Mastering Aesthetics with Nicole Schaefer: Insight from a 30-Year Veteran

This week's pod cast features Nicole Schaefer, a seasoned registered nurse and licensed medical esthetician with three decade sin the aesthetic industry and a background in cardiology. Nicole shares her journey, from starting her aesthetic career before transitioning into nursing to opening her first med spa at age 25. She offers invaluable insights into the industry's evolution, debunking myths, and the importance of education and clinical experience for PDO Threads. Nicole emphasizes the necessity of staying updated on trends and technology, the significance of patient education, and avoiding common pitfalls such as overfilling with fillers. Additionally, she outlines her consultation approach, marketing strategies, and future outlook in aesthetics. Whether you're a new or experienced injector, this episode provides a wealth of knowledge from an industry expert. Don't miss Nicole's practical advice and inspiring story!

Transcript

Join us as we welcome Nicole Schaefer, a seasoned registered nurse and licensed medical esthetician with three decades in the aesthetic industry and a background in cardiology. Nicole shares her journey, from starting her aesthetic career before transitioning into nursing, to opening her first med spa at age 25. She offers invaluable insights into the industry's evolution, debunking myths, and the importance of education and clinical experience for PDO Threads. Nicole emphasizes the necessity of staying updated on trends and technology, the significance of patient education, and avoiding common pitfalls such as overfilling with fillers. Additionally, she outlines her consultation approach, marketing strategies, and future outlook in aesthetics. Whether you're a new or experienced injector, this episode provides a wealth of knowledge from an industry expert. Don't miss Nicole's practical advice and inspiring story!

 Nicole, welcome. Thanks for having me. Very excited. Absolutely. Nicole, why don't you take a few minutes and tell us about yourself? My name is Nicole Schaefer. I am a licensed registered nurse and I am also a licensed medical esthetician as well. I've been in the aesthetic world for about 30 years and I also have a 15 year background in cardiology as well. I was always doing aesthetics, even when I was doing nursing, and I actually started in the aesthetic world first.  How did you get started in the aesthetic world? Cardiology, aesthetics, what, how did that transpire?

I  have always aspired to be in medical. Medical beauty always was my niche, and  as I, started to come into the roadways of figuring out how I can do this, I went to school as a esthetician, but with that I had a background also in being a makeup artist. So I did makeup for a long time and then grew on that and this sounds very cliche, but as a child, people, they ask, what do you want to do when you grow up? And I was like, I want to be a doctor. I want to be a nurse and I actually did pursue that. Out of high school, doing the whole nursing thing, the aesthetic thing.

I just got into it into the aesthetic world. I opened up my first med spa when I was 25  and it was crazy because I was doing advanced facials, skin care, makeup and then I met this woman who was an NP who  Was doing Botox and Botox back then in 2000, 99, 2000 was the only aesthetic cosmetic injectable on the market and one Juvéderm.

We were doing that out of my spa and seeing patients and it was fairly new and from then is when everything blossomed.  I said, you know what, this is where I'm going and really was playing with cosmetic injectables back in the 2000 and like around 2000, 2001. Being in the industry and seeing how it has evolved from where I started is absolutely incredible. 

So after 30 years of being in this industry, what are, okay, you've probably seen it all at this point.  What are some of the myths about the job or just the industry as a whole that you've experienced? I can tell you this. It's not easy. It is not easy getting your foot in the door. It takes years of being so proficient and being a master injector.

And, you really need to know the medical aspect of aesthetics. I've seen things happen. Things do happen and just because you go to nursing school, a lot of people come out and I am seeing this now. Girls are just going to nursing school to jump into aesthetics and Yes, I love aesthetics.

It's my world now. That's all I do. I, breathe it, sleep it, eat it every day. You really need to have that education, that nursing 101, the knowledge, the clinical training, the whole clinical aspect that comes into it. Yeah, so a lot of advice that I give a lot of people that are aspiring to get into the aesthetics field. 

 You're going to hear a lot of no you have to put the work in and I highly recommend having that clinical experience in a hospital and getting that base. And slowly getting into aesthetics because you just don't open your doors and people are going to flood to you. It doesn't work like that.

