September 22, 2025 • 22 mins
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Nicole's journey from trauma nursing to aesthetic medicine reveals how unexpected career paths often lead to the most fulfilling destinations. What began with a casual invitation to shadow a colleague at Couture Med Spa transformed into a passionate six-year career helping clients achieve natural-looking beauty enhancements.
Her story breaks down misconceptions about the aesthetics industry. Rather than feeling disadvantaged by not being "fillered up" herself, Nicole discovered her natural approach was actually her greatest strength. "Clients actually respect that," she explains. "They don't want to look fake or overdone." This authenticity creates a comfortable environment where clients feel understood in their desire for subtle improvements rather than dramatic transformations.
The podcast reveals fascinating insights into the daily life at Couture Med Spa's Ocoee location, where every day brings different treatments and clients. Nicole particularly enjoys performing filler injections, describing the process as an artistic collaboration tailored to each individual's unique features. "It's kind of like creating your own masterpiece," she shares, emphasizing how facial balancing requires a customized approach rather than a one-size-fits-all technique.
Perhaps most valuable are Nicole's revelations about skincare myths. Having struggled with acne-prone skin herself, she explains how using overly harsh products actually triggers the skin to produce more oil—a counterintuitive reaction many people don't understand. This personalized knowledge allows her to connect with clients on a deeper level, creating skincare regimens that truly address their specific concerns.
As Couture Med Spa continues expanding beyond its Florida origins to locations across the country, Nicole finds fulfillment in the growth opportunities and family-like atmosphere that defines the company culture. Her enthusiasm for both the technical aspects of aesthetic treatments and the meaningful client relationships she's built demonstrates why the membership-based spa model has proven so successful in making beauty treatments accessible to a wider audience.
Ready to experience the Couture difference for yourself? Visit couturemedspa.com to learn more about our membership options and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube to stay connected with our community.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Welcome to Couture Conversations, the podcast where
we dive into all things beauty,confidence and the amazing
people who make Couture Med Spawhat it is today.
I'm your host, lindsay, leadesthetician here at Couture Med
Spa.
Today I am excited to be joinedby Nicole, our Nurse
Practitioner from our Ocoeelocation.
Nicole has an inspiring journeyfrom nursing to NP school and
(00:38):
eventually finding her way toaesthetics.
She's passionate about helpingclients look and feel their best
and today we get to hear herstory.
Nicole, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Thank you, thank you.
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
I'm excited to have you.
So let's start at the beginning.
Can you tell us a little bitabout your background as a nurse
?
Speaker 2 (00:57):
So as a nurse I started in Jacksonville.
I graduated from ChamberlainCollege of Nursing and started
as a float nurse, actually at atrauma hospital at UF Health of
Jacksonville.
There I kind of was a floatnurse.
I kind of just went around thehospital wherever they needed me
, kind of like a substitutenurse, and I learned a lot.
I loved it.
Trauma is a little intense,though you get a little burnt
(01:20):
out, going to so many differentfloors seeing so many different
things.
So then I made my way back hometo Orlando.
I grew up in Winter Garden, soI made my way back home and I
started to work at Winnie Palmer.
I worked there for about twoand a half years on a high risk
like mother baby floor and then,after I worked there, I
(01:40):
actually made my way intoaesthetics at Couture Med Spa
Nice.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
So, as far as starting out as a nurse, what
made you to make the decision togo back to school to become a
nurse practitioner?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
So I knew really early on that I always wanted to
be a nurse practitioner.
That was something that like Iwrote essays in like fifth grade
to the Elks Lodge, trying toget scholarships for, like, I
always knew I wanted to be likelike a nurse practitioner.
Um, ideally, I thoughtpediatrics, like I love kids, I
thought that I want, I wanted todo peds.
Um, honestly, I never reallythought of aesthetics.
(02:12):
It wasn't like um as big of athing.
Um, until probably I don't knowyou hear about it more with
like plastic surgeons, officesand things like that.
And it wasn't until I worked atWinnie where I worked with
another couture med spa nursepractitioner, sarah, who had
graduated and actually appliedand got a job here at couture.
(02:32):
And when I was finishing up mylast kind of semester of my
nurse practitioner program andkind of looking into peds
options, she reached out to meand she was like hey, have you
ever thought about working inaesthetics?
And I was like not really Like,what is it?
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Like you know, I didn't really know what kind of
it was.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Like I had never really done any aesthetic
treatments.
I was kind of like naive Iguess.
Um, and it she was like well,come shadow.
You know, we're looking foranother nurse practitioner.
We do, um, all of our trainingshere.
We, you know, have people comein and train you.
So like you, don't, don't worryabout that.
So I was like okay.
So I went and shadowed her andI saw all the different things
that you know, couture MedSpaoffers, like the laser
(03:08):
treatments, injectables and Iwas like this is actually kind
of fun, like I like this.
And I knew it was a hard fieldto get into as a um, a nurse
practitioner.
So I was like you know what?
Um, let me dive into this andkind of see where it takes me.
Peds will always be there so Icould always go back to that if
I want to.
So I came in, I shadowed, Iloved it, ended up interviewing
(03:32):
and getting the job and thenstarted working there and spent
almost six years now.
So that's crazy.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Nice, what did your first day of shadowing look like
?
Speaker 2 (03:41):
I was just like overwhelmed.
I think I was like wait, whatis what is an IPL?
What is a fractional?
Like what?
What is Juvederm?
Like I've I've never like heardof like any of these things
before.
Again, I think it was more maybeme as just like a naive, like I
had never done aesthetictreatments myself.
