Disrupting Skincare Standards: A Foundation of Science with Dr. Alena Butkevica
My guest today is doctor Elena Bokevica. She is an MD, a DMD, a PhD, a CEO, and the lead researcher at AB Bio Innovations. Elena has taken her background in medical science and her passion for helping people by creating a line of skin care products that is award winning and scientifically proven to help people resolve skin issues and avoiding surgery. Let's take a listen. And I noticed you are the model on your website.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Well, yes, I have because I am 60. And
Heath Fletcher:You are not.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Yes. I am. Wow. Yes. I am.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:I am 60. That's Incredible. Is that And and you see me without a makeup intentionally.
Heath Fletcher:I was
Dr. Alena Butkevica:out there's no powder, nothing, nothing, nothing on me. And I don't know if you're recording this or not, but this is Yes.
Heath Fletcher:We're recording.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Ago. Okay. So and you can see a little streaks of cream because I started to work on it. So I am an oro maxillofacial surgeon. So all my life and and it's it's all about it's been for reconstructing.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:It's not only a beauty, but it's also trauma, implants, jaw reposition for little kids, clefts, you know, cancer, post cancer reconstruction. So it's it's it's kind of very in-depth. And I was the thing is that, after each surgery, people have to understand it clearly because I don't think people really understand the that surgeons are sort of gods. Yes. And we but we can only alter.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:We can shift. We can open the, we can put bone together. We can open arteries or something. But at the end of each surgery, we are gonna put stitches on because we can't heal.
Heath Fletcher:No. Only body body's job. Yeah. So great.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Right? So people think that if you're gonna go to surgeon or if you're gonna do injection, it's gonna work. No. It's not.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:No. Only body is gonna tell exactly what it's going to do because it's a kind of a sit it's a computer, which is higher than us and supports us because we would have by now, with all the beautifications, we would shred ourselves to pieces if not the point of pains and consequences of doing that.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:And body just doesn't allow you to do that.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:You are very good with hair dying and or doing nails because they are dead cells. Whenever you start to work with a live cells, then there are consequences. Interesting. Don't recognize realize that. So when I, I have done more than 15,000 surgeries.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Surgeries. Amazing. In 02/2002, when I finished my post grad program at Boston University, don't know. It was my diploma, you know, like, someplace Oh, there it is.
Heath Fletcher:I just saw it.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Yeah. From Boston University. And I was, I was teaching. I was teaching surgery, and surgery has two major complex. One is you have to have good skills because you have to see in three-dimensional how people will look after your intervention.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:It you know, sometimes you just have a picture because person had a motorbike accident, cancer accident. You just have to kind of be a little Picasso, let's say. You know? Yeah. The other thing is you have to have absolutely you know, you have to know the body, how much body can regenerate and what can be regenerative and how to expedite regeneration.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Because if the wound doesn't heal, it's it's a pain. Second, we can have a secondary infection, then we can have scarring, colloid scarring. We can have we we can have but this is a one part. Another part is that because we are doing cuts, even, let's say, plastic surgery, we are leaving invisible, sort of invisible scars, and scars are creating blockage in the circulation.
Heath Fletcher:Oh, really? Interesting. Okay. Interesting. Right?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So if it's a it's a I mean, if it's a life surgery for heart or something, you don't care about scar. You you care about life.
Heath Fletcher:You can't see it. Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Well, I don't know. You can't see it because it's under the shirt.
Heath Fletcher:But Yeah.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Still, it will always gonna be a scar. Body is gonna body is gonna protect yourself. Okay. Let's do something very simple for a woman. Maybe if you you're not gonna get that.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:But, for women, they go to do a pedicure. Right? And the pedicure, when people I've
Heath Fletcher:had pedicures.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Then I've
Heath Fletcher:had pedicures.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Pedicures. And then I have. They they slice off a dead skin.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Yeah? And so the a human feels so good, and and it's like legs feet are so light, and everything is so two, three days, it's very uncomfortable to walk. And then what's happened? Body built exactly the same amount of extra skin. Oh, interesting.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Why you go again.
Heath Fletcher:Interesting.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Because you got the same because the body doesn't body has to balance away
Heath Fletcher:and
Dr. Alena Butkevica:protect your because there are lots of if you know Chinese traditional medicine, there are lots of points which are responsible for entire body. Right? You know reflexology. So Mhmm. When you open those, those, those little points and your body weight is too it it's gonna just recreate that skin and say, no.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:No. No. No. No. No.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:You are not cutting piece of me off without my permission. Right? I'm gonna Right.
Heath Fletcher:Because the body's whole job is to self preservation and survival. Right? So if it doesn't if
Dr. Alena Butkevica:it knows the company gonna do everything to self preservation. Right?
