Building a 5-Star Med Spa: Leadership & Patient Loyalty Tips - Interview w/ Raquel Merlini

Summary

Building a 5-Star Med Spa: Leadership & Patient Loyalty Tips - Interview with Raquel Merlini

Med Spa Success Strategies Podcast Episode Released on April 18, 2025

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of the Med Spa Success Strategies Podcast, host Ricky Shockley sits down with Raquel Merlini, a seasoned registered nurse and certified aesthetic nurse specialist. With 14 years in the plastics industry and the owner of Our Skin Aesthetics, Raquel shares invaluable insights on leadership, patient loyalty, and building a top-tier med spa. This summary encapsulates the key discussions, strategies, and personal anecdotes that Raquel offers to help med spa and aesthetics practice owners thrive.

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Raquel’s Journey to Med Spa Ownership

Raquel Merlini’s path to owning a successful med spa is both inspiring and instructive. Beginning her career in cosmetics at 18 with Clinique, Raquel transitioned through various roles, including being a stylist and model, before becoming a stay-at-home mom. The economic downturn of 2008 prompted her to pivot into the aesthetic industry. Moving from Detroit to Charlotte, North Carolina, Raquel enrolled in aesthetic school and later returned to Detroit, where she accepted an offer to transition into a nursing role within a prominent plastic surgery practice.

Raquel Merlini [01:37]: "I was 38 years old, I really want to go to nursing school now. But he said if I did, he would teach me everything he knew."

After 13 years as an RN, Raquel decided to launch her own med spa, driven by a desire to create a healthy and compassionate environment for patients and staff alike. This move marked the beginning of Our Skin Aesthetics, which is on the verge of celebrating its second anniversary and expanding its facilities.

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Building Exceptional Patient Experience

Central to Raquel’s success is her unwavering focus on delivering an exceptional patient experience. She emphasizes creating a safe, non-judgmental space where patients feel comfortable and cared for beyond the transactional aspects of treatment.

Raquel Merlini [06:15]: "Creating a safe place for that patient... it's about building that relationship."

Key elements she highlights include:

• Warm Reception: Patients are greeted warmly by a patient coordinator, avoiding long wait times by immediately escorting them to treatment rooms.

• Personal Connection: Medical assistants engage with patients by remembering personal details, fostering a relaxed and trusting atmosphere before Raquel herself interacts with them.

• Timely Service: Respecting patients’ time by minimizing wait times and ensuring treatments are conducted efficiently.

• Follow-Up Care: Raquel ensures that patients receive timely follow-ups within 24-36 hours to check on their well-being post-treatment, demonstrating genuine care and commitment.

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Balancing Sales with Patient Care

Raquel advocates for a consultative approach to sales, prioritizing patient needs and long-term relationships over immediate financial gains. She stresses the importance of honesty and integrity, even if it means turning down a sale when it’s not in the patient’s best interest.

Raquel Merlini [11:56]: "If you've got to say no, I think that’s extremely powerful content customer service trying."

Ricky and Raquel discuss the delicate balance between increasing average ticket sales and maintaining patient trust. Raquel’s strategy involves:

• Understanding Patient Goals: Engaging in thorough consultations to align treatments with patients’ personal and aesthetic goals.

• Tailored Treatment Plans: Offering personalized plans that may involve incremental treatments rather than pushing for high-ticket sales upfront.

• Authentic Recommendations: Recommending treatments based on what genuinely benefits the patient, not just what may boost sales.

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Strategic Decision-Making: Staying Lean and Believing in Your Tools

Raquel emphasizes the importance of prudent investment in medical devices and technologies. She advises against succumbing to industry trends or purchasing expensive equipment that does not align with the practice’s core values and patient needs.

Raquel Merlini [27:06]: "I am result oriented. So I can't say to my patient, I've never tried to over promise and under deliver."

Key strategies include:

• Provider Endorsement: Ensuring that all team members are enthusiastic and confident about the equipment and treatments offered.

• Avoiding Trends: Steering clear of devices popular only for a short period to prevent financial strain and maintain service quality.

• Lean Operations: Focusing on core, high-ROI services like fillers and toxins rather than diversifying into numerous, less profitable treatments.

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Leadership and Team Building

Raquel’s leadership style is built on trust, open communication, and mutual respect. She fosters a supportive and collaborative work environment where team members feel valued and empowered.

Raquel Merlini [35:08]: "I have an open door policy. You're more than welcome to come and speak with me, but take 24 hours, think about it."

Key aspects of her leadership include:

• Hiring for Fit: Selecting team members who demonstrate calmness under pressure, mindfulness, and the ability to work harmoniously with others.

• Continuous Development: Investing in team members’ growth through training, shadowing opportunities, and encouraging participation in educational programs.

• Creating a Positive Culture: Organizing activities like vision board nights to align personal and professional aspirations, fostering a sense of community and shared purpose.

• Empowerment without Micromanagement: Trusting her team to deliver quality service while providing the necessary support and resources to ensure consistency and excellence.

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Marketing Strategies: Leveraging Referrals

Raquel credits her spa’s growth largely to a robust referral program that rewards both new and existing patients, thereby encouraging word-of-mouth promotion without relying heavily on traditional marketing channels.

Raquel Merlini [53:09]: "Our referral program will not only reward our new patient, but we also reward the current patient."

Key elements of her marketing approach include:

• Referral Incentives: Offering rewards such as free Botox units or discounts to patients who refer friends and family.

• Flash Sales and Specials: Implementing periodic promotions like Black Friday specials to attract new clients while rewarding loyal ones.

• Quality Over Quantity: Focusing on delivering exceptional service that naturally leads to referrals rather than aggressive advertising campaigns.

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Continuous Education and Culture of Excellence

Raquel fosters a culture of continuous improvement and excellence within her team. She ensures that her staff stays updated with the latest industry trends and techniques through ongoing education and collaborative learning.

Raquel Merlini [51:53]: "We're constantly, always talking and speaking and doing think tanks."

Key practices include:

• Regular Training: Encouraging team members to attend workshops, conferences, and training sessions to enhance their skills.

• Collaborative Learning: Facilitating group discussions and think tanks where staff can share new ideas and techniques.

• Adaptability: Staying open to new methods and incorporating valuable insights from team members to continuously refine services.

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Final Insights and Takeaways

Raquel’s approach underscores the importance of authenticity, relationship-building, and strategic focus in running a successful med spa. Her commitment to patient care, team development, and prudent business practices serves as a model for other practice owners aiming to achieve excellence.

