We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Melissa Rodi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Melissa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

To me, my defining moment was when I was faced with a pivotal decision that I knew would forever change the course and trajectory of my life. I already knew my love of aesthetics and my passion for helping people was front and center in my life and career. I always dreamed of starting up my own company in aesthetics, but I lacked the confidence and struggled with self-doubt about my ability to be successful in a very competitive market. What lead to my defining moment at first was curiosity and autonomy. I felt stagnant in my current position and was curious about what it would look like to start my own company. I followed up by doing hours of research and eventually started writing up a business plan. I wanted the freedom to be my own boss and wanted to take control of my life and my career. My motivation for making this pivotal decision was purpose and the realization that I was lacking so many fundamental aspects in my life. I had a choice, I could stay stagnant and safe where I was, or I could take a risk and work toward the life and career that was fulfilling and meaningful. My defining moment wasn’t a specific event, it was a series of realizations that I was not happy where I was and that only I had the power to change that. Overcoming the fear of failure and negative self- doubt did not happen overnight. It was accompanied by a lot of hard work, training, and dedication.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I was born and raised in Phoenix where most of my family lives. I studied Development and Management at Arizona State University, which led me to Hawaii for a few years and then to Oregon before I finally settled back down in Phoenix to stay. I found a job at a MedSpa. I worked at a wellness center prior but I had no real knowledge of anything aesthetic related before. I absolutely fell in love with the industry and immersed myself in it. I studied, trained, honed my skills in new areas of services, and absorbed as much knowledge as I possibly could. Making a complete and total career change, I began preparing and getting the necessary training and certificates to further my education and skill set.

I started Luminous Laser in Scottsdale February of 2022, and it was the best decision I ever made. I offer a wide range of services from laser hair reduction, pigment correction, vascular correction, acne treatments, hair restoration, micro needling, RF micro needling, laser facials, medical grade skincare products, and diet and nutrition counseling.

I think, especially being in Arizona one of the biggest problems I solve for people is sunspot/sun damage/Melasma correction with the IPL photo facial or brightening micro needling treatments. I also treat telangiectasia (broken capillaries) on the face and spider veins on the legs. Wrinkle reduction and treating skin laxity with RF micro needling is extremely popular and effective. I work with clients that are experiencing hair loss or thinning to activate dormant follicles and promote hair regrowth. I offer vitamin injections and patches to especially help clients with GI or absorption complications. Weekly diet and nutrition counseling for clients that need a little bit of assistance on their health journey. I could keep going on forever but these are the most common issues I see.

I love what I do, and I love making a difference in people’s lives and restoring confidence where I can. I pride myself on listening to the client as an individual and getting to the root of insecurities and tactfully recommending the best treatment. Even if it is something I do not offer, I have an amazing network of women that I can refer clients to. I will never recommend a treatment that I offer if I do not think it is the best course of action. I am results and safety driven and want the absolute best for my clients. I love watching the journey my clients make and not only the physical transformation but emotional progress that is made as well.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

When I first started out, I did what most people do I tried Yelp, Groupon, Google, basically all paid advertising and marketing platforms to push my brand and image. While it is important to get your name out there and be seen by your potential client base, it rarely turned into paying clients in the beginning. I started realizing that networking and building connections was much more meaningful and actually turned into paying clients and a really solid referral network. I also have a really solid plan from when the client walks through the door, during treatment, and client exit to make things run smoothly and efficiently. What matters most to my clients and makes them want to come back and refer friends comes down to friendly professionalism, organization and cleanliness, honesty, and really listening to clients needs and be able to problem solve for them. Being able to set realistic expectations for clients in regards to any treatment process is important in establishing trust and in client retention.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I think that most small business owners can agree it can be a roller coaster ride. There are so many factors that can effect the success of a small business. You can have the absolute best day/week/month and then the absolute worst day/week/month back to back with zero warning. Especially if you are like me and you are a solo small business owner.

I have a few setback and rallying stories but this one instance happened in December of 2022. I was, in my humble opinion, rocking it in the months leading up to December and experiencing growth from month to month. I became really sick in the beginning of December and had to take a consecutive 10 days off from work. I had to reschedule all of my appointments for those 10 days and I remember feeling really distressed for myself and my clients. On top of that, a lot of my clients had to reschedule for various reasons, and then it was the holidays. So the month of December was almost the lowest revenue intake month since I opened in February of that year. I had to pull myself out of a funk and in the end it just made me work 10x harder in January to make up for December. I think the ability to use low points or times of struggle as motivation to work harder is extremely important. It is so easy to get caught up or stuck in those moments but if you can turn them around and use them as lessons or fuel, you will succeed.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://luminouslaseraz.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luminouslaseraz/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LuminousLaserAZ
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/luminous-laser-scottsdale

Image Credits
@parkermicheaelsphotography @hollisticbeautyinnovations