Tips on Starting a MedSpa

Summary

In this conversation, Susanna Phillips, a family nurse practitioner specializing in medical aesthetics, shares her journey into the field, her approach to patient consultations, and the importance of understanding patient goals. She discusses common concerns among patients, the balance between desired results and realistic outcomes, and the exciting advancements in aesthetic treatments. Susanna emphasizes the need for continuous education, the importance of choosing the right provider, and the rewarding aspects of her work. She also addresses misconceptions about the industry and offers advice for those looking to start their own aesthetic practice, highlighting the challenges and the importance of mentorship.

Suzanna Phillips

https://www.instagram.com/susannaphillips.np/

https://www.instagram.com/jerseyshoreaesthetics/

Sweet Face Injector

https://linktr.ee/sweetfaceinjector

https://linktr.ee/Sweetspotmedispa

Takeaways

•           Susanna transitioned from cardiology to aesthetics after personal experiences with Botox.

•           Patient comfort and understanding their goals are crucial in consultations.

•           Complimenting patients helps build their confidence during consultations.

•           Common concerns include aging signs like jowling and neck laxity.

•           Balancing patient desires with realistic outcomes is essential.

•           AI has potential in personalizing aesthetic treatments.

•           Continuous education and training are vital for aesthetic providers.

•           Patients should ask about safety protocols and provider qualifications.

•           The aesthetic industry requires hard work and dedication to succeed.

•           Building relationships with patients is rewarding and fulfilling.

Titles

•           The Journey into Aesthetic Nursing

•           Understanding Patient Goals in Aesthetics

Sound Bites

•           "I want my work to be detectable."

•           "Education is everything for them."

•           "It's a grind and a hustle."

Chapters

00:00

Introduction to Aesthetic Nursing

01:16

Journey into Medical Aesthetics

02:48

Patient Consultations and Understanding Goals

06:47

Common Patient Concerns and Requests

08:52

Balancing Natural Results with Patient Desires

11:41

Exciting New Treatments and Technologies

14:42

Staying Updated in Aesthetics

15:36

Choosing the Right Aesthetic Provider

17:09

Rewards of Being an Aesthetic Provider

19:38

Misconceptions in Medical Aesthetics

21:24

Starting a Medical Aesthetic Practice

25:39

Future of Medical Aesthetics

Transcript

Amy Ingle (00:00)
Welcome to Glow Up and Get Real. I'm the Sweet Face Injector and today our next guest is a family nurse practitioner and a member of the medical skin care team at Jersey Shore Aesthetics and Wellness. Her goal is to improve the well-being of men and women of South Jersey. Suzanne started her career as a registered nurse after graduating from Florida Southwestern College.

She worked as a cardiac nurse for several years before returning to grad school. Upon obtaining her family nurse practitioner degree, she continued her education by completing her doctorate in nursing practice.

she is certified in Botox and filler injections from Merce Aesthetics.

Susanna understands how important it is for men and women of all ages to feel good about the way they look. As great on the outside as they feel on the inside. Welcome Susanna to glow up and get real. Thank you for coming on.

Susanna Phillips (00:49)
Absolutely. I'm flattered that you invited me to come on. So this is a lot of fun to get to do. Thank you.

Amy Ingle (00:54)
Yes, I'm so glad you could find the time in your busy schedule. I have a couple of questions for you. Well, a few. And ⁓ it's, you know, really based on your experience as an aesthetic nurse practitioner, how you got started. You're now in New Jersey. You were in Florida. How did this all happen and where are you headed? So let's get started. Okay.

Susanna Phillips (01:00)
Yeah.

Hmm.

Awesome.

Amy Ingle (01:16)
Can you share a bit about your journey into medical aesthetics and what inspired you to become a provider in this field?

