- Speaker #0
Welcome to the Not Old Better Show Prevention Magazine Healthy Living Interview Series on radio and podcast. The show covering all things health, wellness, culture, and more. The show for all of us who aren't old, we're better. Each week, we'll interview superstars, experts, and ordinary people doing extraordinary things, all related to this wonderful experience of getting better, not just older. Learn now. Here's your host, the award-winning Paul Vogelzang.
- Paul
Welcome to the Not All Better Show Prevention Magazine Healthy Living Interview Series. I'm Paul Vogelzang, and today we are diving into a topic that affects millions of men and women around the world. Hair loss. Yep, hair loss. Whether it's thinning strands or full-blown baldness, losing your hair can shake your confidence, your self-esteem, and even your sense. of identity. It's true. But what if there were a way to not just halt that hair loss, but actually reverse it? And better yet, without wigs, transplants, or extreme measures. Today, we have an extraordinary guest, really, who has dedicated his life to answering that very question. Joining us is Lars Skud, the founder of Harklinikken and a revolutionary hair clinic that's changing the way we think about hair restoration. Now... When we think of a clinic, we might imagine a sterile medicinal space, but Lars has something else in mind, a sanctuary where patients can feel comfortable, supported, and hopeful about their future hair health. With clinics in Beverly Hills, New York, Florida, Iceland, the UAE,
- Lars
and Denmark,
- Paul
Harklinikken is now a global force in scalp wellness. Lars didn't start out in hair science. He was... a commercial airline pilot in training who, in his spare time, turned his own frustrations with hair loss into a lifelong obsession. Today, his clinics offer treatments that are highly personalized. Yes, every treatment is bespoke, using extracts from nature, tailored specifically for each individual's scalp. I went through the hair assessment myself. I'll be talking about my experience today with Lars. It's very real, but Lars has decades. of expertise to share with us. And that sets Harclinican apart. Clients like Rikki Lake, who offer battling hair thinning for 30 years, found real results. Her story is a testament to how life-changing these treatments can be. It's not just about restoring hair, it's about restoring confidence and well-being. In today's conversation, we'll dive deep into Lara's fascinating journey from young scientist in Denmark, mixing ingredients in his kitchen to building an internationally renowned hair clinic that's giving hope to people around the world. All of our audience is going to be fascinated by this subject as we explore with Lars Scott all of the science behind our clinic and success, the importance of a healthy scalp, and how Lars continues to push the boundaries of what's possible in hair restoration. So sit back, relax, and let's talk about hair care. with Lars Scott. Lars, good. Welcome to the program. It's really so wonderful to talk to you. Congratulations for all that you're doing. Of course, you founded this wonderful company, Harklinikken . You are doing just some wonderful things, I think, on this front of hair care and all the things that go into the clinical part of what hair is all about. And it just immediately grabbed my attention. I know our audience is going to be very interested in this interview, but at age 18... I certainly wasn't thinking about experimenting, yet you started experimenting with hair care at that time in your life. And I wonder if you'd tell us maybe just a little bit about that backstory. What brought you to this interest in scalp health and all the things that go into a business of this type? Because you've really done a lot of work and you've been at it for a long time.
- Speaker #3
Thank you so much. And thank you for having me. I truly appreciate it. speaking to you today and we just had a little chat you and I just before I realized already you're a lovely person so thank you for this but what actually drew me I guess led me to this way was probably my personal scalp issues which has been a problem for me since the early teens it had certainly absolutely nothing to do with making a business or making a clinic because I never thought about them at all at that point so a traditional treatment from my general practitioner and my dermatologist had not really solved the issue. Sometimes they had maybe alleviated the problem a little bit in the sense that I had less itching or burning sensation in my scalp. I certainly hadn't solved it. But there was also something else that was a little bit more important with your question, what led me, was there was a lot of shame. involved for me with my scalp issues and I really noticed after a while of having this in my young years you are quite aware of yourself in that age and I did start to change my behavior quite a bit say no to go out and to come for parties and things like that because I felt a little bit that when my scalp was very red and I had a lot of dandruff from my scalp it didn't look pretty on clothes and things like that so to answer your question that's what led me this way.
