The Speech Source
Mary Brezik and Kim Dillon are two pediatric speech-language pathologists with over 25 years of combined experience. As speech therapists, we are often the first professionals to assess young children once they are referred by their pediatrician. Either they are not talking well or they are not eating well. We get to know our patients, their families, and how they are developing. We have a front row seat during the first critical and formative years of development for those who receive our services. Because of this, we have developed relationships with other professionals, observed what parent questions and concerns often arise, and see a need to share the resources and information we have compiled over the years. Join us as we dig into topics that show all of the overlapping aspects of child development and intervention. We invite you to be a part of our collaborative platform as we discuss, learn and grow for the betterment of our kids!
The Speech Source
S3E2: Abby Henegan with Abby Henegan Aesthetics
In this episode, we chat with the inspiring Abby Henegan, a wife, mom, and registered ICU nurse turned entrepreneur. Abby shares her journey from nursing school to owning her own aesthetics business, focusing on the challenges she faced, how she finds balance between her work and personal life, and her philosophy behind aesthetics.
By fostering an environment of kindness and genuine care, Abby sets a high standard in the aesthetics industry, ensuring that her clients leave feeling truly confident and beautiful. She emphasizes that aesthetics is more of an art than a science and took time to hone her skills with the guidance of several mentors.
She reveals the importance of word-of-mouth referrals, continuous learning, and genuine networking within the industry. Abby also introduces her specialized training program for aspiring injectors, emphasizing personalized learning and mentorship over large, impersonal classes.
This episode is packed with practical advice, personal stories, and professional insights, making it a great listen for anyone looking to start a business in their own field.
Interested in learning more about Abby, check out Abby Henegan Aesthetics
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I am so excited to introduce a friend of mine but also an incredible entrepreneur and business owner. Her name is Abby Hennigan and she is a wife and mother of two beautiful girls and a registered nurse, and she has started her own business, abby Hennigan Aesthetics. And so we are going to hear from Abby today all about how she started her business, how she finds that elusive balance of work and personal life, and how she's created this incredible model for herself in the world of aesthetics, which is so broad. So welcome, abby. We're so excited you're here today.
Speaker 2:Thank you, and thank you for having me. I'm honored to have been asked to come here, so thank you.
Speaker 1:Let's get started by talking about your background, Abby. Tell us how you got started nursing school and then what happened next to be able to make it to your business today.
Speaker 2:I went to nursing school in Lubbock. I went to tech and worked as a nurse for a little bit there in ICU. I'd always known I wanted to be a nurse, but I also always wanted to do hair and makeup. It was a weird I want to do that, but I want to be a nurse, and so I anyways. I just picked nursing and went to nursing school, got my first job as an ICU nurse and loved that, and then realized that all of my friends were leaving Lubbock and moving to DFW, fort Worth and so I thought I want to go with my friends and so I just moved to Fort Worth and followed them and got a job at JPS in the trauma ICU, which was wild and incredible and so much fun and something I never really envisioned for myself. I always wanted to be a baby nurse working in the NICU taking care of little babies, but I wound up at a trauma hospital working level one trauma. I met some incredible doctors and nurses who are still my friends to this day.
Speaker 2:But at a certain point I don't really remember exactly what it was, but a friend of mine brought up the idea of taking a Botox class and I was like Botox class, that sounds fun. That just sounded like a fun thing to do, and so she and I went to Houston and took a little class and I really just fell in love with it and the idea was we could work as trauma nurses and we could do Botox on the side and that would be a great way to make some extra money. It did not turn out to be that simple. You can't just take a class and then have you know Botox shipped to your house and do it. So it took me a while to figure out how to get into aesthetics, but once I did I was just so happy to be there and I left trauma, I left bedside nursing and I've really never looked back.
Speaker 1:There are so many different types of degrees that are finding aesthetics, so can you speak a little bit more to, like you said, it's not that simple of just taking a class. What was your process to get from? Okay, here's my class and I want to do it with my friends to this is a business, yeah.
Speaker 2:And I really get asked this a lot. So I'm glad that you asked, and I hope whoever's listening I might share this with some people who message me or whatever, asking how to get into it. But my process was, after I took that class, I I realized, okay, I can't just do this by myself. You can't take a class. You have to have a doctor over you we call that like a medical director and we have to have a certain type of insurance. You have to have all of these things. So my next thought was well, maybe I can go get a job working in a med spa somewhere. And so I really typed up a resume. I probably spruced it up a little more than it was, you know, true, but I just went knocking on doors all around Fort Worth and just handing them my resume, asking if they were interested in hiring a kind of brand new injector with very little experience, but it was something until somebody took a chance on me and hired me.