Susanna Phillips (01:23)
Absolutely, I love to because you're a big part of that story. So yeah, so we actually worked together in passing when I was working as a cardiology nurse practitioner in Florida, you are also working for the same group you were. I think when I came on, you were on phasing out because you had started your med spa. And so we're that and getting busier with that. I

Amy Ingle (01:26)
gosh, thank you, thank you.

Susanna Phillips (01:45)
came to you initially for TMJ Botox because I had spent thousands doing all the devices, all the treatments, even ultrasound chiropractor, and I just couldn't get relief. And so I read online that Botox is an option for that. I came to you and I think...

as you were injecting me, we're just talking about how great this job is and I should consider it and adding all the perks and I'm like, well, I don't know. Like I went to school all these years to save lives and to help people was my mentality. Then you finally convinced me.

When we were moving from Florida to New Jersey, I was making a transition in my career and I thought, you know what, now's the chance. If I'm going to look for a new job, why don't I look and see if I can get into aesthetics? And so that's what I did when we moved to New Jersey in 2020. I got a job at a med spa here and started and went to you for several of my trainings actually. And you were on text with me a lot, helping me navigate, starting that process and that journey.

And I've been doing that ever since, so almost five years now. And I love it.

Amy Ingle (02:48)
Good. Yeah, I was trying to think how long ago was that when we were doing trainings and it was about five years ago. Gosh, time flies, I tell you. So, well, how do you approach patient consultations to ensure you're understanding their goals and expectations?

Susanna Phillips (02:54)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yes. So this is something that I'm constantly evolving and working on. actually just learned something new from a training a couple weeks ago that I'm now integrating in. But I like to make patients feel comfortable. If it's a patient that has done aesthetic treatments before and they're new to me, then they're going to feel comfortable in the office and know the products I'm talking about. If it's someone completely new to this world, completely new to me,

I want to get to know them and make them feel really comfortable in this environment and with me. So I usually just kind of start, I guess, shooting the breeze on, know, are you from this area? What do you do for work? Getting to know their values, their lifestyle. Then when I get into the actual consultation, it's, well, why did you seek this out? What are you looking for? I want to hear their journey to coming to my chair.

then I always do looking in the mirror with them. I make them hold up a mirror. I make them tell me, what areas are you concerned about that you're seeing that you want to work on? Because if they leave my room that day, my chair, and they don't feel like I addressed anything that they came here to seek help with, then that's a failure. Because I don't want to just take the reins and be like, well, we need this, this, and this.

and then they never get anything improved on that they're seeing when they look in the mirror. So we do that. Also, before photos are taken, so then I look at them on the iPad with their photos, because when we look in the mirror, it's one dimensional. So when I'm looking at a 90 degree angle, 45 degree angle, there's things that they're not seeing that I'm seeing, and I need them to see my perspective as well before I dive into all my recommendations.

The new tidbit that I've started doing, and I don't know why I never did this before, was I always compliment. I find three things to compliment them on. I don't want women to come into my room and feel like I'm nitpicking them. We get that enough out there in the world, right? I don't want to be like, ⁓ well, you're aging here. Your jowls are hanging here. All of these things that I'm pointing out, if you already are struggling with self-confidence, you're going to feel like I'm bringing that down more.

So I'm always trying to, that color looks great on you. I can tell you take care of your skin. I can tell you work out your beautiful eyes. Like I try and really compliment them because I want them to also feel good about themselves when they leave my room. So photos, compliment, we go over. If you see me for a consult, you're always seeing my aesthetician for a consult.

You're not going to spend thousands of dollars with me without investing in skincare. And it doesn't have to be complicated. It can be three steps to nine steps, whatever is going to work for you. So we're always tying in skincare health as well. And just a lot of education on what is happening with your face with the aging process, bone loss, fat loss, skin laxity. I'm really excited. We now have hormones and peptides and doing gut microbiome testing in our clinic.

