FXBG Neighbors Podcast
Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
FXBG Neighbors Podcast
EP #61 Rejuvenation is More Than Skin Deep at Rejuvalase Medspa
Step into the world of medical aesthetics with Maggie McIntyre, founder of Rejuvalase Medspa, as she celebrates an impressive 18-year journey as one of the pioneering medical spas in the Stafford-Fredericksburg area. With a unique background blending education and nursing, Maggie has created not just a thriving medical spa but also a comprehensive training center that educates the next generation of aesthetic professionals—including many who become her competitors.
Maggie expertly demystifies what exactly a medical spa is, explaining how these facilities bridge the gap between traditional day spas and plastic surgery centers by offering medical-grade corrective treatments alongside relaxing maintenance services. She tackles persistent misconceptions about treatments like Botox and fillers, revealing that natural-looking results are absolutely possible with proper technique. "The goal," she explains, "is for clients to look refreshed in a way that has friends wondering what's different, not immediately spotting obvious work." Her insider knowledge about the small amount of product actually used (a syringe of filler contains just the volume of a blueberry) and safety protocols provides valuable education for anyone considering aesthetic treatments.
What truly sets Rejuvalase apart is its personalized approach to client care. Every treatment plan begins with clients identifying features they already love about themselves—creating a foundation of positivity rather than criticism. This philosophy extends to Maggie's newest venture as well: a podcast featuring women entrepreneurs that aims to go beyond the polished "boss babe" façade to reveal the authentic struggles and triumphs behind successful women's journeys. Her refreshing honesty about being a "classic workaholic with mom guilt" who recharges with Netflix on the couch rather than constant networking offers a glimpse into the real person behind the successful business. Ready to experience aesthetic treatments from practitioners who prioritize education, safety, and natural results? Connect with Maggie on Instagram @talkschick or schedule a consultation to discover how Rejuvalase can enhance your natural beauty.
Maggie McIntyre
Rejuvalase Medspa
hello@rejuvalase.com
+1 540-720-8881
2761 Richmond Highway, Suite 201, Stafford, VA, United States, Virginia
This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Dori Stewart.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to another episode of the FXBG Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of our favorite local brands. Today, I am joined by Maggie McIntyre of Rejuvalase Medspa. Maggie, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited but a little nervous. This is my first podcast interview.
Speaker 2:You're going to do great. It's going to be fun. So let's start by sharing a little bit about your business.
Speaker 3:I'd love to learn more. Tell us about Rejuvalase Meds pa. Sure, Rejuvalase Meds pa is a what it says. It's a medical spa in Stafford, virginia, north Stafford. We opened about 18 years ago, so we have been here. We're one of the first established medical spas in the Stafford-Fredericksburg area. In addition to being a medical spa, we also have an aesthetic school, nova Laser and Aesthetics Training, and we train up and coming estheticians with both a basic and a master's program, and we also train actually a lot of our competition. We have injectors that we have a program for injectors, so we train other physicians and RNs medical professionals looking to get into aesthetic injectables. We train them at our school as well.
Speaker 2:Amazing. So first congratulations on 18 years in business. That's a really big deal, Congratulations.
Speaker 3:Thank you, my, you know I don't know. My body feels it, my mind feels it. The makeup helps to cover all of that. But 18 years does something to a person. But I'm really, really grateful for it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that's amazing and I love that you also have a training program. You know so many local business owners struggle with finding good talent. You're creating your own good talent, so what a cool pairing of business you have there. That's really cool.
Speaker 3:Well, they say that necessity is the mother of invention, and so that struggle I was. Actually, before I got into, before I opened my medical spa, I'd been in education. I was a public educator, actually worked in Stafford County Public Schools for a few years too, educator, actually worked in Stafford County Public Schools for a few years too, did my grad work, in that I was a special education teacher and had been a nursing major in college. And then it's like I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do. So I blended the two together, opened up a medical spa and then, within a year or two, opened up the training facility. But that need for well-educated, that need for well-educated, well-trained individuals was my, you know, was the inspiration behind opening up the training center. Because I said, well, I'm already doing it, I'm already training these people, so why not, you know, have that option for the area?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so interesting. So, as a teacher turned entrepreneur, you already have an education focus, being trained in education, so it makes it makes sense that you went that route. I love that so much, yeah, so let me ask you this Do you find that there are any myths or misconceptions when it comes to your business?