Speaker 2:So another thing I always like to tell people is I've had really incredible people that I've come across in my life who were willing to take a chance on me, and one of them is somebody who I still admire to this day. She's actually a friend of my mom's and she owns a very successful med spa in San Angelo, Texas, where I grew up. And she my mom phoned a friend and asked a favor if I could just come and shadow her for a day or two, which now I realize people ask that of me a lot, and while I would love for everyone to get to come shadow, it's not near as simple as it sounds, but at the time Lisa, the woman who owned that med spa, she made it very simple and she was so gracious and she opened her doors and she let me come in and shadow her. And luckily, one of her sales reps in her territory was also a sales rep for the Fort Worth territory. And so she asked the sales rep hey, do you know any accounts in Fort Worth who might be willing to hire a new nurse? I'll give this person my blessing if you could get her in a door. And so she actually reached out to a few of her accounts and one of them was like sure, I'll interview her.
Speaker 2:And that kind of started my career. I got the job and was able to start working as an injector there. So I always have to credit all the people who have helped me along the way, because without Lisa, that door would have never been open for me. I would still be knocking on doors and handing my resumes and people just smiling and nodding as I walked out and no intention of ever calling me. So I'm grateful for her, definitely, and I try to now be that for other people as best as I can.
Speaker 3:And is that the setting where you learned, okay, I have this skill, because I think a lot of people go into wanting to start a business as I have this skill, I know I can run a business with this skill, whatever that skill is. But then, like you said earlier, there are so many other pieces if you're going to have your own business as far as the insurance or having to be under somebody, or just all these other little business-minded ideas that maybe we didn't learn during our profession or whatever our schooling was. So was that setting in that first med spot where you were able to observe everything that you were going to have to do if you did this and did you have that desire at that point?
Speaker 2:That's a great question. So to be honest and I guess first you say, okay, I have this skill. Really, truly, I had no skill as a nurse at a hospital bedside. That's one thing. Yes, I knew how to inject medication or draw up medication, but what I didn't realize with Botox or any injectables was after that initial class that I took. Sure, you have the basics, but going into that first job I realized it's more of an art than a science and it took a while for me to develop my skillset. And luckily the woman who I worked for was willing to train me from the ground up and so I had a lot of really incredible mentors there who allowed me room to grow and kind of room to learn that skillset.
Speaker 2:And honestly, at the time I would have never thought that I would be where I am now. I would have never in my wildest dreams thought that one day I would own that business. I always just thought I don't know how she does it. I don't know how she keeps all the product on hand and deals with the medical directors and deals with the insurance and does her books and her finances. That world really terrified me actually, and so I thought I'll probably just work for somebody in this industry my whole life. I'll probably never go do my own thing because at the time it just seemed so hard and like how do you even begin? Where do you even start? So it really took until my second daughter was born before I thought I needed a little bit more flexibility in my life. I struggled really with figuring out how to be present in my kids' lives and also be the employee that the woman I was working for at the time really needed me to be, and she and I had some tough talks which basically led to she needed someone who could be there full time and I needed to work somewhere that allowed me a little bit more flexibility. And so us parting ways. While it was heartbreaking because I loved that person deeply and I was so thankful for everything that she had done for me as far as training me and helping me to build the skill that I can now credit my whole I did have to make that choice and it was really hard.
Speaker 2:But I will say that one hard choice led to just the idea of maybe I could do it by myself. If I could just find a medical director, maybe he could help me, or if I could just find a little space, maybe if I could just find one little thing, I could start this process. And one little thing leads to another little thing and before I knew it, I was like I might actually could do this. This actually seems realistic, this actually seems possible, and I can't again, I can't credit enough just being able to reach out to people who were in the industry, who had helped me, whether it was like sales reps from other companies or even just friends who also were injectors, that I had met at different trainings or different offices.
Speaker 2:I really had to rely on people and everybody was just so great and so helpful and so encouraging and I loved that. I thought, wow, you're sharing all your secrets with me. But thank you, cause I wouldn't be able to do this without you. And so slowly it just started becoming more and more realistic and I told my husband at the time he was very like no, too much risk, we don't need to own a business. And I was like, no, I think we could, I think I could, I think I could do this. And slowly it just started happening. And again, I just credit people that have helped me along the way. There have been millions and millions of people who have just helped when I asked, and I couldn't have done it without them.
