Anil Kashyap, MD - Plastic Surgeon in Austin, Texas

Eva Sheie (00:03):
The purpose of this podcast is simple. We want you to get to know your doctor before meeting them in person because you're making a life-changing decision, and time is scarce. The more you can learn about who your doctor is before you meet them, the better that first meeting will be. There is no substitute for an in-person appointment, but we hope this comes close. I'm your host, Eva Sheie, and you're listening to Meet the Doctor. Welcome back to Meet the Doctor. My guest this morning at the Aesthetic MEET live in Austin is Dr. Anil Kashyup.

Dr. Kashyap (00:35):
Hello, how are you?

Eva Sheie (00:36):
And he's practicing in Dripping Springs, Texas. Happens to be my neighbor that I didn't know he was my neighbor until yesterday, but

Dr. Kashyap (00:44):
The neighbor you never knew that you needed to have.

Eva Sheie (00:47):
Every morning I drive almost to your house and back, and I know that now too. Welcome to the podcast.

Dr. Kashyap (00:53):
Thank you. Thank you. Now I know who's stealing my newspaper.

Eva Sheie (00:57):
You still read a paper?

Dr. Kashyap (00:58):
I get the Sunday Times.

Eva Sheie (01:00):
You're keeping the delivery driver employed. That's so great.

Dr. Kashyap (01:04):
I think there's something very special about holding the print, drinking your coffee, and connecting. You kind of feel I'm involved. It's a beautiful ritual. Have my cats jump up and bother me. It's great.

Eva Sheie (01:18):
Oh, you're a cat person.

Dr. Kashyap (01:19):
I love it. I've got two cats.

Eva Sheie (01:21):
How old are they?

Dr. Kashyap (01:22):
They are little old queens. So my two babies, one's name is Coleco. Now her name has a very funny story behind it. She's a Calico. And when my wife was like, which one do you want to get? Because we didn't go to any breeder or anything else like that. We went to back in the day when Craigslist was still a thing.

Eva Sheie (01:43):
Not a dangerous.

Dr. Kashyap (01:46):
Well wait, but wait, there's more. We actually went to a frat house where these kids had saved this box of kittens from a burning building, legit, because you could still smell the smoke on them. And so we went to a box, a carton, and we picked out which one we wanted.

Eva Sheie (02:05):
But how did you leave one there?

Dr. Kashyap (02:07):
We left all of them there. We took,

Eva Sheie (02:10):
I thought there was just, okay. There was more than one.

Dr. Kashyap (02:12):
Yeah. No, no, no. This is when I was a resident and we could barely afford anything. And especially time. And if you're going to get a pet, they're not just a pet, they're a part of your family. So we were just like, okay, one. And then she already had a cat, which is my motivation to get my own kitten.

Eva Sheie (02:29):
Oh yeah?

Dr. Kashyap (02:30):
And so she's a Calico, and my wife says, which one do you want to get? I said, I want to get the Coleco one. She's like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Say it again. Which one do you want to get? And I said, the Coleco one. And then she says, say it again. I was like, wait, why? What's wrong? She's like, it's Calico and me

Eva Sheie (02:49):
Your whole life?

Dr. Kashyap (02:50):
Yes. And me, who has, I did a double major in molecular biology and genetics, and all of their questions are about Calico cats, but nobody ever said a word.

Eva Sheie (03:02):
No one ever said it.

Dr. Kashyap (03:03):
And they actually say that if you hear somebody mispronouncing a word, it's because they read it and never heard it.

Eva Sheie (03:09):
Yes, yes.

Dr. Kashyap (03:10):
So

Eva Sheie (03:11):
My stepdaughter is 31, and I remember when Harry Potter was new, we were reading all the books and she said, Bellatrix was strange to both of us, and we both went, Bellatrix?

Dr. Kashyap (03:30):
I love it though. I mean, that's the way it should be. We should still be in a world of wonder where you get to experience things and the way you see it, and if that's how you choose to pronounce, unless it's somebody's name and they tell you, listen, this is how you say my name. It's like, no, it doesn't. You've said it wrong all your life. This is how I'm going to say it. That's not the time to do it. But Coleco, she's been my little queen. She's like a lot of people I've known very, very, very pretty, but really dumb.

Eva Sheie (04:00):
A kitty.

