Taneesa Williamson We spoke to two leading cosmetic injectors for their best advice for those starting out solo, based on their own successes, trials and tribulations.
Meet Anne Lam
Anne’s experience spans 15+ years where she trained and worked in some of the most complex healthcare systems both in NSW and QLD. Before leaving the public health sector, her role was a Clinical Nurse Specialist in cardiothoracic and vascular care. Other disciplines included emergency, ICU and cardiology. Anne now specialises in contouring and rejuvenation work that is natural and undetectable. She is sought after for her corrective and harmonisation work, in which she has firmly established in her founded clinic, Symetry Aesthetics.
What led you to start your own business?
I always had a passion for beauty and aesthetics. It was always on the back of my mind to do something one day. What led me to starting my own business was when I became a mum myself and with the many sleepless nights, I was left looking quite overwhelmed to be quite honest. I remember my first cosmetic injectable visit, I left feeling great and confident, and with that I knew I wanted to replicate this feeling for others.
More so, I noticed that clinics were over enhancing their patients, big lips and big cheeks. For me, I wanted to ensure cosmetic injectables were used in a way that would restore their true beauty, that overfilling was not my style. My ethos of less is more is what I practice and preach every day, and I train this to all my staff.
I also strongly believe that being results driven rather than hitting KPI was a big factor for me to open up my own business. I did not want to be trapped in a big company that drove me to hit targets. But instead be on my own to ensure that my work to restore and enhance the patient’s natural beauty was done individually, with tailored bespoke treatment plans that had the best interest of the patient first and not profits.
Share with us your non-negotiables for starting up your own business as a cosmetic injector
1. Remain true to my values! My values being honesty, transparency and saying no to the patient when they have passed their aesthetic end point. You are the practitioner with the eye, not your patients, don’t be afraid to say no more when they want more. I believe our goals as practitioners is to guide our patients to balance out their features and enhance them, and not disguise it through over filling and over projection. Creating an environment of trust and building a relationship with the patient is important to me.
2. Life is an opportunity to grow! I make it my mission that I always seek to learn more, whether it is through courses, webinars, or conferences, I take every opportunity to upskill and grow. You can ask the directors Melissa and Nicole from Juvae how I eagerly ask to be up-skilled and be trained by Key Opinions leaders all the time. This industry is always changing, so being open to learn and adapt to new and safer techniques gives me room to grow and learn from others, so I can give the best results to my patients.
3. Find a mentor! Coming from a public hospital background, it was important to find someone that could nurture my growth as a cosmetic injector as well as a business owner. I found Juvae a Cosmetic Academy amazing mentors that were able to guide me through the business support as well as, offer ongoing educational training to nurture my ongoing growth.
For those recently graduated in nursing and wish to endeavour into the aesthetics industry, what are your top pieces of advice when it comes to injectables education and associations/memberships?
Top pieces of advice is to definitely do at least one year in a hospital in a new graduate program for experience. It will give you valuable experience for patient care, assessment and give real world hands-on experience to handle emergencies.
There are 2 day workshops that you could attend to learn and inject but I believe they will give you a taste for what cosmetic nursing can be like if you are deciding if it may be the right specialty for you. Longer courses or foundation courses like the 2 week course Juvae offers can set your baseline knowledge and practice experience to build confidence to start your cosmetic injectable journey.
Don’t rush it, it’s a great industry to be in but take your time. It is a totally different speciality that requires ongoing training and appreciation of the anatomy of the face. To be able to rejuvenate or even enhance someone’s face is a privilege that I do not take lightly, the uttermost trust that patients give us that we should hold highly. Therefore, seek further training, attend conferences and workshops to gain more knowledge and skill set to enhance your practice and refine your skills continuously, so your practice is the best you can give back to your patient.
Finally, definitely join the Cosmetic Nurse Association (CNA) that provides support to cosmetic injectors, educational opportunities, guide us with best practice guidelines and most importantly advocate for cosmetic nurses.
Meet Jamie Lee Yerales
Jamie Lee Yerales is a skin therapist of 15 years, and a Registered Nurse of 10 years. With her skills combined, she launched her own clinic and is the director of The Cosmetic Couture in Terrigal, NSW.
Jamie’s clinic proudly specialises in results-driven cosmetic injectables, skin treatments and body contouring with the most premium of aesthetic devices and products within her space.
What led you to start your own business?
Originally I was (foolishly) under the assumption I would be able to go from being an employed Cosmetic Injector to a cosmetic business owner and it would allow me to work my own hours under my own conditions. Any savvy business owner knows, if you want your business to be successful you tend to work triple the hours of an employee, particularly in the few years of building! But, it’s certainly rewarding and I wouldn’t have it any other way!
Share with us your non-negotiables for starting up your own business as a cosmetic injector
You absolutely must align yourself with like minded industry leaders. For me, this all in one is Juvae. As a new injector, or new business owner, you’ll very much benefit from both the business support and clinical support. With Juvae you’ve always got someone to call upon should you need it, and chances are, you will! You’re also going to need someone to prescribe to you and your patients scheduled medication, and you’re going to need to understand how to consign the medication. The laws and requirements for cosmetic nurses are ever changing, it’s going to save you a lot of trouble and extra work if you align yourself with a prescribing team that can keep you updated on the requirements.
Soon after starting your business you’ll realise you’re going to need more people involved than just you. You’ll need administration help. Ideally you can incorporate a receptionist and administration in one. If this isn’t an option early on, you absolutely must choose a good booking system that has the option for patients to book online. We use timely and it is wonderful! It also allows you to store your medical notes and consents on the one platform and even has tools to help you with marketing.
If you’re really lucky, finding a mentor that has already been successful in this ever competitive and challenging field of medicine will serve you well.
For those recently graduated in nursing and wish to endeavour into the aesthetics industry, what are your top pieces of advice when it comes to injectables education and associations/memberships?
You absolutely must become a member of the Cosmetic Nurse Association! Up until just a couple of years ago we did not have a governing body. This association has worked hard to provide a voice for Cosmetic Nurses that we have never had before. You can join this association even if you’re not yet practicing as a cosmetic nurse. If you have just finished university, I strongly recommend you commit to at least 1-2 years in an acute care setting. It is important to understand disease processes and recognise a deteriorating patient before specialising in aesthetics.
Do a cadaver! It is an incredible way to increase your anatomy knowledge. Having anatomy knowledge is the best way to ensure you’re providing the safest treatments possible to your patients.
Don’t be fooled into thinking you’ll do a short course and be ready to call yourself an experienced injector. Be patient and cautious. It takes time and lots of treatments on real life people before you become a specialist in this role. Re educate yourself often. Think of your initial training like an apprenticeship, you’ll learn a little before you get started but it takes years of practice and updated training before you’ve really got a good skill set. Commit to every conference, short course, webinar, seminar, online workshop and in clinic workshop that you possibly can! Go to everything! You’re only going to get out of this industry what you put in, the learning is self directed and needs to come from a place of passion. Be diligent about the small details, it’s about how you make people feel. Commit yourself to the education, and patient care and the rest will follow.
Read SPA+CLINIC’s latest issue here:
There are 5 ways you can catch up with SPA+CLINIC
- Our quarterly print magazine, delivered to your door. Subscribe here.
- Our website, which is updated daily with its own completely unique content and breaking news.
- Our weekly newsletter – free to your inbox! Subscribe here.
- Our digital magazine – click here to view previous issues.
- Our social media – see daily updates on our Instagram, Facebook & Linkedin
