This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Danielle Fewings, a 40-year-old entrepreneur from New York City. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I started my career in digital marketing and ran my own agency from 2020 until 2025, when I sold it. I’m now the founder of Get Clear Beauty, an aesthetic treatment marketplace, which I started in 2026.
I’ve always felt like there was something missing from my appearance, as if someone much more confident was buried beneath it all. I got my first procedure done in 2013 and have had many since.
I don’t regret any of them.
I’m the most treatment‑forward person in almost every room I’m in
In my broader New York circle, routine maintenance is completely normal. People are getting Botox and lip filler, and a few have had breast augmentations. Most are dipping in rather than going all in.
I’m honestly the most treatment-forward person in almost every room I’m in. In any given conversation, I’m the one who’s had the most work done, which is a little wild when I think about it.
For most of the people I know, the max is Botox. Routine maintenance is common around me, but no one I’m close to has done anywhere near as much as I have.
My first major decision was my breast reduction at 27
I wore a 32G and desperately wanted them smaller. I call this my gateway surgery because it was honestly a very easy recovery, so I had this ease as the template, which gave me the confidence to keep pursuing additional treatments.
It made me more willing to put myself out there, both in dating and especially in showing up online to create content for my business, which matters enormously when you’re building something. It shifted how I approach relationships, too, both friendships and romantic ones.
When you feel confident inside and out, you see yourself as more valuable, recognize your worth, and become more selective about who you let into your life. As I’ve felt better about myself, I’ve been more intentional about the relationships I keep close, and I see a direct correlation between the two.
I’ve never made decisions due to outside pressure
My choices have always been personal. I’ve never done any of this for another person or because of outside pressure. It has always been about putting my best self forward, and if that takes some tweaks and some money, I’m willing to do it.
I’m a very confident person — I just haven’t accepted every imperfection. My upper blepharoplasty is a good example: most people would say I didn’t need it, and they would be right, because no one needs any of these things. I wanted it. My eyelids felt heavy, and I chose to change that.
I’m fully committed to antiaging and the maintenance it requires. I go to my quarterly Botox appointments and my annual lip filler appointments, and I’ll be ready for a facelift when that time comes. The idea that aging gracefully means avoiding treatments is absurd; aging gracefully is doing whatever feels good to you as an individual.
The cost breakdown
Because my first breast surgery was a reduction, I paid $6,000 out of pocket, and my insurance covered the rest. I had a full-body makeover in the Dominican Republic, which included a tummy tuck, skin tightening, and two further breast surgeries after major weight loss, costing around $12,000. I’ve also had liposuction, scar revision, an upper blepharoplasty, Sculptra and filler, a Morpheus8 treatment on my legs, tattoo removal, lip blushing, microblading and shading, Invisalign, and teeth whitening. These procedures have cost about $50,000 in total.
The maintenance I keep up with regularly includes manicures and pedicures, which I have gotten every two weeks for the past 10 years; lash extensions, which I have gotten every three weeks for about 15 years; Botox; more filler; peels and lasers; tanning; and haircuts. The recurring maintenance has cost about $105,000 over time.
What struck me is that the one-time procedures come to about $50,000, but the quiet, recurring maintenance is over $100,000. The costs nobody tracks are the ones that add up the most. That is exactly why I built Get Clear Beauty.
Each procedure served a purpose
My whole philosophy has been doing high-maintenance things to stay low-maintenance. The lashes, manicures and pedicures, lip blushing, and microblading are all upkeep that let me feel put-together with minimal effort, and because of them, I barely wear makeup, so some of that cost is a trade-off.
The bigger procedures came from real changes in my body. My weight has gone up and down for years, and that has driven a lot of it. The Morpheus8 on my legs was for skin laxity, because I’m not ready for a leg lift and probably don’t need one. I’ve had three breast surgeries total.
I’d never do CoolSculpting, and I’d never have a nose job. I don’t think CoolSculpting is cost-effective, and I’ve grown to love my nose.
My appearance impacts confidence, and confidence impacts business
When you’re on 15 Zooms a week and constantly recording content to win business, looking and feeling your best matters.
Appearance affects business outcomes, but for me, it works through confidence. When I feel good about how I’m showing up, I represent my company more powerfully and carry my knowledge into the room in a way that lands.
I love how I look. 10 years ago, I never thought looking this way was achievable, and it’s the result of a GLP-1 medication, surgeries, and really taking my appearance by the horns. I’m in a genuinely happy place with it.
