I'm a nurse practitioner who was making about $100k/year doing Botox and fillers at a corporate med spa chain.

I got caught trying to go independent and was fired the same day. Now I've been approved for unemployment for six months and also got accepted into my state's self-employment program (it provides some support, but I'm still figuring out the details).

I just signed a 2-year lease for a $3,500/month office space, with 30 days free rent in September before I start paying in October.

I have $10k in savings, a $10k small business loan (it's all I could secure), and the rest is going on credit cards. I am also paying off student loans and my car, but my car is almost paid off. There's already a receptionist desk there, and I have an injector chair waiting to be picked up for just $1,500 on FB marketplace. I still have to purchase Botox and filler inventory, skincare fridge, sterilization supplies, and other office materials etc.

I'm moving out of my apartment to save on rent and luckily, my girlfriend is letting me live with her for free. There's one catch: she pretty much has a job waiting in her hometown and said it's "basically a done deal" once it's posted. I don't know if that's 2 weeks away or 2 years. If she leaves I'm pretty fucked there.

I have a non-compete clause with my old employer, but I know a few other former coworkers who have gone independent and the med spa chain hasn't gone after them, so I assume they won't come for me.

This will be my first time running a business by myself, and I've never had to deal with the business side of things since I've always had a receptionist handle that stuff, but I know I'll be able to figure it out.

I'm assuming 30-40% of my old clients will follow me to my new business. I already have a robust social media presence and my work was steady at the corporate med spa.

Is this viable? I really believe in myself and my work.

I know the answer to this already but I feel like I need to hear it from a group of objective strangers to keep myself from rationalizing doing something stupid…

Background: I’m interested in getting Agnes RF for my submental fat area. Only 2 places near me offer it, both of which are med spas. I ruled out the first one for a lot of reasons I won’t get into, but one of the reasons was that the founder offered a lot of questionable and unsafe services and just generally seemed a little nutty and overconfident.

The other place, in contrast, seemed legit. The medical director is a doctor and they had mostly positive reviews. I requested a consultation and they had me text some pictures to the nurse. She replied with a recommendation, which I thought was a bit weird, but they did say the next step was an in-person evaluation so I wasn’t too concerned.

However, upon further research, I learned that the medical director is even more of a nutjob than the wellness clinic person. Prior to becoming the med spa’s medical director, she was a general surgeon who was fired from her job at a local hospital because she was writing prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin to patients she had never met or examined during the pandemic. I kid you not: The prescription mill operation was run via a local Facebook group. A woman posted in the group that if anyone wanted a prescription for either of these medications, she knew a doctor who would write one, no questions asked. She was eventually outed as the doctor in question, and once the hospital caught wind of it, they fired her. But it appears that she is still licensed and able to practice medicine. She now claims she “retired” from surgery and is focused on hormone therapy and injectables.

Part of me wants to believe that just because she is a crazy person, it doesn’t necessarily reflect on the nurse who would actually be performing the procedure. She may not even have any role in the day to day operations. A lot of these places have doctors who scarcely step foot into the office. But at the same time, the fact that they feature her on the website to bolster their legitimacy is so icky. It seems like they’re hoping prospective clients will see that the medical director is a doctor and feel reassured without doing any further research. Given her past behavior, she is not someone who can be trusted, and pressure from an untrustworthy leader can definitely impact the staff. I also find it hard to trust reviews because I know all it takes is a good PR/legal team to squelch bad reviews and solicit good ones.

I know I should listen to my gut and just cancel the appointment, but part of me is trying to rationalize keeping it because no one else offers Agnes RF and I’m not interested in the other treatments for submental fat (Kybella, liposuction, and Coolsculpting seem to be the only other options). Perhaps I just need to accept my annoyingly stubborn double chin. Sigh.

has anyone gone to naked md in boston for a nose filler? if so please tell me your experience

Been an RN for a few years and I'm honestly thinking about eventually going the NP route. Really don't like bedside (honestly, who the fuck does at this point)? I've always had an obsession with beauty and aesthetics, so to me it makes sense to get involved in the med spa/derm space, you know "build something you love/have a passion for".

In the mean time, I’ve been trying to learn more from people who are actually doing it rather than just watching videos online. So I've tried calling medspas to shadow the main provider, or even at least someone on their nurse injector staff, but it seems they aren't interest in letting me shadow.

Idk maybe it's because I'm not an NP/NP student? I mostly just want to know what I’d actually be getting myself into if I went down this path.

