Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Elisabeth Smith's Journey to Building a Star-Studded Skincare Practice
58 Plays2 months ago
Have you ever wondered what it takes to attract A-list celebrities to your business? In this episode of This or More, we dive deep into Elisabeth's inspiring journey of transforming her passion for skincare and injectables into a sought-after practice that caters to the stars. Elisabeth shares her secrets to success, from the initial challenges she faced to the pivotal moments that led her to create a brand recognized for excellence. We chat about:
- The unique strategies Elisabeth used to stand out in a competitive market
- Key lessons learned along the way that any entrepreneur can apply
- The importance of authenticity in building relationships
- Tips for creating a loyal community of clients who love and trust your brand
- Juicy do's and don'ts when it comes to products
Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur or simply curious about the behind-the-scenes of a thriving skincare business, this episode is packed with valuable insights and inspiration.
Listen now to discover how you can turn your passion into a thriving business!
Connect with Tiffany:
Follow Tiffany on Instagram
Connect with Elisabeth:
Follow Elisabeth on Instagram
Check out her website
Check out her skincare
Recommended
Transcript
A Story of Resilience and Beauty
00:00:00
Speaker
She starts crying when she sees us and she says, so I had breast cancer and I had a double mastectomy and my husband left me saying I was half a woman. And she said, this is the first time I felt beautiful in five years.
00:00:16
Speaker
I don't know about you, but I've been in toxic work environments. So to be able to provide something that's the opposite of that is part of your legacy. It's not because we're just like getting a bunch of influencers in our door and giving them free things because people see right through that.
Introduction to 'This or More' Podcast
00:00:31
Speaker
Welcome to This or More, a wild entrepreneurial podcast adventure for bold and brave creatives like you. I'm Tiffany k Napper, your host, holistic business coach, corporate music industry dropout, a seasoned five-time multi-six figure entrepreneur, yoga instructor, and your go-to gal for heart-to-heart coffee chats.
00:00:51
Speaker
On this show, we're not just here to share stories. We're here to ignite a fire within you and make you realize that the reality you envision is just the tip of the iceberg. You're wildly capable of achieving that reality and so much more. So my friends, grab your cup of inspiration, settle in, and let's dive into another inspiring episode of This or More.
Meet Elizabeth Smith: Entrepreneur and Skincare Expert
00:01:14
Speaker
Hi, today I have the pleasure of chatting with my friend, my personal skincare queen, Elizabeth Smith, founder of IndiRx here in Nashville and founder of the Skincare line, SkindiRx. She's a business owner, an entrepreneur, a physician's assistant, a skincare and non-surgical injectable genius.
00:01:32
Speaker
and just an all around incredible human. I can't wait for y'all to get to meet her. She is truly an artist when it comes to injectables. And we'll dive into what I mean by that in a second. But I truly trust Elizabeth and only Elizabeth when it comes to something going into my face. um Originally from Pennsylvania, Elizabeth came to Nashville, Tennessee to begin her undergraduate education for pre-med.
00:01:52
Speaker
She went on then to complete her master's of medical science and obtained her physician assistants degree with the highest of honors. No shock there. We're going to dive deep into all things business and skin because I can't void the two topics I really love the most. Welcome to this or more. Thank you, Tiffany. I'm so happy to be here. I know. Me too. This is like a long time coming. I know. I should have looked back at my records, but I feel like I started seeing you in 2017, something like that. It was 17 or 18. Yeah.
00:02:22
Speaker
But I want to go back
From Physician Assistant to Skincare Passion
00:02:23
Speaker
even further. i want I want you to take us back to the beginning of your skincare journey, because it didn't start in skincare. It started in more like plastic surgeon. And yeah, you tell us. Tell me a little bit about the beginning of your skincare journey.
00:02:35
Speaker
So in honesty, when I was thinking of becoming a PA, a physician assistant, I thought I was out to save the world. I had gone on medical missions trip to Tibet. And I was like, oh, there's just so many lives that I need to save. And I really was thinking that was the path I was going to take. And then as I was doing my clinicals, I did dermatology, ah you know a clinical through dermatology. And I was like, ooh.
00:03:00
Speaker
She pretty, um, but I still wasn't like set on that cause I was like, no, no, I am, I am in this to like really help people. And it wasn't until, uh, the oculoplastic surgeon had heard of me and flew me back to Nashville that I even started entertaining this other world. And she, I was like, but it's so, it feels so vanity driven and it was really hard for me to wrap my brain around that. And so she's like, just shadow for a day. And I was like, okay.
00:03:30
Speaker
That sounds great. So I did and she, we walked into this room, this woman was there and she starts crying when she sees us and she says, so I had breast cancer and I had a double mastectomy and my husband left me saying I was half a woman.
