In this episode, Cameron is joined by Alexis Bowhay, award-winning Orlando Injector and next-gen aesthetic leader, and they discuss her journey from being a cardiology PA to transitioning into aesthetics, emphasizing the importance of resilience, networking, and personal branding. They explores the intersection of fitness and aesthetics, the challenges of balancing family life with professional commitments, and the emotional impact of recognition in your career. Alexis also discusses the realities behind social media glamour and her aspirations for the future, highlighting the significance of being intentional with time and opportunities.

Transcript:

# Medical Millionaire Podcast
## Interview with Alexis Balie, The Orlando Injector

### Introduction

**Host (Cameron Hemphill)**: This is Medical Millionaire, the podcast helping your medspot increase in status, visibility, and profitability. Join your host as he dispels myths, shares trends, and gives you actionable steps today that will take your medical practice to the next level. Here’s your host, expert marketer and founder of Growth 99, Cameron Hemphill.

Hey, what’s up everybody. Cameron Hemphill here, your host for Medical Millionaire. First off, guys, thank you so much for taking the time to tune into the podcast. Our goal is to give incredible value and insight for practice owners and providers.

If you work at a medical aesthetics practice or you’re thinking about getting into this specialty, all these podcast episodes are specifically for you and to help you take your business to the next level.

Today I have an amazing guest. I met her a couple of weeks ago and was super inspired. The way that we met was interesting, and I wanted to have her on the show. I would be doing a disservice not to have her on.

I want to introduce Alexis Balie. She’s the Orlando Injector, an incredible speaker at the top of her class. She was recently awarded at Aesthetic Next for the Next Generation Leader, which is a massive award. She’s also a speaker for Merz Evolus Perllennium, and she has over 9,000 followers on Instagram.

Alexis Balie, welcome to the show.

**Alexis**: Thank you for having me. I apologize in advance, my throat’s a little bit raspy, but we’re here to rock and roll.

### Professional Background

**Cameron**: That’s because you travel all the time and you’re speaking all the time.

**Alexis**: I haven’t stopped talking in the past three months.

**Cameron**: We met at a conference in Park City and you spoke on stage. It was interesting to learn about your story. For the audience – most people that tune in are either providers or practice owners wanting to get into the industry. You have something very unique that you bring to the table from an entrepreneurial background. Walk us through that – your journey, where you come from, how long you’ve been in the industry, and where we’re going.

**Alexis**: I started out as a cardiology PA, and like all of us, we get burnt out bedside. I had a great opportunity to pursue my love for fitness. I opened up a couple gyms in Orlando and worked with those for probably about ten years, and then COVID hit and my world kind of exploded. Gym memberships were the first thing to go for people who were trying to cut their expenses, so we were really hurting.

I have a family, so I had to find something that brought me a consistent income. I felt that aesthetics and the gym industry were the same patient. It was the same person getting up going to the gym in the morning as the same person wanting to get their neuromodulator treatment. So it felt like a very seamless transition for me.

I transitioned back into being a PA after a ten-year gap, but it wasn’t easy. We all know as providers it’s hard getting that first gig. Nobody would hire me because at the end of the day, in our industry, just because we’ve been a PA for fifteen years, this is a brand new vocabulary, this is a brand new industry. Nobody learns any of this in school.

### Career Transition

You have to have a little piece of humble pie and realize that you might be a badass PA in urology or cardiology, but you’re a baby PA in the aesthetic world. I built connections and relationships and begged to work for free. I took a couple steps back – I think it’s important to take ten steps back in order to make a giant leap forward.

The practice that I wanted to work for, I offered to work as a medical assistant just to learn how he operated and everything. Ultimately they learned my character, learned my drive, and I was able to transition into an actual provider role. But that didn’t happen overnight – I had to prove my worth.

This industry is incredibly saturated, so I think it’s important to have that mindset that it’s okay to take a couple steps back working as an assistant just to allow them to feel comfortable to hire you.

I’ve grown in the same practice that hired me from day one, and I’ve been able to build a beautiful brand, which is the Orlando Injector within their house. I’ve created a really beautiful relationship with my boss that allows me to have my own sense of identity within his house. I always say I will always be the Orlando Injector at the Village Institute of Plastic Surgery, but he allows me to fill my entrepreneur cup while not taking on the liability or risk of owning my own practice.

