Fix Your Feet and Your Mindset with Dr. Yolanda Ragland of “Tiara-Toe Technique” Fame

The world’s foremost Black female podiatric surgeon providing medically necessary surgery with a cosmetic result is on fire—and a mission to change people’s lives and minds from the feet up. Her bestselling Soften Our Soles Stick (SOS) is your must-have for baby-soft feet.

“Come to me because I do what I do well. My surgery is for everybody— every demographic, race, sexual orientation.” -Dr. Yolanda Ragland, DPM

Dr. Yolanda Ragland’s brand slogan, if you will, is providing medically necessary surgery with a cosmetic result. She is cognizant nobody wants to be in pain or have impaired mobility. Yet we want to flex those shiny toes, wear those hot peep-toes and walk on beaches or grass barefoot without steeling for stares at scars after foot treatments.

So the “Queen of Toes,” a board-certified podiatric surgeon with nearly 20 years of experience specializing in cosmetic and reconstructive foot surgery, founded her “Fix Your Feet” practice and perfected her “Tiara-Toe Technique.”  Her original passion—patients seeking sensitive care—eventually expanded her vision and work. This DPM (Doctor of Podiatric Medicine) became a boss CEO businesswoman to fill the dearth of possibilities and products for people who scar easily and want to look good despite surgery.

And, she’s a lowkey culture magnate. She runs: a non-profit to shoe needy women with higher-sized feet (Pumps for a Purpose), a Gen X R & B radio station to partner with and benefit the non-profit (The Reewind), and a Co-Producer alter ego leading to August Wilson’s acclaimed “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” play with a superstar cast on Broadway.  She’s in the product game, a growing brand. Ragland’s effective, beloved Soften Our Sole moisturizing and exfoliating stick retails for only $29.99 at FixYourFeet.com. Read my rave Beauty News NYC review HERE.

It was my sheer joy to learn from and commiserate with her recently in her Park Avenue Manhattan office. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Beauty News NYC: Your education is beautiful, experience unquestionable, bedside manner ideal according to testimonials. Your patients love you. You clearly could have done anything you wanted to do in medicine. So what drew you to feet?

Dr. Yolanda Ragland: I didn’t know what podiatry was before I became a podiatrist. I had some early life healthcare scares. I determined I needed to know what doctors know when I found out what I had was easily diagnosed, but… If you as a Black young woman say you have lower abdominal pain, it goes first towards saying you have an STD. If you say it can’t be that but something else, then…

BNNYC: Right, biases in society extend to health care massively.

DR: So I determined I wanted to go to medical school. The headquarters of NIH [National Institutes of Health] and biomedical research look great on a resume. I found myself in a dermatology lab of the National Cancer Institute Dermatology Division. I was taking my MCAT, getting offers from all kinds of places, a free ride for genetics research.

I knew I loved research, but it was a cement ceiling—not a glass ceiling.  It was not a place I could see that I could rise up the ranks. I think I would have been overlooked as a Black woman. I hadn’t seen one principal investigator in my building, the busiest—but not one Black female. As I was throwing away the podiatry application, my friend said, “What are you doing?” I said, “I’m about to throw it away.” She said, “Hey, it’s medical school. Apply.”

BNNYC: Wow, I do not have one doctor or MD in my life who’s ever mentioned podiatry as an interest and focus. It’s that buried. Who needs it until we need it?

DR: I’d sold shoes for many years to support myself. People who sell shoes work on commission. In the early 90’s, people could still support whole families selling shoes. Not anymore, as it’s online. After all those years selling shoes, I’d seen every anomaly of the foot imaginable: the toes making wishes, crossed over, this bone or that bone I had to tell people, “I don’t know if this is cancer.” The movie “Boomerang”, that scene where Eddie pulls the sheets off the woman’s feet and is scared.

BNNYC: Classic! Scare anybody to get to the foot doctor. But that’s funny how connections come out of nowhere.

DR: So I knew I’d have to apply almost two years in advance. I graduated from University of Maryland College Park. It was time for me to move on further. When I got to podiatry school, I didn’t know what it was but medicine of the foot. I get in there and find out this whole surgical aspect: orthopedic, bone surgery. I saw the surgical outcomes were not translating the same on darker complexions. There are best places to put an incision on darker feet, the kind of suture materials that work best to minimize scarring.

BNNYC: Scarring is something all think about it but it can be tragic for darker skin.

DR: One great doctor, a White man, used the dissolvable stitching. He was proud he was doing the stitches under the skin but concerned about bad scars he’d left on an upset patient. I had to tell him, “When you are doing it on somebody with Black skin, don’t use this because it’s very reactive. We will get a hypertrophic scar or keloid when the scar bubbles outside the margins there.” I suggested something better to him. I think that we as a culture should try to find people that we can feel an affinity towards and work together.

