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Olga Pollak: "In our lifetime, we can change ourselves several times"
The third heroine of the #VyOgonyok column was Dr. Olga Pollak, who has been with us since the opening of Ogonyok. I recorded the conversation with Olga at the place of strength and health — Edem Resort Medical & SPA near Lviv. Of course, this is not accidental - it is here that she recently heads the department of aesthetic medicine. I spent two days in this, without exaggeration, incredible place - and although I have known and followed Olga for many years, it was there that she revealed herself to me to the fullest extent, I plunged into her very special world. Olga and I wandered around the center for many hours and talked about how and why she made a choice in favor of aesthetic medicine, about professional ethics and family values, about rest, favorite food and, of course, about style, shopping and love of shoes.
This is a partner material that we wrote together with Edem Resort Medical & SPA.
— Olga, describe yourself in one sentence.
- Positive. Little and big positive (laughs).
— You have been working in the field of aesthetic medicine for more than 20 years. I want to trace your path from a medical student to the head of the aesthetic medicine department of Edem Resort Medical & SPA . Tell us why you chose this direction and at what point you came to it.
— While studying at the medical school, I clearly understood that my profession should be connected with positivity in medicine. We practiced in different directions: in surgery I realized that I was not ready to sacrifice my family and personal time in order to fully devote myself to work, and in therapy I did not have enough energy - this is a profession for those who like to work scrupulously and monotonously.
I should have time for contemplation, for myself, and for my favorite work. I work a lot, but I should have time to breathe.
I thought about going to gynecology, but in practice it turned out that the main work of a gynecologist at that time was abortions, and I realized that I would not be able to do 14 abortions a day. So, in the fifth year, when it was necessary to decide on a specialization, I chose the field of venereology. Naturally, in order to get there, it was necessary to make a lot of effort - only 4 students got into each course out of 300 people, this is an elite specialty. I was incredibly happy, doing an internship there, because I was dealing with healthy young people (laughs). Their main problem was temporary diseases, from which no one died. And at that time it was an amazing profession, because it allowed you to earn money. For me, it is very important that my work has a decent reward - it is energy that is very important. Money is needed for development, for further study, in order to succeed, as medicine is a profession where you must constantly learn, constantly invest in yourself.
I worked for a while and then went on maternity leave, I realized that I wanted something bigger, I wanted to develop further. At that time, the first luxury center appeared in Odessa, in which a separate branch of aesthetic medicine was opened and cosmetology was promoted. I was very interested in this and began to actively attract new technologies to the center. At that time, I was already a fairly well-known doctor in Odessa. Then the path of my personal brand began.
- Can you say that your formation in the profession took place there?
— Yes, and I am very grateful to that time for meeting people who have remained in my life for a long time. We were quite close with our fellow doctors, and only doctors worked there in aesthetics - even now, when we meet, we remember something. And of course, there I met many of my clients, whom it is difficult to call clients now - these are my people, with whom we have been together for 20 years. We know who married when, who divorced when, I am invited to their children's weddings. This is a sufficiently deep level of communication. But, of course, if you penetrate into the personal life of clients more than necessary, after some time rejection or parting will inevitably occur. Therefore, it is necessary to keep a distance. Although I am convinced that a new patient always comes to a patient who has left, even better. If we part, I never insist on the opposite - the main thing is that we part on a mutually good note. By the way, I also met Vykoy Ogonyok there.
— How did your personal brand develop further?
- I was with my people all the time, without leaving the shadows - this allowed me to build up unique skills that were not mass-produced. Because as soon as technology went into the mainstream, it ceased to interest me — I needed new knowledge. All my patients know this very well, because I always offer them the best and most advanced. This is how the Odessa B'uteeth medical center appeared in my life, where I head the B'uface department. Now, when I work with a new generation of owners who are 10 years younger than me, I understand how much this is the second generation. Calm, properly structured: they have different values, a different attitude towards people, they value family, constancy, they all have many children, they are friendly and light everywhere. This new generation of people is very close to me — they allow the people around them to develop.
It was at the B'uteeth base that I tried all the cosmetology novelties and brought the latest devices to B'uface. And she began to gradually move towards anti-aging medicine, fully understanding that one cannot restore youth with injections — for this, it is necessary to work with the body as a whole, to rebuild oneself from the inside . The more I studied antiaging, attended specialized congresses in Ukraine and abroad, the more I became convinced of the need to move towards nutraceuticals and naturopathy.