The Impact of Skincare on Self-Esteem
00:03:49
Speaker
h And she said, this is the first time I felt beautiful in five years. And not that I want people not to find their confidence other places, but that to me was so impactful of what an impact skin and looking in the mirror has on our day to day. So I started an oculoplastic surgery for six years. So that made me very fine tuned to the musculature of the face and all of that fun stuff. Right? Like specific. Yep. From the eyes up basically. Okay.
00:04:18
Speaker
and but we also did skincare of course so i always had that artistic side where i loved injectables but i loved the sciency nerdiness of skincare and so i started there yeah i think that's probably i mean ah everything you just said if you're listening you can start to understand why she's so good at what she does because it is the combination of heart and science that makes you so unique in my opinion um and and what makes you so great at what you do. And why I choose you is because, so spoiler alert, I found you because, and you know this already, I found you because Caitlin Bristow from the Bachelor Bachelorette back then, now she's done lots of other things since then, but that's how I first knew her was from the Bachelor Bachelorette series. She tagged you on Instagram and I was like, well, if Caitlin trusts her, she must be my gal. And I had recently removed, you know, moved back to Nashville
00:05:09
Speaker
Relocated here and had never done it before and I just thought well if I'm gonna you know I want the best of the best and um And that was how I found you so but I love what ah where I was going with that was What I loved about you when I met you was you were just like I want to make you look like you but better Like I don't want to change who you are, right? I don't want the world to know you've come in and got something done I just want you to look refreshed and I was like you're my gal You're my gal and here we are, seven, how many years? Six, seven years later, it's crazy. Okay, on that same topic, that is what I love the most about you is that you don't overdo it and that you won't overdo it. Like you've told me time and time again, like if someone comes in and asks me for like something that I don't believe in, it's gonna be a hard no for me. But how do you how do you like navigate that fine line of not going overboard and not and not even maybe not picking yourself apart in the journey?
00:06:01
Speaker
Yeah, that's a hard part where I know what I can and can't do, and so it's hard to to look in the mirror sometimes and not do that. But at the end of the day, I truly believe this. It's not just like, oh, she's just saying that because it sounds good. like I think everyone's beautiful, and i think we I love to highlight those beautiful features. so If I hear someone walking in the door and they're going to pick themselves apart, and like I'll name five beautiful things about them because it's so important for them to see as an expert in this field what I see in them. so I think it's in this culture of filters and just so we can get caught up on social media and how every celebrity looks perfect.
00:06:41
Speaker
I think it's so easy for us to do that, and I want to be that voice saying, you are beautiful, but what's what is your biggest insecurity? And we focus on that, and we make sure, like is it uneven eyebrows? I got you. You want lips too big? I don't got you. I'm so sorry. like God didn't give you that, and I'm not going to either. So yeah um it's just kind of making sure that they know that natural beauty is where it's at. Yeah, yeah and i truly i really do I really do love about that about you. so When I found you, when I was first going to you, you were a party of one. and it It was a bit of a haul and I didn't care. It was like 45 minutes to get to you and I was like, I will drive. ah and Then you branched out and you decided it was time to have a larger you know clinic with other people on your team. so
00:07:24
Speaker
You know, my audience is filled with business owners and the scaling concept is kind of where a lot of people get stuck, right? They're like, I don't know. It's just me right now. I don't know how to make this more than just me. So will you talk to me a little bit about what were you – if you can remember, go back to that time. What were you thinking? Where did you get to the point or what was the the pivotal moment where you went?
00:07:44
Speaker
This is time. It's bigger than me. I need more people on my team. Yeah.
Business Growth Challenges and Decisions
00:07:48
Speaker
So I started with a non-compete. So I had to start from ground zero and I had to turn away people even if they found me and I used to see them with exceptions. And, um, when that happened, it was a hard journey, but it was just me. So I was like, if I fail, it just affects me.
00:08:07
Speaker
But then my schedule started booking out and it started getting busier and busier. And I knew that I wanted to create something that people could feel on a grander level. And so when someone actually approached me about this space that was in the nations in Nashville,
00:08:24
Speaker
and it was an old church building and that we could build up this with all these different exam rooms. It was really scary to me, but it was also so exciting because I just knew that I wanted to find a place where I could make people feel welcome and home. And this little dungeon that I was in was not it. and We made the most of it.
00:08:43
Speaker
We did. We did make the most of it. Yeah. I didn't know if it was like raining or snowing outside, but there were no windows, no windows in our original place. So tiny. Um, but I was like, I believed in myself at that point that I'm like, okay, we can make this happen. And so the scaling, the hardest thing for me when we started to grow so fast was delegation. I didn't know how to do that. And I had did everything and I started getting so overwhelmed and I took on everyone else's schedules. It's my problem.
00:09:13
Speaker
If they didn't have patience, ah that was on me. And so that was a really hard scaling moment to be like, okay, who can I invest time in to train to take on some of these um things that I might be losing in myself.