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:That's why, for example, if there's a fight or flight, sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous system, then if you are about to fight or run away, your the skin and everything, you know, the the everything shuts down.
Heath Fletcher:Yes. Exactly. Yeah.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Only heart, brain, and lungs are so you can run as nobody cares what's gonna happen to your skin cells, so the body knows exactly. So that's why you go to massage. This you sleep because then you totally relax, and the entire body can rejuvenate.
Heath Fletcher:Work together.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Yes. Yes. Right? Makes sense. These are simple examples of how the body works.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:And if we are under the constant stress
Heath Fletcher:Yeah.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So we're totally blocking majority of our body, and that's how we age prematurely.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So I, since 02/2002, I started to do a full depth research at beginning at the Boston University and then in my own biotech so as to how to boost natural body regeneration into the places where we need, first of all, healing after surgeries, healing after, but but then I went to antiaging because I'm 60. And, you know, everything was 55, everything was showing on my face, Wrinkles, under eye bags, saggies, I was a super candidate for a surgery. Right? But since I know that what are the side effects of surgery, and if you are gonna look at surgeons of my age, they are gonna show a beautiful before and after picture of a young, like, 40 years old woman, and you will never see a surgery as a surgery on the surgeons themselves. Look at TikTok.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Look at social media. You know? 60, 70, 80 years old surgeons from, you know, Ohio and New York, nobody has done a surgery. You can see they haven't touched their faces. Every single wrinkle, every single age mark, you know, is everything everything is there.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Blizzard is in what it's going to do to you. Right. And it's irreversible, and it's it's it's it's a it's a patch.
Heath Fletcher:And as we age, doesn't the body the younger we are, the quicker we heal. Right?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:That is correct. That's that's that's what our way doing. The the the younger we are, the faster is there is circulation. It's so you know what is circulation?
Heath Fletcher:Yep.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So what is circulation?
Heath Fletcher:Blood flow.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Not only.
Heath Fletcher:Not only? Okay.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Okay. So let me not torture you, but I'll explain quickly.
Heath Fletcher:K.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So what can so so what is the one thing you can't live without
Heath Fletcher:apart from Oxygen. Mhmm. Oxygen.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Yes. So so oxygen. Perfect. Usually, most of the doctors can't answer them. So oxygen.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So you absolutely need arterial blood to bring oxygen because oxygen, nothing if you I mean, if somebody did wrong long long day, old days, what they did, they decapitated or you know? Yeah. So why? Because it's us cut oxygen immediately. That's Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:The brain. Once once cells don't have oxygen, that's it. Right? The other thing is water. Obviously, we need a lot of water.
Heath Fletcher:Which is full of oxygen.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Well, it's not really. It's bonded. It it
Heath Fletcher:it it's
Dr. Alena Butkevica:it's one molecule. It's not really. You need oxygen, oxygen. Yeah? K.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So but then we also need every single cell needs 12 elements from vitamins, proteins, enzymes, all to to create one little cell, which is technically a little baby. It has a nucleus. It has a goji. It has a it's it's needs, it needs, It needs, contour everything. And it needs space.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:It's we know that it vibrates. You know? We know about vibration. It can be clustered and everything else. So and, also, what body needs is eliminate waste.
Heath Fletcher:Right. Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So and it has to be by, like, say, Chinese medicine, fifty fifty. So
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Let's say Yeah. So it's not only oxygen we need, not only supply. We also need to clean our body the same fifty fifty. Like, for example, we are taking a breath. Right?
Heath Fletcher:Mhmm.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Even more breath and even more. And it's uncomfortable. Right? The body says you don't need more. Right?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So it's
Heath Fletcher:There it goes.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Becomes uncomfortable. Okay. So we take normal breaths, and then we exhale as much as we exhale. But if we exhale more, it's become uncomfortable. The body starts to burn a little bit, lungs, and they say, it's I I don't need that much.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Now I need oxygen. So everything is fifty fifty. Mhmm. So the circulation is fifty fifty. It's 50% of oxygen and nutrients, which comes through the arterial blood and 50% of cleaning.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Everything what is a waste, dead cells, and everything. And, because we are constantly having new cells, we regenerate entire body, skin twenty eight days, then within a year or two, most of the us is just a new us, technically. Right? The bones, everything. A whole new person.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So we need lymphatic drainage, and we also need, venous blood, C o two, and we need to text everything else. If it's not in fifty fifty and with age, the skin color gets grayer, everything gets, redder, bluer, because what? There is becomes a stagnation. And the more stagnation there is, the more it compresses on the cells, which are new cells, which are supposed to grow. And they not and and also that stagnation is like a swamp, let's say.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Right? It doesn't move. So the oxygen and use and and blood can get to that cell to make it new.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:To generate a new cell. Why? For example, my grand grandson fell of the tree. He broke his arms. Three weeks, he his bone is healed.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Me, if I would break my arm, I don't know. I'm 60, but 70, 80, you break your hip. Bad news. Right? Yeah.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:It's it's can be lethal.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:What I did, I created the global award winning products for skincare and health care, which boosts that metabolism again. And that's how I got myself back to whatever I am at 60 without any surgery, without any procedure, without any derma abrasion, injections, nothing.