- Lars
Fascinating. Interesting that this took place at that particular age. I guess this is really a condition that can happen at any time. I noticed in my research of you and your company, a professional relationship with the actor Ricky Lake, who has suffered from scalp related conditions, really in a very pronounced way. And she's been very open and honest about this. This really is the kind of thing that can leave us feeling very vulnerable. We can feel as though there's a loss of confidence. We can feel like everybody in the world is looking at us. And I think that's what you've overcome with this too, that this company is really about addressing some of these emotional issues as well as very much scalp and science.
- Speaker #3
Yes, and as you said yourself, what's quite interesting about Ricky Lake, who's such a wonderful person, who's more alive than most people that I've met in my life. and who actually has a firm belief in herself and she's very very easy with other people but that really let her down that was not positive for her she actually was struggling for 30 years to find a solution and with all kinds of medicine and treatments and something also more natural but didn't help so she actually went on good morning america and was sharing her story about how she trimmed off all her hair because now she quit now she gave up And one person, a famous colorist, reached out to her and said, I think you've been all the wrong places. You should really connect with this Danish company. And her agent did. We got her started and gradually regained all her hair, which she then decided herself to share with everyone in this world, if possible, which she did in her own Ricky Lake way, which was wonderful because of such a genuine story. We have many, many people intrigued that those people in this world, in music and film and politics and other things like that. But we, as a company, I guess where we come from, we don't share that. We don't, this is not how we want to be known. We need to treat those that are famous and things like that. But we want to be known for being genuine and having something that's very natural and effective that are living up to the promise that we give to people as a brand.
- Lars
That's a good point. And I appreciate that. And of course, our guest is Lars Good, who is founded. the company Harklinik. And we're talking to Lars today in Copenhagen. This is a Danish company, a Danish product, but with clinics in many US cities, you're growing widely too. And I know that the website, which we're going to put links up, offers this self-assessment, which I went through to get a sense as to what might be going on with my own scalp as I'm getting a little bit older. And one of the things that you said at the outset about your own condition was you noticed some itchiness. I never really before had noticed just how much itchiness I might be experiencing. And in the ingredients in your heart clinic and products,
- Paul
you address that.
- Lars
You address some of the itchiness. How do you decide what goes into the products? Because I think it's fascinating. There can be 200 or so different variables, but then you have to narrow that down and become very, very focused. And one of the elements that I thought was fascinating that I just hadn't recognized myself was this itchiness that I'm experiencing.
- Speaker #3
Yeah, and it's not uncommon that many of our clients, at least I would say maybe close to half of the ones coming to our clinics experience scalp problems as well. I published the first article on the link between scalp health and hair health 27 years ago. And it was actually not until I spoke for the first time to the US media at some press conferences in New York in 2014 that I presented this to the US press at least because I presented a lot to the Scandinavian and European medias. But I think it was the first time the US media heard about the link between scalp health and hair health. And that really became a big thing after that. Scalp health is now a word that many people have heard and is definitely, for me, has so much meaning because most of the ones that we see or do have scalp problems, they start. I think what's important for me to mention to you is that when I develop all the products and the methods that I've developed over the year, I really have. largely practice trial and error because it's inherently empirical and it relies very much on observation and experimentation both which are core components to the scientific methods. I would actually say it's been a fundamental method of problem solving and incremental learning that evolves. repeated varied attempts until success was achieved or maybe even a project was aborted at which point maybe often I gathered more valuable information that allowed me to refine my hypothesis and experimental designs and I could move on in a completely different direction. So trial and error has for me been a valid and very valuable scientific method that sort of complement other approaches by providing a practical and empirical way to explore knowns and correct. errors and inovates. So to your question on how do I, let's say I take one extraction of a particular plant extract like burdock and we find numerous interesting constituents found in that particular ingredient. It could be something called polysaccharides like inulin, which is a prebiotic fiber. It could also be phenolic compounds such as caffeic or chlorogenic acids that both have great heat. antioxidant properties it could also be tannins sterols amino acids minerals and vitamins much more so when i then test those different constituents we understand how they work in combinations and have good anti-inflammatory properties and then suddenly we can exclude by trial and error we can exclude oh these seems to not be working in the way that we want them to work but these do And when you then do this for many, many years, like I've done it for 32 years, then we actually suddenly realize that when we make certain combinations, we reduce inflammation in and around the hair follicles and on scalp, which are contributors to hair loss. And then suddenly, when we realize that antibacterial and antifungal properties in the natural constituents are helping to maintain a healthy scalp microbiome. that is essential to growth, then we are getting somewhere as well. And then we put it all together over time. And this is really how things have developed largely by a lot of hard work. And often it's been, it might have been 30, 40 hours in the lab, but then it might have been 40 hours in the clinic in the same week. And a lot of work goes into going back and forth.