00:09:29
Speaker
Yeah, I was going to ask you, like did you have experience from before you went on your own? Because I often talk about that. I say to people, like I was in the corporate world for 10 years before I became an entrepreneur. And I meet a lot of people now who just jump straight into entrepreneurship. and Great. But what I value about my time in corporate world is I got to see behind the scenes how these large global companies set up their digital files and managed monthly meetings or corporate whatever. right And that benefited me when it was time to go out on my own. So I would love to know from you, like how did you know how to manage and and kind of set up the proper systems and and you know that sort of thing as you grew? Because what is it now, a team of six, something like that? No. Nine. Nine. Oh my God. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. yeah So I didn't, um, is the true and honest answer. I learned kind of as I went, I would listen to podcasts. I would read books. I would try to see how, what kind of leader I wanted to be because I wanted to establish that first. Um, but then I just started realizing, i was Oh, a monthly meeting is important. Checking in is important. Yeah. Um, not just thinking everything's la di da just okay is really important. So those are like hard lessons I had to learn where I was like, okay, inventory, they don't know what's coming in or out. I need to be more vocal with certain things. So it was definitely like kind of a trial by fire where I was thrown into just me. And then I think we started with four, four employees. So yeah it was a little bit, um, yeah overwhelming at first.
00:10:58
Speaker
Leave you from the ass outside looking in you found a phenomenal job it's very clear the team culture dine in the dynamics and the joy like you know you said you wanted a place that felt like home and I think if anyone goes and googles you quickly and finds indie on you know instagram you're gonna see that you all look like Great friends who really enjoy going to work every day and and that's a beautiful thing Do you do anything in particular to kind of cultivate team culture? Yeah, so we always we at least once a year have a big kind of team outing retreat whatever you want to call it and Uh, we make sure to do that, but connecting these girls just, they truly, and maybe I'll take some credit on who I've hired like as that. Cause I'm very selective on who is part of our team, but we know that we have each other's backs and that's some of them just hang out outside of work. Sometimes we cultivate it with, with indie group outings, but in the, in general, it's always kind of checking in and making sure that, you know, we went on, um,
00:11:58
Speaker
I think conferences are important in our world because we're always learning and growing. And we went on a conference and I had scheduled this like sunset boat tour for us to go in Miami. And I did a cheers to them. And i I just won't forget it. One of the girls, she starts like, she's like, I think I'm going to cry. She's like, I just, it's not work to me. like I just love coming to this place. And she's like, I just love where it is. And that made me just feel like I could, I did. I jumped out the boat. I saw the Instagram real.
00:12:27
Speaker
ah Um, because it, that's what I want. Um, I want them to feel like it's not work that we're just taking care of people. Yeah. And you know, whenever we as bosses, when we, when we hear positive, you know, feedback from someone that quite frankly, we pay to be there, you know, they don't have to say anything nice. It does hit home on a completely different level, right? It's like, uh, I don't even know how to describe it. And sometimes I try not to, I try not to wash over it because
00:12:58
Speaker
I do think it's important that you take that moment to realize i'm I'm creating like, I don't know about you, but I've been in toxic work environments. So to be able to provide something that's the opposite of that is part of your legacy. Yeah. And the hardest thing is not being too lenient. So trying to just be their friend. Oh yeah. That's really my struggle. I'm such an empath and a people pleaser. And that's when my biggest struggle is to form boundaries and to be able to,
00:13:28
Speaker
just hold those. yeah yeah And kind of even find that respect level of, okay, like I really want to do everything you guys want to do, but at the end of the day, I still have to decide business-wise what we have to do as well. Yeah. Oh, that's such a good point. And that is something that I see come up quite a bit once you get to this level of like, you know a business that's that's pretty successful and I'm gonna use numbers as an example because That's an easy thing for us to wrap our head around right like once a business is making multi six seven figures We're gonna deem that a success and now we've got employees Typically and we've got people who are dependent upon us and oftentimes with the women that I work with It's a pretty small lean team. We're not building these like
00:14:10
Speaker
monstrosities of hundreds of employees. And so the dynamics between boss and team member are so different in that regard. And that is something I see come up quite a bit is even the transition as you grow, especially if someone stays with you from early on as you grow to suddenly realize, oh wait, the dynamics between you and I are going to have to shift just a little bit in order for the rest of the team to not get too lackadaisical to, you know, or ah just I don't know, too comfy, right? Yeah. and In this position. Have you had to navigate that in particular? For sure. Yeah. Yeah. It's just anywhere from pay to time off to schedule adjustments and everything like that. i'm I'm really supportive of as you have kids and your life changes, your schedule is going to change. And I love to adapt to that. But I also am like, you know, I know what a room costs.
00:15:03
Speaker
right and I know it's someone not being in that room cost. It's a huge balancing act of yeah of giving people everything they want with the exception of also keeping that in mind. yeah At the end of the day, the business you're the one protecting the business.