Raquel Merlini [56:28]: "Be authentic, you know, be exactly who you are and let the patient see you know that you are there for them."

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Conclusion

Raquel Merlini’s success with Our Skin Aesthetics is a testament to the power of exceptional patient service, strategic leadership, and authentic business practices. By prioritizing relationships over sales, maintaining a lean and focused operation, and fostering a supportive team culture, Raquel has built a med spa that not only attracts but retains loyal clients. Her insights offer a valuable roadmap for med spa and aesthetics practice owners seeking to elevate their businesses to five-star status.

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Learn More About Raquel Merlini and Our Skin Aesthetics:

• Website: ourskin.net
• Instagram: @ourskinesthetics
• Personal Page: @ourskinadmin

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Note: This summary excludes advertisements, introductory remarks, and non-content segments to focus solely on the substantive discussions between Ricky Shockley and Raquel Merlini.

Transcript

[Ricky Shockley]

Hey everyone, I'm your host, Ricky Shockley, MedSpa Magic Marketing. And this is the Med Spa Success Strategies podcast where med spa and aesthetics practice owners come to discover strategies and tactics that help them better market and manage their practices so they can grow, improve profitability and have greater impact for their teams and their patients. This was a phenomenal interview. I think you all are going to have a ton of tidbits and takeaways from Raquel's insights. Today we're joined by Raquel Merlini. She's a registered nurse and certified aesthetic nurse specialist with 14 years in the plastics industry as the owner of our skin aesthetics. She specializes in Botox fillers, laser resurfacing, skin care, and leading with integrity and compassion. A former IFBB pro, bodybuilder, triathlete and personal trainer, she understands the connection between confidence and well being. She mentors aspiring nurses and offers Botox training while her Pay it Forward scholarship supports single mothers and women overcoming challenges. She's passionate about aesthetics education and women's empowerment. Tons of great tidbits in this interview on leadership, patient experience. Really cool, nuanced perspective on the consult process and the relationship between sales and patient care. I just think there are a lot of really, really awesome takeaways. So with that, we'll jump into our interview with Raquel Merlini. Raquel, thank you so much for joining us. We're excited to have you on the podcast.

[Raquel Merlini]

Thank you, Ricky, for having me. I'm really excited to be here.

[Ricky Shockley]

Yeah. And per usual, I just wanted to start with your backstory, how you got into the business, what inspired you to start a med spa. So you just want to give us your backstory?

[Raquel Merlini]

Yeah. So I was always kind of in cosmetics. I worked for Clinique when I was 18 years old and then I was a stylist as well as model of the year. I did some trade show work with auto show and then I ended up getting married and having two children and I was a stay at home mom for most of those those years. And then the crash of 2008, if you're young enough to or old enough to remember, it hit people pretty hard. And at the time we, my ex husband was building single family homes and being from Detroit, that market really did hit us hard. So I had to segue into some type of industry. We moved out of Michigan to Charlotte, North Carolina and we had built two extreme home makeover houses at the time. So I had a little bit of experience with that as well. And I was like, what am I going to do. And one of my girlfriends down in Charlotte, North Carolina, who I'd met, she mentioned, why don't you go to aesthetic school? Because it sounds like you have a strong background. And I was like, oh, what is that? So I ended up enrolling in Charlotte to an aesthetic school, and I spent about a year there. And then we ended up coming back to Detroit, Michigan, and I was looking who I wanted to work for and I was kind of myself being very particular. I knew I wanted to be in plastics or dermatology. So I ended up applying at three locations and I was accepted at all three. The one that I opted with, though, he was the chief of plastic surgery for a prominent hospital. And when he found out I was going to school because I was dabbling with some college education courses as well, because I didn't have a formal education, he said, well, would you consider nursing? And I was like, I'm 38 years old, I really want to go to nursing school now. But he said if I did, he would teach me everything he knew. And that just put me on my nursing career. So I was already a licensed esthetician, very familiar with skin and the aging process. And it was very easy for me then to segue into an RN role. And I was there for 13 years. And after that, he was getting ready to retire. And I said, you know, I just wanted to be able to go on my own and create a healthy, safe atmosphere for myself and staff and patients. And here I am.

[Ricky Shockley]

That's kind of cool transition. And especially like the. The post 2008 years, that's kind of when I first got into digital marketing, right around those years. And if I'm remembering correctly, there weren't really med spas at that time. It was dermatologists and plastic surgeon, surgeons offering boto. There was. It was mainly medical providers. There really wasn't a med spa category, if I'm remembering correctly. So you worked. Worked there for quite a while, opened your med spa, what year, Raquel?

[Raquel Merlini]

So we are getting ready to celebrate year two, May 1st, and we're in the process of expansion as well, so been very fortunate and blessed. But you are absolutely correct, there wasn't a lot of med spas and there also wasn't a lot of knowledge or training that was available either. You know, I look, my girls now can go on. I'm not going to say TikTok for a reference, but there's so much information on anything, whether it's TikTok, YouTube, you know, Patreon being able to sign up for courses and classes. And it's a luxury that I didn't have that it's come so far, just even since COVID Right. We've seen the med spa industry just completely blow up. So a lot of progress in the last 13 years.

[Ricky Shockley]

Yeah, absolutely. So, yeah. Thank you for the backstory. I kind of wanted to jump around to some different topics anytime I get to talk to a practice owner like yourself that's been really successful, especially in such a short time. For those of you who don't know, I'm looking, Raquel, at your. Your Google reviews. Nothing but 5 star reviews on here. 5 star rating on Google. And all of the stuff that we talk about on the podcast related to like marketing and tactics, those things don't matter if you're not providing an exceptional patient experience. Like, if you're just average in terms of operations and execution on the services that you offer, nothing else matters. So I decided to dive into some of those things. So first, as you started your med spa and you thought about like, hey, how do I make this a place where people want to come? What were some things that you saw in the market that you wanted to do, maybe different? And what were some of the things that you wanted to copy? Like, what was that matrix? What did that look like early on when you decided to start your practice?

