Med Spa CEO Podcast

Episode: The Courageous CEO—5 Traits That Move the Needle & Set You Apart as a Leader (Part 1)

Host: Heather Terveen
Date: November 12, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode—the first of a special two-part series—Heather Terveen focuses on the mindset and emotional capacity required for med spa owners and leaders to foster sustainable, significant business growth. Rather than focusing on tactical business strategies, Heather discusses the “invisible work” of leadership: how to cultivate mental resilience, handle discomfort, and continue taking bold action even when external circumstances are challenging. Drawing from her work with hundreds of med spa CEOs, industry leaders, and her personal experiences, Heather details five key traits of “the Courageous CEO.”

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Role of Emotional Capacity in Business Growth

• Quantum Leap Growth Requires Emotional Maturity

  • Growth isn’t just tactical. The more clients and team members you serve, the more discomfort and emotional challenges you must handle.
  • Quote:

    “The more people you serve, the larger your team gets, the more you will have to expand your capacity for discomfort and emotional things.” (Heather Terveen, 00:00)

• Normalizing Setbacks and Emotional Discomfort

  • Client complaints, employees quitting, marketing failures—these are normal parts of pursuing ambitious goals.
  • Heather emphasizes that feeling emotional turmoil over these challenges is “optional,” and resilience allows you to make faster, better decisions.
  • Quote:

    “Being in turmoil over those things is optional. The faster you will make decisions and you will make moves and you will move forward on things that will have positive outcomes as well.” (Heather Terveen, 00:52)

Courage vs. Confidence in Leadership

• Risk-Tolerance, Not Just Hustle or Talent, Drives Big Results

  • Heather recounts a Gary Vaynerchuk interview, emphasizing it’s not talent or hustle that sets highly successful leaders apart—but risk tolerance.
  • Many hardworking people remain in a “game that is too small,” missing out on exponential results by not taking bigger risks.
  • Quote:

    “He said risk tolerance. He didn’t say talent. He didn’t say luck… But how many examples do we know of people who hustle … [yet] they’re just playing inside of a game that is too small to produce really epic results.” (Heather Terveen, 05:57)

• Courage Over Confidence

  • Being courageous means acting despite discomfort; confidence is not a prerequisite.
  • Heather points out you don’t need to wait for confidence to lead—consistent, courageous action is more important.
  • Quote:

    “You actually don’t need confidence. You just need courage.” (Heather Terveen, 08:28)

Five Traits of the Courageous CEO (Traits 1 and 2 discussed in Part 1)

1. Awareness That Your Thinking Impacts Everything

• Leaders who attribute their results to external circumstances become powerless; those who focus on their own thinking and actions can create results regardless of challenges.

• Example: The COVID-19 closure showed that clients who shifted their mindset from doom to opportunity rebounded faster and achieved more growth post-pandemic.

• Quote:

  “The more you attribute your thinking and your action and behavior to the results you’re creating, the more you will actually be able to control the results that you create.” (Heather Terveen, 12:40)

• Personal story: Heather’s genetic health diagnosis initially devastated her, but mindset work reframed it into gratitude for medical support.

• Quote:

  “I couldn’t change the fact that I was given this diagnosis, but I could change my thinking about the diagnosis.” (Heather Terveen, 17:12)

2. Deciding How You Want to Think and Feel about Things

• As your business grows, challenges increase. Developing emotional resilience and intentionally choosing how to respond is essential.

• Practice: Don’t let setbacks determine your emotional state—choose conscious responses over knee-jerk reactions.

• Encourages listeners to jot down current sources of turmoil and recognize that the emotional response is within their control.

• Quote:

  “Being in turmoil over those things is optional. The more that I can help you all actually have the tools to be a courageous CEO and to decide that you’re not going to let those things keep you down, the faster you will make decisions.” (Heather Terveen, 22:47)

• Heather relates this to risk tolerance: expanding your emotional capacity to tolerate setbacks translates into daring, strategic moves that drive quantum leaps in business.

• Building resilience is like training a muscle—the more you face and recover from challenges, the stronger your leadership becomes.

Growth Comes from Action – Learning from All Results

• The quickest way to learn what works is to take many actions, knowing you’ll get both “desired” and “undesirable” results. Every result (positive or negative) increases experience and insight.
• Example: Persistent experimentation in marketing led to mastery.
• Quote:

  “The only reason I know so much about what is going to create positive results in my online marketing is because I’ve taken so much action over the last decade and I have lots of undesirable results in my online marketing as well too. But both stacks of those results have made me a more courageous CEO.” (Heather Terveen, 22:15)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|-------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00 | Heather Terveen | “The more people you serve, the larger your team gets, the more you will have to expand your capacity…” | | 05:57 | Heather Terveen | “He said risk tolerance. He didn’t say talent… They’re hustling inside of a game that is too small…” | | 08:28 | Heather Terveen | “You actually don’t need confidence. You just need courage.” | | 12:40 | Heather Terveen | “The more you attribute your thinking and your action and behavior to the results you’re creating, the more you will actually be able to control the results that you create.” | | 17:12 | Heather Terveen | “I couldn’t change the fact that I was given this diagnosis, but I could change my thinking about the diagnosis.” | | 22:47 | Heather Terveen | “Being in turmoil over those things is optional. The more that I can help you… the faster you will make decisions.” | | 22:15 | Heather Terveen | “Both stacks of those results have made me a more courageous CEO.” |

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–01:09 — Emotional capacity and business leadership, setting the stakes for courageous growth
• 05:22–09:00 — Courage in leadership, Gary Vaynerchuk’s lessons, risk tolerance vs. hustle
• 09:00–12:40 — Trait 1: How mindset determines everything in your business
• 13:30–19:16 — Personal stories: COVID-19, genetic diagnosis, and reframing adversity
• 19:16–24:36 — Trait 2: Choosing your emotional response, resilience in practice
• 22:15–24:36 — The power of stacking results—learnings from both success and failure

Tone and Language Notes

• Heather’s style is supportive, direct, and inspiring.
• Emphasizes self-leadership, accountability, and practical mindset shifts.
• Uses personal anecdotes, industry references, and questions to encourage self-reflection:

  “I want you to kind of notice where you may not be being the courageous CEO, because if you become a truly courageous CEO… there’s nothing you can’t create.” (07:35)

Takeaways for Med Spa Owners & Leaders

• Your emotional maturity, not just your systems or strategies, will determine how far and how fast your business grows.
• Courage looks like betting on yourself, acting in the absence of certainty, and managing your internal narrative when facing challenges.
• Shifting your mindset from victimhood (“it’s the market/competition/economy”) to ownership unlocks your agency and capacity for growth.
• Every attempt—successful or not—builds your resilience and knowledge as a leader.

Part 2 will continue the exploration of the remaining traits of the Courageous CEO.