One cannot restore youth with one injection — for this, it is necessary to work with the body as a whole, to rebuild oneself from the inside.
That's how I got to know the doctors from Eden, the head doctor of the center, Alexei Bashkirtsev, and its owner, Olga Filatova, who surprised me with how deeply she penetrates the medical topic. She studies together with us, studies the subtle mechanisms of biochemical reactions, understands exactly how everything is connected with everything. As a teacher and specialist of the Ipsen and Innovaesthetic companies, I have been invited to private events more than once — and these companies choose the best venues for meetings of their specialists. That's how I got to Eden for the first time, and even then this playground amazed me with its magnificence. During one of the visits, Alexey Bashkyrtsev introduced me to the general director of Edem, Alexey Voloshin, and we had a very pleasant talk about plans for the future. Even then they started hinting to me about potential cooperation. Gradually, rapprochement took place: we understood that we are close in many ways, but I am a person who has a rather difficult time letting himself in.
When it comes to clients, I generally don't like pan-fraternity and I don't welcome too much rapprochement.
Otherwise, you risk moving into friendly relations, and in this case, your services cease to be valued. Each stage of acquiring new knowledge costs a lot of effort, and in addition, in order to reach the highest level, it is necessary to make large, expensive purchases. You must be a specialist who is allowed into the club: this applies to both the level of knowledge and the cost of services. This all helps me to find like-minded people with whom we move in the same direction, to build myself up correctly and share what I have, on topics that need it. When they write to me directly with a question about the price, I do not answer, because this approach is not the way to go. This question cannot be answered immediately, because I do not provide a service - we are going through a certain path together.
— We have now touched on the topic of your direct message. I have been following you for a long time - for a long time you really did not come out of the shadows. And I understood that this is your conscious choice. And at some point you decided to get out of it — and you got out in a huge ship. And an avalanche of knowledge fell on us thanks to your insanely interesting texts on Instagram. How did it happen, what became the trigger?
— At some point, people who were not the first in our profession began to enter the arena of leaders in aesthetic medicine - they were not even opinion leaders. My colleagues and I, who have extensive experience, knowledge and a wide range of clients, saw that people we do not know, but who "make" themselves through social networks, come to the fore. It became clear that we are losing this platform and it's time for us to take it: to show that we are mastodons of the profession, with education and vast knowledge, that we have something to say and that we should be looked up to. To tell that people should not be compared to lips and cheekbones, not to this incorrect beautification of self-image, but to correct aesthetics. It became clear that it is necessary to come out of the shadows and conquer Instagram. And it turned out to be easy to conquer - with such a background and such a wardrobe (laughs).
— You really have something to say.
- Of course. I show people that I understand aesthetics, that I know a lot about the harmonization of the face and understand the true canons of beauty, which come from knowledge of painting, history, and deep medical knowledge. Now so many new things have been discovered in the field of biochemistry, biophysics, human genetics - this is space, another world. It opens gradually and opens far from everyone - you need to be internally ready for this. On the one hand, it is dangerous, and on the other hand, it is very interesting. That's why we attend professional conferences, share different life stories. As the head physician of Eden, Alexey, says, if there is a breath, then there must also be a breath . Accordingly, when your knowledge matures, you want to exhale, share it.
— Tell me what you believe when talking about biohacking and aesthetic medicine.
- Each stage has its own topic. As there is fashion for dresses, there is also fashion for drugs.
— What is trending now?
— Discoveries are happening in medicine all the time. Moreover, such subtle mechanisms are beginning to be discovered that are a little dangerous for unhealthy people. If you are healthy, then peptide therapy is for you. Its essence is that fragments of proteins are completed in your body - accordingly, your cells must be healthy. By this moment, your diseases and manifested chronic breakdowns should be in remission. This is already the highest aerobatics. Before that, you can work with amino acids, and before amino acids, in order to recover, we start with detox, which is preceded by a medical check-up — a full examination of the body. He shows us what we need to work on, what we need to get rid of, what is your weak link, what has already manifested itself and to what degree.
Eden is an ideal platform for the path to self.