Heath Fletcher:Okay. When did that light go on? And what was it that triggered you to say, this is what I wanna do? What was what was the what inspired you to chain to make this decision to create AB Bio?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So I think I was born for I was born to it. Because, first of all, in the kindergarten, I wanted to treat everybody. Yeah. Then second thing, I have, some little bit of artistic skill. I I can you know, I I did some art, and I wanted to go to the art school, and I did, for a short period of time.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:And then I realized that I need something more defined, some more refined things, like, in a box, if you if you may say. So I I realized that I'm not gonna be Dali. You know? That I have kind of limitations.
Heath Fletcher:Yes. Yes. And what what ask what can I ask you a question? What part of art attracted you? What did you like about art?
Heath Fletcher:What was it that drew you to art first?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:It's self expression of colors, of emotions, of, in art, you can kind of, your vision, maybe you can't the the the combination of colors, the combination of you know, like, I think that nature is the best artist ever. I had a, when I was a prominent surgeon, I had a huge art collection at home.
Heath Fletcher:Okay.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:But I also had a farm with 500 sheep and nineteen nineteen horses to dogs
Heath Fletcher:and some
Dr. Alena Butkevica:bodies and a cat. So because I I really believe that we are part of the nature, and we have the best regeneration for us is the nature. To be in a nature and a part of the nature. Right?
Heath Fletcher:And so it kinda actually makes sense that you are you're kind of working with nature now from a medical standpoint. You're actually working with the nature of the human body to help
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Through the science.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. So it makes sense. So you've come full circle. Isn't that interesting?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Yeah.
Heath Fletcher:And so
Dr. Alena Butkevica:I believe it's also something in me that I am fortunate that I have seen the body from inside. It's not that I am just making cream because I'm looking whatever they send me from where is that? France, you know, samples. And I I just I just I just know how it's gonna work with inside. What is it?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Right. You know, it's it's not only that I'm sampling a natural sustainable ingredient. I know I kind of close my eyes, and I know exactly what that body, what that cell needs to boost it.
Heath Fletcher:Interesting. So you have a very you have a very inside perspective. You can Yes. You can you can you can understand that when you ingest that thing or apply that product, how the body is gonna actually react to it and and use it and absorb it and Yeah. And how it's going
Dr. Alena Butkevica:to Or not absorb it. It's all the it's all depends on the size of the molecule they apply. For example, many molecules and many, many creams. Why why does I say creams don't work? Because we're using lots of oils, and skin is a breathable organ.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Like, you go to the breathable means it's excretes and breezes as well. So that's why we go and take a shower because it will start to smell. Right?
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Right. Goes through the skin. So if we have a big molecules, they clog the pores.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:And you can't and and skin can't breathe.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So that's why your skin under the dress where you don't touch the skin usually is much better than the skin on the face. Right.
Heath Fletcher:Because it's not as exposed. Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Yeah. Interesting. We are using nanoparticles. I found one Japanese nanotechnology who can break natural molecules into such a small particles. Like like you have nicholide patches, like in medicine or morphine patches for, you know, for a big pain.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So they penetrate skin.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:And so the smaller the the smaller the molecule, the faster it goes through. So one of the molecules is so the the molecule which would go through the skin, which and that's allergen or poison ivy or something good or bad. Right?
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:It has a size of 500 d a. So we are using nanoparticles, natural nanoparticles, which are size of 16,000 d a. They are so small that they go like
Heath Fletcher:Wow. It's instant.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:And they are immediately
Heath Fletcher:It's like late speed.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Yes. And that's why we get an immediate result every day and immediate lift because we get immediate drainage, detoxification, and that an immediate blood flow. We also work or, on blood vessel permeability, which, you know, was agent know about thrombs and people are dying because of thrombs and because peep the cell, the the vessel becomes kind of like like like old rubber. It doesn't work anymore. But instead of leaking, it becomes rigid.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So, we want that permeability, that ability to, get through the blood vessels, you know, that so so the product, oxygen, and everything can get through that get through that wall and penetrate skinned cells and get them healthy again or repair or create new skin, skin cells. Like skin cells, every twenty eight day, we have a new skin.
Heath Fletcher:Amazing.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:You want to know
Heath Fletcher:Twenty eight days. Wow.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Twenty eight days.