Speaker 3:are any myths or misconceptions when it comes to your business? I think there are a lot. Actually, the biggest myth and misconception, I would say is that. So people wonder what a medical spa is, and it's a big umbrella. So, just to break it down, a medical spa is it has a lot of variations, but think of a day spa. So think of skincare, facials, waxing, some of the basics that go with any day spa. And then the medical spa component is going to be the use of devices or products that you have to have a medical license for. It could be laser hair removal, although that's not necessarily that you need a medical license for, but laser hair removal, although that's not necessarily that you need a medical license for. But laser hair removal, tattoo removal, spider vein reduction, photo rejuvenation, getting rid of brown spots, broken capillaries, skin tightening and then, of course, botox filler, kybella injections, cellulite treatments, those things. And so we're taking it up a notch from this sort of recovery maintenance protocol that you find more in a day spa, and we're now getting into the corrective and preventive as well, but a lot of corrective work on the med spa side, and then from there you would go into, you know, a more invasive procedures if you wanted to, such as with the plastics or a derm, but we're kind of that in between. Now, med spas can also have physicians there doing plastics as part of that business.
Speaker 3:But generally speaking, that's what a medical spa is, and so, with that being said, there is a lot out there a lot of misconceptions about botox or other neurotoxins. There. There's Dysport, daxify, juvo, lots of them. And then about fillers A lot of people think that we're just, you know, felt like if you get filler done, that your lips are going to be huge, you know that your cheeks are going to be exploded, that if you've Botox you're frozen and you can't have any expression, and that simply isn't true. Of course, hollywood movies have done a really great job of of, you know, showing that as a comical part of their movies, but it's just inaccurate that certainly those things can happen, but that's typically just like an abuse of the product.
Speaker 3:Um, it's when injectors or, you know, other professionals don't know when to say no to their patient and to say, hey, it's too much, you've had plenty, we need to slow this down a little bit and that's when you can get a lot of overfilling. But the amount of product in a syringe is about the size of a blueberry, so it's a very small amount. It's one ml and so a good injector is able to inject and treat somebody. So they look good, they look refreshed. Their friends are wondering what they had done, because they can't quite put place their finger on it, because they look good. But they look good naturally.
Speaker 2:I love that they look good, but they look good naturally, right.
Speaker 3:We don't want to overfill you. You know, certainly it can happen to a point, and overfill, of course, is, I guess, subjective. Some, you know, if you can see that anybody has augmented their lips, you might say, oh, I can tell you did your lips. But there is a difference between plumping them up and crisping up the borders versus this, you know, explosive, like swollen look. Yeah. So I personally I'll just put it out there I had overfilled mine a little bit and a couple years ago and had some migration, so I went in and actually dissolved it, and so that's something that we do a lot of too. For people that have been overfilled just over the years of doing this, typically, you know, they've come maybe from other places or they've done several rounds of lip filler over the years and it's just starting to migrate, which can happen. We do a lot of dissolving and then, after it dissolves, then we start from ground zero.
Speaker 2:Interesting I didn't realize that there was a correction for that, so that's good to know.
Speaker 3:Yes, and I will say this for that. So that's good to know. Yes, and I will say this just as a side note for safety wherever you go, if you're getting injections done, you want to make sure that they have a first aid or I should say a crash kit, an injector's crash kit, and part of that crash kit should be a minimum of eight vials of that dissolve in case there was an occlusion or something like that. Incredibly low risk or chance of that dissolve in case there was an occlusion or something like that Incredibly low risk or chance of that happening. But these are the safety points that a lot of people don't know, and it makes a difference in a responsible injector versus a fly-by-night injector.
Speaker 2:Wow, wow. Thank you for sharing that, and I imagine your clients get a lot of, I guess, reassurance and relief and trust that not only are you practicing these techniques, but you're teaching it as well. So you have a different level of expertise, so you're you're kind of another level.
