Building a Medspa: Brittany Bowles on Growth, Marketing, & Client Connection

Finding Success in the MedSpa Industry with Brittany from Mind & Body Med Spa

In this episode of the Aesthetic AF Podcast, hosts Sam Varner and Tara Dotson Riley welcome Brittany, the co-owner of Mind and Body Med Spa in Versailles, Kentucky. Brittany shares her journey into the aesthetic industry, how she and her business partner started their successful MedSpa, and the challenges they faced and overcame, including finding the right location and expanding their space. The conversation also delves into crucial aspects of marketing, hiring, and maintaining a profitable and client-focused business in the competitive MedSpa market.

00:00 Welcome to Aesthetic AF Podcast
00:25 Meet Brittany: Co-Owner of Mind and Body Med Spa
01:44 Starting the Business: From Initial Setup to Expansion
02:23 The Move to Downtown: Challenges and Opportunities
04:06 Building a Strong Team and Client Base
06:21 Focusing on Client Experience and Referrals
11:40 Overcoming Business Challenges
18:37 Marketing Strategies and Finding the Right Fit
27:04 Balancing Business and Personal Life
29:41 Financial Management and Profitability
35:49 Final Thoughts and Takeaways

Learn More About Brittany Bowles of Mind & Body Medspa: https://mindbodywellnessmedspa.com/

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Join Our Community of MedSpa Owners: https://www.facebook.com/groups/salesandmarketingformedspas

Learn More About The Podcast: https://aestheticafpodcast.com/

Join Our Community of MedSpa Owners: https://www.facebook.com/groups/salesandmarketingformedspas

Learn More About The Podcast or Apply to be a Guest: https://aestheticafpodcast.com/

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About The Hosts 🎙

Sam Varner –
A profit strategist with over 16 years of experience in financial services, public relations, and business coaching. She helps service-based business owners create sustainable, scalable, and highly profitable companies.

Tara Dotson Riley –
CEO of Tara Lynn Media (TLM), specializing in digital marketing, social media management, content creation, premium brand growth, and client acquisition strategies for medspa owners looking to establish authority and dominate their local market.

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Looking to attract high-value clients, increase revenue, and scale your medspa? The Aesthetic AF Podcast is your go-to resource for marketing, sales, and business growth strategies tailored for medspa owners and aesthetic professionals.

🎙 Hosted by Sam Varner (Profit Strategist) and Tara Dotson Riley (Marketing Expert), each episode delivers real-world insights and actionable strategies to help you build a thriving, profitable aesthetic business.

✔️ Stay ahead with the latest medspa...

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Aesthetic AF Podcast
• 0:25 Meet Brittany: Co-Owner of Mind and Body Med Spa
• 1:44 Starting the Business: From Initial Setup to Expansion
• 2:23 The Move to Downtown: Challenges and Opportunities
• 4:06 Building a Strong Team and Client Base
• 6:21 Focusing on Client Experience and Referrals
• 11:40 Overcoming Business Challenges
• 18:37 Marketing Strategies and Finding the Right Fit
• 27:04 Balancing Business and Personal Life
• 29:41 Financial Management and Profitability
• 35:49 Final Thoughts and Takeaways

Transcript

[00:00:00]

to Aesthetic AF Podcast where we have weekly conversations about marketing, sales, and business strategy for MedSpot owners.

I'm your host, Sam Varner, the Profit Coach, and And I'm Tara Dotson Riley, your digital marketing expert and agency owner. Our guest on today's episode is Brittany, the co owner of Mind and Body Med Spa out of Versailles, Kentucky.

Sam Varner: All right, Brittany. I'm so excited that you are joining us today on the podcast. We're really excited to talk to you. Why don't we start by just give me a little bit of history in terms of how you ended up in this industry?

Brittany Bowles: Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here. I ended up in aesthetics because like many other nurse practitioners, Medicine is just going in a direction that we're not loving.

Brittany Bowles: So [00:01:00] that really led into kind of thinking about what else life was going to look like. And at that point it was, I had been looking at aesthetics and doing some things, but It just, it wasn't truly on the radar until in that moment. And then my business partner and I, we happened to meet each other just by chance.

Brittany Bowles: And as she would say, it's love at first sight. I'm like, it makes us sound very weird. But we did we clicked, we became very good friends and it just spun from there. 

Brittany Bowles: It's just exciting because we can tie in a little bit of the wellness portion along with the cosmetic portion. That's how I ended up here and it's just spun from there.

