MERZ Aesthetics CEO Bob Rhatigan and Patrick Urban, President Interview

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Episode Transcript

(00:01):
iHeartMedia Raleigh presents CEOs to Know,where we shine a spotlight on decision makers
from all corners of the Triangle,showcasing the leaders and companies that drive our
local economy. Hi am Erica DeLonghost of CEOs to Know, and today
I'm honored to sit down with CEOBob Radigan and President Patrick Urban with Mur's

(00:22):
Aesthetics. Welcome both of you andtell us all about Mrs Aesthetics. We
are actually a business fully dedicated toaesthetic medicine, and we are a global
business that is headquartered here and Riley. We're actually the single biggest worldwide dedicated
company in medical aesthetics. And wejust about three years ago, prior to

(00:43):
COVID, established ourselves as a standalonebusiness globally and set up our headquarters here
in Raleigh. And so every timesomeone meets you, they're like, what
do I need done? Do youget that question a lot all the time?
As YEA, as I stare upmyself on x AS, I'm always
wondering the same thing, now,what do I need to do next?

(01:03):
All right? And you're located onsix Sports or right here in Raleigh,
And so why has this market's beensuch a benefit for mers aesthetics. It's
been great for us from a lifesciences standpoint. There's a huge community here,
and we're in life science as we'rea regulated business, and pharmaceuticals and
biologics, so we have access toa really good talent pool. We drop
people to Raleigh from all over notjust a nation, but the world.

(01:27):
Actually, we've got a lot ofpeople on our leadership team that Patrick and
I are on that have come infrom other countries over the last couple of
years. And Raleigh is just,besides being a big life sciences community,
a huge draw for people from aquality of life standpoint, overall, cultural
standpoint, cost a living, greatplace to raise kids. It's just a

(01:51):
really good mix overall. I justdid that list to where we are one
of the top places second in thenation for your families, and so it's
just a hot pocket here and Raleigh, Yeah, and you feel every bit
of it. I mean, Irelocated here about nine years ago and from
Fort Lauderdale, and it's been greatfor us. A great place to raise
a family, but also when yousee the entrepreneurial environment that we have here
and the VC funding that comes fromcompanies here, and you look at Apple

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and Amazon and others moving to themarket and people relocating from all over the
country. You have great ingredients toput together a great talent. Now,
Mrs Aesthetics, what exactly does Mer'sAesthetics do. So we we're a manufacturer.
We make and commercialize or sell tothe physicians that use the medical aesthetic
products, neurotoxins, dermal fillers,energy based devices to help people treat the

(02:38):
signs of aging and skincare products andskincare problems are essential. Our purpose is
really to help people live better.And you know, we talk a lot
about the products in this arena helpingpeople to look younger, but that's really
not the end benefit. The endbenefit is helping people look better because when
you look better, as you saidearlier, you feel better and when you

(02:59):
feel better, live better. Sothat really is the higher order and benefit
of what we're all about, whichis helping people look better so they feel
better and ultimately live better. Yeah, that confidence, it will just beam
and you attract great things because you'refeeling better about yourself. Yep, exactly.
COVID. How did that affect yourbusiness? Did it benefit you or
was it something that you had tolike hurdle over new ways of business.

(03:22):
Yeah. Interesting, I guess twoways. One is our overall business,
then the other is how we conductbusiness. You know, both have changed
quite a bit. But when COVIDfirst hit, we were alarmed. As
many companies, our business suffered quitea bit. These are elective procedures,
they're not medically necessary treatments that peopleare coming in to get to take care

(03:42):
of diseases or other conditions. So, as was the case with many areas,
the customers that we serve had toclose down for about three months.
I think when COVID first hit andwe were concerned, didn't really have much
of a good foresight on when themarket was going to bounce back coming out
of COVID. It's come back tremendously. In the market that we're in,

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the medical statics arena is way biggerthan it was before COVID, and a
big part of that is what weattribute to something called the zoom boom,
which is folks doing work in thishybrid environment, working remotely and sitting in
front of a screen, not lookingat other people and meetings and sales calls,

