Daria Berenato Breaks Down the Real Formula for Success

0:00You're about to make a trade. Which you do you listen to? Is it get optioning those options? Or let's do a little research. Learn more at FINRA.org slash trade smart. If you could pick one thing that you enjoy most about what you do, what would that be and why? I like plastic surgery because it gets people back to the optimal self, whether it be an athlete that breathes a little bit better after they broke their nose. and they didn't even know they could breathe better. A poor woman who had a surgery that wasn't up to her expectations and she's got a body that she's worse off now than she was.

0:37So fixing that type of thing is even better. The bullying procedures, the guys and girls that come in, they look in the mirror and when they see the result, they're crying. They're so happy.

0:49Sharp French, what up?

0:56This one, luck and let the pain inspire me. I put my all in everything I'm doing. Up until it's done, I'm me for the entirety. I put in overtime. I'll be working. Just know I'm a go for mine. Cause I earned it. They watching. I know it's time. I confirmed it. The whole society determined.

1:13What's up everybody. Welcome back to another episode. Got a big treat for you today. I have a world renowned board certified plastic surgeon, a surgeon for the stars and the athletes. And get this. He is the Florida Panthers NHL team doctor who right now is on another one to potentially win two Stanley Cup finals in a row. I have with me today, Dr. Gregory Albert. What's going on, buddy? Nice to be here. Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure, man. I heard so many great things about you and just read up on you a lot. And I love your ideology on a lot of different things as it pertains to athletes, you know, as we say, as you say, you know, tucks by day, pucks by night.

2:00I love the way you break down the different, I would say, methods of achievement between, you know, the cosmetic versus the athlete, right? Because there's two different things. The athlete's very functional. functional. You need to make sure when you're, you know, doing a procedure, you leave some tissue there so you can, he or she can recover properly and then be at the highest level possible. But before we get into all of that stuff for the... When did making plans get this complicated? It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the secure messaging app that brings the whole group together. Use polls to settle dinner plans, Send event invites and pin messages so no one forgets mom's 60th.

2:46And never miss a meme or milestone. All protected with end-to-end encryption. It's time for WhatsApp. Message privately with everyone. Learn more at whatsapp.com. Audience that doesn't know you, can you just give a little brief description of who you are and what you're doing and what it means for you to be doing all that? Well, let's see. So where do we start? So I was born in New York. I was raised in California, Southern California. um then i went to medical school in new york and i went to residency in general surgery in vermont and then i was inst louis for two years of plastic surgery and then the young age of 29 i became a plastic surgeon in a very uncompetitive area south florida i started my own practice um next to a hospital and i i did a lot of what you used to do sean i was doing wound care and running around and helping reconstruct everything i could because I was available in there and I wanted to learn and help people.

3:46And then about 10, well, we'll back up a little bit. So about four years after being in practice, I got a phone call. Actually, my manager did. And they said, does Dr. Alba want to be a plastic surgeon for the Panthers? And I think she said, what Panthers? What's that? What team? What sport? and uh and they said so they honestly said well i'll tell dr albert but he doesn't know much about hockey so i said let's see let's see how bad could it be i always want as a doctor and growing up i wanted to treat professional athletes so it's so fortunate because i could treat athletes as a plastic surgeon not not have to be an orthopedic surgeon or a medical guy so um we so joined there And then practice now is in Boca Ritonga.

4:38We've had a couple of different offices over the time, but this is the one. We're here. We love it here. Designed it for patients and the staff. Gotta have a happy stay. When it comes to what your family eats and drinks, you know your choices matter. You're the expert because you know what fits your life. And getting it right starts with good information. That's why America's beverage companies are sharing more information about our ingredients at GoodToKnowFacts.org. No spin, no judgments, just the facts straight from the experts for more than 140 beverage ingredients. Visit GoodToKnowFacts.org.

5:19I love it. And, you know, it's what you said there is, you know, it was true because I read, I did some reading. is at the time of that phone call, you didn't know much about hockey, right? You didn't know what kind of value you could bring, but at the very root of it, there's a necessary value to having a board certified plastic surgeon, especially on a hockey team, right? Typically for breathing, right? If something happens, cuts of that nature. And I always like stories like this because, as you know, the show is called The Determined Society. And what we do within the platform and in society in general is we may not know how to do something, but it is our responsibility to figure it out along the way.

