SPEAKER_00 0:00

You're listening to Confidence to Thrive, the podcast for ambitious healthcare practitioners and entrepreneurs, brought to you by Alicity Advisors. Welcome to Confidence to Thrive, the podcast helping growing practitioners and healthcare entrepreneurs navigate the challenges and risks of regulation while building brands that matter. Every episode, we tackle a different issue facing healthcare practitioners or entrepreneurs, or we interview a guest who is working on the leading edge of private healthcare, building something that matters in their sectoral profession. On today's episode, Christopher Cloak Brown, Director of Townicity, speaks to Dr. Angela Musso, a medical doctor and expert in regenerative and aesthetic medicine. With over 25 years of international medical experience, Dr. Musso's work focuses on restoring cellular function, improving microcirculation, and supporting the body's natural regenerative capacity, combining medical expertise with a personalised patient-centred approach. Let's join Christopher and Dr. Musso for the discussion.

SPEAKER_02 0:55

So thank you very much, Dr. Angela Musso, for joining the podcast. And if we could start with just if you could tell us what is your business and what was your journey to where you are now.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

My business currently is I am Boutique Regenerative Medicine Clinic, which includes quite a bit of aesthetic, regenerative aesthetics, and longevity medicine. It took me quite some time to get where I am right now. So I am international GP, you might say. I finished my uni, I've been a doctor for 25 years, and I qualified as a GP in Norfolk area. And and I worked mostly uh locum. I did some salaries post. However, I then moved to Australia. No, New Zealand first, sorry. I didn't have exposure to New Zealand. Then shortly after I moved to Australia, which I spent two and a half years. It was very good, but right now what I'm doing because I've actually did quite a lot of skin. We had a skin clinic, it's quite common in Australia. All this is, yes, yes. But that's not the only thing because it's not only exposure to the sun, because we need some for vitamin D. It is important to have it. It's just also what food and things we use, it's cause effect on our body generally. All right. Everybody can go under the sun, have a same exposure, but one will develop cancer and another wouldn't. And there is a reason why. And it's that's what being a GP for quite some time. I actually started working as a GP in prison when I finished my training. So I did I had some exposure and in prison. I worked for police.

SPEAKER_02 2:34

I was just Well, you've seen the tough end of the GPU.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

I did. It was actually quite interesting, and I did quite a bit of job with the police. I was a sexual offense examiner at one point, so I went through quite a bit of it. It was concurrent when I was training actually as a GP, I was doing that job as well. So, yes. So we're going to Australia. Sorry, you can see my ADHD brain, yes, doing too many things after too many times, creating things or whatever happening. So then I came back to England. I just decided I had enough exposure. I want to do something else. And there is some of the things I didn't like in a medical system. And when something doesn't sit with you, I don't know. People always ask me why did you come back from Australia? But it wasn't for me. And I found out that it's difficult to assess some of the medical care system there, for example, for psychiatric issues. And it was difficult for me to see that. And when I realized why I came to the medicine, and medicine shouldn't be that expensive, or in some of the countries, it's just it's a caring profession, isn't it? So integrity is very important for me. Hence the next chapter of me, what exactly happened because of my integrity. So I did work at the beginning. Um, so I have been a whistleblower when I see it wasn't right, yes. And unfortunately, then you get prosecuted for that.

SPEAKER_02 4:11

No, it's trying to get the right thing done can be very difficult.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

It was so difficult. And when I came back to the UK, it was actually most difficult time in my life. It started from that, so I decided to go to London, and a few things I started working for public health England, so there is a lot of other things I I had to stand off with my integrity, and hence it led me to have difficult, like a little bit legal battles and what have you, and which is affected on my health. Hence where I'm coming to this, because there is a what I've realized while we're in that, um I mean, I love my job as a GP because it's giving me so much exposure. I've got to find out what's going on and not just treat symptoms, actually treat the root cause and maybe prevent things happening, the lifestyle changing, longevity, looking beautiful, that whole affects you, and you manifest better stuff in your life, and nobody talking about this chronic stress and how it affects people. And when I live through that chronic stress and a burnout, and because I was researching with mitochondria exercises, what just to get myself better, basically, through getting myself better, because it comes too many aspects. Mind is quite important, which we ignore quite a bit, and also we ignore lots of traumas, and that's it's very important in one's healing journey, because until you deal with that, you you don't live happy, and the happiness is longevity.

