Garth & Jessica Fisher: Building a Beverly Hills Beauty Empire

 

What a difference a day makes.  You think you know someone because of what you’ve heard or seen, especially with high-profile people, but their public persona is just that; for the public.  I had the pleasure of spending an entire day with Garth and Jessica Fisher for our interview/photo shoot.  Both lead very public lives.  He as the celebrity plastic surgeon who got the ball rolling with the first ever plastic surgery TV reality makeover show, Extreme Makeover. And, with arguably the most successful plastic surgery practice on planet earth, a day job that landed him the title, Surgeon to the Stars.  Jessica is an ex-baseball wife, mother, and former model who was firmly established in the healthcare profession as a licensed aesthetician specializing in micro-pigmentation and cosmetic tattooing before moving to LA.  She works four days a week in Garth’s Beverly Hills medical office where she sees her own patients.  In addition, Jessica is a beauty image consultant and laser coordinator for Dr. Fisher’s Biomedical Skin Treatment Institute.  In that capacity, she helps integrate CellCeuticals® biomedical skin care treatments to optimize skin nutrition and health.  CellCeuticals, a premier skin care line, was co-founded by Garth and beauty industry veteran Paul Scott Premo.  Fifteen years in the making, CellCeuticals jumped its competition by becoming what doctors and skin experts consider the most advanced and ground-breaking skin product line technology on the market to restore skin to a youthful look.  I spoke with this dynamic duo at their beautiful home in Los Angeles.  High above the city, the sprawling gated estate offers brea­thtaking views and quiet comfort of a get-a-way retreat.  It’s a most excellent place for this busy couple to call home, enjoy down time with their three children,  two gigantic dogs, one hairless cat and slew of fury little critters of which Jessica has become “mommy” to.    Cute couple.  Business team.  Doting parents.  A surprising day. Certainly not what I expected.  

As far as plastic surgeons go, Fisher has made a name for himself as big as any plastic surgeon alive.  He has an international reputation and over the years has given a plethora of television interviews on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” “Oprah,” NBC’s “Today,” CBS’ evening news, NBC’s evening news, CNN, “Entertainment Tonight,” “Access Hollywood,” “Extra,” “E!,” Discovery Channel and a leg long list of others.  His words of plastic surgery wisdom have graced the pages of prestigious magazines as  Elle, Allure, GQ, People, Details, In Touch Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine, Town and Country, Longevity, TV Guide and USA Today. 

In 2004, Fisher ventured out on a short limb and stirred up the plastic surgery community when he researched, wrote, produced, and appeared in—complete with 250 before and after photos of his own patients—a five-part DVD series entitled, The Naked Truth About Plastic Surgery: A Home Consultation with a Prominent Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon.  The resource detailed the good, bad and ugly on the plastic surgery profession, offering an honest view of what works, what doesn’t and why.   Fisher’s ‘insiders take’ went so far as telling how one should go about choosing a qualified plastic surgeon to get the job done right. The series was an immediate hit with an international audience who learned the truth and wisdom of what Fisher had to say.  Vital information he felt the public should know before going under the knife.  He left no stone unturned.  From procedure, to benefits, risks and surgical alternatives, it’s an honest look into a profession that many doctors have made more about making money than providing quality surgery and patient care.

Plastic surgery associations were not happy campers over Fisher’s media success, independence, and the fact that he was supplying information that they were not.  Fisher says he wanted to provide accurate information about plastic surgery, educating the public on what they needed to know and without the medical terminology that so often accompanies procedure and surgery.  To this day, the series is highly sought after and relied upon and he considers it one of his finest professional accomplishments.  It’s most definitely a not-to-miss for anyone who is considering plastic surgery and it’s available to everyone for free viewing at www.garthfisher.com.

Speaking with him at length it’s clear that Fisher cares more about the health and well-being of his patients than keeping his appointment book filled.  Above financial gain and PR success is a desire to keep integrity as a physician.  It’s his skill as a surgeon, eye for detail and dedication to achieve  surgical perfection that keeps him at the top of his profession.  Fisher’s rise to the ranks of world-renowned plastic and reconstructive surgeon; having been selected “one of the top plastic surgeons in the United States”; and ultimately one of the “Best Doctors 

in America,” is no accident.  Fisher has achieved a level of success very few in his profession ever will.  Yet for him it’s just the tip of the iceberg on what he hopes to accomplish in his medical career.

