Chat with AmSpa CEO: Changes Shaping the Medspa Industry

[00:01] 

(ALEX): Med spas are kind of a punchline right now for a lot of people. And that's not where we wanna be. We don't wanna be the butt of jokes 'cause that's not how we are and we know that's not accurate. So we want to be professional, clinical, all the things that we know we are. We need to do PR, we need to build our image, we need to change that narrative. And we need to be ready with a lot of resources to fight these things when they do come up. 

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[00:27] 

(SKYA): Alex has built a thriving legal career focusing on helping med spa's, and aesthetic businesses stay compliant and successful. These days, he's also managing partner of Byrdadatto Chicago office and travels the world speaking about industry regulations and best practices. On top of all of that, he's a husband, a pet parent, to eight animals, five dogs and three cats. We're so thrilled and excited to catch up on all things med spa with Alex Thiersch. 

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[00:57] 

(JADE): Okay, so you run a beauty business, which means you wear like seven hats, right? Boulevard's all in one client experience platform lightens the load. Think seamless, scheduling, automated marketing, and built in ways to make more revenue. Less stress, more success. For a limited time, we're offering podcast listeners 10% off, plus free guided set up. Get started  at joinblvd.com/podcast.

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[01:26] 

(SKYA): Thank you so much for joining us, Alex. We're so excited to talk with you today and dive into all things med spa. I feel like I've heard kind of your interest story to the industry from being at bootcamps and the Medical Spa Show. But for our listeners, tell us a little bit about how you got into the industry.

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[01:43]

‍(ALEX): It's a very long and complicated story, but I call myself a recovering lawyer because I am still a lawyer. I still have my license, but I don't really practice anymore. I kind of fell into the industry almost by accident. I knew I didn't wanna work for anybody, so I don't have the capacity to actually follow orders. So, opened my own firm and one of the clients we had come in was, circa 2008 or 2009, was an RN. And back then the industry was completely different, but she was killing it, making millions, but was totally illegal and was being investigated. I learned through her, kind of what this industry was about, and then admittedly and selfishly started to market to med spas.

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Hey, I can provide resources, I can provide legal information. And so that's how the association started. It was a marketing arm, but very quickly, I realized that this was, and number one, it was an incredible industry with incredible people who were very passionate about it. It's a really cool industry in that you make people feel very confident and empowered in themselves, which I thought was awesome. A lot of entrepreneurs, small businesses, which was cool, and they needed help. And so it really became kind of a thing where after a while I realized, all right, this could be something. And that's how AmSpa was born. One thing led to another. We started doing events, boot camps, MSS had some vendors come on and I looked down all of a sudden we've got 500 members and I'm like, man, I could actually do this. Here we are.

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[03:13] 

(SKYA): At the Wynn. The whole, the whole gamut.

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[03:15] 

(ALEX): We are. Even last year when we were at a medical special show, I was walking around the exhibit hall this year, which was by far our biggest one. And I was looking around going, this does not look like anything that we've done. It doesn't look like our event. Like, who is this? 'cause it was so crazy to see how many people were there. And the energy was always so fun and cool. I always thought I'd be like, You can't handle the truth, like cross-examine, you know, crazy courtroom. I was gonna be a trial lawyer. I did for a while. I never thought I would be talking about lip fillers and Botox. Botox and vaginal rejuvenation, which I did for a while back in the day when that was big.

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Like I never thought that would be what my career would be. So it's interesting though. I love it though. It's been a really cool ride. And you know, for those. Who are in the med spa or medical aesthetics industry, I mean, it is one of the coolest, most fun, most rewarding industries around. Which is why kinda like, lately it's been a little bit, as it's been a little, there's been some turbulence I feel like, and that's why I've been a little, kinda a little nervous about things. 'Cause we've been, we've definitely hit a few rough patches, which I know we'll talk about. I would love talking about the good stuff. The bad stuff is bullshit. There's your swear word, sky. 