Speaker 1:That's amazing the art of injecting and aesthetics. You really had an eye for that, in addition to your nursing background already.
Speaker 2:Right. Yeah, I think what I learned when I started doing injectables getting better at it, doing it more often I think it opened back that dream of mine that I had with hair and makeup and glamor that I had none of at JPS and a trauma ICU. That is not a very glamorous job. I think it really allowed me to use my skillset and my nursing degree in a way that maybe I was always designed to use. I do think the gift that I think I was given was probably an artful eye, because that part has always been fun and that part has always felt pretty natural. So what a great way to get to use my degree from school have and also the education that I got, which is fun. But it is something that I think can be learned. I think if you have it naturally it's easier, but I definitely think that it's something that you can be taught for sure.
Speaker 1:I want to go ahead and read aloud something that you have on your website, because I thought it was so incredibly well-written and something that most people aspire to be a part of it says we embrace the philosophy that less is truly more. In an industry overwhelmed by fleeting trends and constant noise, we stand firm in our belief that understated elegance and simplicity offer the most profound beauty. Our approach is centered around enhancing your natural features with refined techniques and high quality products, delivering results that are both timeless and effortless. What an amazing mission statement that you have not only created a business that provides a service, but you have your own look, you have your own dream, and your patients get to be a part of this same desire and the same goal to age elegantly or be your best self. How do you develop that on your own individual style to do that?
Speaker 2:Thank you, that's very kind, but yes, that is. That is exactly how we feel. So during my search in the very beginning of trying to find a job, knocking on med spas doors, I did have an experience with somebody who gave me time to sit with her for what I thought was more like an interview and working at this space, but what she thought was like a consultation for me as a patient, and I was very young, I think at the time I was maybe 23. And I sat down with this woman and we started by her taking a photo of me and I really was just like letting her lead the way, thinking, okay, we're taking a picture, cool. That led to her looking at my photo and picking apart my face and telling me that, for a 23-year-old, I had terrible skin and deep wrinkles and I had zero lips and I needed cheek filler here.
Speaker 2:And what transpired next was the worst feeling I have ever felt in my life. I was embarrassed, I was mortified. I could not believe I had been walking around so ugly my whole life. I also wanted to just cry and I I simply remember saying I'm sorry, I thought we were going to talk about me working here. I'm sorry to waste your time. I've got to go and I left and I remember just feeling terrible and literally in that moment I told myself I'm going to find a job somewhere. I know that I will, and my mission from here on out is to never make somebody feel the way this woman just made me feel in five minutes by tearing apart my face and I was fine, I was 23. I looked great, but she made me feel terrible and it just sparked something in me.
Speaker 2:It doesn't have to be that way. Aesthetics doesn't have to be. You are ugly and we want to make you pretty. That's not it. That does nothing for anybody's soul or confidence. We are all made perfectly the way that we are. All we simply need is to feel our best, and a lot of that comes with taking care of ourselves. And my approach to aesthetics is genuinely how can I make you feel like your best self? I don't want to take your face and make you look like someone else. I simply want to just restore a little youthfulness. I want to eliminate a few shadows. I want to just give you confidence.
Speaker 2:But the changes, the biggest changes that are happening in our office are usually more internal than they are external and getting to be a part of somebody feeling good about themselves doesn't take as much product as you would think. A lot of times it just takes a kind listening ear or someone coming in with a mile long list of things they don't like about themselves and you just saying stop, this is too much. Are you kidding me? Look at you, you look wonderful. We don't need to change all of this, you know anyways. Yeah, it's been a huge mission of mine and, most importantly, I have two little girls at home who I think are the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my life, not only on the outside but on the inside.
Speaker 2:And so, at the time that I was starting my business, my internal turmoil, I guess you would say, was how do I have a business and aesthetics that is just this industry that is making people look different, or it's so focused on the way people look? How can I be part of this, which I want to be a part of it. I love it and I feel good at it. So how can I do this but also create healthy self-image for my kids? And so I really just thought it's easy. I'm just not going to make people feel bad about the way they look.
Speaker 2:That's not what we're here for. We want people to feel empowered and inspired and confident. We don't need to change the way they look to do that. We can make simple changes. We can do simple things. We can get on a good skincare regimen and have healthier skin, and that can lead to ultimately changing the way people feel about themselves and changing the energy they put back into the world. And I think my kids get a healthy view of that, because I hope that I don't ever take it too far in what I do to my own self. I hope they see that I'm putting sunscreen on every day, drinking water, taking care of myself, and that I'm also working hard in a business doing something that I love, and I'm doing it in a way that's being true to myself, and hopefully that's what they pick up on, not so much my mom injects people's faces with Botox and hopefully they're picking more up on the why behind it versus what I'm actually doing, and I think so far we're doing a pretty good job.