So also what affects our skin from the inside out and addressing those concerns as well as the piece we're bringing in. So that's kind of my overall consultation. And then I try and break it down in pieces. I don't want patients to feel overwhelmed because it can be overwhelming when you're like, you need these six things and it's going to cost these thousands of dollars. So I say, you know, we can break it into over the next two years, the next year, depending on how long and how much you're wanting to spend on this process.

And I try and always at least do one treatment. I book my consultations with enough time so that if they want to do anything while they're there, we can go ahead and do that. And then all my new patients, I'm bringing them back at two weeks for that touch point. Whether we've done a neurotoxin or filler, I want to see them in two weeks. I want to make sure they're happy with the results. I want to compare before and afters. And if they're not happy, I want to give the chance to redeem that. Yeah.

Amy Ingle (06:47)
Do you

bring back all your clients after two weeks like with toxin or fillers? How do you pick and choose?

Susanna Phillips (06:52)
No. ⁓

New ones always. My regulars who have been seeing me for a couple years, they know I usually just say, hey, in two weeks, if you think something is off, you want me to look at something, shoot me a message, I'll fit you in. Or I just had one this morning was sending me a picture because she was having some swelling after a laser. So I do a lot of that and they know I'll squeeze them in if I need to. Lip filler, I probably

bring them back more consistently, even if they're regulars. I just wanna make sure everything has settled really well. Sculpture I do like to bring back in about two to three months, because Sculpture is usually staged. We're gonna need multiple sessions. So that one, even if you're a regular, I do schedule those follow-ups. Yeah, was that clear? I feel like I just ran out of Okay, good.

Amy Ingle (07:33)
Okay, good. Yeah, I like that. Yeah, no, no, I like your protocol.

It's really clear cut. I love it. I think that's great that you have these parameters that you follow with every new client. I love that. What are some of the most common concerns or requests you see from patients today?

Susanna Phillips (07:45)
Mm.

Hmm, it varies. mean, even I'm just thinking on this past week, I had several new consults. I think it depends on age, middle age, and a little bit later in life, women are the jowling, the marionette lines, the nasolabial folds. So they're seeing this downward fall in the front of the face. And ⁓ so that's probably one of the biggest concerns I see.

younger people, it's lines, it's four headlines, 11 lines, they want to start their Botox journey. So that neck is something I see a lot of as we age, we start to notice the crepey neck and the skin laxity there. So those are probably my most common concerns just thinking on the past two weeks.

Amy Ingle (08:28)
Do you do any body treatments or is it just face? Just a neck. Okay. All right. Do you have any devices like energy base, laser, IPLs?

Susanna Phillips (08:30)
No, no, we just do face right now.

We have a SinoShore Icon laser. So it does IPL, does non-ablative fractional laser 1540 and then laser hair removal. And then we also do micro-needling. Those are the devices we have.

Amy Ingle (08:43)
Okay.

Yeah. Okay.

Okay. Yeah, I was looking at that, Cyton. Yeah, it looks like a really great device. Are you happy with it?

Susanna Phillips (08:55)
And.

Yeah, it's laser

season and we love it. Yeah, I just did actually on Wednesday, I did the 1540. I had to like put a lot of makeup on because I'm really red and swollen. I'm every time I have a cancellation, I'm in there with my nurse and I'm like, do it. Let's go. So I love it. Yeah.

Amy Ingle (09:07)
You're red. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, it's nice.

Yes, very good. So how do you balance neutral, natural results with patient desires or noticeable changes? We struggle with that in our spas. So how do you balance that?

Susanna Phillips (09:18)
Mm-hmm.

Mm.

Yeah.

