How I Scaled My Aesthetic Clinic

Dija Ayodele has made her name pushing the aesthetics and beauty industries to better serve people of color. She is founder of West Room Aesthetics in London, a clinic whose mission is to consistently elevate the skincare experience for women of color and to champion accessible skincare.

As well as being a Glamour Magazine columnist, she is also founder of the award-winning educational platform, Black Skin Directory, which connects people of color with expert skin care professionals.

And in 2021, she published Black Skin: The Definitive Skincare Guide, which not only gives essential insights to women of colour on how to care for their skin, but also examines how history has shaped how black women have expressed themselves in beauty and skincare and looks at the very concept of identity.

In this episode, we delved into some of the fascinating topics raised in her book; and discussed how clinic owners can create more inclusive practices, and how we can create a more inclusive aesthetic industry in general. 

Plus we discussed: 

>> Where the inclusion of women of color in the aesthetic industry has improved in recent years... and what’s still missing
 

>> How skin therapists can build their confidence treating women of color, if necessary
 

>> How diversity in aesthetics is different in the UK and US - and what British clinic owners can learn from their American peers
 

>> Why she moved from a lucrative role in an investment bank to the aesthetics industry
 

>> Why niching has not stopped women of all skin tones coming to her clinic - and what other clinic owners can learn from this
 

>> How she markets with complete authenticity and keeps in touch with clients in unusual ways
 

>> The unexpected impact that publishing a book has had on her clinic
 

>> Dija’s biggest marketing challenge

...and more.

Resources mentioned in this podcast: 

>> Black Skin - The book
 

>> Dija Ayodele’s website

 >> West Room Aesthetics - Dija’s clinic

 >> Black Skin Directory

Connect to Miriam:
 
 >> On Instagram

>> On LinkedIn

>> Via email 
 

That’s why she founded Juvanni Medspa in Yonkers. She provides her patients with anti-aging services - including not just skin and body rejuvenation treatments but also weight management, nutritional advice and a focus on general health and wellness.

In this episode of How I Scaled My Aesthetic Clinic, we discuss how she promotes this holistic attitude to patients, and why she believes that this is the future of aesthetic medicine.
 
 But first, we dived into Dr Din’s extraordinary life journey.

She grew up in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, and trained as a surgeon before travelling to America for an arranged marriage. It was here that she re-invented herself and found independence and freedom.

Dr Din also founded Hagar’s Foundation, a non-profit that helps other single mothers find employment while taking care of their health. She has donated all the proceeds of her first book, Do We Really Need Botox? A handbook of Anti-Aging Services to the foundation.

Plus we covered:

>> Why she was determined to control her own destiny after a restrictive childhood

>> Her father’s role encouraging her to get an education and become a surgeon

>> Starting again in America - completely from scratch

>> Why becoming an entrepreneur with her own clinic was ‘liberating’ for her

>> Why patients are increasingly open to the connection between general health and skin health...

>> ...And why she doesn’t try to persuade patients if they’re not interested in her anti-aging philosophy

>> The gutsy move that has made her clinic marketing a success

>> The emotional reason she founded a foundation to help single mothers

...And more.

Resources mentioned in this podcast:

Juvanni Medspa website

Dr Din on Instagram

Juvanni Medspa on Instagram

Juvanni YouTube channel

Connect to Dr Din on LinkedIn

Do We Really Need Botox? A Handbook of Anti-Aging Services by Dr Sofia Din

And also one of the most adventurous! He grew up in Ireland during the troubles, and later travelled the globe - smuggling cars from Germany to Turkey, witnessing the fall of the Berlin wall, living in Saddam Hussein’s Baghdad, working as a ship’s surgeon in California and with the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Australia.

On his return to Dublin, he founded Ailesbury Clinic, where he was a pioneer in the very early field of aesthetic medicine. He became known for his research on the influence of Botox on the brain and nowadays is consulted by doctors worldwide on dermal fillers complications.

Patients have flocked to his doors, including, famously, Michael Jackson. And in 2018, he was given a special MyFaceMyBody Award in recognition of his scientific contribution to Aesthetic Medicine.

What many people don’t realize is that Dr Treacy has had downs as well as ups in his career.

When the financial crash occurred in 2008, his global chain of more than 20 clinics collapsed, leaving him to start almost all over again.

