Episode 332: Budgeting for Beauty: The Financial Side of Med Spa Investing with Stephanie Stewart

What would it look like if your financial plan actually included a line item for aesthetics? Melissa Joy, CFP®, sits down with Stephanie Stewart, PA-C, founder of The Aesthetic Method, an award-winning medical spa in Ferndale, Michigan, to have the honest conversation that most financial planners and patients avoid entirely. From the secret dollars women squirrel away for skincare to the emotional weight of wanting to invest in how you look and feel, this episode brings a private topic into the open where it belongs.

Stephanie shares her remarkable path from emergency medicine to entrepreneurship, sparked by a car accident at 15 that required years of facial reconstructive surgeries. She opens up about the real cost of injectable treatments, what a full face assessment actually looks like, and how to find a provider you can trust. Melissa and Stephanie also explore the parallel between financial planning and aesthetic medicine, two fields built on transparency, trust, and the courage to say no when it is not the right fit.

What You'll Learn

• How burnout in the emergency department led Stephanie to found The Aesthetic Method in 2018
• Why women often keep aesthetic spending secret, and how to change that conversation
• What happens during a full face assessment and how a personalized treatment plan is built
• The difference between neuromodulators, bio-stimulators, and filler, and how long each lasts
• Real cost ranges for common injectable treatments, from 500 dollar Botox sessions to 3,500 dollar Sculptra plans
• Green flags and red flags to look for when choosing a med spa provider
• Why a provider willing to say no is a sign of someone looking out for you
• How financial planners and aesthetic professionals share a standard of care worth seeking out

Connect with Stephanie

theaestheticmethod.com

Instagram: The Aesthetic Method

The previous presentation by PEARL PLANNING was intended for general information purposes only.  No portion of the presentation serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from PEARL PLANNING or any other investment professional of your choosing. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and it should not be assumed that future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy, or any non-investment related or planning services, discussion or content, will be profitable, be suitable for your portfolio or individual situation, or prove successful. Neither PEARL PLANNING’s investment adviser registration status, nor any amount of prior experience or success, should be construed that a certain level of results or satisfaction will be achieved if PEARL PLANNING is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. PEARL PLANNING is neither a law firm nor accounting firm, and no portion of its services should be construed as legal or accounting advice. No portion of the video content should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience a certain level of results if PEARL PLANNING is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. A copy of PEARL PLANNING’s current written disclosure Brochure discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request or at https...

Transcript

Welcome And Meet Stephanie

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast. I'm Melissa Joy, a certified financial planner and the founder of Pearl Planning. My goal is to help you streamline and organize your finances, navigate big money decisions with confidence, and be strategic in order to grow your wealth. As a woman, you work hard for your money, and I'm here to help you make the most of it. Now let's get into the show. Stephanie is a physician assistant and she is the founder, she is the founder of the Aesthetic Method, an award-winning medical spa in Detroit, recognized as the best spa, best med spa of 2024. After experiencing burnout in the emergency department, she founded her practice in 2018. And we're gonna learn all about that career pivot as well as what brings her passion into this space. And I got a bunch of questions, just like I said. So without further ado, Stephanie, welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

Thank you. And thank you so much for having me. Uh, we were just talking behind the scenes. And uh for listeners, I was telling Melissa, like, this is still very new to me. Like I feel like very humbled every time people ask me to be on a podcast. I'm like, oh, you want to talk to me about what I do? So thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

Well, I'm having my own humbled moment or uh maybe vulnerable moment because I was like, oh my gosh, if I'm gonna be with Stephanie, who is all about making people look better, I really need to pay attention to hair and makeup that day. Um but this morning was a quick get ready. And sometimes we just record where we're at. But I would love as a 51-year-old woman to eventually in this episode talk about, you know, like how to approach a med spa approach versus traditionally like visiting the dermatologist or things like that at the the traditional doctor's office. But before we go there, can you tell me about, you know, kind of working in the emergency department and what inspired you to take a right turn into um the where you're at today?

