We recently connected with Sonya Ellis and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sonya, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I never in a million years thought I would be a co founder of an award winning medical spa of my own. I always enjoyed working for someone else and I always thought I would be working in a plastic surgeons office full time. I love Boobs just as much as I love Botox. ; )

My dream was to work in a facility that had plastic surgery, dermatology and medical aesthetics all rolled into one state of the art center, where we also offered training and mentorship for the next group of aesthetic practitioners. However, I could never find anyone that shared the same vision, goals and mantras as me.

I finally realized the only person that was going to build my patient’s the perfect med spa was me, no one cared about them like I did, no one was going to put them first and do the right thing by them like I did, so that’s what I did………….I built them a better med spa, one that puts them first.

I started the business officially in March of 2019 with absolutely nothing in the bank account but I already had a loyal patient database and a new American Express Business Card. I kept overhead as low as possible and saved every penny I made. In January of 2020 I found the perfect building to purchase to start what is now the L.A.B. med spa.

By that time I had come up with the brand and the vision of what I wanted the business to look like in the future. We renovated the second floor first and then worked from upstairs while I worked and saved more money to renovate the downstairs…………then Covid hit.

Wow, was I praying hard that I wasn’t wrong about starting this new business venture and purchasing real estate when we had to shut down for two whole months and weren’t able to generate any income as we were not considered an essential practice. I still paid the staff and continued with renovations in faith that I had not “literally” come this far, to only come this far.

We sold retail online, sold gift cards and I did telemedicine consults – anything to keep the business afloat during that difficult time and it ended up paying off. Not only was I able to finish all the renovations but it also gave me uninterrupted administration days where I could solely focus on the business side of the practice.

That hard work and dedication showed when we were ready to add the rest of our 12 staff members in August of 2020. We opened the doors and celebrated my 10 year anniversary working in Southlake in October 2020 to thunderous accolades from our patients, friends and family.

I’m so glad I was willing to take a chance and huge risk, not only on myself but also my patients and the new staff members we hired. Together we have made a pretty amazing team so far and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for all of us.

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 always wanted to be a nurse, started as a nurse’s aide, then as a floor nurse, med surg, ICU, interventional radiology, medical sales, once I dabbled in plastic surgery, I never looked back.

We think it’s important to do a very thorough consult with new patients. Not only do they go through a rigorous medical screening but we usually give them a 3-5 year plan of services that will benefit them the most.

We offer a wide variety of state of the art non surgical services such as:
• Neurotoxin (Botox)
• Dermal Fillers
• PDO Threading
• Laser Resurfacing/Chemical Peels
• Custom Facials
• Weight Management
• Bio-identical Hormones
• P Shots and O Shots
• Radiofrequency Microneedling
• PRP/PRF
• Microneedling
• Hair Restoration
• IV Therapy
• Cellulite Reduction
• PCDC/Kybella
• Men’s Services
• Teen Services

I am most proud of how hard we work everyday to give the patient the best results we can. My staff and I go above and beyond for our patients and it shows in the consistent results that we are able to obtain.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Word of Mouth and Do the Right Thing. It’s a pretty simple philosophy if you ask me but it works. If you do right by a patient, they will come back and tell 10 of their friends. I built a very successful practice in a saturated market in a very competitive area following these two mantras. Of course we market now, but I had no marketing for almost 10 years.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

Knowing your Business!!!! This was hard for me as I am truly an artist/technician, I really just like being in the room with the patients providing a service, that is my PASSION. However, if you don’t handle your business you won’t have a room to treat your patients in. I did hire my fabulous business director, Danielle Geer, to take over the most difficult part of the business – the day to day operations, however, as the visionary, I still have to be present and keep track of everything with her.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thelabmedspa.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.l.a.b.medspa/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sonya.ellis.msn.cpsn.cans
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-l-a-b-med-spa/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/beautiscience
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgmUE0fAWJ4cPaIEjriPeYQ/featured
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-lab-med-spa-southlake-2
• Other: the L.A.B. med spa 1910 E. Hwy 114 Southlake TX 76092 817-251-1000 admin@thelabmedspa.com