Episode 75: Beauty On the Go with Michelle Chapman, APRN

We are shaking things up toward the end of the season with an innovative concept that marries the high-touch aspects of concierge medicine with the dedicated space and treatment room of a brick & mortar spa.

In recent years, we've watched Aesthetic vendors take their businesses on the road with luxury RVs providing treatments in the middle of Times Square, to cadaver buses rolling up to conferences for a day of learning. It's no surprise that now, injectors are catching on to the benefits of going mobile!

This week we sit down with Nurse Practitioner and new(ish) entrepreneur Michelle Chapman, APRN to learn more about how she's building out her dream business, MC Aesthetics, on 4 wheels!

Michelle comes from an ICU background, but like so many, she decided she wanted more post-COVID. She moved on to travel nursing and she worked at a retail clinic with no windows, a tiny space, a crazy quota, and an experience that she just couldn't imagine doing forever. In walks Aesthetics.... she took a course and was immediately in love with her next career move. She saved up her travel nursing money to pay for a long list of trainings to build her skills- and as we discuss, some great, and others not so good!

As she was learning her new craft, she decided to also take the entrepreneurial leap. It never occurred to her to open up a brick & mortar space. Perhaps it was her prior roll in that tiny retail clinic, but she wanted the freedom to move! So, MC Aesthetics, a luxury mobile med spa, was born.

In this episode, we talk about the challenges of learning how to run a business. In all the trainings and all the conferences, the nuts and bolts of business ownership is rarely discussed. Knowing this from the start, Michelle elicited help from experts in the legal and compliance field to make sure she was doing everything right from the start. She also purchased a van and had it outfitted by a company specializing in corporate conversions. While it's not tied to a lease, don't be fooled into thinking it's cheaper or less work! The cost to build out a custom van is definitely on par with a brick & mortar build out, but where Michelle goes, her business follows without worrying about how she'll relocate!

So far, her concept has proven to be a successful one! She travels between Tampa and Orlando, carefully scheduling her visits to ensure she has time to complete her signature facial balancing treatments as she goes from one location to the next. It's not unusual for her to park outside an office building and do a patient's lips over lunch or turn the home-based "botox party" into something more sophisticated by treating patients in a dedicated treatment room that just happens to be on wheels!

She's received a lot of press and interest from local publications and bloggers in the Tampa / Orlando area despite only being open for a year - something that typically doesn't happen- but the concept is so inviting and so different, that people can't help but take notice. She is a rolling billboard with fellow drivers calling her after seeing her wrapped van advertising her services. Her patient reviews are fantastic, many of them mentioning convenience as a big part of the initial draw, but her skill and aesthetic eye is what keeps them coming back.

Because the concept is so novel, it would be easy to rely on that alone as a competitive advantage. But not Michelle! She's focused on delivering fabulous outcomes- just ask her patients! Next, she has plans to grow her mobile med spa business either through franchising or expanding her own fleet. Regardless of how it happens, growth is inevitable. In a time where we are all in a hurry and Door Dash and Instacart have replaced dinners out and grocery runs, it only makes sense that we want our aesthetic treatments when we want them and where we want them!

Learn more about Michelle at www.michellechapmanaesthetics.com

Follow her on IG at https://www.instagram.com/mc_aesthetics__/