We were lucky to catch up with Anya Knower recently and have shared our conversation below.

Anya, appreciate you joining us today. Can you recount a time when the advice you provided to a client was really spot on? (Please note this response is for education/entertainment purposes only and shouldn’t be construed as advice for the reader)

The best and most common device that I give to clients: Stop spending money on stupid shit. A lot of doctors or med spa practice owners get into the industry with this illusion of how to properly grow a med spa. It’s not a simple plug and play unless you are franchised with a large network / financial backing. With that being said, some people have a Field of Dreams mentality of, “if you build it, they will come”; which has been instilled with them by some aesthetic device companies or other financially incentivised institutions. Some practices think paying for ads will be their saving grace, spending thousands and thousands of dollars on fancy apps, digital ads, social media managers, yet they don’t have the disposable income, they don’t have the proper staffing to field leads and they just don’t need some of this stupid shit that they invest in to boost their ego.

Get back to the basics and focus on your team, training, and incentives. Focus on creating sustainable in-house marketing to grow your practice; such as referral programs, memberships, small format events, partnerships with local businesses and optimizing your current clientele.

I once had an account, a brand new medspa with zero clientele, that spent $10,000 to build out a customized app, pay thousands of dollars for expnsive ads, while they didn’t have anyone experienced to field leads, social media management companies that only post stock images and they just kept paying for marketing material and initiatives that would never bring them new clientele.

I came in and did an analysis on how much they had spent in 3 months in marketing and it was upwards of $40k and had zero return. We cut all spending, brought on my services and I built them out marketing initiatives that increased their revenue from virtually $0 a month to $50k a month in just 3 months with our plan, their marketing budget went from about $13k per month, to roughly just $700 per month during that time frame.

So stop spending money on stupid shit and get back to the basics. That is what is going to set your med spa up for sustainable success.

Anya, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

So here’s a little backstory on my journey. After over 12 years in the aesthetics game, I found myself in a toxic work environment, working for a big aesthetic device company in LA. Think of it as a mix of “The Office” and a bad reality show—I was bullied, mistreated, and preyed upon. When I got fired, my ego was bruised, but instead of wallowing in self-pity, I decided to channel that frustration into something amazing.

Cue the dramatic music: I launched my own company to protect my beloved clients from the not-so-nice folks in the industry. My motto? “May the bridges I burn light the way!” It’s still my guiding star. I’ve surrounded myself with good people and honest clients, and that’s the vibe I always wanted.

As far as what we do at The Aesthetics Advantage, I could give you the professional Chat GPT version of what we do that is on our website but I’d like to explain it in a way that people can actually digest. First and foremost, we both build and empower med spas. We do everything from creating your logo, to helping you negotiate your device purchases, build out internal marketing strategies, train their team on how to sell, how to do consultations and I’ve even picked out paint color on the wall.

What sets us apart from the other consultants? Well, we can’t be bought. While many consultants might be swayed by financial incentives to recommend certain companies, we stick to our guns and work only with vendors we trust. Authenticity is rare in this industry, and we’re here to rise above it all and expose those who choose not to.

Now, let’s talk about our secret sauce: the “Dating App Method.” Our goal is simple: set you up for success and then let you fly solo—find your perfect match and delete the app! We focus on sustainable marketing strategies that foster real relationships, like building memberships and referral programs, rather than relying on expensive ads. We care about your long-term success, not your wallet.

Let’s be real: owning a business isn’t a walk in the park. There have been financial hurdles and factors beyond our control. But guess what? The industry is booming, my platform is growing, and so is The Aesthetics Advantage. So, here’s to the journey—full of challenges, laughter, and a few burned bridges along the way!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

If you find that you’re killing yourself and sacrificing your time, energy and emotion into someone else’s business in the corporate world, and you feel like you could be doing a better job, it’s time for you to use your matter expertise for your own business and GTFO.

It’s a scary transition and you might feel like you have a severe case of imposter syndrome, but just know, that is how all CEO’s and business owners have felt at the start of their entrepreneurship. Trust the process, work incredibly hard, keep a positive attitude, know when to pivot and have a student mentality.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

If you’re a med spa, you need to read this. Here is the secret sauce for growing you patient base.

1) Invest in your team

– Invest in additional training: Whether it be from the device company, injector trainings, sales trainings.

2) Incentivise your team:

– Incentivise them for everything, leads, getting reviews, selling memberships
– Make it fun! Not just financial incentives. Whoever gets the most reviews with their name mentioned gets a massage or a nice bag. Find out what your team is incentivised by!
– Come up with sales bonus structure for your team – make it fun, track it and make it a competitive game

3) Give your team free treatments:

– Stop being stingy and give your team free treatments! How are they supposed to sell the treatments if they can’t speak on the results or the process! This is essential and will make your team much more knowledgeable, confident and comfortable on the phones.
– Plus, if your a med spa, you want your team to be a direct reflection of your practice so looking good is a necessity.

4) Create a positive work environment:

– It is very hard to keep good employees. Kim K said it herself, “nobody wants to work these days” and she’s not wrong. Creating a positive work environment decreases turnover, allowing you to invest in your team and grow their knowledge, and it helps you recruit highly skilled employees.
– This also includes creating a seamless onboarding process for new hires.

Now you might ask, how the hell is this going to bring new patients in the door? The simple answer is that if your team is happy and equipped your marketing efforts will be handled with more initiative and confidence, ensuring your leads turn into happy patients. And happy patients are returning patients and often spend more money.

As you can see, it starts from the top.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://theaestheticsadvantage.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theaestheticsadvantage/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheAestheticsAdvantage/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-aesthetics-advantage/?viewAsMember=true