Is there a formula for success?  Why are some so determined to make it, while others settle for second best? Generally, answers are buried then found in one’s past; never more true than in Fisher’s life-long need to excel, work hard, take care of his family, and make his father proud.  Our interview was reflective and heart-wrenching as Fisher spoke candidly about his childhood.  A look back at the horrific loss of his father, a Major in the United States Air Force, the devastating effect it had on him, his sister and mother as they struggled to keep their lives together in the face of uncertainty and straining financial limitations.  And worse, years later, the discovery that while they had been mourning his death, Fisher’s father was reported alive and held as a prisoner of war by numerous sources.  Information the United States government refused to publicly acknowledge existed or release to the families of the men captured.  This was especially true of serviceman lost over Laos, a country that we never were officially at war with and one where no service man ever came home from. The last words that Fisher’s father said to him before he left for military duty in Vietnam; “You’re the man now, take care of the family.”  He never saw his father again.  He was 10 years old.  

What emerged was a man with a strong work ethic, who even in the face of hardship and challenge has the determination to never give up. A most excellent profile befitting the most creative and cutting-edge surgeon in the field of plastic surgery today. Board-certified in plastic surgery by the American Board of Medical Specialties, Fisher went the general surgery route to into plastic surgery.  One stop along the way: working in the trauma unit of a hospital.  Something he says brought him pride as a physician.  Also, the opportunity he had before starting his own practice to learn and  do surgery along side two of the most well-known and respected plastic surgeons in the world; John Williams and Bruce Connell.  Both he credits for instilling in him an intense desire to provide unparallel patient care and a no-fear approach striving for and mastering innovative procedure and surgery technique.

ST: What happened to your father?        

GF: I was born in California, but my family moved to New York State when my father, a Major in the Air Force accepted a teaching position at Cornell University. Then, he was asked to go to Vietnam.  I was 10-years old and didn’t understand the meaning behind him taking me to the basement of the house and telling me he was going to war and in case he didn’t come back take care of my mom and sister.  He left, and we moved to Mississippi and lived with my grandparents, a temporary situation until my father returned.  We lived there for years because 10 months into his mission he was shot down over Laos and the government claimed that the entire crew of 11 was missing with only one survivor; Sergeant Fields.  They told us there was no evidence that anyone survived the crash.  They were flying an AC-130A Gunship, at the time considered a premier reconnaissance plane on a highly classified mission.  Everything about the plane and the crash was classified!  My father was listed as MIA.  Losing him devastated my mother, sister and me and on a deep level, it ruined our lives.  Because we had no real evidence that he had died, my sister, in college and president of Girls State in Mississippi had all the schools writing letters to the U.S. and Vietnamese government requesting that they bring prisoners of war home and provide information on those listed as MIA.  My mother was distraught over what really happened to him.  Two years later (1972) my family was watching a propaganda news reel on the network evening news showing prisoners walking through camps in Vietnam when my mom suddenly screamed, “That’s my husband. That’s him!” We had the TV station bring the film to our home and our family, after viewing it, confirmed it was him!  We wrote to the Department of Defense and told them that this was proof that he was alive and indeed a prisoner!  They claimed this was impossible because the film was made in 1969 (one year prior to him being shot down) yet it was just aired three years later!  Families who had loved ones who were missing in action felt the government was at fault for allowing our missing servicemen to languish in enemy prison camps.  If our government acknowledged that prisoners of war were in fact, alive, they were obligated to take these sightings seriously and leave no stone unturned in bringing our soldiers home.  Our country could not desert its missing military on foreign soil.  To not mount such a sustained effort would open the government to critical inquiry.  It seemed much easier to avoid the issue and classify most of the MIA’s as KIA to eliminate the obligation to find them, bring them home or pay their salaries.  In 1985, while I was a surgical resident in LA., I began reviewing records I acquired through the Freedom of Information Act, which had subsequently been declassified.  In actual airplane transcripts of his ill fated flight, I found statements made by my dad: “We’ve just been hit, but I’m OK’, and later using his unique call sign and stating “I’m on the ground and the enemy is closing in”!  In addition, escort fighter planes which had been trailing the Gunship saw crew members parachuting from the burning plan before it crashed. All this was previously denied by the government.  They also claimed that the only survivor, Sgt. Fields erroneously gave the wrong call sign and was really the one communicating on the ground rather than my dad. I knew this was wrong!  I found a way to uncover the truth.  While working in the Emergency room at 2 A.M. one morning, I called the Air Force base where military personnel data ia stored which indicated where Sergeant Fields had last worked. I woke up a dazed physician at the base and urgently requested Sergeant Fields family information based on a medical emergency.  Although his file was classified, he reluctantly released the information to me.  I was at Fields house within 24 hours!  When Fields opened the door, it was the most emotional moment of my life to witness the last man to see my father and unlock a secret of 15 years!  I said, I’m Garth Fisher and we both started to cry!  He said he was sorry that the Air Force had not allowed him to talk to my family.  I told him I wanted the truth about what happened to my father.  He told me that my father bailed out before him and it was my father who correctly used his call sign and was transmitting on the ground.  To this day, I’m not sure what became of my father, however, I presume he died in captivity.  The long ordeal punctuated my future me.

