Dealing With Difficult Coworkers
In fast-paced aesthetic practices full of women, it’s normal for there to be some friction. But when team dynamics get tense, it’s up to leadership to set the tone.
From coworkers with tough communication styles to those who seem to always make your job harder, one person can throw off the whole vibe.
Creating a culture of appreciation and accountability is everything. When internal issues go unchecked—or worse, get whispered about in the break room—it chips away at trust and productivity. But there is a way to handle it without fueling the drama.
Andrea and Alli share how you can set boundaries, protect your energy, and have those hard conversations without it derailing your day (or your life) and be a team that truly works together.
GUEST
Allison Petriella
Plastic Surgery | MedSpa Consultant & Sales Expert
Alli is a results-driven SAAS sales professional and consultant with 12+ years of experience helping healthcare and aesthetics practices grow through technology, strategy, and process optimization. She specializes in guiding practices to overcome operational challenges and maximize growth by leveraging cutting-edge software solutions.
Connect with Alli on LinkedIn
SHE DID WHAT?
Got a wild customer service story or a sticky patient situation to share? If your tale makes it into our "She did what?" segment, we'll send a thank you gift you'll actually love. Promise, no cheap swag here. Send us a message or voicemail at practicelandpodcast.com.
SUBSCRIBE
Are you one of us? Subscribe for new episode notifications and more at practicelandpodcast.com.
HOSTS
Blake Lucas, Senior Director of Customer Experience at PatientFi
Blake oversees a dedicated team responsible for managing patient and provider inquiries, troubleshooting technical issues, and handling any unexpected challenges that come their way. With a strong focus on delivering exceptional service, he ensures that both patients and providers receive the support they need for a seamless experience.
Learn more about PatientFi
Andrea Watkins, VP of Practice Growth at Studio III Marketing
Andrea Watkins, Vice President of Practice Growth at Studio 3, coaches plastic surgery and aesthetics teams on patient acquisition, lead management, and practice efficiency to drive measurable growth. Formerly COO of a multi-million-dollar practice that nearly tripled revenue under her leadership, she now partners with over 100 practices nationwide—helping them capture and analyze data, streamline consultations and booking, and align staff training with business goals. With a directive yet approachable, non-salesy style, Andrea turns data into action, empowering practices to boost conversions, maximize marketing, and elevate the patient experience in a competitive market.
Learn more about Studio III Marketing and LeadLoop CRM for plastic surgery practices and medical spas.
Co-hosts: Andrea Watkins & Blake Lucas
Producer: Eva Sheie @ The Axis
Assistant Producers: Mary Ellen Clarkson & Hannah Burkhart
Engineering: Cameron Laird
Theme music: Full Time Job, Mindme
Cover Art: Dan Childs
Practiceland is a production of The Axis: theaxis.io
Andrea Watkins (00:04):
Well, hi there. I am Andrea Watkins, and if you're listening to this, while juggling three patient calls, checking in a couple patients, taking a payment, selling skincare, and trying to catch your doctor in between procedures, you might be working in an aesthetic practice.
Blake Lucas (00:18):
And I'm Blake Lucas, and this is Practiceland. This is not Your Doctor's podcast.
Andrea Watkins (00:25):
Welcome back to Practiceland. Thank you so much for listening. We are back again today with Alli Petriella, and we are going to talk about something that can be a little sticky, which is dealing with difficult coworkers, bosses, and surgeons. Dun, dun, dun. So welcome back, Alli.
Alli Petriella (00:43):
Thank you.
Andrea Watkins (00:43):
Absolutely. So between Alli and I, we have what, I dunno, 20 some years working in practices experience. So out of all this time where we led people in the practice, how often would you say that we're really coaching to help people with internal issues?
Alli Petriella (01:02):
I would say very often. Unfortunately it's very common, especially in aesthetic practices because it's a bunch of women that are very intelligent, all in one little close knit team often, and so issues do arise, frictions arise. So very, very c.ommon
Andrea Watkins (01:20):
To me, first of all, I think what causes a lot of chaos internally is people not feeling safe and appreciated and validated in their roles. And so if you don't have a leader that is appreciating and acknowledging and validating the people that are on the team, they sometimes feel they need to undercut each other or they need to prove their worth or they need to make somebody else look bad to make themselves look good. And so that can create relationships that literally drive a business into the ground. One example I remember specifically early on in my practice days as a leader was one specific instance. There was a girl that liked to gossip a lot about the other teammates, and so it would come to me because I was always the leader with the open door policy stories come back, I go and have a meeting with this girl and say, I really, really appreciate you and here's a list of all those things off the top of my head, I think you're doing really, really great and here's some things that we really need to address because we can't have this competition and this cattiness and this gossip that's happening with some of the other girls on the team.
