SMME #487 Why She Said Yes: Amanda Loyd's Path From the Treatment Room to the Coaching Chair

Speaker A: All right, Amanda, welcome to Spa Marketing Made Easy. I'm so excited to finally bring you on the show, introduce you to our community. It has been a, uh, long time coming because we brought you. When did we start having our conversations?

Speaker B: Ooh, a couple months ago.

Speaker A: A couple months ago. Yeah. So we. We were kind of getting to know one another, having some conversations. We. We ended up bringing you on the team, which I'm so grateful for. And we've been kind of having you behind the scenes, working with our implementation clients, with our fundamentals clients, doing some stuff in that arena. And now I'm, like, so excited to introduce you to our entire ADO family. So welcome.

Speaker B: Me, too. Thank you. I'm happy to be here.

Speaker A: So I want everyone to know, um, kind of who you are as a human, what you're about, what your background is, all that kind of fun stuff. Because it. I think what really stood out to me in our, like, beginning conversations was, like, how similar our path was. And, you know, like. Like, I started at the front desk when I. When I first got into, like, I started at a day spa. Well, I started as a solo, right? So I've. I got out of school. Um, I started as a solo and very quickly moved into medical aesthetics. And that was just kind of my home, my. My place. But I feel like I've worked every single role. I've done front desk. I've been in the room. I've been the patient care coordinator. I've been the spa director. I've been, you know, the, like, person that they hire for people when you leave, because you're doing whatever needs to be done to get that practice going. And I know we really connected on that as fulfilling. Like, you're the coach. You're the men, like, the coach to the injectors and to the estheticians. And you're, like, doing the marketing, and you're just everything. It's like there's so many different aspects that it takes.

Speaker B: Wearing a lot of hats, for sure.

Speaker A: Yes, A lot of hats. So tell me about your journey. Like, let's. Let's. Did you always know that you were going to get into aesthetics?

Speaker B: So I remember being, uh. Well, this is kind of funny. I remember being my daughter's age, so 11, and I remember saving up my allowance and going to this day spa in Indianapolis, um, to get a facial. And I remember my parents were like, you want to get. And I was like, yeah, I want. I want a facial. I want to, like, go to a spa and do this whole thing. And I Literally remember giving them, like. I mean, like, paying it out. And I think, like, the last $2 were in quarters. So, like, I was like, I've always loved taking care of my skin. I've always loved makeup.

Speaker A: Uh, was actually in your family, Like, I didn't even know spas were a thing. Like.

Speaker B: Yep, I know.

Speaker A: I was like, you can actually. I always thought, you know, like, you. You go. Everyone in my family is an engineer, a teacher, or in the military. It's what everybody does. And. Or they're an entrepreneur. Right. We do have some sprinklings of those, but there's, like, these very clear paths. I have no idea. Spa could be a path.

Speaker B: So I remember when my parents would travel a lot of times. The, like, the husbands would golf and the wives would go to a spa. So I think that's why it kind of stood out to me.

Speaker A: Okay.

Speaker B: Um, and so I remember doing that, and then I remember in high school kind of thinking, maybe I want to be a makeup artist or do something. And, um, I feel like when you and I started, like, the aesthetic license was kind of a newer thing. Right. So, um, I went to College.

Speaker A: I was 2006, so I graduated high

Speaker B: school in 03, but I graduated aesthetic school in 2006.

Speaker A: Okay, so we're exactly the same year.

Speaker B: Yep. And, um, I went to. Or I went to college. Then I worked at a day spa there, um, and just started to fall in love with it. And so I ended up working there, moving into, uh, an aesthetics role. Um, and I worked at that day spa for a couple years, and then I just moved into, um, I really wanted do some more aggressive treatments, so I took an admin role at a med spa and worked my way up. Um, I would say more recently, the thing that, like, thing I'm the most proud of is really my time at the plastic surgery practice that I was at. Um, the surgeon that I worked for, um, we had worked together at another plastic surgery practice, and he told me, I don't want to have a med spa. I don't want to have 30 employees. Like, I don't want to it to be a big thing. Like, I just want to operate. So when we opened, it was him, me. We had a nurse and then a front office. And little by little, um, I was seeing patients. I got booked. So I helped them hire another esthetician. We expanded that location. And then, um, in 2020, we started really talking about a second location. And then everything with COVID there is, like, kind of that uncertainty. So they put the Pause button on that. And then in 2021 just moved forward and I ended up, um, the director of esthetics and director of marketing there. So I was wearing a lot of hats as far as doing all of like the social media, email blasts, events, all of that.