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[04:26] 

(JADE): We got plenty of time for all. So you told us a little bit about what inspired you to start. Can you tell us a little bit how the mission has changed over the years you've been doing this for a while. 

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[04:38] 

ALEX): it started as fully just compliance based. So it was, here's the laws, here's tools that you can use to build your medical spa. It wasn't anything more than that. Then it ultimately became a bit more business focused. So we started doing the business bootcamps, which was back in like 2000, I wanna say 13 or 14 when we started those and those were, okay, how do you build a med spa? How do you run a med spa? Because one thing that we've seen as a lot of folks in this industry, they have very little business acumen, business training.

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I didn't either at the time, I mean, I still feel like I'm kind of making up as I go along. So we moved into sort of the business training where we just brought folks in to say, this is how you run a business. And so events became a big part. Obviously the medical spa show, which really took over our world for a couple years just because it became much bigger, much quicker than we ever thought. But then I think where it's gone now is really it's transitioning more into, we want to be where we really need to be more of a community where we have a place where people from around the country and hopefully the world can come together and be part of a group with like-minded people who can represent their interests. And I think now more than ever, it's important to have a common voice. Because right now, with all the changes that are happening, we need to have a seat at the table. We need to have a voice, we need to be able to make changes. So that's really where we're going right now. More of that community aspect.

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More like a traditional trade group, really continuing to provide the resources. It's been, you know, it's kind of been up and down. One of the things that we do is live events. Live events are very. Dependent upon the economy and how many people want to go to live events. As you both know, being in, in the industry, like there's so many events right now. It's like there, there's a dime a dozen and so it's much harder to fill events back in the day. This is probably before you were both born when we were doing bootcamps. Like we,  

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[06:28] 

(SKYA): We've been getting Botox for a long time. Our age is a mystery. 

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[06:31] 

(ALEX): haha I, I'll bet. We were doing eight to 10 bootcamps a year, and we were filling 50, 60 people a time. Right? And that's just not even possible. Now it's like we're getting 30, 40, 50 people maybe, and it's, it's tough. So it's a different time. 

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[06:45] 

(SKYA): Yeah. It's a big shift. I think something that I really appreciate about AmSpa and that I think a lot of medspas look at you guys as is kind of an advocate for the industry. The shows are great, the conferences are great. I personally love the bootcamps. I think they have so much valuable information. But you guys play a big role in advocating and bringing even, like from the distributors and brands. They come to you guys for opinions and like, how do we roll out these changes? Or if the industry is upset at something, they kind of look to you guys as as their speakers. 

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[07:16] 

(ALEX): Yeah. You know, that is kinda surprising. Now, if they knew me, they would not be coming to me like that. I've noticed that, too. And I, for a while, I, it wasn't that I resisted it, but I just, it felt almost like, ugh, I didn't want that responsibility. Because I'm kind of a jack sometimes, like just, I'm not… And I mean that in, not that I'm irresponsible or anything, but I just like, I didn't feel, or I don't… imposter syndrome is real. I never felt like I really knew what I was doing from back in the day, but I think you're right. And over time we've kind of embraced that and said, okay.

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And then a part of the reason is, is that because the med spa industry is such a diverse, disparate industry where you've got, you know, plastic surgery, dermatology, all manner of physicians from, you know, OBGYN to emergency room to whatever, plus RNs, PAs, entrepreneurs. Now to mention industry, like you said, they're all out there and they all are kind of in the same jumbled mass.

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And there's no other real group that tried to represent only med spas. And we did from the beginning. And that was a conscious decision we made just because we thought that's where this industry was going. And so we really embraced it and I actually have come to really enjoy it. Like when this kerfuffle, which is my new favorite word by the way, down in Texas, came up with this legislation going down there and trying to talk to legislatures, calling different industry folks and saying, Hey, we've gotta get together on this. We've gotta do something. 