[Raquel Merlini]

So when I think I have had the luxury of coming from a customer service background with either our home construction or being in the cosmetic industry is really, it's connecting with a patient. Right. It doesn't matter who you are, what walk of life. I think that we've all had trials and tribulations through our life, and I know for myself, I've been on my knees, like, praying and wondering how I'm going to get through the next day. And I think women as well as men who are seeking enhancement and improvement, you know, they come in and they're very vulnerable. Right. And the key is to create a safe place for that patient. So kind of like you're their best friend or their therapist, where it's in a controlled atmosphere and they don't. It's nonjudgmental. So that really has been important with our practice when, when you look at our Google reviews, which, again, I'm so blessed. And it's amazing that patients are willing to share their stories on Google because that is an open platform. And especially when people don't always want people to know that they're receiving treatment or getting something done. And they come in and you can see on our reviews that it's from my patient coordinator at the desk. She's not only gorgeous, but she's very warm and inviting. She stands up, she greets the patient. We don't have them sit in a waiting room. I want them to be swept up right away into the treatment room so we don't have a long wait time. I try to be respectful of patients time. I've sat in doctor's offices and waited and I just think time is money and I think it's a respect issue also. So we run very, very timely with our treatments. And then once we get the patient in the treatment room, my medical assistants were previously at our last location and there's familiarity. And Michelle and Alicia are the type that once they get the patient in, they remember, you know, the age of your children, the last vacation that you had, you know, a monumental experience that you might be having coming up or in the past. So we sit and we greet and kind of connect with what's going on in their life. And then by the time that I get in here, you know, they've been able to relax and breathe and I like to sit down on the stool and have that girlfriend conversation with them. So again, putting them at ease, reminding them that, you know, this is not transactional. It's actually, you know, I do care. I am interested in what is going on in your life. And then we, you know, start to discuss what it is that they're looking for for that improvement or enhancement. So again, it's a whole experience. I say it's a marathon, not a sprint. It's about building that relationship. You know, there's so many talented, especially here in Birmingham, Michigan, we have amazing physicians who have med spas as well as other providers who have med spas. So I don't know necessarily if my expertise is superior to anybody else's. I just know that from the minute that you walk into our skin, you are greeted and the whole experience is amazing. And then not only once they leave do we just forget about you. You know, we do your credit card and it's by out the door. It's we're already book your next appointment and we'll do a follow up, you know, right away, within the next 24 to 36 hours, you'll get a text or phone call, how was your experience? Or, you know, also, you know, it does happen if a patient bruises or there's, you know, some concern. I just want them to know that once you walk out the door, the follow up is there too, because I care. I want to make sure that you're okay. And if there's anything we can do, if you do bruise, you know that's important. The follow up and the aftercare as well.

[Ricky Shockley]

That's amazing. And I think in addition to, like, the reviews, I think that's maybe a good reference point here because this is just an industry where everybody's always looking for the silver bullet. What's the next big thing I can offer that's going to make me and to be successful, it's about doing a lot of little things well. So like I was, you just gave us four or five specific things that if you're not doing in your med spa, I think are worth looking at. Your receptionist makes sure that she looks at the prospect as they walk in the door, smiles, and stands up. How many of you are doing that? How many of you are truly eliminating wait times? And your goal is that the person walks in the door, is greeted by your receptionist, your patient coordinator, and then put into the treatment room. So many good little tidbits there that I hope people take those things to heart, because those are the things that make a difference in terms of patient experience. It's not a silver bullet. It's doing all of these little things well that create a superior patient experience. And people initially might just like hair salons. I think the hair salon is the best example for a med spa business. When you're trying to find somebody, you move to a new city or and you're thinking about getting your hair done somewhere, you probably try a couple different people and you're going to stay where you feel most comfortable and where you feel most confident in the service, the provider, the knowledge, the expertise, and that you feel like they care. And I think so many good little tidbits in just that initial walkthrough about how you think about patient experience. So that was awesome. Thank you. Raquel, on that front, is there anything specific you do in the consultation process to kind of show people that you care and to make sure that instead of giving them a sales pitch, you're trying to provide a consultative sales approach that aligns with whatever their goals are?

[Raquel Merlini]

Yes, absolutely. So, like I said, when I come in, I first sit down. You know, I don't want to rush in and say, okay, what are you here for today? What can we do? I want to sit down and connect with them, ask them, do we have a special event coming up? Is there a wedding or a graduation or shower? What is our trajectory? Right? Like, what is it our end point? So if we've got six months or nine months that we're able to plan. I have a full time esthetician here as well. You know, it's not just about the injectable, it's what can we do to get your skin conditioned as well. So you have that luminosity as well as that skin tightening. So I want to go through and see and then what is going to fit with their lifestyle. Right. So if I have somebody come in for tear trough filler on a Friday, I'll ask right away, what does your weekend look like? Because if you've got a dinner engagement or photos or an event, there is a possibility that you may bruise. I have a light hand, but it can happen. I don't want it to happen on my watch. And then you go out and you're not going to feel comfortable. So I'm confident enough to tell my patients no also and select what I think the best treatment would be for them at that time. But again, it's just coming in and sitting down and asking the patient what it is that they're looking at for. I'm also known to be a little more conservative in the aspect that I just don't think that you need to come in and I'm going to do eight syringes in one day. You know, if we can maybe start with a little neurotoxin, get that muscle relaxed, get some lift and then have you come back in two to three weeks and reevaluate and then decide what is it that we're looking do we need? A lot of people are on Ozempic. I'm sure people have heard the term Ozempic face. Do we need to do some bio stimulator, some. Some sculpture, some kaha in order to get that all over regeneration and then come back with a little bit of hyaluronic and finesse or do we need that instant gratification because you've got an event and you need to be on. So then we'll go ahead and we'll do our ha. So again, I think it's just hearing, I feel like the industry, it is a lucrative industry. A lot of people have wanted to get out of bedside nursing since COVID and they see this industry as like, let me just come on in and make a whole bunch of money. It doesn't happen that way. I think the people who are going to stay in the industry more long term are again the ones that are creating the relationship with the patient and connecting. So we go through the consultation process and then I discuss with the patient and we Also put together a budget because, you know, it is expensive, and it's also an emotional decision. So if somebody is in a little bit of a vulnerable, I'll use a story. That patient reminded me one time I ran into her, and she said, I'll never forget you. Because she'd been trying to get pregnant. She finally got pregnant. She had a miscarriage. And she came in to see me and she said to me, I want it all. Just whatever you do, just make me feel bad, feel better. And I said to her, okay, just tell me what's going on. Like, why are you. Where you're at? And then she explained the story, and, you know, she was crying, and I was empathizing with her, and I just said to her, I go, you know what? We're not going to do anything today. And she said, well, what do you mean? I want to feel better. And I said, you know what? I said, I could really take advantage of this situation, but I think where you're at right now, you need to mentally get in a little bit of a better place, heal what's going on. And then I want you to come back and let's put together a plan. And she was like, oh, my God. And she gave me a big hug and she left. And I'd forgotten about it because I see probably about 15 to 20 patients a day, five days a week. And about several years later, she came back to me and she reminded me of that story. And she said, you are a really good provider because you could have taken advantage of me that day, and you didn't. And forever, I'll be loyal to you and I'll refer people to you. So the customer service aspect, Ricky, I'm rambling, but no, that's honestly so good enough. Customer service. We are in. You know, when you're sick in your bedside, you're taking care of a patient, they're ill, they're not feeling good, they. You know, this industry here, you're paying good money to walk away and feel better. It's elective. And I think that that's what a lot of people forget. Transactional. It's a money grab. And at the end of the day, for us, at our skin, the reason for our success, and I hope continued success, we run pretty lean here, meaning we don't have a whole bunch of machines and everything. But it's the customer service aspect.

