We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mary Howe a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Mary thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?

I learned a lifetime of lessons in the 8 years I served as an aerial gunner in the US Air Force. Those lessons have all transferred to other areas of my life, however, the value of communication can’t be understated, especially when lives are at stake.

Whether on deployment or supporting the mission stateside, our crew was always sending and receiving information that influenced every aspect of our mission. Operating as a team was not optional, it was critical, therefore clarity was paramount.

Following my service in the Air Force, I worked as a registered nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit, caring for the tiniest patients: newborns who needed additional care in order to thrive. This environment also maintained a critical requirement for clear, two-way communication. The well-being of these babies was dependent upon it.

Failures in communication can have detrimental effects on the people I have worked so hard to protect. I now lead with a priority on clear messages in every situation today: work, personal, and otherwise.

Now, as an aesthetic nurse, I help patients find the right treatment and provide comprehensive education to ensure they achieve the outcomes they desire. However, I can say that I fully understand the importance of ensuring that messages don’t get lost in translation, which drives me to prioritize clarity in everything I do.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

After 8 years in the Air Force as an aerial gunner with 4 combat deployments under my belt, I began nursing school while serving in the Reserves. During my time in the Reserves, I became pregnant with my daughter who is now 4, and decided to continue the path with nursing school, separating from the service in 2019.

Once I started working as a nurse, I got my first job working night shift in the NICU, which seemed like a dream job. Ultimately, this job took an emotional toll on me early on. My daughter had just turned one and I was spending my nights helping babies fight for their lives, spending the days sleeping. When I did have time to spend with my daughter, I was wearing a big burden of stress that ultimately pushed me to make the decision to leave the NICU. I loved my patients, but it was emotionally taxing to watch over these babies with a baby of my own who needed me at home.

After 8 years in the military on constant deployment rotations and then the stress of the NICU, it was time for me to reset. I wanted to spend more time with my daughter, and couldn’t carry the weight of my hospital job.

A medical spa I was a client at posted a “now hiring” flyer on social media, so I took the opportunity to see if they would hire a nurse. After an interview and a day of shadowing, they hired me!

I quickly became an award-winning member of the team and applied my nursing knowledge to aesthetic medicine and facial transformations. My days were spent administering IV’s, assisting with various procedures, and shadowing staff who were doing the kind of work I saw myself doing after obtaining advanced degrees. I became a pro at microneedling, chemical peels, weight loss, and eventually became HydraFacial Certified. After a year there, I opted to find work closer to home, as I was losing time with my daughter during my two-hour round-trip commute.

I fell in love with the mission statement of Deja You, a new medical spa in Navarre. Luckily the owner, Kris, thought I could be an asset to the team. Here, I really buckled down and began taking courses on anti-aging, acne, microneedling, Kybella, and lasers. I did this while simultaneously working on my master’s degree to become a Family Nurse practitioner.

As my client list grew, I saw how a systematic approach to long-term skin care made the greatest impact on my clients and their results. I saw how using medical-grade products consistently led to better outcomes compared to those using over-the-counter products.

As a professional, I want to be known for my advanced knowledge and personalized treatment plans that lead to ideal outcomes. It’s also important for me to lead with integrity and pull the curtain back on misconceptions. It takes time for patients to achieve their goals and there is no such thing as overnight success, especially when it comes to our skin.

I am most proud of the science-based approach I take with skin. I take an extremely conservative approach when it comes to safety while giving patients my unbiased opinion. My patients trust me, and that is something I’m grateful for every day.

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

Developing good nursing judgment and leading with empathy have been critical for my success.

At the end of the day, every individual that comes into our office has a unique, deeply personal issue or focus that they are entrusting us with. I believe strongly that leading with empathy, hearing their concerns, and deeply caring about their experience are equally impactful to them as a person.

At Deja You, you’re not just another number in the system. We care about our patients’ holistic experience and we genuinely care about getting to know them at each and every appointment.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Frankly, my entire professional career has been focused on big and small pivots. In both the military and healthcare environments, pivoting certainly happens long-term, but it happens daily, and you have to be willing to adapt in order to excel in that kind of environment.

Human, social, and environmental factors shift every single second and the opportunity to affect consequences is significant.

The biggest pivot for me came when I opted to leave the NICU for aesthetic medicine. I so desperately wanted to be more present and accessible for my young daughter, but I also knew my heart was yearning for a professional setting that didn’t take a toll on my emotional well-being.

Little did I know how much I would thrive and succeed as a professional in aesthetic medicine.

Contact Info:

• Website: dejayoumedical.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mary_aestheticnurse/

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