Tara Dotson Riley: Hehe. So when y'all decided to go into business together, did y'all start out with a full space? Did you have a single chair? What did that look like at the beginning? 

Brittany Bowles: Yeah, so we actually had a full space. We had, three rooms and then, technically four, [00:02:00] but we used one as an office.

Brittany Bowles: And obviously with just the two of us starting out, we didn't use all of those rooms at the time. But we grew into them. We had this space always for the growth and we actually didn't even move out of that space until February of last year. So in just a couple weeks will be our one year mark of in our new place, which is downtown.

Tara Dotson Riley: So what led you down the path of expanding into the new space? And what was the deciding factor of okay, it's time to 

Brittany Bowles: Yeah, so we had always wanted to be downtown. Versailles, we're located, we're in Versailles, Kentucky. We call it like a hall hallmark town. I mean, literally if you come down here, you're at our downtown.

Brittany Bowles: It is what in a hallmark movie. During Christmas, it's beautiful. It's very quaint. And we knew that we wanted to get downtown. The hard part for us was we have a lot of older clients. We have a lot of busy moms who are stopping in, you know, in between work or on a [00:03:00] lunch break or right after work.

Brittany Bowles: And the parking situation was just an issue and we just said we can't go downtown and not have parking for the clients in and out of the door. So it was something we wanted to do and it was always the goal, but we just didn't know if it was going to happen. And we got a call one day from a family who is lived in Versailles their whole life. And they said, Hey, we just bought this new building. It didn't even go on the market. And we thought of you guys as a possible business to go in.

Brittany Bowles: And it was just crazy because we were actually set to sign our lease on our current place the month before. And we just hadn't signed, we just hadn't gotten it back to them.

Brittany Bowles: So that's what led us down here. It was always the goal. We didn't know that we would come this soon. We were hoping within five years, but we made it here within three years. . And it was just by happenstance. But our building is beautiful. We renovated the outside, we renovated the inside, and our clients just love it.

Brittany Bowles: It suits us more and it's in [00:04:00] a beautiful area. The traffic and the visibility is just top notch. 

Tara Dotson Riley: Awesome. And so how big is your team now? 

Brittany Bowles: So our team is four We have a nurse and we have my business partner and I that are nurse practitioners And then we have an esthetician. Our esthetician actually was hired as our front desk Originally, she was in esthetician school.

Brittany Bowles: She is now since graduated. And so as she's building her book, she's moving into that. So we are We really need to hire However we've been like holding back, not because we don't necessarily want to hire, but it's just, we have such a good team, such a good team. We're all very close. We get along very well and you get one bad apple and it can really change the dynamic of your clinic.

Brittany Bowles: So we've made it work. So it's just us four, but we're knocking on the door of a few more 

Tara Dotson Riley: [00:05:00] Okay 

Sam Varner: I mean, I think foot traffic was huge, right? Like that shift from a location that had far less foot traffic, if really at all, to the new location with foot traffic. Do you think that's the number one thing that shifted in terms of just busyness?

Sam Varner: Is it that in the location, or what do you think, what do you think has changed in the last year? 

Brittany Bowles: Yes and no. I think traffic our foot traffic and visibility, I mean, was huge for us. I mean, we're right on Main Street. We hear all the time we didn't know we had a med spa, and I was just driving past.

Brittany Bowles: I do think that plays a big role. I will still say that our number one way that we get people in here, in my opinion, is just a referral. Refer a friend. So we still hear a lot of that, is, you know, my friend told me about you all I also think we have a really good team with our SEO and so now that's gotten maximized I think that's really driven a lot into because we [00:06:00] rank higher in Google we really push Google reviews.

Brittany Bowles: So we get a lot with that with people saying I saw your Google reviews and everything looks awesome. And so I think it's a combination of things, but I do think the location, the visibility changed a lot for us.

Sam Varner: Yeah, I think so for sure. That's, I love that. I like the idea of. And I love talking about that referral base, right? Because what that referral base says is it's customer service. It's really focusing on the experience for your clients as they come in. That's the only way you end up with people showing back up right and specifically showing back up and bringing their closest friends to be also somebody that comes in the door.

Sam Varner: So how much focus did you guys put on that at the beginning? Do you remember back at the Like at the very beginning, was that some of the stuff that you focused on to begin with? Or when you first started, what were the things that you felt were super important? Have they [00:07:00] translated or have you changed and been like, Actually, having done this a little while, now we do this and it's really important.