00:15:18
Speaker
like you're are the one responsible for And I always think of it that way. I'm like, well, if this business goes under, you don't have a job. So it's kind of my obligation. It's in your best interest if I'm a little hard on you now and again, because I want you to stay gainfully employed. Yes. I remember one of those hard conversations recently.
00:15:36
Speaker
And usually most meetings are always pretty pleasant. um And she's like, that wasn't the most pleasant meeting. And I was like, I hated every second of it. yeah I hated every single solitary second of it, but it was so important because I needed to tell goals and I needed to you know say what our expectations were, um even though I value her so, so much. yeah Yeah. Yeah. I always say to people when you're struggling, especially if it's a small team, one of my hacks is,
00:16:05
Speaker
And I think that's just because this happened to me the wrong way one time and I'll never forget it. So I'm always like, okay, this is what we're gonna do instead. But one of my hacks is if you've got one person on your team who's kind of like, you know, not doing what you want them to do, not following the rules, so to speak, is we make it alert a team learning experience. And we'll just like, in the next weekly, monthly, whatever meeting you've got coming up, you say, hey, I want to go back and I want to re, ah you know, examine this part of our protocol, this part of our employee manual, whatever you call it, right?
00:16:36
Speaker
And I just wanna go over this so it's fresh on everyone's mind. And you make it feel more neutral so that someone hopefully doesn't feel quite so singled out. And and that's kind of ah a smart way, just a hack if you're listening and you've ever had to deal with someone who's like, oh, how do I get this person online? And I don't want them to feel singled out. And I don't want them to feel like they're doing a bad job, but I do need to like reiterate that this is really important. So yeah I love that.
00:16:59
Speaker
I love that. Okay, let's talk a little bit. I mentioned already that I found you through Caitlin and I'm so grateful. ah You've managed to, in Nashville, Tennessee especially, and you know we've got our our fair share of celebrities who call Nashville home.
00:17:14
Speaker
But you've managed to kind of accrue a really impressive high, you know, high, what's the word, not celebrity, if you will, like clientele. Do you have any secrets that you would give to other people on what it's like or how you, how you did that? And if you feel like that really helped you or not really helped you. Yeah. I will be forever grateful to Caitlin whenever she trusted me.
00:17:38
Speaker
This was so many years ago at this point. It was always an honor and she had me on her podcast and that was huge. And she was one of those that was a catalyst for me. I will always be forever tell her that like, I'm just so thankful for her. Um, but in honesty, she's one of the only people I've ever even given like free things to
Building a Genuine Brand with Authenticity
00:18:00
Speaker
So I think what I love about India is we are someone who can attract those by just being authentically like giving good results. And it's not because we're just like getting a bunch of influencers in our door and giving them free things because people see right through. through that because they're just jumping to the next place that it'll give them something free. And so when people come and is there ever a time that I will give something to them if someone comes in and I know that they have a following because we know that's important for marketing. Let's be real. Let's be honest. Let's be honest. But they don't get in the door that way. And that's what I pride myself on. And it's all just results that speak for themselves. I truly believe that.
00:18:45
Speaker
Yeah, and it is interesting because it's like one opens up the next door and then that opens up the next door. I have a client right now who's managing to get a bunch of like, you know, people with 500K, a million followers and it's because they all know each other, they all tag her and the next thing you know, the next one comes calling. So it can kind of create this Momentum, so to speak, right? But then like you said, I think what's so important after that is do good work, provide good results, and then that'll just continue to happen for you, right?
00:19:16
Speaker
And I think one of the things that ah I do is educate a lot. And I feel like in this world where everyone is trying to stick out, you explaining why you're doing what you're doing is so important because we're so busy. But to take those few seconds to be like, this is why I'm recommending this. So many people are like,
00:19:36
Speaker
Oh, no one ever told me why i did they did this. They just did it. And that's, I walked out the door and I didn't know what to expect, but that, that was it. And so taking the time to actually like explain that, I think is another thing that, um, and at least the aesthetic world that helps. That makes a lot of sense. I, I wouldn't have known that because you were mine.
00:19:57
Speaker
like yeah And I'm used to that from you, but you do such a great job of to you know kind of explaining, like we do this to even the eyebrows, or we do this for this, or we don't do this because of this. you know And it does make me feel more intelligent about the whole world of injectables, which I do love that about you. OK, so what was it, a year or two ago when you decided to launch into products?
00:20:19
Speaker
Oh yes, well probably three years when I started. Okay, because I know it was a journey. It was such a journey. um I'm just such a skincare snob and so there's so many things you can just private label out there and I tried them all and then found this other company that you really could work with them and I was like, okay, but I like this in a serum versus that. I like ceramides versus, you know, so I like squalene, niacinamide. You're throwing out ingredients and they're like, yes, yes, yes. And they could have intelligent conversations and they had chemists and all the things. Um, and so that took a while to even just find the place. yeah And then to then find what I was going to, what did I want to create was a whole nother question. Uh-huh. Yeah, I know. I, I have so many questions and I know, I know it took you years of research. I know it took you a lot longer than you wanted for.