[Ricky Shockley]

So many good nuggets there. I wanted to follow up on a few of them. I think. Powerful willingness to say no. I think. I think people underestimate how much trust that earns you when you're willing to say no. If you're not rubber stamping a service or just saying yes to everything, people trust you more. Like, I know this for us. Like, I'm going to be honest with my advice if I don't think you should do something. And that's not how most people sell. Most people use an opportunity, they see an opening and they use it as an opportunity to sell you something. Your willingness to say no, I think is an extremely powerful part of customer service trying. So talking about trying to achieve the result and not necessarily worrying about an upsell, you're asking them their budget, what are they trying to do. You have a light touch, see if we can achieve the result with less and then maybe add on incrementally if we need to. How do you balance that with sales? Like, I know so many practices. There's so much content online and we've done some of it. How do you upsell? How do you cross sell? How do you increase average ticket sale? How do you balance those two priorities? Or do you.

[Raquel Merlini]

I think we do it inadvertently. So I perhaps and maybe you can give me some tips. I've really been tuning into a lot of your podcasts and scrolling through your Instagram. I'm probably not the best business owner in the sense that I'm just not money driven. I, I just feel it comes, it flows. I, I manifest. I believe if you put good things out there, it's going to come back to you tenfold at the end of the day. I've sat in a treatment chair. I've been vulnerable, you know, just wanting to feel better, maybe going through my divorce, raising two teenagers, going through, you know, I was working during my divorce. I was working full time. I was a professional bodybuilder, competing full time and going to school. I was slee three hours and had two teenagers. So I was just like, make me look better, make me look less tired, you know, And I just, I don't even put goals on my girls. We don't have a sales goal here because I feel that when you're starting to have to reach for that goal, it can put a stress level on you that you're, oh my goodness, I've got to sell this. You know, I got to have this person have this product. And I don't want my team to feel like they have to push the sales. And because we don't do that again, it just comes naturally. I'm known to say no a lot. I'll send Patients home if I think you're overfilled or I think that you need to be dissolved, I've even fired patients. If I just feel that I don't align with you or I'm no longer able to achieve the result that you're looking for, I'll say, you know what? I have a handful of really good providers. Let me refer them to you because I just don't think that I'm your provider writer anymore. So from a sales we.

[Ricky Shockley]

I love, I love this actually, because this is how we do business too. And for all of you and all the things that we've talked about and how do you like, how do you improve initial ticket sale? I think there's a fine line here because first of all, people can smell it on you. Like you said, if you, if your providers have an incentive to sell, I think people can smell it on you.

[Raquel Merlini]

You. Yeah.

[Ricky Shockley]

And they start to feel like you're selling to them. Even if you're good at it, they can. People are very intuitive. They can sense it on you. So I actually love the idea of not having a sales goal. I really love that a lot. And I think the thing that you said, you're a bad business owner in this regard. I actually disagree. I think this is actually very smart. You're playing the long game because you know, if you treat appropriately and you do what you did to that. That woman who came in with the miscarriage and you just tell her no, that that comes back and that starts to aggregate because now that person comes back to you and maybe they wouldn't. Three years later and they tell a friend that they wouldn't have otherwise told, or that person that ends up buying, you know, two or $3,000 of service in six months, maybe on their first visit, they're only buying that two and $3,000 package from you six months from now because of the way that you approach the initial visit. So I actually love that. I think maybe where some practices struggle is they fail in the patient education element. So they're almost damping bad treatments that are too small also. So I think maybe that's the line like you also want. You want your providers to educate, to understand what the prospect wants and to come up with a good treatment plan. I think free of a sales incentive, I really think that's the way to do it. And simultaneously, though, if somebody comes in because they saw an ad for 20 units of Botox and just. And you rubber stamp 20 units of Botox, that's not a good way to approach sales So I think sales, that word probably needs to be kind of out of our vocabulary as med spas and it needs to go to consultation treatment plans that are aligned with the patient goals. And the long game that you play when you do that, I think serves the patient better and it's more lucrative for the business long term. I just think it's a win, win.

[Raquel Merlini]

Yeah. Thank you so much. It's kind of our business model. It's, you know, like you said, the in depth consultation is very, very important and that's the part where you connect with the patient and then that expert care. Right. They know that, that I've been in the industry a long time with the plastics background also. I'm a 52 year old woman myself, so I'm going through menopause. You know, I have my adult children. I understand what it's like to one night of lack of sleep, you wake up and you're puffy and your eyes are hooded and you know, you're carrying water weight that you wouldn't ordinarily have. So I have a little bit of that experience that goes along too. And I'm experiencing it so I can kind of gravitate different age levels and brackets. And then most of my staff, they're in their 30s as well and I'm trying to keep that youthful so I can still connect with them. My kids are 30 and 28, so I think that's important too. Staying up on the times and what's going on. And then we do tailor our results to, you know what it is, that plan as well as keeping our patients comfortable, at ease both physically and psychologically. And then the ongoing support, doing our due diligence post care as well. And you asked about cross selling, so one of the big things too is, you know, I used to see this after a person would come in for their facelift follow up and they're like, you know, my, my, I do feel lifted and I feel a little bit tighter. But why do I still have all these lines on my face? And you know, just because you had your skin lifted doesn't mean that the texture of your skin is going to be altered or changed. And just because your skin was lifted, if you didn't have fat grafting with it, you still need revolumization. Right. So we're still going to have to do some of those fillers to target and get those fat pads a little revolumized. So when I'm in the treatment room with my patients and doing injectables, I'm Already talking about, you know, the benefits of microneedling, the benefits of an IPL to lift that pigmentation, the benefits of a CO2 laser for that resurfacing. So and then when my patients are in the aesthetics room and they're getting treated by the esthetician, she's saying the best wrinkle is the one you never get. So we can do everything we can here in the treatment room for your skin care. However, however, if you relax this frown line and your forehead, then you're not going to get that line. And then it's less that we have to do in the aesthetics treatment room with your skin care. So. And then of course, your home care. Right. So it is a little bit of a marriage and a relationship and crossing back and forth. And whenever I bring a patient up, I'm like, book a consultation with my esthetician and she does vice versa. So I guess that would kind of be where that cross selling would go. But again, it's always in the best interest. You know, I. If they have beautiful skin, let's just sell you take home a retin A. Everybody should be on a retin A. So it's not a hard push. It's just really what the results are that we know work.

