Valerie McAllister is a trailblazer in anesthesia and plastic surgery. Certified as a registered nurse anesthetist in 1983, she discovered office plastic surgery soon after in Miami. In 1987, the ambitious visionary started her own agency, Southern Anesthesia Services Inc., then the largest office anesthesia service.

“I really tapped into a niche that needed to be filled,” McAllister recalls.

For over 20 years, the entrepreneur deployed anesthesia providers to South Florida hospitals, outpatient centers and plastic surgery offices.

“From that, I saw the good and bad in all these plastic surgery offices,” McAllister shares. “I got the idea, why not have the best board-certified plastic surgeons but with the business run by business professionals at affordable prices?”

To bring that vision to life, she started Premiere Center for Cosmetic Surgery in 1994 in Coconut Grove, all while raising three children and taking mission trips to Central and South America.

“I’m a woman in a man’s field, a nurse hiring doctors,” she says.

Leading the way once again, she launched a full-force, multi-channel advertising campaign complete with a jingle.

“That was really before advertising was accepted in the plastic surgery world, so we were pioneers,” McAllister says.

Premiere grew quickly, opening offices in Weston and Tampa in 2000. McAllister has since closed the South Florida locations to focus on Tampa. In addition to its operating room, they significantly expanded to offer cosmetic injectables, medical-grade skincare treatments and the latest non-surgical devices. Thirty-eight years into her career, McAllister continues administering anesthesia and running Premiere.

“Sticking with my vision and seeing it flourish is very satisfying,” she says. “There have been a lot of copycats of my success, but being their inspiration has been the biggest compliment.”