- Lars
I mentioned the assessment online that was coupled with one of your staff, one of your team members getting onto a video. chat with me. And I was really impressed with the amount of time that your team spent making sure to understand my specific needs and what's going on with my scalp.
- Paul
It was interesting to hear your teams to say,
- Lars
so our clinical products really are completely customized for each one of our customers. And I thought, that's fantastic. And I thought it was equally Impressive again that the online camera was focused on my scalp in such a way to really get at what my hair growth patterns look like, what some of the inflammation might be taking place, where I might have some hair loss along my forehead. I just thought that was a really special way of getting down and examining my specific needs.
- Speaker #3
You are tapping into something that is so essential. The human being and the individual has... hers or his individual situation that might have been developing over a period of 30 years or 40 years and then they realize when they have lost enough so that's why so many of us if you're thinning gradually then you might not notice until you've lost enough where you might start seeing your scalp or you know someone might comment on hey i think your hair looks a little bit more this and that. It could be a close friend, a family member. But really the essential part of the algorithm built into the online hair assessment is really all the knowledge we have from all these years of work built into that to give us a fair answer on who you are when you've done the assessment. When we then couple that with an in-person, in-clinic experience in one of our clinics in the US or Europe or the Middle East. or an online consultation where we actually are seeing people from seven continents every month. Because we started doing this 12 years ago when no one really did online assessments this way. But the first thing we start with is really a conversation with the client on hair loss and scalp health history. And then we talk about gender, scalp condition, do you have irritation, redness, fungal loins, even inflammation, oil production, hair thinning pattern, progression, age, lifestyle, diet, and then we put it all together. because we gather so much information that we know, oh, now I know where to start. That's why the follow-ups, the follow-ups either online or in person is essential for you to have the best results. It doesn't mean you couldn't go on without doing that. It just means that you can achieve typically a lot more by doing so.
- Paul
It's Paul. Are you struggling with thinning hair or a scalp that feels less than healthy? Yep, that is the case for many in our audience. Well,
- Lars
discover the difference with Harclinican,
- Paul
where science, expertise, and personal care meet for fuller, healthier hair. Today,
- Lars
of course,
- Paul
we're thrilled to welcome Harclinican's founder and lead researcher, Lars Scott, a global leader in scalp and hair health, joining us from the flagship clinic. In Copenhagen, for over 30 years, Heart Clinic has offered personalized hair solutions through in-depth consultations, virtually or in person. Each plan is customized to fit your unique biology. It's amazing. I went through the hair assessment. I encourage you to do this. The cornerstone of this wonderful procedure is this award-winning hair gain extract, a potent serum designed to restore scalp condition. strengthen hair at its roots, and reactivate dormant hair follicles. Ready for real change? Take this online hair assessment, just as I've done, and Lars and I will be talking about it today, to receive expert guidance tailored to you specifically. So start your journey to healthier hair with Heart Clinic, empowered by science, perfected by experts, proven by over 100,000 clients worldwide now through December 21st, 2024. Harclinican will offer NOB audience 20% off the price of the initial consultation online or in the clinic with the code BETTER20. That'll be in our show notes today, but check it out and use the code BETTER20 for a healthy scalp. Now back to our interview with CEO of Harclinican, Lars Scott.
- Lars
Well, Harclinican is expanding. You're in the United Arab Emirates. You're in the United States, California, Florida. We have locations in Beverly Hills, New York, Miami. The clinics that I observed online are very much a departure from what I would consider to be a healthcare clinic. Although this is very healthcare oriented and you talked about the necessary vitamins that are going into the products. This is more about the aesthetics that are for clean Scandinavian, I would call it Scandinavian designs. What was your thought process in creating these clinics and these places where people could go that would be very calming? rather than just a very clinical antiseptic healthcare environment.
