From Corporate Medicine To Compassionate Aesthetics And Functional Wellness

What if “do no harm” guided every choice your clinician made? We sit down with Tanna Donaldson of Redbud Medical Spa in Denver to explore what happens when you leave a metrics-obsessed system and rebuild care around trust, prevention, and natural results. The conversation moves from subtle aesthetics to functional medicine, showing how real wellness emerges when treatments are tailored to the whole person, not just the symptom in front of them.

Tanna breaks down common myths: aesthetics doesn’t have to look fake, and functional medicine isn’t only for the wealthy. We talk lasers, chemical peels, Botox, fillers, peptides, weight management, and hormone replacement therapy—and why tools are secondary to judgment and ethics. You’ll hear why her team sometimes says no to a requested treatment, how they prioritize subtle results, and the ways nutrition and genetic insights shape smarter plans. Along the way, Tanna shares why she markets through education instead of discounts, and how pushing back on influencer hype empowers patients to make better choices.

The heart of the story is courage and clarity: choosing the narrow road away from corporate rules to build a clinic that serves people, not spreadsheets. From international service trips to daily patient care, Tanna’s values show up in practical ways—protecting safety, telling the truth, and keeping care accessible. If you’re curious about preventative care, skeptical of quick fixes, or searching for licensed guidance you can trust, this conversation offers a grounded path forward.

Enjoyed the episode? Follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a nudge toward prevention, and leave a quick review to help more neighbors find honest, patient-first care.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Nick George.

SPEAKER_02 (00:11):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of a goodmedical spa?
Well, one might be closer thanyou think.
Today I have the great pleasureof introducing your good
neighbor, Tana Donaldson, withRed Bud Medical Spa in Denver.
Tana, how's it going?

SPEAKER_01 (00:27):
Great.
How are you?

SPEAKER_02 (00:28):
Good.
Tell me all about Red Red BudMedical Spa.

SPEAKER_01 (00:32):
Red Bud Medical Spa is in Denver, and it was
established out of my sort ofpainful exit from corporate
medicine because I really wantedto take great care of people,
and I was having a hard timedoing it within our very broken
system.
And so I established thisbusiness about nine years ago

(00:54):
and started taking care ofmostly women, but now I'm taking
care of all kinds of peopledoing all kinds of things, and
we can get into that.

SPEAKER_02 (01:02):
What was the transition that brought you out
of one paradigm of medical andinto this paradigm of medical?

SPEAKER_01 (01:10):
I really think that when people go into medicine,
whether any kind of medicine, wetake this silent oath that we
will do no harm.
And I think we can all agreethat our system really isn't
built to support that.
We have a system built onmetrics and on rules and on uh
money.
And it's really, reallydifficult to take great care of

(01:32):
people and be compassionate andempathetic and meet people where
they're at, get in front ofdisease, prevent problems in the
system the way that it's built.
And so at some point after about14 years, I just didn't want to
be a part of that anymore andhad to creatively figure out a
way to continue to practicemedicine, but do it in a way

(01:54):
that helped me sleep at night,that didn't keep me up at night,
where I felt like I was doing agood job and doing right by
people and causing no harm.

SPEAKER_02 (02:01):
Yeah, you said a thousand words there.
I I totally understand yourlanguage, and a lot of people
do.
Um, now go getting into theworld of uh anaestheticians.
Um, did I get that right?

SPEAKER_01 (02:14):
Yes, I'm not an aesthetician, but aesthetics,
the world of aesthetics.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (02:18):
Okay.
Does do I have that right?
Is that the right connection?
Um what are some myths ormisconceptions in your specific
niche of the medical spaindustry?

SPEAKER_01 (02:28):
Yeah, so we do aesthetics and also a lot of
functional medicine.
On the aesthetic side, I think alot of people think that that
means that you're gonna walk outof there looking fake or done or
something like that.
And that's just not that's justnot our goal at all.
We try to keep things verynatural.
We turn people away when theywant to do things that we just

(02:49):
don't align with.
Um, and it's really just abouttaking care of the whole person.
So it's not just the externalstuff that we address.
We are also doing functionalmedicine, um, nutritional
evaluations, genetic testing,all kinds of things.
We do peptides, weight loss,hormone replacement.
And on that side, I think thebiggest misconception is that

(03:11):
it's not affordable, is that Ican't I can't have that kind of
health care because insurancedoesn't cover me there, which is
true.
But everything that we do is soaffordable and we we will keep
it that way so that it'saccessible to as many people as
possible.

SPEAKER_02 (03:25):
Well, that's exciting.
Uh, what type of uh facialtreatments do you uh offer to
men and women there?
Um, I just discovered Morpheusfor for instance.
Um are you familiar with that oris there a better thing that you
suggest?