SPEAKER_02 5:51

What you're telling me is a story I hear many times from practitioners like you, and it generally starts with themselves and their own journey, and then that maybe leads us on to I think you've already touched upon, but could you expand upon the next question? Is what impact do you hope to have on your sector, market, or profession?

SPEAKER_01 6:12

So making people look beautiful, healthy, and happy. It's in general, but it's every everybody thinks it's quite expensive or have to go, but it isn't. Sun is free, exercise is outside, nature is free. This discipline, it's sometimes you just need to be told as well, you've got professional, even telling you that you need to sleep more or eat this uh specific stuff. You don't I know because I've done it myself. We advise people something. In fact, I I have actually experiences a couple of days ago. I advise people that I forgot to do for myself. It is important awareness, the first thing. And sometimes you have to go to profession to get that awareness. So I hope from that sort of perspective, like a holistic advice, help them live longer. And also currently, because I'm studying all the peptides, some all that's new in our yes industry right now, the peptides, the all the supplements which will help your mitochondria health, and it's also implemented exercises and the new studies that I'm following Dr. Sinclair. I love him with his resveral and a man because I tried everything on myself too. It has to be maybe that's why I can appreciate what the patient is going through because I've been through that myself. Yeah, those, and then when I treat, they will then see different ways, authenticity, isn't it? I am not just talking because I've studied in a book. I'm actually not only sewing my patients, I've experienced myself and healed myself.

SPEAKER_02 7:48

Experience is important, and I've had a little bit of experience of dealing with sort of hard times and trauma and that sort of stuff. And to me, it's so personalized. It's what somebody needs is different to each person and different to the same person as the circumstances change, and it's a really personalized thing.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

It's so important. I can recognize trauma straight away because I've been through that, but I what is good bringing my GP skills, I can refer to people who actually deal with trauma quite good, all right? Because I aesthetically, because of the skin interest in the past, I was interested previously doing botoxes, fillers, and non-surgical facelift. I left that because studying more what that can do to your body, and there's not enough researchers, and I've I chose to go to regenerative aesthetic way, which is doing your own plasma to regenerate. And that comes also within, it's not just uh superficial people need to look after their gut. And we're going to the trauma because actually you're so right, it's related because skin shows what's going on with your gut and your body, and your gut actually reacted to what happened to you in the past, and you've, if you didn't deal with that, a lot of women developing out immune diseases, and all this inflammation is because they suppress the emotions and they didn't deal with trauma. Same is happening to a man. It's not just, it's just I'm experiencing from myself and I'm explaining how I find out what was actually suppressing me. And it's good to have a good professional too who understand this, the trauma.

SPEAKER_02 9:26

Yeah, no, absolutely. It's I think it's such an important development, I would agree. And it's interesting how it's grown out of the beauty industry. And as you say, the beauty's progressed from this sort of surface fixing you up to actually trying to fix the underlying, which goes all the way down through the health issues and then through the underlying sort of more mental psychological trauma issues that even drive those health issues. And I would say that people there have been to be fair, there's been two people talking about this stuff for decades, but it's been a very small community that's been largely ignored for decades, and now it's really catching the mainstream, and I think it's going to be a really interesting time in in sort of overall health and well-being for people.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

Do you think it's catching up with mainstream? Because my idea sometimes in a GP practice has been treated very interestingly.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

Oh, no. In fact, question three is what do you see as the biggest challenge in your market right now? So let's pick up, let's put this into question three. And I think the answer is it depends very much on which bit of the mainstream. So there are doctors in the mainstream who are completely bought in, completely understand it, and would love to see it in the mainstream. There's doctors like you who completely believe in it and want it in the mainstream, and they are doctors who have been through the mainstream who think that you are straight out mad and this is non-medical, and in fact, probably worse than witch doctory and teresy, and you have the complete mechs at the moment. And certainly our observation is you have to tread quite carefully because there's a number of people who really fundamentally do not believe in what you're doing and do not, and again, because you're a GP, so my own experience on sitting in some of this sort of regenerative and functional medicine and so on, is I've sat in Nordic Labs London conference in October last year. The level of conversation there, and I don't even have no level biology, so you know that's where my knowledge is. But as far as I could tell, that and people did agree, the level of conversation there was at postgraduate biochemistry level. It was enormously sophisticated and analytical and clever and detailed, and stuff that to be honest, isn't actually taught in mainstream med school. Oh, great. It's above and beyond that. A mainstream doctor will look at this stuff and just go, You're a GP, you can't possibly understand that. You're not a GP, you're somebody who's trained in all these really complicated, really difficult ideas and started to make sense of them, and it's delivering results for people. That's what I see.