I really am protective of my aesthetic as a provider. It's my brand going out there. I want my work to be detectable in the sense that people are like, you look good. What are you doing? But not detectable in the sense that, where are you going? I don't want to go there. I have no problem saying no. That may be my personality. I have a lot of people come in and I'll say, you know,

I, that's not really my aesthetic. That's not really my goal. I understand it's your goal. I, you know, maybe you need to consult with a couple of different providers and find someone that's a good match for you. I do say no, even in my own clients sometimes. And they trust that because body dysmorphia is real. We get hyper critical in the mirror of ourselves. And so hearing, a lot of times hearing another person say no, like,

this looks good, we don't need to go any further, trust me on it. And that's why having before and afters are so crucial too, because if I can show them a before and after two years ago to now, like see how much better we look, see how good we are, we don't need to push this any farther. That really helps too. But yeah, you have people, TikTok kills me. TikTok trends, I saw this on TikTok, I saw this and I'm like, well, so it's not my aesthetic, it's not what I do as a provider, so.

Amy Ingle (10:33)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, that's it. That's a good answer. Yeah, I had someone come in yesterday that had beautiful lips and she had filler in them that we did. And she asked me if she should get a little touch up to them and she's going to a wedding in a couple days. like, no, no, Your lips are perfect. And I think we just get used to looking like you said in the mirror every day and then we just want more. It's, you know, I think everybody has a little bit of that.

Susanna Phillips (10:47)
Thank you.

Mm-mm. Mm-mm. Right there. Yeah.

Absolutely.

Amy Ingle (11:08)
personality, but

then you have some clients that go way overboard and yeah, so you really

Susanna Phillips (11:12)
Yeah, I have

it too. I go to a colleague, a friend that I trust for my injections. And I think the last time I saw her about a year ago, I was like, I feel like I need some more here. And she's like, no. And I was like, And I trust that. So yeah, even us as providers, we have that as well.

Amy Ingle (11:26)
Yeah. Right.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

And there are some though providers that they'll sell you anything no matter what. And so you have to be aware.

Susanna Phillips (11:37)
Yeah, I'm not here to make,

yeah, do that, so.

Amy Ingle (11:41)
Yeah, good, good. So what are some of the most exciting new treatments or technologies in medical aesthetics right now that you think are exciting that you've heard about?

Susanna Phillips (11:47)
We are moving.

There's always a lot, it's the wild west in aesthetics. I'm really excited about AI and the potential for it. I've seen, you know, there's a lot of AI analysis devices that recommend treatments. That's interesting, I still think as a provider, it's up to us what treatments, but I am excited for AI potentially to just look at the whole individual, including genetics, health.

Amy Ingle (11:53)
I have no doubt.

Susanna Phillips (12:15)
lifestyle, lab values, and put in like an anti-aging protocol to help them in a holistic approach, a specific approach for that client. I think that would be exciting if that were to ever be developed. yeah.

Amy Ingle (12:30)
Yeah, that would be neat. Yeah,

that's definitely something that we could all utilize. Now, I know you were talking about AI skin analysis. Have you looked at any devices? I've been looking on the market. Have you found anything?

Susanna Phillips (12:35)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

I looked

a couple months ago, but I never looked past that. But I was just looking at a provider that I follow and respect. was looking at, she has one. I was gonna try and figure out which one she has, because she was doing some analysis pre and post treatment and letting the machine, ⁓ it was very interesting. So yeah, even just yesterday, I was looking at someone using it and I was like, that intrigues me. Yeah.

Amy Ingle (13:04)
Mm-hmm. Yeah,

I'm looking so if you find one that you like let me know because I'm definitely Looking as well. So yeah, so well, are there any trends in the industry that you think are overhyped or misunderstood?

Susanna Phillips (13:17)
Hmm. There's always trends. It's crazy. It shocked me though, even from providers. It shocked me when I came into this industry because being from cardiology and being hospital-based were so guideline and study driven on things and safety driven. And when I came into this field, I think I just had the assumption we're all medical providers that should translate and it does not. And

Amy Ingle (13:19)
Like you said, click talk.