Heath Fletcher:Wow.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So you do you do dermabrasion, for example. In twenty eight days, it's new skin.
Heath Fletcher:Wow.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Waste of time, waste of money. I mean, people, they don't know. I think we have a lot on Google, lots on chat, GPT, but I would say that people are really not aware of reality.
Heath Fletcher:No. No. And instant gratification is what everyone's looking for. Right? So they want It's all results.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Scary to the scary why would you know, like, I I had six to eight months waiting list. So I could say, you know, I'm not gonna do your surgery because you don't need the surgery. And have you tried everything before you commit to the surgery? Because first of all, it's expensive. Second of all, it's a trauma.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Third of all, we are gonna get scarring. Fourth, it's not gonna change your quality of your skin.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Right. We're gonna alter your face look. But if you have big pores, if you have inflammation, if you have rosacea, if you have eczema, psoriasis, you know, name it. It's gonna large pores, it's gonna be there. Yeah.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:And lymph, it's gonna be there second day.
Heath Fletcher:Mhmm. Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So it's it's it's it's it's it's it's you have to go all the time. Mhmm. And now for buttocks, it's proven that it's it's it's it's technically, it's a poison, which especially if you inject it, very close to the brain and it goes it's people, they, if they smell cocaine or something, they inhale it through the nose because it goes right here, we have connection with the brain.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. It's very close.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:No. No. But there's no but is it there is a there is a bone which has, small openings. Like, if you have a congestion, you
Heath Fletcher:know, and
Dr. Alena Butkevica:there's also foggy. Right?
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. Yeah.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Interesting. Or on the plane, if you have, you know you know, ears go back.
Heath Fletcher:Ears plugged. Yeah.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Yeah. So so it's also your head is kind of foggy. So it's all connected.
Heath Fletcher:Right. Right. Right. Interesting.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:If you have in injections, which are toxins.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:They go constantly to brain. We already have we already have a scientifically proved data that this affect our brain function.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Seriously? Are you ready for that? You're ready for Alzheimer's? Or
Heath Fletcher:No. Yeah. Exactly. Okay. So what year did you when did you start AB Bio?
Heath Fletcher:What year was that?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:AB Bio, I started, when I came back, well, beef before I had Laurus International, which was in Europe, we just closed it because, research, I I prefer to do research in America. So so AB Bio, I started 02/2017 at Stony Brook University. Uh-huh. As independent biotech company, and we are, we have also patents for I I have a product which hospital infection and COVID or viruses, which are lipid coated.
Heath Fletcher:Oh, wow. Yeah. Okay. So tell me about how did so you said, oh, I'm gonna start this company. And this is what was the first product you came out with?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So the products are difficult because the products I would like to come out with have to go through the full cycle of FDA product, FDA approval, you know, so we can use it for surgeries. And Right. That takes much longer time. Meanwhile, I was aging already, and we almost had, pre in in in the midst of COVID, I finally I was literally knocking every door saying that we potentially can kill COVID. We can prevent COVID.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Because if we can break lipid coating of the virus, the virus is dead. So it's not gonna get in. If it's not gonna get in, you're not gonna get sick. Right?
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So I made the nasal spray mouth, mouthwash and spray on the masks just to prevent just to start to prevent. Yeah. And through the general Wesley Clark and god knows, you know, we almost got a deal, with the government, which would really save which which is, like, I think, the biggest low point of my life because we I couldn't get the Fauci. I couldn't I mean, I I was talking to NIH. I was talking to everyone there.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:And we finally, through my lawyer, we got the independent proof from Department of Virology of Stony Brook University. We just send them a sample and say, okay. You know, we know that it's not toxic. It doesn't have side effects. It's based on methylene blue, which is now, everybody knows about it.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Like, I think five or six more articles came at the same time, but we can, did did more than that. We could also do anti inflammatory effects at the same time. So my lawyer was working day and night and everything, and we almost almost could help many, many people, but it didn't happen. And then it's kind of broke my heart.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. Yeah. That was a low point. Hey. That's chug that's a that's a tough call to have to say, okay.