(02:31):
And it's been reported to me several times by many people. And so whether it's happening or it's not happening, I owe it to you to bring it to you to let you know we just can't have this in the practice. This is just in an acknowledgement of all the great things you're doing and some things we need to work on. What do you have to say about that? And so we had a conversation, we came to an agreement like, no, this isn't going to happen anymore. Of course there were excuses of X, y, and Z, but it was just very straightforward. Here's how we're going to move forward. Second chances I think are always absolutely critical because I want to think always the best of people and really meet people where they are to try and empower and elevate them. Unfortunately, that situation did not end up in a good situation.
(03:16):
It happened again and then she was let go because she couldn't elevate her own interpersonal issues to stop creating this negative culture. For me, I think that's probably something that stood out in that specific leadership role as a turning point for our practice also because you're setting an example of we're going to tolerate this bullshit or we're not. And if you want to have a good culture where people feel safe, appreciated, validated, and don't have to worry about their team members talking shit about 'em in the break room, you have to set an example, give the chance, be very honest, but don't let that rotten apple ruin the bunch because it ruins your culture and it ruins what you're able to actually accomplish and the number of patients that you can help and just how good you can get through your day. So that was kind of a tyrant and that was a long-winded way of saying it can happen, but there are ways that you can address it.
Alli Petriella (04:15):
Well, I just want to add to that too from the other end of that with you in a leadership role, and if I'm underneath you and somebody is acting that way, the rest of the team, just like you're saying is seeing how that person's acting. And if it's not addressed, we're seeing that they're getting away with it. And that's very discouraging and we'll tear apart the culture very, very quickly. We're going to start to see, oh, that person acts like that and they get away with that, so that's okay in this environment. And a lot of us aren't willing to act like that. So we're going to start to kind of alienate ourselves and think, gosh, I don't belong here. I can't keep up with this. I don't feel like I fit in because that's the type of behavior that's normal here and I don't condone that type of behavior in my own personal life. So do make sure, just like Andrea said, you're identifying those bad apples, addressing them and not letting them bleed into the other areas of the practice and let the other practice members observe it.
Andrea Watkins (05:06):
Also give your leader the benefit of the doubt. They really do want a great culture. They want what's best for their team. However, they cannot be in every place in the practice and in the surgery center and everywhere all the time. Make sure that you're not just like, oh, they let anything happen. They just let people act this way. If you brought stated facts and consequences and repercussions to them and then nothing happens to make it better, then obviously there's an issue.
Alli Petriella (05:34):
Yes, exactly. I love that. This emphasis on taking the emotion out of it, even if it means you need to take a little breather and a little break before you do report something, like don't go in there when you're all in the heat of it because you just saw something happen in the office. Calm down first. Make sure you've got your leading factually and then you're coming to your leader and saying, this is what occurred. This is how it affected us. Do with it what you may.
Andrea Watkins (05:58):
Exactly. So what do you think, I mean just to kind of back up a little bit, what is difficult? What's that even mean for you?
Alli Petriella (06:06):
That's a good question, but I just feel like difficult, what it would boil down to, if you really take some time to think about it, is a challenging person to communicate with. If you can't communicate with somebody, then everything else gets broken. So whether it's something in the way they're performing or the way that they're behaving, if you can communicate with them and fix those issues as they arise, then that doesn't make someone difficult. It just means they're a little bit different than you. But if you can't communicate and you can't address things together and they're not willing to work as a team, I would say that's what makes someone like a difficult person to work with.
Andrea Watkins (06:42):
What steps can you take to have that more open communication with somebody that maybe right out of the gate you don't necessarily communicate so well with?
Alli Petriella (06:55):
I would say be mindful of the environment. Sometimes like a conversation won't come up in the thick of a work situation and it's not always appropriate to address that behavior or address the conflict in the moment if you're trying to get something done or if there's a patient standing in front of you. Don't try to solve conflict with your coworker. Make sure that it's a time and a place where you guys are in private, in quiet. You don't want to do this in front of other people, whether it's other coworkers because they might feel attacked or in front of patients because they might feel embarrassed. So make sure you've got enough time. We're not rushing and sit down and just communicate how you perceived what happened. Hey, this is how this felt for me. I would love to learn how it felt for you or what you were kind of trying to communicate with me there.
