Medical Spa Insider

This week, Jay Reyero, JD, of ByrdAdatto talks about the regulatory concerns surrounding Botox parties and other offsite events in medical aesthetics. He covers:

• Legal compliance trends he is currently seeing among medical spas;
• Compliance issues regarding IV hydration therapy;
• If standing orders can replace a good-faith exam for new patients;
• Whether Botox parties and other offsite events are legal;
• Regulations to think about when planning an offsite event;
• If a physician needs to be present for offsite events;
• The importance of establishing specific documented protocols for events;
• Whether it’s legal to have alcohol at on- or offsite events;
• And more!

This week, Kathy Taranto, partner at AesthetiCare MedSpa and MINT Aesthetics, talks about building an $8 million single-location medical spa, how AesthetiCare approached expansion, tips for new medical aesthetic professionals, the importance of training and more. She covers:

• Her journey into medical aesthetics;
• How her early experience defined how she viewed customer experience;
• Balancing a successful medical spa with a successful training center;
• Her desire to help people avoid common medical spa mistakes;
• Treatments and devices new practices should consider;
• How to choose the right device;
• The biggest lessons for medical professionals entering aesthetics;
• Tips for building a high-performing team and avoiding turnover; and
• How COVID has changed the medical aesthetics industry.

In this episode, RepeatMD CEO Phillip Sitter and VP of Sales Chris Chomenko talk about the ways rewards and membership programs can increase retention and patient adoption of new treatments. They cover:

• The value of rewards programs for small businesses;
• How to measure if a rewards program is working;
• The anatomy of a good rewards or membership program;
• How rewards programs can protect against increasing competition in the industry;
• The different value propositions of rewards programs and memberships;
• The psychological reasons membership programs can help medical aesthetic practices;
• The ways practices struggle with membership programs;
• And more!

This week, MaryAnn Guerra, CEO of Aesthetics Biomedical, stops by to talk about the importance of data, structure and process when it comes to doing the right thing for medical aesthetic patients. She covers:

• Her journey from government health care agencies to medical aesthetics;
• Clearing Vivace through FDA and bringing it to market;
• The role aesthetics play in the mental health of aging;
• The role regulations play in patient safety;
• How RF microneedling helps medical aesthetic patients;
• Technical specifications of RF microneedling devices;
• And more!

This week, Alexander Blinski, MD of Plump Cosmetics & Injectables stops by to talk about regulation in the medical spa industry, and the patient-safety concerns that usually drive them. He covers:

• If it’s even possible to fully saturate medical aesthetics market;
• The lack of enough aesthetic providers to meet consumer demand;
• Regulatory risks for medical spa practices;
• The laws regarding physician-ownership vs non-physician ownership;
• The risks of injecting in and around the nose;
• RN scope of practice;
• If medical professionals receive training about laws and regulations;
• And more!

In this episode of our Member Spotlight miniseries, AmSpa’s Membership Relationship Development Specialist Michela Bailey sits down with Brandy Thompson, APRN-BC, of Prescription Beauty Medical Aesthetics. She talks about:

• Her decision to move from hospital cardiology nursing to full-time aesthetics;
• The ins and outs of the Kentucky aesthetic community;
• How she educated her patient base on medical aesthetics;
• Her skin care routine;
• Her favorite treatments;
• And more!

In this week's Medical Spa Insider we're flashing back to our chat with Felecia Hatcher, keynote speaker for Medical Spa Show 2021. She talks about her path to success, ranging from starting her own small business to working with some of the biggest brands in the world, and more!

We'll be releasing information on the agenda and speakers for Medical Spa Show 2022 very soon, so stay tuned to medicalspashow.com for more information!

On this week’s episode, Warren Danforth, owner of Spa 35 Med Spa, talks about medical spa regulation and safety. He discusses:

• The need for proactive research and guidelines to encourage practicing safety in medical spas;
• Whether the rules and regulations for cosmetic treatments should be different than traditional medicine;
• How to educate aesthetic practices on the rules and regulations so they are followed and enforced;
• How to determine and enforce operating standards when the aesthetic field doesn’t have board certification; and
• The importance of ongoing training and education of providers as the industry continues to grow and offer new treatments and services.