Speaker 3:I love how you explained all of that, because you think about when people go to the hair salon or the nail salon and they're looking for something just like you explained, to give them re-energize themselves or feel a little bit better about themselves, and then the person that's doing that whether they're your manicurist or they're your hair person you always end up opening up and sharing and talking.
Speaker 3:And I feel like your initial desire to go into nursing you have that ability to connect with people. You care about making them feel better as a person, and so I think you've clearly transitioned that into your business now and I guarantee you a lot of the people that keep coming back to you. It's probably not just because of your amazing ability to do what you're able to do with injectables because I know that is amazing but it's probably the way that you do connect with them and the way you make them feel on that level. So I love that you've written that out in your mission statement and you're clearly living that out in the way you run your business. And that was one of our questions was how does your business model differ from all of the other business models for your niche? And I think you explained that perfectly. I think anyone can walk away and say this is how this is different.
Speaker 2:I appreciate that and it is really important to me and I'm glad that people feel that way and I say, more often than not my treatment chair becomes a therapy chair and it's probably my favorite part of it because leaving bedside nursing especially at the level of a level one trauma center, going into aesthetics there were some people from my past who were like, are you kidding me? You're going to go into aesthetics? You were saving lives and now you're just going to go push product in people's faces. And I truly struggled with that for a while, thinking God at JPS. There's just so much pride in what I'm doing. It's so honorable to be working this hard alongside people who are really sick and dying.
Speaker 2:And the more that I have been in aesthetics, the more I realized they could not have been more wrong. I am able to still help and connect with people in the same ways that I was before, if not even more meaningful, because we actually have time to get to know each other and talk, and it's my favorite part of the job. It truly is. It's what keeps me going. I've been doing this now for 10 years and it's what gets me excited to wake up every day is knowing I'm going to get to see people who I love, who love me, who I've gotten to know over the last 10 years, or maybe those who are trusting me for the first time. But it means more to me than anything the times and the conversations that we get to have, getting to be somebody that they can trust and, like I said, it means more to me than anything else.
Speaker 1:Your patients coming to see you and checking in every three months, every six months. We must have a lot of patients then to be able to build your business. And I know you have been growing and you have moved spaces to accommodate your busy schedule and you are so successful. Your busy schedule and you are so successful. How do you get patients in your industry when this is not something that people are posting about on social media? They're not like oh hey, here's who's doing my Botox. How do you get patients when you're not exactly marketing?
Speaker 2:That is so kind of you to say and I'm a little embarrassed, but thank you. And you're right, it is growing and it is successful and that's incredible. And it is 100% attributed to our amazing clients who tell their friends honestly. My business partner, katie, and her business Katie did aesthetics. We have very similar mission statements and very similar mottos in our business. If we treat people well, they'll treat us well, and so we truly try to just give everybody a great experience and thankfully, we have some incredible patients who are not bashful to tell their friends or their moms or their cousins.
Speaker 2:And so I guess, to answer your question, we're a 100% referral-based business and so whoever comes in heard about us through somebody else. And while, no, we don't technically market on social media, there are avenues and pages, especially like Tanglewood Moms and things like that, as scary as those can be, I always say, oh gosh, they'll build you up as soon as they'll tear you down, and I don't necessarily mean that, but I get a lot of mentions on that as well. Luckily, in Fort Worth there's a million wonderful providers, so you really can't go wrong. But, to answer your question, we get most of our business just by word of mouth. Wow, okay.
Speaker 1:Tell us a little bit more about Katie, because I think this is also a way that you have done something a little bit differently is that you have figured out a way to have a partnership where you both win. So can you talk a little bit about your partnership with Katie?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So Katie has been in the industry a little bit longer than I have and at the time that we met in 2019, we always say that God just put us together we had a mutual acquaintance in the industry who said I think you guys need to meet each other truly, and so we met and within that first meeting, we have this vision for what we wanted this business to look like. So Katie owns an aesthetics business where she offers lasers, facials, chemical peels, anything non-injectable. It was very successful at the time that we met, but her business model was the exact same as mine. She was just starting by herself. She rented a little room and it just organically grew. She had a employee at the time who was also starting to help.