Heath Fletcher:We can't go any further.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:You can just not only that. You can just see you you you see those emergency, you know, ambulance cars coming and going and taking people, know, with oxygen masks and everything. And
Heath Fletcher:I'm Yeah.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Sitting at home, and then I know that I can help, but
Heath Fletcher:I can't. Something that you that will help. Yes. And that must have been very frustrating.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Yeah. Was it was lowest point of my life lowest point of my life where, I I don't really know. It's it's it's was it the politics, shortsightedness? What what was there? You know?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:What was to deal with the center of disease control? What what was the deal with all these big you know, like, Fauci was just talking about, you know, how to prevent COVID? And no. Yeah. Stony Brook University, it took them for months to test it.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Right? It's it was low point. It was really tough on me. Tough. And then I said, you know, I was so I aged so much.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:I was so low that I said, you know, I am locked. I am locked in COVID. My husband passed away. I have plenty to do, and I want to do something which, you know, takes my mind off this. And so I created well, just I have here.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:I created my AB bio. Yeah. So I just I did it for myself. And then what I was doing, I was doing I was just addressing my issue. So what do I have?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:I have wrinkles. Okay. Let's address wrinkles. I have lymphatic, lots of liquid. Let's address that.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:I have sagging jaw. Let's do more collagen. I have this. So let's combine everything. And because I'm a surgeon, I don't have time, like, layering seven different products.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:One has a little vitamin C. One has little and then and then and then at the end, you go and do surgery. Right? That's Right. We're gonna do one way.
Heath Fletcher:We knew better.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:We're gonna get it like for example, if you eat salad, you put salad leaves, you put a little cucumber, you little tomato, you little maybe onions, maybe, some nuts, maybe some cranberry, right, dried, and then the oil. So you mix a lot.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. Mix it all up.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Right? And it's healthy. Yeah. It's considered to be very healthy. Yeah.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So why can't you do that in a cream?
Heath Fletcher:Good point.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Right? And it's much cheaper.
Heath Fletcher:You can even put cranberries in a cream, I guess.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:No. Exactly. So see It's it's just it's just common sense.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. I I find it interesting. It's an interesting part of your story, Alina, that, here you were in this low point in COVID. You had a you had a vision. You had something that was gonna help.
Heath Fletcher:And the setback actually put you in a place where you where you may not have thought of this, you know, like it it might have been the actual catalyst for where you are today with your product. So as as much as it was a setback, it may have been the thing that really guided you towards where you are now, which is very interesting because
Dr. Alena Butkevica:you're It's it's but I would I would I would put my head would pat myself on the shoulder even more, because, as I started to work with my health, skincare, right, I I happened to meet a holistic doctor who was very open to anything where he couldn't solve the problems. So he said, well, can you treat arthritis? And this was so so kind of a huge challenge for me. You know? Like and so I came up with a cream, and it's really good from elderly people to athletes.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Right? Because it stimulates stimulates circulation very fast, takes swelling away, takes pain away. So that one. He says, can you, reduce remove cysts, you know, like, I mean, given that it's, you know, tested that it's positive and, you know, it's yeah. We can do that.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:And so at the end, I came up with the 30 formulas. They are not all on the market yet because we're just we're just too small to produce it and have it, you know, constantly because that that's a huge stock, and it's already wouldn't be a huge factory. But we have nasal spray. We have for EIs. We
Heath Fletcher:I noticed you have a lot of products. I mean, you have you have men's products.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:You have
Heath Fletcher:women's products.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Yeah. Excellent for man, for, prostate, and, you know, for virility that excel. It's just a blessing for every man who is over 50.
Heath Fletcher:Interesting.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Yeah. It just it's a blessing because you don't have it's it's it's it's gonna just prevent your surgery. What's your number one product? Number one, I would say people still go for, skin care. Yep.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Absolute use. Absolutely. I
Heath Fletcher:was just looking
Dr. Alena Butkevica:at it. And then under the table, I would say that would be excel for men. Yeah. Because lots of wives are buying it for man for their husbands. Yeah.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:And they are very happy. Now they're happy again. And men don't buy as much, especially women buy. And for yeah. And it's also very famous amongst the duxers themselves.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:And then then
Heath Fletcher:finally another one. You have one called Let's Dance. Right?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Oh, Let's Dance is not as not as you know, I think women who are pregnant and women who know, because you you can use a finely cream for that as well. So women who, or men who have heart problems, diabetes Mhmm. Elephant, you know, elephant legs, elephantiasis,
Heath Fletcher:or
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Oh, okay. Have kidney problems. It's really so what happens
Heath Fletcher:Interesting.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Just think about it. Heart has to pump, and there is no pump in our feet. So the the the the more swelling goes into your legs, the less liquid is here for heart to pump. So the more you have liquid down in legs, the more your heart has to work and the the faster it tires out and works even even less.
Heath Fletcher:And most of these products are all applications. Right?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Everything is application only. It's just that we don't use any microneedling because listen. I I believe that. So if you wouldn't just think about your belly. If you wouldn't if you do would do microneedling and poke yourself with the needles into your belly daily, would you do that?
Heath Fletcher:No. I don't like needles.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So that's why you wouldn't do that on your face. Right?
Heath Fletcher:No. God.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Would you take your skin off your belly?