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That was the most fun I've had in a long time. And it's like when you, I, I've been doing this for since 2012 and it's now, it's 2025. I mean, that's a long time. So it's like you do have to kinda reinvent yourself and figure out what you're doing, and I like that. And I think that's more what our, the next iteration of what AmSpa is gonna be. It's truly gonna be that advocate for everybody and we that's, we really wanna bring everybody together and that's what I'm working on right now, almost full time. 

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[09:11] 

(JADE): Yeah. That's super exciting. Can you tell us a little bit for our listeners who don't know exactly what's going on in Texas, can you kind of break down the bill? The legislation? Yeah. What we're looking at there. 

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[09:22] 

(ALEX): First of all, what's going on in Texas is a question that nobody can answer 'cause it's Texas. But first of all, so two years ago, two years ago or maybe 18 months ago or so, a woman died in Texas at a med spa, which was a horrible, horrible tragedy and should never have happened. And it kind of shook the industry and she got, after she got an IV, there was no medical help around. It was a real, real problem. This whole legislation was born out of that, which in Texas is a, has always been kind of a pain in our ass for a variety of reasons because it's interesting 'cause they have very defined rules and laws, but they also don't follow them.

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And they have a lot of this huge industry of people who just do whatever they want. And so it's a huge, it's probably the biggest state for medical spas in the country. And a lot of them just do whatever they want and they don't have proper supervision. They don't have anything. So this bill was filed that originally was going to really, really restrict how any medical spa could operate in Texas. They were gonna force a specific type of specialized physician to be onsite all the time. Remove PAs and NPs from being able to do anything. It really had made no sense and it didn't actually solve the problem about IVs. That's how what started it and when that came down that was frightening. Because had that passed, that would've changed things dramatically for everybody.

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[10:54] 

(SKYA): Almost every med spa. 

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[10:55] 

(ALEX): Every med spa. And for you guys as well. I mean, it would've been like for the industry you can't, it would no longer, you'd no longer be able to market the way that we could. It would cut the industry in half probably.

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So that's how it started. We went down there and helped out. Got it changed. So that now it's much, it's a much more refined bill, only focused on trying to control IV practices, which is fine. But still since then there's just been all this other kinda weird stuff, weird bills that have been filed that we didn't even know were happening. It's things passing kind of in the middle of the night that no one even knew existed. Whatever's going on down there is kind of symptomatic of. What we're seeing nationwide, which is there is a bubbling to the surface of a strong anti med spa sentiment that is being driven by various groups, and they really don't want med spas to exist as they currently exist, meaning doctors, PAs, NPs, RNs, running med spas, being the ones who are doing the treatments. There's groups out there that are against that for a variety of reasons, and that's how the whole Texas thing came about. Fortunately, we're, we're fine, but there's been a few weird things that have popped up since then, like the barber question.

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[12:13] 

(SKYA): Yeah, so they shot it down because they thought that it would affect barbers. 

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[12:18] 

(ALEX): So that was one of these things that kinda came up on the side. So this was a totally separate bill that nobody even knew about that came up in the Senate in Texas. That was actually something that was relatively positive in that one of the issues in Texas is that there are a lot of estheticians, cosmetologists who do injectables, which we get hammered for this all the time. We tend to not agree with as a general concept. We believe medical professionals, at least you have to be an RN at least, and you should have supervision.

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In Texas, that doesn't always happen. Someone introduced a bill, which was kind of under the cover of darkness. That would've allowed them to do it, but they would've had to have a certain amount of training and a certificate, which wasn't great, but in our mind, okay, if they're gonna do it, which they're gonna do anyway, at least let them have some training. That was vetoed, which made no sense to anybody. The reason it was vetoed was because of barbers and the thought that barbers do straight shaves with razors and that might cause them to be nervous about doing shaves. Nothing to do with anything. 

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[13:26] 

(JADE): Very interesting correlation there.

