Dr. Sophia Reid, Founder of Skin Secrets Dermatology Aesthetics and Wellness

What's an accomplishment you're really proud of, that maybe you didn't receive recognition for?

Building my own practice from the ground up—while also being a mom and, most days, remembering to take care of myself too. There's no ribbon-cutting for the version of success that's really three full-time jobs stacked on top of each other: the clinical work, the business decisions that come with actually owning the thing, and then showing up at home still able to be present. Nobody sees the early mornings before anyone else is awake, or the trade-offs nobody else has to make. It's not the kind of accomplishment that gets an award—it's the kind that just quietly has to hold together every single day. I'm proud of that in a different way than I'm proud of any clinical outcome, because it's the thing that makes everything else possible.

What's a stereotype about women in your industry that isn't true?

That we think with our heart instead of focusing on the money and the business—that being nurturing or relationship-driven somehow means we're not sharp on the numbers. In medicine and aesthetics especially, there's this assumption that a woman who cares deeply about her patients must be doing it for the love of it alone, while the men in the room are the ones actually running the business. The truth is we can be great at both, and most of us have to be. I care about the outcome in front of me and the P&L behind it in the same breath. Empathy isn't the opposite of business sense—for a lot of us, it's exactly what makes the business work, because patients can tell the difference between someone selling them a treatment and someone actually invested in their results. Being good with people and being good with money were never mutually exclusive; that's just a story that got told about us.

What's the single decision that had the greatest impact on your professional success?

Leaving my old practice. Walking away from something familiar to build my own was the decision that let me actually blossom — in business, in my ambitions, in developing a speaking career, and in building my own brand — in ways I never thought possible while I was still inside someone else's structure. It's the decision that gave every other part of my career room to grow.

What did you have to unlearn in order to grow?

Imposter syndrome. I had to unlearn the idea that I needed to earn my place over and over again before I was allowed to claim it. For a long time I let that voice decide how big I let myself think, how loudly I spoke up, what I thought I was allowed to go after. Growing meant realizing the credentials, the practice, the work — it was already mine. I didn't need to keep proving it to feel entitled to it.

Do you have any advice for emerging female professionals early in their careers?

Don't be afraid to be the boss, the bitch, and the babe. Embrace every part of yourself and your womanhood, and don't shy away from the sides of you that make you human. As a Black woman and a first-generation American, I spent a long time feeling like I needed to be something else to fit in. As I matured, I realized being myself was all I ever needed to be.

How do you handle being underestimated?

I love it. That's it, that's the end. It feels that much better when I show up and show out.