(04:26):
but looking at themselves on a screen. That's twelve inches away and realizing,
wow, I don't quite look thesame way I feel. I want
to get something done about this.So we've seen a huge, huge increase
in the overall market and our businessis about twice as large as it was
before COVID hit. Okay, that'shuge, Yeah, that's massive. Yeah,

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it's just a great time. COVID'sa really tough thing to sort of
reflect on and think positively, youknow, like have to come up with
things that came out positive. ButI will say this about COVID and what
it shows about leadership and crisis isthat lots of people can lead when all
boats are rising and things are goingreally well and industries are growing. Real
leadership is what happens in times ofcrisis. Right, Can you galvanize your

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people? Can you make them feelsafe and still like doing their best work?
And can you position yourselves for whateverrebound may come? Because you know,
as you know cycles of life andas you know cycles of business,
you know that no matter how badbad is, it will turn and it
will rebound. And so can youuse the moment to position yourself for the
rebound. That's really how we approachedCOVID in the downtimes and the closures that

(05:32):
happened around COVID. And not justbecause he's sitting here, but I would
be remiss not to say that whatBob demonstrated for our team, for our
employee base, not just in Raleigh, but across the world, was this
leadership during crisis and just knowing andbeing deliberate and being definitional about what you're
going to do, being very intentionalabout it, and positioning for the rebound,

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which we did and which is whywe're somewhat the beneficiaries of this whole
COVID thing and the subsequent rebounds.Said this ever happen again, what advice
would you have for other business ownersor CEOs, you know, to say,
hey, maybe take these steps sothat way you do position yourself as
we did during the next crisis thatcomes up. Well, one thing that
we did that you know, inretrospect, it worked out very very well

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for us and was a bit differentfrom what other people were doing, you
know, given their circumstances, iswe chose to to do two things.
One is not lay anyone off.So we did not engage in any layoffs
or other job elimination efforts we plannedfor if in the future things didn't get
you know, improved, what wewould have to do to continue to be

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you know, physically responsible. Butchose not to make any early quick what
I would call kind of sudden reactivemoves. And I would definitely recommend doing
that kind of slow rolling through acrisis that hits you. And rather than
assuming, my, gosh, theyou know, the sky is falling here,
we need to cut jobs, cutprograms, cut investment in your business.

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As Patrick said, just recognize thingsare going to get better, just
a question of time, and doyour best to navigate through that tough period
without taking drastic decisions that may behard to recover from later. And in
that way, your great employees areloyal to you and they feel safe to
stay with you. Man, that'sa great point, because that's what they

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say. Like if you survey themnow, even two and a half or
so years later, and you askthem about our culture and you ask them
about our work environment, many ofthem are still referencing what happened during COVID
as a great example. Because youcan talk culture all day, but how
do you live it? How doyou live culture? Do you really showcase
that to the people who bought intoit. And I feel like that's a
big part of what we did duringCOVID, and so I would say if

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we ever got to that again,and folks in leadership positions, what they
ought to really do is resist theurge to listen to everyone around them,
because everyone around them thinks they knowsomething. And when you analyze that retrospectively,
what you realize is nobody really knewanything. And that's okay. I
think leaders have to admit when we'renot sure and then still carve a path
and have a vision and give peoplesomething they can buy into and hold onto.

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That's what's really really important, andthat's what gets you through the times
like those. The other thing Isaid, there were two things. One
Patrick was really the driver of iswe doubled down and getting close with our
customers. And our customer base wasin a tough position, as most businesses
were, and rather than kind ofstep back and say we're going to take
a sabbatical, We're gonna wait tillthings get better before we figure out how

(08:30):
to engage and operate with our customers, we took exactly the opposite tack,
which has said look, they're they'resuffering, they're working in an environment of
great uncertainty, just like we are. But we need to put their concerns
above ours and make sure we're focusedon talking to them about what we can
do to help them get through thiscrisis situation versus worry about you. Necessarily,

(08:52):
what's just quote unquote our best interestand fundamentally what we recognized as our
customer success drives our success. Soif we can't help them successfully get through
this period of crisis, not onlywould they have a difficult time emerging post
COVID, but we would as abusiness as well. And having done the

(09:16):
exact opposite during this COVID crisis hashelped tremendously ensure we had not just a
loyal customer or sorry, employee base, but a loyal customer base as well.
That's really stood by us. Aswe've come out of that situation,
and as you've come out, I'veseen some great partnerships you have Christina Aguilera
also Carolina Courage, our North Carolinateam. So can you tell us more