- Speaker #3
Yes, and thank you for putting it that way. It was very precise, I think. You know, our physical spaces, our clinics, really are serving as a safe haven for women. And then with hair thinning and scalp issues, remember many of the people we see actually are coming in. They are not even sharing this with us. They're not even sharing it. They don't want to go see their stylist anymore because they don't want to. want that to be talked about and they are not sharing it necessarily. Sometimes they're sharing it with their doctor because maybe they're asking for advice initially but then off with no hope they find themselves in a little bit of a hopeless situation. We meet our clients which is very important. We meet our clients with warmth and heartfelt listening, compassion and understanding and we couple it with 32 years of knowledge. and tailored and made solution, which is why we create such close bonds with our clients. When I'm here in Copenhagen, as many clients that I see when I'm in Copenhagen, apart from doing clinical trials all the time, we do clinical trials here, we do it in New York, we do it in LA and other places. I see many clients here in the clinic that I've been seeing for 20 and 30 years. Those close relationships where they would never leave when they have something that worked as effectively. I saw a client like a couple of weeks ago, she's a lawyer. She started with me when she was 32 and now she's 61. And we looked at the photos from when she was 32 and we both were tearing up in our eyes because we saw and we remember vividly both of us how this newly wet person at that point was so concerned about that thinning being gradually works exacerbated definitely by stress and many other things but it was certainly neither childbirth or illness but just simply life conditions. And now we're sitting here with the same woman that 61, almost 30 years later, who has gone through pregnancies and menopause and many other things in life with such a full head of hair at age 61. And we were just both smiling and laughing at the same time of how wonderful that was and having that extremely close relationship with our clients. The 50 people we have in the company all over the world that are seeing clients every day, I see hundreds and hundreds of close relationships with people, friendships, because it becomes such a special bond, I think.
- Lars
It's interesting to me that the issues, scalp conditions, I'm kind of pointing at my head, as well as hair loss, are a global issue for us, for all of us. I wonder if you found that by region, different areas of the world have different forms of hair conditions and hair loss and scalp issues? Is it in United Arab Emirates, for example, because of the heat? Are there various differences, perhaps subtle or otherwise, with conditions there, both weather, that relate to our scalp? as opposed to in Copenhagen, maybe where it's a bit of a cooler climate?
- Speaker #3
That is a great question. So that is, first of all, truly relevant, and which also speaks to why we have clinics in different places in the world, and we'll be making more of such. There are many aspects that differ in the region that can certainly impact hair and scalp health considerably. To mention a few of them, temperature, humidity, lifestyle, diet, all habits that differ a lot by region. In certain areas of one country, within the same country, people seem much more stressed than in other regions of the world. And I think you know what I'm referring to. There are many in the busy cities where I don't want to make any stereotypes, but where people seem tight, busy. They have very long work hours. And when you have long work hours and when you work that much and you commute a lot, you actually have less time to care for yourself. You even have to consume often your meals faster on Ares. And this is, again, based on conversation with people in different parts of the same country, you can say. We call this epigenetics as these aspects can trigger and even more, even accelerate a red, yellow situation. So if you imagine you have two identical twins, one growing up in a very calm environment where he or she gets plenty of sleep, a good balanced diet and have a normal. lives with of course stress sometimes but not too much whereas another person that have an extremely stressful life and this is the other identical growth up and are in a different environment where there's more stress we can see how those particular stressors differ a lot even though they are born with the same genetic makeup without to hear so we see them start out almost at the same point but we see them change over time because of their lifestyle
- Lars
Well, Lars, you've been at this for 30 plus years and you've seen so much change. Was there ever an ingredient that you came across that you just thought this is the game changer? This is really what's going to make my list of ingredients superior and so helpful to those that are suffering from this condition.
- Speaker #3
I've had those moments many times. And then sometimes I had to even abort the project because I thought I had something and then it turned out to be nothing. But I had many interesting moments in the 32 years I've been doing this. But one particular thing strikes me as being very particular from everything else. That is that rather than one particular ingredient, I think what stands out the most for me is that I've been developing ingredients and was trying to figure out how many of these ingredients are working together in an interesting sense. And then when I suddenly hit that synergy, then I get a completely surprising effect and result that I never expected to get. That was so much more interesting than one particular ingredient. That was me discovering through,
- Lars
again,
- Speaker #3
trial and error and persistency, I guess, that perseverance and was just truly feeling in my gut, I guess, that I was onto something with a particular ingredient or two. and then suddenly merging them in a way that gave us results that I never dreamed of. That has been the biggest aha moment for me, I guess, and have guided my thoughts throughout the journey that I've had since I came to that, which we have to go all the way back to around 2012. And at that time, I had already been doing it for 20 years, but that's when I really saw some new synergies that became the big aha moment.