Speaker A: Still in the room or did you transition out of the room?

Speaker B: That's what I get so excited about in these calls because I was still in the room and doing all of that.

Speaker A: Uh, that's how I was at Bella Sante. So Bella Sante was three location day spa, med spa. And I was still. I was in the room three days a week. And then I was doing leadership, you know, like on just on the medical aesthetics stuff. I wasn't doing anything on the day spa, but I was just focused on, um, the gals that had, you know, were given the title of like medical esthetician. Um, and so I really focused on like that division, um, and kind of coaching and training, um, between the three locations. But you ended up with three locations ultimately.

Speaker B: Yeah, yep. So we ended up with three locations. And yeah, I mean I did really from start to finish. So, um, I did all of the staffing, so creating the job description, job job listings, um, screening people, not only like the phone interviews, but like the clinical interview because you want to be able to feel their touch and see how they would interact with a guest before you bring them on. Um, and then creating protocols. I mean I think about what we can do with Claude and um, and just this like framework that you have. If we had had that a couple years ago, I cannot tell you. I think I feel like there was a manual that I put together that was like 65 pages just of like SOPs, you know, and it took so long and it was like by the

Speaker A: time you're done it already needs to be updated again.

Speaker B: And then if someone had a question, I'd be like, have you checked the manual yet? Or like, um. But yeah, so I just think about what we do for business owners and that's been really fun. Um, and it's fun to be able to help people, um, spa CEOs that are. Whether it's like, you know, there's one provider or we have a lot of multi location, um, a lot of med spas. It's just fun to see what other people are doing and kind of talk that out.

Speaker A: One thing I was really excited about with you is that um, you know, my background, I kind of grew up in Durham and you grew up in plastics. And while they're very similar, there are like nuances that happen between these types of just like, you know, when we look at what I kind of call med spa lite versus like a physician on site practice, whether that's a derma or a plastic, there's all these little nuances in how the practice operates, how they're, um, communicating with their patients, what the touch points are, what the follow ups are, how the med spa is interacting into the practice.

Speaker B: Oh, that conversion is key. Absolutely.

Speaker A: Yeah. And I, I worked for two plastic, plastic surgeons in 20 years, so I had like a handful of, um, a little bit of experience. But I wouldn't say I feel so much more comfortable in derm. So because we have, you know, plastic surgeons that come in. It was. There were certain pieces that I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm so glad that we have somebody that like, speaks that language. Because when you get so I realize it's all spa. I realize it's all like, we are all. But like the nuances of each individual business model makes a difference when you understand those type of aspects.

Speaker B: Absolutely. Well, I think about, um, I think about the team and I think I was thinking about this conversation today and I wanted to say, um, long time, longtime listener, first time caller type deal. I've listened to your podcast for a couple of years and one of the things that stood out is everyone kind of has a little bit of a different skill set. So we're still, so we're working off of this guide, this framework. Um, but I think you do such a good job of taking, you know, people's experiences and really we're going to customize everything we're going to see. Did that work? Well, maybe we implement that. Like, I think that's important. Um, I think with plastics there, it's become a little bit easier in marketing just from the standpoint of it's definitely a little less taboo. People are talking a lot more about what they're having done. Actually, just saw today a picture of Rosie o', Donnell. She had a facelift. Did you see that?

Speaker A: No.

Speaker B: Yeah, I just thought that was interesting. It came across my thing and I was like, oh. So I think it's becoming more mainstream than it was before. Um, but there's definitely still a little bit of. I don't want everyone to know everything I'm doing. Um, so trying to get creative with like, your referrals, you know, of, of, um, your word of mouth, um, the events that you are working with and that you're putting on, all of that is a little different with plastics Yeah,

Speaker A: I think, I think definitely, like energy based devices are much more accepted than. And I think there's also a lot more hand holding in the sense of like surgery is obviously it's an invasive. Oh yeah, you're going under anesthesia. Uh, you're for, for most, you know, I mean there's a lot of pieces there where it's like, am I doing the right thing? What are the risk and complications which are very different than like getting a bbl, you know, it's.

Speaker B: Yes, yes.

Speaker A: There's, there's the emotional piece that needs to be kind of.

Speaker B: I think that's uh, that's the thing though, like just. And thinking about the team, like all of us as estheticians and just providers getting into this, like we, we have these wonderful tools, we have all of these things that we can do to, to help people with their confidence and to sometimes even educate them that hey, this is a concern you have and like I actually can help you, um, address that. Um, and, and then there's this piece of like almost the wellness that's kind of being married with aesthetics too. That's cool. So people can feel as good as they look. It's just, I don't know, I think most estheticians are caregivers at heart and so the fact that we can kind of help, you know, them gain that confidence is huge. Um, whether it's a BBL or whether it's a breast augmentation, I think people, you know, sometimes even need permission to know that it's okay to do this for you and it's okay to do something that will help you with your confidence and help you feel better. Um, it's not vain, you know.