Susanna Phillips (13:39)
I really hope one day there are regulations in place and trainings and certifications and processes for just a guy, I guess a monitoring body for all of the aesthetic providers. But typically when something comes out, I wait six months to even form an opinion. I'll even have patients ask me like, do you have this? Are you doing this? And I'm like, I wait six months. Because usually within six months time, you know, if it's, you know,

good or bad. And also I don't do anything unless there are studies on it. So I'm big on that. Safety's first. People are trusting me with their faces. So I'm not going to inject anything that's going to jeopardize that or doesn't have a good safety history backing it up. PDGF was something recently that just went through this whole thing. I'm not anti-PDGF. think it's exciting. There has to be more research and studies on it before we utilize it in this field.

Amy Ingle (14:14)
Mm-hmm.

Susanna Phillips (14:32)
So jumping on that ship before you have every the foundation for safety is is where I don't do that. I kind of wait and see. And I also need studies backing things up.

Amy Ingle (14:42)
Good, yeah, I agree. How do you stay up to date with the latest advancements in aesthetics? How do you do that?

Susanna Phillips (14:48)
Yeah,

conferences are great. This year, I really didn't have much time to make it to conferences, but I do a lot of trainings when they're offered to me by companies. I'd always take advantage of that. Journals, going to journals. Like I said, I'm always, if something new comes out, I'm going to try and find studies backing it. I follow several people on Patreon that I trust and respect as providers. And you kind of learn.

as you get into this industry who's an influencer versus who's somebody doing safe guideline-driven care and kind weeding that out. But there's a couple people on Patreon like Julie Kaplan, naturally Reina that I follow that I really trust their judgment and their treatment protocols to learn. So when something new comes out, I'll kind of wait for them to see what their approach is on it as well.

Amy Ingle (15:36)
What advice do you have for patients when choosing an aesthetic provider or considering a new treatment?

Susanna Phillips (15:39)
Thank

I think educating yourself, knowledge is power for everyone. It's always a shared decision-making process in my room. I don't want someone coming in and me saying, here's what we're going to do, and they're just on board. I'm always like, well, what questions do you have? Or what can I tell you that will make you feel more empowered in this decision? Even I had two consults this week. We didn't do any treatment at the consults, but I sent them home with brochures, lists of things to look up.

⁓ to do their own research and then come back when they're ready. And I'm open to them going and seeing other providers for consults as well. I just think education is everything for them to do. I tell them all about my safety protocols. I encourage patients to ask providers when in their room. What are some of the complications and how are you prepared to handle that? If a complication arises that you can't handle in the clinic, are you set up to refer them out or who is going to help you at that point? All of these things

you need to know because there are so many stories of patients getting treatments, having complications, and then the provider ghosting them in a sense. And that's not what you want. So you need to make sure that they're certified, they're ready to handle any complication. And if they get skittish or weird when you're asking those questions, that's a red flag as well.

Amy Ingle (16:57)
Yeah, I would say so. Well, what do find most rewarding about your work as a medical aesthetic provider? Do you call yourself that, medical aesthetic? I don't think I call myself… I don't know.

Susanna Phillips (17:05)
I guess

I just call myself, I say I'm the nurse practitioner here. That's how I introduce myself to patients. ⁓ I just, love how empowering it is for my female clients. I think approaching this industry in my 30s, I'm a different person than in my 20s. And I realized the value of empowering women.

Amy Ingle (17:13)
Wow, right, yes.

Susanna Phillips (17:29)
increasing confidence, being a hype girl, having those friends that have your back. And I want to be that provider for my patients as well. And so that's my favorite part of the job. And also the continuity of those relationships. When I work in the hospital, I see everyone on their worst day. It's terrible. You know, I had a stroke or I'm telling you, you have cancer at the bedside or I'm calling to tell you your loved one is, is possibly dying today versus in my clinic. It's, Hey, did you, how was California?

When's your daughter's wedding? How are you feeling? You look so great. It's just a totally different atmosphere and I just love the positive upbeat as well as the confidence that I can give my clients.

