In this inspiring episode of Medical Millionaire, host Cameron Hemphill interviews Dr. Trupti Patel, owner of Skin-volution Laser, Vein and Med Spa, who shares her journey from traditional medicine to med spa success. Learn how she transformed her practice by thinking outside the box and embracing new opportunities. Key insights include:

• Transitioning from family medicine to aesthetic medicine
• Leveraging advanced technology to launch a med spa business
• Building a successful practice through continuous education and adaptation
• Implementing effective marketing strategies after trying traditional methods
• Creating a holistic approach to patient care and consultation

Features practical insights on running a modern med spa, from accepting various payment methods to maintaining medical expertise while focusing on aesthetics. Perfect for physicians considering entering the aesthetic space or current med spa owners looking to enhance their practice. Includes valuable perspectives on future growth and maintaining passion in the industry.

Transcript: 

All right, hello everybody. Hope you’re doing well. Hope you’re having a wonderful week. My name is Cameron Hemphill, your host for Medical Millionaire.

First off, I want to thank you so much for listening to our podcast. Our goal is to give incredible value and insight into the medical spa market. My team and I, we’ve consulted some of the top medical spa owners, medical spa providers, injectors, invasive, non invasive all over the country for years, and we see ones that are killing it, ones that are thriving, ones that have come a long way, and ones that need help.

And so throughout this journey together, we want to help you take your practice to the next up, next level. So in this episode, we actually have an exciting guest, a Growth99 longtime customer, friend, and we’ve really built up some long success rapport since we’ve encountered our engagement. And so I think it’s always beneficial to bring somebody that is in this space that has experience, that has the dedication, that has the passion, that has the vision in somebody that I’ve seen go from point A to point B to point C to point D, and really watch that journey becoming from a historical, successful practice to like leaps and bounds and seeing what can become a reality of something that’s super cool to see.

And so again, like, what’s nice is we look at the business from an outside perspective, right? We’re not injectors at growth 99 we’re not doctors, we’re marketers. We’re kind of on the nerdy side. So what’s cool is to really just see what’s happening from the outside digest that, convey it, and then push that out to the audience that’s listening to this. And so that being said, I wanted to introduce you to Dr. Trupti Patel.

She is, I will bring her in here in one second, but just to give you a little bit of background, she’s a board certified a fellow in family medicine. She’s the owner of Skin-volution, Laser Vein and Med Spa. She has practiced all aspects of medicine over 18 years, probably even longer than that now, and she opened her Med Spa only after investigating and discovering the most amazing and advanced technology to help with anti aging. Another cool point is she’s also married to a doctor, so talk about a a powerhouse when it comes to having tremendous insight from the doctor perspective, the technology perspective, the anti aging perspective, and how they have basically seen a vision and brought that to reality.

So, Dr Patel, welcome to medical millionaire, and talk to me a little bit about exactly where the business started. I know a little bit about you, you and your husband. And just just bring us up to speed, if you could.

Yes, absolutely, I’d love to thank you, Cameron, for for having me on your podcast. And it’s really exciting for me to talk about, you know, how I came about on this journey to explore to basically opening my own practice. So the way it started was, I’ve always been passionate about anti aging, about skin care throughout my career, and I came to a point where, you know, like most doctors do, we kind of get burnt out on doing everything that we’ve done, and I was looking to do something that was more fulfilling for me, and at one of my conventions, I came across this laser company called photona, and discovered their amazing lasers, and it that’s basically when the light bulb went off And I said, Hey, you know, this laser does so much.

It’s like a powerhouse of, you know, equipment all compacted into one, I can basically open a med spa just with this one laser and the technology that it offers. So that’s kind of how it. All began. So initially, you know, we were trying to find space. We live in Arizona, so we were really looking at Scottsdale, kind of near where we lived. But what happened was, it’s such a saturated market here in Scottsdale, so we decided to think outside of the box. And my husband is a vascular surgeon, and that was another reason we purchased this laser, because he can also do EVLA treatments using this laser. So when he decided to open his own OBL, he was not basically utilizing the front office space.

So I decided to open my med spa within that space. So that’s kind of, you know, how it all started with the location we ended up at,

Yeah, yeah, that’s that’s so amazing. Like, I love hearing that. So the fact that your husband is in the space, and you guys go to an event you you like, immediately think outside the box from an entrepreneurial perspective, and you’re like, wait a minute. Like, here is a piece of equipment that is advanced state of the art technology, it can conduct multiple services, has tremendous added value and benefit to a potential audience, I can leverage this and essentially open up a medical spa. We already have a location. Why not like continue leveraging that and then bolt on additional services and see what we can accomplish.