Sadly,  unfortunately, not.  Yeah. So having education and knowledge and skill as your base,  how do you again, after 30 years, stay updated and stay on top of the trends and the technology that's out there.  Education, a lot of reading, a lot of being involved in different networks of the aesthetic industry talking to other seasoned injectors, doctors and really just really staying on the forefront of technology and the way aesthetics is really is going into and, like I said prior, the world of aesthetics, it changes so much and it changes every day. So it's your responsibility as a injector and listening to your patients to really, find the knowledge, find the products, find out what is going to be the next. So I'm constantly going to events, reading about things and you get a lot of information that way, and then you bring it in, you try it. I do little clinical studies on patients and myself before I introduce it into the practice and really go ahead and use it on patients.

It's working because you look great. Oh, thanks. I just turned 55. I was like, oh, yeah, would never have guessed that never ever have guessed. Wow.  Good for you. Your product.  Yeah. Did you hear that, folks? She said it's our threads.  It's amazing. It is. It really is. What do you see as the biggest challenge ahead for the industry in the next 5 to 10 years?

Really educating your patients.  I am a huge clinical educator. Your patients, if you don't educate them you're not gonna get that trust, that relationship. Coming into this as an aesthetic trainer and clinical educator to really  keep those folks out there. 

Knowing and educating them so they know what they're getting. I get a lot of patients that come in from other practices that, want to change things up, want to try different things,  different provider and I ask them questions.

What did you have done? What was put in to your face? I have no idea. For me, going forward,  all you injectors out there, make sure you're telling your patients exactly what you're doing, exactly what you're putting in. My patients always leave with verbal what to expect and also paper.

I always write and give to them what to expect because nine times out of ten your patient's going to text you in a day or two and ask you  the same question that you answered or may have in your literature that you handed out. So, for going and foreseeing to avoid those type of problems in the future is key and big for me. 

I like that a lot. I am coming from the outside of the aesthetic industry and in making my way in from the company side. I really just always assumed that the protocol was in place for every patient to receive that and the longer I've been in the business, the more I realized that's not necessarily industry standard, which is very surprising to me. Very surprising. Yeah. What may have been surprising for you in the last couple of years or even just recently that you've noticed in the aesthetic industry.

It's hard to do this but very baby, baby new injectors are doing some things that they are not quite ready to do and it can be not such a good result or outcome. So I see a lot of that and I do, I fix. I correct some work because of that because they think they're getting a better deal and it's less expensive, and they're going to an injector that's not as experienced.  I'm just saying this from experience too, I trained for years before touching somebody. It's great, everybody wants to jump in and start injecting because it's like, it's exciting, it's an amazing field to be in 

but don't run before you can crawl and it's okay to take your time as a new injector to, gain your skills and be super proficient in that element of injecting. So  very well said. And for folks that are listening or watching Nicole and I did not pre discuss this. So I'm thrilled to hear you say this because one of our stances that Les Encres has been from the very beginning, like you said you, Crawl before you learn to walk or run, meaning we want you to be very proficient at putting in the mono and screw threads before you ever touch one of the big barb threads. The barb threads are sexy and they're fun and they look great on social media, but if you don't know what you're doing, that's bad news, bad for the industry as a whole and that's what scares me and why we take our training so very serious, but outside of the education and the experience, what would you say is the most important lesson you've learned in your career in aesthetics? Don't ever be too confident,  stay humble  and always be a sponge in learning and don't take criticism in a bad way in this industry because it's learning  so you can't get offended. You need to have a thick skin.  And it sounds like you've got a very curious mind as well or a mind for learning, which I do bring to just an ideal patient consultation.

I bet you give great consultations when you're working with your patients. How do you dial into what the aesthetic goals of your patients are when you're giving the consultation?  As soon as the door opens and I see the patient, I start assessing even when they're talking and I really like to see that because when the patient is talking, I'm looking at their natural  facial movements.  I say this to my patients all the time.  If it doesn't bother you, it's not bothering me.  I will never have my patient come in for a consult  and leave feeling horrible about themselves. 

So my key is to really listening to my patients, what they want to see in the mirror as an end result,  but keeping their expectations completely realistic.  Also, not changing their appearance, but enhancing their beauty. I convey that to my patients that if you're coming in to look like your face is going to be completely frozen and you're going to look like wax. 

A mannequin. I'm not your girl.  I, and this is a huge reason why I absolutely love  your products  because you really can give patients the most beautiful, natural, youthful outcomes.  Without  just filling their faces with a bunch of filler. For me, with my patients, they know that, they're going to look natural and I convey that to them. I can't say it enough. So having a detailed consultation and really listening to your patients and what they want to target.  And then from there, getting them on a beauty plan.  So I tell them I'm not a magician. It's not going to be a one and done. And I use this theory all the time, women that get their hair done and men that get their hair done.

