Brendan James Alleyne, MD MBA FACS
Washington University in St. Louis, Olin Business School
Hometown: Buffalo, New York
Family Members: Katherine Glaser (wife and STL dermatologist and Mohs surgeon) and Beverly Alleyne (mom and personal cheerleader)
Fun fact about yourself: When I am not operating and crafting beauty and art, I am dedicated to working out. I have been into bodybuilding since I was a teenager; part of my love for teaching anatomy began when I truly understood the connection between bodybuilding and muscle anatomy. I eventually became a personal trainer and helped friends discover the fulfillment of pushing themselves out of their comfort zone and seeing improvement over time. The attributes I learned from this hobby, including persistence, dedication, and delayed gratification, have transformed almost every aspect of my outlook on life.
Undergraduate School and Degree: GED and Liberal Arts Math and Science, Erie Community College
Undergraduate School and Degree: Bachelor of Science in Biological Science, University at Buffalo
Medical School and Degree: Doctor of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Residency Training: Integrated Plastic Surgery, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Fellowship Training: Dallas Plastic Surgery Institute
Where are you currently working? Renaissance Plastic Surgery, as an aesthetic plastic surgeon with specialty training in rhinoplasty, facelift surgery, and breast augmentation
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles: Mentoring college students, medical students, and surgical residents, both nationally and internationally.
Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? During business school, I am most proud of making my passion project into an actual company.
I founded Physician Mentor LLC during my first year in EMBA, during Ron King’s finance class. It’s based on my experience taking the less-traveled path into medicine. Going from a high school dropout to a plastic surgeon, I felt compelled and qualified to help any student get into medical school and go from medical school to their first medical specialty choice. Now that I have made it, I am working to give back to others daily.
What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I am most proud of going from high school dropout to doctor. I was proud to prove about 30 naysayers in my life wrong when I was accepted to medical school. I clearly remember the exact moment I shared my first medical school acceptance email with my mom (my main life cheerleader). However, what I have become most proud of is sharing my story with students who feel as though they are hopeless during their journey to becoming doctors.
Who was your favorite MBA professor? My favorite MBA professor was the legendary Ron King, who taught my first-ever finance course. Initially, I was very nervous about the course, as I am not talented at math or using Excel. But he was able to break through my fear early on, replacing it with genuine interest in learning. That experience gave me the gumption to start my own company, invest in stocks for the first time, and scale my plastic surgery business.
Why did you choose this school’s executive MBA program? I chose WashU Olin’s Executive MBA program primarily because of the extremely high ranking of the professors in the EMBA program. I knew I did not know enough about how to start a company, and I was drawn to Olin’s high ranking in entrepreneurship as well. I knew that after my surgical training, I needed a springboard to catch up to what it takes to run a growing and successful private plastic surgery practice.
All these excellent professors are approachable and happy to help, even with questions unrelated to classroom learning. Helping students thrive is a part of the culture here.
In addition, the program’s strong emphasis on leadership development, coaching, and a big picture understanding of the C-suite helped me better communicate my ideas during business meetings, to students, and even while presenting plastic surgery research at national meetings. All of this while building confidence and competence in my leadership development, an area I had little prior knowledge.
What is the biggest lesson you gained during your MBA, and how did you apply it at work? The biggest lesson I gained during my MBA program was instilling business understanding with big-picture concepts. The side effect of this was that it increased my confidence in day-to-day management and financial meetings, where I had routinely stayed quiet.
Thanks to the growth in my knowledge, I began leading those same meetings. Those around me verified that I was improving, noticing that I could contribute better ideas and was more comfortable sharing alternative perspectives.
Give us a story during your time as an executive MBA on how you were able to juggle work, family, and education? Balancing work, family, and education was challenging at first. But like most challenges, once you realize you can and are doing it, the fear leaves and the confidence grows.
I could block time off from work for the two-year course and combine vacation time to make it work. Luckily, my wife is also a physician and understood my commitment to continuing education. Both of us survived residency work hours of sometimes 80-110 hours per week; it was a good reminder of how hard you can push yourself when needed.
Despite enjoying keeping my life busy with plastic surgery, running two businesses, family vacations, and constantly learning, I never took a break from going to the gym. For me, that is my important time to find balance. I often tell students who are thinking of pursuing an MBA and asking about stock trading and maximizing financial decisions that the best investment advice is to go all in on your first investment. And your first investment every day should be yourself. So I practice what I preach and invest in myself first to be my best version for those around me.
What advice would you give to a student looking to enter an executive MBA program? Life is full of risk versus reward. For me personally, I learned more than I ever thought possible and am more than thankful for doing the degree. During the two years, I started Physician Mentor and helped expand Renaissance Plastic Surgery beyond what we thought was possible. In addition, the company I studied for Financial Accounting was NVIDIA, and a few of us from class decided to actually invest in the companies we were studying. That decision alone paid for my EMBA degree 10x over.
I could go on and on about the many fortuitous people and opportunities that happened to me after joining the program, and I have no doubt similar situations happened to my classmates.
What was your biggest regret in business school? I learned during our last month that there was a gym inside the Knight Center. That would have been great to know early on. But I did use the Sommer Athletic Center nearly every day for two years, and I routinely went during our hour-long lunch breaks.
Another regret would be not beginning networking early and waiting until late in the program. Olin has many opportunities and organizations to help you scale your business, and many wise advisors are happy to help you grow.
Which MBA classmate do you most admire? This is a very difficult question; you get to know so many people, and everyone comes with their own strengths. As math was always a weak point of mine, part of the fear of getting the degree was how much high-level math was involved! However, Erin Fogary and Andy Bauer eat high-level math for breakfast, and both of these individuals took the time to teach it in ways that made total sense. From complex Monte Carlos to discounted cash flows from multiple time points, they helped me turn my weak areas into relative strengths.
I foresee Erin Forgary becoming the COO of State Farm in 5 years, and I know Andy Bauer will become CEO of his own consulting firm in the next several years. They both have the tenacity to lead and the humility to teach, which will take them far.
What was the main reason you chose an executive MBA program over part-time or online alternatives? I chose an executive MBA program over part-time or online alternatives as I am the type of person who learns better while in class. I knew that I wanted my business education to focus on entrepreneurial skills as I would be growing my coaching company, and I also wanted to improve my leadership skills from a C-suite perspective.
What are your ultimate long-term professional goals? My long-term professional goal is to continue offering state-of-the-art plastic surgery in the Midwest while expanding the business to other regions. I also plan to continue to scale my mentoring program over the next five years to help more students get into medical school. The next tier of the company will be to take on more consulting roles to help doctors begin and grow their private practices and scale quickly. The other tier of my life goals will be to serve as chief medical officer of a start-up company involved in surgical or biological innovation.
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