A (3:39)

Amazing. So did you immediately choose that you were going into medical esthetics or was there something in nursing you explored first?

B (3:47)

Oh, yeah, no, medical aesthetics didn't come for me. I've been a nurse for 30 years and I've been practicing medical aesthetics for the last 10 of those 30 years. So, no, I originally explored the idea of becoming a med flight nurse where you would work on the helicopter and transport really critically ill patients. I actually did a fly along program with them where I was able to go and spend the day with them. And we flew on two missions. We flew down to Taunton and picked up a pedestrian that was struck by a motor vehicle and needed to be transferred up to a Boston hospital and that kind of thing. And I loved it. So, you know, that was, that was always very appealing to me. However, you know, due to getting married and having children, I ended up working for an allergy doctor in his office for about 16 years before I got into aesthetics.

A (4:54)

So cool. You just have such a dynamo background in this industry. I'm like. But I love it because you love, like the fast pace, like the exciting part, even though it's devastating, like, to be in those scenarios, like you're helping them and it's kind of exciting at the same time. Right? Like, it is, it is.

B (5:10)

I, I, oh my goodness. I actually thrive on chaos. Yes.

A (5:15)

So I love it.

B (5:17)

I love it when I do my best work.

A (5:20)

I'm sure that that's true. I mean, you're also a mom. You have a lot of pets at home. Can you talk about the horses that you have too? I love that.

B (5:27)

Oh, sure. So during COVID I adopted a horse. His name is Hawk. He was part of a trail riding program down in New Jersey. And due to Covid. They had to close their program and find homes for all of their horses. So I saw him online. He was absolutely adorable. He had a white face, and he's got some brown and black coloring kind of thing. He was just really super cute. So anyway, I had him sent up from New Jersey, and he got off the trailer, and I went, oh, my gosh, he's a pony. He's a pony. I thought I was getting a horse. They told me what size he was, all of that. All of those good things. And when he ever stepped off the trailer, I was like, I have a pony. But he's a large pony. He's a large pony. So I. Fortunately, I'm not too terribly big, so I fit on him just fine. But the interesting thing about him is that he's got some pink skin around, specifically his whole body. He has pink skin, obviously, but it shows up more on his nose and around his eyes. And from years and years and years of being outside in the sun with no sun protection. It caused skin cancer lesions around his eyes. Yes. Yep. So I worked with the vet very closely. We did. I did topical chemotherapy for him every day. And then when that wasn't working anymore, I took him to a veterinary hospital in New Hampshire, and we actually did a laser surgery on his eye, on the lesions, to try and eradicate it that way. One eye responded really well, but the other eye did not. So we ended up having to remove that eye. So he. He's just. He's missing an eye. Oh. And the other interesting thing about him, I discovered. I don't think anybody knew this that had him before because it was never mentioned. He's deaf. He is deaf. He does not hear me. He doesn't hear the other horses. So I just make sure he sees me as I approach him. And. And now, of course, you have to go around to the other side because he only has one eye.

A (8:05)

You're sitting here. I love this. Wait. It's so ironic, though, because you're in the industry of skin and beauty, and it's like, I know. Taking care of. Oh, my God, I love it. That's like a. I know. You made a beautiful story, though, out of a sad story.

B (8:18)

So that's like, thank you. He's living his best life.

A (8:22)

I'm sure he is. I am sure he is. You are. Like, I love chatting with you because I always learn something new, so I just have to throw that out there. So I want to talk about, obviously, the aesthetics world, because you've been doing this now for 10 plus years. Can you tell, tell us a little bit about what Stay Beautiful Med Spot offers and you know, how it came about.