This week, Michael S. Byrd, JD and Brad E. Adatto, JD of ByrdAdatto take a deep dive into the legal issues regarding medical spa ownership and the specifics of the corporate practice of medicine. They cover questions like:

• What is the corporate practice of medicine?
• Why does the corporate practice of medicine matter?
• Who can legally own a medical spa?
• What are the risks of not following the corporate practice of medicine?
• What is a Management Services Organization (MSO)?
• What is driving regulatory focus on MSOs in California?
• How does the corporate practice of medicine affect medical spas in Texas?
• And more!

On this week’s episode, Melissa Mickelson and Jessica Stellwagen, co-founders of Bodify, talk about how they built a successful medical spa practice focusing on CoolSculpting alone. They discuss:

• Going into business with family;
• Why they chose to only offer CoolSculpting;
• How to build a patient base with one technology;
• The benefits of establishing an identity early;
• How to approach referrals to other medical aesthetic practices;
• Building patient retention through patient experience;
• The process of fundraising for the start-up;
• Overcoming fear to make decisions to grow the business;
• The need to constantly gain new patients with CoolSculpting;
• How to generate and nurture leads;
• And more!

This week, RepeatMD CEO Phillip Sitter and VP of Sales Chris Chomenko talk about how loyalty and rewards programs, paired with the proper technology, can level-up a medical aesthetic practice. They discuss:

• How loyalty/rewards programs can help introduce new treatments to existing customers;
• The importance of nurturing leads and building customer trust to boost retention;
• The structure of a successful medical spa rewards program;
• How loyalty/rewards programs can move past simple discount and point programs;
• Ways to move patients through a journey toward more high-margin treatments;
• The difficulty of scaling the patient experience; and
• The growth potential of the medical aesthetics industry.

In the first episode of our Member Spotlight miniseries, AmSpa’s Membership Relationship Development Specialist Michela Bailey sits down with Jackie Spagnuolo, MSN, NP, of Beauty Nurse NYC, to talk about her experiences as a nurse in New York during the COVID-19 outbreak. She talks about:

• First reactions to the pandemic in New York and patient reaction to the shutdown;
• Leaving her aesthetics practice during the shutdown to work as a frontline provider at a hospital;
• An average hospital shift during COVID-19 crisis;
• Maintaining her aesthetics practice during the shutdown with private-label products and digital consultations;
• The “adopt-a-health-care-professional” initiative;
• Methods of self-care to combat burnout;
• The increased demand for services during and after lockdown;
• And more!

Erin Hennessey, APRN, stops by this week to talk about all facets of energy-based skin treatment. In this wide-ranging discussion, she covers:

• Her path from energy-based treatments for burn injuries to scar treatment to skin rejuvenation;
• The importance of listening to what the patient wants to improve first;
• Steps to take before opening your own practice;
• Ways she gets patients to adopt energy-based treatments;
• The importance of social media in marketing energy-based treatments;
• How to decide when to add devices to your practice;
• What to consider when choosing which device to add;
• Ablative vs. non-ablative lasers and legislative trends with regard to supervision; and
• Who should be able to provide laser treatments.

On this week’s episode, Neela Sethi Young, MD, pediatrician and co-founder of Jaanuu, talks about how she branched out from practicing medicine into the world of medical fashion. The discussion covers:

• Her desire for more comfort and style in medical attire;
• The benefits of being expressive through clothing in professional settings;
• The need for designer clothes with performance levels of durability;
• How the meaning behind Jaanuu’s name guides the company’s focus;
• The roles clothes in a professional setting can play in mental health and positive self-image;
• The Jaanuu Cares and #AlwaysMind campaigns in relation to health care professionals and self-care;
• The importance of advocacy to Jaanuu’s mission;
• Lessons from COVID that changed the way Jaanuu operates;
• And more!