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[13:28] 

(ALEX): It just, it had no correlation. And this was the governor who I guarantee you of Texas. who has no, is probably never even heard of a med spa before. Right? Bottom line is all of this is just, you've got people making these decisions who have no idea what they're doing.

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(SKYA): That don’t know.

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[13:40] 

(ALEX): And that's why. To your point about, you know, coming together as an industry and representing everybody, which is why I keep saying that. It's like if we don't set the rules ourselves, then these are the folks who are gonna be doing it. God only knows what they'll come up with. 'Cause they do not know what they're talking about. Like, it's bizarre.
 

[14:00] 

(SKYA): They're not getting Botox. 

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[14:02] 

(ALEX): Yeah, and if they do, they'll get it from God knows where, and they'll think it's a totally fine aesthetician at that. 

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[14:08] 

(SKYA): Yeah. They're getting it from a barber who's also doing their shrink too.

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[14:12] 

ALEX): Exactly. And you know what they actually, what's interesting is that when I was down there testifying in front of the, the committee in Texas, it's clear that they think, when you say med spa, their vision of a med spa, this is like the, the government in Texas, this, the house, they envision a, a kind of a back room in an alley. Where you have to go, you know, through some garbage cans, knock on a door with a secret code and like pay cash and it's some dirty, nasty, it's like a drug deal. Yeah, that's how they think of what a med spa is.

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[14:43] 

(SKYA): Like black market style. 

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[14:45] 

(ALEX): That's what they think. Or you go into a nail salon and do it. And so they have no idea of what it actually is. And that's something that has to change. We've gotta do a much better job of educating because this is not, that's not accurate. Right? You guys know better than anybody. 

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[14:59] 

(SKYA): Yeah, it’s very different. I would say it's even like some of the providers at Med Spas have better medical experience than like a primary care provider.

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[15:08] 

(ALEX): They're better than dermatologists. 

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[15:10] 

(SKYA): Yeah. I mean, you go to a dermatologist's office and sometimes you're like, oof, this is gonna be rough. No, yeah, this isn't gonna be good. 

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[15:15] 

(JADE): They're like, what can I prescribe you quick, look over things and yeah, onto the next. 

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[15:21] 

(ALEX): And they don't, uh, most dermatologists don't do aesthetic work. They're doing skin cancers and stuff like that. And one time we had a, we talked to a few PAs and nurse practitioners who worked in dermatology offices and they don't, most derms don't even allow their PAs and NPs to do injections. They basically just assist the providers who are the most skilled, the most experienced, the most capable of dealing with complications that happen to no matter what skill level you have, are the physicians who are, you know, the non, the non derms, non-plastic, and the, the NPs, PAs, and RNs, those are the ones that are the best at it, like you said.

[16:01] 

(SKYA): They are, and they're the ones that, like excel, are the top injectors that people travel to see. That are key opinion leaders in the industry. 

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[16:10] 

(ALEX): I think my suspicion is that that is part of what's driving some of this sea change is that there's some groups that don't like it.

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[16:20] 

(SKYA): Yeah. I was gonna ask, what do you think the reasoning behind the anti med spa language is? Or what's the purpose? To shift more people to going to a plastic surgeon office? To shift them more towards traditional derms?

[16:34] 

(ALEX): It's a couple things. No question, we can't ignore the fact that it’s the really, really bad press that we get when people die in med spas or in New Mexico. There was that story someone got, there were like three or five people who got HIV from microneedling, which is terrible. There was a whole outbreak of something from a Med spa chain, a group that had bought counterfeit products from China. And so these things happen. And so that's one like, but that's very, very rare.

