Ellsworth tells PEOPLE that after three sons and major weight loss, she wanted to do this for herself
Credit: Asellsworth/TikTok; Allison Ellsworth
NEED TO KNOW
- Poppi co-founder had a tummy tuck earlier this year
- She tells PEOPLE that she opted for the surgery after deciding she was done having kids
- Ellsworth also says she’d previously lost 60 lbs., which also contributed to her desire to have the tummy tuck
Allison Ellsworth is many things: a mother, a wife, an entrepreneur and someone who is living the “American dream.”
The Poppi co-founder is also connecting with her social media audience over her recent plastic surgery, which she tells PEOPLE is something she doesn’t take lightly.
“I think I live the American dream,” Ellsworth, 38, says. “I am such an inspiration for female founders and entrepreneurs, so I just don’t take that stuff lightly. I really appreciate [connecting with women on social media], and it makes me just want to do it more and be more transparent about everything that I’m doing.”
Credit: Allison Ellsworth
Her transparency began with a TikTok video shared in April, where she captioned the post, “Something exciting that I have decided for ME.” In the video, she shared that she was getting a tummy tuck after deciding she was done having children and now that she’s in a good place following the sale of Poppi to Pepsi last year.
“I have three beautiful kids. Me and my husband always went back and forth if we were going to have four. And I had three boys, and realized I can’t have four boys or I would die,” Ellsworth says with a laugh. She told herself after the birth of her third son that she’d give it a year to decide on having the fourth child or getting plastic surgery. Once her son was out of diapers, she knew she was done with babies and wanted to look into having a tummy tuck.
@asellsworth
Something exciting that I have decided for ME ❤️ will be sharing my journey over the next week so tune in if you are interested! #femalefounder #lifedecisions #bossbabe #womensupportingwomen
♬ original sound – Allison Ellsworth
“I’d gotten on GLP-1s and lost 60 lbs., and there’s this fine line of wanting to look good, but your body’s been through so much in motherhood and breastfeeding and late nights and building Poppi that I was just not myself,” she says, adding that two years ago, she opted for a breast reduction and lift that she felt improved her quality of life. She felt doing the tummy tuck would be an even more “life-changing” procedure.
Because she had sat with the idea for over a year, Ellsworth had plenty of time to research doctors. In the process, she found Dr. Ryan Neinstein, a plastic surgeon based in New York. She tells PEOPLE that one of her friends wanted to go to Dr. Neinstein for her own plastic surgery, but his prices were out of her budget. Ellsworth feels fortunate to be able to see the doctor of her choice without having to worry about the cost.
“I sold Poppi, and in all honesty, I could afford to go to the best, and I went to the best,” Ellsworth says of the 2025 sale of her company for just under $2 billion.
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She traveled from her home base in Austin, Texas, to New York after doing two consultations over Zoom, first meeting Dr. Neinstein upon her arrival. Ellsworth had a tummy tuck with a “little BBL”
Surgery went as planned, and Ellsworth recalls still feeling “loopy” but good just two hours post-op. So good, in fact, that she was up and dancing. She shared a bit of her recovery on social media in real time, including a video of her backside bruised and swollen in a diaper. That video, she says, garnered such a positive reaction from her audience that she decided to share more of the unfiltered looks at what this whole process entails: the good, the bad and the ugly.
Credit: Allison Ellsworth
Three months post-op, Ellsworth says she’s still swollen and just transitioning out of her surgical garments. But it was a mental battle to get to that point because of the healing process.
“All my clothes still fit the same,” she says. “I thought I was going to put them on and they were just going to fall off my hips. Some of the stuff is actually too tight because it takes up to six months to a year for the swelling to fully go down. So that’s mentally been really hard for me. I’m hurting. You’re fatter than you feel, and you’re just mentally like, ‘What the f— did I do?’”
Ellsworth found comfort and support in a social media group of other people who have had similar procedures. This helped her through some of the more difficult days when she felt like her recovery wasn’t where it should be. She also just powered through some of the discomfort, knowing it wasn’t forever.
“I think moms are superheroes, and if you’re doing this mommy makeover, you’ve been through a lot already,” she says.
@asellsworth
Comment something you have always wanted to have done but let fear stop you 🩷 #mommymakeover #tummytuck #doitforyou #fyp
♬ original sound – Allison Ellsworth
One of the first things Ellsworth did after being able to ditch her surgical garments was go shopping.
“I’m finally wearing real clothes again, and just like feeling like myself, I went shopping yesterday and bought some swimsuits, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve never worn a swimsuit with my belly button ever, my whole life,’” Ellsworth says.
Since her surgery, she has shared more updates on her social media accounts, telling PEOPLE that she never realized how much her audience would connect with it. However, ever since becoming a public persona when she took her company (then called Mother Beverage) onto Shark Tank in 2018, she has made every effort to be open about herself.
“I’m one of the most successful women in business and beverage ever, so it’s weird,” she says of showing this side of herself to her audience. “I was nervous to post, but I’ve always been authentic. I’ve always just been part of my brand of who I am and showing every side of me, so it made sense, and especially since people were just so open to it.”
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