BNNYC: I agree. But we must get let into the rooms first to do so, the problem.

DR: But we also must understand Black doctors only make up 1-2% of all doctors. Even as a Black physician, if you aren’t going out of your way to learn a little more and just go with the knowledge you’re taught, which may be in an institution that doesn’t reflect your demographic, you will continue to do those poor outdated practices. Just because you feel familiar with patients doesn’t mean you’re always going to get a great result. All doctors must ask themselves, “What external research have I done outside my residency program?”

BNNYC: It’s a concern for women especially, but many men, that we’ll age out of nice shoes, have to turn to orthopedics or cover our feet for issues. What’s your expert opinion on if this is just luck of the draw or can be prevented?

Dr. Ragland: When I see a patient for the first time, I spend up to an hour with that patient, so they are informed and can make an informed decision about their bodies.

I always encourage them to see two or three other doctors before they commit to me. Are you getting the same information from them that you get from me?

BNNYC: That’s brilliant. I’ve never heard doctors say get a second opinion just because.

DR: I only do surgeries. By the time people get to me, they’ve exhausted all their conservative options, so they come to me. They tell me what the problem is. I look at pictures of their feet, I put their feet in my hands, I do radiographic imaging. We put all those things together to come up with a surgical plan.

My aim is providing medically necessary surgery with a cosmetic result. The first part of the mantra or chant is most important—I will not do anything unless I have patients who have wanted strictly medical procedures. I’m here to protect the patient.

Sometimes I don’t think we should do anything aggressive. I don’t look at their insurance. I don’t want to treat insurance. I want to treat the patient. It’s not worth the risk. If you are hellbent on having the procedure done, don’t come to me.

BNNYC: So bunions, hammertoes, pronounced corns… you’re not doing these surgeries to anybody for vanity or to look better or prevention, but for serious medical need?

DR: This is important to say: I am an out-of-network provider. I do not participate with any of the insurance plans. I can accept your insurance if you have out-of-network benefits. We can still get the insurance to do it. We try not to go in that direction. For that, we have to send in articles as research, proof.

You have doctors who work for the insurance companies who don’t like doctors like me because they don’t want to pay the out-of-network provider. Initially I was being denied. But I’m an NIHer, I know how to look up articles quickly. I saw how doctors are not being taught about different cultures and darker skins, how not to treat to just one [type of] person.

 

BNNYC: You’re the first person to tell me how even feet differentiate across ethnicity. We’re there with hair and skin, of course. Even illnesses prevalent in some groups but not others, like sickle cell anemia for Black Americans.

DR: I am the only Black female podiatric surgeon who has a practice in the world, globally, to do surgery with a cosmetic result. If there is another, I haven’t seen her.

BNNYC: That’s truly amazing, groundbreaking.

DR: It disappoints me for the younger ladies out there that they don’t see people like me. Coming from the DMV [D.C., Maryland, Virgina] area, the Black love for Black business is huge and great. Just knowing what I know about that demographic, I had an office there for several years. People were going to come to me because I was me, they are going to the other guy because they are the other guy. It doesn’t matter if we have our shingles side by side, it’s not a competition. Come to me because I do what I do. My surgery is for everybody. It’s for every demographic, race, sexual orientation.

BNNYC: Where did your patented Tiara-Toe Technique come from?

DR: People come in with a condition. It looks terrible, like they have zipper lines going down their feet for instance. I have to keep boxes of tissues around because people may break out in tears. Even if I try to fix your feet, there may only be some improvement. I’m not a miracle worker. I can’t revise anyone’s work with no idea what they did. I’d done anatomical dissections.

My “Tiara-Toe Technique” is about where incisions are placed, how incisions are closed. It refers to how we close, what kind of suture materials we use, trying everything to optimize the appearance of people with a high propensity to scarring. I have a trademark on that.

(Tiara-Toe Technique explained: Dr. Ragland stitches on the natural lines for a joint closest to the toenail. For joints below that, she stitches between the toes. She always does pinky toes on an oblique incision.)

DR: Part of the problem is I don’t think these doctors are doing harm. They’re not bad people. They are just not compensating doctors properly. If a doctor doesn’t have the business acumen to be an out of network provider, there’s no place for patients to find them but Google and social media.

BNNYC: Right. So they may never be found and stick with the network that is searchable and suggesting them. Now for your amazing woman-owned, Black-owned products. For a woman like me, my feet aren’t hurting yet and I have no marked conditions or issues. I don’t rock heels or glam pedicures more than keep soft feet and groom my toenails. What’s your #1 product and tip?

DR: My sole softener (Soften Our Sole Stick) is for everybody. It’s a very basic, mild, acid-based softener. Thick skin is on the palms of our hands and soles of our feet. Everybody needs this. It’s for daily use, not harsh. Just shower or clean and apply.