(09:37):
about that? Yeah, Patrick's beenthe lead on both those, so I'll
defer to him. Excellent, Yeah, I'd love to talk about those.
So the Christina Aguilera component, that'sactually even and we're thrilled to be partnered
with her, but that's even amuch bigger, broader partnership we've been able
to engage over the past year.Joe Jonas. We started with Joe Jonas

(09:58):
around August, and then we addedto that group Tiana Taylor, and now
most recently as a Grammys or sorry, an Oscar's activation, we added Christina
Aguilera. So we've been fortunate enoughto work with these amazing brand partners,
but also we've got a partnership withConde Nast and all those products that we
know from Conde Nast, like VanityFair and Vogue and those elements we're this

(10:20):
has become sort of a more ofa broader, transformative partnership. Looking we
called beauty on your Terms, soit really looks at and that's an important
title, by the way, becauseyou have to you have to be okay
with people choosing not to do thetypes of things that we offer, just
as much as you want to givethem freedom of choice to do the types
of things that we offer. Sowe've really tried to meet that new client,

(10:43):
that new sort of consumer base wherethey are, and the new consumer
base, by the way, issort of adult Gen Z and millennials,
so people now call them sellennials andthen of course gen X, right,
So you have these you have thesecomponents where you're trying to meet them where
they are and where are they They'rethey're looking at pop culture, they're looking
at music, they're looking at fashion. So we really find this beauty on
your terms, being the intersection ofbeauty, music, fashion, and so

(11:07):
when you look at our brand partnersJoe Jonas, Tiana Taylor, Christina Aguilera,
they really represent that across the board. But we've also had these really
super cool activations around New York FashionWeek. We were at the Women of
the Year event in New York,which is, by the way, a
phenomenal, phenomenal event. I gotto attend, and I was humbled by
what I heard there. I wishfor everyone listening that you could attend that

(11:30):
event, because it is there areamazing stories from absolutely amazing people that if
you're not inspired leaving there, youmay not be inspire a bull if that's
work. And then and then,and so then after that, we did
the Grammys, and we did theoscars and so lots more to come,
but that partnership is sort of reallytaking hold and getting our message out there

(11:50):
to the community. And then NorthKelena Courage. What are you doing with
the Courage team? So another greatpartnership. It's important for us as an
employer to show up in areas whereour employees want us to be as well.
We have about seventy four percent ofour employee base in North America is
female. So the North Carolina Courage, the women's soccer team, the professional

(12:11):
women's soccer team here and Raleigh becamea perfect partnership for us. We had
this partnership last year as well,but this year we had a chance to
become a Front of Jersey sponsor forthem, and it just seemed we're really
really inspired by Francie got Sagan,the president over there, and the great
work that she's doing and the greatwork the team is doing. They're the
embodiment of what we believe. Wetalk about fueling confidence, man talk about

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fueling confidence on a field and offthe field. Is what these talented individuals
are doing on a weekly basis andbeyond. So we love our partnership with
them, and you know, here'san interesting note. I just learned this
part of the For all the folksthat are gamers out there, the new
FIFA twenty three game actually features CarolinaCourage players with the Mer's Esthetic logo on

(12:52):
their shirts. Yeah, so thatthat's pretty cool. I feel like we've
made it. Yeah, I feelwe've made it. Switching gears a little
bit. What do you say tothat person out there that is fearful to
begin their journey with anti aging products. Maybe they're not sure what's in the
product and they're fearful. Yeah,I'd say do your own research online.
There's a tremendous amount of information online. These are very safe products. They're

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FDA regulated and with that comes alot of clinical data that is required before
they can even be brought to market. There's very active safety monitoring for products
once they're in market, so ifthey're ever concerns or issues that arise,
those are then addressed appropriately. ButI'd say do your own research online and

(13:35):
talk to friends or family members thathave pursued treatments. You probably know a
lot of people, a lot morethan you would think, who've even already
kind of taken the pun so tospeak, and gone into either a dermatologist,
plastic surgeon, or medspot to lookat and receive some sort of medical
static products. So research, Ithink gets it comfortable. And you know,