On this week’s episode, renowned dermatologist Leslie Baumann, MD, discusses her experience as part of the clinical trial of the new filler Restylane Contour. She talks about:

• What makes Restylane Contour different;
• Methodology of the FDA clinical trial;
• Patient response to the product;
• Overcoming patient hesitation about fillers;
• Needle vs. cannula with Restylane Contour;
• Benefits of participating in clinical trials;
• Benefits of Restylane Contour for a practice; and
• Tips to introduce new products to patients.

In part two of this two-part series, Ben Hernandez of Skytale Group provides a step-by-step walkthrough of the sale of a medical aesthetic practice. He runs through what to expect if you’re approached by an investment company interested in purchasing your practice including:

• The typical timeline for a sale;
• What kind of information buyers are looking for initially;
• How to structure the deal;
• How long the owner may need to stay in the practice after the sale;
• Pitfalls to avoid when selling your practice;
• What to include in a Letter of Intent (LOI);
• Things to look for in an investment partner;
• And more!

In part one of this two-part series, Ben Hernandez of Skytale Group gives some insight into the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) side of medical aesthetics. In this episode, he reflects on the surge of outside financing looking to enter the industry, and he answers a host of questions, including:

• What are your options when you’re ready to sell?
• Why is the M&A market so hot in this industry?
• What is driving more established medical spas to sell?
• Why is the industry so attractive to buyers?
• What are buyers looking for in a medical aesthetics practice?
• How are medical spas valued and how much could owners get for their practice?
• How does building a strong leadership team increases a practice’s value?

What does the abbreviation “PA” mean to you? Grace McLauren, PA-C, has extensive experience in internal medicine and women’s health, as well as more than 20 years of experience as a PA in the aesthetics space. She joins us this week to talk about the recent AAPA House of Delegates vote to change the title of the profession from “physician assistant” to “physician associate.” She covers:

• North Carolina’s recovery from quarantine;
• The background for the name change from “physician assistant” to “physician associate”;
• The role of a PA in a medical practice;
• Why the AAPA voted to change the name;
• Response to the reactions from physician associations;
• Benefits of independent practice for PAs;
• Why practitioners shouldn’t be using the new designation yet;
• Requirements to become a PA; and
• The shortage of PAs in medical aesthetics.

This week, Kipper Doughty, co-founder of Job Snob—a medical aesthetic job board and recruiting agency—stops by to share her perspective on aesthetic recruiting, the current job market for injectors and tips for the hiring process. She covers:

• The lack of industry resources for hiring and staffing;
• Recruiting vs. job boards;
• What goes into medical aesthetic recruiting;
• The job market for injectors looking for placement;
• Experienced vs. new injectors;
• Pain points and solutions for the hiring process;
• What to look for when hiring injectors;
• Common compensation questions; and
• How to find candidates.

This week, Melissa Rogne talks about starting her single-location medical spa in Fargo, North Dakota, building it into an 11,000 square-foot, multi-million-dollar practice, and selling to a private equity group to become president of a new multi-state brand. She talks about:

• How she built huge volume in a small market by creating demand in her community;
• The importance of understanding what resonates in your market;
• The marketing strategies that worked best as she grew her practice;
• Her keys to rapid growth;
• Her approach when deciding to sell;
• Being contacted by private equity representatives at Medical Spa Show 2020;
• The process of the purchase of her practice; and
• Her plans moving forward as part of a new, multi-practice brand.

This week, Mary Beth Hagan of Titan Aesthetics stops by to talk about the shortage of qualified injectors in the medical aesthetics industry and tips for practices looking to find and retain new practitioners. She covers:

• Whether there are enough injectors in the industry to cover the growing demand for services;
• Various factors that are leading to increased demand;
• The challenges of finding experienced injectors;
• Three things new practices looking to hire should focus on;
• Three skills that mark a good aesthetic injector;
• Important steps to take when hiring and onboarding new injectors;
• How much you can compensate injectors while still being profitable;
• And more!