No one in my family really had,um, I mean, my sister, I think,
had gotten like Botox, but um,and I knew what that was, but
(04:03):
like I didn't really know a lotof the other services.
So I think I was just kind of alittle overwhelmed like wow,
like what is all this kind oflike it's a whole new world, um,
and so it was actually reallyreally cool.
It was a little intimidating, Ithink as well.
Um, but once you know I knewSarah, obviously, and once she
kind of like kind of guided meand showed me that like no, you
(04:24):
know, it's really like fun.
It's always, you know, you neverget like bored of the same
thing.
Like industry is alwayschanging and um, they provide a
lot of like trainings and demosand things like that.
So, and then once I started inthe field and I got more um
practice with the trainings anddemos and obviously I felt more
comfortable and now I love it.
I'm like I don't know if Icould ever do anything else.
I feel like this is where I'llbe forever Nice.
(04:48):
And how long have you been withCouture for now?
Speaker 1 (04:57):
So it'll be almost six years.
Yeah, I know time flies.
So now that you are a part ofCouture and you've been here for
almost six years, what do youlove most?
Speaker 2 (05:01):
about working here.
I think I love most aboutCouture is just like the family
that we build as um stafftogether.
You know, I've worked inhospitals and I've worked in a
lot of other um.
You know different settings andI feel like I don't know like
you connect with some people.
You have like little clicks andthings like that, but I feel
like I could tour, even thoughwe have like different locations
(05:23):
.
Um, I feel like when we allcome together, everyone's just
so welcoming and so like caringfor each other, like always
supporting each other, likeanyone's kids who have
fundraisers or events or thingslike that, like we're all
jumping in and like helping out,and that's just really cool to
me.
It's like a, it's like a family.
What?
Speaker 1 (05:40):
makes your Ocoee location special.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Ocoee location special for a couple of reasons.
One I grew up in Winter Garden,so Ocoee is like kind of close
to home for me, so it's nice tokind of, you know, go into work
and all of a sudden see somebodyon your schedule you went to
like high school with and you'relike wait, I know you.
So it's kind of cool.
You have like that smallhometown kind of like feel
working in a co-e at least forme, because I grew up close to
(06:05):
the area.
I also just love the clientsand staff that I have there.
The staff is amazing.
They are really hardworkingstaff, they really I feel like
we really get along welltogether and we all motivate
each other.
So you know, if we're likestriving towards certain goals,
(06:25):
like we really all push eachother, which is nice, um.
And then the clients um,they're loyal clients, like
they're there for a long time,like I have clients that I have
been injecting and seeing sinceI started and it's nice to build
that relationship with them andhave that rapport with them.
Um, you're not just like seeingsomeone for one treatment and
then they're leaving, likethey're always coming back and
(06:46):
you know you get to be part oftheir family.
I have clients that have cometo my bridal showers and clients
that have come to my babyshowers and things like that.
So that's really cool.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Do you have a favorite client story or any
transformations that have reallystuck out to you?
Speaker 2 (07:01):
I have a few.
One of my favoritetransformations or I would just
say, client story would be thatyou know, when I first started
in aesthetics, I had never doneanything myself, so I always,
like, was intimidated of it.
I was like, oh, they'reprobably not going to hire me,
I'm not bleached blonde, likeall fillered up, and I didn't
hadn't even done any of thosetreatments before.
(07:22):
So I was intimidated going inas a provider that wasn't
overfilled, wasn't the peopleyou see on these like aesthetic
TikToks and Instagram and thingslike that.
But I've noticed during mytreatments with clients is that
they actually respect that theydon't want to look like that.
A lot of people are scared to doaesthetics because they don't
(07:43):
want to look fake or overdone oranything like that.
So I think they actually feelmore comfortable having a
provider that's more real andthat's like them.
You know, I break out, I haveacne.
I, you know I don't like to beoverdone either.
So they like that and I thinkit makes them feel comfortable.
And I've had clients tell me,like you know, I come here
because you make me feelcomfortable and I me.
(08:05):
Like you know, I come herebecause you make me feel
comfortable.
And I've gone other placeswhere I've just been really
intimidated.
So to me that is a really youknow heartfelt message, because
I, you know, you want people tofeel comfortable to do these
treatments.
You don't want people to beintimidated and feel like
they're not good enough and theycan't do them.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
So if you had to pick one treatment, that is well,
you don't have to pick one, butone or two of your favorite
treatments that is your favoriteto perform.
What would they be, and why?
Speaker 2 (08:31):
That's hard.
I like a lot of them.
My favorite treatments toprobably perform is going to be
fillers, because I feel like youcan make a really big, subtle
difference with fillers and Ifeel like clients it's kind of
like an art, like there's notlike one certain way to do it,
which is really nice.
(08:53):
It was a little hard for me atfirst because I'm kind of like
OCD type A so I'm like tell meexactly how I need to do it and
it doesn't really work like thatin aesthetics, like you're kind
of looking at the client andmore of like a whole, you know
like canvas, like facialbalancing, you know like not
every person needs the samething.
So it's kind of cool to createlike a treatment plan specific
(09:13):
to that person and kind ofcreate like your own masterpiece
with that.
So I really like doing fillerinjections.
I also really like doing Botoxand Dysport injections,
especially because noteveryone's ready for filler.
So it's a nice like steppingstone to get them comfortable
and to just make them have thoselittle subtle enhancements of
like just looking more refreshedand rejuvenated without
(09:34):
changing their beauty that theyalready have.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
What would you say?
Not necessarily your favorite,but what's the treatment you
probably do the most.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
The treatment that I do the most.