B (8:41)

So it really came about because once I got into the industry, I started to work for a nurse who owned her own business and she was located in Woburn. And that was amazing. It was very busy. We had a lot, we saw a lot of people, we took care of all different types of people. And she eventually, after a few years went by, she wanted to retire. So she sold the business. And unfortunately the person that she sold it to just really wasn't that experienced and ended up not doing well with the business and it actually went out of business eventually. So I worked alongside Ellen, who is my practice manager now, and also Amanda, who is my esthetician now. We were all colleagues and we all left that other med spa, you know, at various different times. And I said, you know what, I'm just going to open my own place and we're going to get back to providing care the way we're used to providing care to people. We're going to make sure there's plenty of supplies. There's no shortage of Botox, which was a chronic problem. You know, we're going to have. We're going to do things the right way and we're going to do things. We're not cutting corners and things like that. Like this, you know, the people that took over that business were trying to do. So I opened Stay Beautiful and I called Ellen and I called Amanda and I said, hey, what are you guys doing? You want to come work with me again?

A (10:24)

And of course, like, no question, right? They like jumped on it and.

B (10:28)

Yep, yep, yep. Because we all have the same core values.

A (10:33)

And now you guys have been working together in your own space for seven plus years, right?

B (10:38)

Actually we've been since, since 2018. We opened.

A (10:43)

Amazing.

B (10:44)

Yeah. So about six years.

A (10:46)

Yeah, yeah. So awesome. So tell us like what's trending in your world right now? Like clients that are coming in, like what are frequently asked questions they're asking specifically around, like, because I know Botox and, and fillers are your jam. Like, so what are you seeing that people are needing or like curious about? Can you talk a little bit about that?

B (11:04)

Sure. So, you know, it's kind of a combination. I do get some people that they're first time Botox clients. They've never had it before. They're really afraid, but they do want to do it. But all their friends are doing it, but you know, they're just not quite 100 sure how it works or what's going to happen or this and that. So I love that because I love to sit and chat with them and really get into the educational part of things and how Botox works and you know, the, the duration and how it's a gradual onset and then it will peak and then it will gradually wear off. You know, so people aren't, don't have to be afraid that it's, they're going to have a frozen face for three months type of thing. And then I'm also seeing a lot of, I love our clientele. We have an older clientele. I'm 55 and so most of clients are in that age group or above. And I love working with them. They, they just, they understand, they understand this is a marathon. It's, it's not a sprint. And we just keep, you know, working at it and improving things a little bit at a time and building and building and building on, you know, the, the previous appointments and you know, eventually, you know, they come in and I say, oh my goodness, you look amazing. You don't need anything today. You're, you're doing such a great job.

A (12:41)

So what does that like? I know every client's different, right? But like on average, like what you've seen, like when people are first starting, like how often is the commitment they come in versus like long term clients? Like, what does that look like in terms of difference of maintenance for something like this?

B (12:56)

So it really depends on what treatment you're talking about. Botox is always going to be an every three to four month procedure. It's just the nature of it, it's how it is. That's when it actually wears off and is processed by the body and out of your systems. So you'll need to come in or plan to come in three to four times a year to see me for Botox filler in. It depends really on what areas we're treating and where you're starting from and what your goal is. So someone that really needs quite a bit of rejuvenation, they're coming in to see me two and three times spaced. You know, it depends on how much they can handle. But I like to see them back every four weeks if they're okay with that. You know, some of them need quite a few injections. And so if we need to stretch that time a little bit longer for them to kind of settle down and, and feel good about how everything is looking, then that's perfectly fine too.

A (14:04)

Very cool. And I saw on, like on your social media that you guys did like neck injections. Can you talk about like what that is? Because I was fascinated by that.

B (14:13)

Sure. So typically what I would do is I would treat the platysmal bands on the neck. That's the main focus on the neck. So you know, where the platysmal is a big muscular sheath and where it comes all the way up from the clavicle all the way up to over the jawline even. And when you tense your neck, you actually can see that some people naturally have really big platysmal bands. So that's contributing to pulling and sagging the skin of the lower face. So oftentimes I'll just go in. So when I'm doing lower face, I'll usually assess the platysmal bands and the strength of them. And so for people that have really strong bands, I'll suggest that we do, you know, a few units here on the neck as well and then that will help release everything. And it's actually called a nephrotating neck lift when you're treating the platysmal bands and then the downturn corners of the mouth. And now we know that we can go along the jawline and also help. That helps to tighten things up and give the appearance of a tighter jawline, actually. And that's just from. Yeah, very cool.