A Life-Changing Accident And A Calling

SPEAKER_01 2:22

Sure. Um so I'll go back a little bit further than working in the emergency department because I feel like that's important for what I do now. But when I was 15, I was involved in a car accident uh that I suffered multiple facial injuries. So I ended up with lots of facial reconstructive surgeries, and it was a very long road. And luckily, all the injury was to my face. Um, but as a 15-year-old girl, like that's definitely not what you want to happen. Um so it was a long road. And what I remember the most is the medical professionals making me have hope and making me feel better about um the state that I was in. You know, nothing was life-threatening, thank goodness, but it was my looks, it was my appearance. And so um unfortunately, when you, you know, break your jaw or uh I broke my nose, I lost a lot of teeth, like those things don't get fixed overnight. So I get it's not like breaking an arm, you put a cast on it, and you know, wait, you wait six to eight weeks. So it was a long road. All that to say, the uh medical professionals they came in contact with made me feel really good and hopeful, like I was saying. And so I wanted to be able to also make people feel that way. And I decided to go into medicine, specifically physician assistant. I knew I wanted to have a family one day. And uh I thought that being a doctor would maybe require too long of education. So I decided on PA and I started working in the emergency department, specifically trauma, to give back to the people that were in those same uh situations that I once was with a car accident. So I did that for a couple of years, and medicine was definitely not what I thought it was going to be. Um, I was burning out really quickly, and it just wasn't what I was promised. Um, so after burning out for an extended period of time, this was even pre-COVID, I thought, when was I the happiest in my life? And what it was is when I was uh being creative with my hands. So I thought, okay, let me just like start getting the certifications in injectables and I'll go try to apply at a derm office and see if they'll hire me. And uh they did not. No one hired me. So well, can you pause there?

SPEAKER_02 4:30

So what is the certification when you say injectables, describe to us like in other like what have we heard to reference for that?

SPEAKER_01 4:39

Sure. So I'll be honest with you, my field is the wild, wild west. And uh there is not like one certification, one license that you need to do what we do. However, you do need to be a medical provider. So at least in the state of Michigan, you need to be a physician, a physician assistant, a nurse or nurse practitioner to inject. So I just started dabbling in these certifications and looking back with these certifications. I mean, I was in like a hotel room, like injecting my mom as a practice patient. Like it was not like a hotel conference room. It was wild. Um and that's probably why no one would hire me, right? So uh it wasn't really official. And uh so then I, you know, one day I was like, well, I've been practicing on friends and family, and I thought in my head, like, oh, if something bad happens, I don't want them to like sue me. So maybe I should like make an LLC. This is like what my mind was going through.

From ER Burnout To Med Spa Founder

SPEAKER_01 5:32

And uh I Googled on July 10th, I remember that day very vividly, 2018, um, how to start my own business. And I had never, ever in a million years thought that I would start my own business. I I didn't even like doing it. I didn't even think that it would turn into what it is today. I just thought, hey, let this like be my side hustle until I figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life because I had a lot of student loans still. I mean, I went to a PA school. So um what started as like me renting out a room in a dental office, doing these procedures, maybe having like one patient a week if I was lucky, uh turned into a couple of patients a week. And then I hired an assistant and then I worked more days, and then COVID happened and we were shut down for 12 weeks. And then when we were able to come back because we were medical, um my business blew up. I mean, everybody was on Zoom. I thank Zoom so much for uh you get to look at yourself. Yeah. And uh it blew up. And so we were so busy, so booked out, and then I hired another injector. Uh, we actually ended up building out our own space where we had six treatment rooms, and then here we are almost eight years later, and we're in our new location, which is like 4,500 square feet. It's beautiful, I can say that because the design team killed it. And we're a team of uh 10 now hiring two more people, and it's going well. So here we are.