Well, we are a membership-basedspa so we do lots of lasers.
So I do a lot of lasers, a lotof IPL lasers, a lot of
fractional lasers, lots of laserhair.
But we also see a ton ofinjectable clients so I do a lot
of Botox and Dysport andfillers as well.
So it's really hard to say myday is like kind of a
(10:04):
combination between a lot of allof them.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
What would you say?
Just to give the listeners kindof an idea of what would.
What is your?
I know it's different every day, but what does a day look like
for you?
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Well being in a COE.
We are one of our busierlocations, so my day usually
starts.
I get to the spa around like930.
I try to, you know, look at theschedule kind of mentally
prepare and prep my day.
You know, we have huddle withthe girls, kind of go over like
game plans of how we're going toeither tackle the day or little
incentives that we're pushing,how we're going to achieve those
goals.
And then my average day ispretty busy.
(10:43):
We have a lot of laser clients,we have a lot of injectables,
so I basically like every 15minutes, go room to room.
We do a lot of clientconsultations, which I try to
take more time with those,because I want to give people
the time that they deserve, youknow, especially being new in
aesthetics, and I want them tofeel comfortable coming there.
I want to have a good treatmentplan for them as well.
(11:06):
So I like to spend time withthem and, you know, know, also
show them all the spa servicesthat we offer, because a lot of
times people are like me,they're brand new to aesthetics,
they don't know everything thatwe have to offer.
So I like to really take thetime with the consults, um, and
try to give them, you know, thebest experience there.
Um, and then if they can't doeverything in one day, obviously
(11:27):
we don't expect them to.
But then we kind of come upwith a plan where they're okay,
let's start with Botox today andthen, you know, next month we
have this event coming up, solet's do then your fillers while
they're on sale for this eventand then let's get you started
with some skin pen microneedling.
So we kind of come up with likea full treatment plan to utilize
kind of everything that we doin the spa.
But, um, basically I seeclients from 10 am to 7 pm and
(11:52):
we do kind of all sorts oflasers, injectables,
consultations during that timeframe.
So every day is a littledifferent.
It is, yes, which is kind ofnice.
You're not walking into thesame thing every day, so you
don't get bored of you know thesame continuous thing after
another.
It's always differenttreatments clients see that they
want to achieve, or differenttrends that they want to do and
(12:15):
things.
So you're always learning too,which is really nice.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
So we talked about all the different.
You know there's a lot ofdifferent things that we offer.
What is your favorite treatmentto get done yourself?
Speaker 2 (12:27):
So my favorite treatment to get done would be a
combination of two things.
One is going to be umneurotoxins.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
I'm sorry, but I love my disport, so real quick
explain to anyone who doesn'tknow what neurotoxins are.
What are those?
Speaker 2 (12:42):
yeah.
So neurotoxins are, um,basically like botox and they
help relax the muscle.
So like when you frown or youraise your eyebrows up, it's
going to help relax the musclesso the muscle can't fold skin
making deeper lines and wrinklesas we age.
Unfortunately, as we age we'relosing collagen in our skin so
if the muscles keep moving thatit just creates those deeper
(13:03):
lines and wrinkles that areharder to get rid of as we age.
So I personally love Dysport.
It just works a little bitbetter for me in relaxing my
muscles and I usuallyreligiously do that about every
four months to keep my musclesnice and relaxed, which is
usually it's FDA approved forabout three to four months.
And then my other favoritetreatment is going to be the
(13:25):
skin pen microneedling.
Because when we do Botox orDysport we're just relaxing the
muscles so we're not reallytreating like the skin and the
skin texture from the collagenloss that we have.
So when we do microneedlingit's going to help basically
stimulate that collagenproduction and help with the
skin texture even more.
So the two kind of go hand inhand and I always tell clients
(13:47):
that when you kind of have treatwith one thing, you're not
really fully treating whatthey're coming in for.
So if they're coming in forwrinkles and you just do Dysport
, it's kind of just treating themuscle and preventing deeper
wrinkles, but we're not reallytreating the wrinkles until we
target the skin texture withlike something like
microneedling or a fractionallaser.
So those would be my two.
They kind of go together.
(14:08):
Those are probably my twofavorites as well.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Yeah, so as far as skincare products cause, I know
you're like me and you love yourskincare products.
What are some one, what'severything you kind of something
you want everyone to know aboutskincare and what are your top
must haves for skincare products?
Speaker 2 (14:28):
So one thing I want everyone to know about skincare
is that skincare is differentfor everybody.
Everybody's skincare is sodifferent.
I'm more acne prone and it'sreally hard, like when I was
younger I used to always try touse like what my friends were
using and that didn't alwayswork for my skin.
Like it cleared their skin, butit didn't really help me with
(14:48):
mine.
So I've learned that no skin isthe same.
Everyone's skin's different andrequires different things.
So for me, being more acneprone, I need to make sure that
I have like a nice regimen thatdoesn't have too many harsh
products are going to strip myskin, which is something that I
used to do.
I used to just be like give meeverything drying to dry my skin
(15:12):
so I don't have all this oil,but then I didn't realize the
science behind it is that whenyou do that, your body then
overproduces oil to compensate.
So I was like it makes sense,but didn't click in my head for
the longest time.
So I think it's reallyimportant to really like sit
down with clients and worktogether with your estheticians
at the spa to kind of createlike a custom plan to really
(15:35):
give them the best results withskincare, because it's so
different for everybody.
Like certain products are goingto work better.
Me being more oily, I hatereally thick, greasy
moisturizers, as you know.
So I still know I need one andI use one.