Heath Fletcher:Would I take it off?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Yeah. Like Like, yeah, like, scrape it off. Yeah. No. Right?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So but people do it on your on the face.
Heath Fletcher:God. No.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Right? Would you do, burn your skin with a laser? Like, you know, the burn you know, the tape No.
Heath Fletcher:Like, when you say these things I mean, people are doing these things, but when you say them like that, it's just like, well, why would anyone do that? But people are doing it.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:That's what I'm saying.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. It's crazy. It's crazy.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:That is what I am trying convey convey, I don't know, to as many people. Just please. They are very simple way.
Heath Fletcher:Okay. Now tell me, how are very simple way. How are you getting this message out to people? How are how are people finding you? What are you doing to get your
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Actually, I don't I don't know because, you see, I never, I never done. I'm not good at marketing.
Heath Fletcher:Okay.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:I am really a scientist.
Heath Fletcher:Well, yeah, I wouldn't expect you to be a good marketer. You're a doctor.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:You're a scientist. Doing surgery. You know? And for thirty years, people knew me that word-of-mouth and also they you know, like, people, they knew that if I did something, it's thirty years later, it's fine. So they would say, you know, if you really want something, go to her because she is the one.
Heath Fletcher:Right. Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So I didn't know what is marketing.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:What is, ROAS? God knows whatever. You know? So so it's not me. And plus I'm 60.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:My grandson is gonna, you know, just gonna do a computer or something. It's not me. I'm a Charles' solve human problems.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:It's it's easier for me to do
Heath Fletcher:Exactly. That's
Dr. Alena Butkevica:someone else. Marketing. I'm looking for marketing, I guess.
Heath Fletcher:It's Okay.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:It's my major pain point to bring this message out loud and very clear because there are many people who are looking for alternative solution, which is scientifically proven, which is backed up by independent dermatologists, by independent doctors. We do everything like as if it would be a medication even though it's not. It it's just, it's a topical application without any medical claims whatsoever.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So, therefore, yeah, this is this is my, point where I really trip. I never knew that it would be a problem, but, yes, there's always
Heath Fletcher:And and marketing's gotten very complicated too. You know? Like, it's it's a lot more, there's a lot more going on out there than there used to be. So, you know, it's a complicated environment. And I think if that's your area of growth, is that your kinda your largest growth issue is is a result?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Think yes. Yes. That's the only one because, like, when people try, like, and now I was lecturing in Dubai, and, I mean, we definitely sold out samples. Not not
Heath Fletcher:only you know?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:It just like it was like, everything. And and, you know, it's it's same when I when I do lecture. I I I started to lecture again internationally for doctors and customer and and and it's like it's it's like but the people have to listen and to try, and then it's immediately yes. Right. But
Heath Fletcher:And right now, they can only get your product through online?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Right now, they can get online in everywhere around the world. We we we have, because it's license, it's license in Europe, and and it's gonna be licensed in in in Dubai as well and, and, obviously, in United States. So, we're pretty much open to ship everywhere. And people, who live out of these zones, economical zones, they they can pay the duties. Right?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:No. We ship internationally. Yeah.
Heath Fletcher:Right. Interesting. And you have yeah. That's great. You can that you have that reach where you're not just focused on you know, not just available in The US.
Heath Fletcher:You're available all over the world, which is
Dr. Alena Butkevica:why think everybody deserves a chance to be healthy.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. So And
Dr. Alena Butkevica:and I when I'm sorry. I'm interrupting you. You know, whenever I was doing a surgery and I was doing a surgery and I was thinking, okay. I'm now I'm spending five hours on one person where I could I can create something which can help, like, 5,000 people at the same time. So I was always thinking, I can do only so many, you know, on how many you can do a day?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Five, three?
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:And how many needs that?
Heath Fletcher:And exactly. Like, how many people actually need that where they could get they could find the same results sooner, faster, cheaper
Dr. Alena Butkevica:by using these products. Yeah. Much. Yes. Just like like for
Heath Fletcher:And how about growth for you? Like, if you were, you know, capacity wise, like, how quickly could you I mean, how you know, if if if things took off, like, tomorrow, like, went crazy, are you are you
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Well, it depends what is crazy. What is crazy. Yeah. Right? If somebody tomorrow is asking a million units, yes.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:No. We can't. We we can't. And we can't
Heath Fletcher:It's scalable.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Reasons, but one of the major reasons is the high quality ingredients.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:To get, those nanoparticles from Japan, you have to order them.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So that would be, I think that would create a little bit of scarcity at some point. May maybe, you know, that would be resolved after, you know, after some period of time. But it's it's not about manufacturing and building a a bigger machine and and and it's not that problem. The problem is to have a high quality ingredients all the time. And a mass production.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Instead of processed ingredients, which cost next to nothing, it's very easy. You know, you still write on a ingredient list like it's aloe vera, but it's a powder. I don't have it on the table. I was not prepared for that. But just, like, just think of this.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:This is four years old. It's pretty dirty. Right? This is a cream, four years old. It's technically, it's natural.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:It's white. It doesn't have any signs of oxidation four years later. It's been in and out. Maybe I put my finger in when I I came out from the store. I I was touching money.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Maybe I was in the bathroom. Maybe, you know, you know, COVID times, we said that all the bacteria are on the vinegars. Right? Not a sign of getting bad.