### On Practice Ownership

**Cameron**: I absolutely love that. A lot of times people feel they have to own their own practice in order to fill that entrepreneurial cup. The reality is being a practice owner means you take on a tremendous amount of liability. There are expenses – whether you lease a building or own a building, you have insurance, equipment, inventory costs, personnel costs, utilities, software costs, digital marketing costs… naming all these makes me think “Holy shit, why am I even a business owner?”

You being an entrepreneur owning gyms, you understand that world – you understand ownership, membership, liability. I would assume the insurance on gym ownership has to be extraordinarily high.

**Alexis**: It’s worth every penny because if somebody gets hurt, but it is painfully high.

### Client Crossover Between Gym and Aesthetics

**Cameron**: You made a comment about how these are the same patients or personas – people that go to the gym and then people that go to aesthetics. Has there been some sort of marriage there from gym memberships clientele to patients? Do you see the same people?

**Alexis**: Initially, because of the way my gyms are structured – it’s group fitness, so it’s really a family culture, community environment. When I transitioned away from the gyms and started down the aesthetic path, I didn’t want my members to feel that I was utilizing my email list or my access to them, so I kept everything separate.

I still have yet to do an actual collaboration. My business partner is like, “Why don’t you just email blast them a great promotion?” And I’m like, “Because I never want them to think I’m taking advantage of my access to them.”

I think organically they have all kind of come to me just through word of mouth or following me on Instagram. I wanted to grow it on my own without riding on the back of my gyms. They’ve all come – I saw like ten of them this week. When you do it that way, it feels less like they were sought out.

### Impact on Business

**Cameron**: That’s a great approach. I one hundred percent agree. If you take that organic approach, they’re going to find out eventually. These are people that probably wake up early, they’re career-driven, they’re confidence-driven. It makes it so much more authentic.

Has it elevated the gym in any way? When they’re in your chair, you have a great conversation, you get to know them in a much more personalized manner than at the gym, I would assume.

**Alexis**: I don’t know if it’s elevated the gyms, but it might have elevated the appearance of my members in the gyms! I think all the people that ultimately are in my chair from the gyms – I think it’s elevated the culture in the community.

They saw me struggle during COVID and realize she has a baby girl that’s about to be due – I was a COVID pregnancy. They saw me grind. They saw me from my very first post on the Orlando Injector page to where I am now five years later.

At first, when I transitioned out, I was really scared that they would be like, “You’re abandoning us, you don’t care about the gym.” Nowadays they’re like, “I’m so proud of you. You’re grinding, working your ass off.” It’s such an inspiration when shit hits the fan, like COVID happens, you pivoted and you’re making something out of a dark situation. So ultimately, I think it’s strengthened the culture in the community.

### Personal Drive and Work Ethic

**Cameron**: That’s amazing. Congratulations to you. Life hits us with challenges, and I think there’s a specific character out there that can fold pretty quickly, which we saw, and it’s unfortunate. There are other personalities that say, “You know what, I’m going to take this on – throw anything at me and I’m going to take it on.”

**Alexis**: Yeah, it’s a safe bet when you bet on yourself. I’ll always tell companies that hire me, “Give me all the speaking engagements that people say no to.” I’m not afraid of hard work or the boring PowerPoint that isn’t exciting to listen to – I’ll make it exciting.

I’m the first person at the gym in the morning because that’s when I can get my workout in at 4 AM. I think it’s that grit – not being afraid to get in the mud. If you got to stay up till 2 AM to figure something out, it’s just embedded in you to be that hard worker.

That really stands out and translates into your practice as well. As a business owner, you have to go through some tough times. Having that grit is what helps people because no matter who you are, you’re going to go through tough times. You could be incredibly wealthy and go through tough times or not doing so well financially – everybody’s going through the same tough times. But how you get through those storms is what builds character.

### Conference Speaking and Family Balance

**Cameron**: Let’s talk about conferences. I was surprised to see you at Aesthetic Next because those conferences are so tight, and having family at home – I also have family at home. How do you structure that? Because I’m a big fan of education, and it’s very important for people like you and I to go to conferences to expand on that education and help serve. Your net worth is your network, and there’s great people in the industry, but there’s also family at home. Walk us through the purpose behind that.