But I like a lightermoisturizer, that where I don't
feel as like thick and cakey,cause I know just like my oily
(15:57):
skin is not going to handle thatwell.
Um, as far as my favoriteskincare product, you already
know what I'm going to say.
It's going to be um theHygenity, um Hyacinth Mist.
I am obsessed.
Um, you guys can look in myaccount.
I'm obsessed.
I buy.
I just bought one yesterday orthe other day.
Um, it's amazing.
(16:18):
So it's hypochlorous acid,which kills 90% of bacteria on
the skin within 30 seconds.
So it's great for people likeme who are more like acne prone.
Um, with me being pregnant rightnow, I'm always breaking out
due to my lovely hormones.
Um, and so I use it religiouslyon myself.
Um, even my kids, like mydaughter, gets like a little bit
of eczema.
(16:38):
It's super safe for her to use,so I spray it on her.
It's great post-procedure formy clients when they're doing
laser treatments, likefractionals to help with
downtime and redness.
So it's honestly just a greatstaple product to like have in
your skincare routine and I useit on everyone in my family.
Like someone falls and gets acut, boom, hydranity mist.
You know, it's just one ofthose products that we I never
(17:01):
can run out of, like Lindsay cantell you like as soon as I
start to get low, I have to getanother one.
We can't go out without ourhydroponics.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
No, I'm obsessed with it.
Where do you see the future ofCouture Med Spa going?
Speaker 2 (17:14):
The future of Couture is big.
We are expanding.
We have, like, so manydifferent locations that are
happening.
You know, when I first startedwe only had Ovido.
What do we have?
A Winter Park and a Coey, andnow then they opened up Lake
Mary, they've opened up KissLake Mary, they've opened up
Kissimmee, we've opened up onein Nashua, new Hampshire, we
have one in Virginia.
(17:35):
So it's big.
I mean it's definitely going toexpand.
They have a great business modelthat clients love.
I mean there's not a lot ofplaces that offer memberships
like we do and make itaffordable for people.
You know a lot of people, evenmyself, if I wasn't in
aesthetics, I probably wouldn'tpay, or I wouldn't be able to
afford to pay for some of thetreatments and what they cost at
(17:58):
other spas.
And with us being a membershipbase and just making them
affordable, it's nice that wegive everybody the access to the
care that they deserve.
You know everyone deserves toanti or to age, you know
gracefully, and have thoseanti-aging benefits.
So I think we're going to beall over the U S, kind of like
um orange theory or a plan offitness.
(18:18):
I think we're going to beeverywhere in a bunch of like
really cool states and cities.
Um, and maybe eveninternationally you never know
that would be awesome.
I know, I think that'd be reallycool.
Can we go train?
There'd be down.
Let's go.
Where do we want to go?
First, let's start making ourlist yeah, thinking like um.
Amalfi Coast.
You know, let's start maybeyeah, where would?
Speaker 1 (18:39):
where would be like your dream place to open a
couture?
Speaker 2 (18:42):
oh, dream place.
Well, for me personally, like Iwant to stay kind of like east
coast with, like my family I weknow we live in Florida, but
it's just so hot.
And like I want to stay kind oflike east coast with, like my
family I we know we live inFlorida, but it's just so hot
and like I'm just not made tolive down here.
So I personally would love tolive maybe in like Tennessee or
like Carolinas or somethingwhere we get a little bit, um,
(19:03):
just better weather, moreseasons, and I would love to see
a couture like pop up overthere.
I think that would be reallyneat and really, um, target a
big population out there.
I would love to see a couturelike pop up over there.
I think that would be reallyneat and really target a big
population out there.
I would agree with you on that.
Yeah, tennessee, yeah All right, let's go.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
So we're like Eastern Tennessee or one of the.
Yeah, All right, we'll make ithappen.
Okay, I'm ready.
What excites you most aboutbeing part of a company that's
growing like this?
What excites?
Speaker 2 (19:30):
you most about being part of a company that's growing
like this.
I think what excites me the mostis that there's always like
room for growth.
You know, like you could startas a client care coordinator,
like one of my assistants, andthen you could end up being like
a manager at one of our spas,at like a new location.
Like I've seen girls grow somuch in the company, which is
really cool, like watching them,you know, start at like in high
(19:52):
school or right out of highschool and then they're now in
like their twenties and they'relike helping me run a spa Like
it's.
It's pretty cool All the growthopportunities that they allow
people to achieve.
And even for myself, like youknow, I'm able to go to
conferences and just continue myeducation and learn and train
from other national injectorsthat come to the spa and just
(20:14):
learn different techniques andjust make sure we're always
doing the best for our clientswith patient safety and
innovative like new, advanced,like skincare and technology.
So I definitely think thatthat's something that's really
great for a company to have andnot a lot of companies do.
They kind of stay stagnant, ofwhat works, works and that's it,
and it's nice to have like acompany that's always continuing
(20:36):
to grow.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Okay, so we're going to end with a little fun.
Oh gosh, we're going to do alittle rapid fire this or that
or not, this or that, becauseit's going to be, but some rapid
fire questions.
Okay, just give me the firstthing that comes to your head.
Oh, gosh.
Okay, neurotoxins or fillerNeurotoxins.
Favorite step in your skincareroutine Hydranity, mist, dream
(21:00):
vacation spot I'm off the coast.
Coffee or matcha.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Well, I'm a tea girl.
So, oh yeah, you are a tea girl, Okay.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
So chai tea in case anyone cares One word to
describe how you feel aboutworking at Couture.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
One word to describe how I feel.
I don't know, I feel like itmakes me feel empowered like
important.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Love it.
Yeah, nice.