Amy Ingle (18:08)
Yeah, agree. Yeah, it's nice to take care of the well, you know, and I mean, we were nurses, that's what we went into is to take care of the sick. But it's also nice to have that relief and take care of the well as well. ⁓ They come to you because they want to come to you, whereas in the hospital, they don't want to be there. So it does help with how we feel as providers, I think, internally.

Susanna Phillips (18:13)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yes.

Yes.

I love that.

Amy Ingle (18:34)
And I love making clients feel good, feel beautiful. It's just a different kind of nursing reward than in the hospital. So, yeah.

Susanna Phillips (18:43)
Exactly. And even in the hospital

is even if you're the best person at compartmentalizing or moving on, it still does wear and tear on you all of that, I guess heaviness, you carry it with you provider. Absolutely. Whereas my husband's always like you work too much. And I'm like, I don't see the clinic as work. Like I love going there. I love who I work with. I love seeing my clients.

Amy Ingle (18:54)
earn out

Mm-hmm.

Susanna Phillips (19:06)
It's not work. Now the hospital, I'm like, I gotta go to work. But the clinic, I'm like, this is great. I love this. Exactly.

Amy Ingle (19:09)
Yeah, you're right.

Mm-hmm, social hour. Yeah,

always catching up on your clients. And like you said, when's the wedding? How was your vacation? Yeah, it's nice.

Susanna Phillips (19:18)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I love looking

at the schedule in the morning. They'll make fun of me because I'm like, someone's coming in. I'm so excited. So it's just a totally different feeling. It's great for me. It's great for them.

Amy Ingle (19:27)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Right. Yeah. So what

would you say the biggest misconception people have about medical aesthetics?

Susanna Phillips (19:38)
⁓ I think that it's a quick money glam lifestyle. You start and the cash is flowing and you're an influencer and et cetera, et cetera. It is a grind and a hustle. And as much as I love treating my patients and seeing them in the room.

Amy Ingle (19:50)
I guess.

Susanna Phillips (19:56)
Behind the scenes, I'm getting up early in the morning, I'm doing social media, I'm meeting with reps, I'm doing trainings, I'm paying out of pocket for all these trainings and conferences. And it's a slow, I think to do it right, it is a slow grind and a slow hustle, but it's very rewarding. I wanna build the right clients. I wanna retain my clients. I want word of mouth, refer clients back to me. And to do that right is, takes work.

and it takes time to build that, but it's worth it. So it's not as lucrative or as quick success, I think, as it's portrayed to be or as everyone thinks it will be.

Amy Ingle (20:23)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, since you've left Florida, the area that I'm in, as you know, is southwest Florida. And I would say since COVID, there has been so many nurse practitioners and PAs that have opened up their own medical spa here in this area. It's really diluted the industry in this area, ⁓ but we're finding that they're opening but not sustaining.

Susanna Phillips (20:38)
Mm.

Mm.

Amy Ingle (21:01)
Because it is hard. It looks so easy, but it's not. mean, just to have the overhead alone is so high because of our medications that we purchase, that we use for injections are very, very expensive. And then liability insurance and the overhead is extremely high. And I don't think that these nurse practitioners getting out of school understand that and realize it is a hustle.

Susanna Phillips (21:24)
Same up here,

it's been very diluted the last couple years. tend to, it doesn't bother me. I teach their own and I think clients also are going to be drawn to different providers for different reasons. I tend to see one startup and then within two years is kind of the pattern of not making it. Anyone who reaches out to me, I'm always supportive and encouraging because like I said, I think there are enough patients for everyone and different patients can be drawn to different people.