This week, Nicole Chiaramonte joins us to talk about the world of medical spa ownership. She touches on topics pertinent to both new owners and medical spa professionals looking to make their exit, including:

• How she grew to 14 locations in nine states;
• How her philosophy of “profits with integrity” has led to her success;
• What she looks for in a partner when investing in a medical spa;
• How much medical spas are worth in the market right now;
• What is driving private equity investor interest in the industry;
• How owners should approach their exit plan;
• Advice to help get ready to sell;
• The importance of compensating appropriately;
• And more!

With the recent spate of bills in states across the country allowing more practice freedom for PAs we wanted to flash back to one of our Greatest Hit episodes with two of the industry’s power PA’s: Maegen Kennedy of Windermere Dental and Medical Spa and Lily Nizam of Alabama Surgical Arts. Hear how these PAs are navigating the medical spa world and finding success and opportunity around every corner.

Original air date: December 5, 2018

This week, Ryan Metcalf, SEO manager for DoctorLogic, talks about search engine optimization (SEO) and medical aesthetics practices. He shares some takeaways from the recent Google I/O conference as well as shedding light on topics such as:

• Common website red-flags Google may penalize;
• The complexities of blogging for SEO;
• The risks of duplicated content;
• How to structure web pages to rank higher in Google searches;
• The most common things businesses are not doing to optimize their SEO;
• The importance of Local Group searches and how to rank in them;
• Search lessons learned from COVID;
• And more!

This week, David Prokupek, CEO of Ideal Image, discusses how one of the biggest brands in medical spas weathered the COVID-19 shutdown and his outlook on the industry going forward. We cover:

• How Ideal Image was able to cope with COVID and come out successful;
• How strategies emerged to gather leads, even when the clinics were closed;
• The tremendous potential of medical aesthetics;
• Methods that they use to gain customers faster than the industry is growing;
• How launching a membership plan impacted their bottom line;
• Treatment areas with the biggest growth potential;
• Comparing the growth of medical aesthetics to other industry verticals;
• The most important KPIs for individual clinics;
• And more!

Dr. Kay Durairaj joins us live from the Medical Spa Show 2021 for a wide-ranging talk about the current state of medical aesthetics and the future of the industry. We discuss:

• The explosion of demand for medical aesthetic treatments;
• The lack of enough injectors to satisfy client demand;
• The scarcity of adequate training available to satisfy injector demand;
• The amount of training a new injector should have before considering themselves as qualified;
• The need for artistry in aesthetic medicine;
• How to get comfortable on social media;
• The need for consensus on proper safety guidelines;
• And more!

Carole Foos, CPA, of the OJM Group, has been advising medical practices about their tax situations for many years. On this week’s episode, she talks with us about:

• New tax laws to be aware of;
• New credits from 2020;
• The outlook on changes due to Biden tax proposals;
• If can you still apply for the Employee Retention Credit if you took a PPP loan;
• What to look for when looking for a business accountant;
• How to make the best use of your CPA;
• How can changing laws might affect your income;
• And more!

Text ampod to (844) 418-1212 to receive a free book on wealth management and planning from OJM Group.

This week, Patrick Urban, president at Merz Aesthetics, and Mary Trout, chief commercial officer of Candela Medical, join us to talk about the recent partnership the two companies have entered into and how they plan to serve medical aesthetic practices and their patients. They discuss:

· The state of the industry after the quarantines;

· The outlook for medical aesthetics going forward;

· What quarantine has taught us that will aid future growth;

· The power of building bridges and creating partnerships between companies;

· Packages developed between Merz and Candela to holistically address aesthetic patient needs;

· The trend of patients wanting more procedures per visit;

· The importance of training and support beyond the initial sale;

· And more!

In part two of this two-part series on overcoming medical spa disasters, Jessica Wright of Rejuvenate Austin talks about how, just as she was coming out of dealing with closures due to COVID-19, she was faced with the ice storm that crippled the state of Texas and shut down her practice once again. She talks about:

• The importance of having emergency closure protocols;
• How she prepared beforehand when closure seemed certain;
• The ways she adapted when the closure extended longer than anticipated;
• How to build a “disaster fund” and how much someone might need;
• The benefits of good hiring when disaster strikes;
• Her preferences when bringing on new injectors;
• And more!