Well, nicole, do you haveanything else you need to add,
or any last words?
Speaker 2 (21:28):
No, but thank you so much for having me.
This was fun, it was but see itwasn't scary, no, no.
She was a little nervous.
Where we started, I was, I was.
You did great.
Thank you, you did great.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Thank you Well, Nicole.
Thank you so much for sharingyour story with us today.
I love hearing about yourjourney from nursing into
aesthetics and how you broughtthe passion into your work at
Couture To any of our listenersfor tuning in to Couture
Conversations.
Stay confident and be yourauthentic self, and always
remember that being yourself isalways beautiful.
If you enjoyed this episode,don't forget to like and
(21:58):
subscribe.
Share this with any of yourfriends.
You can find any of ourinformation at couturemedspacom.
You can also find us on all ofour social media platforms.
We're on Instagram, TikTok,YouTube, and thank you for
joining.
We'll see you next time, Thankyou.
Welcome to Couture Conversations, the podcast where
we dive into all things beauty,confidence and the amazing
people who make Couture Med Spawhat it is today.
I'm your host, lindsay, leadesthetician here at Couture Med
Spa.
Today I am excited to be joinedby Nicole, our Nurse
Practitioner from our Ocoeelocation.
Nicole has an inspiring journeyfrom nursing to NP school and
(00:38):
eventually finding her way toaesthetics.
She's passionate about helpingclients look and feel their best
and today we get to hear herstory.
Nicole, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Thank you, thank you.
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
I'm excited to have you.
So let's start at the beginning.
Can you tell us a little bitabout your background as a nurse
?
Speaker 2 (00:57):
So as a nurse I started in Jacksonville.
I graduated from ChamberlainCollege of Nursing and started
as a float nurse, actually at atrauma hospital at UF Health of
Jacksonville.
There I kind of was a floatnurse.
I kind of just went around thehospital wherever they needed me
, kind of like a substitutenurse, and I learned a lot.
I loved it.
Trauma is a little intense,though you get a little burnt
(01:20):
out, going to so many differentfloors seeing so many different
things.
So then I made my way back hometo Orlando.
I grew up in Winter Garden, soI made my way back home and I
started to work at Winnie Palmer.
I worked there for about twoand a half years on a high risk
like mother baby floor and then,after I worked there, I
(01:40):
actually made my way intoaesthetics at Couture Med Spa
Nice.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
So, as far as starting out as a nurse, what
made you to make the decision togo back to school to become a
nurse practitioner?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
So I knew really early on that I always wanted to
be a nurse practitioner.
That was something that like Iwrote essays in like fifth grade
to the Elks Lodge, trying toget scholarships for, like, I
always knew I wanted to be likelike a nurse practitioner.
Um, ideally, I thoughtpediatrics, like I love kids, I
thought that I want, I wanted todo peds.
Um, honestly, I never reallythought of aesthetics.
(02:12):
It wasn't like um as big of athing.
Um, until probably I don't knowyou hear about it more with
like plastic surgeons, officesand things like that.
And it wasn't until I worked atWinnie where I worked with
another couture med spa nursepractitioner, sarah, who had
graduated and actually appliedand got a job here at couture.
(02:32):
And when I was finishing up mylast kind of semester of my
nurse practitioner program andkind of looking into peds
options, she reached out to meand she was like hey, have you
ever thought about working inaesthetics?
And I was like not really Like,what is it?
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Like you know, I didn't really know what kind of
it was.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Like I had never really done any aesthetic
treatments.
I was kind of like naive Iguess.
Um, and it she was like well,come shadow.
You know, we're looking foranother nurse practitioner.
We do, um, all of our trainingshere.
We, you know, have people comein and train you.
So like you, don't, don't worryabout that.
So I was like okay.
So I went and shadowed her andI saw all the different things
that you know, couture MedSpaoffers, like the laser
(03:08):
treatments, injectables and Iwas like this is actually kind
of fun, like I like this.
And I knew it was a hard fieldto get into as a um, a nurse
practitioner.
So I was like you know what?
Um, let me dive into this andkind of see where it takes me.
Peds will always be there so Icould always go back to that if
I want to.
So I came in, I shadowed, Iloved it, ended up interviewing
(03:32):
and getting the job and thenstarted working there and spent
almost six years now.
So that's crazy.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Nice, what did your first day of shadowing look like
?
Speaker 2 (03:41):
I was just like overwhelmed.
I think I was like wait, whatis what is an IPL?
What is a fractional?
Like what?
What is Juvederm?
Like I've I've never like heardof like any of these things
before.
Again, I think it was more maybeme as just like a naive, like I
had never done aesthetictreatments myself.
No one in my family really had,um, I mean, my sister, I think,
had gotten like Botox, but um,and I knew what that was, but
(04:03):
like I didn't really know a lotof the other services.
So I think I was just kind of alittle overwhelmed like wow,
like what is all this kind oflike it's a whole new world, um,
and so it was actually reallyreally cool.
It was a little intimidating, Ithink as well.
Um, but once you know I knewSarah, obviously, and once she
kind of like kind of guided meand showed me that like no, you
(04:24):
know, it's really like fun.
It's always, you know, you neverget like bored of the same
thing.
Like industry is alwayschanging and um, they provide a
lot of like trainings and demosand things like that.
So, and then once I started inthe field and I got more um
practice with the trainings anddemos and obviously I felt more
comfortable and now I love it.
I'm like I don't know if Icould ever do anything else.
I feel like this is where I'llbe forever Nice.
(04:48):
And how long have you been withCouture for now?
Speaker 1 (04:57):
So it'll be almost six years.
