We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Deanna Holt. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Deanna below.

Deanna, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.

In August 2020, while working as a full time certified registered nurse anesthetist I attended a training course in aesthetics for injectors.

By November 2020 I was offering aesthetics to friends and family in a small room I rented from a local wellness center located in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

By April 2021 I outgrew my space in my small room and leased a 1000sq ft building down the street. I partitioned off space in this building for myself and two hair stylist and continued to market and grow.

I routinely hosted ‘Botox parties’ and attended small vendor events in town to get my name out there all while continuing to work as a full time nurse anesthetist in the operating room.

By October 2021 I once again outgrew my space and signed my lease over to the hair stylist and leased a 2500 Sq foot office space with 6 treatment rooms.

After moving into my new space I hired 2 additional injectors and 3 estheticians as well as a full time front office staff. I continued to put any profit back into the business instead of paying myself a salary.

For the past 2 years I have continued to work full time in the hospital while also putting full time hours towards running SkinSavvy. I’ve joined the chamber of commerce in my town, attended many business networking events and continue to work day and night while taking my business to the next level.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I began working in the aesthetic field in 2020 during covid when I wasnt working as many hours in the operating room providing anesthesia. By November 2021 we were a full service medical spa offering services from basic customized facials to botox, fillers and more. We take pride getting to know all of our clients on a personal level while working with them to build a long term goal for their skin. We customize our treatment plans that fit everyone on a individual level. Im so proud of the group of ladies i’ve had joined me at SkinSavvy Aesthetics over the past 2 years. They are all extemely passionate about aesthetics and are so personable and friendly. The entire environment of SkinSavvy is so inviting from the moment our clients walk through the front door. We offer complementary consultations, a full snack bar, package pricing and a membership discount that can save our clients hundreds of dollars on their services. Our providers include three licensed estheticians, a registered nurse, a physician assistant and a certified registered nurse anesthetist. One of our estheticians is a certified acne specialist while another is a licensed permanent makeup artist. We offer facials and skincare products that are pregnancy and breastfeeding safe and always do a thorough review of our clients medical history to minimize any unwanted outcomes with medical treatments. Here at SkinSavvy our clients safety and satisfaction are top priority. SkinSavvy Aesthetics are the skin specialists of Fayetteville.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

In 2020 when I created SkinSavvy Aesthetics, I had no idea how successful it was going to be. At the time we were in the midst of covid and just coming out of the shutdown. During the shutdown I worked a 6 week contract in New York City on a covid response team. We were a team of medical professionals that ranged from medics to physicians and we set up and ran a field hospital in the Billy Jean King Tennis Center. While working this contract I worked 12 hour days 7 days a week. This contract not only helped supplement the loss of income I had from my hospital anesthesia job, but it also help provide the starting capital needed to start SkinSavvy. With no business credit to use, I used personal savings to create, expand and grow SkinSavvy Aesthetics into the full service medspa that it is today.

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

In the beginning, I grew my clientelle by hosting parties in clients homes. These are known as ‘botox parties’ where the home owner invites at least 5 of her friends over and everyone learns about and receives botox treatment while socializing and enjoying snacks/drinks. Out of every party that I hosted, I would say at least 50% of those that attended became repeat clients that would return to see me in the office for future botox treatments or even other treatment options. These parties definitely played a huge part in my growth early own. Now I would say our growth is due to word of mouth and recommendations we receive from our current clients. Our clients are an amazing group of both women and men and we really consider a lot of them our friends. They are always sending in new clients or recommending us online in Facebook groups. They routinely leave us amazingly sweet Google reviews and always attend our events that we host at SkinSavvy.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.skinsavvyfayetteville.com
• Instagram: @skinsavvy_aesthetics
• Facebook: @skinsavvyaesthetic
• Youtube: @skinsavvyaestheticsfayette4985