COVID-19 had a huge impact on medical aesthetic practices across the country, forcing business owners to overcome unprecedented circumstances. For some, however, quarantine was not the only catastrophe to strike. In part one of this two-part series on overcoming disasters, Marria Pooya of Greenwich Medical Spa talks about a fire that devastated her flagship location, how she was able to adapt and move forward, and the keys to building a foundation that can withstand enormous, unforeseen challenges. She covers:

• How the lockdown affected her four-location business;
• The ways it managed to survive, restructure and move forward from quarantine;
• The fire that completely destroyed the company’s flagship location;
• Recovering from the loss of equipment, property and server data;
• The importance of having dependable leadership team during crisis;
• Meeting sales goals across multiple locations while maintaining patient care;
• How sticking to core values plays into resiliency, longevity and success;
• Her plans for growth and outlook on the future; and
• The most essential KPIs she looks at every day.

As the Medical Spa Show 2021 inches closer, take a quick listen back at one of the fun and interactive events from last year. Join AmSpa for a “podcast roulette” recorded with special guests “Botox Josh” Davis, RN BSN, owner of Whisper Wood; Kelly Gibbs, RN, BSN, CANS, founder of Beauty Co.; Shelby Miller, DNP, FNP-C, founder of RUMA Aesthetics; and Anil Rajani, MD, owner of RajaniMD. In this completely raw and unedited recording, our guests open up and get real about some of the sexy and not-so-sexy things about their daily lives.

WARNING: This is NOT the podcast to listen to in the car with your kiddos!

This week Steve Blanner, VP of sales for Wynn Las Vegas, joins Medical Spa Insider to talk about how quarantine affected Las Vegas and the safety steps Wynn Las Vegas is taking as tourism, gaming and live conferences resume. Listen in to hear about:

• How Wynn is working to maintain the iconic Las Vegas experience while maximizing guest safety;
• The safety measures in place around the property, in general and specifically for large live events;
• What might be different this year for live events compared to past years;
• If there are vaccination requirements to participate in live events in Las Vegas;
• The new onsite COVID-19 testing lab at Wynn Las Vegas;
• The onsite vaccination center at Wynn Las Vegas;
• And more!

The Wynn Last Vegas is hosting this year's Medical Spa Show. Visit www.medicalspashow.com for more information.

Catherine Maley, MBA, has been a part of the explosive growth of medical aesthetics for decades. This week’s Medical Spa Insider dives into her extensive knowledge of marketing and practice management to pin down the best practices for attracting and retaining patients in the modern medical aesthetic marketplace. Listen in to hear about:

• Common misconceptions about medical aesthetic marketing;
• The most common business needs for plastic surgeons that approach her for help;
• The challenges of having to be everything in order to compete in today’s world;
• What modern patients are looking for when they search for aesthetic services;
• The importance of consistency for customer service and the patient experience;
• How to cultivate a patient for life;
• And more!

Terri Ross of Terri Ross consulting returns this week to talk about how quarantine and COVID-19 affected her consulting business and caused her to pivot into one of the greatest opportunities she’s ever had. Find out about the important metrics you need to track in your business and how her new Aesthetic Practice Accelerator (APX) platform puts all of that information within easy reach. Listen in to hear:

• Takeaways Terri has learned from aggregated benchmark data from her customers and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons;
• The differences between practices that thrived through quarantine and those that didn’t;
• The importance of knowing profit per treatment and revenue per hour per provider;
• The dangers of the “mentality of discounting”; and;
• Life lessons she learned in 2020.

Stay all the way to the end for a promo code to save on her new APX platform.