Brittany Bowles: I think in the beginning, I think our focus has always been, and it still is the clients. It truly is. I feel if you treat people well, if you make them feel that they are important and that their concerns are important and you listen and you're not just looking at them as a dollar sign, I think that makes a huge difference.

Brittany Bowles: And that's just the philosophy we had from the very beginning is people won't remember what you told them, but they will remember how you made them feel. They just will. And I I think for every client that sits in your chair, We have the opportunity to make a difference in their life and whether that is a simple conversation that you have with them They're having a rough day or they finally hit that point in their life where it's either sometimes it's people in their mid 30s Sometimes it's people in their mid 60s.

Brittany Bowles: You have the opportunity to [00:08:00] make a difference for them and make them feel seen and make them feel heard And I think that's just something that we've really carried from the beginning until now is and I think that's something that we do our motto is simply you we want all of our clients to walk through the doors And we want them to walk out and feel like themselves only, you know confident and refreshed or refueled or, you know, just at a, that they're functioning at a higher level or ready to take on the day.

Brittany Bowles: So our goal is never to change anybody. And I think that's the thing with aesthetics. People think oh my gosh, they get all this work done. Honestly, one of the biggest compliments we get is people say that they chose us because when they see us on the website, they're like, you look normal, you look natural, and that's our goal.

Brittany Bowles: I'm like, we, you shouldn't not look like yourself. You should look like yourself. You should look simply you only you should feel more confident. And so going back to what, where I was starting is, I think that's been our [00:09:00] superpower from the beginning is we just treated our patients like a person, not a dollar sign.

Brittany Bowles: And we've really carried that through. There's obviously other things that we have changed and I think that we do better since then. But I think that's just the kind of the heart of what Mind and Body is to just make people feel that when you walk in these doors, it doesn't matter if you're in your sweatpants or I don't care if you're wearing, carrying the highest end bag.

Brittany Bowles: I won't know anyway. It won't matter. You know, it doesn't matter what walk of life you're in either. You matter to us and you're important here. And I think it's intimidating sometimes for people to walk into a med spa, you know, and 

Tara Dotson Riley: we don't want that. Vulnerable state where they're not feeling confident.

Tara Dotson Riley: Maybe they're not feeling the most beautiful. And so to have somewhere that is that welcoming Come on in. It's fine.

Brittany Bowles: Nobody should ever feel inferior to anybody based on their looks what they wear you know how much money they have and stuff and so I understand why people feel that way, because I felt that way [00:10:00] going into places. That's just our number one goal here, is come as you are you know, you're welcome. 

Tara Dotson Riley: How else do you get that message out?

Tara Dotson Riley: I know you have a strong focus on Google Reviews, which is as close as you can get to personal testimony as possible, but what about other ways for getting that message out? 

Brittany Bowles: Great question. I would say it's on, I mean, it's like on our website. It's some things that we put out there.

Brittany Bowles: We try in our social media to really push that image as well. 

Sam Varner: Yeah, I think. I think having been to the original location, right? I think it feels like that when you walk in the door, right? 

Sam Varner: So I'm sure that as you're out doing community events and that kind of stuff, too, I think that probably shows up where You can just show up as you are but it's interesting to think about that from that business strategy standpoint of how do I incorporate that more so that people who don't know you or have no connection to you yet, that's the first thing they feel from any [00:11:00] of the touch points that they get, right?

Sam Varner: How do you make that even more the stamp that exists for you guys anywhere? Especially because I do think it makes you stand out As a practice, I think that there's a lot of people that probably haven't even dipped their toe in the pool of what they could be doing when it comes to med spa and aesthetics and things because they don't even know if it's relevant to them.

Sam Varner: Can you even do anything about the X, Y, Z problem that bothers me or, right? So that's an interesting thing to think about just from a big broad strokes of like, how do we. 

Tara Dotson Riley: How do we give you that warm, fuzzy feeling and everything? 

Sam Varner: Yeah. Yeah. I like that. So I'm gonna ask you a couple of questions, but the first one is what is the number one challenge that you feel like you have overcome in your time as a business owner?

Brittany Bowles: Um, that's funny. Cause I'm like, as a business owner, do you ever feel like you've mastered something 

Tara Dotson Riley: like you're over it?

Tara Dotson Riley: Nope. 