(13:56):
certainly we know with years in thismarketplace that once a patient comes in,
they're happy, they're satisfied, andthey continue to stay in the space
for a long time. When youfeel confident, it helps in all areas
of your life. Yeah, itis so true. I say all the
time. You always want to findthe noble portion of the cause that you're

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about, right, And for me, it's that confident people do great things.
Yeah, they just do great things, and it turns on what's already
in there and allows them to expressit in so many different ways and in
so many different avenues that great thingshappen. So I would encourage folks that,
in addition to doing the research,as Bob suggests, have dialogue with
providers, find someone you trust.You know, trust relationships or how our

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world goes around. And so it'sincumbent on each of us to find people
we trust. When we do that, which is a little intimidating, becomes
less so and we can really buyin and trust. Once you use any
of these products, you will beprepared to like them, will like them
a lot. Yeah, I meanwhat they do. And by the way,
I'm speaking from someone who at thetime when I joined Mer's Esthetics years

(15:00):
go, nine years ago, Ihad never experienced any of these products either.
I have experienced them all now andI love them, you know,
And I have no apology for it, nor would I, nor would I
feel reluctant to tell others like whatthat brings to your life when you finally
make that commitment to do it.But it's about finding a provider that you
trust. Now, where do yousee murs Aesthetics in the next couple of

(15:20):
years. Well, we are currentlyand have been for the last couple of
years, the largest fastest growing companyin the space. And by largest,
I don't mean we're the biggest.We're number three in the market, but
amongst the big three players, we'vebeen by far the fastest growing for the
last two and a half three yearsrunning now, and we expect that to
continue to be the case, drivenby programs like Patrick talked about, where

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we are normalizing and getting the messageout that hey, these treatments are things
that are part of the social fabricthey're part of self care. They're not
what used to be seen as kindof an indulgent luxury for the carpet crowd,
but they're just part of everybody's selfcare now. So we continue to
grow based on that. We alsohave a very big R and D program.

(16:08):
We've got about thirty programs in ourR and D portfolio, with fifteen
or half of them coming to fruitionsomewhere around the globe, not necessarily just
in North America or here in certainlyin North Carolina, but globally coming to
fruition half of those in the nextfive years, which will continue to help

(16:29):
grow and propel our business forward.And R and D what does that mean?
Research and development? Okay, well, yeah I should know that,
right, yeah, but some peoplemay not know R and D A great
point. I mean, very centralto a successful healthcare or life sciences company
is not just being good at commercializingproducts you once you have them approved,
but doing all the research and developmentthat goes into bringing them to market.

(16:51):
And that's a huge focus area forus. We have half of our global
team in research and development here locallyin Raleigh, and spend a very very
big portion of our revenue each yearon research and development. As leaders here
in the community and globally, whatadvice do you have to that future entrepreneur
or somebody that is leading their companyto be successful. Wow. So I

(17:14):
would say definitely figure out who.It's important to know who you are.
It's important to know what you believe. It's important to study and figure out
how you're going to lead long beforeyou're thrown into an opportunity to do so.
I think we don't want an identitycrisis from our leader. We want
leaders to paint a clear path ofwhere we're going and to lead that's consistent
with who they are. So don'tbe afraid. I would say, to

(17:37):
be authentic. Authenticity plays today.It should have always played, but it
didn't always it does now, andso it's okay to be vulnerable and transparent
and authentic while still being decisive anddeliberate and intentional. I think all those
things are important, and people shouldstress less about all that and really just
get the best breadth of experience theycan get so that they know don't have

(18:00):
to be experts in everything, butyou're going to lead various functions from finance
to legal to sales to whatever inmost companies, and so you've got to
have enough interface with those areas whereyou bring forward and understanding and a perspective
that can be helpful in driving peopleto get to the right answers. So
don't be narrow, expand your focus, have a breadth of experiences that you
can bring and develop that throughout yourcareer, and by being authentic, you'd

(18:25):
be a great leader. Yeah,I agree. I think that's right on
the concept of authenticity is huge andoften I feel sorry for people whenever I
hear comments such as why I needto put on my game face if I'm
going to work, and I think, gosh, that would be tough to
have to, you know, kindof operate in a work environment different than
you do your normal personal environment.And that just comes down to, as