This path is not fast, so we work here with everyone individually and talk about the fact that you have to go through this path to yourself several times. It is natural that for our life, to get emotions, endorphins, it is impossible to be on the right question all the time. If you lead the right way of life absolutely always, you will be a very boring person, uninteresting to society. Therefore, there should be both junk food and hormesis — the so-called beneficial stress — periodically. Useful stress in eating, drinking, hanging out, traveling. All this, on the contrary, gives a useful shake to the body, which tests us "for weakness". We do such a shake-up and after it we have to return to ourselves for a while. Therefore, this platform allows you to approach your waiting list very correctly, identify weak points and work on them. And as we can see, if you are here for detox, aesthetics suit you perfectly.
— At what point did you realize that you really need each other? And how did you join the Eden team?
— The point is that back then, 5 years ago, cosmetology was still at a different level and I did not fully understand how I could be useful to Eden. Let me explain: Eden is a spa site, a balneology site — treatment with mineral waters. And cosmetology and balneology are almost not friends, because if you go for body treatments, you constantly visit baths, saunas - everything that implies elevated temperatures and heating. It is difficult to offer cosmetology services at the same time as them. For example, detox programs take time. If you are here for detox, your every minute is scheduled: you go to the procedures as if you were at work, according to the schedule - from 8 am to 8 pm. Accordingly, it is very difficult to find time for cosmetology. But over time, hardware cosmetology has grown a lot — a lot of new equipment has appeared, which allows the procedures to be both effective and at the same time not very traumatic. Such new proposals showed us that we have more points of contact. When we met a year and a half later, it became clear that I already have something to do here, and that this site is ripe for such a level of services - they are beginning to be in demand. Technologies have appeared that allow us to look into the future through the prism of a step-by-step path to ourselves and the use of our own cellular reserves. If at the beginning we use highly purified high-tech injectables, then as the body is cleansed, we come to use our own fat and thrombotic cells, fibroblasts, and growth factors extracted from platelets. Thus, we use our material, which is most useful for us.
— What is your favorite procedure in Eden?
- Everything is individual here. It is difficult for me to choose my favorite procedure, because my favorite procedure is when you see what kind of person came to you, and what kind of person left a week later. And this is not one procedure, but a complex, because only he gives the result. Many guests, coming to me, say that they have already tried one or another procedure, one or another drug, and it did not work. That's because the right combination, the right cocktail of procedures is important - that's the only way they will have an effect. Unfortunately, very often due to the wrong approach, there is a devaluation of some types of treatment, where good quality drugs are incorrectly evaluated and not understood - people simply sell the procedure, not the approach.
— Describe your day in Eden.
— Every day of mine begins with activity on an empty stomach: if I'm in Odessa, it's morning sports, and if I'm in Eden, it's a temporary morning walk at a fast pace. Then I go to breakfast and after that I go to work. My working day in Eden lasts non-stop: my last guests can be at 19:30 and at 20:30, that is, I end the day here very late. That's why I have a late dinner - at 20:00-21:00.
— You are fasting.
— Fasting, fasting (laughs). Many people are amazed at how I can withstand it, but if you work a lot, it's very easy to keep intermittent fasting.
— How do Eden guests get on the aesthetic cosmetology program?
— It all depends on what level the guest is at, where he is ready to go. Cosmetology is offered here as an additional offer - it is not included in the program, these are separate paid services, and they are quite expensive. Before coming to the cosmetology program, the guest must attend a consultation. On it, we find out whether he is ready for cosmetology in principle. Now we are actively developing this direction and offer it in such a way that guests want to come to it. We are growing top devices, unique offers and self-care programs that give incredible results — and guests want to receive this service. And of course, internal word of mouth works - everyone who goes through a detox program, dines in the same restaurant, communicates, sees each other and each other's results. For me, the highest praise is when guests notice changes in others and share it.
— Now let's talk about style. Olga, tell us about your style in your youth. You endlessly experiment with style, and as I understood during our conversation, this is basically your approach to life. How did it all start?
- This has always been the case - in my family, on the female line, everyone was a fashionista and liked things to be of good quality. For example, even in Soviet times, my mother managed to find things brought from abroad.
My style is where I give myself freedom, it is a manifestation of my intelligence.
