We recently had the chance to connect with Erica Bartlett MD and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Erica , thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
2025 has been an exciting year for me. I left my Plastic Surgery Practice to start my own practice and my husband, and I were finally able to get pregnant! We had been struggling for over a year with infertility and finally, in February, the embryo transfer was a success and now we are growing a baby human. This will be our first child, and it happens to be a girl. The pregnancy journey is full of ups and downs, but I am overwhelmed with joy at the fact I will finally be able to be a mother. The daily grind of being a business owner can be a challenge but feeling the kicks of a growing baby sprinkles in excitement to an otherwise chaotic day. We will welcome our baby girl at the end of October and will have to learn how to navigate motherhood and business owner at the same time.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Erica Bartlett, and I am a board-certified Plastic Surgeon. I specialize in cosmetic surgery of the face, breast and body. I am a born and raised Houstonian, and I knew I would never stray far from home. I finished my training from Baylor College of Medicine in 2019 and went straight into private practice. This was a great steppingstone for me as it gave me the confidence to branch out on my own. In June of 2025, I started my own practice in Katy called Enchanted Beauty Plastic Surgery. We are a small, boutique, practice, of only women, whose primary purpose is to build confidence by producing natural and timeless results. The name stems from an ethereal attraction to a form of beauty. The logo, which is a unicorn, showcases something that is highly desirable but difficult to obtain. I have always had a fascination with unicorns, not because I am childish (although at times I am) but because they represent something unique and out of the ordinary. That is how I view myself and my practice. I like being different and my goal is to make patients feel special, because they are. Medicine has become so much of a business that we have forgotten about the experience. Obviously, I must practice good medicine and produce excellent results, however, part of my vision is to allow patients to feel seen and heard. Gone are the days when doctors dictate the plan. Now, I see myself as a guide and educator, helping patients achieve their goals. As an equal. There is no intimidation here. And that is what makes the experience so unique. My motto is, “In a field of horses, always be the unicorn.”
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
My family and I were recently watching home videos from when I was a child and, besides my hair, not much has changed. I’ve always been a free spirit, a little unhinged and energetic. With time, that personality has obviously matured but the character is still intact. Looking back at these nostalgic home videos, I see why I fancy girly colors, unicorns, butterflies and flowers. Well, that’s what I was wearing but also, I had a fascination with beauty and beautiful things. At the age of 8 I wrote, “In 25 years I will be 33. And my job will be a model because I will be on TV or on a magazine. I will have kids and a husband and the most fun about modeling is being pretty.” As I’ve grown into the woman I am today, I still see myself in those home videos, maybe just slightly more refined. My vision of beauty has changed and matured since the age of 8 but the sentiment is still there and likely it has guided me into this specialty. And maybe I didn’t end up becoming a model per se, but rather a role model to those who don’t like to be told to grow up.
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
Fear is a unique emotion because it is not something that is universally experienced. Not everyone experiences the same types of fear. For myself, the fear of change has hit me in many different ways. As an adolescent, you yearn for change or to “grow up” but then when you get there the fear sets in. What’s next? Most humans are creatures of habit and change implies moving onto something else. At times, it can be paralyzing because most people are happy in their steady state. But as a spouse, mother, physician and business owner, we must always be willing to accept change and even embrace it. If not for change, growth would never happen. The biggest life lesson I have learned about change to be more comfortable being uncomfortable. We have illegitimate fears that hold us back by falsely believing that we are the only ones experiencing this change. The reality is that we are not alone, and we are certainly not the first to experience this fear. For myself, I had been contemplating starting my own practice for years before I finally pulled the trigger. I was comfortable at my last practice, and I feared changing locations, changing my staff and most importantly, my routine. But when I finally took the plunge, the satisfaction on the other end was unimaginable. If I knew then what I could have accomplished in 3 months, I would have made the decision to proceed well before, but hindsight is 20/20. So now, I try to look at change as a small hurdle with growth and accomplishment waiting at the finish line.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. How do you differentiate between fads and real foundational shifts?
Some specialties, procedures don’t change. For example, cancer surgery. To achieve the desired result, you remove the cancer. In Plastic Surgery, especially cosmetic, you are dealing with patients who are not sick and want to achieve a desired aesthetic result. That result may be achieved by multiple different techniques and is totally dependent the patients goals but also on the surgeon’s aesthetic eye and experience. We are seeing huge shifts in the industry with fads coming to the forefront. Abdominal etching, oversized buttocks and breast implants are a few fads we see locally and well as universally across the specialty. There will always be a clientele who seeks an extreme transformation, however, part of my mission and ethical decree to my specialty is to produce results that are natural and complement a person’s body and not distract from one’s inherent beauty. It is not hard to determine what is a fad because to me, any extreme surgery is a fad. The problem is fads are short term and temporary. This could lead to a form of regret down the road that can not be reversed. That is not the kind of image I want to produce or the message I want to send to those seeking surgery. The goal of cosmetic surgery is to build upon and enhance the body and promote body confidence. Results should age gracefully with you and not define you. I will never be a fad doctor.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. If you retired tomorrow, what would your customers miss most?
I believe that if I were to leave medicine, my patients would miss my bedside manner. Obviously, my results should speak for themselves, but my goal is to make each and every one of my patients feel special, because they are. Medicine has become so much of a business, it only focuses on the numbers. The number of visits, number of surgeries, number of referrals. We have forgotten about the patient’s experience. I prioritize the relationship I develop with the patient because everybody deserves to be seen and heard. There is so much vulnerability in discussing your insecurities and desire to change your body. I strive to provide a safe space to be treated as an equal and not just a number. And that feeling is truly genuine. This is why I keep my practice small and boutique. I allow myself the time to interact with my patients, so they don’t feel rushed. I give patients my personal cell phone to contact me because if something happens because I WANT to know and I WANT to be there for them. At the end of the day, I am still running a business, but I believe I can do both well, without compromising any aspect of care.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.enchantedbeautyplasticsurgery.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drericabartlett/?hl=en
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erica-bartlett
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drericabartlett/reels/?_rdr