[Ricky Shockley]

Yeah. Two things that come to mind. One is we had a patient rebooking roundtable recently on the podcast and one of the things that came up a lot was this injector esthetician wing womaning and that you just kind of described, which I think is great. The second thing that I think ties into what you just described though is, is you're selling things that you believe in. So like, you're not telling somebody to get a micronational session because you want to sell it. You're like, I actually really like the service. I think it actually helps generate the results that you're looking for. So there's a perfect, perfect alignment between sales and promoting things that you actually believe in, I think as practices. When you have a disconnect there, you're going to struggle massively. I have a lot of respect. One of the, one of the clients we have recently, he was running a sculpting machine and he was making a lot of money off it early in his business. And after a while, the patient satisfaction was just not good. And he was still selling these packages and he's like, I'm not going to sell this anymore. Like, I don't believe in it. I'm not going to sell it to people even if they want to buy it, because I don't believe in it. So I think with devices, this is going to be a good segue. With devices specifically, you have a lot of practices that buy these expensive devices. You look at real self and like satisfaction ratings, people don't really love them. They're not generating a great result, they're super expensive. And practices. How can I sell more of that thing? You've got a great alignment between the things that you're selling and what you actually believe in, which I think makes everything a million times easier. Segueing that you mentioned that you operate lean. This has been a topic that's come up over and over again on the podcast. I personally think the most successful path for med spas is to operate lean. And I think the mistake more often than not that med spas make is they are over leveraged in debt based on devices and machines that come in and out of popularity, that have low satisfaction ratings. The, the, the sales rep gives you a very idealized view of what the package, what sales actually look like. And that's actually a, a common pitfall that's come up on the podcast. So I really like the idea of staying lean. Can you talk about like the decision making process there, kind of how that's played out?

[Raquel Merlini]

Yes. So again, an advantage that I had was coming from a pretty large medical practice and there was two mistakes that I frequently. Well, there's a little more. But in the topic that we're speaking of with regards to machines, number one, I always feel that you should communicate with your technicians and your providers. So I feel that physicians can often get roped in. They, they go to a conference and they get scooped in and enamored with, you know, this machine, that's going to be the magic bullet, right? And if you don't speak with your technicians and ask can they stand behind the machine, I think that everybody should have a treatment themselves so that they know what to experience. Right. Because if you haven't had the treatment, you can't honestly give a example of what their patient is going to be going through or what the end result is going to be. So number one, I think it's really important to speak with your providers and technicians and say, hey, can you stand behind this machine? Again, I was a professional bodybuilder and I know that you can't hook me up to a coolsculpt machine and I'm going to lose all of these pounds magically and spend 3, $500. And that was the advantage that I would say, listen, before you go into a machine that's going to do fat dissolving. I don't want to name, I don't want to make anybody upset, but I don't need one of names, but a fat dissolving machine. The advantage I working for a plastic surgeon, I'm like, you know, you can take that 3,500 or 5,000 and just get liposuct right, or go and speak with a dietitian or a nutrition expert as well as hit the gym. So that was something I couldn't stand behind. I couldn't stand behind the machines either, that you were gonna hook up and flex your muscle in order to build that muscle, because I knew the time and energy that I had to spend in the gym to be able to achieve that sculpted muscle. Now, if you're at your weight that you're gonna carry and you're not still trying to lose weight, then maybe you will have already have to be lean to be able to see that result. So asking your provider, hey, can you sell this? Can you sell this procedure? And on those procedures, I said, now we're sitting here with $150,000 machine, and I personally am not going to get behind it because I'm result oriented. So I can't say to my patient, I've never tried to over promise and under deliver. I would rather under deliver and say, hey, you might need to come back for a couple more treatments. Let's see how this goes and give them a realistic expectation. Because I think that's where disappointment comes when. When you're hyped up and then you look in the mirror and you're like, I don't look any different. So that's one big pitfall. And then the other pitfall is when it comes to being a business owner, buying these machines, they're a huge investment. And it's not just the investment of the machine itself. It's then your disposables, it's your warranty, you know, having them come back and maintain the machine too. So for us, originally, when I opened our skin, I was going to be the only provider. And when I ended up leaving, the providers who I had hired and mentored looked at me and they said, well, we only stayed because of you. We want to go with you. And I was like, oh, gosh, I'm only 1,000 square feet. I have three treatment rooms. What am I going to do? I've got four providers. And. And I just said, you know what? I need to just keep my cost low. Let's do what we're good at what our ROIs, you know, what our fillers are, what our toxins are, and just be the best at what we can do. At that time, I trained my girls to do microneedling and chemical peels and dermaplane so that we could still have a little bit of that skin care marriage. And then I was able to bring on an esthetician, but that was a year and a half later. And then we brought on one machine, and it's a workhorse. I don't go, you know, a lot of people get caught up in a brand name like it's got to be the new hit machine that everybody's talking about. And you see on TikTok and Instagram. And my belief is, is it's not even the machine. Yes, technology improves. I think technology's great, but it's the provider, it's the technician who's running the machine. What is their knowledge? You know, what is their experience base? Are they familiar with skin? Do they know how they can treat it? So I think the pitfalls are speaking with your provider, asking if they can get behind the machine itself and then, you know, not hopping on the bandwagon because I didn't want to be over leveraged and then have to feel I have to sell.

[Ricky Shockley]

Hey there. Wanted to briefly interrupt the episode to make a quick ask Ask if you're a podcast listener. It would mean the world to us if you'd leave a review for the podcast, whether that's on itunes or Spotify. It's something I hadn't really remembered or thought of asking for, but it does help us show up more frequently so that we can reach more people with the information that we're providing. So it mean the world to us if you'd leave a review on itunes or Spotify. If you're listening on audio. If you're watching on YouTube, make sure to hit the subscribe button so you're in the loop for future videos. And you don't miss any of the content that we're putting out. A few takeaways I took from that is reverse the priority order here. When you're deciding to buy some sort of a device. Buy a device because it's something you believe in. Don't buy it because you've been sold that it's a good business opportunity.