Brittany Bowles: What am I missing, Sam? [00:12:00] Did I miss something? Cause I don't know that you ever feel as a business owner that. 

Sam Varner: No, you don't. At least I don't either. So like we're in good company, I think, you know, it's I don't suck at that today. Maybe that's how we all feel. Maybe it's like 

Tara Dotson Riley: finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Tara Dotson Riley: Maybe way far in the distance, but like you can finally see it now and you couldn't before. 

Brittany Bowles: Yeah I will say I don't know that it's like anything we do well. I just feel here in the last couple months, we've gotten a lot of people into play with our business that I think are, they were missing puzzle pieces that we needed.

Brittany Bowles: We've had a little shift in some things, you know, more behind the scene things. It could be something from like an accountant to a bookkeeper to, you know, to any of this, not to just throw anything out there. Cause I don't want to make it sound like we didn't like somebody or didn't, but just here recently, we've had a lot of turnover on a lot of things behind the scenes for one reason or another, somebody's retiring or.

Brittany Bowles: We just felt like this just wasn't working for us. [00:13:00] This isn't the way we wanted to take our business. Our vision wasn't being seen for whatever reason. We've had a lot of shift here in the last couple months and we were just saying the other day, we're like, Oh my gosh, we just feel like we can breathe in the sense of we feel like we've made some really good decisions with some people.

Brittany Bowles: We made some changes even a year or two ago with some things that we were doing and They've panned out to be phenomenal for our business We look at them more like a partner than somebody who's working and doing a service for us So for example our seo company who does like our website and stuff our Guy that we work with he's phenomenal.

Brittany Bowles: It's definitely these relationships that we've built with these people I think and so that's something I think we've learned from the beginning of To just ask more questions interview them more.

Brittany Bowles: So I feel like we do that better. So we're getting more people that are better suited for us now than in [00:14:00] the beginning, where we're like, we just need somebody. 

Sam Varner: I think that's I think that's so relatable, right? Just you don't know what you don't know. And you don't even know what you're looking for, right?

Sam Varner: And yet so many of us start out and you just hire somebody who does it and you don't know even what to ask, right? So I think if we think about people listening that are in the very early stages of their business and they're thinking like, okay, yeah, I do have all of these things. I don't think it's surprising that all of us go through that transition of brand new business owner who knows what they think they need, but you don't even know yet, really.

Sam Varner: So you just are starting and then you hire people and there is a trial and error. And I think people forget that they think that it's going to be like the special snowflakes the first round. And I think for anybody listening like that is not reality and you haven't done anything wrong because part of it is you have to progress through As you develop as [00:15:00] a business owner to be like, oh, this is what is really important to me.

Sam Varner: And I had no idea of that 18 months ago or 3 years ago. Because how could I have? 

Brittany Bowles: And too, I think early on in the state as a business owner, You ignore a lot of red flags. You ignore a lot of things that you're like, this doesn't seem right. But I feel like I really need their help. Or they're making it sound like I really need their help.

Brittany Bowles: And I mean, Sam and I can say this for sure. I mean, a lot of red flags are ignored early on. We've had these conversations about business and decisions that we've made. It's like your gut's screaming at you like I don't think this is right or this is truly beneficial for me. But when you're a new business owner, I mean, I'm a nurse practitioner. I know how to be an MP. I know how to so I think that's just what's hard as a business owner. There's a lot of wheels turning and how do you keep them all going at once? 

Tara Dotson Riley: Yeah. And I think that early in your business, too, you're still trying to figure out how you even, how to even be a [00:16:00] business owner, like, how you even will manage those things what's the best way that you work with people do you like the agency that is in your inbox every single day and hey, reminder, blah, blah, blah, or do you like the one that is just more laid back and okay, I know they're doing what they need to do, and neither one is wrong or right, but you will have a preference, and if you select the opposite the first time it's okay to be, like, hey, reminder, Manage those expectations and have that communication of, okay, this is what I want or I thought 

Sam Varner: I think like just to touch on to there's also all of us sitting here and I think a huge portion of the people that will listen to this podcast. We're also balancing trying to be people, right?

Sam Varner: Trying to be alive. Yeah, we're trying to keep tiny humans alive. We're trying to keep dogs alive. We're trying to manage to have some downtime that isn't every waking second about business and about how are we doing it and oh my God, can I do payroll and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, all the things. And I think just being able to speak that out.