6:11And I truly believe we're never really ready for the next level up or the next opportunity. So when you got that call and you decided to move forward with the Florida Panthers. How did you bridge that gap in order to feel you were comfortable and competent on the ice and in that environment? I listened to doctors that have been doing it. And the doctors, the training staff, we're part of the team too. We just don't wear the uniforms. But it's as simple as I've heard from a young age. He's seen and not heard. sit on the bench and when they need you, they need you. Because I'll tell you, I saw a few over my years, I've been doing this for 22 years.

6:58You're a little too eager to help and everything. And they kind of just get, you know, they want to get you off your leg. So, you know, when they want you, they want you. And you're on the bench until I need you. And then over time, you gain their trust. You know, I used to talk to agents almost every time about, you know, fixing someone's nose and saying, there's a 2 % improvement in his breathing, but that's just not 2%. That's important to him. So, yeah, I get 95%, you know, to 99 to 100 if we can get your breathing as far as that goes. So, yeah, it's been great to progress and kind of be really part of the team and with great ownership and great bunch of guys that just love to be doing their craft and hobby, just like us doctors in the locker room.

7:49We're talking about aircraft and hockey at the same time. I don't think they're talking about medicine. I'm just talking about hockey, but we're talking about both. So it's pretty cool. I think what's really cool is I think that at some point in most young children's childhood, they dream of being on this big stage and winning a massive championship, right? You're in the backyard as a young boy, you're playing baseball. And, you know, for me, I was acting like I was King Griffey Jr. Or something like that. And you always see yourself winning that Little League World Series. Then you get older, it's World Series.

8:26And then, you know, the Major League Baseball World Series. And, you know, I don't know if it was like that for you. But what I think is really cool now that you're there. And like you said, you are a part of the team. You have a ring, right? You've been involved. Like, that win is still your win. You may not be skating on the ice. but you're an integral part of that organization and that world championship and hopefully another one coming. So has that. Oh, he's breaking it out. Look at that. Look at your Stanley Cup. I can't do that. I can't do it. So that's a symbol of winning, you know. Oh, don't jinx it.

9:06No, you can only, it's not the real one. Yeah. You really, it's only a celebration and you have to win in order to hold it up. So I was, I had learned that through being in hockey, which is very deeply traditional and superstitious and everything, but history is amazing. So yeah, once I learned what it was 22 years ago, I said, I want to raise the Stanley cup. And I'm fortunate that we did because some, some teams do it and never get there. It's a little luck, but a lot of, a lot of talent. and hard work. And it's just, it's been great. It translates, as you're saying before, it translates from my practice to treating the athletes because I need to preserve and we need to make sure you, you function as well as possible.

9:54And so that's with every surgery, that should be within every surgery of plastic surgery, whether it be a nose to breathe better, you know, your ears to look better, function better. You can actually hear better when your ears are in a better position um you know other things you know um body having the body right so when you put clothes on you look right it's all function a lot of people say you know the cosmetic aspect of it whether someone does liposuction tummy tuck mommy makeover you know brazilian butt lift whatever you know that's cosmetic but a lot of it to be quite honest is functionality because if the shape I'm in now, I'm more functional than I was in December because I know at any point in time, I could go to my closet or my drawer and put anything on I want and it's all going to fit.

10:44It's all going to look good. Now, yes, that's vanity. It's cosmetic, but it's also, isn't it also mental health as well? I mean, the better shape I get in, the more mentally stable I am because I can regulate certain emotions, but also I feel more comfortable in society. Absolutely. Yeah, I was going to say, you touched on it eventually, but exactly when you're looking in the mirror and you like more of what you see than when you say, oh, I look terrible, I look tired. If you say it in the mirror, you're going to feel that way. So I tell every single patient that wants the comfort, whatever it may be, whether it was a small cosmetic thing that bothers them no one else can see to getting bullied bullying for for big noses big ears i mean there's a lot of things in plastic surgery that was me like as you can see like these things right here man like when i was in elementary school like it was hey can you fly can you you know now it doesn't really happen anymore because we're all more mature but but to that point, man.