In today’s episode, we talk openly about what that was like, what he learned from the experience about how to scale an aesthetic clinic - and how to deal with tough times.

Plus we discussed:

>> Where his wanderlust came from...

>> How he persuaded the banks to loan him the money for his first clinic, even though they’d never heard of aesthetic medicine

>> Why he had the confidence to open an aesthetic clinic when the concept virtually didn’t exist

>> Why scaling up doesn’t necessarily mean opening more clinics

>> 3 lessons he learned about how to run different branches of your clinic efficiently

>> Why he intends to work until 70 - or beyond...

...And more.

Resources mentioned in this podcast:

Ailesbury Clinic website

Ailesbury Clinic on Facebook

Connect to Dr Treacy on LinkedIn

The Needle and the Damage Done - Amazon US / Amazon UK

It’s here that his career took an unusual turn... Rather than starting up his own practice from scratch, in 2013 he bought an established practice in San Francisco, which he has been growing ever since.

In this episode, we’re going to talk to him about why he made that decision, and how he took another doctor’s practice and successfully made it his own.

Dr Kaplan is also founder of Buildmybod Health, a website and iPhone app with a price estimator, which allows patients to get estimates for the procedures on their wishlist - before they book a consultation. 

We talk about why other doctors are so resistant to revealing their prices upfront - and why Dr Kaplan believes they’re wrong.

Finally, listen to Dr Kaplan reveal the piece of advice he took from me on email marketing to his patient list - and why he was surprised at the results he saw (but I wasn’t!) 😊

PLUS we discuss:

>> Why he requires patients to be vaccinated before attending clinic - and how patients have reacted

>> How he managed to purchase his practice - without the help of an outside consultant

>> How he valued the clinic he was buying

>> The most important criteria he looked for, when searching for a practice to buy

>> Should the previous owner stay on during a transition period? Why Dr Kaplan changed his mind on this...

>> How he prepared the clinic’s existing patient base for the change in ownership - and the surprising % of patients he retained, 5 years after the takeover

>> The biggest mistake he made with the clinic’s staff during the transition

>> The biggest shock he experienced as a first-time clinic owner

>>  How he’s built a database of 15,000 leads through a form on his website

>> Why he is absolutely upfront with patients about the price of his procedures, from the moment they contact him

...and more.

Resources mentioned in this podcast:

Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery website: https://www.pacificheightsplasticsurgery.com/

Dr Kaplan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realdrbae/

Connect to Dr Kaplan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/buildmybod/

Buildmybod Health: https://www.buildmybod.com/

Buildmybod Health on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildmybodhealth/ 

While he is still the business owner, the surgeons have a path to partnership and maintain considerable control of their own careers:
 
 “Corporate medicine has changed the way things run. You’re running through so many patients, it’s not fun anymore. It’s got to be fun. And so you have to create an environment where people are excited to come to work and get to practice the way they want to.

“I’m not even 40-years-old yet. I’m a younger buck in this whole changing environment. So somebody has got to put their neck out there and say, ‘[Physicians’] Ownership of their destiny is critical’.”

In this edition of How I Scaled My Aesthetic Clinic, we discuss how Dr Paul’s business model works. 
 

He started his practice just 6 years ago, using a “wheel-and-spoke” model of satellite offices throughout Texas to get known far beyond his “hub” office in Austin. Then, gradually, he turned some of those mobile offices into full-time locations.

We talked about the pressures and opportunities of fast expansion - and how he dealt personally with the shift from solo provider to owner of a major business, so quickly. 

PLUS we discussed:

>>  Why he chose a rare speciality - ocular facial plastic surgery - and some of the heartbreaking cases he’s treated

>> Why he expanded into minimally invasive aesthetics, even though he was very well niched

>> His vision of a clinic of top experts - and how that works in practice

>> How he balances giving his people a sense of independence, and maintaining a team feel

>> How he ensures that his team members understand the business side of the practice - not just the medical side

>> Why he creates a business plan for every new device he purchases - and the steps he takes to launch each new treatment successfully

>> How satellite offices helped him understand his community - so he could grow faster

>>  The 3 channels he considers essential for aesthetic clinic marketing

>> The biggest challenge in his marketing

>> The biggest trend he sees in medical aesthetics right now

...And much more.