00:21:08
Speaker
the actual products to be available to the public. I know there was a wait list for quite a while. But what was the first, like what was the impetus? What was the moment where you were like, okay, it's time. it's time i've I've done all this education around all these you know ah high quality medical skin grade you know ah grade products, but now I'm ready to have my own on the shelves. yeah I saw some that were missing. So there's so much out there. It's so just like watered down and there's just so many skincare lines, but there were definitely some products. I'm like, oh, wait, that needs to exist. Like that, that doesn't exist. It needs to exist. And so that was kind of a catalyst for me was like, you know, for sensitive skin, we need this type of and vitamin C for this, like retinol, who wants their face to fall off whenever they're using it, you know? Right.
00:21:56
Speaker
But we want the potency. We want it to do something. So those were kind of where I saw things missing, yeah is what kind of drove me into that. Yeah. And your first ah product that you finally got out the door, was that the Indie Glow? Was it the? So we launched with six, which is get wild. um Because finally, by the time to your point, by the time it launched, I had already developed several into that that pipeline. um So we launched with just kind of some basics, some Seabright. Indie Glow pads are definitely like They fly off the shelves. They are like our number one Dewey pads were another one that was like a shocking Experience and then some obviously moisturizers. Yeah in the mix two Big fan big fan. What is there anything that you felt like besides it taking longer than you anticipated?
00:22:41
Speaker
Was there anything else that as you launched a product, you thought, oh, I didn't? Because I've done both as well. And I and i always talk about how product-based businesses are just so different from service-based businesses. And there's so much more to it. And while some of it's fun, some of it's also pain in the butt, to be quite honest. So was there anything for you as you were launching your skincare line that you just were like, oh, i did not I did not know this was going to be part of this journey?
00:23:05
Speaker
the prick picking the container. That was such a thing that I was like, okay, not only do you have to pick it, but then I have to go through qua like quality control to make sure the pumps work. And do they have to be primed? I mean, ah the containers themselves were like, kept me up at night because, and designing like labels and things like that for those products, then yeah um that definitely took way longer than anticipated. I love it.
00:23:31
Speaker
But then, you know, you got it out into the world. You had a pretty long wait list. So I know that you like were able to sell out pretty quickly. What's it been like now fast forward to where we're kind of in a so more steady season? Is there a challenge or is there something you're excited about moving forward? Yeah. So I took like a year off from anything. Once it finally launched, I was so just.
00:23:51
Speaker
burnt out and I was like, these are good. I'm done. And so I took like a year off and then I just one day had just this flow of like some other products that came to mind. And so started that back up, but I loved that. I took that year though, because the people started using the products. I started seeing results. They could believe in the product that gave me also the, cause I was like, is it going to fail?
00:24:15
Speaker
right Like, am I going to make all of this and then no one's going to buy it? And so I was really nervous to do put any more heart and soul into it until I realized that it wouldn't fail. yeah So that was kind of when I was like, okay, it hasn't failed. And let's dip our toe into a couple more. Excuse.
00:24:34
Speaker
So the name of this podcast is called This or More and the reason is because I've coached so many women over the years who have success and then there's this fleeting moment where they go, oh crap, what if everything slips through my fingers? Like what if this all goes away? What if it crumbles down tomorrow? And so the phrase that I kept kind of saying was, it's this or more. Like wherever we are right now, this or more is what's in our future.
00:24:58
Speaker
um So that kind of sounds like a discernible moment, almost. I would love to know if there, you know, what what do you do in those moments where, first of all, are there any other discernible moments where you thought, oh no, what if this all goes away tomorrow? And then what do we do or what do you do to kind of like get your mind back in a positive state of mind?
00:25:16
Speaker
Gosh, I feel like there's been several of those, but, um, throughout this journey, but yeah, I guess that the skincare was one of those where it's like, it's either this or yeah. Are we going to, are we going to add more? And in that time I had to, I guess just reorganize also life because I was busy with.
00:25:36
Speaker
I had a little one and husband and that's just juggling life with that as well to not make your business your whole life when you get home at night. Am I just like focusing on, you know, putting my little chemist hat on back on, or am I going to focus on being with my son? So, um, I do think it was a moment where I was like, I just needed that break.