I just encourage new providers to really get the training and do it right. The patients deserve that, the industry deserves that. So making sure that you're getting the knowledge base, you're investing in training, you're doing safe protocols, guideline-driven care, have a med spa attorney help you set everything up. That's so important. Have local, if you're on your own and you're standalone, like I have several plastic surgeons in the area.

that I have set up with that if I have a complication I can't handle or I need to refer out to, they will help me get a patient in that same day. Haven't had to do that, but really just make sure that you're taking care of the patient in the right way. And that's on you at the end of the day too. It's not just, ⁓ put some filler in and everything looks good. It's an art, it's complicated. And when complications occur, it's devastating for patients.

Amy Ingle (22:35)
Right?

Mm-hmm, right. Yeah. So, okay, so you've given me a lot of like good information about how to start, but what like say somebody say, okay, say someone's a nurse. They go back to school. They get their nurse practitioner. They get out of school and they want to start their own practice. What should they do first? What what are like the first five things they should do to start a practice in your eyes? Yeah.

Susanna Phillips (22:51)
Okay.

the first five things.

Find a mentor, crucial. If I didn't have you, who I was texting with questions, concerns, silly things, or even to go and shadow and do trainings, I don't know how I would have made it. You have to find a community or a mentor, especially if you're a solo injector. Now, if you're starting with other people or going on to practice that as other people, then you have that instant buy-in of community and network. Train, train, train, not just one weekend.

course of Botox injections, but constantly always be learning, whether that's Patreons, conferences, hands-on trainings through the reps, take advantage of your reps. A good rep will support you with trainings, with product to trial. that was three things. Med Spa attorney, like you need everything set up correctly. Each state is different. I learned that moving from Florida to New Jersey, there are certain lasers here. cannot do certain things I cannot do here.

And so anything ablative we can't do. RF, we technically can't do. That is physician only, yes. But it's still gray, because I hear different things from different people. It depends on whether you're looking at the Board of Nursing versus the Medical Board interpretation of things. So it gets very sticky. So you want to make sure you're above board on all those things. So I have two med spa attorneys, depending on what I need that I will reach out to to clarify things. Malpractice insurance.

Amy Ingle (24:08)
Really? Really? Wow.

Mm-hmm.

Susanna Phillips (24:31)
needs to be set up protocols for everything. So if you're not there and something happens, your staff knows exactly what the steps are and already in step two and three before they notify you if there's something going on or for patient calls with an issue, they know to escalate it immediately. Yeah, is that good?

Amy Ingle (24:48)
Yeah, that's really, that's good advice.

So much that I think new providers don't think about, you know. You should come up with a guide. You need to make a guide of what to do to start your med school or med, yeah, your med spa or yeah, to have a school like that. I thought about doing that as well. I might consult you for my training class.

Susanna Phillips (24:56)
Mm-hmm

Mm.

I mean, I started

as I don't own our clinic, but I started as the only provider. So when I started, there was nobody, nobody already with a clientele. had an esthetician and a nurse, but I was the only injector. So I had to spill everything from the ground up. And so I went through that process, even though it's not my own practice of just building out the program and all of those protocols.

Amy Ingle (25:33)
Yeah, yeah, you did a good job. So how do you see the field of medical aesthetics evolving in the next few years?

Susanna Phillips (25:39)
Hmm. I want like I touched on before, or I hope there's going to be like a regulating body down the road. And a network and certifications that you have to go through. It's a little bit too unregulated right now for my comfort level, but I'm OCD and I get that. But I hope that that's in the future for us. I also think there's a shift away from this one treatment, one session overfilled look.

It's multiple modalities. It's analyzing all the areas of why we're aging. Skin quality, bone loss, protein, hormones for females are huge. So very holistic approach in addressing all of those concerns, building collagen, lasers. Fillers are like the icing on the cake. That's what I tell my patients. If we're not doing all those other things or trying to preserve our skin quality, our collagen, and we're just going in with fillers, then we are going to get that overfilled look.

Amy Ingle (26:05)
Mm-hmm.

Susanna Phillips (26:31)
So it's multiple modalities in one. And I love now that we're doing hormones at our clinic because I think a lot of my females, that's really gonna help with their just quality of their skin and anti-aging overall too. So I hope it gets more holistic in its approach.