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The other thing is that it's that combined with a turf war. I think, there's a bit of, there is a group of physicians, I think it's some cosmetic dermatologists. Not all, we know we have some that are part of our association and potentially some plastics. They see some of these celebrities, whether it's an RN, a PA, or an MP who people are flying in from overseas to get their lips done or whatever from an RN, and that really bothers them because in their mind it's taking away their business. They're used to being kind of, you know, the apex predator, and I don't know that for certain, but it almost can't be anything else because it's not the number of accidents or side effects or bad outcomes because there's no data to support that more people get injured. 

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If anything, they get more injured at derms than they do at other places. And the accidents that do occur at med spas almost always occur at these kinds of rogue, under these kinds of illegal ones that are operating where there's no supervision and all of us in the industry want them out anyway. I think it's got a lot to do with economics. I think it's got a lot to do with, but a lot to do with bad PR as well. 

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[18:24] 

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[18:51] 

(JADE): You know, when we talk about kind of these anti med spa sentiments and why they're happening, can you tell us a little bit, and from your perspective about what's at stake for the industry if bills like this are moving forward or keep getting swept under the rug?

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[19:06] 

(ALEX): Uh, yeah, I mean, I think we saw that recently with what happened in Texas. I think a couple things to that, so one, like the med spa industry, medical aesthetics, we're pretty insulated. Like, we're kind of a closed loop in that we all are in the same industry, but we all know about the products and the procedures. We all read the same things. We're doing the same marketing, use the same companies, go to the same events, and then the patients who use these treatments are all aware of them as well. But that's kind of a bubble. And then outside of that, are the patients who don't know anything about the treatments and the providers maybe don't know.

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And they often don't know about this kind of anti med spa sediment. So a lot of times when you say that I, there's gonna be people who listen to this who don't even know what we're talking about, who are in the med spa industry, even, who probably don't know what we're talking about because unless you've heard of it, it's really tough to kind of, to get a handle on it.

But the fact is, If what happened in Texas were to pass and become the law in a state like Texas, it would be, it would've been catastrophic for that state, meaning probably, we did an informal poll of some of our members, 80 to 90% of the med spas in Texas that were, our members would've had to either shut down entirely, shut down at least one location, or potentially go out of business completely.

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Think of what that would do to companies like, like Boulevard. Companies, like Allergan companies, like, you know, the energy device companies. I think the other thing is it's a self perpetuating system because now we get more bad press from it. So the Texas legislature has, you've got a, she was a very nice legislature who brought the bill and she listened and she, she was able to, to amend it, but her story was telling about this woman who died and she had her husband there and her kids. And it was very hard to watch and was very sad. And that became newsworthy for obvious reasons that then gets amplified. And now that's a story. And you get then a story like we had on John Oliver the other day on HBO, where they started talking about med spas that gets picked up. There was a big article in Bloomberg about med spas that was negative.

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There's another one coming out, I think next month in one of the big magazines that we just got interviewed for. And I, so it's kind of like. If this continues to happen, were that to happen in a state like California and we weren't, not, weren't able to stop it, or New York or Florida. I don't know. I, I think it could, it really would be tough to stop the momentum from impacting the industry in ways I don't know that we can even imagine. Like it's, we're talking structurally where it would change the way that it looks and operates, where I don't know that we would recognize it in a couple years. And that's why we can't allow it to happen. Not only because it would, you know, financially and for all of us it would be, it would be tough, but it's also just not fair because the reasons those things are happening are not accurate.

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And so that's why I think the biggest reason that I get kind of fired up about it is because. Right now, if you look at the out from the outside world looking in, John Oliver is a comedian. So we are, Med spas are kind of a punchline right now for a lot of people. And that's not where we wanna be. We don't wanna be the butt of jokes 'cause that's not how we are and we know that's not accurate. So we want to be professional, clinical, all the things that we know we are. We need to do PR, we need to build our image, we need to change that narrative. And we need to be ready with a lot of resources to fight these things when they do come up. Because they keep coming up. It's almost like whack-a-mole now. It's gonna be real tough if we don't get our act together. I don't mean to scare you guys. 