11:48It's like people get bullied and, and, and, you know, I got to share something with you since you mentioned that. So, so I, I think, you know, I have, I have two daughters. One's 19 going to college in Georgia next year. And the other one is a year and a half younger, but I don't know if you could see this, but this was a note from my daughter at about four or five years of age. Read it to me. So, Oh wait, there's that. I am so tired, but I don't. Oh, I need to see you and talk to you about something before I go to bed. And you notice on our picture, can you see the picture? The ears are the same size as the head.

12:31Yes. Okay. I do see that. That's how she drew her sad face. That's how she thought she was with the big ears. So we had talked about it years before that. You know, she knows what I did. I do. And she came to the office and she would go to hockey games at the age of six. So she pretty much knew everything about the profession. So she said, Daddy, can I get my ears done? I said, not until you're mature enough to follow the directions afterwards. But wouldn't you know it about, I don't know, about a year later, someone called her monkey ears. And there were other things I, you know. So she came back and said, Dad, I want to do it.

13:15cutest thing. We did over Thanksgiving break. She wrote a calendar down, countdown to surgery. And she had it done. And for this case, it's to fight bullying. It's to help self-esteem. And if the kids are old enough and you're mature enough to have the surgery, it's a great thing for self-esteem and combating bullying. Now, obviously So there's a lot more to bullying to do than just cosmetic surgery, but it certainly helps. I don't disagree. Now this is a daughter. She's going to Georgia next year to play golf, right? Right. That's really cool, man. How, how did, what was that moment like? Cause that's, that's big time.

14:03Yeah. I mean, you talk about adversity and delaying gratification. I mean, delaying gratification, it took 20 years to do this, right? And a lot of years where we were sitting twiddling our thumbs in the locker room saying, what's going on here? So, I mean, delaying gratification, it's interesting. I don't know. When I look at my daughter, I think, well, maybe it's just something that's in her because this generation is not – they don't know what delaying gratification means or even – because, I mean, logically, everything is there. You could see it happens. So I think the thing about her perseverance and her talents are that she's so mentally strong and her place to be is on the golf course.

14:49That's where she could be herself, if you will. But just so proud of her accomplishments because it took a lot of adversity and a lot of delaying gratification. She played since she's the age of six. I took her out to the golf course and she started swinging and then we got our lesson. no but before that from the age of two she watched golf on tv i'd leave the room i come back she's still watching golf so she was always going to be an athlete because she loved it she loved seeing you know probably the uh the hockey players play at the young age and then um and then so we went from from there to um we you know we encouraged her but we didn't push her i just said you make a commitment to this you need to fulfill a commitment, but then if you don't want to do it, you don't do it.

15:38So certainly I was, I was encouraging her, but she loves it. She probably didn't win a tournament for several years. And then as she's getting better and frustrated and everything, she starts taking them on and she made her goal. She just, she wrote a letter to herself in freshman year of high school saying I want to be ranked in the top 100 nationally and I want a full scholarship and SEC. So she wound up getting all of it. But she had to delay gratification and adversity because she was accepted by another team, was all set and going there. And then like NCAA sports, a lot of the time, you might even have to experience yourself.

16:28You know, the coach changes, things change, and the one year of the relationship moves. So, the adversity was that at the junior year, she thought she had a spot already. Well, you sign in the senior year. So, I think it was August, so four or five months before signing, that she found out she needed to look for another spot. And I thought I'd give her some pretty good dad advice at the time. I'm sure I forget, but I said, you're going to, you're going to get a spot. This is what I, this is what I've been talking about. You're going to get it because you played, you persevered and you, you deserve it.

17:06And if you're too frustrated or stressed out, it's not that important to you. Then don't worry about the sculpture. And it, it, it worked. It worked out. She's got just what she wanted. She can be a bulldog and she'll be playing. A year next year, maybe she'll be playing on TV like they're watching now. I think the girls will last. Awesome. Yeah. So, D1. It's awesome to me because you're talking about, you know, delayed gratification. When you're an athlete or, you know, a professional or even a surgeon, like, there's delayed gratification everywhere, right? Because you always have that North Star, you know, especially now because you touched on it because everything's right there in front of you.