SPEAKER_01 12:05

Yes, but unfortunately, you are so right, you picked that up quite correctly. This is a difficult and finding people who that's what's coming with the marketing difficulties right now, because people are unaware, and sometimes I'm not sure how much they are unaware. And I start seeing it when I do my locums GP because I still practice to keep my license. I do like my job, I must admit, it's interesting because every day you just find something new and you're like, oh my gosh, I need to go and research that. Because every day it's new things happening and it's interesting. But I'm not going into the difficulties of the job because you I got a burnout of it because all that negativity we have to understand, you know, if you're picking up this and you if you're an empath, you're living with with them and your energy, it's important to protect yourself as well because things can happen in your life too. So, you know, it's it was a learning experience for me. Just even if you love it, it doesn't need that you your boundaries, it is important to look after yourself. That's what we haven't been taught in med school either. Neither is, I think anywhere in this world is being promoted that it's important to look after yourself.

SPEAKER_02 13:17

Yeah, no, no, it's that's been you know, that was very much off the agenda for many years, and it's there's all sorts of reasons for that. It's interesting. Um watching at the moment a quite an interesting TV series about the sort of making of industrial America. And wow, that was just brutal.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

It is, yeah. Suppression, suppression of the emotions. Do you imagine what sort of traumatized people are gonna come after that, and then that will then pass on their kids?

SPEAKER_02 13:43

Yes. That's the big factor, isn't it? And this stuff rattles through generations. Once once you've done it to one generation, then it perpetuates, and it's very hard to break that cycle.

SPEAKER_01 13:54

Yeah, you you need to work on yourself, you need to have actual discipline to break that cycle, and it takes it takes time, it takes guts, it takes breve bravery. It's not a light journey, I must admit.

SPEAKER_02 14:08

No, so now we're gonna be positive and and and go to the next question. So, what needs to change to help to overcome? So, how how a practitioner such as yourself gonna get the word out and get this sort of new view of the world out there and accepted?

SPEAKER_01 14:27

I think it's already happening. Social media, there's a lot of things out there before that. When I was talking about it, like literally was nobody on social media talking about it, and I was scared even to even get my opinions out because I've been cancelled. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? And I'm like, oh, I do I even want to put out that being cancelled all the time. It's tiring, it's like a trauma repeating itself because it feels like from my childhood I've been cancelled most of the times, you know, when there's somebody cannot tolerate your light or something they don't want to deal with inside them, and unfortunately the projection happened, and but that's a major trauma for a lot of people too. It's very important to understand that.

SPEAKER_02 15:15

Yeah, no, that's as you say, and uh I would just to put it in a positive light now. I agree, and so how long do you think there's been this sort of more positive, more accepting, more open point of view? Uh I I completely agree. You know, if you go back a few years and try to talk about some of the stuff in social media, be you know, to be lucky if people just ignored you. I know there is a lot of stuff is going on.

SPEAKER_01 15:45

I think it's uh it goes quickly and quickly every time, even I go on social media media, and also when I put my videos, yeah, it's more understanding, seems to be. However, my videos is actually my own way to not put my light down. It was my healing experience as well. When you're always suppressed, coming from so some sort of background, and then as in a medical in the NHS, they still not treat women quite well. Let's be like, I can go through that suppression. I've seen in and out what exactly happened in institutions and how hard it can be for vulnerable people and how you have to become a man being a woman. It's it's uh but it's all positive stuff of a journey, mate. Who I am, so nothing is just phases me right now. I trust the plan.