Dr. Kashyap (04:00):
So she's a kitty and she just is fantastic. And then our other old girl, her name is Shiru. She's a black cat, and I just found out that she's a Bombay because thank you, TikTok taught me that Bombays are black foot pads, black nose, kind of a muscular build, although muscular isn't a term I would use for her right now, just because she's a little bit of a chunk. Yeah. Those are our two little old ladies.

Eva Sheie (04:25):
How old are they? What year were you a resident?

Dr. Kashyap (04:27):
13 and 14.

Eva Sheie (04:28):
Yeah.

Dr. Kashyap (04:28):
Yeah.

Eva Sheie (04:29):
And where were you a resident?

Dr. Kashyap (04:30):
So I've been a resident everywhere.

Eva Sheie (04:34):
When you found Coleco?

Dr. Kashyap (04:35):
Yeah. When I found Coleco, I was in Memphis. I was in Tennessee. I was doing my plastics residency at the time.

Eva Sheie (04:41):
And the frat where you got her was?

Dr. Kashyap (04:42):
No clue.

Eva Sheie (04:42):
Don't remember?

Dr. Kashyap (04:44):
No clue. No

Eva Sheie (04:45):
Some Greek letter. Okay. I too have a very, very old cat. Her name is Cheryl.

Dr. Kashyap (04:50):
Okay.

Eva Sheie (04:51):
She came with the name. She is so crabby and my children keep trying to make her love them, and she will not.

Dr. Kashyap (04:59):
It's not going to happen.

Eva Sheie (05:00):
She only loves dad because he feeds her.

Dr. Kashyap (05:03):
Okay. That's a transactional love.

Eva Sheie (05:06):
Extremely.

Dr. Kashyap (05:08):
What about you? Does she love you?

Eva Sheie (05:09):
No.

Dr. Kashyap (05:11):
Does she pretend to love you?

Eva Sheie (05:12):
No.

Dr. Kashyap (05:13):
At least there's honesty in that.

Eva Sheie (05:15):
You're at a really interesting time in your career.

Dr. Kashyap (05:18):
Yes.

Eva Sheie (05:19):
First, you said you've been a resident everywhere. So let's go there first.

Dr. Kashyap (05:22):
Okay, so the short version is I'm a Canadian born and raised thought I wanted to do research, did my master's in immunology. After my master's, I was like, well, I'm never going to be a doctor in Canada. It doesn't lead to a great income or anything. So I said, all right, I'll be a dentist. Went to NYU, did dental school there, stayed top of my class because you keep the doors open. Went to oral maxillofacial surgery, did a six year program, got my medical degree, did general surgery, realized I wanted to do all the reconstruction, but the right way to do that is to do plastics. So worked really hard to get into plastics. Went on to plastics, and that was in Tennessee. And then after that, I went on to further academia, went to Johns Hopkins, was a fellow in microsurgery. And then I went to the University of Oklahoma and I was a professor there.

(06:16):
And so I did breast cancer reconstruction, was a director of microsurgery, also was part-time at the VA in Oklahoma. So I restarted the whole head and neck reconstruction program. So the VA is a very interesting place where it's an interesting reality. There's a dual reality there. I feel like anybody who's ever been a vet should have the best care in the universe. You signed your name, you served our country, you get the creme de la creme. Sadly, that wasn't what I found, but I worked towards that. So I restarted a lot of things. I would do really complex, long cases, which didn't really make me popular with the nursing staff because they were really not interested in that. But anyways, it was very helpful to the patients. And then after that, I decided I kind of saw the reality of healthcare and just made a decision that was more in alignment with my own personal life, wanting to have a little bit more quality of life, and then moved on to an aesthetics practice, was there for four and a half years. And that's when I decided it's time for me to open my own. So now we're at that very fun, scary, exciting, confusing time of I'm going to open my own practice. I know what I want to do. I know the kind of clientele I want to have. I know how I want to serve the community. And now, let's just make it happen. This is a place where the road meets the rubber and it's very scary.

Eva Sheie (07:47):
We would be hard pressed to find someone with more training than you who is about to open a practice. I just don't know that I've ever known anybody with that wide of a scope anywhere, actually.