Brittany Bowles: Agree. I mean, and I think too, when you [00:17:00] feel that way, at least my opinion would be like, then you're stagnant in your business. Your business isn't growing or you're not, you know, you're not bettering yourself either because the second that you stop educating yourself, you stop learning, you stop finding ways to not even necessarily grow the business, but to bring more value to the business, to make yourselves better.

Brittany Bowles: So I just think once you become It's okay to be content with where you are, but it's a difference to become stagnant and just not Want to grow and continue to be better.

Tara Dotson Riley: Yeah, I agree because growth is more than just also the monetary side.

Tara Dotson Riley: It is that value add side It's looking at okay. How are my employees feeling when they come to work? Are they happy when they come to work or do they have the Sunday's scary. You know, what experience am I providing for other people? I definitely agree. There's always somewhere you can be looking at improving.

Tara Dotson Riley: Yeah. 

Brittany Bowles: I mean, yeah, just with that one of our employees the other day, [00:18:00] she it was it was a while back. She said, I just love that you guys just don't micromanage us. And I said, honey, the day I have to micromanage you is the day you should not work here because I shouldn't have to micromanage you, you know, I'm like, you know what you need to do Like your job responsibilities are a spelled out for you We've brought you on because we know you're competent to do this job 

Brittany Bowles: If you have people who truly love you and you treat them well and you show how much you value them too, they pour back into your business. And so it goes, it's a two fold type thing. I mean, when you become stagnant, so will your employees.

Sam Varner: I'll direct you to Tara first, but anything from a marketing side that you're like, I need some help. What would you suggest? 

Brittany Bowles: I think from a marketing side, I think the biggest scare for us is I told you how important it is that we are portrayed in a different manner.

Brittany Bowles: We don't want to be your typical med spa and I think as far as marketing [00:19:00] goes, how do you bring on a marketing company and not lose that personal connection with your clients? Because I feel like some of these marketing clients are like, Oh, we'll drive the people in the door. And I'm like we're not driving the people in the door. Like, how do you do marketing well? And how do you pick the right one that doesn't make you lose who you are, but helps push your business forward? 

Tara Dotson Riley: Yeah. So love that question. That's a good question. I like that a lot. lot A lot to unpack within that. So as far as not losing who you are, I think it's really finding a marketing agency that maybe you have a singular account manager, whatever that looks like you have that one person that you go to and they know your business and they know whenever they know what experience you're trying to convey when somebody walks in the door so that whenever they're strategizing your marketing for you, they're able to have that in mind always.

Tara Dotson Riley: And that is top of mind. Like at the end of the day, the goal [00:20:00] is one obviously to get you clients. but also to get the kind of clients that you want coming in the door that you want to build those relationships with because a filled chair is not always the best thing if it's the wrong kind of 

Brittany Bowles: Yeah, like it's not.

Brittany Bowles: Nobody wants a Karen. Sorry if your name is Karen, but I'm just saying. Your name can be Karen. 

Tara Dotson Riley: Just don't act like one. 

Brittany Bowles: Exactly. Don't be a Karen. My mother in law's name is Karen but. 

Tara Dotson Riley: And that's the thing of okay, how are you booking these appointments? I know you're going to drive people to us, but how?

Tara Dotson Riley: And how do you qualify them? And how do I know that these are going to be quality things? And then it takes that time of you then auditing like what is actually coming through the door. But really it's a matter of looking at that process of what are they doing to book those appointments? And what are the touch points that those people are seeing?

Tara Dotson Riley: in order to book because if they are seeing content that is genuine and true to brand and has your personality and your and Haven's personality in it, they've already met you. You don't know them, [00:21:00] but they have already met you and they've met your business and they know what to expect when they're coming in.

Tara Dotson Riley: And so just having that strong brand personality before you even meet them. The work is done for you. At that point, you just have to be yourself and provide excellent care. It does, it makes it a lot more scalable too, because then you're not having to build that relationship on the forefront from scratch.

Tara Dotson Riley: They already know what to expect. They're coming in prepared for that. 

Brittany Bowles: And how do you know which ones like I feel like there's so many out there you get emails day after day Like your website could be better.

Tara Dotson Riley: Yeah. I might have a hot take on it. The ones that email you and say you can have 30 new clients are probably full of shit.

Tara Dotson Riley: Don't delete. I think the best way to look at a marketing agency and decide are they the best fit for you is that face to face. And having somebody that you can talk to, like an actual person you're talking to.