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Patrick said, if you can operatewith authenticity, I think you're going to
be more fulfilled, You're going tobe more productive, and you're ultimately going
to be more successful. If youcan just be yourself in every environment that
you're you're in, either personal orwork related, it's going to benefit you
in a big way. And Iknow that you said that your employees were
very happy and they still speak aboutthat. Look, you know, how

(19:07):
how you handle the situation during COVID. I've heard a lot of businesses saying
they don't have great help during thistime. So what advice do you give
to somebody that's looking to hire ateam that can continue to grow, you
know, their business. I'll commentfirst, Patrick, Well, I mean,
we've been fortunate that we've had lowturnover the last couple of years within
the organization, so our recruiting effortshave been reasonable, but not a significant

(19:33):
you know, part of what we'vehad to do the last couple of years.
As I know, many many companies, especially in the service industries,
are really challenged with staffing. Youknow, what I tell more from an
employee looking at the company standpoint islook for culture as much as you do
the hard opportunity, meaning whatever thebusiness side is. And I think fundamentally

(19:56):
a good cultural fit is even moreimportant than a good hard skills fit because
you can find it just a morefulfilling, satisfying experience when you feel good
about the company you're working with,regardless as necessarily the industry that you're in,
If the culture the people that you'reworking with day in, day out,
or a good fit. I thinkyou're gonna be really, really happy.

(20:18):
Yeah. And I would say,from an employer perspective, you know,
if you listen to enough, ifyou listen to enough news broadcast,
you'd be very cynical about the currentstate of our working talent pool. If
you will. I find I rejectthat completely. I find that to be
completely unfounded. I think people stillwant to be inspired. I think they
want to be about something that's biggerand broader than a paycheck. And I

(20:41):
think it's incumbent on employers to showthem that that's the avenue that you provide.
Whether that's, you know, theburger stand, or whether that's a
big time company that's trying to changethe world or change how people look and
feel, it doesn't matter. Peoplestill want inspiration, and they still want
to be part of something that's biggerthan them. They still want culture.
And if you're focused on that andshowcasing that, I believe this employee base

(21:06):
is as good as it ever wasand is motivated to do great things.
Now before we go, and I'mhonored to have both of you here.
Is there anything else that you wantto add for that listener in the car
right now? Are listening from theiriPhone smartphones that maybe we didn't touch on
already. I guess for me,I would say, we talked about this,
we talked about this amazing campaign.You're going to see a lot more

(21:26):
of that. So pay attention toall elements cultural in our society and you'll
see a lot more from merss,aesthetics, and a lot more from this
campaign. It is all about thisconsumer loyalty program that we call Experience Plus.
So give that a look if youwill, and you'll you'll learn more
about that we call. We sayabout this campaign that people should expect the
unexpected, and we're entering year twoof the campaign, so you can expect

(21:51):
a lot more activations culturally and alot more unexpected things to come. So
that's what we're looking ahead to.Okay. Yeah, And I would just
add, as you mentioned, andif you're interested in and at the expense
of sounding like I'm trying to pitchour products or a community, yeah,
but um, if if you areinterested, but you've not taken the step
to seek any sort of a staticmedicine treatment, to do it, um,

(22:14):
to do the research, to getin talk to a provider, it's
a great group of providers that arevery customer focused, that provide or patient
focus better term, uh, theseprocedures and products to folks because they want
a very good outcome that's going tomake the patient happy and continue to come
back over time. And I wouldjust suggest doing it because you're going to

(22:36):
find it's a great experience, oneyou'll be glad that you did, and
one that you'll you'll find pays offdividends over time. Who has been your
inspiration over the years. For me, it's people I work with. The
colleagues inspire me a lot dan dayout. Not dissimilar for me my parents
and the people I work around,you know, Like it's you surround yourself
with the right people in life andthen you don't have to look out work

(22:56):
too far. You know, youcan be inspired by everyday activities way every
people and I can learn to bebetter from them, and I hope they
learn the same for me. Andthat's a pretty cool relationship. Listen.
I'm like have to get a parttime with them. These are good guys
to work with. Thank you bothvery much, Thank you, Thank you.