth doing and. And what's just

noise. Like I said, there's so much out there.

We're drowning in information. We really are. So if you liked this

episode, please like and subscribe and, you know, share it with a friend

who you vibe with. Our vibe.

If there's any questions that people have. We have numerous

topics. Trust us, we. We've already

got a list of things that we want to talk about, but really, I think

what's important is what people that listen to us want to

know. Yeah. So there's everything. Ever a question that you've had that you're almost too

scared to ask in person, this is the space to do it. We

will make them anonymous and go through them and look forward

to getting those in the inbox. See you in the next episode. Take care,

everyone. Bye for now.