Tara Dotson Riley: And ideally, also somebody you can build a relationship with. Whether it's the business owner that's fulfilling your contract, or they have a team of people. So we have a team of people. But you have a singular [00:22:00] person that you're talking to, and you know, no matter who's working on my account, they all know what the end goal is.

Tara Dotson Riley: And we're, we've worked on this strategy together. But really it's interviewing them, and taking the time to Get to know them and seeing how they work with people and just going from there. I will say quality marketing services are going to be more expensive, but they'll also get you a lot more in turn.

Tara Dotson Riley: I always am wary of a really good deal because why is it so inexpensive? Is it a graphic that they're getting just from Canva and it doesn't convey my brand message. It's just what they do for every Medspa aesthetic place that they have on their rotation. So how do 

Brittany Bowles: you So when it comes to marketing and a marketing agency is it good to have a marketing agency?

Brittany Bowles: Specialize in like your website and like your SEO, we specialize in your social media marketing. We specialize in, you know, ads, we specialize in like campaigns as far as like text [00:23:00] campaigns or I'm like, how do you like, do you, Do these agencies do it all? Can you find one that's We do it all.

Tara Dotson Riley: Yeah, there are agencies that do it all. We do a lot of some of it, but then you also know a single agency, are they going to be perfect at every single possible marketing thing out there? Probably not. So having one that's honest with, here are best services. Here's what we can get for you. And then also knowing that you don't have to be doing every type of marketing that exists.

Tara Dotson Riley: You might not need postcard mailing. So you don't need somebody that does that. You really need to focus on that social media side of things.

Tara Dotson Riley: And with you having a strong SEO person Don't rock the boat. If that's working, you would find that agency that then it's really good at that social media side of things and can create the content and strategize it and really get it out there with the message that you want. It depends. It also depends on if you're the kind of business owner that only wants to talk to a single person.

Tara Dotson Riley: Yeah. 

Tara Dotson Riley: Or if you are okay [00:24:00] with managing multiple people. Okay. 

Sam Varner: I think you The other thing to think about, too is I always talk about you need your team. And so part of what I would look for is, can you work with the people I already love and exist in my world? So if you have your SEO guy is amazing, right?

Sam Varner: You love him. He's doing the website stuff. You really like that. Is he willing to collaborate with your social media digital agency? And if he is, does that work right? So that kind of stuff where you don't necessarily even have to be in every time they get together, but to have a collaboration with more specialties, being able to talk and then be like, yes, we are working together so that we're building this out for you on the back end, I think is a way to work it too.

Sam Varner: And I think. Going back to the bookkeeper and accountant and do they need to be separate? Do they need to be separate firms? Do they need to be completely isolated? Can they be [00:25:00] together? Both, you know, can they both be the same person? I think again, it's back to that. What do you prefer? How much time do you have on the administration side and the back end of the business to be like, Okay, I have to meet with the bookkeeper.

Sam Varner: I have to meet with the accountant. I have to meet with the social media person. I have to meet with the website guy. I have to meet with the SEO person. And if they all become individual, 

Brittany Bowles: same when you say like that sounds like a lot of my time. 

Sam Varner: It's a lot of your time, right? And some in some ways there's no way around it, right?

Sam Varner: Like for you to manage the business as it grows. We get pulled more and more towards the like CEO level business owner and less the like hands in the day to day front of house stuff inevitably and it comes with, you know, pros and cons a lot of times I deal with business owners that want to still be very hands on.

Sam Varner: They want to spend a huge portion of their time interacting with the patients because that's what they love. And I mean, that's you for sure. [00:26:00] But yeah, There's also that back end stuff that has to be done and managed. So it's like a stupid balancing act where sometimes it's gonna be like I'm gonna choose the accounting firm that can do both because that's one meeting, and I'm going to choose specialists in the marketing because that's more important, and I want it to be very isolated specialties, and then you just go from there, right?

Sam Varner: But I don't think, unfortunately, there's not I wish there was a just hire one fairy godmother, and they will do everything. That'd be amazing. I'd like that girl. I know 

Brittany Bowles: it would be. Haven and I have gotten better about that. We have split some things, so like, when it comes to certain tasks on the back end of the business I handle these meetings with people when it comes to our accountant, and our bookkeeper and all that and she handles like more like social media.

Sam Varner: Yeah. 

Brittany Bowles: That does help having two of us. But, yeah. Yeah. Okay. 