Yes, I believe that style is intelligence, respect for society, how you feel about yourself. I absolutely do not care that someone may not understand me or think that I am showing off. Many people wonder how I don't get tired of dressing up all the time, and on the contrary, it cheers me up. If you wake up in the morning with a bad mood, get dressed in front of the mirror, go out in front of people - and get your "wow" . This will turn you on right away. I am very glad that my husband welcomes and encourages this passion of mine. He has a very philosophical view on these things: he never limits me in what causes endorphins. Everything that gives fire is welcome.
— Has your style transformed over time? What did you look like in your student years?
— Of course, he is still transforming all the time — from year to year, depending on trends. Naturally, I accumulate a lot of clothes, and sometimes I look and think: God, how could I buy this at all. And my student photos are a horror: arrows, shadows, pearlescent lipstick is a must, some hair and chemistry, with which I went for many years. But in those days, of course, it was cool. Now I actively follow trends — it's a drive for me. New clothes are like new drugs. This all cheers me up. I would even say, get married, but I don't like this word: I think that getting married is ugly, you should look your age. Although no one gives me my years. The style should have badassness, character, a little bit of challenge and shock — and to make me feel comfortable. At the same time, it is important to clarify: I don't wear minis or cleavage, for me it's shocking not to show half of the booty or cleavage up to the waist, it doesn't emphasize the figure, although I have a figure that can be shown. I feel uncomfortable when something is underlined, it seems indecent to me (laughs).
— Avicenna has a phrase that I found during my studies in Medina and that resonates with me very much. He says that a doctor should have the best clothes, the best horse, and the best ring, so that he does not think about worldly bread, but thinks about caring for people. I believe that you have it very correctly, and it is a pity that our society often perceives it incorrectly.
— I really like the attitude towards doctors in the West. There they understand that a doctor is a highly educated person, that his education is long and expensive, and that he studies all his life. It's about respect for people who study for so long and invest so much in their education. Unfortunately, we have no respect for educated people. During work, I gather a lot of energetic information from other people, and therefore I have a need to love and encourage myself. That's why I want to buy unique things, interesting clothes. I work so that a person would thank me. And receiving this energy, I must spend it on myself in the right direction. It's about inhaling and exhaling, about showing self-love.
- Avicenna was right. Great doctor. Let's move on to my favorite questions. The first thought you wake up with.
— (thought) It's difficult. Of course, all my thoughts are about the work and the plan for the day: has nothing changed in the timing, has anyone canceled the schedule. Because if the timing is confirmed, I definitely have sports and breakfast left. And if the timing changes, then both can happen.
- And before going to bed? With what thought do you fall asleep?
- There are two points. The first is joy from the past day, the results obtained, from meeting people, gratitude for new acquaintances, for new interesting people. The second point directly concerns work with guests: when there are complications, dissatisfaction, side effects or unpreparedness of people for the volume of procedures, then, just like an alcoholic, a doctor's sleep is superficial and disturbing (laughs). We are all crazy people here: we tell everyone about the need for good sleep, but we ourselves have problems with sleep.
— Tell us a little about your family.
— I was lucky with my family, because my husband is a doctor of education, we studied together at the Odessa Medical Institute. His specialty is an anesthesiologist. He worked on it for a short time - it is a very difficult profession, and at some stage he realized that peace and family are much more valuable to him than a career in medicine. He left practical medicine, and now, taking advantage of the conditions of the lockdown, he found an opportunity to enter the University of Toronto, on IT in medicine. And thanks to this, I also had time for Eden. Our son is also in Toronto - he has been living there for four years and works in an IT company that creates cloud storage. I am very happy for my boys.
In the family, we give each other the opportunity to develop and grow.
To preserve this ether, interest in life. You must constantly saturate yourself with new knowledge in order to move on, otherwise I would not have been able to with my common-law husband. When I communicate with men, they always tell me that I understand them well. I really understand how difficult it is for you (laughs), how many obligations are imposed on a man, that he owes something to someone endlessly. Ideally, one should live in such a way that a man himself wants to do something for a woman, and not only out of a sense of duty. Few people understand this. Fortunately, there is a person next to me who understands.
— Do you have many male clients?
— Yes, about 1/3 of men. These are mostly the husbands of my clients.
— You write quite a lot about men on your Instagram.