And so I have a lot of passion behind, behind that, and in really, like gratitude, in the sense of having like minded understanding of of your path to that, because it starts with, like creative thinking, and then it starts with exploratory and then it just moves on into action, like you could have, actually, you could have sat on that idea, you know what I’m saying, and you could have left that show and not done anything, right, like, and that’s fine, right? So, but what’s cool is, is when I see somebody have a vision, put it into action, and then execute on that action, it’s, it’s just from from, like, entrepreneur to entrepreneur.

And I know we’re in different different spaces, but ultimately we’re also, like, somewhat married, which is kind of cool. That’s such a super excited, right? So, so I like that. So let’s, let’s very cool, and I appreciate the color in the background. Now moving forward a little bit, talking about, like, Okay, now you have the equipment, you have the location. What’s next, right? So like, how do you how do you market the services, how do you get those services to the audience that you desire,
right?

So, you know, even taking one more step back Cameron, even before you get to the marketing, you need to know how to use that equipment. And there’s a huge learning curve, especially with a technology that’s that advanced. And so, you know, that was another journey and efforts required on my part. It’s not that I’m just just because I’m a physician. I know how to use this amazing laser, right? So I had to actually go back to the basics of laser physics. Took online courses. Of course, the laser company had protocols and given me all kinds of, you know, training. But you know, being being a physician and a scientist to a certain degree, I wanted to go beyond just doing protocols.

I wanted to know why this laser energy, the way it’s we’re manipulating it can have the effect on the skin and and help with the anti aging, and how I can use it to manipulate it further to get the best outcomes. So that requires, certainly, a lot of vision and a lot of passion, because it’s, it’s not easy learning something completely different than what you’re used to. But you know that, I guess that was the geeky part of me, that kind of, you know, enjoyed learning all that stuff, and now, you know, I’m quite proficient at it, and I teach my my laser texts and my estheticians how to do some of the services. So then, when we were ready for marketing, of course, initially, you know, we were kind of trying to market here and there.

I tried the mail route, the snail mail route. I tried doing local coupons, you know, through the mail with various different outlets. I tried going in person to to gyms, to kind of promote my my med spa, and all of those in about a year. You know, I felt like really didn’t yield the type of business that I wanted to really put forth. So actually, at one of the other conventions I went through, I think it was am spa, I encountered you and Santosh, your partner, and after kind of discussing, you know, what what you guys can do, I was actually very excited, because first of all, you guys seem like you knew what you were doing.

And then secondly, you were quite reasonable with your your costs and stuff. So it kind of fit into my perspective of where I wanted to go, and I got you guys on board. You designed an amazing website for me. It took you a little while, Cameron, before you kind of persuaded me to go the Google advertising route. I was still kind of not convinced that social media is going to yield me enough. Then one time we had a meeting, and you finally talked me into it, and I’m so glad you did, because ever since we’ve done that, my business has really taken off.

I love hearing that even the backstory of you know, you already have a tremendous background when it comes to when it comes to science, right, and when it comes to what you’ve accomplished, and then you find this device, and then you basically have to educate yourself on that platform, right? And so it’s almost absolutely you already have the trade. But then you have, then you have to, like, go super narrow and niche, which is, which is, which is cool, like, it’s not like, oh, I can just pick up this laser. And then it’s like, plug and play, and you know how to do it. And so that’s another thing that that’s, I mean, we could have an entire podcast on just that, too.

So I’m glad that that you brought that up, and then overcoming that milestone and going down that you’re like, holy cow, like, I’ve learned something incredible here all the way bringing it forward into, okay, how do we, how do we market our Med Spa? And I’ve seen a lot of people, you know, do like the local stuff, with with print, with radio, with with TV and stuff like that. And I think that, like, some of that, is definitely good. And from a branding perspective, like, I do think that there is some value there, for sure. And then when obviously comes to, you know, websites, digital marketing, everything in that regard. It’s, it’s, it is a, it’s an educational approach, right? B

ecause when you and I met at am spa, I think there’s always like, there’s so many people there, you know, and there’s like, vendors everywhere, and this is prior to COVID, too. So it was even more crazy. And there’s like parties going on, and you’re in Vegas, and there’s just lots of, yeah, right. And then there’s, there’s the educational part, and then somebody gets on the show, and then the coffee and the lunches. So it’s, it is like chaos. And so the fact that we even, like, we’re able to cross paths and have a conversation is like a miracle for one like what was, what was nice is, is we have, like, an authentic conversation, you know, if I recall, you met my wife who was there, yes, yeah, right. And, and it was actually kind of, you know, out of the whole marketing arena, we were just. Kind of casually sitting there on one of the sofas, and honestly, I didn’t know who you were, and you didn’t know who I was, and we just struck up a conversation, and it ended up being that, oh yes, I spoke to your partner, Santosh, and and it was really, you know, maybe it was meant to be, who knows.