Sam Varner: Do you have any questions that I can answer that are maybe not marketing specific, but anything that you think, [00:27:00] okay, I've got the profit coach in the room. What do I need to know on that front?

Brittany Bowles: Just from a coaching standpoint, how do you keep all the wheels spinning without letting something fall? I mean, it's just every time you feel like you get One thing, like lockdown and you feel good about this area of the business, it's like this one's been neglected or, you know, so I mean, so just even from a coach standpoint, I'm like, how do you just like, how do you do it all?

Brittany Bowles: You know, how do you keep it all going? 

Sam Varner: That it's such a good question, but it's like the answer is so shitty because the reality is you can't do it all. So it becomes that. When I get a business owner that says or asks me a question like that, and you already know the answer to this is like you don't have enough people probably right now.

Sam Varner: So you are trying to do too many things and you're only one human. So it's time management and it's super organization at systems and it's all of those [00:28:00] pieces. But at the end of the day, There is only so much capacity, so I will have clients where I talk to them and say like you're at the capacity you have and what you're doing is just passing the ball from person to person on the theory that there is a position that the ball can fall and someone's there to catch it.

Sam Varner: And the reality is sometimes you get to the point where you're like, , I'm dropping stuff or stuff is not as beneficial as I want it. It's just capacity. It comes back to we need to lean into that hiring and finding that person that is a really good fit.

Sam Varner: And like embracing the fact that is very nerve wracking and very hard to do and very concerning that if you get it wrong, but also remembering that very old adage of hire slow, fire fast. If you make a mistake when you hire, no big deal. Happens to the best of us. You get rid of them and you try again.

Sam Varner: And just. But not being, like, frozen to [00:29:00] not take that step forward to try and find that person. Knowing it takes a little while for them to come online and be actually helpful and productive. But that's I wish I could say, but I know you well enough to know that you already are thinking about your time management.

Sam Varner: You are already using your time to the best of your ability. You are already delegating as much as possible and like between you and Haven sharing things the way that you need to in the clinic and I know you're not asking that from a place of three hour lunches and Messing around and not doing anything like that's a different answer to a different business owner Maybe but I think that's probably the answer for you.

Sam Varner: Unfortunately is like you need more peeps 

Brittany Bowles: Yeah, I think you're right. I think from a profit Standpoint I think it's just we've really honed in, I feel like, on our numbers here in the last three months, and tried to clean that up, but, I do feel like, you know, I look at our numbers or what's coming in and I'm like, [00:30:00] Where's all this money going? Where does it go? You know? And that's, and I mean, don't get me wrong in the aesthetic industry.

Brittany Bowles: To order a vial your expenses 

Brittany Bowles: are high and 

Sam Varner: they're not preventable high, like to order product, to have inventory, to have the machinery necessary for providing the services that you provide. All of that stuff is inevitable, but it is really going through with a fine tooth comb and being like, Is our pricing taking into consideration every expense that is created in this environment?

Brittany Bowles: And I think that's where we struggle is, you know, when you're thinking about a procedure, it's I don't know that we've always taken into consideration of our time. You know, like the time it's taking us to sit in the room, or what we're paying our nurse to sit in that room, or our esthetician to sit in that room.

Brittany Bowles: What do all the supplies that you're using cost? What is all that adding up? It's like you set these prices for this service that you're giving, but [00:31:00] you're really looking at just like the service. You're not, and so there's times I'm looking at Haven, and I'm just like, where can we cut costs? And you know, I'm like, we, you know, when talking to our account, our bookkeeper, they're like, you guys make, for how young you still are, you know, we're going on four years.

Brittany Bowles: And it's I mean, we're still a young med spa, at least in my opinion. 

Sam Varner: The difference between like top line revenue numbers that can look very impressive and bottom line, what is the profit that actually comes home? And is in your pocket, right? And that's I think that has to be a continual conversation in a business because each and every six months, even you've got to evaluate are my prices aligned?

Sam Varner: But if you guys haven't gone through and done that very itemized, like what's our overhead? What's our cost? How much are we paying for credit card processing fees? And is that incorporated into [00:32:00] the pricing of our services? It like each little minutiae detail and then saying this is this procedure needs to cover X percentage of that expense, whether it's staffing costs or whatever it's very hard.