 

ST: What has been the hardest for you to come to terms with?

GF: Several issues evolved from my father’s disappearance.  Trust for one.  My mother, sister and I were lied to by the U.S. government and told that when my father’s plane went down that he died.  Then years later, I found out that this was not the case.  It’s one thing if your father dies and you are allowed to mourn appropriately. It stays with you, but you have the opportunity to move on.  But for so long there was substantial conflicting information stating he was alive, then dead, then alive for over 15 years!  It was like being stuck with a knife over and over.  What came out of the situation is that I require absolute trust in personal relationships as well as relation- ships with patients.  I’m very honest with patients about what surgical results can and can not, be achieved or expected.  Subsequently I probably turn away 40% of patients requesting my services for plastic surgery.  Additionally, I am uncomfortable with things that are unresolved.  It’s yes or its no, nothing in the middle because I’ve been there all my life.  I learned to provide for my family because I was made a provider so early in my life.  I felt responsible without the  skills or stability to be responsible, so I did what I could.  I shared a 10 by 12 foot room with my mom and sister for 10 years and thus wanted to make a newer, more optimistic life.

ST: Why a plastic surgeon?  

GF: In sixth grade I did any job I could to support my mother and sister.  I had a paper route, washed dishes, roofing, construction—even attended a Junior college by my house to stay close to help my mom.  I got A’s all through school so in college I thought I’d be an architect. 

Then, I took a job as a janitor at a hospital and everything changed.  I was dating the daughter of a general surgeon and one day he said, “Come in and watch me do a gall bladder operation?”  I put down my mop, put on a pair of scrubs, went in the OR and watched him do the operation.  I decided then that I wanted to be a surgeon. Not only did Fisher become a doctor, but he found as much excitement as any man can.  Fast forward: famous plastic surgeon, celebrity clientele, TV show and while living in the littlest big city on earth —Beverly Hills—he found Jessica—like finding a needle in a haystack in L.A.  Their small town upbringing, the need to break free and determination to find a better life made for an instant attraction.  The couple dated one year, and Fisher proposed.  At the wedding were their children from prior marriages; Jessica’s daughter Josie (10 at the time) and Fisher’s two daughters Neriah, then seven and Sierra, age five. 

Jessica was born in Pennsylvania and grew up in Ohio with two sisters.  From the start she loved and excelled in sports.  In school she was a gymnast.  To this day her workout routine would drag men to the ground.  She also loved the outdoors and animals.  Nothing’s changed.  The Fisher home looks like something out of Wild Kingdom.  They have two dogs the size of buffalo and a prissy, hairless cat with attitude, that looks, well, a bit strange.  Also in the mix…ornate cages and cute tiny beds and an assortment of little furry animals, a few I’ve never seen before and I’m from farmville, in Utah.

ST: Looking around it seems you find enjoyment in the down-to-earth of life.

JF: I grew in a rural area on 42 acre— 25 was reserved for wildlife.  I had every animal possible from dogs and cats to groundhogs, skunks and opossums.  You can take the girl off the farm, but you can’t take the farm out of the girl.   

ST:  Did your upbringing ground you for what was ahead?