Heath Fletcher:No. Interesting.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Right? Versus
Heath Fletcher:Like a McDonald's french fries.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Yeah. Versus our products. You hope
Heath Fletcher:it's Did you hear that? I said like McDonald's french fries.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Yeah. So this, we have a double wall.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:And it has a negative pressure. So when you when it's filled in, there's no air. So we don't have any oxygenation.
Heath Fletcher:No air?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:No. We lock it. We totally lock it. So that's it. Now the the the the bottom is locked, so we unlock it.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So there is no oxygen. It's and there's a little tiny hole where you which is also under the negative pressure. So once you pump it out, it doesn't suck in oxygen. So it's totally protected inside, with the inside wall from light, from radiation, from oxidative stress, from from bacterias, you can get in. You can poke your finger in.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:The only minus is that you, so you technically can't see how much there is inside left. Right. But, you know, you can live with it because when you go to the store, you buy the best natural products, and they do get bad very fast.
Heath Fletcher:Yes. They have a light they have a shelf life that's very short.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:And you buy salads three days later, it's it's it's a wilted salad. Right?
Heath Fletcher:That's right. Yeah.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:This one, we put also onto the body. It goes into the body. Yeah. Yeah. And it's it's somehow people are taught or it's engraved into them that this, what goes inside, should be high quality.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:And what goes on the inside and also gets inside can be inequality.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Which is nonsense.
Heath Fletcher:No. You're right. You're right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:And then that's why they say creams don't work. Of course, they don't work.
Heath Fletcher:So what's next? Where where are you at in within business growth here? Where are you at with business, and where are you going? What's
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Advertising. Advertising. Making giving a a right message for people to understand what are their gains and what are their losses, why they, why TikTok is full of people who can't wait to do a surgery at age of 35, 40. Seriously? Yeah.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So, it's it's it's like a it's like a like like a disease, like a cancer spreading.
Heath Fletcher:Like
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Like a nerve. It's also, like, emotionally, people are confident self confident?
Heath Fletcher:Self conscious.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Self conscious?
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. Self esteem.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Self esteem.
Heath Fletcher:They're worried about how
Dr. Alena Butkevica:they appear. That. It's also you're like it's it's like, I'm not enough.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So that's it's psychological problem. Right?
Heath Fletcher:Yeah.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:So it's it's I can talk, you know, dig deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper while people are of course, industry is pushing.
Heath Fletcher:Yes. Of course.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Of course. Industry is pushing every possible way, but but I would like to know that people do have do have an option. And Right. And the longer we want to live, the you know, when you are 60 and I like, yesterday, I I I you know, there's so many funerals now at my age.
Heath Fletcher:I know.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Over 60? You know? My classmates. I'm like and and then there is, like, diabetes, this, that, problems. Don't sleep.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Go to the toilet five times a night. You know, if all I'm listening is, like, pills pills, you know, the more and more we talk about health Yep. Where we used to talk about babies. You know? Now it's yeah.
Heath Fletcher:You're right. I mean, it's our generation. I mean, I'm I'm 58. So, you know, it's our generation. It is at the stage where it's like all of a sudden things start not working as well as they used to or you just you're noticing these things.
Heath Fletcher:You know? Like, I've had a couple of moles removed and had to be stitched together. Yes. I got scars from those. I never had surgery in my life.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Right? Finally cream is gonna take scars away.
Heath Fletcher:Alright.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Understand. Scars right away. Yeah.
Heath Fletcher:Okay. I'll get some. And, you know, my wife actually, this last year, my wife just had a she just had a full stem cell transplant from a condition that she got called myodysplastic syndrome. And it was we were totally taken by surprise. I mean, she's a year older than me, but it was, you know, it was like, you know, these are these things are happening and and Exactly.
Heath Fletcher:She's come out the other side, and and and that was amazing journey to understand that how stem cells work and where they come from and why they why why would she needed to have them replaced? And she'll her sister was her donor. And so, I mean, that whole journey has just been a bit of mind blowing for me and also kinda really intrigued me in in, in what's going on in the health world, in the health care industry. And and, you know, it's kinda led me to this place in my life. And so I I'm finding this whole conversation extremely interesting, and I really am I'm really enjoying learning about you and what you're doing with your company and the products you're creating because you're you know, what I'm finding is people that even though, you know, they're they're in business and they're in business to make money and they're in business to profit and there's investors and there's board members, you know, everyone seems to come back down to this heart centered sort of desire to make people's lives better.
