Bev McGillivray, Co-Founder of Project Skin MD, shares her reflection on the past year, on the 10-year milestone for Project Skin MD, and her New Year’s wishes for you.
Hello PS Community and Happy New Year to all of you.
Some of you may have read my New Year’s message last year and from the response I received, many of you connected with my reflections and experiences in 2021. Thank you for all your messages and personal anecdotes. I was so grateful to receive them.
I hope 2022 was a year of emergence for you all. And what I mean by that is emerging from the darkness of the pandemic and at least starting to see some light again. Embracing loved ones, visiting favourite places, and connecting personally with the world around us.
I admit that this year my husband and I travelled more than we have in years. With every journey it fed our thirst for seeing new things and enjoying far away places. With every journey we appreciated the light we were feeling as we emerged from what was a pretty dark time globally. We became reacquainted with our old life, albeit a very different version. Overall, it felt exhilarating.
That said, I will also admit that this year I had great difficulty reconciling my gratitude for my joyful life with so much tragedy and unrest in the world. It is such an unsettling and sobering part of this life we live, when disparity continuously rears it’s ugly head in 50 shades of grey. Do we feel grateful or do we feel compassion? Joyful or sadness? Help ourselves or help others? And while I do not have the answers to these age old questions I can only believe that all of the above is true. Feel it all. Help ourselves, our communities and absolutely the world at large. It’s all important. The little things AND the big things.
And speaking of BIG THINGS, here at Project Skin MD we celebrated a wonderful milestone in September. Ten glorious, challenging, perfectly imperfect years! To say that it brought back memories of our journey would be an understatement. Bill (Dr. McGillivray) and I feel incredibly proud of this “project” we envisioned many years ago, long before PS came to be. PS was a true labour of love and once realized, became our proudest professional accomplishment. Why? The answer is easy, our people.
Our team #PSFamily has grown and changed with the years, including our partnership with Dermapure and Functionalab Group. We couldn’t be more grateful to have been so well surrounded by greatness, talent, skill, friendship, resilience, grit, determination, and love. They have been and continue to be our pillars of strength and our keys to success.
Not to mention, our industry colleagues have been unwavering in their support from our first clinic in 1995 to present day, but especially so at Project Skin MD. Many of our influencer partners have been waving our PS flag for years and we are humbled by their support. And on November 10th we all gathered to celebrate the magic of our PS journey. And what a magical night it was.
But, when I speak of “our people”, I’ve saved the best for last. YOU! All of you, our PS patient community. Thank you for your trust, your loyalty and your patience as we’ve tried to provide the best care possible. For Bill and I, and the entire PS team, it has and continues to be our absolute privilege to take care of you each and every day. You have made PS shine bright.
May 2023 be a year of light and love for you all.
Bev McGillivray, co-founder.
