Before there were training programs, before social media, before injections were mainstream—there was Erin Alonso, staring at an empty-looking bottle of botulinum toxin in a dermatologist's office, trying to figure out what to do with it. That was 1996. Thirty years later, she's the founder of DermFX, a six-location powerhouse stretching across Orange County and Los Angeles, a national trainer for Galderma, Allergan, Revance, Suneva and Merz, and one of the early pioneers of the aesthetic specialty.

Erin's story doesn't start with a business plan or a mentor with a playbook. What she built from an unlikely beginning—patiently, stubbornly, with almost no money and zero business training—is a testament to what happens when genuine passion for people meets an absolute refusal to quit.

She bought her first location with the help of an SBA loan, and Derm FX's mothership and is still going strong 25 years later. In the years since, she’s added 5 more locations, a 40-foot Botox Express RV, a committed team of practitioners and a loyal following of patients. Erin has spent three decades proving that accessibility, care, and community are the competitive advantages that actually last.

What You'll Learn:

• Building from nothing: What it took to go from injecting people in parking lots to securing an SBA loan, convincing a curmudgeon landlord to rent her a space week-to-week, and eventually purchasing the building on PCH that still serves as Derm FX's flagship location 25 years later

• Aesthetics for everyone: Why Erin has spent 30 years fighting to keep treatments affordable and accessible—pricing Botox by the area instead of the unit, staying open seven days a week, and building a practice model designed around the schedules of working moms and budgets of all sizes.

• The philosophy that scales: How Derm FX's culture—rooted in the simple principle of "what would I want done for myself?"—has stayed intact across six locations, and the dangers of bringing outside consultants into your practice.

• Hiring for care, not credentials: Why Erin's single non-negotiable for any injector or staff member is genuine care for people—and why she'd rather have someone who's emotionally all-in and technically coachable than a skilled practitioner who's doing it for the wrong reasons

• Training the Derm FX way: How Erin built an internal training ecosystem where new injectors learn from senior nurses who have been there 10 to 20 years, why she's never put a timer on readiness, and why she still shares her own mistakes on the team chat—on purpose

• Scaling without losing the soul: How every Derm FX location runs with a head clinical nurse or NP and a manager who has earned their way up through the ranks—people who know what "Erin would say" without having to ask

• The Botox Express: The story behind the 40-foot mobile clinic RV that has shown up at the Grand Prix, kept patients served when a Dana Point clinic burned down, and turns every neighborhood it rolls into into something that feels a lot like the ice cream truck

• Charting as protection: Why meticulous documentation—especially around budget conversations—is the difference between a patient dispute that costs you a free syringe and one that costs you your reputation

Quoteworthy Moments:

"My biggest mistake was going against my gut and hiring experts who were experts in something—just not esthetics. It created people quitting and crying, and patients going, 'This isn't the same place.' That's a stab in my soul."

"Do you actually care? Because if you don't care, there's no room for you here. Care before you think about making money. Care before you think about being the next diva on Instagram. Care first."

Connect with Erin & DermFX:

Website: Dermfx.com

Instagram:

DermFX: https://www.instagram.com/dermfx/

DermFX Podcast: https://www.instagram.com/dermfxpod/