We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Danielle Harter (Kaufman) MS, PA-C a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Danielle, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

Aesthetic Medicine is such an interesting medical field and drew me in with the ability to combine both scientific and creative outlets. It demands an artistic approach to the face and body, but requires an extremely in-depth knowledge of anatomy and application of medical and surgical concepts. To me, when I approach a face I feel like Leonardo da Vinci, with numbers and shapes and equations swirling around in my head to create a masterpiece. So, I naturally gravitated toward a name that would reflect that. I wanted a name that was immediately interpreted to symbolize my work. Every time I inject a patient they call me an “artist,” so Artistry resonated with me. I added “Luxury Injectables” to reflect the elevated experience my patients can expect to receive at Artistry. Every visit should be a memorable and luxurious experience that leaves them feeling confident and like a work of art!

Danielle, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My journey into Aesthetic Medicine started at the ripe age of 10-or-so years old when I would read through beauty magazines and concoct treatments from raw eggs, bananas and honey to smear on my face and hair. SpaQueen119 was my AOL screen name back in the day; so during PA school I always said I wanted to open a MedSpa one day. Fast forward to me as a brand new PA-C and I wanted to make sure I gathered foundational knowledge to ensure I became a competent, safe and ethical medical provider; so starting as a baby PA in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery was my dream job! I learned so much about the face and body and was able to care for complicated surgical patients with my Plastic Surgeons who became my most foundational mentors for what I do today.

My true passion for creativity in medicine only continued to grow as my years as a PA advanced. I began to witness the truly magical transformations that occurred when people felt and looked their best. It was that pivotal moment of witnessing my patients’ self-confidence of their insecurities transform when I decided I wanted to pursue Aesthetic Medicine full-time and start creating an exceptional patient experience- one where patients felt seen & heard, valued & cared for, one in which their results were elegant & refined, and above all, an experience they felt completely safe and supported in. My journey to opening my business, Artistry, is truly the culmination of all of my hard work, passion, dedication and relationship building over my career as a Physician Associate. In my chair, you will never felt sold-to or trendy; I believe in respecting your natural and unique beauty. Each treatment is truly personalized for every patient.

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

The biggest lesson I had to unlearn in my current field is that Aesthetic Medicine is superficial or pretentious. When I graduated PA school, I initially steered myself into a medical specialty- one, to learn the foundational principles of medicine and gain a solid medical background; but two, because I felt like I needed to “help people.” After all, what good was my education if I all I did was make people “pretty.” It took me years of positive transformations to figure out I wasn’t helping them “look pretty”- they were already beautiful! I was helping them “feel” just as beautiful on the outside as they were on the inside. That realization of the positive psyche impact is what changed my view of the specialty. The ability to see someone in their most vulnerable insecurities and then help them step through those and turn their insecurities into their most confident attributes was amazing- I still get a dopamine rush from every patient transformation!

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

A happy serendipitous moment on an early and quiet Sunday morning led to a click-bait ad on Instagram that sparked my interest. “Portrait- where the Artist’s name is on the door.” A little inquiry lead to a roller-coaster few months of snowballing into business ownership! I am so appreciative to Portrait for helping me launch my dream of being an Aesthetic Business Owner and for their continued support and guidance! My medical director is amazing and really helps me thrive in this industry!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.portraitcare.com/providers/danielle-kaufman
• Instagram: @aesthetics.by.dee @artistryinjects.pgh
• Facebook: DKauf PA-C

Image Credits
Atali Samuel Photography and Natural Light Studio (black and white pics) @atalisamuelphotography Anna Laero Photography (neutral aesthetic with red hair model pics) @annalaero