(07:51):
This is how I took it and I don't feel like that's maybe how you meant it. So always just share how you feel, make sure you're doing it in the right environment and lead with a goal if it's process oriented or if it's something where we need to work on our communication, Hey, my goal is for us to have really great communication. It's going to be really important for the best outcome of our patients. And I feel like right now it's a little broken right here. How could we do this a little bit better? Here's some proposed solutions. So don't be going up to someone and being like, I feel like you're kind of rude to me. Okay, that's not helpful. So lead with a goal and make sure that you're not being accusatory and doing it in the right environment.
Andrea Watkins (08:37):
This is a great therapy session and I need to take this into my relationship with my 14-year-old son. I feel like when you leave your things laying around, you're just assuming that I'm going to take care of them for me.
Alli Petriella (08:49):
I feel statements, ladies.
Andrea Watkins (08:50):
My goal is for you to pick up your shit. How do we get there so that I don't feel taken advantage of. Great, sorry. I hope he never listens to this. Love you. Anyway, so we have these conversations and would you suggest doing them one-on-one and trying to handle this yourself initially, or do you think that a leader needs to be present just so that you have a mediator or a third party available? What do you think?
Alli Petriella (09:17):
I think it depends. It's situational. Let's take the example that you were using of there being maybe a big gossip in the office. For me personally, I would approach that or if I was leading somebody that was having challenges with that, I would say make sure you control what you can control. Not to quote Mel Robbins, but I'm going to because we love her, but let them use them. If someone's going to be Tyra ranting and they're going to be gossipy and they're going to be causing all these issues, let them do what they're going to do and then let you choose how you're going to respond to that. So you're not going to play into it. If they're going to be negative, you're going to stay positive and you're going to show them that that type of behavior is not welcome when you're around. And usually that's enough to stop someone because if you think about it, if someone's gossiping and other people aren't buying into it and they're not even accepting it, they're going to stop because they're going to feel kind of foolish, which is the goal, stop it before it becomes an issue and someone has to lose their job.
Andrea Watkins (10:15):
One quick thing that I've learned through being old and reading lots of books and listening pods and things like that is as soon as someone, maybe they start saying something not so nice or pretty negative about a colleague or somebody in our circle, it's like, oh, have you told them that yet? Yes. Have you discussed that with them? I don't feel comfortable talking about it with you if you can't even talk with them about it.
Alli Petriella (10:40):
That's such a good tool. I love that. And it changes their perspective like, oh, I haven't, maybe that would change things if I did that.
Andrea Watkins (10:48):
Exactly. Are you just gossiping a gossip or do you really want change? Because if you really want change, you're barking up the wrong tree.
Alli Petriella (10:55):
Yes.
Andrea Watkins (10:55):
I can't change that for you. If you have a problem with the way that Susie Q answers the phone or the way she walks and prances through the office, you should probably talk to her about that and not bring it to me. If you're just talking about it to talk about it, I'm not interested.
Alli Petriella (11:07):
I love that. So in the moment with that person, control how you're behaving, and hopefully they stop from there, then have the discussion with the person directly, which is what we were just leading right into. Have you talked with them about that? I don't want to participate in this conversation. So directly telling them or telling them how what they're doing is causing issues and how it could be even more problematic if it doesn't stop. And then if that still doesn't stop it, which very rarely will that not stop the behavior. That's when I would recommend going to your leader and having all the pieces and having the documentation of this is what's been going on, this is what I'm observing. I'm just going to do my due diligence because I would be remiss to not share this with you. This is what we're experiencing. Again, do with it what you may, it's not your decision to make a recommendation of what they should be doing about it, but share, this is what I'm seeing, and I feel like it's problematic, but thanks for listening.
Andrea Watkins (12:03):
Yeah, exactly. And from a leadership perspective tip, those folks are really focused also on productivity. And if you can take to them how a certain behavior or difficulty is affecting productivity and our ability to do well as a business, that is also very eyeopening. When you're taking that emotion out of it and you're saying, Hey, listen, this person goes out on a walk for 15 minutes and they don't come back for an hour and 30 minutes, and I see them sitting in their car watching TikTok when I went out to get the mail. Obviously that's a problem for productivity, that's not being gossipy. That's really being concerned about the best interest of the practice and the rest of the team. Have you ever had to set specific boundaries with a colleague or with a coworker? Maybe there was difficulty there. Oh, tell me about that situation, please.