JF:  Definitely.  Material things are nice, but I enjoy the simpler things as well.  My family is simple and it’s refreshing to meet people who who care about real things in life; the environment, animals…things that don’t come with designer labels.  I guess it’s all about keeping a balance in your life.  I love to go back to Ohio, but everyone has moved.  My mom and two sisters live in Seattle, but they visit me here and I have other family that still lives there.  My father passed away 10 years ago. 

ST:  What do they think about your Beverly Hills life?

JF:  My mom is happy for me, but has no idea about designer clothes, fancy cars or things like that.  It’s so different from the way we grew up and the world they know.  But my life is not something that I think my mom is surprised at.  I was always flashy, I was a ballerina and a model.  She figured one day I would leave the nest and end up with something like this.  My early goals were to be a ballerina, then I changed my mind and wanted to be a veterinarian.

ST:  Why plastic surgery?

GF: I enjoyed all aspects of surgery and variety of surgical sub-specialties such as: trauma surgery, cardiac surgery and neuro-surgery. I also loved plastic surgery.  In the end, I felt that my meticulous surgical skills, drive for perfection, and my evolved artistic and creative sense best suited me for plastics.  In addition, I have been surrounded by women my entire life and developed a fondness and appreciation for form and beauty.

ST: Why work with Garth?

JF:  I hadn’t planned it.  I stumbled into it.  One of Garth’s office staff was sick so I filled in.  I love the beauty industry and enjoy doing makeovers.  I‘ve always been interested in health; I studied sports  physiology, nutrition and then became a licensed aesthetician, specializing in micropigmentation.  That’s what I was doing before I met Garth.  I share Garth’s philosophy when it comes to people looking too done and going over-board changing their appearance with plastic surgery.  I’ve always thought less is more.  I help patients change smaller things; soften hair color, make-up, change eyebrow shape, help patients whose complexion  is washed out because of too much laser, camouflage any scar you can imagine: facelift, tummy tuck, breast scars—simply by adding pigment— scars fade.  I guide patients to experts who help with their wardrobe.  There are many things Garth and I encourage people to do before having plastic surgery.  We’re up front making certain that surgery is the right option for them.

ST: Is is difficult working together?

JF:  No.  We work great together, but at work I see him differently than at home.  When I’m working—I work.  Most days we rarely see each other in the office.  He is operating or consulting with his patients.  I’m busy with my patients.  But being married accidentally shaped into something we have in common.  I mean we both walk around in scrubs… I love it!  I said to Garth, I’m turning into you!  And he asked me the other day, “Do you look at me as your husband in the office?”  I said, no, you’re my boss.     

GF: Working with Jessica is great. She has a better eye than anyone I’ve ever known to determine what might improve ones looks.  I’ve seen in other medical offices when the wife comes in…office workers resent it.  But in our case, it works with patients and the office staff.  Jessica helps everyone.

ST: What prompted you to shake the rafters with the Naked Truth series?

GF: I always wanted to provide a comprehensive and easy to under- stand source of information regarding plastic surgery. ABC’s Extreme Makeover further convinced me that coming out with these tapes was a great idea.  As the first plastic surgeon to participate in a reality TV series, I can understand comments such as “the show was not real”, since it only showed “excellent results”.  During the four seasons that that show ran, I provided a vehicle or showcase to present the “realities of surgery”.  If people couldn’t get what they wanted from TV, I would provide it to them on my own DVD series while educating consumers about realistic expectations and risks associated with plastic surgery.  Although I knew that the plastic surgical societies are political entities, even I was surprised to receive a call from someone representing the California Plastic Surgery Society, who said that they thought selling these tapes was a violation of their ethics code!  I was incredulous?  I wanted to educate people regarding our profession, the risks, how to choose a surgeon, and what to expect.  I currently give these tapes to all of my patients, and others can watch them on my website for free.  I consider it an invaluable resource! There is enough surgery that is performed in which the results are unacceptable.  What appears to be advancement in technology to the public is many times just a different marketing angle.  I am not a fan of “fad” procedures which have not stood the test of time.  With medical procedures, you often have to wait years to determine whether or not  they are effective.  You can’t just attend a weekend medical meeting and then go out and begin performing novel procedures on people without adequate training and supervision.  I’m a plastic surgeon who has infinite respect for my profession, but I don’t think the specialty is for everyone.  Excellent surgical judgment is required in tandem with an evolved aesthetic sense of form and beauty. There are trends, but the true appreciation and substance of beauty does not change.

By Suzanne Takowsky