This week, we’re checking back in with the nurse practitioner duo Alexa Nicholls Costa, NP, and Alexandra Rogers, NP, of LexRx. They talk about managing their quarantine year, maintaining and building their hyper-focused injectables-based brand and the importance of keeping their brand identity as they grow. Listen in to hear about:

• How they surpassed their year-over-year numbers in 2020, despite a four-month quarantine closure;
• The key to the success of their private label skin care line;
• The benefits of organic media vs. advertising and sponsored content;
• The market research they considered when they began considering new locations;
• The rationale behind the LexRx “Team House” in Nantucket;
• What they look for during the hiring process;
• How to maintain brand identity while expanding to multiple locations; and
• What they’ve learned as business owners in the two years since the last time they were on the podcast.

This week, Dr. Robin Patel, professor of microbiology and director of the Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory at the Mayo Clinic, returns to answer questions about the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) vaccines rolling out across the country. She covers:

• Putting the vaccine into perspective: How impressive was speed of research?;
• Whether the rush to market sacrificed safety and research into side-effects;
• Reasons to take the vaccine;
• What effectiveness rates mean with regard to the various vaccines;
• How worried should we be about COVID-19 variants;
• If you can still transmit COVID-19 once vaccinated;
• If you should still get vaccinated if you’ve already contracted COVID;
• Whether other allergies give you higher risks with this vaccine; and
• If people should try to choose one vaccine over another.

This week, entrepreneur and motivational speaker Felecia Hatcher talks about her path to success, ranging from starting her own small business to working with some of the biggest brands in the world. She covers:

• Having the vision and courage to build something from nothing;
• The motivation required of successful entrepreneurs ;
• Moving past the urge to quit in the face of adversity;
• Understanding your value proposition;
• The importance of value-based pricing;
• How to make the shift from being a hustler to being a CEO;
• The power of understanding your target market;
• What problems are you solving for your customer; and
• Setting and defining your business goals and intentions.

This week, Jessica Nunn of Skytale Group dives into the ins and outs of finances in the medical aesthetic space. In this wide-ranging discussion, she covers:

• How data can help predict the future of your practice;
• Knowing your numbers in order to be proactive instead of reactive;
• Things you need to think about when starting up a new medical aesthetic practice;
• What to focus on when growing and scaling your practice;
• Ways to improve practices that are already doing well;
• Common financial mistakes that business owners make;
• Basic financial reports business owners need to understand;
• And more!

On this week’s episode, Christopher Surek, DO, talks about how the Academy for Injection Anatomy goes above and beyond to hone injectors’ knowledge of anatomy, skill with injectable treatments and ability to manage complications. He covers:

• Developing his passion for head and neck anatomy;
• His perspective as an injector, plastic surgeon and anatomist;
• The benefits of cadaveric dissection injectable training;
• Developing new ways to view and understand anatomy;
• How the hands-on course helps to understand the three-dimensional anatomy of the face;
• A quick breakdown of facial layers and his approach to teaching; and
• How use of ultrasound can lead to better injectable results.

This week, George Baxter-Holder, ARNP, DNP, CANS, and chair of the AmSpa Aesthetic Safety Council (AASC), joins us in a wide-ranging talk. He covers:

• The AASC looking at the practice guidelines with fresh eyes;
• The priorities when fine-tuning the practice guidelines;
• Determining the intent of practice guidelines;
• Looking at the practice guidelines as a position statement rather than a policy statement;
• Coming to a consensus on minimum standards for medical aesthetic practices;
• Trying to define “medical director,” including training and qualifications;
• The resiliency of medical spa industry during COVID-19;
• His involvement with the Academy for Injection Anatomy; and
• The benefits of getting a hands-on, 3D view of anatomy for injectors.

See here for more information on the AmSpa Aesthetic Safety Council.

See here for more information on the Academy for Injection Anatomy.

This week, AmSpa legal coordinator Patrick Armstrong O’Brien talks about legal trends he’s seeing in proposed bills that would affect medical aesthetics across the country. These include:

• What independent practice means;
• States increasingly moving toward independent practice for APRNs;
• Some states that are considering allowing PAs more independence;
• Trends regarding “cosmetic practice licenses” for minimally invasive procedures; 
• The recent California LVN board investigation and what it may mean for aesthetic practices;
• And more!

