Good Neighbor Podcast: TN-WNC-SWVA

EP# 279: The Skin Bar Story: Personalized Care and Natural Beauty

• Skip Mauney & Jerri Sue Peeks • Episode 279

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What makes Jerri Sue Peaks with The Skin Bar and Body Boutique a good neighbor?

Your skin deserves personalized attention—not a one-size-fits-all approach. That's the philosophy Jerri Sue Peaks brings to her boutique day spa, The Skin Bar and Body Boutique in Johnson City, Tennessee.

In this revealing conversation, Jerri Sue shares how her business focuses on skin health and enhancing natural beauty through intentional self-care. With over twenty years in the aesthetics industry, she's witnessed remarkable advances in techniques and technologies that now allow for transformative results with minimal downtime. Her passion shines through as she explains that beauty and wellness are intrinsically connected, requiring personalized approaches tailored to each individual's unique skin journey.

The Skin Bar specializes in addressing skin imperfections often overlooked by medical professionals—skin tags, sebaceous hyperplasia, cherry angiomas, and dark spots that insurance typically won't cover but that affect confidence and comfort. Jerri Sue's expertise extends beyond cosmetic concerns; she emphasizes the crucial preventative role estheticians play in identifying suspicious skin lesions that could indicate serious conditions like melanoma.

What started as Jerri Sue's personal journey at age 36 when she noticed her first signs of aging has blossomed into a thriving practice with three estheticians who take pride in forging genuine relationships with clients. "It's not just a service," she explains, "it's a relationship and a commitment to each other." Her approach prioritizes making clients feel heard and cared for, without the pressure tactics sometimes found in other beauty establishments.

Want to experience the difference personalized skincare can make? Visit The Skin Bar and Body Boutique on West Oakland Avenue in Johnson City, or connect with them on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok to learn more about their services and approach to beauty that goes more than skin deep.

To learn more about The Skin Bar and Body Boutique go to:

https://www.theskinbarjohnsoncity.com/

The Skin Bar and Body Boutique

(423) 631-0129




Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Skip Monning.

Speaker 2:

Well, hello everyone and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. So I'm very excited today to have a very special guest in our studio for the first time, and I'm sure you'll be just as excited as I am to learn all about her and her business, because today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, ms Jerry Sue Peaks, who is the owner operator of the Skin Bar and Body Boutique. Jerry Sue, welcome to the show.

Speaker 3:

Thank you, skip, I'm glad to be here.

Speaker 2:

Now do you go by Jerry or Jerry Sue?

Speaker 3:

Jerry Sue.

Speaker 2:

Jerry, sue, we'll go with that.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I'm definitely from the South, I've got to have that two name.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, absolutely Well, like I said, we're super excited to learn all about you and the Skin Bar and Body Boutique. So, if you don't mind, why don't you kick us off by telling us about your business?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I'd be glad to. I'm excited to be here and tell you about the business. My spa is more like a boutique day spa and we focus on skin health and enhancing natural beauty with personalized skin health and intentional self-care. It's not a one-size-fits-all spa. Every individual is different. Every individual is starting their skin care journey for different reasons, so we understand this as estheticians and are educated on many skin health issues so that we can personalize each service to meet each individual's needs.

Speaker 3:

Every service is going to be result-driven, but still rooted in that relaxation, because I do believe that beauty and wellness go hand in hand. We use up-to-date technology and modalities, as well as professional product lines. This industry is constantly evolving and we have to evolve with it. I had to step out of my comfort zone and travel. I had to go up north, down south, out west to learn the latest techniques and things. That's in this industry.

Speaker 3:

But technology and science has taught us that we can achieve results with little to no downtime. Now, I mean, I can get results in treatments today that I couldn't get 10 years ago and definitely not 20 years ago when I started in this industry. Well, 20 plus years ago when I started in this industry. I think the only thing that's really stayed the same for me is the passion in this industry. We do have a full menu of services, not just skincare, but that is our main focus. We do full body waxing, specializing in Brazilian waxing. We do natural lash tanning, lifting brow tanning, laminations. My specialty has become to treat skin imperfections such as skin tags, sebaceous hyperplasia, cherry angiomas, dark spots, a lot of skin imperfections that that physicians usually don't treat because they're considered well, insurance won't pay for them. They just they're considered. What's the word?

Speaker 2:

I'm trying to say I can't even think.

Speaker 3:

They're not necessary. I mean, you know, Right right. Yeah. Wow so we can take care of that for you. You don't have to carry those skin tags.

Speaker 2:

That's good to know. Well, it sounds like you do a little bit of everything.

Speaker 3:

We do, we do, but we really focus on skin care and being a clinic. We are not a medical spa, so we're different that way. I have worked in medical spas before, but I've decided to do what I've done.

Speaker 2:

Very good. Well, speaking of that, how did you get into this business?

Speaker 3:

Oh gosh, that could be a long story, but it's actually my second career. I guess you could say that when I started showing signs of aging myself in my 30s, I didn't like it, so I guess you know. Long story short, it was for selfish reasons. At 36, I moved to Knoxville and attended aesthetic school, came back and started working for others, and I did that for a few years and then realized that I had more to offer and I wanted to create a different environment. I wanted an environment that was more personalized and not so much pressure approached. So I figured out pretty quickly that I wanted to make people confident in their skin, not just on the surface of their skin. So I took that leap and went out on my own as a solo entrepreneur. And now fast forward to now I have three, including myself. We have three estheticians.

Speaker 2:

Nice, very nice, congratulations.

Speaker 3:

Thank you, thank you.

