We recently connected with Claudette Walker and have shared our conversation below.

Claudette, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you get your first job in the field that you practice in today?

It was not a goal or a dream to work in plastic surgery or anything aesthetics. My background and passion was in the cardiac ICU. However, in 2005, my best friend who worked for a facial plastic surgeon asked if I wanted a part time job to recover patients. It was an easy job and paid well, compared to the hospital. Once I started the plastic surgeon I worked with saw that I was a hard worker so asked for me to come on full time. I assisted him throughout the whole patient experience pre and post surgery and also clinic. Clinic included Botox and dermal filler treatments. Over time I started to point out areas on the face that patients needed. So he asked if I wanted to do the treatment and therefore he started to teach me. It’s been uphill since and I developed a new passion for aesthetic injectables, lasers, and skin care.

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

In 2005, Botox was brand new and not many people were getting the treatments. We initially started with collagen based dermal fillers, but Restylane came out which replaced Collagen. After a few years Juvederm came out and their marketing strategy changed the game. Botox and Juvederm became a house hold name and more and more people were exposed to the benefits of nonsurgical cosmetic treatments. As technology and product development advanced I realized the importance of elevating my skills beyond the basic trainings I had received. So I invested heavily into advance trainings and found plastic surgeon mentors to ask a lot of questions and teach me advanced techniques. I learned quickly how unique every patent’s face is and there were some that I had to really problem solve. My all the different techniques I learned from others, my own, helped me achieve natural beautiful results. I then earned a great reputation in our community for not only advanced techniques, but also customized natural results. After 15 years of working for other practices, in 2022 I took a huge risk and ventured into starting my own aesthetic clinic. My contract included hard non-compete restrictions. I temporarily opened 1 hour away and was grateful that so many patients followed me. Another year later I was able to open a permanent location in my home town and again grateful for even more patients that continued their treatments with me. My goal was to create a beautiful space where both patients felt their investment was valued and most of all my staff and I truly care.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your firm or practice?

As soon as I got bit by the entrepreneur bug, I started to save as much as possible. I told my husband my plans and he was very supportive. We started to situate our personal finances so that we didn’t have to worry about our family. My brother was a builder and he gave me an idea of how much a build out would cost. But, I had no clue about all the other expenses when opening a medical practice. From attorney fees to supplies, it was a lot. I started out in a rental salon suites with no staff, therefore very little overhead. This was the smartest advice from my brother. Because of this, I had a good cushion for the other expenses opening in our permanent space. My savings and my patents was able to cover all the costs of opening.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I never thought life was easy. I great up as an immigrant family from the Philippines. I witnessed how hard my parents worked to support 5 kids. I consider myself an expert in hard work. My parents were so impressed with the risk I took, leaving a comfortable and very well paying job with one of the largest plastic surgery practices. They were very proud that my brother and I worked together to build my dream. Unfortunately, my mom was diagnosed with a rare disease and passed away 3 weeks before our grand opening. My mom’s funeral was 2 weeks before the grand opening. To make matters worse, the main sewage pipe broke in the clinic, a week before the grand opening. They had to cover all my brand new office equipment including very expensive lasers in plastic. They dug up my floors to access the pipes under the foundation. It was a miracle they finished in record time working late into the night. Our grand opening was a huge success! We had about 250 attendees and brought in more money than I could have imagined in one day! No words could describe what I felt. Gratefulness.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.beautytheoryjax.com
• Instagram: @beautytheoryjax
• Facebook: Beauty Theory

Image Credits
Photos by Kelly Martucci