Speaker A: Yeah, it's such an important piece. Like when I was doing consultations, it's always like my approach was if it doesn't bother you, it doesn't bother me. Right. So we are in the business of building women up and men. Right. We are in building people up to look and feel their best. And I think that and feel is really coming to light. Especially in the past three to five years, uh, really post Covid, you know, there's been a lot of the wellness, whether it's with the glp, whether it's with hormones, um, yeah, different aspects of what am I going to be doing for my long term health, um, to really and like not having as much concern about, um, what other people are going to think about what they're they're doing for themselves. That's still there. It's still there for sure. Um, that kind of worry of like am I making the right choice or should I, um, should I not be investing this amount of money? Um, but I do see people being more and more open. But did you notice um, at the plastic surgeon's office, I feel like wellness is getting incorporated not as much as at plastics as it is in med spa light or more traditional med spas, um, than we're seeing at ah, plastic surgery offices.

Speaker B: It's interesting you say that. So the, the office that I was at, um, there was definitely kind of the plastic surgery focus med spot added in and then for a while we were really focusing on weight loss and this was kind of pre GLP1. It was more um, more like that consultation time, you know, with a, with a um, physician to really look at like your habits, help with um, just making like long term changes. Um, and then eventually kind of started into some of like the wellness as far as like the B12 and things like that. I, um, will say I have. There are a lot of offices that I've worked with that are doing like the IV therapy and wellness. And you're right, it's not as often in plastics. It's definitely more in. I feel like we're in um, like med spas that are doing a lot of laser and a lot of injectables typically seem to be doing that. Um, and it's amazing what some of these peptides can do. And I mean there's, there's some really cool internal things that we can make happen.

Speaker A: So yeah, I, I feel like a lot of the nps because it is something that you definitely have to have knowledge, you know, and, and experiences. It is uh, certainly like a booming industry. But I feel like the NPs kind of have the background.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: To be, you know, very good with whether it's GLP or peptides, hormones, like whatever they're doing on the wellness arena.

Speaker B: And even though some of the hormone replacement, I feel like that's definitely, and I don't know if it's a little bit of it is, um, I'm in my early 40s so I feel like a lot of my peers, my friends are like, hey, like, are you doing hrt? Like what do you know about this? So, and I think a lot of times people feel safe asking their friends, but also their esthetician or asking their nurse injector. Um, those are conversations that it feels safe to have. Um, and yeah, it's pretty amazing what we can do. It all kind of marries well together, which is fun and That's. That's why we got into this, is that it evolves into something else. It's always. It's never the same thing. There's always kind of something new. I remember when I first started, like, really what I could do was microderm. And I still love a good microderm, but there are so many other tools that I can use at this point, um, to get great results for whatever their skin concern is.

Speaker A: You are now kind of in this new season. This new, um, season is the best word of your career, of your life, of your kind of experience in the aesthetics space as you've moved into coaching. What are your favorite, like, everybody on the team. I always. I'm always asking, like, what do you enjoy the most? Because I feel like if you're happy, if you're passionate, if you're like, really obsessed with a certain topic, you know, I obviously want to make sure everybody has the experience and background, but I also want everyone to really become experts in a niche.

Speaker B: Right?

Speaker A: Um, because we talk about the brand that does everything is the brand that does nothing. It's also like, you want to get so into a particular area. So what is the area that you just absolutely love that lights you up, that you're like, this is my happy place. When I see a call talking about this, this is what I love.

Speaker B: So I just had a, um, call with a med spa owner, and I would say she's doing a lot of. She's doing a lot of what we were just talking about as far as wellness. She's doing M body body contouring. She has some facial memberships and just some really innovative ideas and then just some tried and true things that she's doing. Um, but she's wanting to scale. And so that was a really fun conversation. I feel like that's kind of my, like, plays into my skill set. I would say. Um, I love talking to, um. Honestly, I mean, I think it's always interesting to have, like, your office manager or your spa director with your physician. Like, those calls are really interesting because it's. They kind of work off of each other. Um, and I think sometimes I enjoy those calls. I think just hearing from both sides and again, kind of helping them scale. I mean, I did coaching at, um, as the director of aesthetics. Like, I said, I was doing all of, like, the hiring and, um, all of that. But I mean, we had standard operating procedures in play, so we would do like an initial training boot camp, and then I, um, would meet with them, um, a couple times a month. Just to kind of go through, um, you know, here's. You know, here are these treatments. This is something newer. How are you feeling about it? Um, or we would sometimes even look at, like, feedback from reviews. Hey, like, we got this great feedback. Or, hey, this guest had a question about this. Can we talk through it? Um, so I think just helping develop people, developing their, like, not only their, like, hard skills, but also their soft skills and sales.

