Jessica Stellwagen

I would say that before my sister and I opened, everybody was saying do not go into business with your sister, and don't you dare start a med spa and focus on a single technology. There's no way that you can make it. I think we proved to the industry that here's two girls who are sisters who don't have a medical background, but because they understand business and understand the patient experience, they can really focus on a single technology and create a really, really healthy and profound and impactful business, doing one thing and doing it exceptionally well.

I think one of the most important questions to answer for yourself is, what is your North Star? What is that thing that you are going for that is incredibly important to you? And worry much more about the how you're going to do that versus what's going to allow you to do that. I remember growing up thinking, I need to know what my profession is. Am I going to work at McDonald's? Am I going to be a CEO? Am I going to be an attorney? And at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what I do, it's just how I do it. So I think when you have that North Star and figure out what lights you up and what makes you passionate, then there's many more options for you to pursue that path instead of pigeonholing ourselves into this belief of, this is how I have to deliver my passion or the thing that is my North Star. Go find that North Star.

I would say the biggest challenges are education. With the proliferation of social media, you don't have to be an expert to have a voice and to have a following, so there's lots of misconception out there, and it's kind of how do you cut through the noise with the proper education and the proper voice and the proper experience so that you can guide people. Aesthetics is a powerful tool, but in the wrong hands or inexperienced hands, it can damage people, and it can have negative impacts. I also think there's this balance - I love being able to change people in ways that make them feel better in and about their skin, but then there's also this larger thing that we have to deal with. We gotta find out how to also be okay with what God gave us, and yes, it's human nature to want to do better and have more and tweak things, but sometimes it can go too far. So just being that voice of, hey, we can be our best selves and want to look differently, but at some point we just have to say, I'm enough, and it's okay to be in this body. And lastly, I would just say there are lots of options everywhere. A confused mind does nothing. Where do people put their dollars? What's safe? What's effective? What's going to last, and what's going to be meaningful? We're in an over-marketed and sought-after market right now, and everybody has a million options, so as a business, it's been very challenging to figure out how do we have that voice that people trust.

100% fun. I think that people, myself included, take life too seriously. Life is meant to be enjoyed, and it's meant to live, and that is not mutually exclusive to then also being successful. Harmony is important to me. I'm not someone that believes in balance. I believe every day you wake up, and it's not going to be 50-50. There's going to be times where you're going to divert more time, energy, and effort into something that needs it, and you have to make sure that there's harmony in that. Being present is incredibly important to me. I think that people don't need a lot of time, but I think when we give people half our time, or not fully engaged time, that it doesn't feel as meaningful. So if you are with someone, be with someone. If you are at work, be at work. If you are at home eating dinner with your husband, be at home eating dinner with your husband. And then the last thing I would say is just do the right thing, even when no one's looking. Just have that integrity to say, guess what? Even if this hurts me right now, I trust in the long term it's going to work out, because I'm doing right by myself, and by my team, and by the people who trust me.