The referral source you aren't thinking about

Spend enough time on a golf course and you’ll hear men talk about almost everything. 

Kids. Politics. Back pain. Work.

For Brendan Sheil, Co-Founder of Synergy Aesthetics, that last topic tends to follow a familiar pattern. A new golf buddy learns that Brendan works in aesthetics, and the jokes start. A few holes later, though, the conversation turns to hair loss.

Brendan began noticing how often that happened.

If these men cared about losing their hair but weren’t comfortable walking into an aesthetics practice, where were they comfortable discussing it?

That question changed how Brendan thought about reaching new patient populations. Instead of waiting for people to find a practice, he started thinking about the professionals they already trusted enough to confide in.

Men weren’t ignoring their hair loss. They were buying products and looking for solutions, often without ever setting foot in an aesthetics practice.

They were talking about it, too. Just not with an aesthetics provider.

So Brendan started asking a different question: Who are they already talking to?

While in Los Angeles, Brendan sat down with two high-end hairstylists.

“I asked them, ‘How many of your clients come in and talk about their hair thinning?’”

Their answer surprised him.

“Every one of them.”

Brendan says those conversations have become increasingly common as GLP-1 medications, hormone replacement therapy, stress, and aging have made hair shedding a growing concern.

The interest was already there. Aesthetics practices simply weren’t part of the conversation.

That realization led Brendan to consider the men’s barbershops closer to home. He didn’t need barbers to become aesthetics specialists. He saw an opportunity to connect them with practices that could help their clients.

For an independent practice, that kind of relationship can provide an introduction to someone who might never have sought out an aesthetics provider on his own.

“You might end up with the full lifetime value of a patient you would have never captured,” Brendan says. “And your cost of acquisition was none.”

Reaching a new patient is only part of the opportunity. What happens once they walk through the door matters, too.

Brendan believes the experience associated with legacy hair restoration treatments may have reinforced some of the reluctance among men.

“It was extremely painful,” he says. “You’d sit there under a needle, then wait months before you saw results.”

That’s part of what interested him in Juvasonic®, a new product line Synergy is partnering with to bring to independent aesthetics practices. Juvasonic® uses a non-needle delivery method for hair restoration treatments. For someone already hesitant to pursue treatment, removing the painful experience can remove one more reason to say no.

It’s also why Brendan sees the referral relationship and treatment experience as connected. A trusted barber or stylist can make the introduction. The practice still has to give that new patient an experience worth coming back for.

“How do you tell the difference between a real opportunity and the industry's latest shiny object?”

Everybody wants to chase the newest thing. The harder part is having enough patience to separate excitement from evidence.

When I started looking into regenerative treatments, I wasn't reading aesthetics publications. I was following developments in spine care, neurology, oncology, and other areas of healthcare. Everywhere I looked, the research kept pointing in the same direction. That gave me confidence that this wasn't just another trend.

Before we bring anything to the practices we serve, we ask a simple question: Is there enough evidence across healthcare to believe this is solving a real problem – not simply generating buzz?

— Brendan Sheil, Synergy Aesthetics Co-Founder

Upcoming Event: Merz Aesthetics Exchange® (MAX) Bootcamp Series – Toxin

Join this virtual, expert-led series to learn more about advanced concepts in aesthetic medicine and level-up your toxin practice.

When: October 14, 2026 @ 8:00 - 9:30PM EDT

The conversation that leads to a new patient often starts somewhere else.

For Brendan, the barber was an example of where that conversation was already happening. In your market, it could be a hairstylist, personal trainer, primary care provider, wellness clinic, or another professional people see regularly.

The next time your team talks about reaching a new patient population, think about who those patients already turn to when they need help.

Until next time, thanks for being here.

— The Synergy Aesthetics Team