Speaker 2:That was her first employee and we met and decided that we wanted to move our businesses into the same space and, at the time, the option to merge our businesses and become one. We just wanted to see how it went. First, we were going to operate under the same roof but keep our businesses separate, and what we found out during that first six months to a year together was that it was the best move we could have ever made. We work in the same space. We do not compete in our services, so Katie doesn't offer things that I offer and vice versa, and we compliment each other so well and what that's done is allowed us to still be in control of our own businesses and our own schedule.
Speaker 2:We don't have to fight about money, which is nice, but our business to support each other and we, physically being in the same space, can support each other, and I truly couldn't have asked for a better person to do this with, because not only does Katie have a successful business that I can send my clients to and she can send her clients to me to complete their treatment packages, and our services work well together, but Katie's just a hard worker and she's a good person. So I think we both agree we hit the jackpot when it came to meeting people and, yeah, I'm very thankful and very blessed that we met and crossed paths and it's just developed into this. So in October of last year we moved into our new space and it's been a love project.
Speaker 1:We put blood, sweat and tears into this building and it is beautiful and it is wonderful and it's definitely come with its ups and downs, but it is definitely a labor of our love and it's a reflection of our clients who keep coming and trusting us, and one of the things I wanted to talk with you more about is that you have started something that I don't think a lot of estheticians and nurses have started, which is you also provide your own courses and you have developed a training program where you can more officially help and probably more effectively as well, when other people like you right after your trauma ICU days, when you wanted to become part of the industry. But how did the idea spark and then how did you actually turn it into a program?
Speaker 2:I mentioned this earlier, but I get asked all the time whether it's a message on Instagram or a text, or even a patient in my chair how did you get started in aesthetics? I'm looking for a change. I would love to do that. How did you get started? And the answer has always been, oh, I went and took a class. I went and took a class. These classes are generally I call them big box classes, so it's 50 people in a class. You're listening to one speaker. You may get some hands-on experience, but it's like sitting down being instructed as a group Okay. And then you're going to do this and this. Okay, check box. You've got hands-on experience. Here's your certificate. See you later.
Speaker 2:And I thought that can't be the only way. There's a million injectors in this country who are incredible, and we probably all have a million different stories of how we got into this realm. But what I realized is that everyone's first step is usually taking a class, and so I thought how can I offer something that's more valuable, that's more helpful to these people who really want to get started? And I thought I should do a training program. I'll do the intro to injectables training program. That way, when somebody asks me how do you get started? I offer a class, and actually here's the information. And so I wanted to take that big box class, that kind of checks this box of you need to be trained in aesthetics and you need to have a certificate showing that you were trained. That's the legal ruling on who can inject, and I thought how can I take that and make it better?
Speaker 2:And so we did our first one in May and it was super successful. We opened it up to four nurses I wasn't sure the exact number, but I knew that I wanted it to be intimate enough that each person felt like they got all of my attention. I wanted everybody to have way more hands-on experience. I wanted people to feel comfortable asking questions. I wanted it to be I don't know. I just wanted a better experience than that big box class. I wanted it to be helpful, and so we just did it.
Speaker 2:I just spent about six months putting together this program. That lasted two days. It was eight hours each day and we just went for it and it was super successful and it was super fun and I can't wait to do it again. I learned a lot from it, as you do, and so we're tweaking a few things, just things that were great but could be better, and we're going to launch again, hopefully sometime this fall, and do another one and just keep going, because people have to start somewhere. And so I just thought why not, why not me?
Speaker 3:And do they walk away from that with their certificate and what they need, just like if they had gone to that bigger class?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely so. Everybody who comes gets a certificate that they completed my course and they, with that, hopefully they can go and start to just sell themselves. The other advice that I give people is myself. I've been doing this for 10 years but I still at least attend one training every year, at least one. And so I tell them this is just the beginning, this is not your okay, I did a class. I should be good to go. This is just your introduction into this.
Speaker 2:It really does require you to hustle. You've got to get out there, you've got to meet people, you've got to go to trainings, you've got to keep learning and I'm just grateful to get to be a part of their journey, even if it is just the beginning. But hopefully it's a good beginning. And I also will try and connect them with offices who may be trying to hire new nurses as well, and I usually do that through my sales reps. I can say hey, I just finished a training course. I have four nurses who did an incredible job. They live in these areas. Please let us know if you have any accounts willing to hire technically, a new nurse, and sometimes it works out that they'll get interviews and I can't give them a job all the time, but at least I can get their foot in a door somewhere and the rest is up to them. But, like I said, I had a million people help me get started in this industry, so I feel like it's the least I can do to try to get other people in and going as well.