[Raquel Merlini]

Right?

[Ricky Shockley]

Reverse Thor. I think too many people are buying a device because they think it's a good business opportunity. Your job, your mission is to provide amazing service and results for your clients. So, so change the order of priority if you're going to get a device. Buy something that you believe in, not something that just looks like a good business opportunity, under promise and over deliver. I think that's probably a mistake a lot of people make, especially with device sales. That was a really good tidbit. Avoid trends. Don't just jump on something because it's hot. If we learn anything from this, these things come in and out of vogue. You do not want a $200,000 debt on your books for something that was a trend for three months. So be very careful about jumping off the or jumping on the trends. And then just the over leveraging in debt I think is such a, an important thing that I think a lot of people jump on that and they make everything else way more stressful because they have these expensive device leases essentially. So those are great tips.

[Raquel Merlini]

Yeah, I'd rather put my money and my people, meaning staff. Like we're not a salon suite. When you walk in here, it is a whole experience. Like I said, I have a patient coordinator, I have two medical assistants that are very handy and then the providers. And if you're not able to book with me, I do book three months in advance. I'm trying to create the brand similar to a big named coffee shop. Right. You know, if you go on one corner, that coffee shop's there. And then if you go down the street to the same coffee shop, you're going to consistently get that same cup of coffee that's going to taste delicious. And for us it's if you can't get me, my girls are all trained by me. They're amazing. Their experience levels there. And again it just comes to that customer service aspect and providing quality.

[Ricky Shockley]

Yeah, amazing. A good segue into some, some hiring and team questions actually. So that was really cool that when, when your previous provider that you worked for was retiring, you had a bunch of people that were the providers that wanted to go with you. Obviously that says a lot about just your leadership ability. What, what do you think that that is? Why do you think you had that magnetism when you decided to jump ship that people wanted to join you? And what qualities do you look for in people that are on your team as you hire?

[Raquel Merlini]

Yeah, good questions. So again, one of the advantages that I have with my current team is that the familiarity because I was with them for a long time, being there myself for 13 years. My medical assistant, Michelle was a medical assistant there for 20 years and she ended up, she was my medical director, Dr. Cruz's medical assistant and then she ended up becoming my medical Assistant. And the big thing is, is everyone on my team shows up. And I've tried to create a Disneyland mentality. A patient of mine used to work at Disneyland and she told me that they were told if you're not in a good mood that day, they don't come to work because, you know, Disneyland, you're supposed to be happy, you're supposed to be there to show up for the patient. And with my team, you know, things happen if you're. If you're really not in a good frame of mind. And that's why I have probably a little bit more staff than even I really require. But it's to make sure that one. I don't want burnout. You know, I don't want my people to feel stressed or burned out with overwork and creating that team atmosphere that someone else has. You, right? Like show up, do your job, be happy to be here. And again, remember that the patient is first. And what's amazing is, especially as a woman, I have, my girls are not only beautiful on the exterior, they are truly the most beautiful human inside. And they work well together. Women don't always work well together. And the big thing is, is that creating that support. So when I watch my younger injectors sit and have like little think tanks of, you know, hey, Alex, what do you think? Do you think this is a good idea? Oh, my gosh, Amanda, let's go in and do a TikTok for this. You know, hey, girls, can we do like a vision board night? You know, they come over my house and we create and manifest our vision board for what we want to see in our personal, individual lives as well as our work life once year. So when it came to hiring, I had kind of looked at who handled certain situations also. It's keeping calm under pressure, not being reactive, being able to be mindful of your words and not trying to offend anybody. Having that 24 hour, you know, cool off period. If something happened that made you upset, I have an open door policy. You're more than welcome to come and speak with me, but. But take 24 hours, think about it. Because once you think about it, number one, you might not be as upset as you were in that moment, right? That emotional moment. But also when you have to come back in a cooling off period and then have that discussion, you tend to be a little bit more mindful of it. So. And then when we got here, even though I had worked with everybody for several years, I, including myself, we all took a personality test and then we sat in A huddle. And I said, you know, read off out of your personality quiz, what were some of your strengths and what were some of your weaknesses? Number one, for me, I hadn't been. I had been in a managerial role, but I wasn't in a business operator role. And I wanted to make sure that I understood how each individual team member, what would make them flourish and how I had to nourish them in order to be able to be the best that they could possibly be. And then I also wanted them to see that, you know, I'm not perfect either. This is a new role for me and, you know, this is my strengths and my weaknesses. So the personality test was kind of fun because we learned a lot, not only about ourselves, but kind of like, like, oh yeah, yeah, you do do that. So with problem solving. So I guess from a leadership and then also trusting in my people, I have to be. I don't micromanage. I really was mindful about putting the right people in the right positions. Right. Because I don't want to set anybody up for failure again. I think we all have strengths and weaknesses and if one person's better suited for one thing, then let's put you in that role as opposed to, why should I have you struggle? Because then I'm able to give you the anonymity, or not anonymity, the autonomy to be able to kind of flourish and grow. And I want to nurture that. So from a leader standpoint, you know, it's. It's just trusting in my team.

[Ricky Shockley]

So many good tidbits there. Again, I thought that was really incredible that your team is doing the kind of thing where they're like, we should go to your house and have a vision board night. I mean, that's an incredible amount of buy in from your team. I don't think most people have that. And I think there's obviously a big scale between employment that is very transactional versus the culture that you've built. Are there any other tidbits that you feel like have allowed you to build that type of culture? Like, why do you think that people on your team have that much buy in or so? So, like, it's very clear they care about what they're doing, they're excited about that. Any, any other insights on that? Because I thought it was really interesting.