Amy Ingle (26:47)
How do you talk your clients into multiple modalities? Because they may come in and say, I know I want cheek filler, but they may need other things. And they're like, I don't want to spend the money on that. I just want cheek filler. How do you deal with that?

Susanna Phillips (26:53)
Yeah.

It's me.

It's hard. do have some patients that I just I see once a year for like cheek filler or lip filler and I can never get their buy in. Before and afters are huge. And I just talk about it at every appointment. I had one last week where she's like, I'm sick of hearing you talk to me about Sculptra. Let's just do it. And I was like, yes, because we're like, no, every time I've seen her, I'm like, we need to do Sculptra. Like you're

Amy Ingle (27:22)
Bye.

Mm-hmm.

Susanna Phillips (27:27)
This is why you keep wanting to come to me and you want your nasolabial folds filled, you want your cheeks filled. It's because you're losing volume laterally on your face and we need to do Sculptron. She's like, okay, okay, okay. So I probably just talk to death, yes. We're doing a huge promo on lasers this month. It's 20 % off all packages. And I think that our owner probably doesn't like that because we're losing some money, but I wanna do it because I want my patients like.

Amy Ingle (27:39)
She gave in.

Susanna Phillips (27:53)
I'm like, want you guys to do this. So let's go. This is the month. Let's buy the packages and let's get going. So I try and offer those promotions when I can. I do a lot of things on myself. So if they're like, ⁓ what do you look good? What did you do? I'm like, well, I just did our laser. You should do it. Same with our staff. offer a lot of services to our staff so that they can upsell and talk products to our clients as well. And then

Amy Ingle (27:57)
Thank

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Susanna Phillips (28:15)
I think education, if you're just educating on this is why you're seeing volume loss and this is why your skin quality is going down and this is why, if they know the why of the treatment, there's more buy in there too.

Amy Ingle (28:28)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. All right, so my last question, well, almost last question. What is your sweetest tip of the day?

Susanna Phillips (28:31)
Yeah.

this is like for career or work, personal life or

Amy Ingle (28:37)
But

whatever you want to say, you pick it.

Susanna Phillips (28:39)
Okay. ⁓

I think the word protect comes to mind. So it's protect your, peace and your time as a provider. Fridays are my no touch days, no work days, except I'm doing this, but yeah, this is fun. Fridays are reserved for family, friends, cooking, baking, gardening, whatever. And so I will grind and hustle it out six days a week, but I don't mess with Fridays and that.

Amy Ingle (28:53)
Right? This is fun though, right? This is gonna work.

Susanna Phillips (29:07)
has been life or death for me. I've come to learn I need those days because when I compromise on it, I feel it. And protect who you are. Be true to yourself. Protect your aesthetic. This world can, the aesthetic industry can make you feel like everyone's an influencer, everyone's glam. They're doing all these vacations they're doing. That's not even me if I had the opportunity to do all that. Like I want to be home reading. I want to be hiking, camping.

And that's okay. So just be true to yourself in this industry and your clients will find you and they'll trust you because you are true to yourself in this whole process. Yeah. Yeah.

Amy Ingle (29:42)
Yeah, and they'll see right through it too if you're not. They will. I

like that. So where can listeners find you?

Susanna Phillips (29:50)
Yeah, so I have an Instagram, Susanna Phillips NP. I think you're gonna link it to, you can find me on that. Also my clinic has an Instagram, Jersey Shore Aesthetics and Wellness. That one's probably more active, because I do that social media. I tend to neglect my personal one, as you probably do as well. But yeah. But if you want to reach out to me, you can always message me through my personal Instagram, my injector page. I check that once a day and I'll get back.

Amy Ingle (29:56)
I will.

It's hard. It's hard.

Susanna Phillips (30:18)
you. That's probably the best way to get a hold of me.