SPEAKER_02 16:36

That's great. And yeah, no, I would just say, in my view, it's probably about two years, I would say, that you've really started to see a lot of people come out and really talk about this stuff, and probably less than that, more recent than that, is is now so many things are accepted. So the whole sort of brain-gut axis and oh yes, finally, yeah, and mental health and physical health and so on. It's fascinating, isn't it? It's even one of our clients is they're struggling at the moment because they used to be one of the most leading bariatric surgery businesses in the world, but modern medications is rapidly changing their business model. But to the credit of the two surgeons who set that up, even back in the early 2000s, they were absolutely adamant that obesity was a disease and completely rejected this notion that it was people with no self-control and all that kind of issue. So it was definitely there, but it's only really in the last year, 18 months, that you can very safely express that opinion.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

Not only that, it's also coming up with the chronic stress. Which I've actually because all to do with the it doesn't even come chronic stress, you going through that. It's a childhood trauma or even in utero. If your mom was going through stressful issues, it will affect you. That's why some people, when diagnosed with ADHD, it's actually a fear, it's a survival fear, which makes them actually go on a different level. If you ever listen to Dr. Gabo Mata, he I start following him. He's a family physician like I am, but he was dealing with the trauma and he's so kind. I think people just maybe, and then he lived through that. He had that age, he had that fear, he um he understands people. And the explanation was amazing. And then I was just went a little bit further, the investigation of amygdala and what's exactly happening to the brain. Same as with the Dr. George Spencer, he is with his meditation and how you can you have the ability to heal yourself. And and I've included that meditation in my practice, and just telling to my patients these simple things like that can change their life, actually.

SPEAKER_02 18:46

Yes, yeah, that's the fascinating part of a lot of what practitioners like you do, is how what would seem like relatively simple things, which certainly have nothing to do with large bottles of pills that cost a fortune, can be so transformative.

SPEAKER_01 19:05

Yeah. And even somebody holding them, just listening to the story, could be healing for them to somebody heard their story. Because I once done it, I actually went to my GP and that lady listened to my story. This is my healing because I've actually used mainstream too. Speak to somebody, and obviously I did use some others, I use spiritual healers, that was it's quite nice. So understanding every part can help you there. But the most important thing, and I'm agreeing with Dr. Jordis Spencer actually, it's a change in your personality and changing yourself. Self-discipline is the highest form of self-love. That's what so it's changing yourself to the point your thought changing becomes more positive, and then you can actually manifest so much positivity in your life just because you're changing the way you think.

SPEAKER_02 19:58

Yes, yes. But it's interesting, isn't it? And it goes completely away from the current sort of NHS GP work. Yes, we might just leave it there on that one. But what you're saying is, and this is part of maybe what sort of NHS GPs are struggling with, is fundamentally all GPs to some extent are a little bit of a psychiatrist, aren't they?

SPEAKER_01 20:24

I would say not little, but quite a bit. You know, there's a lot of psychology involved.

unknown 20:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:29

See the patients, how they are listened to their story. It's to be listened to, that's what people lack in. And to come to realization the only person you need to listen is yourself, it's a journey because we all have some sort of programming, some sort of brainwashing, some sort of institution telling us this is not right, or you know the score.

SPEAKER_02 20:53

No, I do, I do, yes. So should we round it off with with some great positivity in terms of what do you see as your biggest opportunity?

SPEAKER_01 21:02

Oh, my biggest opportunity for myself is probably bigger places. So I'm gonna move to London. I think that's what is gonna be more. I see people more interested there with the natural things and regenerative longevity and with my aesthetic iron, I think that will give me quite a bit of expansion. And also to actually have people that I trust and other health professionals, so we can collaborate in that way. Because I usually advise patients to see some somebody or take something which I will take. So integrity is the most important thing right now in a business as well. So you trust somebody, that sort of connections that would be my opportunity for the next expansion and good business contact. Well, the people I trust.

SPEAKER_02 21:53

No, absolutely, and and I think also having the uh the other practitioners, isn't it? Because it's interesting again, there's so many different aspects. The best practices that we see in this kind of space have a lot of different people. You'll have a nutritionist, they'll have a GP, they'll have a psychiatrist, psychologist, they'll have a few other bits and pieces, and there's an awful lot of pieces to the puzzle. Uh I think is what we find.

SPEAKER_01 22:19

Absolutely. And it's good to spend time for yourself. It's another form of self-love and see professionals that can actually help you and guide you.

SPEAKER_02 22:30

Perfect. Wishing you every success for that. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 22:34

Thank you for this. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 22:38

Thank you for listening to Confidence to Thrive. Before you go, please rate, review, and subscribe to Confidence to Thrive on your preferred podcast platform and help us spread our message to others who are making a difference in private healthcare. This podcast was brought to you by Our Litity, insurance advisors who support your business ambitions. Our litity advises practitioners, owners, and entrepreneurs of healthcare practices on mitigating risks so your business can thrive. Learn more about how OurLicity can support you by finding the link in the show notes or visiting our licity.co.uk