[Raquel Merlini]

For the people that had been with me for a long time. So my one injector, she was my medical assistant first and she came to me and she was like, hey, Raquel, you know, I have a bachelor's But I've been working with you now for a year and do you think I could do what you do? And I said, oh my goodness, someone gave me an opportunity. Why would I not encourage you to do that? And she was a really good medical assistant and I didn't want to lose her because I knew what, you know, the fast track nursing program was going to be. But I said to her, hey, listen, you go to nursing school, you come back and I will teach you everything that I know. So here we are, fast forward five years later. She's one of my nurse injectors and she also does our social media. She's very, very talented. So I think the investment was I poured into her, she poured into me. So, so we have that connection. My other injector, Alex, she's amazing, very talented. She was a patient of mine and for many years her sisters and her mother had come to me and she was like, I would love to do what you do, you know. And I said, well, come shadow me for a day. Because being bedside and dealing with sick patients is very different than having to deal sometimes with needy, healthy who are paying you for service. So she shadowed me and I just. She's a doll and she's amazing. My other injector, Jalen, she's a nurse practitioner and she's just a doll. She's a health nut also. And she is good friends with her husband, is good friends with my son. So we had that connection. My two medical assistants, like I said, they had been at our previous location for a long time and I invested and they also saw me, me so in me starting my practice, I was first there as an esthetician. From an esthetician, I segued into working as a medical assistant and then I also worked in the or. I would pre op patients. I circulated and I recovered patients as well as did follow up. So it wasn't like I just became an injector and came in and said, okay, I'm going to inject. They saw me roll up my sleeves, get in the trenches with them, do follow ups and wherever. If there was something needed because someone didn't show up that day or they were overburdened with their tasks, I just jumped in. So I think they saw that I am a hard worker and very disciplined in what I do and perhaps that turned into a leadership. I don't know. I'm a mom, I always have my mom hat on. So I think the investment is both ways, both from them as well as they know that I'm there And I want to see them succeed. I also, and I'm sorry if I.

[Ricky Shockley]

Am rambling, but no, no, everything is solid gold.

[Raquel Merlini]

When we, when we came over here, I didn't make my girls do a non compete and a lot of people were like, oh my gosh, especially again in my area. It's. There is a med spa in every corner. I. When I came to the building that we're at, there was already an injector downstairs. And since we've been here, there's now two or three other injectors in this building alone. So. And I just don't look at it as competition, but. Oh God, Ricky, I lost my thoughts. Okay, hold on.

[Ricky Shockley]

Because it's. You didn't make them sign a non compete. You had a thought process as to why you didn't make them sign a non compete.

[Raquel Merlini]

Yes, thank you so much. I didn't want them to sign the non compete for the fact of I don't think you can buy loyalty. Guilty. Okay. I think again it goes back to that Disney World Disneyland idea ideology of I want you to be here because you want to be here. So I don't want someone to feel trapped and non competes really don't stand up, especially in the law here in the state of Michigan. But at the end of the day, if I have to strong arm you to stay, I don't want you here because I don't want you to quiet quit. I don't want you to ruin the culture that we have here. I'd rather you wish you well, no harm, no foul, go on about your business, you know, wish you all the best, but I just don't want the negativity here. And I want you to be here of your own volition because you feel that this is the best fit. So I personally again, maybe from a bad business standpoint, I don't have a non compete for my my girls.

[Ricky Shockley]

This episode is brought to you by Med Spa Magic Marketing, my agent. We help Med spas and aesthetics practices grow with more effective marketing strategies. And I know that's a vague phrase, right? That's a vague claim. So I have an offer for you. I offer this to any new prospects if you're interested in exploring any of them. Another marketing option, a new agency or just getting into Facebook, Instagram, Google Ads for the first time. I'd love to show you why we're different, what we're doing for clients. And we can do that via a one and a half hour planning session where I'll outline a specific marketing plan and I'll give you all of the blueprints that we would implement if we were to do business together. Now you can take that, use that on your own, hire someone else to help you execute it or work with us. We really don't hold anything back on that strategy call. And I think you'll have a lot of confidence in how you manage your marketing investment moving forward. Understanding some of the nuances that can help you implement more effective marketing strategies for your business. So if you want to do that, you can go to MedSpa Magic Marketing. So I was listening to something recently and the person was saying, in business you have three things, people, process and programs. And he said some of those other things are commoditized. The thing that's going to set you apart is your people. It seems like that's something that you really believe. So having top tier people is kind of a non negotiable. If those people don't have a positive attitude, they're not treating the patients well, they're, they're not really a plus in their work, then that's a reflection on your business. So I think that standard is really, really cool. How do you. Something else I heard recently was your dreams as a business owner need to be big enough to contain the dreams of your people. So how do you, how do you align an incentive structure that you said that that night you did the vision board that we're talking about, what you want out of your personal lives, your professional lives. I know that can probably get a little awkward. As the business owner, how do you manage that? How do you make sure that they're on a path to achieve what they want to achieve, just even financially and professionally in terms of what they want their work life balance to look like? Things like that.

[Raquel Merlini]

Yeah. So having that conversation with them. Right. Again, keeping the open dialogue, seeing what their aspirations are. Currently, my one talented injector, she's pregnant and she also works at the hospital. So you know her goal. I just asked her, you know, what does life look like after you have the baby? And for her, she really doesn't want to go back to the hospital. So, you know, again, because we are a little tighter space here. We are in the process of our expansion and creating three more rooms because she would like to come on full time. I need to have two rooms. So to be able with my patient clientele, population bounce back and forth between. So, you know, I had to look at her and say, how does this look for you? So having that open dialogue with your people, I think is so important. I think that you can get in the routine, the, the day in and the day out and you forget that, you know, they have their goals and, and their aspirations as well. So.

[Ricky Shockley]

Just communication is huge.

[Raquel Merlini]

I think so much can be solved with just having a conversation. And they can be hard conversations, they can be uncomfortable at times, but you have to have those in order for growth. So that's really important.

[Ricky Shockley]

Yeah. I think somebody said recently that what most practice owners do is they avoid the conversation because they worry that it might be awkward. And that is why people lose injectors. And you, your attention, your retention capabilities are really critical As a med spa, if you lose providers, you're going to have patient turnover because patients don't stay if the provider they were seeing doesn't, don't stay generally. So just conversations, transparency, to make sure that you are in alignment is important. Don't avoid the hard conversation. You mentioned earlier that you, you don't want to micromanage, so you really want to be able to trust your people to do their thing. How do you balance that with also ensuring that they're doing what you want them to do in terms of process consultation, the way that they treat patients? How do you ensure quality control that aligns with how you want your practice and your providers to run without being a micromanager? Like, you've got a way that you've done things that's obviously been very successful, your patients love you. When you have these other injectors and these other providers, how do you make sure that they're doing that they're aligned? So you talked about, like, when you go to one Starbucks, you can go to a Starbucks across town and the experience is similar. And as you scale, that becomes more and more important. How do you, how do you make sure that there's alignment there between the experience you give a patient and the experience they give a patient? Is that just training and education and, and you being the per. You mentioned that you're the person that trains your providers. I'm assuming that's a critical part of that.