BNNYC: For awhile, I bought those patches you put on your feet overnight to take off in the morning, black with apparent detoxing. Where are you on the spectrum of holistic medicine practitioners about the feet as a major detoxing zone? Is it quack science? If not, how can people detox through their feet without buying expensive patches?

DR: Podiatrists will use a solution to draw out toxins during treatments. Reflexology is the same.

Quack means it’s not only doing nothing for you—it’s doing harm. There is no harm in reflexology, foot detoxing, etc…

I take a charcoal pill to detoxify. What harm will that do to me? I’ve reached a stage where I’m super good and efficient at procedures I do and changing lives, how many women walk and feel in their bodies. I am having them walk with a better posture and grace throughout the world. What I felt was lacking were products.

BNNYC: And your products, the “Fix Your Feet” brand, your speaking around the country, your online presence and help to people with tips there… This is where you go far above and beyond other podiatrists. It’s a woman’s callings to always have to do more. Please describe how this extra work came about for you.

DR: The first product I did was the fungal nail helper, from my days at NIH. When you have a fungal nail, it’s not just one fungus. It’s multiple types of fungus, bacteria, arguably viral too. Dr. Annette Joyce did research on how many different species came up when looking into a fungal nail. All the anti-fungal products out there, whether OTC or prescribed, are just anti-fungal medications for the skin re-purposed for the toenail.

When you look at skin, you see pores. You can’t see the pores in our nails. This product has a vehicle that allows the medication to penetrate those teeny tiny pores, why the efficacy is important.

BNNYC: Describe the process of coming up with this proprietary formula.

DR: I suffered from fungal nails. I’ve been to so many conventions for podiatry, where everybody is giving you stuff and it doesn’t really work. This stuff really works.

It was another doctor who came up with the formula. I was at a conference, saw a product I knew and basically said: “Take me to your leader.” I explained that I’m me, I have research in dermatology, this actually works—but it needs to be repackaged with a spokesperson I’d love to be.

BNNYC: So you were bold. You went for what you saw you wanted. I love it.

DR: People pay for certificates all the time to assume expertise. But when I knew what I knew and was experienced, I wanted to get in the product side.

All these foot care products are out there with soulless patients and doctors behind them. Podiatrist-approved, well… who? Who approved this? Where is the podiatrist? I don’t see a face. How can I look this up? That is how I went on to “Fix Your Feet” products.

BNNYC: So what is the actual product line and where can people get it?

DR: I only sell at FixYourFeet.com, not Amazon or third parties. The first product was the bandage protector to keep your skin clean and dry post-op. For any type of foot swelling, you can use the compression bandage. It’s not re-usable but works better than an Ace bandage. It comes in a color more cognizant of a darker complexions, which I found lacking. The nice toasted honey brown works for most of my patients. I have a variety of patients, but 98% are Black women.

I have a toe sleeve. It’s a tube with silicon in the middle, to prevent corns and discoloration. I also have a non-profit called “Pumps for a Purpose.”  Its purpose came from visiting places that donate shoes for women who need them or can’t afford them. But it’s hard to shoe women in larger sizes, especially after size 9. There was a shoe deficit for larger feet.

BNNYC: You’re so right. I average size 6, 7, can be an 8 depending on my weight and the brand. My people with higher sizes do have trouble finding shoes.

DR: Yes. My nonprofit is also associated with a radio station that is nonprofit in the Poconos. It is the first mature Gen X hip-hop RB station. It is the REEWINDWRRF 94.7, 97.4, on iHeart, Odyssey, all the other apps.

BNNYC: This is a lot of business sense on top of the medical expertise. What is your advice to women and people in general seeking venture capital to get started?

DR: Do it yourself. You get this chunk of money and it’s hunky dory at first. But now, your product is in the hands of people who don’t care about it like you do.

And you stop thinking you can go buy another person’s company, combine and make the conglomerates yourself. Forget about the exit strategy that is venture capitalism. Why can’t you dream to be Proctor and Gamble or Kraft? Why can’t we be the ones who snatch up all these companies?

BNNYC: So it’s a tradeoff in expanding when that depends on other people.

DR: I know my worth. You have to know your worth. I say to a lot of Black women: we complain when we make a fraction of the money, however it’s our fault when we say “OK.” Even the people who say they don’t have the money for it still have the money to do what they want to do. They have the latest, greatest iPhone. Their nails are done. They have liquor. People have money to buy what they feel like buying. Invest in and buy yourself.

 

Dr. Ragland takes new patients on a case-by-case basis according to medical need. To schedule an appointment, contact her surgical coordinator Tamara Young at tamaray@fixyourfeet.com. Get her tips plus keep up with her speaking, non-profit work and more on Instagram at @FixYourFeet.