Right.

No, I think, I think that’s cool. Like in conferences, everybody’s trying to figure out, like, is it awkward to talk? Is it not there’s just so it’s kind of funny. But when there’s an authentic conversation that just kind of strikes around a completely different topic, and then it kind of rolls into like, Oh, why are you here? Oh, I happen to be a vendor. Oh, where are you from? I’m from I’m from Arizona. I’m from Utah. Oh, yeah, cool. It. You can kind of just basically have a real conversation, right? And I think it’s just, it’s less, like, intimidating, and then we can really drill down to okay, like, what’s your passion? What do you do? Are you real, you know, and that’s, that’s what some that’s what’s fun about it.

And then getting to the point to where, you know, your website went live. And I think we actually even did a redesign for you at one point throughout that process, because we do those unlimited redesigns, there was some conversation about, you know, hey, I think you should run some Google ads, and then that’s another educational step, because, again, you’re going into, like, No Man’s Land, right? Well, I haven’t been here before. Does this really work? I’ve heard both sides of it. I’ve heard it’s a waste of money. I’ve heard it’s not a waste of money.

What do I do? And so I think it’s really cool that you and I had, we had a lot of conversations on it, and I never try to be, like, pushy in the sense it’s more like, Hey, I think that this could help you. And so in further discussion, we said, Okay, let’s try it. And it’s really nice and cool to see that again, you’re like, you’re just very resilient.

And I like that. You take calculated risk, right? And so, yeah, that’s, that’s what’s really neat. And you did that, you did your due diligence, you took your calculated risk. And we said, Okay, let’s try it. So we tried it and flipped that on. And you know, we’re now in this day and age where, where you almost have, like Google and Facebook, they control so much of paid search when it comes to online marketing, and you almost have to pay to play. But if you can measure the return on investment, then it makes sense, right?

Yeah, yeah. So that being said, like, besides marketing, besides the lasers, the business, like, talk to me just really quickly about the business process, if you will, because that’s a big thing I talk about too, in terms of, okay, you have the location, you have the equipment, you have the training, you have the marketing, and now the person shows up to the location like walk us through that, that client journey, if you don’t mind, yeah, absolutely.
So the way I’ve set up my business is I do all of the initial, initial consultations. I offer everyone a free consultation, so there’s no charge for that, just to kind of get them in through the door, because people come in with some sort of idea in their mind of what a med spa is and what service they’re looking for, or how they want to end up with a look right?

And I feel like, as a physician, I’m best suited to really sit there and speak to them about what their vision is for what they want to get out of their service. And if I can meet that, you know, that vision, or if I can and help them get to that point with all of the different services that we offer, not just through the lasers, but we also have a very robust facial membership program. You know, I have the Hydra facial.

We have lots of skincare lines that that we carry, so it’s a very holistic approach to getting them there to their final destination, so to speak. So I do that initial consultation, then we decide on the different services that can help them through that, that process, and then we work out a payment plan. Because, I mean, I’ve seen all different types of clients that come in. You know, people come in with cash in hand. The other day, I had some lady willing to offer. Me cougar and coins, gold, cougar and coins in exchange for services. And I have it’s like, wow, this is, this is very different. I got super excited about it, but then in the end, you know, I spoke to my partner and husband, he’s like, are you crazy?

You have no idea where this lady got her cougar and coin from we can’t take that. She needs to go exchange it for for actual cash or, you know, put it in our bank and use her credit card or debit card for the service. We can’t start accepting, you know, gold coins in exchange for services. So it’s, really funny, some of the things that you know, you get to experience in this business, it’s unlike any traditional medicine business.

For sure, very, very true, very true. Maybe one day they’ll we’ll be taking Dogecoin, or like cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, or something like that. Who knows?