SPEAKER_02 6:56

That's amazing. Um, my um company's birth story is very closely aligned with yours from dates. So I started the company in August of 2018. So kind of just like uh, hey, let's see if this works because I know I can go back and get a job. You probably knew you could go back to the ER too.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

Yes, didn't want to, but yes, we always had something to fall back on. And uh I just looked this up today. Congratulations to you for making it eight years because um more than 50% of businesses do not uh succeed past five small businesses. So true.

SPEAKER_02 7:32

Yeah. And I think especially for women, if we're talking about that, I'm sure you've had a lot of lessons along the way um in scaling and growing and investing in yourself. Days where you look like so successful. I'm speaking for myself, but days you look so successful on the outside and you're like, we're barely breaking even right now. And other days where you're like, oh my gosh, it's all clicking. Um, the entrepreneur's journey is not for the lighthearted, but for certain people, it is so rewarding as well.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

Yeah. Yeah. No, it's been, it's been really rewarding, not only for my patients, but for a team or a team of all women. And uh that is probably like the thing that um like motivates me the most is being able to create such an amazing work environment for uh uh women who have the same passion as me and want to make other women feel good about themselves. Uh not that we only treat women, we treat every demographic, but that is our main one. And so uh we have little to no turnover in our team. And it's been it's been great like being able to provide an amazing career for other women uh because I never had that, you know. I mean, they're not looking for you to like love your life in the ER, you know, you just have to save other lives.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

So, so true. And um, I'm in this moment too very similar where just things seem to be clicking, they feel right, and having those good vibes across a team are can be so powerful as well. So congratulations on on that achievement.

Why Aesthetics Deserves Budget Space

SPEAKER_02 9:07

Yeah. Um so I knew we were gonna be having this conversation. Um, it's been on the calendar for a minute, and I recently saw a um financial advisors post um talking about how women's um aesthetic needs are neglected. I wanted to read a part of it to you um because it just was spot on. I screenshotted it right away. And I think we need to elevate conversations of like seeing, being more inclusive to the needs or preferences of everyone. Um, so she said, this is Teresa J.W. Bailey. I'm gonna have to um make sure that we shout her out when we do the podcast. There's a line item missing from almost every woman I know's financial plan. And I'm wearing it in this photo. And it may not be very a very flattering photo, but it's an honest one. Skin care is costly, both in dollars and recovery time. It's also sometimes very painful. Some women choose not to spend the dollars and age naturally. Some women squirrel away secret dollars and from the household because the spend is emotional and feels private. Um, some women pretend to be on vacation when they are really out of the office recovering from a treatment because their face looks like a cabbage patch doll. Some people want to plan for a facelift, but they don't even think, even think to talk to their financial advisor about the cost of recovery time and maybe even needing to pay for help during that time. Let's change that. So I know you're not doing plastic surgery. Sure. You're doing, but um I think it fits in what some people would consider elective and other people would consider a necessity. And there's no shame either way. I don't think, um, except for saying that each person gets to make their own decisions, but we should be part of the conversation. I just wanted to take a minute to reflect on that.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

Yeah, there's so many things about that. First of all, who is this woman? Let's, you know, invite her to my med spa to talk about this, tell my patients. But um, and I see it across the board. I see what you were saying in terms of, you know, it's secret money or they did budget for it, or um a common one is that they tell their boss they're at a doctor's appointment and they're not really lying, right? Like they are coming to a medical practice. Um, so I see it across the board, but I just think it's so amazing that we're having these conversations now. We're like starting to introduce this um talk around it with financial planning, because that means we've done something right over the years as females. Like we're always making more room for us uh at the table. And I'm really passionate about uh women-owned businesses and women's rights. And so just even the fact that that was posted is uh is pretty cool. So um in regards to the case.

SPEAKER_02 11:48

And it's really brave to share. I think it's important though, and helpful. Like when my friends talk about work that they do, um, skincare, uh plastic surgery, um, aesthetics, then I'm I always am curious. I have questions, and I think, you know, certain generations don't talk about those types of things and bringing it into the open can be really valuable to, you know, just be a little more real and authentic and and help educate each other.

