We were lucky to catch up with Sara Courtney recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sara, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Highland really started with a mix of burnout, passion, and honestly—wine and delusion. My background has always been very procedural—I spent years in plastic surgery, emergency medicine, critical care, and I even flew as an Air Force flight nurse. I thrived in environments where precision mattered and pressure was high. But when I became a nurse practitioner in urgent care, I realized really quickly that I wasn’t caring for people the way I wanted to. I was rushing through visits, barely scratching the surface, and it left me feeling frustrated and disconnected.

One night, sitting with a glass of wine, I had this thought: what if I created the kind of place I’d want to go to myself? Somewhere that didn’t feel intimidating like a plastic surgeon’s office, but also wasn’t just surface-level like a day spa. A place where people could relax but also trust that they were getting real, medical-grade care. That idea was both terrifying and exciting, but it felt right.

What gave me confidence was seeing this gap in the market, and my passion for taking care of people. Patients were overwhelmed—they didn’t know who to trust, what order to do things in, or if they were wasting money on the wrong treatments. There wasn’t really anyone in Mississippi blending that soft luxury feel with true medicine and long-term planning. And I knew from experience that if you could give people a clear roadmap—“here’s what we’re going to do this year, here’s what can wait, here’s how we’ll track your results”—they’d feel cared for, supported, and confident in the process.

That’s what got me most excited. It wasn’t just about solving a skin problem—it was about solving the bigger problem of confusion and distrust in aesthetics. I wanted to create a place where people felt seen and taken care of, where the approach wasn’t one-size-fits-all but completely tailored to them. And honestly, building Highland has given me the freedom to practice medicine the way I always wanted to: intentional, relationship-focused, and rooted in both science and artistry.

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 Sara Courtney, the founder of Highland Medical Aesthetics in Flowood, Mississippi. My background is in nursing—plastic surgery, emergency medicine, critical care, and even serving as an Air Force flight nurse—but these days, my focus is all about helping people feel confident in their skin.

At Highland, we offer everything from medical-grade skincare and injectables to laser treatments, microneedling, hormone replacement, and memberships that tie it all together. The point isn’t just to give you a one-off treatment; it’s to give you a clear plan for your skin and confidence long-term. Think of it like a roadmap—what you need now, what you’ll benefit from later, and how it all works together.

What sets us apart is the combination of soft luxury with real medical-grade care. Patients don’t just come here for results (though they get those)—they come because they want to feel taken care of and know that their plan makes sense. That’s where we shine.

I’m most proud of the relationships we’ve built. Our patients trust us not just with their skin but with their confidence, and that’s something I don’t take lightly.

If there’s one thing I want people to know about me and Highland, it’s this: we’re here for the long game. We don’t believe in quick fixes or one-size-fits-all. We believe in thoughtful plans, honest conversations, and results that keep getting better year after year.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

During COVID, I was working as a travel nurse—long, exhausting shifts that were tough in the moment but ended up being the springboard for Highland. I saved those earnings and used them to open my very first space. It was small, but it gave me the chance to start building relationships, test ideas, and prove that this dream could actually work.

Within a year, we had already outgrown it—both in size and in vision—and that’s when I made the move into our current space in Flowood. Looking back, I’m proud that Highland was built from the ground up without outside investors. It started with hard work, sacrifice, and a lot of faith in what I knew this business could become.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

Highland actually started as a side hustle. At the time, I was working full-time in urgent care, part-time at the hospital, and still serving part-time in the Air Force. I honestly thought Highland would just be a little “hobby clinic” on the side, which is why I started small.

But year after year, the clinic grew faster than I ever expected. By 2023, I was able to bring on additional staff to help continue that growth, and we’ve kept adding new team members along the way to fill gaps as we expand. What started as a one-woman show between shifts has now become a thriving practice with a full team and loyal patients—and that’s been one of the most rewarding parts of this journey.

Each milestone gave me the chance to step back from another role. In July 2023, I left urgent care completely. In 2024, I stepped away from the hospital. And by August 2025, I officially finished my Air Force role too. Closing those chapters allowed me to go all in on Highland—and there’s nothing better than waking up every day knowing this is exactly where I’m meant to be.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.highlandmedms.com
• Instagram: @thejacksoninjector, @highlandmedms
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/highlandmedms
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/highlandmedms

Image Credits

Tara Britt- GoldNPrint
Sophia Calderon- Sophia Calderon Photo
Ansley Morgan