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[22:55] 

(SKYA): Yeah. You know, just preparing for war.

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[23:01] 

(ALEX): But it's also, I mean, I think it's, it's time. We can't have people getting HIV from microneedling. That's ridiculous, I mean, that's ridiculous. We can't have people going over and buying full containers of product from Alibaba and literally infecting people with that because not only does it hurt people, but it completely changes the competitive landscape where it's impossible for the compliant med spas to compete with that. You know, they're selling $2 units of Botox, right?

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It's, we gotta get those folks out and we've gotta, we've gotta get some consistency, a level playing field, and make sure that folks understand that we are in fact, what we claim to be, which is a safe, responsible, professional medical industry. 

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[23:49] 

(SKYA): I think it is a good sign in terms of the positive aspect is that the industry has grown to a point where it is getting this national attention,  it is kind of at some point. We were gonna grow to a point where there was that need for some legislation or some sort of regulation. It's true to be implemented. I think it's just now we have to make sure it's handled in the right way. 

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[24:14] 

(ALEX): Yeah, it's true. I mean, I think that's. That's a good point. At some point you kinda have to pay the bills, right? We were talking about it the other day and I'm liking it to like building a big, you know, they build these big McMansions in these neighborhoods. You know, it's like at some point you build, the homeowners association is gonna come in and they're gonna start regulating how you do it.

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Eventually, you get big enough and you get, people are gonna start to notice, and I think that's kind of what has happened. The question now is, how do we move forward? Do we do it in a way where we can, can continue? Or do we allow outside forces to do it for us? That which is my biggest fear in the Texas thing. I spent as much time fighting our own med spa owners and providers than I did fighting the people that we needed to be fighting because they are just so amped up about whatever, and we've got, we gotta stop doing that because that's what's gonna gonna be the problem. Like, we can't have RNs saying, no, no, no. I wanna be able to own my own med spa and do anything that I want do without a doctor being present, because that's just not how it works. And unfortunately we can't, that's just not how the law works. But that's what was happening. And so we're fighting them. And they're attacking us. At the same time. We're trying to say, well, you guys are not our enemy right now. We need to be on the same side. 

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[25:31] 

(JADE): Yeah. 

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[25:32] 

(ALEX): So there's a lot that needs to be done. 

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[25:33] 

(JADE): Come together. 

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[25:34] 

(ALEX): Yep. 

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[25:34]

 (JADE): When we talk about compliance, you've often said that compliance is key. 

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[25:41] 

(ALEX): Compliance is coolI have a shirt that says it. You know what? I can't believe I forgot my pin. My button. I do have this sweet pin that I wear all the time and I forgot it. I think I have one in my bag downstairs. 

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[25:53] 

(JADE): What are some of the most common compliance mistakes that you see, and how do you feel like med spas can proactively protect themselves?

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[26:02] 

(ALEX): Yeah. Compliance is cool. Hashtag compliance is cool. The biggest thing for med spas, there's so many, like you can go down the list and talk for hours. For whatever reason, medical spas have kind of grown up in this. Everyone says, oh, that's kind of a gray area. Right? Well, I mean, the truth is it's not what the perception of them has been. So we've kind of developed this industry under the radar a little bit and we've never, medspas have never been traditionally held to kind of medical regulatory standards. And I think the main thing for people they have to understand is that a medical spa is the same thing as a doctor's office.

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Meaning if you go into your regular doctor's office down the street or an urgent care center or whatever it is, the same laws apply as they apply to the medical spa. So things like you don't ever go to the doctor and never see a doctor, a PA, or an NP, right? You're always gonna see them at some point they're gonna do some sort of a checkout. And the reason is, is because the license holders that can do prescriptions, they can set treatment plans and they're the ones who have the ability to supervise. And so where we've gotten right now, and where I think people can be most, they can be most diligent is understanding that you've gotta behave as a medical practice.