SPEAKER_01 12:19

Right. We uh really place a huge emphasis on educating our patients on social media. That's probably like the biggest place that people find us. And the reason being is because we want to rid the stigma that, you know, these aren't hidden procedures that people are doing anymore. Like I guarantee you, if you're listening to this podcast, either you get something done at a med spa or your friend does. Um and uh yeah, I think it's I think it's just very popular now. And we want to rid the stigma, we want to educate our patients. And the one thing that we really emphasize when people are here for the first time, they get a full-face consult. Um, we have kind of two paths of our business. So we have an injectable path, which is our medical providers, and then we have a skincare path. So that's our lasers, um, our facials, our waxing, stuff like that um peels. Uh, so we have like two areas of experts that you would see. And the thing that we really uh feel is important is we're always up front about the costs. Like we are not hiding these costs from people. We are, hey, we recommend this and this is your cost. And if you're not ready to spend that right now, that's okay. But I think um people go into this thinking, oh my God, I'm gonna spend so much money. And it's really not the case. And yes, is this a luxury service? Absolutely. Like this is not a necessity. People don't need this to survive. Um, I'm very grateful that I'm in a field that I can see people that want to be in my office versus when I was in the emergency department. Um but yeah, we're really upfront about costs, and I think that has really helped because patients then tell their friends, like, hey, it actually wasn't as much as I thought it was, or you know what, they gave me a price, but uh I can't afford it right now, so I'm gonna save up for it. But at least I know at least there's transparency there. Uh so we've we've done really well with that being our method.

SPEAKER_02 14:02

I love

What A Full-Face Consult Looks Like

SPEAKER_02 14:03

that. So if someone schedules a consultation, tell us about the process. Like, what are you looking at to help um assess what types of services someone might like to invest in?

SPEAKER_01 14:14

Sure. So even though I own the practice and I um, you know, started it from the ground up, I do not claim to be the skincare expert. That is where my aestheticians come from. I've really uh am I really invested in their education to be the experts. So I'm the expert in the injectables, but uh, when a patient comes in, we call it a full face assessment and we talk about their goals and then we go over a couple of buckets of things because every modality we offer plays a different part in anti-aging. So it's not like you just come in and get Botox and that's your answer. Um, there's lots of different layers to it and things that treat different parts of uh aging. So we'll walk through all these, we'll explain them. Uh the big ones are neuromodulators are a fancy word for Botox. Um something called sculptra, which is a biostimulating agent, keeps everything nice and tight and lifted, and then filler. And filler gets a bad rap, uh, but the way we use it is not only tasteful, but it's uh not detectable. And I and what parts of your um face fill is the filler? Um so that's the thing. Like when you put a little bit everywhere, it's undetectable. When you put a lot in one area, that's when you notice uh that people have work done. And I will say 99% of my patients do not want people to notice that they've had something done. And I tell them, if they do notice it, then I've done a bad job. I haven't done my job responsibly or ethically to you. And what I think is really important for people to know that are interested or getting this done already is that you've never seen good filler. And you know, well, you probably have, but you don't know it's filler because it's done well, but you've noticed the bad filler, and that's the difference, right? So um, yeah, we walk through their whole face and we'll come up with the plan, either, you know, treatment same day. Usually people like get their toes a little wet with Botox because it's a little bit less invasive and they don't feel so committed to it. It's like, okay, it's temporary. And then um, and then we come up with a plan, they book their appointments. Um, and they like that. They like knowing what's going to take place at six months, a year from now, and what to keep doing if they want to keep um the anti-aging services going. So uh that's my side of things. And then the aestheticians talk about lasers and skincare and any services that they think would be um helpful. There is this really cool device that we have. It's called the Vizia machine, and it scans your face at a cellular level uh and it tells you your true skin age. So some people want to some people don't. Um I mean, I'll admit I might be willing to find out, but yeah. Uh so that's kind of how we treat like Does anybody come in younger though? Absolutely. Really? A bunch. Yes, absolutely. Um I'll tell you their secret is that they've been using sunscreen. So makes sense. Yes. It does. So who would have thought, you know?