17:54you with this generation and in sports, everything is amplified, right? Because you have social media and the algorithms are telling you who the best players are, right? It's always in your face. And then when something like that happens to a young man or a young girl in high school, and they lose their spot and got to go look here that, you know, all of a sudden, depending on the narrative they craft in their own mind, it could be the I'm not good enough or here we go. This isn't good. But the things that I really love about, you know, young athletes that do get it are they, they dive back into their process and worry about the controllables, right?

18:38It's like, am I going to wake up and eat? Well, am I going to go to the gym and I get, am I going to work on my skill work? Am I going to get on the golf course? Am I going to work on my putts, right? Like those types of situations there, if you focus on those things, then that big thing takes care of itself. And, you know, when I look at everything that I've gone through with my show at the beginning, I was looking at that top of the mountain, right? I'm looking up, I'm like, how in the hell am I ever going to get there? I don't have this. I don't have that. I can't do this because I don't have that.

19:08And finally I shook myself loose and said, but I can do this and this and all these small micro movements daily in between that builds out the foundation. And then we can start on the framing of the house, right? Then we can, you know, do the scaffold, then we can do the roof. And then now we have a house. But, but the thing is through all that, my point and where I want the audience to really connect with this is, you know, the real reward is not in the attainment of that big goal or the achievement. it is getting there in reflecting back on everything that it took. I couldn't agree with you more.

19:50And the resiliency of my daughter and that crowd of athletes and kids coming up, because most of the ones that were beating her beforehand and then she exceeded, her natural ability then mended with practice and practice. determination. And those girls that were winning, then were losing and now are not with it anymore because they couldn't make it, they didn't have enough, they couldn't see it. They couldn't see it like you were saying. So, the delayed gratification is not for everybody. So, I don't know. I was just thinking maybe, I mean, it's so difficult to delay gratification because how long is it going to be?

20:38And when you're a kid and you're 16, 17 years old, you don't have a spot yet at college and it's only a year away, but it's like everything. Right. So yeah, it could be damaging. So maybe we should, we should go from dissuading them from certain things to, to then encouraging them earlier in their career, you know, so they continue because it delayed gratification. It's tough, but I guess that's the reward at the end. You know, how, how much do you want it? Yeah. I mean, that's a great point, man, because look, you know, you're growing up in a generation or a society that everything's at the tip of their fingers.

21:14Yeah. They want food, Uber Eats. They need a ride, Uber Teens. It doesn't matter. They want to go shopping, Amazon. Mm-hmm. Like, you push a button and you have Utopia sitting at your front door within 24 hours. And you don't even know what it is. But that's the problem. I mean, that's the single problem, the single most difficult problem with kids. raising them is the phone is phone and and technology and exposure but not understanding what you know how it correlates with life if you will or the grand scheme of things because they see it and they want it or they think it's attainable right then and there but yeah no but it's so it's i agree my daughter's amazing and my wife is amazing my other daughter's amazing for different types of things.

22:08Are you open to talk about that on the show? Yeah. I would love to talk about that. Yeah. Yeah. So you're talking about other daughter, Morgan, or my wife? No. Morgan. Your younger daughter. Yes, sir. You can talk about your wife, too. We're open here. I was kidding. So Morgan's a year and a half younger. She's severely autistic. she is in I think 10th or 11th grade we kind of lose count because she's the same functioning for the last 6 or 7 years let's say but she is the sweetest gentlest thing 98 % of the time and can communicate she can't talk she can say things when she's kind of actually she's had some speech speech therapy but she will you know what she wants when she's happy she'll open her up to say yes or she'll bring you over to something and it's interesting that I have kids on both ends of the spectrum if you will because Gabrielle is gifted academically as well as with golf just the golf would get her there but And then Morgan's on the bottom.

23:35So we, um, both are, we build both the special needs and, um, it's, it's challenging, you know, um, different, obviously they require different types of attention, if you will. and yeah I mean both stories are still being written and let's see where we get with Morgan who is doing therapy physical therapy, occupational therapy and she just got on Medicaid which is that's a whole nother whole nother problem and mess that thank God I know a little bit about medicine or it would be impossible impossible it's it's right what about the other two percent right so she's you know you said because like that two percent can also feel like a lot i want to give you some background first because yeah when i was my first i would say first five years teaching i was working in autism units they i literally that's the type of students and and children i worked with so yeah i have a special affinity for, for, for those children.

