Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jamison Williams. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Jamison, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.

Although I loved the team I worked with, my previous employer was set up with a very corporate structure (and understandably so as it was a corporate organization, so I don’t fault them for that). However, I quickly learned that sales goals and quotas were not my style, nor were they what my patient’s were used to expecting from me.
From working with so many amazing people in my career, I’d developed a very unique approach to aesthetics, both in my professional technique and the way I interacted with my patients. I quickly became burnt out trying to figure out how to effectively mesh my personal style with that of the organization I worked for and knew that it was not sustainable. That’s when I knew that the only way to truly provide my patients with the one of a kind of experience I wanted them to have, was to go out on my own and start Beauty FX.

It was absolutely terrifying taking the leap to open my own practice because you can’t throw a rock in Los Angeles without hitting a MedSpa and I’d seen SO many close as quickly as they opened in the 4 years that I’d lived here. Was I really talented enough? Had I built a strong enough brand? Could I really handle the business and finance side of things? But I took the leap and a full year later, my business is growing every day and more importantly, I’m happier in my career than I have ever been. I LOVE what I do and my patients can see that.

The first and most important step (in my opinion) in forming my business (aside from the boring legal aspects) was deciding what kind of experience I wanted my patients to have. In such a saturated market, you have to ask yourself “How are you going to stand out?” “Why would patients want to come to you over the cheaper office down the street?” “What do you want your patients to FEEL when they walk in and out of your office?” All of these questions are so vital because they play such a pivotal role in starting your business from picking the name and the logo to the interior design to the marketing. It all ties together.

My biggest advice for anyone wanting to start their own business is to always stay true to yourself. Don’t try to push an image or a brand that isn’t authentic to who you are as a person and as a professional. Because customers will ALWAYS know. When my office opened, it was so satisfying to hear patients walk in and say “Oh my god, this is SO you! This is what you needed.”

And as always in life and work, don’t forget to HAVE FUN! Starting a business is stressful and a TON of work, but it also opens up so many opportunities for you to be more flexible and be able to enjoy yourself more, so take advantage of it while you can!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m an Aesthetic Nurse Practitioner, meaning I provide services like Botox and filler injections, lasers, microneedlings, and medical grade skincare regimens. It’s honestly not a field I ever saw myself going into. Prior to this, I worked in open heart and lung surgery. I thought aesthetics was for the vain and shallow. Buuuut I also heard it could pay well as a side gig, so hey, why not give it a shot? So I started working part time in a clinic in Atlanta, having NO idea how much I would fall in love with the industry.

As a lifetime creative type who was always coloring and drawing and singing and playing music, Aesthetics turned out to be the most magical combination of science and art and it triggered all the parts of my brain that had been begging to be activated again.

So I kept at it and when I decided to move to Los Angeles, I decided I wanted to jump into the deep end head first and make Aesthetics my full time career. It’s one of the best cities for it, but also one of the hardest to make a name in because of the sheer number of offices and providers on practically every corner.

I think what sets me apart, though, is my ability to read and analyze the face in a way that never takes away from a person’s true self. I don’t just focus of what’s “wrong” with a patient’s face. In fact, I always specifically ask “When you look in the mirror, what’s your favorite thing about your face?” Because I believe that good aesthetic work isn’t just about fixing what’s “wrong”; it’s also about highlighting what that person feels makes them special.

If you love your smile, let’s balance your lower face. If you love your eyes, let’s see how we can brighten them up. If you’re completely happy with how you look, then let’s just work on maintenance and prevention. One of my favorite things to say is also “If it doesn’t bother you, it doesn’t bother me!”

I also firmly believe that we are all absolutely perfect beings. Inside and out. I have a sign above my mirror that says “Born Perfect”. We can believe that we are perfect just the way we are and still want to make changes, whether it’s your hair color, your clothing choice, or to get rid of the lines on your forehead. In a field where so many providers make everyone look the same based on “ideal” beauty standards, I think this mentality is important to hold. Having now been an Aesthetic Nurse Practitioner for over 6 years, I feel confident that it’s what has helped me stand out

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

You can have all the training and knowledge in the world, but if you don’t LISTEN to your patients, then you’ll never be a successful aesthetic provider. I see it time and time again when patients come in after seeing some hot-shot Beverly Hills Doctor who’s been doing aesthetics for ages, yet they were unhappy with their results because “They just didn’t listen to me. It wasn’t what I asked for or wanted”

One of the most humbling and satisfying things that I often hear from my patients at Beauty FX is “Thank you so much. No provider has ever spent this much time really talking to me and listening to me.” It really makes a huge difference in how you put together a treatment plan for a patient. Because in the end, even though you’re the expert, it doesn’t really matter what YOUR opinion of their face is (unless they ask for it). It’s not your face to make changes to based on your own personal views of beauty. I believe everyone’s individual idea of beauty should be celebrated, not conformed to a certain “ideal”.

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

Absolutely.
In school, I always thought intensive care would be my home and I loved what I did before in cardiac surgery. The intensity and complexity was such a rush and I do miss it at times. But I have never truly loved coming in to work every day like I do now. I get to combine my two favorite things: science and art. I get to be me and express myself in a way that’s so authentic to who I am and getting to share that with my patients on a daily basis is so special. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.beautyfxbyjamison.com
• Instagram: @BeautyFXbyJamison
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555397703626

Image Credits

Michael Stewart and Stephen Moleski (Headshot)