Meet the Team: Miriam Villanueva, Concierge, Plastic Surgery

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the La Jolla Cosmetic Podcast.

Monique (00:14):
Welcome everybody to the La Jolla Cosmetic Podcast. I'm your hostess, Monique Ramsey. And today, my guest is Miriam, and she's one of our wonderful dream team members at La Jolla Cosmetic. And so welcome today, Miriam.

Miriam (00:31):
Thank you. Hi Monique.

Monique (00:33):
Hello. So tell us what your role is and how you help patients in our practice.

Miriam (00:41):
Well, my role is pretty much a patient's concierge. I'm their advocate. I make sure that they feel comfortable and welcomed when they walk in through our doors. I also make sure that all their paperwork is up to date and that everything that's going to be necessary for their consultation or follow up appointment to go smoothly.

Monique (01:04):
So you're one of the first smiling faces that patients would see when they come into our surgical suite, to Suite 130. What made you want to come work at La Jolla Cosmetic and do the job that you're doing?

Miriam (01:20):
I've always liked being in contact with people, and I feel like La Jolla Cosmetic pretty much helps people transform their lives too. It's not only a medical spa, it's also the surgery center where I work at. So I get to see the patient before the consultation, when they come in, and then during the process that they already met the doctor, when they're leaving, and when they come back and meet the patient coordinator. So it's a whole process that I was just excited to be part of.

Monique (01:51):
Oh, that's neat. So, what did you do prior to coming to La Jolla Cosmetic? Were you in healthcare?

Miriam (01:57):
Yes, I was in healthcare. I was working also with another practice similar to this one. So I was familiar with the industry. So I wanted something that would provide me the same quality care that I was used to giving out to my patients. And I found La Jolla Cosmetic here in San Diego because I was working in Bakersfield before.

Monique (02:15):
Oh, okay. Now did you grow up in Bakersfield?

Miriam (02:18):
No, I'm actually from San Diego. Yes, I moved up there a few years ago because I started working in the industry. So, I found my passion in plastic surgery and medical spa.

Monique (02:30):
And then what brought you back to San Diego?

Miriam (02:32):
My family. My kids are all grown and my mom lives here in San Diego, and the rest of my family. I was the only one in Bakersfield.

Monique (02:40):
Okay now, hold on a second. Hold on. Hold on. Your kids are all grown?

Miriam (02:44):
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Monique (02:47):
You do not look old...I'm sorry. This is blowing my mind right now because I have known you for, I don't know, how long have you worked at the center now?

Miriam (02:54):
Seven months now.

Monique (02:55):
Seven months, okay.

Miriam (02:56):
It's going to be eight months now.

Monique (02:58):
But I had no idea that you were old enough to have kids, or grown kids.

Miriam (03:02):
I have a 25 year old, a 23 year old, and a 21 year old.

Monique (03:07):
Oh my gosh.

Miriam (03:08):
And I have three grandkids.

Monique (03:11):
What? Oh my gosh. How fun is that? Well, of course you wanted to come back with your family. That's neat. That's really neat.

Miriam (03:17):
I really did. So I'm just happy I really work in a place where I just felt the transition, it was just like coming from one place to another one to a beautiful cosmetic place. And it was just helping and greeting patients. It was pretty much what I did before, but now in a beautiful office here in San Diego.

Monique (03:35):
Well, and you have such a big personality. She's got the biggest smile. You guys can't see it, but when you come in, you'll see. And just so warm and welcoming. Well, that's really cool. I didn't know that about you, which is really kind of fun. So was there something specific that led you to aesthetics?

Miriam (03:53):
When I was growing up, my dad had a medical equipment business, and he started working with plastic surgeons. I was pretty much the one that did the invoices for him and stuff like that, at an early age, so that's when I became in contact with plastic surgeons, like, oh, that's what you do.

Miriam (04:10):
So when I had the opportunity to start working at this company that I used to work with at the call center, just taking the phone calls, they showed me how to greet the patient, all the medical terms, all that stuff. It was just mind boggling for me. I really loved it. I wanted to learn more. And that's how it just became my passion. I wanted to know about plastic surgery, and then I transitioned into the medical spa.

Monique (04:36):
That's really cool. And what have you learned from listening to patients?

Miriam (04:42):
That every patient has their story. No matter what the reason is for walking into our doors, we don't judge you, we are here to help you throughout that process. And I think that's been very eye-opening for me, just listening to each patient's stories and being through that process with them.

Monique (05:01):
So what would you want listeners to take away from listening to this podcast?

Miriam (05:07):
That we're here to help you through this journey. I know it might seem scary and I know it might seem intimidating to come into our beautiful office and meet our patient coordinators and our wonderful doctors, but we understand you, and we're here to help you, and we're here to guide you. And any questions you might have, we're here to answer those for you. We're just a phone call, email, text away.

Monique (05:31):
So tell me something about yourself that maybe other people don't know, something you've done that we might not know about.