24:45And, and also one year I worked with the profound unit. So it was everything. It was everything from behavioral to autism, to down syndrome. And, you know, it was, I wasn't making a whole lot of money, but at the same time, man, you know what, going to work every day. Like I knew that those children appreciated me and what I brought to them right so i do have background in this so i you know i can i can picture what you're yeah what you're speaking about absolutely you could see in their face that i mean it sounds corny a smile i mean but it says it all that's everything that yeah you just tell even though she can't talk she can she can she can communicate when she's yeah and that means a lot for the for you and right it's like when she communicates or shows that expressive nature physically that like i see your face lighting up right now right yeah because you're picturing it it's like people don't understand that that could be so few and far between those are big wins man yeah um you know i was smiling also because i was thinking thinking of my other daughter and you know for a father aspect.

25:58It's one darse seeing what you do to the other one. Neither one can comprehend or appreciate fully without being a little jealous or whatever you want it to be because we treat them differently. But we can't... All your kids are the same, right? It's impossible. You can't do that. I can't take Morgan to a driving range or the opera. You're not going to sit still. Or I can't take it when I teach plastic surgery in Russia. You know, so yeah, we try to treat them the same, but you know, this is a situation where what do you do? That's parenting, adapting, I guess. Well, I think, you know, to your point though, Doc, is even if the situation wasn't having two children on opposite ends of that spectrum, right?

26:47Even if they were all in the same wavelength, you're still never going to treat every single one of your kids the same. No matter what, they have different personalities, they have different sense of humor, they have different interests, they have different needs. And the one thing that I've learned is we have three children, an 11-year-old son, eight-year-old daughter, and six-year-old daughter. Each one of them has different needs. My daughters, my eight and six-year-old, are much more needy than my 11-year-old son. But I know when he demands my attention and needs something from me, I'm there because he doesn't ask it much.

27:27So to your point, it's a balance for parents. So kudos to you and Lanek because you're managing that and you're being great parents to both of them. You have your own practice and the Florida Panthers at night. So that's a lot. man it is how important and instrumental has lana been in supporting you in this and in helping out and you guys working together to make sure that all of this you know i don't want to say run smoothly because it's never smooth but well think about manageable think about this she she comes and runs the show here and which is and and does it whatever it takes I mean, from off in the floors to calling Donald for a tea time.

28:24She goes home and she usually cooks a meal at night after we come home, which is an unbelievable cook. But she manages all of Morgan's medical stuff. so more at well and now she well gabriella's college stuff but that's you know way less you know needy than the other one i mean so that so the uh yeah we have a whole army of people at home that we get that 80 coverage um so we don't have we don't have help on the saturdays sometimes and sometimes sundays and if we have a hockey game that's late they can't go if we don't have somewhat. So she coordinates all that as well. So that's a whole nother job.

29:04So yeah, it's amazing. I'm always impressed by my wife's ability. Cause I think women need to see things differently than we do. We think, Oh, we have this opening. We can, Oh yeah, I can do that. And they're like, well, no, because of this mathematical equation over here and you you're over here and you put these two together, that won't work. I'm like, dude, she's right. Oh my God. They see things differently. And so to have rock stars like that, you know, as the backbone for us that are, you know, moving and shaking and trying to do everything possible, it's important, man. And it's, and it's, it's something that, you know, I think at times I take for granted, but what I'm learning as I get older, I'm just learning now to look at my wife and go, I may be frustrated right now.

29:52I'm thinking in my mind but you know what it's a 98 98 possibility she's right like let's just you know unless it's something extremely fundamental that i feel very strongly about train so i was gonna say i mean i i didn't finish by saying i could i really i could do the surgery without her i could do the technical part without her because i don't want anybody to think that i can't do surgery without my wife but i can't do it i can't do it without my wife i couldn't do it here i recall that we're a team we're a team here we're you know it's some sometimes i don't see her during the day she doesn't do she's not in the or so if i'm in surgery for nine hours in the day and she's out uh in the office seeing patients or or talking to patients um or doing without cooking something or taking gabrielle to a golf lesson while morgan to a doctor's appointment She's here and she's amazing.