— Yes, because now a very important man is watching himself. At the age of 50, my husband decided to fulfill his youthful dream of getting an education in the States. All these obligations to the wife and family can really close the way to yourself, but it is important to listen to yourself. And it is important to play the long game: thanks to the passage of checks, detox, thanks to self-care, we understand that in our lifetime we can change ourselves several times. Even if you change yourself twice, it renews and rejuvenates you. You understand that there will be no pension, that you must always work without stopping, and, accordingly, look good. Your appearance is your business card. And respect — to society and to oneself. By building yourself up, you realize that you feel younger than you look, that your face and the condition of your outer skin do not match your brain. In order for this to happen, there are special assistants. At the same time, the man retains his masculinity, he has not disfigured himself in any way, but simply made himself neat and refreshed. I generally believe that a person approaches higher powers by doing his job well, including working on himself. And of course, together with work, there should be rest, relaxation: sports, family, travel.
- How do you rest?
— We rest only actively. My son didn't like to walk a lot before, but we got him used to it — and now he himself likes long trips. When we are on vacation, we wake up very early and go for a walk - we go around the city while its inhabitants are still sleeping, sit down for morning coffee with a croissant in some small cafe and enjoy ourselves. After that, we go on individual excursions, visit museums and other interesting places - we are always on the move. When we come home in the evening, our legs literally fall off.
After such an active movement, I must definitely love myself — that's why I'm shopping the next day .
At the same time, my husband can hang out at some restaurant at work, where I will come for dinner after shopping. When I'm shopping, I have champagne, coffee, good conversations, and lots of compliments. Because when I come to the store, they often ask me if I'm a blogger. There, by my appearance, they determine that I am definitely on Instagram (laughs).
— What do you like to buy the most?
— Most of all, I like bags and, probably, shoes. Shoes must be unusual. I am also a big fan of men's accessories. I can go to the men's department and buy a cool men's handbag. And everyone will wonder where I got it and why no one has seen it. I also like unusual stylized unisex things: something between a tailcoat, shorts and large shapeless jackets. I don't like the girly-girly style — it's not about me.
— What kind of things from Ogonka do you have in your top?
— I really like all your things "with regards" (laughs). You know that I am happy to pick up such things from you. These can be, for example, men's jeans and some kind of unisex sweater. At the same time, unisex can be supplemented with some very feminine dress - with a thin waist and some interesting back, an unusual skirt, sleeves. Petar Petrov is my biggest love, and all your Koreans: Low Classic, System Studios. Cashmere, of course, and unusual accessories are what both Vyka loves and you.
— How did Ogonyok appear in your life?
- There was a spark in her from the very beginning - I always liked the taste of Vyka. She always dressed very stylishly and impeccably dressed the people who were with her. Accordingly, when she started bringing things, I was happy to wear them. I know that there will always be the right emotion in Ogonka, that I will wear the thing with pleasure and everyone will ask me where it is from. With your appearance, Jordan, Ogonka seemed to have a new breath: new brands, new collections. I like that you only have some of them for a couple of seasons: you remove the cream, enjoy it and move on to new ones. This movement, this new ether is the coolest.
THE END
Edem Resort Medical & SPA is a real paradise on earth. This is a place where everything moves along its own special trajectory, in its own rhythm and with its own mood. There is a magnificent nature: a park, a forest, a lake, there are no superfluous sounds and as if there are no superfluous experiences. Everyone there is sincerely happy for you and there everything is done so that you rest on all levels of your consciousness and your feelings. This trip reminded me once again how important it is to listen to yourself, take care of yourself and, as Olga says, build yourself up properly. Below is a small blitz with Olga and a great tip for all readers.
Here is Olga:
Favorite thing: My fetish is shoes. I am a devotee of Balenciaga shoes - the ego aesthetic is close to me. And I also love Maison Margiela.
Favorite book: the last author from whom I get great pleasure is Irvin Yalom, an American psychotherapist who, in an artistic style, tells the stories of the illnesses of famous people. For example, I was very impressed by his work "When Nietzsche Wept".
Favorite food: my favorite is espresso and a glass of champagne (laughs). Everyone knows that I start any feast with this. This is also correct from the point of view of digestion: before a meal, espresso triggers bile secretion, and champagne increases acidity. After this, everything is going right for me: I am ready to eat, and to socialize, and in general, life has been successful!
I want to advise the beautiful (that is, everyone): study, do what you love, always go to yourself, and don't run away from yourself and your complexes! Because beauty with brains is very sexy!