00:25:58
Speaker
to be able to to take that next step of, um but what if it all crumbled? Because you know if you don't have the shiny new object, you become irrelet irrelevant. You feel that way at least. Yeah, yeah so will i get me lot launching another product, I would see other competitors and they would be launching a new product and be like,
00:26:17
Speaker
Oh, man. like what I'm not doing that. Am I like am i behind? am i going to Are people going to jump ship to another product line because nothing new is coming down the pike? So that was definitely a moment of, like what am I doing? Yeah. So fascinating. And don't you think that that i think that that feeling is exasperated because of social media because of the urgency that we we have, you know, things at our fingertips because I've been doing some deep conversations lately around it's funny that you use that word irrelevant um and what it what it is like what is it that is bubbling up under the surface that's bringing us to that point because I think before 2024 I never would have used the word irrelevant and and and how I feel about myself but all of a sudden I was like
00:27:03
Speaker
I think I feel a little irrelevant and i' i'm I'm tying it back in my as I'm still in the in the midst of understanding this. But for me, I'm like, I think it's because of social media. I think it's because I'm seeing more than we've I've ever seen before. the Comparison trap is real. And if you don't get that immediate dopamine hit that you get when you're in a launch, right? Like when you launch the skincare and everybody wants it and they're talking about it, and then it starts to taper off and you go, am I irrelevant? And it's such an interesting, I think a new a new challenge for us as entrepreneurs to rise above and realize that's not true. It's just different, but it's not true.
00:27:41
Speaker
yeah Yeah, especially when you had even brought up like the celebrity thing, it's there was so much pressure for me to be like, ah will they use my skincare? And I think the other day, Caitlin was doing her Get Unready with me, and I saw all the skinny products. And it was just like such a moment where I'm like,
00:28:00
Speaker
It's not just that they're getting sent this PR kit and they're just like it gets like pushed, um that people are actually using it. and that was a moment like the All those little moments where it just like makes you feel like, maybe I still am you know relevant, but at the same time, I've also cut back on social things where I know networking is so important.
00:28:21
Speaker
Um, but I had to start prioritizing family and it's so easy to get fit that feeling. Yeah. I was going to ask you, are you still managing the socials? Do you have someone helping with socials? Like what's your, what's your relationship? Cause you've got now what three different social channels, probably you've got your personal, then you've got Indian and Skindy. Yeah.
00:28:40
Speaker
Yeah. So we actually haven't created a Skindy separate one yet. Um, just because of that. Um, so indie pretty much promotes Skindy. Um, but it's India and I have a marketing team and they're phenomenal. We hired, we went, brought them on board last year and it was just such a breath of fresh air because it's just now we have planned content days and things are just like mapped out for us and we don't have to reinvent the wheel. We have someone else to help with that. So.
00:29:10
Speaker
That's a huge huge lift and it's so funny how often I see people who are still trying to wear I call it CMO hat and head of IT and you know all the hats when in reality like we're big enough now that we can we don't just because you're just because you're used to doing it doesn't mean it's the smartest thing for you to continue to do it yourself right so That's so helpful for others to hear that you've got you've got support, you've got people helping um and your socials always look great. So kudos to the marketing team. Well, it just makes you look more legitimate. I mean, when you're consistent and you have a consistent brand, like forming a brand was really important to me to actually like,
00:29:45
Speaker
When I worked with them, we made a brand statement and it's like my favorite thing. I'll read it once a month. And because I want every content to be derived from that that brand statement. And so that was really fun to really like be like, who who do we stand for? And how do we make everything reflect back to that?
00:30:03
Speaker
I love that. i Oftentimes, and I hate the word a avatar, but I'm going to use it. I'll do this exercise where I'm like, okay, who's our cause who's our you know who's our ideal customer or avatar? And it's not so much about this generic thing, but oftentimes the the analogy I always use, if you're a client and you're listening, you'll know this. I'll talk about like who we're having coffee. We're at a coffee shop and we're having coffee and who is he she, they, whomever, that we are sitting there having coffee with that is our perfect ideal client customer. And we'll get so specific. like
00:30:38
Speaker
What is she wearing? Where did she stop before this? Did she have a kid who dropped off at school or not? like just all Did she go to Pilates? All the things. And then we give them a name. So it's like, okay, Susie. And so then every time we get stuck in a trap where we're like kind of feeling like we don't know what our message is or who we're talking to, I'm like, what does Susie want today? like hope you know um And it just always writes the ship it always brings us back to awareness of like oh, yeah I'm doing this for Susie and as long as I continue to do this and show up for Susie then I'll be You know moving towards my north start so so to speak so it sounds like that's what you're that's what you've done
00:31:13
Speaker
I love that. I too, at least. Yeah. um Can you share with us what's what's next on the horizon? Any growth? Any any exciting things coming? Yeah. ah So we're hopeful that a Franklin location will come about in the next, like, hopeful year or so. We moved to Franklin, and so I'll always come to Nashville, but yeah I'll also hopefully have another location there. That's exciting. And then we have two, maybe three new products launching. OK.