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And a medical practice means you have supervision and you've got proper delegation, and you see your patients in the right way. You, you kind of treat it like it, like, and most of our providers come from hospital settings, and so they know it. They've just gotta, they've just gotta do it. And for whatever reason, we've developed this industry in a way where we haven't done that. It's kind of become a pseudo medical, it's like a, it's a med spa, but the spa is the bad word. The medical is the good word. The spa is the way that the experience is. But the medical, you're getting medical treatments. You're not getting just spa treatments. And we don't want that because we want there to be a level of differentiation. A barrier to entry. 'cause medical spas are different, right? You get much different treatments. We want it to be different. We don't want people to go to a nail salon and get treatments because that's what we do. Right? The main thing is, treat it like a medical practice, but I mean, there's a lot to learn and you really have to know.

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You have to know what you're doing everybody like if you're a, and if you're a physician listening to this, and this is one thing that we're not getting as much, but we used to get all the time, but it still happens. Physicians will think they can just kind of rent out their license and be a medical director to 50 med spas. If you're a physician and you're gonna be supervising treatments, you have to know every single one of those treatments. You have to know how to do 'em. You have to know how to handle complications, and everyone who does those treatments also has to know the treatments. So, which seems intuitive, but you'd think. But it's not always intuitive. 

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[28:49] 

(SKYA): I like that. I think it's really important for the industry to remember that medical piece of the forefront of who we are is providing effective medical treatments. That's why we pay a lot for them. That's why they work so well. So while we, you know, we want it to be a luxurious experience, we want clients to enjoy it and wanna come back. Really what they're coming for is the medical treatment. So yeah, operating with that first in mind, 

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[29:18] 

(ALEX): It's not mutually exclusive, right? You can do the experience and still get the medical treatments. Hundred percent. And that's why people like it. I went to the dermatologist the other day and I was sitting in this plastic seat. Right? You know, there was like an old People magazine or US Weekly.

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[29:34] 

(SKYA): From like 12 years ago. 

[29:35] 

(ALEX): Yeah, and they had the big like plexiglass and they opened the door and you went like, and it was, you sit on the paper thing and it was, it was terrible. Like that's why people go to med spas is because you want to have somebody come out and greet you, they know you. It's personal, and there's no reason we can't do that, but still hold onto the medical aspect, which is what your point was, which is absolutely right. We have to have both. And if we can do that, if we can get our industry to really embrace that and to get the side of our industry that doesn't wanna do that either to embrace it or get out one of the two. 

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They've either gotta embrace it or they've, we've gotta get 'em out. There's nothing that we can't do. And the good thing is I've seen, like when this industry comes together, like when med spas come together under a common cause, whether it's, you know, fighting Allergan or fighting something, it's like they will get what they want because it's very, very powerful. 

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The amount of influence that we can bring to the table is huge, but it's only gonna work if it's done under the guise of medical treatment, patient safety. Not, you know, making a buck and being sexy and having a good time on Instagram, which is great. We can still do that. We should still do that. It's gotta be also treatments, medical treatments. There has to be a barrier of entry. We've gotta make sure that we wanna be the ones to do it. You've gotta have a certain amount of training, schooling, otherwise everybody can do it. And if everybody can do it, it's not good for us.

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[31:03] 

(SKYA): Well, as we wrap up, is there anything in terms of the industry trends, anything you see that's exciting or that we should be aware of? 

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[31:13] 

(ALEX): I mean, always. It's ever evolving. I mean, it really is. The biggest thing we saw, and I'm sure you've seen this at Medical Spa show as well, was really this, the merging of, you know, wellness and aesthetics. So with peptides and GLP-1s and so you've got whole body wellness and, and we're starting to kind of see that more and more. But what I'm finding very interesting is that you've got two sides of it. You've got the anti-aging and the kind of wellness side that's out there. Like if you go to A4M, I dunno if you've been to A4M, which is a big anti-aging conference, it's a very different kind of conference.