Speaker 3:I, I, I pride myself on being educated. What I will say is that education is something that is ongoing and continuous. So I, you know, bow down to the, to so many of the the amazing, the amazing injectors in the northern Virginia area that I've had the opportunities to work with and beyond. One of my biggest business expenses has been the training, because I have traveled outside of the US as well as within the US to train with some of the best in the country and outside of the US as well as within the US to train with some of the best in the country and outside of the country. So my training is something I spend a lot of time and money on and it is ongoing because you can always be better.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's impressive how much you do. I love that, thank you. So you clearly are working hard and spending a lot of time on your education as well. So tell me, when you're not working, what are you doing for fun?
Speaker 3:Man, I have no life.
Speaker 3:I am the classic workaholic, classic working mom with mom guilt you know, two of my kids are raised, if you will, and out of the house I've got one more little one at home. She's not little, but you know to me she's little. But I would say that while I love a good time every once in a while you know the glitz and glam can be fun I am all about let's order in and watch a movie on the couch. All about let's order in and watch a movie on the couch. My boyfriend I have a wonderfully supportive boyfriend, which you know if you are a business owner. I think anyone that's been in business for a long time is really committed and driven. Your partner has to. I mean kudos to the partners that are really supportive, because it requires a lot of patience and understanding because they can kind of be put on the back burner a little bit. So I'm grateful for a partner that is incredibly supportive and very, very proud of me and very hey, how can I help you?
Speaker 3:And as a result, he gets most of my time on the weekends besides my kids because he's you know it's, it's a relationship worth investing in and we um just have a really good time. We'll go out to wineries. I love Potomac point winery. Shout out to them, uh, they're here in Stafford. Uh, love going there. Um love going to gosh the Fredericksburg uh, so many great places in Fredericksburg. I love going um for dinner and drinks, but otherwise um other than some travel. You're going to catch me on the couch. I can't lie. It's Netflix and chill Netflix and chill.
Speaker 2:Nice, I love that. Well, with the fast pace of your business, sometimes you just need to slow down and Netflix and chill. I love it.
Speaker 3:I think too the nature of the business. I am face to face with people all day long, whether it's my staff or my clients, and both of them I mean. I have a wonderful staff, a talented staff that we invest in their education, and they do the same, and I have wonderful clients, but it is constantly, it's constant FaceTime. So I am social, my social battery is just kind of gone you know, by the end of the week.
Speaker 3:So I think that's part of it too. I've done my socializing. I've done it at work all week long, you know.
Speaker 2:That makes a lot of sense. So I hear you're starting a podcast. Tell us all about it.
Speaker 3:Yes, you know, first of all, this, it's no-transcript directions. I guess that we could go with it, but my focus right now has really been on. I will have men on the show I have one in particular that I'd like to interview but generally right now we're focusing on women, women entrepreneurs, women that have had these unique stories that they would like to share and that we feel like we want told and we get into. We talk to them about their businesses and the course you know it took to get them there. But we also really kind of focus, we take it into more of a personal realm of, like, the hardships that they've gone through, the things that I guess what I would say is we're dispelling the veil of boss babe and saying, okay, you're a boss, babe Got it. Let's talk about that, let's share that because you've worked hard for it.
Speaker 3:But let's also get real, because there's a lot of women out there that are looking at you watching your moves on social, watching your moves when you're at work and thinking, man, she's got it all together and in a lot of ways, maybe maybe they do, maybe we do, but I know the reality behind that camera, you know, I know the reality that hits me at home and I think that camera. You know, I know the reality that hits me at home and I think it's important for us to shed some of that. Especially in an aesthetic world looking good, feeling good that's really important. Um, there's a value to that beyond just a vanity. But I also think it's important to say that we crash out, that we have hard times and that we give a platform so that women can hear what we've been through and what we deal with, so that they can relate and just maybe have some inspiration that way.
Speaker 2:I love your concept so much. It sounds like so much fun with real conversation, so I will definitely be listening in. I love it All right.
Speaker 3:Just give us a break on our first season, because we're still getting our feet wet, but I love it.
Speaker 2:All right, just give us a break on our first season, because we're still getting our feet wet.