Dr. Kashyap (08:03):
But I told my wife, I am so interested in a lot of things. I said, I would love to do my MBA. She was like,

Eva Sheie (08:09):
Yeah, you still can.

Dr. Kashyap (08:10):
She said, no, I get you now. You have been training forever. No, you don't get to do this. No, no, no, no.

Eva Sheie (08:17):
You can do it later. Actually will come in handy and you'll know when the time is right, when to do that.

Dr. Kashyap (08:22):
So the thing is, I think that there are people who just have an interest in doing things. Now, I really like doing things, but at the same time, I'm probably the laziest person you'll ever meet. But when I do things, it's like a hundred percent there's all or none. I literally love finance. I could have been a finance bro, although I would never wear those vests. No, it's not my look.

Eva Sheie (08:48):
They wear vests?

Dr. Kashyap (08:49):
You've seen all the TikToks, the finance bros.

Eva Sheie (08:52):
I don't have TikTok.

Dr. Kashyap (08:53):
No, I live on TikTok. It's so great if you choose to use it. It's just like in a superpower.

Eva Sheie (08:59):
I love TikTok, don't get me wrong. But right now I'm in a season where I have to have an extreme amount of mental discipline. And so I've removed everything that isn't essential.

Dr. Kashyap (09:10):
Power to you. You are a testimonial of strength. Although I think I exhibited that during my residencies because that was when online gaming happened. I never once went online. I only played my Xbox at home, never played with anyone online because if I did, I probably would've flunked out.

Eva Sheie (09:30):
You recognized what it was going to do if you got in. Yeah, that was smart.

Dr. Kashyap (09:34):
I knew where my kryptonite was and I stayed away from it. I put it in a lead box and put it away.

Eva Sheie (09:39):
So this is an exciting time for you. What's your vision?

Dr. Kashyap (09:43):
So the vision is aesthetic surgery is a very interesting place because it's something that someone makes a decision for themselves that they want to change something about themselves. And at no point should anybody be ever made to feel that they have any problem with who they are or how they look right now, even before they even engage in anything. So I just want to be there for their journey, but it should be a journey of luxury and an experience that enriches their life, that makes them feel comfortable, makes them feel happy, because anybody can go and get a procedure done. There are lots of amazing, wonderful top notch plastic surgeons who are in our beautiful community here. First of all, much respect to them all, and my hat tipped and acknowledgement to all of their skill. They're all amazing. But what I want to do is offer an experience that will make somebody feel special, that will make them feel singular, that will make them feel like I'm the only person.

(10:52):
Like Rihanna said, I want to be the only girl in the world and guy, let's be equal. Everything should be equal. Because I also feel that men should be taking a lot more of this journey, not because they need to, but if they feel like they should. But our society pushes this on men, that men should be very stoic and just suck it up buttercup. You look good. You can never talk about your feelings. You can't have a fat day. You can't feel like, oh, I don't look good in these jeans. And the reality is, we are all human. We all have feelings and we all battle daily with our inner thoughts, our inner demons, and we shouldn't have to. I just want to be there. I want to listen. I want to make you feel seen. I want to make sure that I do what makes you feel happy. I'm not here to sell you anything. You come to me and tell me what you want. And if you want me to tell you other ways, other things, that is up to you, I'm here for you. That's what my goal is. If I were going through this, I would want to feel like I'm the priority. I'm the only patient this surgeon has. There's nobody else.

Eva Sheie (12:02):
How have you thought about the environment?

Dr. Kashyap (12:05):
So environment can be broken up into several spaces. There's the psychological environment, then there's the physical environment. So let's start with the obvious, the physical environment. My goal is to have a very posh experience. It all starts from entry. Entry is an experience. So our design concept is compression and expansion. Like I said to you, I love learning about different things. Our architect has just been phenomenal explaining these different concepts, really helping me understand the idea of luxury. And so you come into a wonderful space. You feel already when you just see the area that you walk into, you feel okay, okay, I'm feeling this. Being seen by our consultant to be able to go over different things. Everything down to the walls, the lighting, the furniture, these all create a mood. Okay? Now, none of these, let me start off by saying in any way will tell you the skill of the surgeon.

