We recently connected with Erica Sharp and have shared our conversation below.

Erica, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

That’s a great question. I try not to have regrets about anything in life and I think everything happens for a reason. I started getting cosmetic treatments almost 25 years ago when I was at UT, so if anything, I wish I would have gotten into cosmetic medicine earlier in my career. I’ve always loved it and been open about my love for the industry, even before I was a Provider. I opened Arabella at the end of 2019, and a few months later the Covid Pandemic hit, and we had to close for a bit, and I was pregnant with our first child at the same time, so it would have been easier to open later. Nobody has a Crystal Ball and could have predicted that. While it was a challenge, I’m glad we opened when we did, because I believe all of the chaos in the beginning made us focus on patient care, their experience with us, and the relationships we’ve been able to build with our patients in a more personal way.

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’m originally from Knoxville, and after graduating from UT, I went into pharmaceutical sales. After several years in sales, I decided I really wanted to get into the practice of medicine and went back to Nursing school. I have always loved this industry, and my father was an Internist at UT Hospital for almost 40 years, so I was always around medicine and was fascinated by it and wanted to be able to help people. I spent a few years in the Trauma OR at UT, but I really wanted to be in Aesthetic medicine, Dermatology, or Plastic Surgery, and have a little more say in patient care, so I went back to school to become a Nurse Practitioner.

Everyone knows getting into this industry is a challenge. A lot of people want to be a part of it and it’s competitive, especially starting out. I had a hard time finding something right after graduation, and not a lot of practices were hiring. I eventually caught the attention of another Nurse Practitioner who was overseeing a large Aesthetics practice that was part of a Dermatology clinic. The only opening she had available was for a part time position, and it was a great way to get in the door. It was hard, but it ended up being a great way to start. She was a National Trainer for Allergan, and it was great getting the experience and knowledge from a National Trainer so early on. I eventually got a full-time position at a similar practice and just kept learning and trying to get better every day. I opened Arabella a few years later in November of 2019.

At Arabella, we specialize in Aesthetic medicine and offer a full suite of injectable services, facial services, microneedling and we have some of the latest technology in laser services such as RF Micronnedling and skin resurfacing lasers. We put a lot of focus on the foundational aspects of Aesthetics which would be medical grade skin care, and we have recently developed our own Arabella skincare line, which we are incredibly proud of.

We all naturally have something that maybe we aren’t exactly happy about with our appearance, but one of the most important things we do is help our patients feel better about themselves, and that’s the part of Aesthetics that you can’t see. It’s not just helping provide a more youthful appearance, or correcting something that they are concerned with visually, but how happy it makes them feel once they see the result of their treatment. From the time a patient walks in our door, we want them to feel better, and have the experience of visiting with their friends.

I’m really proud of where Arabella is now, and where we are headed. When I started, it was just me, and it makes me happy to come to work and see our entire team and how hard they work to provide exceptional experiences for our patients, every day.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

One of my goals when I got into this was to have my own Skin Care line. I’ve always loved skin care — I’m a little bit of skin care junkie. I wanted to curate a medical grade skin care line that everyone can have. It has been a fun process, but it has also been a challenge. Figuring out what products we want and going through all the different variations, labels, names, and logos has taken us a long time. We have six products in our line, and we’re continuing to develop and choose the best products to add to that.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I would say social media and word of mouth. We are blessed to have an incredible number of patient referrals, and that really set the tone for growth early on. I believe because of that word of mouth and patient referrals is why our patient loyalty and retention is so great. I would also absolutely say our social media and marketing director, Lauren, has helped grow our practice significantly. She does all the social media and has made it look very professional and on-brand. That’s how we’ve gotten the most recognition and awareness to the brand in the past year.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.arabellaknox.com
• Instagram: Arabellaknox_
• Youtube: Arabella Medical Aesthetics
• Other: TikTok: arabellaknox_

Image Credits

Taryn Yager Photography