Sam Varner: The profit margin of those individual services is probably not where you think it is because there's probably a chunk of lines in that spreadsheet that aren't being compensated for on the backside of the pricing. And that's something that. It's hard to do when you very first start a business in any realm where you're able to set prices because when you start out in business, you're starting out with all of the mindset crap of how much is it actually worth?

Sam Varner: Are people ever going to pay me? Holy shit, I need to pay the rent. I need somebody to come and just buy the service like I need someone in here right now so that I'm not just standing around twiddling my thumbs. And so that changes over time. But I think that's where. Sometimes that's your CPA can be a little bit strategic [00:33:00] in that way and help.

Sam Varner: But oftentimes it ends up being a business coach that helps with that stuff and pulls it out and itemizes it all and then puts it back together with, okay, what's the plan over the next 18 months in terms of your pricing and how can we make this? Cause you can't make those switches in the first day, 

Brittany Bowles: right?

Tara Dotson Riley: Yeah. And I think that's been the biggest struggle, at least for me in the business is just like the numbers and knowing Are our prices good? Are our numbers right? Our bookkeeper is phenomenal and she's walked me through a lot of it and she's handling it now. And so I'm like, I can breathe because before I was like, I literally have no idea what I'm doing. 

An interesting thing too is knowing your most expensive service might not be your most profitable service. So that's the truth. Back into marketing of knowing what your most profitable service is and leaning into that. And marketing the crap out of it, 

Sam Varner: yeah. 

Tara Dotson Riley: And so when you're looking for a marketing agency, have one that, Has also that mindset and works with you on, [00:34:00] okay, I know this is what you would like us to push, but what if we did this and here's why?

Brittany Bowles: That makes sense. 

Tara Dotson Riley: Yeah. I mean, 

Brittany Bowles: people say all the time, they're like, why is Botox so expensive? I'm like, honey, if you knew how much we made off Botox, you would literally laugh and ask us why we do it. I mean, it is literally it, that is not the driving. It is one of the most sought out services in a med spa.

Brittany Bowles: And it's probably one of the most done services in a med spa, that and like fillers and stuff. But I'm like, that is not where your moneymaker is in a med spa. It's not, it's just not. 

Sam Varner: One, knowing that right and that specializing so then making sure that what you're talking about is the stuff that drives the money primarily because at the end of the day, you are still a business and then getting to do the other stuff as less of a priority in terms of what you're pushing, but it's an add on, right?

Sam Varner: It becomes the side pal to the profitable stuff. People, cool. People don't understand that. I think there's also that level of educating your clientele, right? So [00:35:00] not necessarily that we're saying to them listen, this only makes me 35 cents. I don't want to stab you in the face anymore with this needle because it's not profitable for me.

Sam Varner: That's not helpful. But having that conversation of like, when you do this Botox or this filler, and when you add these skincare products onto this and it maintains, it continues, it elongates the treatment that we've done here today and creates the other sort of effects that you're looking for.

Sam Varner: If then, let's say skincare is the more profitable side of that. It's that co selling and side selling and upselling all of those pieces become Strategies, too, right? So it's not just necessarily what are the numbers look like? It's like understanding the numbers and being like, how do I now start selling in a way that supports the numbers and backs you up?

Sam Varner: And so you know, as we're talking about this, I think hopefully what everybody's gleaning from this is this is complicated. And so if it [00:36:00] feels complicated to a business owner who's sitting there with her head in her hands, like trying to figure out whatever part of it is hard for her. You're not alone and it is hard, but also there's people that can help you.

Sam Varner: So that's first and foremost, is find your supportive people around you lean in. Invest in people that know what you don't know and go that way.

Sam Varner: And the reality is with business ownership, there is no right answer. There is a combination that works for your business. And that combination gets to be based on what you and what Haven are excellent at, what you're not excellent at, outsourcing as much of it as you can. And then realizing that like you can change your minds and decide that next week we no longer do that thing because it doesn't make sense.

Sam Varner: It just, it's a little bit of trial and error for all of us, I think, and just, I'm glad you brought some of those particular questions up because you are not the only people that are dealing with that in their business at all, by any stretch. Yeah. [00:37:00] Awesome. 

Brittany Bowles: Thank you. 

Sam Varner: Yeah. You're welcome. Thank you so much for being willing to do this and just chat with us. 

Sam Varner: And yeah, I'm excited 

Brittany Bowles: to be here. Thanks for asking me. It's been a good time and to hear, get some pearls on marketing and Sam, I know you're the guru when it comes to profits and stuff too.