00:31:42
Speaker
yeah Oh exciting, in time for the holidays or? So definitely two of them will be. Okay, love it. And then the other one might be in the new year. Okay, she's smart so I had a feeling they would be holidays somehow related if we could. Okay, let's dive into skincare because you know why you want to talk about it.
00:32:01
Speaker
One of the things, there's so many things I like about what you do as far as education goes online. And um one of them is always like, you're so good at the Mythbusters. You're also really good at talking about like splurge versus, you know, say like, where do we, where do we splurge? Where do we save? So um let's get, let's just kind of dive in. Let's talk about, are there any current trends going on in the skincare industry that you're into or are there any trends that you're like, please don't do this. Yeah. I think this million step routine is going to drive me and insane. and say It is just so unnecessary and ends up end it like making your skin worse over time because you're just doing too much. And even the layering of the products and everything, I'm like, can we just not, can we just keep this super like very
00:32:54
Speaker
in tune to what you want to achieve. So whether that's like you have rosacea or you have sensitive skin or redness or acne or just anti-aging, let's just like hone in yeah and let's dial it back into that and see what counts. So, you know, you you have, I always call it your core four. um And it's like, you wash your face, please dear God, wash your face. There's nothing else you do. Wash your face. I used to be so guilty of this, by the way, not washing my face, but that's another time.
00:33:23
Speaker
There was a study that said that it ages you like seven times faster. um Just because all of the like free radicals are sticking your ass in. Anyway, okay. Makes sense. um So you wash your face in the morning, put on your vitamin C serum, and then put your SPF on. That's like an easy morning routine. Maybe a little moisturizer, but I like a like a tinted moisturizing s SPF, like all in one. but Really keep it simple. bowl yeah um And then at night you wash your face, you put your retinol on unless you're pregnant, and then you put your moisturizer on.
00:33:52
Speaker
Simple, simple. Keep it simple. Stop adding on maybe a couple of acids a couple of times a week, you know, like an AHA BHA, like two or three times, get that exfoliation going. Um, but yeah, people are, the trend that I hate is too many products. Yeah. And I did see an influencer not long ago sharing her skincare routine. And as I watched it, I just thought to myself,
00:34:14
Speaker
I think she just put 20 products on her face, and I'm not exaggerating. I was counting. And I was like, that seems a little excessive. It seems like a lot. ah Talk to me about this whole taping trend. How do you feel about that when they're like taping their face instead of... Oh, in Sony's? Yeah.
00:34:32
Speaker
So yeah, I mean it's never gonna it you might wake up looking very smooth, which is great. That's yeah wonderful for you I mean half with the other day all those lines are gonna be there because we're not um I always say like would you like to know what skincare replaces Botox and just insert crickets. Yes, because Nothing does stop muscle movement and I hate that but if you're trying to erase a wrinkle you have to stop the muscle movement Yeah So taping is fine. I don't want to against it, especially between the chest. If someone's like larger chest, they have wrinkles. Awesome. Because if we're going to sleep on our side, we're going to crease. So I think that's wonderful. And it does not hurt a thing. Sleep creases. We can't treat that with Botox. So lines that go up from your lip on the side of your nose, on your forehead. Some of those are sleep creases. And so that's where tape comes in. Good to know. I had no idea.
00:35:22
Speaker
I love it. okay What about um some splurge versus save? like When it comes to a vitamin C, what's your recommendation? Yeah. So I always tend to say splurge on vitamin C just because it's really hard to be stable. Um, so you have like may love, they try to be C for like for the most part and they're a little bit better price tag. So if you're not going to do C for like maybe that, yeah um, the, we have Seabright, which isn't the most expensive, but it's not the, you know, least either it's, it's kind of in the middle. Okay. And then, um, you know, if you just really are trying to save, I don't, I don't hate like survey, you know, it's not a bad product. Um, it might not have a huge percentage, but a little is better than nothing. True. True. That's a good point.
00:36:09
Speaker
and i think you know you i think it was you probably that taught me early on like your face washes where you can probably say a little you know but your vitamin c your retinol is where you're going to want to spin because it's the chemicals inside it that make it good or not good right like the more potent, the more expensive it's going to be. Basically, it's pretty basic. Yeah. I always, you nailed it. Moisturizers and Face Wash, La Rose Poste. Yeah. Love it. Love their line. Yeah. um but But whenever you're trying to like make an impact, I always say what's it doing for the skin? Is it true anti-aging or just moisturizing? And so if you're trying to anti-age, you just typically need something that's a little bit more impactful. Yeah.
Skincare Essentials: Sunscreen and Retinol
00:36:48
Speaker
ah What about if someone walks away from this podcast and they do one thing, which we already said, you're going to wash your face. Aside from that, if they do one thing to improve their skin, what would be the thing that you would say? It would be a tie between s SPF. I had a patient come in and she was so sweet, but the left side of her face was so different than the right. She drove a lot. over I knew you were going to say that.