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It's very kind of a new age almost, and it’s different. And then the aesthetic side, which is flashy, professional, I think. And so I don't think they're gonna merge together. When you see med spas start to do the more wellness thing, it ends up being a very different product than when you see the anti-aging places start doing aesthetics 'cause when they start doing aesthetics, I don't think it, it really works. That's the biggest trend that I see happening. And who knows what's gonna happen with the GLP-1s. I mean, that is a game changer. Because now they're gonna have a pill that you can take, right. Coming out soon. That is gonna be huge because then that's gonna unleash a whole number of like, 'cause now you've got folks who just lost weight. There's a ton, a ton. So I can't wait to see what goes on with that. And the, and I also think new treatments are always gonna be, the thing that's always exciting about this industry is there's always new treatments that come up. As that continues to happen, it changes the landscape. And so hopefully we'll get less painful treatments. 

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[32:54] 

(SKYA): We can only hope, I mean, I'm just down for more effective. I'm waiting for the whole body machine. I just wanna get in a machine and how to do it all. 

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[33:00] 

(ALEX): I think that's coming. It won't be that long. I mean, yeah. But so that's, that's the main thing though.

The, the, the, the wellness and the weight loss. That's, that's huge. 

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[33:10]

 (JADE): Yeah. But that's what makes this industry so exciting, right? It's forever changing. Forever growing. Always something new to look forward to. 

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[33:17]

‍(ALEX): Yeah. I also think there's no end in sight to how big it can get, provided we don't shoot ourselves in the foot, right? Because when you think about the number of people who have had treatments, right? Aesthetic treatments, whether it's Botox, fillers, whatever, it's minuscule compared to the population. And I mean, you girls are getting this when you're 21 years old or 15, whatever, before you're born, you're gonna start getting, it's like, it's crazy. So when you think of the Gen Zers now, who, once they actually need it, like you're gonna have this whole other population coming in. I, I, and, and it's, it's gonna be crazy. For those of you who are out there listening and you wanna become an RN or an NP, or a PA or a physician even, it's like, we need providers. We really need providers to come in and help and it's a great industry. You can build your own brand, your own business. It's so fun. That's another thing I really love about this is you get to one of the only places in healthcare now where you can have your own business. Like you, there's no big hospitals that are taking over. You can have your own brand, you can have your own little storefront, and that's cool. You don't get to do that very often in healthcare anymore. 

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What do you guys wanna be when you grow up? Let's talk about that. 

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[34:37] 

(JADE)

This.

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[34:38]

(SKYA): I mean, everybody knows my secret dream job is to be a standup comedian, but I'll stick with med spas. I think it's going to work well for retirement and aging. Okay, so I'll take it. Okay. 

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[34:50]

(JADE): Better than a comedian, I think.

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[34:54] 

(ALEX): Yeah. I mean, you never know. You never know. Interesting. All right. 

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[34:58] 

(SKYA): All right, Alex. Well, if our listeners want to learn more about AmSpa, learn more from you, where should they go?

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[35:04] 

(ALEX): Americanmedspa.org is where you go. We're, um, very easy to find on there. And then we do have an Instagram handle that we'll get to you. 

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[35:14] 

(SKYA): We'll put it in the, we'll put it in the show notes. 

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[35:16] 

(ALEX): Amspa underscore american med spa or something or other, which I should know off the top of my head, but I don't. And we also have a website for the Medical Spa Show as well as for the Women's in Aesthetics Leadership Conference, which is coming up this fall as well. So lots of stuff, but yeah, I'm easy to find. 

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[35:30] 

(SKYA): Easy to find.  

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[35:31] 

(ALEX): Thank you so much for having me. This was awesome. 

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[35:32] 

(SKYA): Yeah. Thank you. 

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[35:33] 

(JADE): Thank you. 

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[35:33] 

(ALEX): So fun.

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[35:37] 

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