Miriam (05:40):
In my old practice, I used to do their Spanish recordings for the radio stations. And I would have so much fun going to all the Spanish radio stations and talking about our practice and the new services, the new lasers, and the new surgeries out there. I was always so happy to go and do my recordings for the radio station. So I think not a lot of people know that about me.

Monique (06:05):
Give us like a little, if you were going to do that for us ...

Miriam (06:09):
Okay. So what would I say?

Monique (06:11):
What would you say?

Miriam (06:18):
Te recomiendo que visites nuestro sitio web, LJCSC.COM encontrarás toda la información sobre nuestros servicios, nuestro centro quirúrgico, lee sobre nuestros excelentes doctores. Hablamos español, tenemos coordinadores de atención al paciente en español en nuestro centro de cirugía y spa médico que pueden ayudarlo.

Monique (06:19):
Oh my gosh, that was so fun. Okay, so we're going to have to do a Spanish podcast.

Miriam (06:41):
I think we should.

Monique (06:42):
That's all there is to it. I think you can be our hostess because you just auditioned and you sound great. And what we will do for everybody in the show notes is we will have you translate what you said. I'll give you your recording back and you can translate it for those of us who aren't as savvy. I know a little Spanish but I didn't get quite all of that.

Miriam (07:06):
And then our Spanish is also a little bit faster.

Monique (07:09):
Yes, very fast.

Miriam (07:09):
My Spanish is very fast. My Spanish is a little bit faster so I can speak a little bit slower, but yes, we definitely need to do a Spanish one.

Monique (07:17):
Yes we do. Okay. Now we have a new thing for 2022 that we're going to get some Spanish language podcasts out there.

Miriam (07:26):
A lot of patients don't know about the new treatments. So that was my job.

Monique (07:31):
We have some of our pages, our most popular pages in Spanish, but not the whole website. Like you say, having a whole Spanish speaking team around you in the center I think is really, really nice.

Miriam (07:44):
And it's comforting to the patient too, because like I said, I know and I'm pretty sure that when they call, they're always calling and you can hear it in their voice, "Ah, en Espanol? Si! Oh gracias!". You just continue building the rapport instead of ...

Monique (08:02):
Do you know how many Spanish speakers we have on our staff?

Miriam (08:05):
On our staff, it's Karina, me downstairs, and Gridaly and Rosario upstairs.

Monique (08:12):
And Dr. Salazar.

Miriam (08:14):
And Dr. Salazar. So yes, you see, so we have like a great full team of Spanish speakers.

Monique (08:21):
I love that. I love that. Meet your patients where they are. So whether it's online or whether it's on Pinterest or it's in a podcast, but in their language. That's taking it up another level, which is always what we're trying to do.

Monique (08:36):
Before we wrap it up for listeners of our podcast, if you subscribe, we will give you $25 off of $50 or more of any service or treatment or product in our med spa. So if you are going to use the $25 towards anything, tell us what product or treatment would that be.

Miriam (08:58):
The new lightening cream that we have for SkinMedica. I am in love with it. We received a sample a few weeks ago and I have one brown spot that really bothered me, Monique. And I've been applying it every day. This is the third week I've been using it. And I can't wait to purchase it on Friday because I really, really love that one. It's our SkinMedica line, medical grade skincare line that helps you with pigmentation.

Monique (09:25):
Yeah. And that one is called Lytera 2.0. We had carried it way back when, when it was first introduced. Some people had some sensitivity to it. And so, SkinMedica actually revamped the whole product, and it's called Lytera 2.0 because it's the second version, and it is fabulous. And almost everybody has some pigmentation problems. I've got a nice lovely brown spot on the side of my face, which is where the car window is. A lot of us get that. Or if you're having just sun damage or you're having-

Miriam (10:01):
Your hands.

Monique (10:02):
Oh, true, your hands and your chest. So I love the fact that it's working for you.

Miriam (10:08):
I love it.

Monique (10:09):
So we're carrying that one now. So if you have any questions about our services or would like to schedule a consultation with any of our physicians or in our med spa, our contact information and links to everything we talked about today is in the show notes. Well, thanks again, Miriam, and we look forward to your bright shining smiling face when we walk in the doors of La Jolla Cosmetic. And thanks to you all in our audience for listening. And if you feel like giving us a great review, we would love it. Thanks again and we'll see you next time.

Speaker 1 (10:52):
Take a screenshot of this podcast episode with your phone and show it at your consultation or appointment or mention the promo code PODCAST to receive $25 off any service or product of $50 or more at La Jolla Cosmetic. La Jolla Cosmetic is located just off the I-5 San Diego freeway in the XIMED building on the Scripps Memorial Hospital campus. To learn more, go to ljcsc.com or follow the team on Instagram @LJCSC. The La Jolla Cosmetic Podcast is a production of The Axis, theaxis.io.