Yeah, I know time flies.
So now that you are a part ofCouture and you've been here for
almost six years, what do youlove most?
Speaker 2 (05:01):
about working here.
I think I love most aboutCouture is just like the family
that we build as um stafftogether.
You know, I've worked inhospitals and I've worked in a
lot of other um.
You know different settings andI feel like I don't know like
you connect with some people.
You have like little clicks andthings like that, but I feel
like I could tour, even thoughwe have like different locations
(05:23):
.
Um, I feel like when we allcome together, everyone's just
so welcoming and so like caringfor each other, like always
supporting each other, likeanyone's kids who have
fundraisers or events or thingslike that, like we're all
jumping in and like helping out,and that's just really cool to
me.
It's like a, it's like a family.
What?
Speaker 1 (05:40):
makes your Ocoee location special.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Ocoee location special for a couple of reasons.
One I grew up in Winter Garden,so Ocoee is like kind of close
to home for me, so it's nice tokind of, you know, go into work
and all of a sudden see somebodyon your schedule you went to
like high school with and you'relike wait, I know you.
So it's kind of cool.
You have like that smallhometown kind of like feel
working in a co-e at least forme, because I grew up close to
(06:05):
the area.
I also just love the clientsand staff that I have there.
The staff is amazing.
They are really hardworkingstaff, they really I feel like
we really get along welltogether and we all motivate
each other.
So you know, if we're likestriving towards certain goals,
(06:25):
like we really all push eachother, which is nice, um.
And then the clients um,they're loyal clients, like
they're there for a long time,like I have clients that I have
been injecting and seeing sinceI started and it's nice to build
that relationship with them andhave that rapport with them.
Um, you're not just like seeingsomeone for one treatment and
then they're leaving, likethey're always coming back and
(06:46):
you know you get to be part oftheir family.
I have clients that have cometo my bridal showers and clients
that have come to my babyshowers and things like that.
So that's really cool.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Do you have a favorite client story or any
transformations that have reallystuck out to you?
Speaker 2 (07:01):
I have a few.
One of my favoritetransformations or I would just
say, client story would be thatyou know, when I first started
in aesthetics, I had never doneanything myself, so I always,
like, was intimidated of it.
I was like, oh, they'reprobably not going to hire me,
I'm not bleached blonde, likeall fillered up, and I didn't
hadn't even done any of thosetreatments before.
(07:22):
So I was intimidated going inas a provider that wasn't
overfilled, wasn't the peopleyou see on these like aesthetic
TikToks and Instagram and thingslike that.
But I've noticed during mytreatments with clients is that
they actually respect that theydon't want to look like that.
A lot of people are scared to doaesthetics because they don't
(07:43):
want to look fake or overdone oranything like that.
So I think they actually feelmore comfortable having a
provider that's more real andthat's like them.
You know, I break out, I haveacne.
I, you know I don't like to beoverdone either.
So they like that and I thinkit makes them feel comfortable.
And I've had clients tell me,like you know, I come here
because you make me feelcomfortable and I me.
(08:05):
Like you know, I come herebecause you make me feel
comfortable.
And I've gone other placeswhere I've just been really
intimidated.
So to me that is a really youknow heartfelt message, because
I, you know, you want people tofeel comfortable to do these
treatments.
You don't want people to beintimidated and feel like
they're not good enough and theycan't do them.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
So if you had to pick one treatment, that is well,
you don't have to pick one, butone or two of your favorite
treatments that is your favoriteto perform.
What would they be, and why?
Speaker 2 (08:31):
That's hard.
I like a lot of them.
My favorite treatments toprobably perform is going to be
fillers, because I feel like youcan make a really big, subtle
difference with fillers and Ifeel like clients it's kind of
like an art, like there's notlike one certain way to do it,
which is really nice.
(08:53):
It was a little hard for me atfirst because I'm kind of like
OCD type A so I'm like tell meexactly how I need to do it and
it doesn't really work like thatin aesthetics, like you're kind
of looking at the client andmore of like a whole, you know
like canvas, like facialbalancing, you know like not
every person needs the samething.
So it's kind of cool to createlike a treatment plan specific
(09:13):
to that person and kind ofcreate like your own masterpiece
with that.
So I really like doing fillerinjections.
I also really like doing Botoxand Dysport injections,
especially because noteveryone's ready for filler.
So it's a nice like steppingstone to get them comfortable
and to just make them have thoselittle subtle enhancements of
like just looking more refreshedand rejuvenated without
(09:34):
changing their beauty that theyalready have.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
What would you say?
Not necessarily your favorite,but what's the treatment you
probably do the most.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
The treatment that I do the most.
Well, we are a membership-basedspa so we do lots of lasers.
So I do a lot of lasers, a lotof IPL lasers, a lot of
fractional lasers, lots of laserhair.
But we also see a ton ofinjectable clients so I do a lot
of Botox and Dysport andfillers as well.
So it's really hard to say myday is like kind of a
(10:04):
combination between a lot of allof them.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
What would you say?
Just to give the listeners kindof an idea of what would.
What is your?
I know it's different every day, but what does a day look like
for you?
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Well being in a COE.
We are one of our busierlocations, so my day usually
starts.
I get to the spa around like930.
I try to, you know, look at theschedule kind of mentally
prepare and prep my day.
You know, we have huddle withthe girls, kind of go over like
game plans of how we're going toeither tackle the day or little
incentives that we're pushing,how we're going to achieve those
goals.
And then my average day ispretty busy.
(10:43):
We have a lot of laser clients,we have a lot of injectables,
so I basically like every 15minutes, go room to room.
