A sea of sandy beiges, soft ochres, and sunbaked oranges set the scene as the team behind the esteemed People & Skin ushered in a new decade for the clinic. They celebrated their milestone tenth birthday surrounded by family and friends, with a sunset aperitivo, and a dress code fit for the occasion.

The theme was chosen with intent, harkening back to the very beginning of the journey. “When we first sat down to create this brand image, I was thinking of all the skin colours in the world,” founder Dr Joanna Delia explains. “At sunset we see them all, pinks, peaches, coppers, browns, before fading into darkness. A gorgeous rainbow.”

With the sound of clinking glasses still in the air, we took the opportunity to sit down with founder Dr Joanna Delia, Dr Gorana Pecotic, and Clinic Manager Michelle Degiorgio to reflect on the journey so far, the lessons learnt and the vision for the next decade.

Celebrating dedication

The importance of community, inclusion and diversity is one of the guiding principles Joanna instilled in her team from the very start.

“At the clinic, we see people daily from 20 or 30 countries, across all gender and sexual orientations, across religions,” she continues. “This means we’re exposed to all kinds of aesthetic standards, facial anatomies and structures.”

That exposure pays dividends as the team now boasts a keen understanding of their clients, their wants, and their needs.

The aesthetic industry is one that evolves rapidly, and it's easy to get left behind, however there’s a delicate balancing act the team must master in this regard.

“As doctors, we're constantly attending different courses, conferences and meetings to keep on top of developments and improve our skills. At the same time, trends arise in some parts of the world, then spread, and we keep on top of that too,” Gorana notes.

This is not to say that the doctors at People & Skin follow requests from their clients blindly. Quite the contrary. Over the last decade, the team has collectively fostered a sense of responsibility to ensure that they can all look back on their work even 20 years from now with pride.

“Unfortunately, there’s a lot of misinformation going around and we spend a lot of time, even before our clients set foot into the clinic, over the phone if needs be, going through procedures, giving information, and explaining what can and cannot be done,” Michelle shares.  

Dr Joanna Delia
Photo by Stephanie Galea

“There are gold standards in medicine which we uphold. It's very easy for profitable reasons to cut costs, but that’s not going to happen at People & Skin,” emphasises Joanna. “I am interested in tried and tested solutions, which have stood the test of time. In our field, we’re dealing with injectables, so we have to understand everything there is to know about it before we use it.”

Even if they don’t believe in a treatment, Joanna stresses that she and her colleagues still go through the necessary due process, learning everything there is to know about a procedure in order to be able to provide correct information.

A testament to their dedication towards their industry and craft, Joanna, Gorana and their colleagues joined forces with other med-aesthetic doctors in Malta to create Aesthetic Physicians Association Malta (APAM). Together, they’re lobbying for more regulation and higher standards that will see their clients kept safe from illegal operators. “I believe in regulation, I believe in enforcement of regulation, and I want to contribute to a policy that aligns with our ideals so that these procedures are done safely for the benefit of the client. We've been working very hard. It's a happy burden on us,” Joanna asserts.  

Celebrating beauty

Working at the junction between science and art is a challenge, but one that the whole team takes on with gusto. Joanna believes the two are inherently linked. She makes her point by conjuring the names of two greats: Michelangelo and Beethoven.

“Both had the same mindset,” she notes. “Both required an astute knowledge of their medium – the science behind the work – and that is what we do too. We understand our medium because we’re trained technically and scientifically. We know how a good quality filler is engineered to have cohesivity, we know how it moves, or doesn’t move. We know how it’s going to behave. But knowing that is nothing compared to knowing how to sculpt it into a face, how to shape it to the best possible outcome for someone’s benefit. I feel so lucky to have discovered a field where science and art are married so flawlessly. It’s beautiful.”

This love for beauty is a bonding point for the whole team at People & Skin. 

Dr Gorana Pecotic
Photo by Stephanie Galea

“For me, beauty is innate. Nature organises itself in a beautiful way without trying. There’s a respect there; it’s about how things should be,” Gorana says.

 “I think it's part of being human,” Joanna adds. “When you're exposed to beauty like the Taj Mahal there is a certain peaceful, happy feeling that presents itself. You don't even think about it, but you feel it.”

This appreciation for taste is manifest in the art and artists that People & Skin supports, which in turn hones their aesthetic eye and contributes to their work on a daily basis. “I completely roped in the whole system to support my other love, which is the cultural sector and art. We don’t just go to art events; we sponsor exhibitions and works. We live with artists,” Joanna says. “Then we get the exhibitions which we sponsor to give us private tours so we can see the fruits of those contributions and continue to cultivate taste in the whole team. It’s a joy. Sometimes I tell Michelle we might as well put artists on the payroll because that’s what every establishment should do.”

At the heart of it, giving clients joy is another one of the foundational ideas Joanna set up her business with. “For me, the way you perceive yourself is a health issue,” she asserts. “A lot of what clients come in to the clinic to address is psychological.”

Michelle Degiorgio
Photo by Stephanie Galea

In fact, it is this realisation that helped Gorana address one of her biggest challenges in the last decade working in the field.

“Something which I had to battle with over the years is accepting the idea that as a doctor in aesthetic medicine, you're not in the ‘heroic role’ traditionally associated with the title. I think going into medicine, that's what I went for. I wanted to save lives.”

Gorana dipped her toes in various fields, even toying with the idea of keeping her role in a hospital while doing med-aesthetic work on the side, but she found herself questioning it all.

“Am I doing this [keeping her hospital job] for society and for approval? Or do I want to do this other thing [med-aesthetics] which makes me happy, but doesn’t give me that ‘I'm saving the world’ feeling? I think that was my biggest personal challenge, to let go of that idea and shut the noise out.” By noise, Gorana is referring to the colleagues, family and friends who told her she was crazy, that it was a waste of her skills.

“I wish they could understand how much we give,” she says gently. “It's hard to explain to somebody how it feels when we work on something simple like removing a scar which has been there and bothering them and reminding them of something tragic. Now I can say, yes, I’m a doctor and, no, I’m not saving lives, but I’m doing something important.”

Celebrating people

When it comes to the team, Joanna believes she didn’t choose them, they chose her. “I feel I never really chose the team, the team came to me,” she says. And that’s confirmed by Michelle.

“For me Joanna has been not just a boss, but a friend,” Michelle explains. “She pushed me to the right limit. I started off working with her as a beauty therapist, then started management, now I run the clinic. She has given me that. That space where to grow. Space where to be even a good mum as well.”

Finding that ever elusive work-life balance is one of the goals Joanna set out to achieve when she started her own business. She now happily reports that it’s in the bag and she takes great pride in giving it to her team too.

This human-focused mindset, the idea of giving them what they need with kindness and empathy, is a philosophy that permeates clients too.  

“We join people on a journey with themselves, and often we’re there for years,” Joanna notes. “Michelle and I, because we have been doing this for 19 years, we’ve been able to see some individuals over the course of 19 years. I mean, imagine following a person from age 40 to 59, or 41 to 60. 60 to 79, I get goosebumps.”

As People & Skin marks its 10th anniversary, it’s clear that what began as a vision of uniting science and beauty has grown into a trusted space where people feel seen, supported, and empowered.

With a decade of lessons behind them and a clear purpose guiding the years ahead, Joanna, Gorana, Michelle and their team continue to prove that true aesthetic medicine is as much about people as it is about skin.

The treatment pictures are by Semih Okmen