Speaker 1:The big theme throughout our conversation is people, people, people, people. You have created these connections with people and real friendships. That's what we've learned as well is that everyone wants to be able to give something to someone else, and so, if you can facilitate that in your meeting, how much better is it to really show this little group of nurses not only the nuts and want you to do with your patients, and that's what I want you to do in your community to have a great life and a really fulfilling career.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I totally agree. I've had the privilege of being invited to speak at a few dinners just here and there throughout the years, of people who are starting a business or do what I do in this industry and just share some pearls of knowledge. And the number one thing I tell everybody is get off of Instagram, get off of TikTok looking at everyone else, quit focusing on what other people are doing and worry about that soul, that person sitting in your chair, and if your focus is on them and their needs, the rest is going to take care of itself. We unfortunately are living in a time or I guess, fortunately and unfortunately where social media, as wonderful as it can be, is also just making us feel inadequate in a lot of ways. If we don't have a million followers and sponsorships from people, then we must not be doing something right, and so, instead of trying something different, we just try harder to be like those people. We spend our time making reels instead of spending our time asking the person in your chair three extra questions about themselves or whatever it may be. And I just tell anyone I have an opportunity to speak with people want to come see you because they want, they want to be with you. You can do the best Botox in the world, but if someone's not comfortable sitting in your chair, they don't really want to come. How many times have you gotten your hair done and it looks great, but like the experience was so awkward you sit there for three hours and you're like this is uncomfortable, you'll go somewhere else. And so people believe you when you're being genuine and when you truly care about them.
Speaker 2:And I'll be honest, I've not always given people the best results. Sure, I'm human. There are times where I'm like, oh boy, yeah, your eyebrows are real heavy. Shoot. Next time we'll go lighter, but they come back and they trust me. That, okay, I trust her. Sure, it didn't look perfect this time, but I love her and she loves me and she's going to take care of me and they come back and that is huge.
Speaker 2:And so what I really want to stress to people, and what I find to be the biggest area of success in my business, is truly genuinely caring more about the relationship with the person in the chair more than caring about the 200,000 followers that I don't know who they are on social media. And so Katie and I both have that approach where social media is there and, yes, it can be a wonderful tool in a lot of ways, but when our focus is on followers, not on actual clients, our business is not going to do well. Having a million followers is great, but if you only have two patients, that doesn't add up, doesn't pay the bills, doesn't pay the bills. So good for you.
Speaker 2:And this is not to poop on any social media people. I actually admire the hell out of people who know how to manage social media and do it well. I am so in awe of you because it is the hardest thing I've ever done. But, again, my focus just has been on the people sitting in my chair and at this point in time it's done me pretty well, and so I just can't stress the importance of that enough.
Speaker 3:I think that's really good advice because it can be very overwhelming. When someone is trying to start a business, they feel like that is a really big piece and it's also another big learning piece and when you're starting a business, there's so many things you're learning to add that on as one more thing can be really stressful.
Speaker 2:I hate to say that. I don't want people to think it's not important. Like I said, it can be a wonderful tool to use to help build your business, but I would encourage people to not let that be where their focus is. Let your social media page be a place where people can come see what to expect when they meet you, see what you're able to offer and get to know you as a person. May it be a reflection of kind of who you are, but your business is going to be successful by patients coming back, by clients returning and that generally happens because they like you, not because you have a funny Instagram or whatever. So use it for what it's there for. But the connections that you make with people is where the real bread and butter is.
Speaker 1:You mentioned that you had been asked a few times to speak in front of people and do dinners and such. How did those happen? Were those also connections or specific ways that someone saw what you were doing and thought, hey, we want to hear from her. Or did that all happen through social media that you got connected to these things?
Speaker 2:I would actually say that my social media does more harm than good in situations like that. Maybe not, but I don't have all these followers. So I would actually say that my social media does more harm than good in situations like that. Maybe not, but I don't have all these followers, so I would definitely not credit it to social media. I would definitely credit it to just connections that I've made, and it's always an honor to get asked to share information, and our industry is actually really turning right now which is exciting into more community over competition, and so we are seeing a change in these businesses saying, hey, let's all get together and collaborate.