00:37:16
Speaker
And it was so evident and it took literally, we did a little bit of filler to help with that volume loss. Um, but it took literally double the amount on that side than the other. And so s SPF really is impactful, even if you're driving or whatever that is. And then the other one is probably retinol. It's the anti-aging holy grail. Um, it's just gonna,
00:37:39
Speaker
Our skin just stops, the cell turnover starts to plummet and so the retinol just makes it think like it's six years old again and just speeds it right back up. We love that. And so I love to to say retinol would be like probably my number one. Yeah, ah s SPF retinol. We already, I mean, I hope you're taking notes because she just literally gave you like the holy grail of your skincare routine for morning and evening, even if you're new to this whole um Skin camera. Journey. Everyone always asks me because I'm 40 as of the taping of this video. I'm 45 years old. And everyone always asks me how I look so young. I get i get i get mistaken as being in my 30s quite a bit and I joke it's yoga and Botox, but I should be more specific. It's yoga and Elizabeth.
00:38:21
Speaker
Because you've taught me so much, and I'm so thankful. And I i feel um ah feel like whenever people have bad experiences with Botox, I'm like, come to Nashville. I'm just like, you're going to have to wait six months to get in. But trust me, it'll be worth it. And um and come let Elizabeth work her magic, because you're just you care so much. And I think that that's what makes such a difference with what you do.
00:38:41
Speaker
Well, you're an easy canvas, so that makes it a lot simpler. But thank you. I do love that in the world of aesthetics, I love we're going towards more natural and more even rejuvenative medicine. And so I do think it's impactful to find someone who understands like.
00:38:57
Speaker
we can also heal our bodies and heal our face and and the process look better. Yeah, so and feel better. And and like that's kind of to go back to your story in the beginning where you know the woman with who had had the double mastectomy and how she just like felt better. And I think at the end of it all, you know we talk about all these skincare tips and injectables and what we put on our skin and also what you put in your mind, what you tell yourself.
00:39:24
Speaker
And we do live in a world where people make judgments when they see you. And we're visual you know we're in a visual world, even more so now than ever before, probably. So it's just so, so important that you that you feel good at the end of the day. I think that's the most important part. Yeah, I agree.
00:39:42
Speaker
o Okay, we've talked all all the things. Is there any other any other skincare tips you want to give people before we wrap? Anything else? i know we can feel I feel like we could talk for forever about skincare. All day long. I would just say, like I said, keep it simple. yeah If you have something specific that bothers you, just find those specific ingredients for that you know like pigmentation.
00:40:05
Speaker
Add one more product to that um That's where just don't try to dive too far in and also just get like opinions of a professional that's where I feel like people just dive on the tick-tock and I Want to cry and to like just you know my my pillow and scream and be like they have no training I hate to say it like you don't even know if they got gifted that product or if they're getting paid by that Or they just swipe to filter and, you know, you just, I think, and also like embrace your pores.
Embracing Natural Skin Texture
00:40:36
Speaker
We like to minimize them, but if I could give anyone some advice is they don't open and shut. We can try to get them out to make them look less, but um everyone has them and let's like stop villainizing pores.
00:40:49
Speaker
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Poors are part of us. let's Let's just learn to love them. um Where is the best place for our listeners to find you online? Yes, so my personal page is Elizabeth with an S, Smith PA, and then ndrx.co is our other Instagrams kind of where we're most active.
00:41:11
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And if you seriously, if you're, if you know you're coming to Nashville, just go ahead and call and try to get the appointment. Cause it there, there might be a wait, but it'll be worth it. yes And I've trained every single injector in our office. So I don't, we started from the ground up with injectors cause I wanted everyone to be super cohesive.
00:41:29
Speaker
It was really important to me as like a business owner. It doesn't make sense to do that, because you should hire an injector that could bring on a book of business. And um I just felt really passionately that I wanted it to always be consistent with the results we were giving. Yeah, and and the bedside manner and the quality. And so Elizabeth and I used the same hairdresser. Hi, Jo. And as of the other day, Jo posted, he was like,
00:41:53
Speaker
If you live in Nashville and you don't go to Indy to get your Botox or your injectables, what are you even doing with your life? That's about right, Joe. That's about right. I feel the same way. We're like diehards. And I think the fact that, you know, like I said, you've been my one and only for so long is just because I can tell that you know your stuff. First of all, you do the research, you do the education and you care. And at the end of the day, it is my face. So.
00:42:18
Speaker
I'm just, I am always honored whenever I get to see people like over and over and walk through life. yeah It's just like a special moment. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. Thank you so much for spending some time with me today in the studio, hope sharing more of your story. And I hope if you're listening and you have some sort of a beauty background or you want to create a a clinic of some sort, or even if you just have like a spa or something, I hope you got some nuggets about how to grow and how to create like a really cohesive team.
00:42:48
Speaker
um Because what you just said at the end I think is really important.