**Alexis**: The purpose behind why I enjoy speaking at conferences is twofold:

1. I am so incredibly fueled when I feel like I’ve made an impact on somebody’s life. When somebody messages me a week after the conference and they’re like, “Girl, your technique changed the game for me” – I can’t tell you how happy that makes me, to the point of tears.

2. I love being challenged. I love getting in front of a big audience and putting my skills to the test, putting my knowledge to the test. Public speaking is obviously terrifying, so I love the challenge of learning a new topic and learning it so well that I can then stand on stage and present it eloquently.

The dark side of it all is your family sacrificing. With the amount of conferences I’ve committed to this year, I really tighten up my window. If my talk is Saturday afternoon, I’m on the last flight Friday night, and then I’m trying to leave as soon as I can – first flight Sunday morning at 5 AM.

I’ve had to really tighten up my travel schedules so that I’m not lingering after to do a Sunday Funday with everybody at the conference. I just got back from Charleston on Saturday – my talk ended at five, and I literally went straight to the airport in my heels because I didn’t want to wait until Sunday morning to fly out.

### Family Support and Recognition

When I received the Next Generation Award at Aesthetic Next, I cried – not because of the industry recognition, but because it felt so good to be recognized for what my family went through. People don’t see that me, my mom, and my husband sat with our calendars trying to figure out schedules – who’s going to pick up Brooklyn from daycare, when I get off work, coordinating everything.

It felt so good to bring that home to my family and say, “We did it.” It’s such a silly award – it really means nothing, but to me it was like, “Guys, our hard work and all of this sacrifice, it made it worth it.”

It’s tough juggling it all. I think there’s a little double standard when it comes to women traveling versus men. I think we’re breaking barriers, but so many times people ask, “Who’s with the kids?”

### Looking Forward

**Cameron**: Where do we go from here? Where does the Orlando Injector go from here? Finishing out 2024, conference schedule, business – how many hours a day are you putting in right now? And then beyond 2024, going into 2025, what does the future hold for you in the short term and maybe in the near long term?

**Alexis**: I have a couple more conferences this year and then I’m pretty much wrapped up. My goal is to really be intentional with my holiday time and be with the family and be present.

For 2025, I want it to be the year of intention. I want to maybe start a YouTube channel and be able to expand my audience from the comfort of my living room, so still be next to my family, but expanding my reach. I want to continue speaking, continue learning, continue networking.

To be honest, 2024 for me, I reached things that I didn’t even know I could set for myself. I’ve hit some goals that weren’t even on my radar. The sky’s the limit, and I’m so open – I’ve always been the person that no opportunity is too small. I say yes to as much as I can because the smallest speaking engagements have connected me with somebody who then connected me with somebody else.

Like meeting you in Utah in the hallways, and now we’re sitting here on your podcast, which I’ve watched and admired your work for so long. All of these little moments – I think it’s important to always say yes when you can and don’t think that you’re too cool to say yes to the little things.

I don’t know what 2025 holds for me. I’m excited to watch it kind of organically unfold. My goal is to be more intentional with my time and to continue doing more of what makes me happy, but also being mindful of family time and compartmentalizing better, which is very hard for me.

### Closing

**Cameron**: I know you’ll have a very bright future, and I’m sure 2025 is going to expose some goals similar to what you experienced in 2024. If anybody wants to connect with you, Alexis, where is the best place for them to go?

**Alexis**: Just slide into my DMs. I respond to every DM. I’m not that cool, but the Orlando Injector underscore on Instagram is the best way to reach me.

**Cameron**: Guys, go check out her work. She’s an amazing provider and entrepreneur. I don’t even know too many people that have those skill sets. She’s creating so much confidence, not only from the gym aspect and health aspect but everything she’s doing in aesthetics. If you have the opportunity to go to a conference and she happens to be speaking, take the time and listen to her speak. Thanks so much, Alexis, I appreciate you.

**Alexis**: Thank you so much.

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*Transcribed from Medical Millionaire Podcast*