This week, Cathy Christensen, COO of AmSpa, joins Alex to discuss the results of the AmSpa 2020 Medical Spa Industry Short Survey – COVID-19’s Impact. In this conversation they cover:

• The recent death of Dr. Paymon Simoni due to COVID-19;
• Medical aesthetic practices that had to permanently close;
• Medical aesthetic practices that had to permanently lay off team members;
• How federal aid impacted medical aesthetic practices;
• Revenues in 2020 compared to 2019;
• The relative resilience of the non-surgical medical aesthetics industry;
• How these numbers impact the outlook for the future;
• And more

View more information about the survey at americanmedspa.org.

View and download an infographic summary of the results here.

This week, Jessica Wright, MD, of Rejuvenate Austin, stops by to talk about her journey from practicing medicine at a busy urban trauma center to life in medical aesthetics. She talks about:

• Succeeding during the pandemic;
• Why she got into medicine;
• Why she got into aesthetics;
• Going from hospital surgeon to business owner;
• Balancing work and personal life;
• Advice for people looking to get into aesthetics;
• And more!

Alex Thiersch, JD, founder and CEO of AmSpa, is joined by Christin Trujillo of Skytale Group and Patrick O’Brien, JD, AmSpa’s legal coordinator, to discuss the new round of federal stimulus and assistance for COVID-19 relief. They will look into the individual programs and measures found in the bill and how they might affect your medical aesthetic practice.

Brandon Robinson, owner of Skin Body Soul and investor in OrangeTwist, takes over the podcast this week to interview Alex Thiersch, JD, AmSpa’s founder and CEO. As we close out a tumultuous 2020 and head into a new year join us for a look back at the history of the American Med Spa Association as Alex reveals:

• How he first became interested in a legal career;
• The legal case that got him into medical aesthetics;
• The beginnings of AmSpa;
• The idea behind AmSpa’s Medical Spa & Aesthetic Boot Camps;
• How the Medical Spa Show came into being;
• How Covid-19 and lockdown changed the focus of the association;
• His outlook on the future of the industry post-pandemic.

This week, we’re back with Christie Hutchinson, RN, MBA, talking all about OSHA. She answers a number of compliance questions, including:

• What is OSHA?
• Where do majority of OSHA complaints come from?
• What are the most common OSHA violations?
• What are minimum compliance standards for light-emitting devices?
• What do you do in case of an OSHA investigation?

This week, Christie Hutchinson, RN, MBA, does a deep dive on the nursing scope of practice in aesthetic medicine. She discusses:

• The initial consult and what counts as the practice of medicine;
• How standing orders affects what RNs can and can’t do;
• The importance of protecting your nursing license;
• Standard operating procedures and their place in medical spas; and
• Where you can find information on “who can do what” in a medical practice.

This week, Brandon Robinson, owner of Skin Body Soul and investor in OrangeTwist, talks about the business outlook for the medical spa industry during and potentially after the COVID-19 pandemic. He covers how investment interest in the industry has actually increased over the past several months and reveals his thought process as he expanded his business over the course of 2020. He talks about:

• Ways the pandemic has proven the business model of medical aesthetics;
• How the “stickiness” of the industry has become apparent to investors;
• Why and how he managed to expand during pandemic;
• Where opportunities can come from during and after lockdown;
• The importance of knowing your numbers, knowing your model and sticking to your guns;
• Protections you can build into lease agreements to give yourself confidence to take risks;
• Predictions for when industry will get back to full capacity; and
• His reflections on 2020.

AmSpa CEO Alex Thiersch and COO Cathy Christensen sat down with Terri Ross of Terri Ross Consulting to talk about what it’s like being a female entrepreneur in the aesthetics industry, and how medical aesthetic practices can scale their business to seven figures with simple sales training tools. Terri shares her tips on the benefit of performing longer consults, how you can invest back into your business, role-playing tips for your front desk staff and much more!