Resources mentioned in this podcast:

Austin Face & Body: https://www.austinfaceandbody.com/

Austin Face & Body on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austinfaceandbody/

 Austin Face & Body on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW0tZ6m1IYgrH6F1rsEZuSA

 Connect to Dr Paul on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-paul-md-08593b6/

 Idea AUSTIN: https://www.facebook.com/ideaaustintx/

Avron Rubin is founder and CEO of ClarityMulti, a platform to help aesthetic clinics of every size manage their data better...

...and use it to create a more personal, welcoming experience for their patients.

In this episode, he shares some simple ways you can use data to run your clinic more efficiently and to grow faster (even if you’re not that interested in technology and the very concept of “managing data” scares you!)

Avron was previously general manager of The Facial Rejuvenation Clinic (now Rejuvenation Clinics of Australia), the largest medical cosmetic clinic in the Southern Hemisphere. We discussed how he helped build this mammoth clinic and some of the lessons he learned along the way.

He struggled to find a platform that fulfilled the clinic’s needs both for practice management and marketing - and the idea for ClarityMulti was born.

PLUS we discussed:

>> The most useful data to collect if you’re a smaller clinic

>> How to use your tech as an “early warning system” to alert you of potential problems with patients

>> How to get staff to engage with your technology (2 ways)

>> Why your marketing platform and patient CRM must be linked

>> How to use tech to provide a smoother patient journey

>> Why you should hire an outsourced IT expert to manage your systems

>>  How growing clinics can be hampered by the way they did things in the past - and how to let go of legacy issues

>> The most important lesson smaller clinics can learn from The Facial Rejuvenation Clinic’s success

>>  How he would market a clinic in a way that stands out, if he were just starting up

...And more.

Resources mentioned in this podcast:

ClarityMulti website: http://claritymulti.com/

Connect to Avron Rubin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avronrubin/

Rejuvenation Clinics of Australia: https://www.rejuvaustralia.com.au/

Discover the 4 pillars of Aesthetic Immersion Marketing: https://www.aestheticimmersionmarketing.com/

In this episode, we talk about how Dr Jegasothy recruits good people, and some special measures she has in place to keep them motivated and loyal.

Born in Sri Lanka and raised in Pennsylvania, Dr Jegasothy follows in the footsteps of parents and grandparents who were all physicians. 

She has her own degrees from both Harvard and Yale universities, and is Associate Clinical Professor of Dermatology at the University of Miami Frost Department of Dermatology.
 
 Dr Jegasothy has been on the Editorial Panels for Aesthetic Dermatology and Skin & Aging for a number of years and has an extensive profile in local and national media.

Plus we discuss:

>> Why her father steered her away from a business degree... But she’s still obsessed by the business side of her practice

>> The two most important qualities to look for when you recruit new team members

>> Her interview process, step-by-step

>> Why she tries to keep staff numbers low

>> Why she involves her staff in all her clinic’s big decisions

>> How she incentivizes staff to help grow her practice

>> How she’s helped patients get used to be treating by someone other than her

>> What she’s learned about marketing after launching her own skincare line

>> The biggest gap she sees in the medical aesthetics market

>> The most valuable treatment launched in the last decade - and the new treatment she’s most excited about
 
...And more.

Resources mentioned in this podcast:
 
The Miami Skin Institute: https://miamiskininstitute.com/

Miami Skin Institute on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miamiskininstitute

Connect to Dr Jegasothy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manjulajegasothymd

And that’s how she became a patient advocate, helping other plastic surgery patients navigate the highly complex choices available.

On today’s episode of How I Scaled My Aesthetic clinic, we discuss the lessons that your clinic can learn through her extensive work with patients...

For example, why patients sometimes pick the wrong clinicians… What they often don’t understand about their procedures…. And the common mistakes that clinics make in communicating with their patients.

Much of our discussion focused on how clinic owners can make their marketing both effective and ethical:

PLUS you’ll hear: 

>> The red flags she missed when she chose her own plastic surgeon

>> Why patients find it hard to pick the right surgeon or cosmetic doctor - and the easy steps you can take to make it easier for them

>> Why too many patients have no idea what to expect from their plastic surgery

>> The real reason too many surgeons don’t have adequate protocols for post-op care for their patients… And how to get started

>> How to market more responsibly and ethically to your patients, to help them make better decisions about their procedures

>> Why COVID is leading patients to make rash decisions about their aesthetic procedures

>> The most impressive patient care she’s seen from America’s top surgeons

>> How a concierge service can help your clinic treat patients more sensitively

...And much more.