(13:10):
So let me say that we're not hiding behind anything, but I'm confident in my skills. I'm confident that I can deliver something that will be meaningful. So I want to convey that through the gift wrap, if you will. So the experience of being able to have a consultation that is a one-on-one experience, it's not a desk between us, it is not. Let me tell you, it is, Hey, let's sit down. Let's talk about this. Let's create a base platform of trust. Let's build a relationship because your body is your temple. Your body is your home, your body is your future, and I'm going to build on it, improve it. It's just like any house. Your house is a place that you love. It started off with one vision, and then as your family grows, as things change in your life, you do add-ons. You do this, you do that.

(14:11):
It's all for betterment. Everything from the details of here, let's use the best tech that's available, let me show you on this screen. This is what this is. This is what is. But the tech never takes away from the idea. Guess what? We are two human beings and we're connecting and we're going to be there for you. And it's not a high volume practice, it's all about selective service. And service is the key answer. Experience is the key answer. And living in the moment, that is what it is. Each moment that we have is an experience and it never comes back. But what you do have is the memory of that. And you don't want to just have, I went into this place, it was cold, it was sterile. I felt like a piece of meat, and I was poked and I was prodded. I was told, well, while you're here for this, guess what? We could also do this.

Eva Sheie (15:05):
Do you have an example? I have one, I'll share it with you, but I want to hear first if you have an example of a place or a space that you come back to in your mind that is similar to this, to what you're trying to create.

Dr. Kashyap (15:19):
This is less of a warm and fuzzy type of an answer, but it is the basis of what we're trying to deliver. So I'll give you the example. When my wife and I went to Paris, we went to Christian Dior, we went there and we were just like, okay, we're just going to, my wife didn't have a Christian Dior bag, so she wanted a bag. So we're like, okay, cool, whatever. So we went in and the first meet and greet wasn't that great, which I understand there's a huge lineup to get in and how many people walk into a store, just like whatever. But that was also a learning point, which I'll come back to. And then we started looking at stuff. Then we started, you're in Paris, you're there for fun. Let's make this experience. It turned into a bit of out of control shopping spree.

(16:09):
So we ended up, it went from one bag to three pairs of shoes for her, and they were crystals on them, like they were the flagship handmade stuff. Then it went into jewelry and then it went into more stuff. And then we went from having one shopper who was with us to three. And they were bringing champagne, they were bringing macaroons, they were white gloves, service. Then I ended up getting three pairs of sneakers, and then I got some jewelry as well. I like rings. So it was just such a great experience. And again, let me start off by saying, I understand this is a very consumerist capitalist kind of a story, but what I want to convey is, they had a very specific way of making you feel special. And when I said to you, I'll come back to something, and that was like the first original greeter was like dismissive, but then as they assessed, they changed it. That's something that I learned from. That's not what I'll ever do. Every single patient, it doesn't matter

Eva Sheie (17:21):
You felt prejudged the first time.?

Dr. Kashyap (17:23):
Yes,

Eva Sheie (17:23):
Yes.

Dr. Kashyap (17:24):
And I think that my takeaway, which was a growing experience for me, even though I didn't know it at that time, but I'm pulling it out as a memory, as a core memory for a future expression, and that is that you know what? Every single person, they have a lived experience and they are someone who wants to feel special. And you know what? It's not for me to judge anything. That's why it will be very important for my very, very small staff to know everybody and to treat everybody with kid glove service because that's what it is. And it doesn't matter whether you come in for Botox or just come in first some skin cream, it doesn't matter. We are here for you. It will be an experience that you don't forget.

Eva Sheie (18:17):
It's a good lesson. When we lived in Seattle, we used to play this game on the street called Homeless or Millionaire.

Dr. Kashyap (18:23):
That would be very hard to play here in Austin. Very hard to play.

Eva Sheie (18:28):
Depends on what part of town you're in, I think.

Dr. Kashyap (18:30):
No, I mean you wouldn't be able to tell. That's what I'm saying.

Eva Sheie (18:32):
Right.

Dr. Kashyap (18:33):
Like, here, you can't tell. They probably are the richest people on the planet and they look like they need a cup of coffee.

Eva Sheie (18:39):
You have this experience all the time where you'll see a news piece about a celebrity and they'll say, and I live on a ranch outside of Austin. And I'll be like, you do? You're driving up and down the same street as me every day. Really?

Dr. Kashyap (18:54):
Who knew?