A (15:31)

I'm always learning, so.

B (15:33)

Thank you.

A (15:33)

I love things like that.

B (15:35)

Always something new.

A (15:36)

I know for people that are like younger. Right. Like, what's the youngest that you've seen people come in for Botox. And what's your take on that? Like, should people start in their 20s, 30s, or should they wait? Like, what's your honest opinion as an expert in the.

B (15:50)

I think that in their 20s their focus should really be a very good skin care routine. And I mean, with medical grade products, they don't need to have anything, you know, that a 60 year old would need, but they need to have good ingredients in their products for those products to do their job and to work for them. Typically, you know, again, it's like, it's, it's on a case by case because I do see people in their 20s that just genetically have really heavy, thick foreheads. They're getting the wrinkles, they hate them, they really want to do something about it. So, you know, in their 20s and wanting to treat that, then I certainly would. Yeah. No, but the youngest person I think I have had come in was a 19 year old young lady, but she came with her mom. Her mom was a patient of mine and she really wanted to get her lips done. So I was really glad that her mom came in as well. And so it was, it was a great experience because we went through it. I injected a little bit and I said, okay, now take a look in the mirror. This is what you look like now. The swelling is going to go down. Do you think, you know, you'd like to see your lips be a little bit bigger? And so it was great. At the end of the day, mom was happy and the daughter was happy too.

A (17:21)

I love that. I mean, that kind of ties into your model too, because you work with your daughter, which can we do. I love that like she helps do like prep the injections and stuff with you, right?

B (17:33)

She does, she does. She's my medical assistant, my right hand woman. She gets everything all set up for me, including the charts. She'll do my documentation. She's watching everything. She has just great instincts, you know, she'll see that I'm injecting, but I might need another gauze, you know. And so she's, she's on it. She's already got that in her hand and on her way over to me.

A (17:59)

So I love that. I love the dynamic too. I think that's really unique to you and your business model and I love that. So just wanted to throw that out there.

B (18:07)

So thank you.

A (18:08)

What do you also see in terms of like trending right now, like in New England, Botox versus like California. Right. Like, I feel like New England's more natural. Like, I mean, what's your take on that? Like, I'm curious from your perspective.

B (18:21)

Absolutely. For sure. It's still, I think there's still a little stigma attached and people still aren't really 100% comfortable talking about their, their treatments and what treatments they have had out here. And it is definitely more conservative. People want to look very, very natural and they don't want anyone to know what they've had done or that they have even had anything done for that matter. So it, it's just, you have to be, you have to know as an injector, you need to know exactly where to place things in order to give them the most natural look, so to speak.

A (19:05)

Yeah, I love that. I think that couldn't be more like, from what I've seen too and like, couldn't agree more with that statement. Definitely true.

B (19:13)

Yeah.

A (19:13)

So you're amazing, Wendy. How can people follow you, get in touch with you, reach out to you, all the things.

B (19:19)

Sure. So we're on Instagram and Facebook at Stay Beautiful Med Spa. We also have a website. Stay beautiful medspa.com. yeah, those are the. The two best ways.

A (19:35)

Perfect. And do you want them to call? Because I know some people leave their phone number. Like the work number.

B (19:40)

Sure, sure. So you can give us a call in the office. You'll speak to either Ellen or Lindsay. And that number is 978-203-0172.

A (19:53)

Perfect. Thank you, Wendy. You're amazing. Everybody go check out stay beautiful med spa. You will not regret it. Thank you so much for your time today. And stay tuned for who's next on scene. The ups, the downs, and all the in between. What it takes to become next on scene. Are you next? Follow us at Next on scene.