You want your hair to look good, right? So in the world of aesthetics, you’re not going to see me every 2 weeks, but I'd like you to see me at least 4 times a year.  So we put a plan in place very smart. What do you do for your practice as a whole from a marketing standpoint? If you're working with your patients to get their plan in place, What do you have in place for your practice? I do a ton of social media marketing. I do a lot of paper magazines, print most of my referral, it's referral based. I get a ton of referrals.  I've been featured in a bunch of local tri state area magazines. I've been interviewed for MSN and then also I have an upcoming article feature that will be in USA today.  Oh, that's really exciting. Yeah, so it's been a long time though.

It's like I said, I've been doing this for so long and I would say probably in the last six, seven years as really when things have just exploded. So it takes time. Hard work,  a lot of hard work. Question of the hour. Where do you see yourself in your practice in 5 years with new technologies, anything new products? What's the direction you're seeing? I  think I'm gonna keep bringing those new patients and keep the retention of my client base and patient base now, but continue to grow. I do have a small staff that works with me that I couldn't do it without them.

Because you can't be a one man show. I wish I could. I wish I could duplicate myself, but that's not going to happen. So continue to grow, continue to explore new technologies, new products out there and if it's brought to me, I try it and if it works, I love it and I bring it in and just continue to stay on the path I'm doing.

Keep going where I'm going. This is one of my favorite questions to ask people. What is something people should start doing and something people should stop doing within the aesthetic industry, whether injector or patient you choose? Okay, so stop overfilling your patients with fillers because it's not a good look.

It's just not. There's a very specific look you get when you overfill faces. This has been the baseline of me as a provider,  the collagen and bio- stems, threads.  I love my tox and I love my fillers. They have their places, but they're not targeting collagen stimulation and treating on the cellular level.

 Like I said, I want people to be beautiful, natural, have movement in their faces and really look at  the patient as a whole and just enhance and don't overdo  and good skin care. Good skin care is key it's apples to oranges with over the counter to your clinical, medical grade skin care.

 You mentioned your team and that they are pivotal in your success.

What is something that's motivating your team right now? How do you keep your team motivated?  I'm excited with, they get their treatments and they see the results, right? So that's a perk in our industry, right? That's true. That's really nice. Educating, being supportive, hearing them. I try to, accommodate their needs and listen to them. I come from a very big  health care system so sometimes when you're working in that medical field and you're not being heard from a clinical standpoint, it gets very frustrating. So I try to, listen, understand, and have that human side of listening to my girls, but also, I want them to be prepared and educated and knowledgeable,  I teach them as I go.

So when I'm doing the full thread facelifts,  as I'm doing them, my medical assistants, I'm explaining to them and showing them. This is why I'm doing this. If you look at the person and explain the golden ratio, right? As we're younger as we age and teaching them. So when they're talking to patients, they can actually explain things to them as well. It's really motivating and keeping them excited for aesthetics and new things to come and understanding.  We get a lot of experienced injectors like yourself that listen to the podcast, but we also get a lot of new injectors as well and we oftentimes get a lot of feedback on this particular question. So I'll ask you as well. If you were sitting next to an industry expert. What would you ask them today? 

That's a hard question because there's so many of them.  So really, like,  how did you get to where you are? How do you learn what you learn? Was it trial and error? What works best for you? In a business standpoint to succeed to be a leading provider in this industry. What are some of your little tips and tricks to stay  above the rest?

 I like that. If we all had the million dollar answer to that, right?  Yep. You mentioned this in the very beginning with the power of education and knowledge and hard work, but just to close things out. What would you tell a new injector or someone looking to get started in the aesthetics career today?

What advice would you give them outside of the hard work?  Try to get under someone's wing that is a very seasoned injector. Shadow, ask questions and, don't be too quick to pick up a needle.  Really just understand facial anatomy, that's so important. Different products, what they're going to do, why they're going to do it and understand. 

So really asking questions.  Nicole, this was very  informational today. Very enjoyable. Thank you. Where can people find you?  So I'm located in Cherry Hill in New Jersey. I have all social media platforms. It's  NS. aesthetics.  A E S T H E T I C S. It's spelled that way    and then our website. I'm always on the, social media platforms, always posting and everything and if people have questions and they want to ask, please feel free. I love to interact with other injectors and also patients or potential patients or current patients that have questions. So I can, be as helpful as I can.  Wonderful thank you very much. We appreciate your time and everything you contributed to us in the aesthetics industry.

Thank you. I'm so happy I could do this with you today. I was very excited to do it.  Absolut