“I felt like I was going to be a doctor from the time I was a little kid,” says local plastic surgeon Marguerite Barnett, M.D. Dr. Barnett, who was adopted, finds a connection to her biological parents in her passions—her biological father was a doctor, a fact she found out only after going into medicine and tracking him down. When she attended medical school, Barnett decided to go into general surgery and joined the military as a doctor. “It allowed me to do a wide variety of treatments,” she says about this choice. After several years of moving frequently, Barnett was determined to stay in the military but wanted to settle in one place for longer, so she decided to specialize. She selected plastic surgery. Like general surgery, the practice enabled her to help a variety of problems, from congenital birth defects to reconstruction after trauma. Upon retiring from the military in 1990, Barnett’s only requirement was to find beaches and warm weather. She joined a practice in Naples, later moving to Sarasota to get married and open a practice in Nokomis. “The marriage didn't last, but the practice did just fine,” she jokes. As she started doing more elective, cosmetic surgeries, Barnett realized that if these procedures weren’t paired with healthy habits, patients wouldn’t fully achieve their desired results. “I began to envision a full-service spot where we could provide everything from nutritional counseling, acupuncture and hypnosis to help them break bad habits like smoking or overeating, yoga, massage, other stress reduction techniques, as well as facial care and education about how to keep your skin looking good,” says Barnett. She moved her practice to Sarasota in 2003, opening the Sarasota Institute of Plastic Surgery and Mandala Med Spa. Barnett’s philosophy revolves around providing a fair cost to patients. “I work hard for my money, and I figure everyone else works hard for theirs, so I try to provide a very fair cost,” she says. “I shop at Goodwill, and I don't have any kids I have to put through college. Patients understand I have expenses, but that I'm not wasting their money.” At 71, Barnett practices the habits she preaches. Outside of her work as a doctor, she has found a passion for exercise. Barnett is a professional fire dancer and an amateur aerialist, and has always loved artistic forms of movement. She says that while her passion for medicine comes from her biological father, her love for dance comes from her biological mother. Barnett loved dancing with friends as a child and worked as a belly dancer to pay her room and board during college. When she worked as a surgeon, she no longer needed to dance professionally, but her love for the activity stayed with her throughout her life. Barnett says she doesn’t see herself slowing down anytime soon—her joy in every aspect of her life keeps her busy. “I don't have enough hours in the day, but with everything I do, I feel I have some kind of purpose, whether it's making myself feel better about myself, other people feel better about themselves or making connections with younger people,” she says. “It's all important to me. I don't think I could ever really just retire and do nothing.”