Speaker 2:And I've been asked two or three times to go to these dinners with fellow people like me who are starting out, wanting to start their own business or maybe they just started out as a new injector, but I've been in the industry for a little bit and I'm doing a pretty good job, and so let me come share with you what's worked for me, and I'm always honored to go share and I always tell people there's nothing that I won't tell you. I'm an open book because people have been an open book for me too. But, yes, usually it's based off of connections that I've made in the past, whether with sales reps or getting to meet the right people at the right time. It's all different. But no, I would definitely not say my social media has had any influence over that.
Speaker 3:Thinking back about you starting your first job in the med spa and thinking that it was a lot to start your own business. You're just going to stay here, work and then now, comparing that mindset to where you are now, when you are talking to these people that are maybe interested in starting the business, it can be very overwhelming to know where to start. And you did mention just like one little thing. Do one little thing here and just start. Do you have anything that you can think back on that? This would be a really easy way to start. Or I would suggest this one move first if you were wanting to go in that direction.
Speaker 2:I'm so glad you asked that. So yes, absolutely. And another huge piece of advice that I will tell anybody, especially in wanting to become an aesthetic injector please go work for somebody else first. So I have met too many people who did not know how to inject. Maybe they took the class and they have the connection with the doctor and they create this business, but they have no people, they have no book of business and they're going to start from the ground up.
Speaker 2:And my advice is it was easier for me because I had experience. I had worked for somebody else for four and a half five years. I had built my skillset, I had built a clientele. Even though I did not get to take my clients with me when I left where I was working and started, I at least knew enough people who could help me get started. I didn't just simply say I want to start an aesthetics business. I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm going to start this business, and then I'll learn it's too expensive to do that.
Speaker 2:These products are insanely expensive. Rent is so expensive and so, specifically for our industry, I really encourage people please go get the experience first before deciding to start your own business, because building your clientele is the hardest part, and you can't really have a business if you don't have people coming in to utilize your services and buy your products. For the people who have done it backwards or at least backwards from the way I did it, where they started a business their road is so much harder and I do find that they're having to do so many more things to get business because people don't really know who they are. And so if you can establish yourself as an injector first, you're going to have a much easier time kind of branching off and starting your own business, because we have nothing if we don't have customers and clientele. And so I would just encourage you get as much experience as you can before jumping in and starting your own business.
Speaker 2:So great question as far as logistically, the other advice that I have for people is just start small. You don't have to start by buying every laser on the market in the nicest building and every product on the market. You can just start small. You can just start with simple Botox injections or neurotoxin injections. You can start with offering one or two things that you're really good and comfortable with. It's okay to start by renting a room somewhere, just one little room. That's okay, I think for a few years I had people in my guest room. We called it the babies and Botox operation because you had to hold my baby while I was injecting your face.
Speaker 2:But I started small and then it just organically grows and as it grows you can add on and you can take on more costs, more overhead, because you're able to afford it. And so baby steps start small, one bite at a time. Don't get too ahead of yourself. It's going to happen organically and you're going to be better off for it If you just allow yourself to take it one step at a time, instead of jumping in and having all of this overhead and you're freaking out because you only have two people on your books that week and how am I supposed to pay all of this rent and all of my laser loans and all of that? How am I supposed to do all of that when I have two clients? So bite-sized pieces. Start small, start with what you're comfortable with and allow yourself to grow at your own pace.
Speaker 3:That's great advice and I think that can be true across so many different fields and disciplines. The way that you explained it. Experience really is everything when someone's coming to look for a service.
Speaker 1:Talking about laser loans and overhead and rent. Are you allowing yourself a business day to do all of these things, or do you put business time in between patients? Or how do you find that you're able to keep up with all of those things happening behind the scenes and your business running smoothly?
Speaker 2:That is a great question. So two years ago I finally hired an assistant and she is an angel on earth and I don't know how I did it before her. We, thankfully and luckily, built to a size that it was just a little bit too much for just me to keep up with, and so hiring help is the best thing I have ever done and that has allowed me to free up some time to, yes, be able to sit down and actually get some things done, actually do the business side of things. I also have an in-house CFO. His name is Ryan Hennigan. He is my husband, all of the financial part, which is so helpful because my brain just does not work that way. But if he wasn't good at it, then my advice would be to hire somebody who is because, at the end of the day, it's why we're working.
Speaker 2:Yes, I love what I do and I love my clients, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not doing this because I need a way to provide for my family, and the financial part of it is so huge that I'm so thankful that I'm married to somebody who speaks that language and can help me.