We do a lot of clientconsultations, which I try to
take more time with those,because I want to give people
the time that they deserve, youknow, especially being new in
aesthetics, and I want them tofeel comfortable coming there.
I want to have a good treatmentplan for them as well.
(11:06):
So I like to spend time withthem and, you know, know, also
show them all the spa servicesthat we offer, because a lot of
times people are like me,they're brand new to aesthetics,
they don't know everything thatwe have to offer.
So I like to really take thetime with the consults, um, and
try to give them, you know, thebest experience there.
Um, and then if they can't doeverything in one day, obviously
(11:27):
we don't expect them to.
But then we kind of come upwith a plan where they're okay,
let's start with Botox today andthen, you know, next month we
have this event coming up, solet's do then your fillers while
they're on sale for this eventand then let's get you started
with some skin pen microneedling.
So we kind of come up with likea full treatment plan to utilize
kind of everything that we doin the spa.
But, um, basically I seeclients from 10 am to 7 pm and
(11:52):
we do kind of all sorts oflasers, injectables,
consultations during that timeframe.
So every day is a littledifferent.
It is, yes, which is kind ofnice.
You're not walking into thesame thing every day, so you
don't get bored of you know thesame continuous thing after
another.
It's always differenttreatments clients see that they
want to achieve, or differenttrends that they want to do and
(12:15):
things.
So you're always learning too,which is really nice.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
So we talked about all the different.
You know there's a lot ofdifferent things that we offer.
What is your favorite treatmentto get done yourself?
Speaker 2 (12:27):
So my favorite treatment to get done would be a
combination of two things.
One is going to be umneurotoxins.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
I'm sorry, but I love my disport, so real quick
explain to anyone who doesn'tknow what neurotoxins are.
What are those?
Speaker 2 (12:42):
yeah.
So neurotoxins are, um,basically like botox and they
help relax the muscle.
So like when you frown or youraise your eyebrows up, it's
going to help relax the musclesso the muscle can't fold skin
making deeper lines and wrinklesas we age.
Unfortunately, as we age we'relosing collagen in our skin so
if the muscles keep moving thatit just creates those deeper
(13:03):
lines and wrinkles that areharder to get rid of as we age.
So I personally love Dysport.
It just works a little bitbetter for me in relaxing my
muscles and I usuallyreligiously do that about every
four months to keep my musclesnice and relaxed, which is
usually it's FDA approved forabout three to four months.
And then my other favoritetreatment is going to be the
(13:25):
skin pen microneedling.
Because when we do Botox orDysport we're just relaxing the
muscles so we're not reallytreating like the skin and the
skin texture from the collagenloss that we have.
So when we do microneedlingit's going to help basically
stimulate that collagenproduction and help with the
skin texture even more.
So the two kind of go hand inhand and I always tell clients
(13:47):
that when you kind of have treatwith one thing, you're not
really fully treating whatthey're coming in for.
So if they're coming in forwrinkles and you just do Dysport
, it's kind of just treating themuscle and preventing deeper
wrinkles, but we're not reallytreating the wrinkles until we
target the skin texture withlike something like
microneedling or a fractionallaser.
So those would be my two.
They kind of go together.
(14:08):
Those are probably my twofavorites as well.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Yeah, so as far as skincare products cause, I know
you're like me and you love yourskincare products.
What are some one, what'severything you kind of something
you want everyone to know aboutskincare and what are your top
must haves for skincare products?
Speaker 2 (14:28):
So one thing I want everyone to know about skincare
is that skincare is differentfor everybody.
Everybody's skincare is sodifferent.
I'm more acne prone and it'sreally hard, like when I was
younger I used to always try touse like what my friends were
using and that didn't alwayswork for my skin.
Like it cleared their skin, butit didn't really help me with
(14:48):
mine.
So I've learned that no skin isthe same.
Everyone's skin's different andrequires different things.
So for me, being more acneprone, I need to make sure that
I have like a nice regimen thatdoesn't have too many harsh
products are going to strip myskin, which is something that I
used to do.
I used to just be like give meeverything drying to dry my skin
(15:12):
so I don't have all this oil,but then I didn't realize the
science behind it is that whenyou do that, your body then
overproduces oil to compensate.
So I was like it makes sense,but didn't click in my head for
the longest time.
So I think it's reallyimportant to really like sit
down with clients and worktogether with your estheticians
at the spa to kind of createlike a custom plan to really
(15:35):
give them the best results withskincare, because it's so
different for everybody.
Like certain products are goingto work better.
Me being more oily, I hatereally thick, greasy
moisturizers, as you know.
So I still know I need one andI use one.
But I like a lightermoisturizer, that where I don't
feel as like thick and cakey,cause I know just like my oily
(15:57):
skin is not going to handle thatwell.
Um, as far as my favoriteskincare product, you already
know what I'm going to say.
It's going to be um theHygenity, um Hyacinth Mist.
I am obsessed.
Um, you guys can look in myaccount.
I'm obsessed.
I buy.
I just bought one yesterday orthe other day.
Um, it's amazing.
(16:18):
So it's hypochlorous acid,which kills 90% of bacteria on
the skin within 30 seconds.
So it's great for people likeme who are more like acne prone.
Um, with me being pregnant rightnow, I'm always breaking out
due to my lovely hormones.
Um, and so I use it religiouslyon myself.
Um, even my kids, like mydaughter, gets like a little bit
of eczema.
(16:38):
It's super safe for her to use,so I spray it on her.
It's great post-procedure formy clients when they're doing
laser treatments, likefractionals to help with
downtime and redness.