Heath Fletcher:And I and I'm really reassured when I'm talking to people on these episodes that that's where a lot of them say they have to come back to that every time and go, I mean, I wanna help people. I wanna make I wanna improve people's lives and that's the foundation of everything that they decide to do.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Well, that's drives their business. Satisfaction. You know? Like like, they sell that that they sell that giving, you know, in Yeah. In Buddhism and also, you know, eastern religions is satisfaction is is a giving.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Right?
Heath Fletcher:It's it's
Dr. Alena Butkevica:it's it's a giving is a biggest satisfaction. Not getting. It's giving. Yeah. Of course, you should let you you need money to buy ingredients.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Right? Like, nanoparticles cost $6,000 a
Heath Fletcher:kilo. And you gotta pay good people to work with you
Dr. Alena Butkevica:and Right. And and and just just to buy a high quality ingredients is like going to health food store times 10 because they are very difficult to maintain. They have a short shelf life. You know, you have to really be be quick and, you know, just once you produce it, you have to sell it. So people have to use it and keep in the cool place and and things like that.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:But that do work. And and if you say, well, person was scheduled for a surgery and, you know, double chin reductions, they peep people can't sleep and anything. And we can take also double chin off and people don't need the surgery, Or it's a surgery for, knee or something, and you can fix it, or you can improve heart condition, or you can, remove brain fog or jinxing in ears also with a final. Interesting. It's you know, when you hear the thank you, you know, just for a creep.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. Yeah. That must
Dr. Alena Butkevica:be I want to say one thing. So when I was a full time surgeon, people, you know, like, use my scrubs, and people would like, doctor. Doctor equation god. Right? That's it.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Surgeon. I I need and they they would never ask me question like, what kind of blade they gonna use? You know? What's gonna be you know, like, what what what what are you gonna use? When I started to do creams, they say, what's wrong with that surgeon that she's, you know, talking creams?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:You know? It's like kind of downgrading. It's it's it's funny how people perceive when I say, well, you don't need surgery.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:You need to achieve, technically, you know, versus surgery. You know, surgery costs 10 plus thousand. Right? This costs hundred 50. Right?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Like, what are you doing? Yeah. So it's I found it's, very strange. Like, people expect surgeon to even charge more for surgery. Right?
Dr. Alena Butkevica:Yeah. Whereas I'm saying, listen. Please avoid surgery because in the hippocampus oath
Heath Fletcher:Yes.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:We pledged, at least in my time, thirty more than thirty years ago, we pledged not to harm. And if I can avoid surgery for a person, I think it's my duty as a doctor.
Heath Fletcher:I agree. I think that's wonderful. Yeah.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:And everything leave surgery if that's okay. Emergency surge we're not quite we're not talking emergencies or, you know, emergency is an emergency, but many, before scheduled surgeries, I usually try to do everything possible to see at least to maybe minimize the symptoms to the point that we have to do minimally invasive surgery or not at all. And if people can live without surgery, it's good. I think it's healthy.
Heath Fletcher:It's very good.
Dr. Alena Butkevica:A plus. You know, if nothing if you're 60 and nothing hurts and you're hopefully 65 and nothing hurts and you're healthy, I'm I'm fine with that.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. This has been awesome. I'm really glad we managed to get this call in.
Heath Fletcher:I've thoroughly enjoyed listening to you and and hearing your story and learning about a b bio. And I I'm I think we'll we'll be talking again because I wanna hear more about what the future of baby bio and what what comes for you in the future. So thank you for taking this time and and and being with me on this
Dr. Alena Butkevica:And thanks for inviting me and letting me express my philosophy on healthy living, I would say, and healthy aging.
Heath Fletcher:Okay. I really enjoyed that conversation. I know I'm gonna be investing in some absolute youth pretty soon here, And I really appreciate her sharing with us about how difficult COVID was as it was for most of us and how she took that that sort of, you know, disappointment in not being able to deliver a product that she thought would help others in during the COVID nineteen pandemic. But she was able to pivot and invest her time, energy, and passion into the product line of a b bio. I you know, to help others find a solution for skin related issues and cosmetic solutions so they can avoid surgery, I think, is something that, you know, coming from a surgeon who understands the complexities and sometimes the the real long term, impact that surgical procedures can have for others.
Heath Fletcher:And I think she's really, you know, delivered a heart centered product, and, I wish her the best of luck. Thanks for listening, and, stay tuned for our next episode.
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