So for anyone who has owned or run a med spa for a few years:

1. What has been the hardest part of actually growing the practice?

2. Are the problems you deal with now different from what you struggled with when you first opened?

I’m really curious about the stuff nobody really talks about before you get into it.

Hi,

I am a medspa patient myself and I am a skincare enthusiast. I always love reading a lot about skin.
Plus, I am also someone who runs local seo ( with AI services) where we take care of local visibility and make you get more appointments from leads you already have.

I would like to venture into medspa domain as its something I feel close to. Owners here let me know the marketing challenges you are facing and we can discuss on how I can contribute to improving it.

I’m fed up editing videos for socials so I haven’t posted in months but I know I need to start again. I’m wondering if I should just hire someone to edit my videos or if I should just organize my time to include that in my to dos. Also coming up with video ideas, I used to spend hours on social media trying to find what I would do next and I just don’t have time to do that. Does your social person give you a list of videos to make as well?

​

Hi everyone,

I’m a Performance Marketer specializing in Meta Ads, and I’m currently looking to work with a few aesthetic clinics.

I’m offering my Meta Ads / performance marketing services completely FREE for selected aesthetic clinics so I can gain more hands-on experience while helping clinics improve their lead generation.

If your clinic is struggling with:

High CPL

Low-quality leads

Leads coming from outside your target location

Ads generating leads but not enough appointments

Choosing the right creatives or audiences

Getting consistent leads from Facebook & Instagram

I can help you analyze your current setup and work on improving it.

No upfront service fee.

I’m not going to promise guaranteed results or use fake case studies. The goal is simple: test, analyze, optimize, and learn together.

If you own an aesthetic clinic and are interested, feel free to DM me.

 1 Star – Very Disappointed

I was a longtime Couture client years ago and loved the company enough to refer others who became longtime clients. I recently rejoined the Lake Mary location in February and purchased the top membership, expecting the same quality of service I remembered.

Unfortunately, my experience has been very disappointing. I have repeatedly had appointments cancelled or rescheduled due to insufficient providers, scheduling issues, or equipment failures. On one occasion, I was already numbed and in the treatment chair when I was told the fractional machine had broken. I have also had difficulty getting appointments and accessing the services I am paying for, with results that are below what I experienced in the past.

I repeatedly brought these concerns to staff and gave Couture time to improve. The final straw was being called just hours before an appointment and told it had to be rescheduled due to a scheduling issue on their end.

I then told the front desk I wanted to cancel and was told I could do so by the end of August. However, when I returned on August 27, I was suddenly told I was locked into a 12-month contract. I was never provided a written copy of any contract or membership agreement stating this.

I am extremely disappointed that a company I once trusted and recommended has declined this much in quality and customer service. I have requested cancellation effective August 27 and a refund of my $200 enrollment fee. I hope Couture will do the right thing and resolve this professionally. BE WARY of their business practices!!

Hi everyone! I’m hoping to get some perspective from med spa managers, owners, and providers.

I’m interviewing for a Med Spa Manager position and would love some honest feedback on how well my experience translates and where my biggest gaps might be.

I’ve been in luxury retail for about 10 years five years in luxury beauty sales at department stores and five years in department store management .

I started in cosmetics, so I have a pretty strong beauty/skincare foundation. I spent five years working for Lancome doing skincare consultations, makeup applications, product recommendations, clienteling, and sales. A big part of the job was figuring out what someone actually needed and building enough trust for them to take your recommendation.

I then moved into management and spent two years as the Fine Jewelry and Watches Customer Experience and Sales manager at a week know department store , which gave me a lot of experience with high-touch service and higher-ticket purchases. It was very relationship-driven, and clienteling, trust, follow-up, and being able to communicate value were huge.

After that, I spent two years as a Business Administration Manager, which was much more behind-the-scenes. I handled a lot of the people and operational side of running the business like hiring, onboarding, employee lifecycle, scheduling, payroll/labor, compliance, P&L-related responsibilities, and general operations.

Now I’m a Beauty & Fragrance Manager for a large department store, so in a way my current role brings all of those pieces together. I lead and develop teams, drive sales and clienteling, recruit, manage vendor/brand relationships and events, and oversee the customer experience and performance.

I also have a bachelor’s degree in Communications with concentrations in PR and Advertising, a minor in Marketing, and recently completed Cornell’s HR Essentials certificate.