SPEAKER_02 17:03

Shocking. I know. Um and so backing up for a minute, when people say what their goals are, I'm assuming the number one request, um, I say this as like I said before, a 51-year-old is aging, is starting to, you're starting to see the effects of aging. And how do we slow it down or reverse, reverse the clock?

SPEAKER_01 17:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:24

What are some of the others?

SPEAKER_01 17:27

Yeah, I think a lot, like my probably my favorite patients are my new mom patients. Um, you can't get these services when you're pregnant. Um, sometimes you can get them when you're breastfeeding, depends what they are. But uh I have a lot of new mom clients. And so I'll see them before they get pregnant, and then I won't see them for like 10 months. I'll be like, oh, and I kind of know, like, okay, they probably were pregnant, had a baby. And um, you know, as a mom myself, I know how much is uh how much you give and how much you forget about your own well-being. Um and not even looks, I mean just like your well-being, your your happiness and taking care of you. Your focus. Yeah. Yeah. I love seeing um moms come in that they haven't done anything for themselves in a very long time. And it doesn't even matter what they're getting, they're just happy to be here and um be away from like their new baby for even the first time and have driven to our office alone in the car. And um, so being a newer mom myself um to two young kids, I I really like I think that's really cool. I mean, that's really cool that that's a big demographic of ours. I love that.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

What age cohorts are using your services? Is it limited to any, like, is there a minimum age or no.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

Um, yeah. So I will say um I don't treat anyone less than 18 just legally. So it's very rarely do I um see patients less than early 20s. Um on my side, on the injectable side, I do know that the skincare side sees, you know, more uh younger patients. I think you know, social media has been on my side for the business and that people are doing filming their skincare routines on TikTok. And um that has helped this be more approachable for younger people too. Um, but my uh the millennials, they are they're coming in and they are getting pretty much everything.

SPEAKER_02 19:23

They beat my Gen Xers too in many cases, probably um percentage of use, I would have to assume. Um, and definitely starting age, I would think.

SPEAKER_01 19:33

Yeah, yeah. And then, you know, a m maximum age, I I do have very old clients, and we have the conversation where like, I don't really think what I'm doing is actually uh improving a wrinkle, but what it is improving is you still feeling good about yourself. And they know that and they're willing to pay money on that because there's there's no price tag, right? Like it's it makes them feel good and I'm happy to treat them as long as they have the proper expectations.

SPEAKER_02 20:00

So that's great. And you talked about your transparency when it comes to cost, and I love

Real Costs And How Long Results Last

SPEAKER_02 20:06

that. What could people, I'm sure there are ranges, but um what are typical like amounts of budget or investment that are needed?

SPEAKER_01 20:14

Yeah. So uh before I go into that, I will say I think it's important to know how long these things things last because things that are cheaper don't last as long. Um, so things like neuromodulators, fancy word for Botox, you can expect three to four months. And I would say the average cost is five to six hundred dollars every treatment. Okay. Um, and that's treating their full face. So uh patients listening to this have gotten Botox, maybe they've only treated their mean 11s, and that's that's actually when you start looking unnatural because when your face, uh, when I'm talking to you, uh maybe not now, my Botox is very fresh, but I'm usually using multiple muscles. So uh when we treat just one muscle group, the other muscles have to compensate. And so it starts to look a little weird. So that's a full face of Botox, should last you three or four months. Um, something like biostimulators is dependent on your age, and that's something we call sculpture. It grows your own collagenasticity, uh, and that will last you up to two years. But again, we're talking um, there's a big difference on your range, uh, your age range. So if you're in your young 30s, you're looking at $800. If you're in your mid-50s, you're you're looking at like $3,500. Um, so it just depends on where you are in your aging process of how much it's going to be. In terms of filler, uh, so usually I'll give you like our main demographic, I would say, is like later 30s. They're probably spending about $2,000 on filler, and that's for their whole phase. That's looking very natural. And it's gonna last them about a year and a half. Um, so that's why I think it's important to talk about longevity with these things, is because obviously sculpture and filler is more expensive, but that's because it lasts longer too. So got it.