Eva Sheie (18:55):
For me, that environmental memory is the Encore Hotel, which is the other half of the Winn.

Dr. Kashyap (19:01):
Yep, yep.

Eva Sheie (19:02):
You walk into that room and you realize that they thought of, they looked at every last detail from the light switches, to the way you turn on the lamp, to how the shades open on the windows. And I mean, they didn't leave a single thing banal. The most boring things they made extraordinary. And I remember standing in the coffee line one morning last year while I was staying there and making that comment to someone standing next to me and the person behind the coffee bar said, thank you so much for noticing, and I thought you just did it again. They just start so thoughtful about it. So now that is my happy place, that hotel.

Dr. Kashyap (19:47):
Understandable. I mean, not just that, it's Vegas.

Eva Sheie (19:51):
I don't particularly love Vegas because it's Vegas. We've been there a million times. There's things I love to do. When you go there all the time to have somewhere that you love, it's almost like it's even more special because it's not Caesar's Palace or it's not.

Dr. Kashyap (20:07):
I have that same thing, exactly. For me, it's the Palazzo.

Eva Sheie (20:11):
Oh, that's a good one too.

Dr. Kashyap (20:13):
The Palazzo is a little older, but their setup is beautiful. But sadly now, I can't go to Vegas anymore just because all the smoking and my asthma is terrible. And so my wife and I, we love EDM, Trance, so we go to see the DJs, so it's fantastic. So for her birthday, we went and we did the stupidest thing you could ever do, which is get a table and it's just, let me say this loud and clear. I will never do that ever again. It was just such an extravagant, dumb thing to do, but it was for my wife, so I was just like, let's do this. All stops out. So we had a lot of fun. Vegas is again, one of those places, has memories, lots of fun things, fun friends, the DJs. Now actually it's changed. Everything changes as you change. So now my experiences are different in terms of now I'm looking for fine dining experiences. We went to this place called Delilah's and Delilah's. It's also, it's in the Winn.

Eva Sheie (21:19):
Oh, good. Oh, I'm going to make a reservation.

Dr. Kashyap (21:21):
It's a super, super luxury place. If you want to get a table there at regular dinner time, you have to pay like $5,000 minimum.

Eva Sheie (21:34):
Oh no. Really?

Dr. Kashyap (21:35):
Yeah, because somebody like Drake could be there and randomly get up on stage and just start singing

Eva Sheie (21:43):
Oh my.

Dr. Kashyap (21:44):
Dua Lupa was there and she sang, and so no cell phones are allowed. If you pull your cell phone out, you get kicked out. They want to have privacy. Kylie Jenner was there. They all want their privacy and I respect that. Everybody needs to have.

Eva Sheie (22:01):
I want to sit by the pool and have someone bring things to me, but that's the season I'm in. I'm a mom and I work really hard and I just want someone to do the things. That's enough for right now.

Dr. Kashyap (22:14):
First of all, acknowledge that I see your superwoman cape, being a mom doing all of this stuff, and you had mentioned before that you love to play the viola and to have this talent, it's exceptional. So hats off to you.

Eva Sheie (22:28):
Thank you.

Dr. Kashyap (22:29):
That's amazing.

Eva Sheie (22:30):
The reality, which I think maybe you can relate to is surgeons sometimes find themselves at the end of all the training and not really liking what the real job looks like every day. And so maybe that happened to you a little bit, and so you kept going until you found the thing that was the right fit.

Dr. Kashyap (22:49):
That's one interpretation, but I think that I had a lot of luxury in terms of no endpoint.

Eva Sheie (22:56):
There are some classical musicians who can have that path because of either family resources or exceptional talent where other people are subsidizing the expensive instruments like a Stradivarius cello.

Dr. Kashyap (23:10):
Oh goodness.

Eva Sheie (23:10):
They're owned by foundations and then they're given for use to the most talented player so that that person does not have to make that investment as a young adult. That wasn't me, I was in the second layer. And so what I found was that it was very, very hard work and I didn't like 98% of it and that the 2% wasn't enough. I had so much more time because the work only happened at night and on the weekend, when everyone else was living. And so that conflict was really hard for me too.