Speaker 2:But if I wasn't, then my advice would be definitely find somebody who can, and again, with my assistant, I waited. I had owned my business for about three years before I hired her and it organically grew to where it was unmanageable for me, and so bringing her on was one of the best things I've ever done. And now I do have usually on Mondays I don't work, and that allows me to sit down, get stuff done. I am a mom and my kids are my actual full-time job, and so it gives me time to actually be part of their life and kind of manage the household stuff too. But that's another perk of owning your own business is you can set your hours and your schedule, and so I've luckily been able to set it to where I can still be a part of both worlds, which is nice.
Speaker 1:I think so much of hiring someone is in my head. I'm thinking, okay, if I could find this unicorn person who could do this, undoubtedly that kind of person would help every single business. So how do you go about finding someone like that, though? How did you find your assistant?
Speaker 2:So she was actually a client of mine, and I posted on social media my story that I was seeking help. I needed help with answering phone calls and emails and text messages. People need to be responded to, and they are not getting responded to, and this was going to be a work from home, just a few hours a week position of what I thought it would be, and she was the first person to reach out and, just knowing her through the business, I'd gotten to know her personality. She is everything I'm not. I am very type B kind of go with the flow, it'll all work out, and she is like spreadsheet queen. She is very organized and type a and on top of things, and I just gave it a shot. I thought to myself, like, okay, I love her, she's a gem of a human being. She seems very organized. Let's just give it a shot, and luckily, she was 100% the right person.
Speaker 2:She is everything that I could ever ask for of an assistant, and more, and, honestly, though, it's like having your first kid in a way.
Speaker 2:You don't know what you're doing, but you figure it out as you go, and I've been lucky that I have somebody who's allowed me a little grace and figuring out. I hate to call her my employee because she's so much more than that, but technically she was my first employee and that was a whole new realm of business. That I had never experienced before was how to have an employee, and she's been very gracious with me and allowed me room to grow and offers me feedback, and we have a great open communication going, which is the only way to really do this, and I could not do it without her. So you're right, I don't know how I lucked out and found this unicorn of a person, but I can imagine that if she wasn't as wonderful as she is, it would not be as helpful and I would have to find somebody else. So finding the right people is definitely a huge part in growing your business in that way.
Speaker 3:You've really shown us how you've done this, step by step, figuring out the business part of doing this. Have you looked ahead, thinking about your business? Is there a legacy that you want to leave? Is there something that you're wanting to have your business represent? Are you thinking about your girls?
Speaker 2:So, gosh, yes, I guess I have. So when Katie and I moved into our new space, we had originally gone in knowing that we were signing a 10 year lease and that kind of allowed me this opportunity to really think ahead. 10 years, and while, yes, that is a very long term lease, 10 years kind of flies by. So in 10 years I was like man, I guess I will be doing this in 10 years. What will that look like? And so normally I just take it day by day. But that did spark this thought of what am I going to be doing, and I think my hope is that, whether my kids want to do this or not which unfortunately I don't think they do They've had to watch a few times if I'm injecting Ryan or whatever, they have to be there and they're not too into the whole needle thing and they're still young. So we'll see.
Speaker 2:But if my kids didn't take it over, I guess my hope is that over the next 10 years or 20 years or however long, I can add more people to the business. Maybe I can bring some helpers on, some injectors on, and I can maybe train them in the way that I'm doing things so that they can go out and spread this message or build up this business as far as maybe adding some more people, but that's challenging too, because it just brings a whole new level of I don't know of stress onto the business. Yeah, I guess my legacy would be let it just brings a whole new level of I don't know of stress onto the business. Yeah, I guess my legacy would be let's just build this up and build a next generation of injectors who are great at what they do and great with people who care about people. And maybe that's my legacy is just leaving my mark on aesthetics and hopefully continuing the change from the way things used to be and to kind of how they should be, at least in our eyes. I don't know.
Speaker 3:And I think, thinking about the training piece that you have brought into your business, not only are you teaching the skills that someone needs to do the injectables, but also you're teaching them your philosophy and your thought process, and hopefully that continues to spread through that piece as well.
Speaker 1:So Absolutely yeah thought process and hopefully that continues to spread through that piece as well. So thank you, Abby, so much for coming on and sharing about your business and all of your amazing journey with Abby Hennigan Aesthetics. We've just so appreciated you sharing all of your wisdom with us.
Speaker 2:This was so fun and I was really nervous. But you guys have been wonderful and thank you for building us up. It makes me feel, makes me feel really good, but thank you guys.