Speaker 2:

What are some myths or misconceptions in the bodywork field?

Speaker 3:

Beauty industry. I guess you could say that For me, that facials and spas are just pampering and not beneficial. That is such a huge misconception because skin care is self-care, I mean, it's not a luxury. Your skin is your largest organ and you have it from the top of your head to the tips of your toes, so it's not just a luxury thing anymore. As estheticians, we're educated to understand all the various skin conditions and how to use the modalities and the techniques to correct those skin conditions. And we want to help people support. We want to support people and help them to age gracefully and truly transform their skin health over time. And it can be done. I'm living proof of it.

Speaker 2:

There you go, there you go.

Speaker 3:

This is kind of like. Just this morning I was reading an article from the Skin Cancer Foundation and I even shared it on my Facebook for my followers. But it said that only 20 to 30 percent of melanoma arise from existing molds and then the rest is just things that pop up on your skin. So as estheticians we're trained to recognize suspicious lesions. I guess you could say and realize that's not in our scope and we don't diagnose by any means. But we do refer them on to a physician or to a dermatologist to have that looked at, because nobody wants to hear that worst six letter word.

Speaker 2:

Oh, no, well, I go to a dermatologist TriCities skin cancer, I guess.

Speaker 3:

And he again, you know, having the knowledge to recognize what's not, and you know, to take care of that client and to to get them to where someone can actually make a diagnosis and treat that. I've, I've, I've done it several times Very good, Very good.

Speaker 2:

Well, outside of that, you're very passionate about what you do. But outside of work, what do you like to do for fun?

Speaker 3:

Outside of work.

Speaker 3:

When I'm not working, I'm usually enjoying being with my friends and my family. I grew up the youngest of four girls, so being with people is a must. I also love playing golf and I like to travel. Now. Usually, if I'm going to completely unplug, it'll be cuddled up with my cat or a good book or even a Hallmark movie. But I guess, honestly, for me to get relaxed, I do it in the treatment room. There's nothing better than knowing that I can personally, physically and emotionally, make someone feel good and look good, and that's the best reward. I mean, that's so gratifying.

Speaker 2:

I'm sure so. In other words, and I've always heard, if you love what you do, it sounds like you do. Absolutely you don't work a day in your life, so awesome. I don't Awesome. Well, Jerry Sue, now are you from Johnson City originally.

Speaker 3:

No, I'm originally from Elizabethton and I moved to the Johnson City area when I was in my early twenties and just recently well within the last 10 years that I've actually moved back into Elizabethton.

Speaker 2:

Love it, elizabethton, I'm in the house that my daddy built. Oh wow Nice. It's like a country song. Nice. Yeah Well, I'm a fly fisherman so I love going to Elizabethton and trout fishing. It's in the Doe River. Is it there in Watauga?

Speaker 3:

Watauga you got Doe you got Watauga. Yeah, Awesome fishing.

Speaker 2:

Awesome fishing. I doe. You got my taga, yeah, yeah, awesome fish, awesome fish, and I've done a lot of interviews too, with uh folks in elizabethan on main street too.

Speaker 3:

Oh yeah, I love downtown elizabethan, I love my hometown I love it too. It's not my mind, I love to open um a second location over there eventually there you go? Yeah, I'd love to do that.

Speaker 2:

Hopefully we'll get you so much business from this podcast that you can. You can do that.

Speaker 3:

That would be awesome, it would be awesome.

Speaker 2:

Well, if, Jerry. So if you could think of one thing that you'd like our listeners to remember about you.

Speaker 3:

I think I would. I would want them to know that it is a personal experience. We're going to take our time with every client. We're going to customize every treatment and we truly care about the results. And it's it's not just a service, it's a relationship and a commitment, um to each other and um I. You know you'll never feel rushed or feel like you're being sold to. Um. We want our clients to know that they're heard, um, they're going to be taken care of and if it's something that's out of our scope, we'll send you somewhere where you can get the results you need. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

There we go, there we go. Well, if for those of us who are intrigued and interested and would like to learn more about what, what you guys do and how they could participate, how, how can we learn more?

Speaker 3:

Well, skip, you can bring your barnacle and you can come let's see we're on Instagram and we're on.

Speaker 3:

Let's see, we're on Instagram at the Skin Bar Johnson City. Facebook it's the Skin Bar and Body Boutique, and I actually have a TikTok page now that's called the skin bar guru. We like to share skincare tips, like I shared this morning from the skin cancer foundation. We do videos. I'm not a professional photographer by any means, so I don't know how to edit much and I don't know how to change things, so what you see is what you get in our pictures. But we do try to show really good before and afters without editing them. And let's see, we're in Johnson City. We're located right in the heart of Johnson City on West Oakland Avenue, and we'd like to welcome all of our listeners to come check us out, come interview us.

Speaker 2:

There we go. Yeah, well, you, you heard it here guys. Um, it sounds like a wonderful experience actually. I'm, I'm, uh, you sold me. So, yeah, yeah, absolutely, Um, okay, well, jerry, sue, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to hang with us and tell us all about the Skin Bar and Body Boutique, and we wish you and your family and the boutique all the best moving forward.

Speaker 3:

Oh, thank you so much. Same to you.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, and maybe we can have you back sometime.

Speaker 3:

I'd love to do that.

Speaker 1:

All right, thanks so much. Thank you for listening to the good neighbor podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNP, try dash citiescom. That's GNP, try dash citiescom. Or call 4, 2, 3, 7, 1, 9, 5, 8, 7, 3. Try-citiescom, or call 423-719-5873.