[Raquel Merlini]

This. Yes, it is a critical part of it. I have really good relationships with my reps, which is important. I'm going to a training and education tonight. I always say to my reps, if there's any training or education, can you please keep us abreast of it? My girls don't even need to inject, but I like for them constantly to be stimulated, learning different tools and techniques, also going to different locations to see, see how different providers run their businesses. And you know, their med spas. So that constant, constant education. I will go online sometimes and I'll look at conferences. I sent the girls downtown, there was a palette course. So I try to stay up on that with having them have every opportunity possible because the continuing education is huge. The industry is always changing. Someone has a different or a new, new pearl of wisdom or a different technique and I want them to be knowledgeable about that and, and do have that experience. So they'll sometimes shadow me. We'll do in house trainings and kind of go through things. I'll, I'll say, you guys get a model, let me observe and then we'll go through. And again, I don't think it's, you know, at first they would kind of be nervous because it's whenever the boss is like looking over your shoulder. But I'm like, I don't want you to think of me as your boss. I want you to think of me as another provider. Because I actually still learn things from my girls. You know, they're up on TikTok, they're up on watching all of these videos and you know, I'll come away with a little pearl of wisdom that is like an aha moment. Like, oh, I didn't know that you could do it that way. I mean, when I first started out, Botox wasn't even approved for the forehead. We were only doing a five point injection on the Glabella. You didn't do anything to the lower face. So. And then we've got group chats where, you know, if they see something, they're like, hey, this is a really good, you know, idea. Look into this. So again, we're constantly, always talking and speaking and doing think tanks.

[Ricky Shockley]

So that kind of like pursuit of excellence is kind of just infused in the culture. The fact that you've got group threads where you're sharing ideas and cool new things and oh, did you see how this person was doing this? I think that is the stuff with we, we call it like a 1% improvement mentality. We've got a little emoji in our team chat, but it's that type of mentality. How do we find a way to be 1% better and not just going, I learned what I learned, this is what I do. Like always having your eyes open to continuing education opportunities. And so much of continuing education, I think this is a hesitation people have with learning in general is 85 to 90% of it is going to be stuff you've already kind of heard or you already know new it's just, where do you find the extra little nugget and how do you find the extra little nugget time and time again to make you better and better as a provider? Love that.

[Raquel Merlini]

And not being defensive, being open. Right. To constructive criticism and pointers. Again, like I said, I mean, I learned so much from my girls also. So, yes. Working together and having that open dialogue.

[Ricky Shockley]

So I think by all available evidence, you've been very successful in the duration that you've been in business and you've got very busy books and things. What has been your most effective marketing strategy, whether it's social media, word of mouth, how have you grown the business?

[Raquel Merlini]

So how we've grown really is our referral program. We have some amazing referral programs in the sense that not only will we. So I don't. I won't do Groupon. Not that there's anything against that. And we don't discount prices. I think that that works for some, but for us, again, we are a concierge experience. But our referral program will not only reward our new patient, but we also reward the current patient. So whether it's 10 free units of Botox or maybe $50 off of a syringe, just to say, hey, thank you for recommending us and, and trusting us that you would recommend us to a family or a friend. So we are really. Our growth is. I mean, I'm still getting new patients. I thought maybe I had peaked at the previous location. And then coming here, I was like, okay, I'm taking my 2000, 3000 patient list with me, but. But I'm still seeing three to four new patients a week based upon referrals, as well as my girls are too. So that's been big. What else have we been doing? We'll do flash sales. We do a great. Once a year, our Black Friday special that everybody. I carried it over from our previous location. I keep my patients in constant reminder that we're going to have this Black Friday special. Come on in here. It's you put a hundred dollars down and then we'll give you a certain percentage off that you can use for up to six months. So I think that's the way that we've had best success. I was listening. You know, I. I really enjoyed one of your recent podcasts about maybe doing. I'm not really ready yet for a membership program, but I like the idea of a punch card.

[Ricky Shockley]

Yeah, I thought it was interesting.

[Raquel Merlini]

That was a really good. I encourage everybody. Everybody check that last podcast.

[Ricky Shockley]

Yeah, that's the Louis Frisino, the recent episode of Louis Frisino. Yep. Yeah, that's, that's cool. And so many practices again, looking for the silver bullet. The reality is any business, the. The strongest position you can be in is to have referrals and word of mouth. But in order to have that happening, you have to be a plus. I think so many people think that they're doing a good job, but good is not good enough because those people have options. The services that we offer are commoditized. The relationships and the connections are not. So that's the way that you differentiate. That's the way that you stand out. That's the reason Raquel has three or four new patients without even really trying to achieve new patient growth because she's already busy. Like when you do an exceptional job and I go to Google and I see nothing but 5 star reviews, that's going to lend itself to word of mouth and referral business. And there are a lot of things you can do to supplement your growth, but there's nothing better than that. As a med spot. I think it's an awesome place to be that you don't have to spend money on marketing and advertising and you're busy. Like that's a really phenomenal place to be. But you got to be exceptional to get to that point. So stop looking for the silver bullet. Be refined in the details of everything that you do care about your patients. Put an emphasis on service, put an emphasis on your people. Be a good leader. I think all of those things are super critical. Raquel, any last tidbits to add?

[Raquel Merlini]

Yeah, just be authentic, you know, be exactly who you are and let the patient see you know that you are there for them and creating that safe environment for both psychologically and medically, you know, customer service is building that relationship. And if anybody can take anything away from this, it's not a fleeting encounter. It is building that rapport. Because when you build that relationship, they are going to constantly. Some of my patients have been with me for 13 years, from the beginning. So I've grown as an injector. They've grown. I know their life and it's just connecting and providing safe space for that patient. So they want to return.

[Ricky Shockley]

Yeah, I love that. Raquel, I think this was a phenomenal episode. Thank you for sharing all these insights. Where can people learn more about you and what you're up to, your business?

[Raquel Merlini]

Yes. So our website is our skin dot net. Our social media is our skin esthetics on Instagram. So at our skin esthetics and then my personal page is is at our skin admission. And we've got some exciting things happening here, like our expansion. And we'd love to hear from you.

[Ricky Shockley]

Yeah. And I would encourage you guys to follow and connect with Raquel. We'll make sure that those links are all in the show notes. Raquel, thank you so much for joining us.

[Raquel Merlini]

Oh my goodness. Thank you so very much for having me.

[Ricky Shockley]

Thanks everyone for tuning in. This podcast is a production of medspa Magic Marketing. The if your med spa or aesthetic practice is in need of digital marketing services, help with advertising on Facebook, Instagram, Google lead generation and booking more appointments, please visit Medspamagicmarketing.com.