SPEAKER_02 21:52

And then I guess this is getting into some of it. You're consulting with people and saying, hey, here's what your expectations should be. This is how this works. Educating along the way, consulting.

Green Flags And Red Flags In Providers

SPEAKER_02 22:03

What are some red flags, green flags, and red flags when you're assessing, you know, you're you're located in Metro Detroit. If our listener is in another state, um, what should you be looking for to assess the capabilities of because we both work in trust um trust professions where you know you really trust us you have you're you're trusting your body and your wallet and your investment accounts um to the professional. Um so tell us a little more about that.

SPEAKER_01 22:35

Sure. So I don't think there's any harm. Um so I'm gonna talk from the consumer side. So as a consumer, I don't think there's any harm in not only seeing multiple providers before you decide on which one is gonna be your, you know, go to. Um, know that that might come with some consultation costs, right? But um I think there's no harm in I I don't want to say shopping around because I feel like that gives like a bad connotation, but I don't feel like there's anything wrong seeing a couple different injectors and finding which one uh works best for you. The other thing is that um obviously they should be a medical professional, that's a given, but they should look normal. So if they do not look normal or you're not going for that look, it's probably not the right fit because what they've done to themselves is probably what they what their method is, what their injection style is. And so um I would veer from that. And then always ask for before and afters. I um I don't follow too many accounts, I get some imposter syndrome, but on social media, I'll notice that uh some accounts don't have before and afters. It's a lot of like stock images, or maybe they're just posting their location, which is fine. Like we mix that in too. But the before and afters, like you have to know what to expect. You have to see their work, it's their portfolio, right? So um I think that's that's good to ask questions. Some of my best patients, they come in, they've done some research, and um they'll be like, Do you have a picture of that? Do you have a before and after? And I'm like, Yes, I do. I have a whole album, whole photo album of everything that we've done and that people could ask to see. So I think that's important. With that being said, I didn't always have that. It took me, you know, a long time to get here and some experience. Uh the last thing I'll say is that I think admitting that you're continuing, uh continuously learning is admirable and someone that I would want to go to because I know that they're serious about their education and investing in it and not just staying with like the old trends or the old research. Um, so I've had patients for eight years, and what I did to them eight years ago, I'm not doing to them now because I've grown and I've learned and there's so much more research coming out about uh our industry. And so my patients that trusted me eight years ago, they're still trusting me because I'm like, hey, we did that before, but like I don't think that looks good anymore. That's not really like what's best for you. Let's change it to this. And I think they like really respect that. So um, those are some tips I would say as a consumer.

SPEAKER_02 24:56

Wow, that really um resonates with me as well. There's we probably both work in fields where there's been a lot of change over the years, learning. And um it it can be, there are providers that do the same thing always, and there are in in at least in my field um in financial planning. And there are also people where, you know, you're changing with the times, and not just for the sake of change or for a sales purpose, but because um in the in a modernizing world and and things are um changing so quickly, but and we focus a lot on what's negative when it comes to change, but there's a lot of really positive um opportunities to improve the services we deliver. So I I just admire that perspective from you, Stephanie. Thanks.