Speaker A: I think we always go back to, like, what we know so well also. And for you, being a part of a practice that grew very rapidly, being in a leadership role, dealt with, you were the director, but then also, you know, in communication with the physician and kind of building the plan. It's like, when you've been in those. In that space, then you understand it on such a deep level, which is, uh, you know, allows you to be able to coach in a better way. And having the rapid growth, um, you know, to three locations in a surgical practice, expanding team, all of that, I think it just speaks very, very much to your skill set of, like, of course I love doing this. This is what I just went through and, you know, and learn well, yes.

Speaker B: And I think, like, these are the things that worked really well, or maybe these are the things I would do differently. I think especially, like, even initially when I. When I thought of systems, because I'm also kind of a creative. I think a lot of estheticians are when you think of systems, you're like, yeah, but there's that one. You know, there's that one patient, and I need to do it this way for them. It's okay to do that if you have to, but you have that system in place. So that's the standard most of the time, 99% of the time. And then if you've got this one, one offset, like, it's okay to have that. And I think that for me, really kind of opened up my eyes to just systems in general. The other thing I wanted to mention to you and I, I. This was our. One of our initial calls, was just talking about, um. And I know Christy mentioned this on the. In the community the other day, but no is a complete sentence. So where I'm at right now in my life is really setting, like. I don't want to say a boundary, but in a way of, uh, like, this matters to me. And when I make time to do this, I can show up so much better in all of these other things. And so being able to help spa owners do that is really cool.

Speaker A: Uh, it's so important it's so important because we feel like we have to have. You know, it's like, this is urgent. And this is like, people, we are not curing cancer here. We are so blessed to be able to do the work that we're doing. But, like, it's very rare that we're dealing with something that is so urgent. Right? And so I regularly will say that, like, you are your business's greatest asset, and the better you care for yourself, the better you're going to show up for your team, for your clients, for everybody. And it's so hard, I think, for women in general. And, like, I'm sure there's guys out there too, but we just deal with so many women. Um, but. And I see it as a pattern over and over, is that we put everybody else before ourselves. But then we're like, how do I get out of this cycle? And it's like, well, the cycle is to care for yourself, because then it's like, your cup is full, right? There's the Instagramable, whatever, all the quote, you can't pour from an empty cup, right? But when we are full, then we can help so many others. We can really show up as our full potential. But that takes the ability to say no and the ability to. To allow yourself to rest.

Speaker B: And I think sometimes, as. I don't know if you can relate to this, but just as a working mom, I think that's the other piece of it is sometimes it's like, uh, oh, I'm working X amount of hours. And so I do feel bad if I'm not working, doing this for myself. Um, and I was the same as you. I was in the treatment room two days a week, and then I moved, um, completely out. And that was a hard transition. And so I think I can relate to the spa CEOs as they do that, because it's bittersweet. You have your. Your favorites and you want to have your hand in that, but you also know that you can't do everything to the. Like, to the quality that you want to or as well as you'd like to, if you're muddled and, you know, you're in the treatment room five days a week, and then you have two days left to do everything else, and then there's no time for your family, yourself, anything. So I think that's been really rewarding so far. And, uh, the. The calls that we have are fun. I mean, I'll get off the call and I'm just beaming because I'm like, she was so cute. I love that. Or I'll learn about like new skincare product or you know, it's just fun to sit and chat too.

Speaker A: Wonderful. Well, I'm so glad that we got the opportunity to introduce you. Um, I'm so happy and honored and excited to have you on to to our team. It's been such like a nice, easy transition. And uh, to all of our listeners out there, I'm so excited for you. Meet Amanda.

Speaker B: Can't wait to meet you guys. Thank you.

Speaker C: Quick reminder before you leave, if your spa growth still depends on you doing more, it's time for a shift. Watch the System Shift, a free training designed to help spa owners break past that 25 to $35,000 month plateau without adding more treatment hours. You'll learn the CEO level systems that help you scale while protecting your time, your values and your piece. Go to grow autoesthetics.com podcast and watch the systems shift. That's grow.autoesthetics.com podcast M.