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

Nikki, appreciate you joining us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

There is an old African Proverb that says “Give a man a fish and you feed him for one day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” This is the approach that I take in my health and wellness spa. It does me no good to help you become healthy if I do not teach you how to remain healthy. This has been my goal from the first day I opened. Health is so important but, we all tend to take it lightly or for granted until it is no more. I want to change that and, I do this by teaching you the basics of health. Not only teaching, but leading by example.

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?

Again, my name is Nikki Waddell and I hold a BSN, BS, MPH and I am currently pursuing my DrPH.

I first became interested in this industry when I reached 250 lbs as a result of depression eating from a failing marriage. I became borderline diabetic, hypertensive and developed the beginning stages of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. I had reached an all time low and I needed to do something quick.

I began researching ways to lose the weight and keep it off. I finally decided that gastric bypass was my best bet. After meeting with the doctor and him telling me that you also needed a hernia repair (I clearly knew I did not) I left his office determined to do this with a non-invasive approach.

A very good friend of mine introduced me to non-invasive lipo and it yielded some awesome results. The only thing missing was how do I maintain. It was at that moment that I decided to learn more about this process. I took the class and within 6 months, I opened my spa.

Initially, I opened only performing the non-invasive lipo and vacuum therapy. I have since expanded to offering many other services such as yoni steams, Cryoskin, wood therapy, non-invasive breast and butt lifts, lymphatic massage, B12 & B12 lipo injections and Wellness Wednesday where we talk about different health topics and how they affect people differently. We also teach business start-up classes, cavitation, yoni steam and lymphatic massage classes.

Touche’ Body Image LLC, is a family owned and operated business that performs non-invasive laser and vacuum therapy and other procedures to enhance the body’s physique. These procedures can be done within 30 minutes to an hour, in essence, during your lunch break. We not only assist you in achieving your weight loss goals, we also give you the tools to help you maintain them. Weight loss is a journey! Let us take this journey with you by supporting you in every way, helping you create a beautiful body effortlessly.

Any advice for managing a team?

I am the type of manager that does not mind rolling up her sleeves. If I am telling my team that we must function like a well oiled machine yet all they see is me delegating, how well oiled are we really? As a manager, you must lead by example at all times. Showing your team that you are one of them and not just the manager makes them want to give their all. Also, I allow my team to be as creative as they want. This allows me to see things from a diff perspective. Sometimes, their ideas are better than mine and it takes off like fire! In a nutshell, be an involved manager and allow your team to blossom and grow with you,. It makes a world of a difference.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Funding my business wasn’t easy. I spent a lot of my own personal money and still fell short at times. I didn’t have the support of family and I struggled for a long time. I then began to learn about business credit and how to build it. This is when my business really took flight. Business credit is equally as important as your personal credit. My advice get them both together before you start your business or have a hefty savings. This is something that we also offer in our business start-up course.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.touchebodyimage.com
• Instagram: Www.instagram.com/touchebody
• Facebook: Www.Facebook.com/touchebody