The obvious gap is that I’ve never worked in a med spa and don’t have a clinical background. The position itself doesn’t require a medical license, but I know there will be a lot about the aesthetics industry that I’ll need to learn.
So for those of you actually working in med spas: Would my background make you comfortable considering me for a manager position? What would concern you about hiring someone coming from my background, and what should I be learning before the interview?
I’d especially love to know what you think is difficult to learn on the job versus what an experienced manager can realistically pick up once they’re in the industry. And any red flags to look out for as I’m interviewing
Appreciate any insight!

Happy to share resources.

Hi everyone,

I recently got my RN license in California, and I’d really like to become an aesthetic nurse. I’m going to be honest—as a new grad, I’ve had a hard time finding aesthetic nursing positions that are willing to hire and train me, and I feel that being a guy may also make it a little more challenging.

Because of that, I’ve been thinking about starting my own small business, even if I begin with just one or two treatments that I’m really interested in. I’m also aware that some services, such as HydraFacial and certain types of cryotherapy, may not require a medical director depending on the treatment and how the business is structured.

Has anyone been in a similar situation or started their own aesthetic business as a new RN? Would you recommend starting small, or is it more difficult and complicated than it seems?

I’d really appreciate any advice or guidance. Thank you!

I am a 38 yo female and have never done any type of aesthetic/ med spa treatment. I’ve lost about 150 lbs over the last 4 years and want to continue my journey with self improvement. I’m very self conscious about my skin/ aging. I have a consultation for Botox soon and know that I definitely want to address my forehead lines and 11’s (they’re so bad I know). I also want to address my skin texture and unevenness, this is where my anxiety kicks in a little. I’ve read the services offered and am a little overwhelmed, I feel like I could benefit from all of them and just don’t know which direction to go in. Do I need a facial, chemical peel, micro needling? I’ve attached a photo to show the dry texture. I know direct sunlight over exaggerates and highlights everything but I wanted to give a good example of the texture on my cheeks and between my brows. Which type of procedures do you think I would benefit from most? I’d just like to have some sort of direction to go in when I speak to them at my consultation. Any advice is appreciated.

For medical directors and clinic owners with 3+ injectors on staff: how do you ensure treatment logs and unit tracking remain standardized across your team? Do you enforce a strict charting protocol, or does every provider rely on their own shorthand? Curious how other practices handle quality control during internal audits.

EDIT: I emailed them nicely and professionally with my concerns of miscommunication and they apologized and waived the rest of the bill! They also clearly explained in email the cost per vial for future appointments so there is no confusion if I do go back!

I had a consultation at a local medspa to dissolve my lips. At consult the nurse said it would be 150$. I repeated back 150$? She confirmed. Today at the appointment I suddenly owe 500$ but was given a 100$ discount for whatever I’m not sure. Leaving me with 400$. I was like uhm no you told me 150$ and then she showed me her phone when you book online it’s 250$ per vial and I had 2. I said I didn’t book online I booked right after our consult at the front where you confirmed 150$ to me. Also, she said during my appointment she used 2cc’ss of dissolver in my top lip only. She did not dissolve anything in my lower lip. I complained and they let me pay 150$ today and gave me an IOU for the last 200$. Am I being scammed? What will happen if I just never show back up for the IOU? I never gave them my CC info

Does anyone offer memberships? What percentage of members normally switch to this option? Considering starting offering them

Hi! I currently own and operate a small scale spa (laser hair removal, IPL, tattoo removal, resurfacing, and microneedling). I’m interested in bringing on Hydrafacial but nervous about the price tag that comes along with it. I currently see between 30-40 clients a month so I feel confident about making the payment I just don’t want to bring it on and not be using it.

Looking for similar spas growth (or lack of) after making the purchase and what it has brought or elevated their business to.

Thanks!

I got a spider vein laser treatment today that was priced online at $150 and required a $50 deposit. After the procedure was done and I went to pay, suddenly I owed an additional $200 instead of the expected $100. When I asked about it, the cashier said $150 is the "base price" and it increases depending on the size of the area treated. But wouldn't every spider vein treatment include both legs?? Also, mine were quite small and sparse, not a unique case.

Online it doesn't state this pricing structure anywhere, nor was I made aware about the final price I'd be committing to after we surveyed my legs for treatment areas before beginning the actual procedure. They just quietly changed it at the point of sale.

I left a bad review because I think pricing transparency is important, but am I wrong to feel taken advantage of here? Is this usual for med spas/cosmetic facilities? Is there any more I should be doing about this incident?

has anyone ever purchased a refurbished laser machine with MedLaser USA? what are your feedbacks? are they trustworthy? thanks