- Lars
That is great. I know a little bit about you and I know that you worked early in your professional life to become an airline pilot and then you made this departure into health sciences specifically around the scalp and formed Heart Clinic. What drives you to do this and what drove you to make some of those early professional changes and then where do you see all of this going maybe in the next year to five years so that we really are all of us feeling so much better about our appearances and our hair so that we don't stand to be so concerned about this idea of hair loss because this is a solution that can really work? Yeah,
- Speaker #3
I think at this point in our clinical journey, we achieved results that I actually did not believe that we would have was achievable if you asked me 15 years ago, but I always strive to get better results and also strive to get results sooner, faster. Because I think there's also a certain impatience in all of us, especially when you're in a situation, maybe where you're thinning, you're losing hair, where you would love to see a change happening as soon as possible, because that will give you the sense of relief, of calm and believing that you're in the right place. So when we achieve noticeable results, which is what we do now after a month or two, it's so much more likely that the client does not. lose patience and stay on the treatment to experience the full potential of their hair. So what I hope to deliver from us, because we have so many new interesting ingredients that are coming that are allowing us to do more things, is that when people really start early enough, then we can help that individual not get to the point of experiencing hair thinning in their lifetime. Now it is true that those with quite severe and or genetic thinning, where some men that I see and for them that also some women that I see. are only in their late teens and they are already thinning quite severely. For some of those, it can still be difficult to help them all the way, but sometimes we do refer people with cases that are that severe to a dermatologist to potentially talk about also treating it with medication. But my hope would be that most people that we meet, we can provide with a solution that if they start early enough, which we now see because most of our clients that are adults, but also bring private home for the family to use. We can intersect much earlier so that you are not necessarily experiencing problems that you could have been without.
- Lars
Lars Scott, thank you so much for your generous time today. Again, the founder of Heart Clinic and Lars Scott has been our guest today. We'll have links so that our audience can find out more about Heart Clinic and this popular, well-received program that offers a soothing atmosphere. to a subject that can be very unnerving. And I just want to say again, congratulations. I know our audience is going to be interested in this. We'd love to have you back, Lars. I personally am going through this program with your team and I would love to get your feedback on my progress at some point in the future. So I'm just going to be, I'm going to be very selfish and ask you to return at some point.
- Speaker #3
Wish you the best, Paul. And that would be a pleasure for me to meet you in person. But it's definitely been a pleasure to speak to your audience. And it's been a pleasure to speak to you. And thank you for having me today.
- Lars
Thank you, Lars. Again, congratulations on all of this work. I just want to say one more time, Harkliniken, Lars Scott, my best to you, Lars. Thanks so much for your generous time today. Thank you so much.
- Paul
Thanks to Lars Scott for all of his time today, his work as CEO and founder of Harkliniken. Please check out our show notes today for more details. About Hark Lineken, they have a special offer for our audience. You're going to want to check that out. My thanks, of course, to Prevention and our Healthy Living interview series. My thanks to executive producer, Sam Hanegar, for all he does to support the show.
- Lars
And of course,
- Paul
my thanks to you, our wonderful audience here on radio and podcast for the Not Old Better Show. Please be well. Be safe. Let's talk about better.
- Speaker #0
Thanks for joining us this week on the Not Old Better Show. To find out more about all of today's stories or to view our extensive back catalog of previous shows. Simply visit notold-better.com. Join us again next time as we deep dive into some of the most fascinating real-life stories from across the world, all focused on this wonderful experience of getting better, not just older. Let's talk about better, the Not Old Better Show.
- Paul
Hi, one final thing. Please check out our website for this episode and all episodes at notold-better.com or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts. And be sure to check out your local radio stations. to find out more about The Not Old Better Show on podcast and radio. You can find us all over social media. Our Twitter feed is Not Old Better, and we're on Instagram at Not Old Better, too. The Not Old Better Show is a production of NOBS Studios. I'm Paul Vogelsang, and I hope you'll join me again next time to talk about better. The Not Old Better Show. Thanks, everybody. We'll see you next week.