SPEAKER_01 (03:40):
I used to train people how to use Morpheus.
I worked for that company for alittle bit.
So yes, I'm very familiar withMorpheus.
We have a couple differentlasers, one of Morpheus's
competitors, um, but we haveseveral different lasers that
can work on overall tightening,anti-aging, sun damage, etc.
We do facials and chemicalpeels, Botox, filler, all of the

(04:02):
things on the aesthetic side.

SPEAKER_02 (04:04):
Nice.
How do you market yourself now?
Um, and what are what's yourtarget market?

SPEAKER_01 (04:12):
That's changing because it used to be women
between the ages of maybe 20 and70, but now that we have all of
this stuff on the functionalside that we're offering, our
target market is really anyonebecause we're trying to get on
the front end of disease and andjust promote wellness.
And so there really isn't anyonethat couldn't be a good patient

(04:33):
for us.
And I do a lot of publications,that's actually my main way to
market.
I do a lot of writing articlesand getting involved in just
different publications, and so Idon't put ads out, we don't run
a bunch of big discounts, Idon't email my patients all the
time.
So it's really just aboutputting education out so that
people can be told the truth,and that's how they find us.

SPEAKER_02 (04:55):
Have you ever thought about doing your own
podcast?

SPEAKER_01 (04:58):
Yes.

SPEAKER_02 (05:00):
What do you do for fun when you're not taking care
of people?

SPEAKER_01 (05:04):
I travel.
Uh I have two teenagers, so wehave a lot of fun, but I travel.
We just got back from Africa,and we've got a couple sponsor
kids in Rwanda, so we went tovisit them and do some things
with Africa New Life, and that'sreally the biggest part of my
heart, honestly.
So we like to get out of hereand see the world.

SPEAKER_02 (05:24):
Wow, that is exciting.

SPEAKER_01 (05:26):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (05:26):
Um, so what would is there a hardship?
And I should have asked youbefore we started the interview,
just in case this is putting youon the spot.
But is there a hardship or alife challenge that maybe your
life wasn't perfect that youovercame and that made you the
part the strong-willed personand business leader that you are
today that you'd like to sharewith us?

SPEAKER_01 (05:48):
How much time do we have?
I mean, yes, uh plenty of thingsthat I have had to navigate.
I but professionally speaking, Ithink the biggest hurdle I've
had to overcome that has landedme where I am now is taking the
narrow road of choosing truthand choosing loving people well

(06:09):
and taking great care of peopleand doing no harm over serving
the little G gods that be andmaking sure that you know I'm
drinking the corporate juice andfollowing all of their rules.
That was really tough becauseyou can't, it's like some people
will say, if you can't beatthem, join them.
Well, I joined them and I can'tbeat them, but I I'm not saying

(06:31):
because I don't I don't feelright here, you know, doing
that.
And so that that was a narrowroad.
It was an upstream swim.
It was really tough to get outand to establish myself on my
own and be successful doingthat, but I did it.

SPEAKER_02 (06:45):
Congratulations on that.
That's inspiring.
Um, what is the big takeawaythat you would like for the the
average person that finds youthrough a Google search or just
listening to the show?
Uh, what's the big takeawayyou'd like them to get from Red
Bud Medical Spa?

SPEAKER_01 (07:02):
I really, in general, would love it if
everyone knew how easy andaccessible true information is.
I wish everyone would stay offsocial media unless they're
watching your podcast, ofcourse, um, and not listen to
all the influencers out therethat don't have a license that
are misleading them.
I wish people just knew that theaccess to the truth and to

(07:24):
wellness and to preventativecare and to all the things that
we can do to get ahead of infront of disease so that we can
live long, healthy, fruitfullives.
It's just, it's actually prettyeasy.
It's very accessible.
Um, there's a lot of really goodinformation out there, and there
are good practitioners out theretoo, that care like I do, that
want to take good care ofpeople.

(07:45):
They're hard to find.
They're not often within thesystem, but some of them are
still, you know.
So I wish people just didn'tcount it as that's too much
money, or it's too hard, or Ican't afford functional
medicine, or it just is what itis.
I'm gonna deal with all thesechronic diseases and die young
or whatever it is that theyadopt.
They just don't have to livethat way.

SPEAKER_02 (08:06):
100% agreed.
What are all the ways thatpeople can find Red Bud Medical
Spa online and in social mediaand by phone?

SPEAKER_01 (08:16):
So the website is Red Bud, like the I'm from
Oklahoma, it's the state tree.
So this is my nod to my almamater, but it's
redbudmedicalspa.com.
And we because I do things likethis and I'm forward-facing with
patients all the time, I don'tanswer my phone, which is bad
practice, but you can textanytime, and the phone number is

(08:37):
720-593844.

SPEAKER_02 (08:42):
Well, Tana, we really appreciate you being on
our show, and we wish you andRed Bud Medical Spa the very
best moving forward.

SPEAKER_01 (08:50):
Thank you so much.
Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 (08:53):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to gnpfortcollins.com.
That's gmpfortcollins.com orcall nine seven zero four three
eight zero eight two five.