Links mentioned in this podcast:

Michele’s website: https://www.niptuckcoach.com/

Michele’s podcast, the Nip Tuck Talk Show: https://www.niptucktalk.com/

Connect to Michele on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelegarber/

Michele’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/niptuckcoach

He is co-owner of Skin Body Soul MedSpa, a rapidly expanding chain of 4 aesthetic clinics in Iowa and Minnesota, built entirely around a membership model.

In today’s podcast, Brandon reveals the secrets to making a membership model work for your clinic, as well as the commercial lessons he’s learned from his other businesses and applied to his medspa chain.

Most impressively, Brandon lives in Lake Tahoe, NV, more than 1,000 miles from his nearest Medspa locations. Not only is this not a disadvantage, says Brandon, it’s key to making his medspas run efficiently and profitably. 

Plus we discuss: 

>> Why medspa owners should remove themselves from the day-to-day running of their business

>> The decisions that no medspa owner should ever give up

>> The 5 key KPIs to monitor as your clinic grows

>> Why he felt there was an opportunity in the market for a membership-based medspa

>> How he sells his membership program to patients

>> Why so many membership schemes fail - the mistake most clinic owners make

>> Why he makes his patients sign a 12-month contract

>> The #1 lesson he’s learned from running a pub, which has helped improve the operations of his medspas

>> How improving his communication with his team increased his profitability

>> Why he decided to open a new medspa location during the pandemic

>> The biggest business opportunity for aesthetic clinics right now - which is barely being noticed!

>> His 2 key tests for every social media post for his businesses

...And much more.

 Resources mentioned in this podcast:
 
 Skin Body Soul website: https://skinbodysoul.com

Tipsy Putt pub: https://www.tipsyputt.com

Connect to Brandon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-robinson-39a3712

Attract more Body Sculpting patients: I’m putting together a new case study group for clinics that want to get ahead of the game and attract high-quality Body Sculpting patients through their doors. Just email me right back, with “Case study group” in the subject line. 
 

How did she do it? For much of that period, Emily did very little marketing and relied mostly on word-of-mouth.

In today’s podcast, we talk about how to build a world-class aesthetic clinic at rapid speed - as well as the difficulties of fast growth.

Emily has also become a well-known business coach for other clinic owners.  And she is vastly ambitious for her business going forward. Her motto is:  “Scottsdale to Singapore by 2024” - so this is just the beginning!

PLUS:

>> Emily’s simple method to generate referrals, which helped build her business

>> The secret cost of using word-of-mouth to generate new business

>> How she “sells” higher prices to her patient base - and finds plenty of patients who are happy to pay more

>> How to use a bottle of ketchup to help your staff understand exactly how you want things done in your clinic (yes, really)

>> The art of running a million-dollar consultation

>> What every medspa and aesthetic clinic should learn from Nike’s marketing

>> What she teaches other practitioners about great customer service

>> Why moving locations is a much bigger deal than most clinic owners realize - and how to manage a move without it damaging your business

>> Why clinic owners should be on Clubhouse - and how Emily’s using it to grow her business

>> 2 small steps clinic owners should take to make the most of Clubhouse

>> Her golden rule for making sure her time isn’t eaten up by social media

>> The famous businesswoman who she considers her role model - Probably not who you might expect!

...and more.

Resources mentioned in this podcast:

Esthetic Solutions website: https://estheticsolutions.com

Esthetic Solutions on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estheticsolutions

Connect to Emily on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilytryon

Attract more Body Sculpting patients: I’m putting together a new case study group for clinics that want to get ahead of the game and attract high-quality Body Sculpting patients through their doors. Just email me right back, with “Case study group” in the subject line. 
 

Case Study: Click here to discover how clinics from Honolulu to LA to London are attracting unprecedented numbers of Threadlift patients...without spending thousands on advertising

Special Report:  1 Year after COVID, 15 leading aesthetic clinic owners reveal how they’re growing their practices a year into the pandemic