Alli Petriella (12:50):
I think that as a leader, that was my greatest shortcoming in the beginning is just kind of like, I feel like I would prioritize friendship, and I was a people pleaser, so being appreciated by people over the professionalism. And so it would get me into that situation often where after the fact, I would need to set boundaries. So I think on the front end, you're going to want to promote an environment and cultivate an environment in the office that is very communication forward and encourages everybody to be able to communicate professionally. So when things like this arise, it's not weird and not a conversation that you need to hype yourself up for and create tension around because then you recommend or you're asking to talk with somebody and everyone's getting anxiety. So as long as you're office,
Andrea Watkins (13:40):
Can you talk on Friday at 4:35 PM?
Alli Petriella (13:44):
Yes. And if you have to do that, just one quick thing, make sure you tell someone what it's regarding. I hate, I hate that. Is my pet peeve getting a message from someone that's like, Hey, do you have a minute? A minute for what? Because yeah, right now I do. I'm going to drop everything and talk to you because I'm going to puke if you don't tell me what it is, tell someone what you want to talk about. But I think having structure, so as a leader, I liked to have very structured meetings with everybody on a regular basis that we could look forward to. So if an issue arise or if a boundary needed to be set, there was already an allotted time that allowed for us to talk about that and we knew what we were looking forward to. And it doesn't feel like anyone's getting a slap on the wrist or anything like that. It doesn't need to feel like that. It doesn't need to be tension. If it's occurring in a regularly scheduled meeting, it's so much easier to talk about because it's just like procedurally, let's set a boundary right here and then it's less awkward.
Andrea Watkins (14:40):
Then how do you stay positive and kind of avoid getting dragged into sometimes there's some negativity or gossip or anything. I think we kind of touched on it previously. What would be your tip for that?
Alli Petriella (14:54):
I would say overall, just staying extremely mindful of what conversations you are participating in. Stay busy with your work and stay in your lane. I feel like what I've observed in our own practice and other practices is just the icky conversations seem to occur when people aren't busy enough or they're kind of trying to dip into things that have nothing to do with 'em, because that's how we get cliquey and that's how we get gossipy because we're bringing people into this situation that shouldn't be in it. And then if you do get dragged into those conversations, kind of like we were saying earlier, just remain the light in the conversation and keep the positive viewpoint. A line that I always love using is just to play devil's advocate for a moment. So if people are just complaining on and on about a new policy or a new procedure or a way that someone's doing things, just to play devil's advocate for a second, this might be why we're doing this. Just a thought. And maybe that will challenge other's perspectives, but just always try to remain that positive person instead of participating and throwing on the fire. I just feel like that's kind of a more gentle way of saying, Hey, maybe this isn't all that bad, and maybe we can challenge our perspective a little bit.
Andrea Watkins (16:06):
Instead of saying, stop your bitching. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just to give a different perspective that can potentially open somebody's mind and eyes to that. No, I love that. Perfect. Well, super appreciate the advice and insight. One last thing and takeaway that I like to also encourage people to consider is don't engage with crazy.
Alli Petriella (16:30):
I got that.
Andrea Watkins (16:31):
Yeah. I mean, I've told so many people throughout my years that I've worked with and tried to coach and support and everything is like if someone's just being asinine or being absurd, don't engage. Don't engage. People will learn, who will engage, and that will feed and fuel the fire. And if you're not engaging and you're not putting gas and you're not putting firewood on that campfire, it's going to die out. It's going to burn out. So cool. Well, that concludes this episode as we're talking about how to deal with difficult colleagues and coworkers, and we are going to have a very spicy conversation about dealing with difficult leadership and difficult surgeons or business owners. So that's the part where it's not for your doctor. Anyway, thanks for joining us, Alli. How again, can we reach you digitally out there in the digital scope?
Alli Petriella (17:26):
I'm on LinkedIn as Allison Petriella, and you can reach out anytime. I'm happy to chat.
Andrea Watkins (17:30):
Perfect. Thank you so much. We'll talk soon.
Alli Petriella (17:33):
Thanks guys.
Blake Lucas (17:36):
Got a wild customer service story or sticky patient situation? Send us a message or voicemail. If your tale makes it into our "She did what?" segment, we'll send a thank you gift you'll actually love. Promise no cheap swag here.
Andrea Watkins (17:48):
Are you one of us? Subscribe for new episode notifications and more at practicelandpodcast.com. New episodes drop weekly on YouTube and everywhere you can listen to podcasts.

Allison Petriella
Plastic Surgery | MedSpa Consultant & Sales Expert
Alli is a results-driven SAAS sales professional and consultant with 12+ years of experience helping healthcare and aesthetics practices grow through technology, strategy, and process optimization. She specializes in guiding practices to overcome operational challenges and maximize growth by leveraging cutting-edge software solutions.