Well, actually, speaking of crypto, you know, my husband’s into the whole crypto coin craze, and he was saying, you know, maybe we should be one of the first med spas to accept cryptocurrency and and that certainly sounds like an interesting prospect. We’ll have to look into that further about how we can go about doing that, but, you know that certainly, I think, is a possibility, but the Cougar end and the and the funny thing is, Cameron, the lady, actually went and cashed in her coin, and she came back the other day because, you know, she liked the the consultation we had, and she liked the services we had to offer, and she now has the cash to do it. So there you go.

Wow,
oh my gosh, yeah, actually went and did that’s, that’s, that’s so cool. She actually went and did that. Yeah, that’s neat. I’m into the cryptocurrency thing too, so we’ll have to have a conversation on that, that as well. And I think you know, sooner than later, we might be taking more and more payments in that structure. We’ll have to see. Yeah, absolutely, that’s neat. So, so I got two more points. I want to jump in and just chat on for a second. I know that you’re busy, and I’ll let you go here soon. But so, so here you are now, right? Like, you’ve, you’ve, you’ve gone from where you were to where you are based on the journey. So, so what talk to me, like, what’s what about the next three, five years? Like, what does that look like in Dr Patel’s mind?

So honestly, you know, I feel like it’s a very growing business. I feel like I’m still just getting started, and I feel like in three to five years, I should be able to perhaps open another location, because the location we’re at certainly there’s a huge need for a quality Med, spa. But I would like to explore the Scottsdale space too. Even though it is over saturated, I feel like they don’t offer the things that I’m able to offer. And so I do feel like, you know, in three to five years, I’m going to expand and and open another location.

Awesome, awesome. That’s, that’s, that’s super exciting. I love Arizona. In fact, I was down there last November. It’s, it’s beautiful down there. And so you live in a beautiful, beautiful part of the country and so and Scottsdale is really neat, too. So that that’s super exciting. So last thing for you, what?

What keeps you what keeps you motivated? So what keeps you going? What is it that get you excited in the morning. Just say, hey, I want to have another location like, just talk to me a little bit about that, and then I’ll let you go.

Well, you know, it’s certainly a really exciting time. You know, we survived COVID. My business survived COVID. And now, you know, I am, I don’t want to jinx myself, but I feel like we’re kind of thriving, because people are just tired of being cooped up, and people want to come out and get things done, you know? And so I feel like it’s, it’s certainly a very exciting and different type of medical practice, and I’m and the satisfaction I get out of it is that I’m still seeing patients in a clinical manner, but now it’s more about anti aging. And helping them in that journey to anti aging, versus preventive care and all of the other routine things.

But, you know, it being that I’m still a physician, I sometimes, you know, cross over, and I see some some things with my clients, and I always kind of tell them, hey, you know, you really should go see your family doc and get that checked out. I actually had a lady the other day that came in that really looked like she had a DVT, and she was coming in because she wanted me to help her with her spider veins on her legs. And, you know, once I started kind of talking to her, and you know, her symptoms, I had to really steer her to go to like an urgent care or an ER, because I said, you know, you you could actually be having a DVT because of all of the signs and symptoms that I see, and you really need to go and follow up.

I didn’t hear back from her, but I’m hoping she’ll she’ll come back and let me know how that all ended up. But you know, so it’s certainly a different and exciting business, and that’s what keeps me moving forward and wanting to do more and more of it.

That’s that’s so great to hear, like the passion of really just, you know, seeing somebody become, I guess it would the best way to put it, would be building confidence in somebody right and putting on the correct path. And I think that we need so much of that in the world today. And it’s, it’s, it’s truly honoring to have to have a client like you and somebody you know that that talks about that right, instead of what’s in it for me, it’s like what’s in it for you, you know. And so trippy, that’s

That’s reassuring and just so great to hear, and will absolutely even change my day throughout the day today. So thank you for leading with that, with me, and then thank you so much for joining like I know you’re super busy, and I really appreciate you taking the time to join our podcast. Hopefully, you know, we’ll have you we’ll have you on again, and maybe we can talk about the the new location at some point, you know, and kind of see where things go.

But, but again, grateful for for our friendship and the conversation we had today. Hopefully the audience got a lot out of this conversation. And so for everybody, thank you so much for listening to Medical Millionaire again. My name is Cameron Hemphill. If you found this content valuable, please share it. Keep the conversation going. Head into iTunes and leave us a five star rating and review.

Additionally, you can visit www.growth99.com to learn how we can assist you with your marketing coaching and technology needs until next time. Happy injecting.

Thanks. Dr Patel.

Thank you, Cameron. Have a great day, you.