So it's honestly just a greatstaple product to like have in
your skincare routine and I useit on everyone in my family.
Like someone falls and gets acut, boom, hydranity mist.
You know, it's just one ofthose products that we I never
(17:01):
can run out of, like Lindsay cantell you like as soon as I
start to get low, I have to getanother one.
We can't go out without ourhydroponics.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
No, I'm obsessed with it.
Where do you see the future ofCouture Med Spa going?
Speaker 2 (17:14):
The future of Couture is big.
We are expanding.
We have, like, so manydifferent locations that are
happening.
You know, when I first startedwe only had Ovido.
What do we have?
A Winter Park and a Coey, andnow then they opened up Lake
Mary, they've opened up KissLake Mary, they've opened up
Kissimmee, we've opened up onein Nashua, new Hampshire, we
have one in Virginia.
(17:35):
So it's big.
I mean it's definitely going toexpand.
They have a great business modelthat clients love.
I mean there's not a lot ofplaces that offer memberships
like we do and make itaffordable for people.
You know a lot of people, evenmyself, if I wasn't in
aesthetics, I probably wouldn'tpay, or I wouldn't be able to
afford to pay for some of thetreatments and what they cost at
(17:58):
other spas.
And with us being a membershipbase and just making them
affordable, it's nice that wegive everybody the access to the
care that they deserve.
You know everyone deserves toanti or to age, you know
gracefully, and have thoseanti-aging benefits.
So I think we're going to beall over the U S, kind of like
um orange theory or a plan offitness.
(18:18):
I think we're going to beeverywhere in a bunch of like
really cool states and cities.
Um, and maybe eveninternationally you never know
that would be awesome.
I know, I think that'd be reallycool.
Can we go train?
There'd be down.
Let's go.
Where do we want to go?
First, let's start making ourlist yeah, thinking like um.
Amalfi Coast.
You know, let's start maybeyeah, where would?
Speaker 1 (18:39):
where would be like your dream place to open a
couture?
Speaker 2 (18:42):
oh, dream place.
Well, for me personally, like Iwant to stay kind of like east
coast with, like my family I weknow we live in Florida, but
it's just so hot.
And like I want to stay kind oflike east coast with, like my
family I we know we live inFlorida, but it's just so hot
and like I'm just not made tolive down here.
So I personally would love tolive maybe in like Tennessee or
like Carolinas or somethingwhere we get a little bit, um,
(19:03):
just better weather, moreseasons, and I would love to see
a couture like pop up overthere.
I think that would be reallyneat and really, um, target a
big population out there.
I would love to see a couturelike pop up over there.
I think that would be reallyneat and really target a big
population out there.
I would agree with you on that.
Yeah, tennessee, yeah All right, let's go.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
So we're like Eastern Tennessee or one of the.
Yeah, All right, we'll make ithappen.
Okay, I'm ready.
What excites you most aboutbeing part of a company that's
growing like this?
What excites?
Speaker 2 (19:30):
you most about being part of a company that's growing
like this.
I think what excites me the mostis that there's always like
room for growth.
You know, like you could startas a client care coordinator,
like one of my assistants, andthen you could end up being like
a manager at one of our spas,at like a new location.
Like I've seen girls grow somuch in the company, which is
really cool, like watching them,you know, start at like in high
(19:52):
school or right out of highschool and then they're now in
like their twenties and they'relike helping me run a spa Like
it's.
It's pretty cool All the growthopportunities that they allow
people to achieve.
And even for myself, like youknow, I'm able to go to
conferences and just continue myeducation and learn and train
from other national injectorsthat come to the spa and just
(20:14):
learn different techniques andjust make sure we're always
doing the best for our clientswith patient safety and
innovative like new, advanced,like skincare and technology.
So I definitely think thatthat's something that's really
great for a company to have andnot a lot of companies do.
They kind of stay stagnant, ofwhat works, works and that's it,
and it's nice to have like acompany that's always continuing
(20:36):
to grow.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Okay, so we're going to end with a little fun.
Oh gosh, we're going to do alittle rapid fire this or that
or not, this or that, becauseit's going to be, but some rapid
fire questions.
Okay, just give me the firstthing that comes to your head.
Oh, gosh.
Okay, neurotoxins or fillerNeurotoxins.
Favorite step in your skincareroutine Hydranity, mist, dream
(21:00):
vacation spot I'm off the coast.
Coffee or matcha.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Well, I'm a tea girl.
So, oh yeah, you are a tea girl, Okay.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
So chai tea in case anyone cares One word to
describe how you feel aboutworking at Couture.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
One word to describe how I feel.
I don't know, I feel like itmakes me feel empowered like
important.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Love it.
Yeah, nice.
Well, nicole, do you haveanything else you need to add,
or any last words?
Speaker 2 (21:28):
No, but thank you so much for having me.
This was fun, it was but see itwasn't scary, no, no.
She was a little nervous.
Where we started, I was, I was.
You did great.
Thank you, you did great.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Thank you Well, Nicole.
Thank you so much for sharingyour story with us today.
I love hearing about yourjourney from nursing into
aesthetics and how you broughtthe passion into your work at
Couture To any of our listenersfor tuning in to Couture
Conversations.
Stay confident and be yourauthentic self, and always
remember that being yourself isalways beautiful.
If you enjoyed this episode,don't forget to like and
(21:58):
subscribe.
Share this with any of yourfriends.
You can find any of ourinformation at couturemedspacom.
You can also find us on all ofour social media platforms.
We're on Instagram, TikTok,YouTube, and thank you for
joining.
We'll see you next time, Thankyou.
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