Dr. Kashyap (23:43):
I can totally understand that. I see how that can bring a separation of state. But really, as far as it goes for my journey, I think it was hard. I mean, I was poor. There was a lot of stealing coffee from the nurses, eating crackers and peanut butter, and it was a lot of that. I just love operating. I think if I wasn't a surgeon, there's only one other job on this planet that I would ever want to be, and that dream job would be air ambulance helicopter pilot. Yeah, because when I was at Shock Trauma in Maryland, there were the helicopters that would come in and bring all the traumas in. These guys, man, they were amazing. First of all, let's talk about a helicopter. It's probably the most technologically difficult aircraft to fly. It's so complicated. So you get your tech thing by being able to fly that, then you get your altruistic thing on because you're saving lives. So you were bringing from the tri-state area anything. You were bringing the worst of the worst, any second they could pass on. That was super cool. So I was just like, oh my God, you're my hero. If there was anything I could ever do, I would love to. I watch, full circle, we're back to TikTok, I watch those TikToks and they show all that stuff, helicopters and stuff like that, and I watch how to do it.

Eva Sheie (25:05):
There's someone I'm going to introduce you to and your mind's going to be blown. Okay, so let's stick with the aviation theme here. And the way I like to end this podcast is with kind of a fun question.

Dr. Kashyap (25:16):
Sure.

Eva Sheie (25:18):
When you're on a plane and they ask, is there a doctor on board? What do you do?

Dr. Kashyap (25:23):
I volunteer. I've done that a couple of times and I actually have a sad story about this was actually, I was coming back from Miami. I had gone for a plastic surgery interview for residency. I was like two days later, so after your interview, it's like I didn't shave, and so I looked kind of like a bum. I had my hat backwards, I had a jean jacket on or whatever, and I'm sitting there. And then I could see diagonally one seat in front of me, there was something going on. The flight attendant was coming back and forth, back and forth and everything. Turns out this person was having issues breathing, couldn't really do much. Long story short, this is a cancer patient. He was on a trip with his sister and his mother just before bad things happened. So then I got involved and then I was speaking to the ground control and they were like, okay, you're assessing the patient. Do we need to turn around? And I was like, no, I think that we can make this. And so we got off and everything and then of course they let them off first and I got the contact information from the sister just because I wanted to know. And unfortunately they passed on two days later.

Eva Sheie (26:30):
Oh.

Dr. Kashyap (26:31):
But it was really sad because they were celebrating. It was our last hurrah. I'll always help. I've actually helped out in the waiting lounge. Somebody passed out. So I was essentially running a little bit of a mini code right there and then missed my flight.

Eva Sheie (26:54):
I hope they hooked you up.

Dr. Kashyap (26:56):
So you have to be careful with that because that becomes compensation and then, yeah, so you don't want to, I think that I became a doctor through this long and varied path, but it's because in everything that I do, even if it was nonprofits and doing charity work and stuff like that, it was always because I want to help people. If I won the mega, mega mega million dollars right now, like a huge sum, natural thing, I would take some time off and travel and do super cool stuff, but then I would actually go to some of the worst parts of the world and actually open and fund by myself, those hospitals so that you have embedded treatment and I would operate on the worst, the people who need it, the people who don't have the help. That's what my dream job would be because that's awesome. Because now I don't have to worry about lifestyle. I don't care. I don't have to worry about that, but then I could actually do it. I hope I win the millions.

Eva Sheie (27:59):
I hope you do too. And we'll make a podcast about your clinics around the world.

Dr. Kashyap (28:05):
Yeah, that would be fun. Why not?

Eva Sheie (28:07):
Well, this has been amazing. Thank you so much. It was far exceeded my wildest expectations.

Dr. Kashyap (28:14):
Well, thank you for the opportunity.

Eva Sheie (28:16):
Well, you're so welcome. Let's do it again.

Dr. Kashyap (28:18):
You've got this ability to water a plant and it flowers.

Eva Sheie (28:22):
Thank you. I'm going to make a clip of that. If you are considering making an appointment or are on your way to meet this doctor, be sure to let them know you heard them on the Meet the Doctor podcast. Check the show notes for links including the doctor's website and Instagram to learn more. Are you a doctor or do you know a doctor who'd like to be on the Meet the Doctor podcast? Book your free recording session at MeettheDoctorpodcast.com. Meet the Doctor is Made with Love in Austin, Texas and is a production of The Axis, theaxis.io.