Speaker 3:But I appreciate it. I'm thinking I guess the way I put it was kind of thinking of like having lunch with a girlfriend that you haven't seen in a while.
Speaker 3:And you guys are just kind of darting all over with conversation. So we want, so there's going to be some of that, but it's going to be talking about, like I said, the business stuff. But then when you get with that girlfriend that you're close to that you haven't seen in a while, you get a little deep and you touch on some things that you really need to get off your chest and so that's kind of the impetus behind this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sounds like fun.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it is. It has been so far.
Speaker 2:That's awesome, congratulations.
Speaker 3:Thank you, I'm excited about it.
Speaker 2:So what is something?
Speaker 3:that you wish the listeners knew about Rejuvalase Medspa. I think that's a great. That is a great question. I think that I touched on it with the education. I think that this is something and I know this isn't quite your question. But, getting to this, I actually just met with Brian Lamb from collage yesterday. We had lunch best time. That's great Anyhow, I probably will edit that out but we had a great conversation about business, because he's been in business for a long time too and what I can say is when we we started so long ago that I feel like, even though we we advertise and we are very current with with the trends and the equipment and we we keep very well educated and current with everything, I feel like we we didn't stay as active socially for a while as other places did because we were working in the business and maybe not so much on the business and, as a result, I feel like I'm this my personal, like you know, perception could be different, but for me I feel like I'm having to do a little catch up now and work on it, in the sense that even though our name's been out there for a long time and we've got a great reputation, thankfully, um, there's always more that can be done, and I feel like a lot of the things that we do, the investments we make in education, the training that we have, the things that truly set us apart from so many other providers, aren't known.
Speaker 3:So I think, kind of going back to what I already talked about, education wise, as part of that, one of the things we do too that I think is is unique to us, but I think it's good, I think any provider should really do it is we create custom treatment plans. The treatment plan we don't we don't treat everybody this with the same. We may not treat it. Or we don't treat everybody with the same product. The treatment plan we don't. We don't treat everybody this with the same. We may not treat it. Or we don't treat everybody with the same product the same number of units, the same amount of product. You know it's. It's very unique to the individual because their goals, their wants and their bodies is different, and so we create that's something that we've worked hard to do is to create a custom treatment plans that we can print out and put in hand of our medical spa clients so that they have a reason why we're doing what we're doing and, hey, we heard what you said.
Speaker 3:Here are your complaints or your concerns. We also make them. Start with tell me something that you really like about yourself. Tell me the things about you that you really enjoy. Do you like your eye color? Do you like your smile? Let's talk about those things because, even though you're coming in here for us to correct or improve, we can also highlight and emphasize the things that you're already happy about, and this isn't a place to beat yourself up with. So we want you to come in and actually start with the positive. So I make my clients list two to three things that when they look in the mirror and I hand them a mirror that they like when they see, and if they have trouble doing it, I sure as hell I'm going to help them, because there's something beautiful about everybody that comes through that door.
Speaker 2:That's so so I think that approach.
Speaker 3:Thanks, I think. So. I think, knowing that you're going to come in and get a customized treatment plan, that we're going to hear you and tailor it to you there's no pressure with it Do as much or as little as you want and that you're also coming to a place that is that is truly focused on our relationships with our clients and is really focused on educating and staying current so that you can come to a place that you feel comfortable in. You're coming to see your friends, but your friends are very well established and know what they're doing.
Speaker 2:Amazing, amazing. I love that. So if the listeners want to learn from you or connect with you, where can they find you?
Speaker 3:You can find me on Instagram and Facebook generally. I mean, I have a TikTok but I'm not super involved on there. But my Facebook, my Instagram you can connect with me on there. I'm talkschick on Instagram. That's my handle. It's Maggie McIntyre, Margaret McIntyre. On Facebook, and then they can always email me, maggie at rejuvalase. com, or just stop by make an appointment with me at Rejuvalase.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Maggie. Thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today and congratulations on all your success.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much for having me. It was a lot of fun and I wish you the best as well, and hopefully I'll see you out and about in the community. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to fxbgneighborspodcast. com.