Talking Openly With Partners About Spending

SPEAKER_02 25:47

Um, I would just mention too, so when you talk to people, have you learned any tips or tricks? I guess like I want to leave a little space here at the end of the episode to just encourage people to have more um transparent conversations with the people that um matter, whether it's um if you're if you make shared financial decisions in a family, um, you know, they could listen to this episode, for example. And or like as a wealth management practitioner, I would welcome my clients saying, Hey, I would love it if you told me I could afford um to work with um someone like Stephanie. So first of all, if you don't feel like you have uh working with a professional that would welcome that conversation, I think it's important, you know, it's important to consider that because this for some people can be a really important part of their life and how they feel like themselves in their own skin. Um and I just would encourage you to have more transparent conversations.

SPEAKER_01 26:50

I don't know if you have any experiences or anything you would add in there, but no, I mean, I I encourage my female patients to bring their male partners to the appointment if they're nervous about how their significant other is going to look. Um and honestly, a lot of my female patients that um have male partners have brought their partners in. And men listen to me. Um, like they stay on their regimen. They're like every three months religiously they are getting their Botox. And um, because they've seen, like, oh, you can still look normal and no one's gonna know that I've done this. And so I encourage uh it's mostly males, and I don't mean to be like condescending to that, but I feel like they see a lot of bad filler. Uh people have huge lips and they're not tasteful and or bad Botox, and that's the only thing they know about my industry. So I would say, like, you know, be open to it, go with your partner to the uh appointment, see what it's all about. Uh and I I will also say a lot of, so we've all female staff, and um a lot of our partners are were very weary about us doing this the first time. So when we have new um team members, you always know like their partner is like, oh God, I'm nervous about what they're gonna look like working there. Um, but like most of them get it now. Like most of them are in here for treatment all the time too. So uh I would just be like open and honest with your partner about what matters to you. Um and if it is within the budget, I think it's just as important as uh, you know, my husband, for example, he plays golf every Thursday. And that's his budget. That's his fun money. And if I didn't work here, this would probably be my funny, my my fun money too. So I think it's just good to have open conversations about what matters to you, regardless of if it's aesthetics or not.

SPEAKER_02 28:35

Yeah, and one person's necessity is another person's discretionary um spending. And as a financial planner, I love to say yes to people if it is a fit and doable with the money. If not, I am professionally obligated to say, I really would love for you to be able to do that, but I'm concerned and here's why. Um, but you know, having conversations about things that um might not just be on the initial questionnaire at a typical, you know, investment only planner. Yeah. To me is financial planning done right.

SPEAKER_01 29:08

So yeah, no, I think that's I think that's amazing that you're that you do that. I think it's amazing that you're opening this conversation for women or men to talk about it. Um yeah, I think I think it's great. And I you said something like, oh, it's you know, my profession, my professional responsibility to say no, this doesn't work within your budget. And I feel like it's my professional responsibility to tell people, no, I don't think this is worth you doing. Save your money, you know. And I think that's another tip I would say to the consumer is look for someone who's willing to say no. I say no all the time, all the time. I say no more than I say yes. Um I think that's that means that not only their business is successful, but they're really looking out for you.

SPEAKER_02 29:45

I love that. And it does, there's a standard of care that you can choose to embrace, um, whether it's medical professional, financial professional, um, that really is an honor of not just doing a job, but having a career in professionalism that that brings exactly what you said in terms of your why brings you back to the best part of your your job and profession. So keep it up, Stephanie. Thank you.

Where To Follow And Visit In Ferndale

SPEAKER_02 30:10

Where can people find you if they're curious about learning, learning more and following you?

SPEAKER_01 30:15

Yeah. So our most robust marketing is where millennials go, and that's Instagram. Uh it's called the Aesthetic Method with an A. Uh, our website is the aestheticmethod.com. We're also on TikTok. You know, I'm trying to get better with that. Um, and then we are, I really um invite people to come see our new location. It is stunning. Our designers absolutely crushed it. Our contractors were amazing, and it's located on Troy Street in uh Ferndale, right uh next to One Eyed Buddies, if you're familiar. So come on, stop by, buy some skincare, just come look, take pictures. It's really, it's really cool. I'm very proud of it.

SPEAKER_02 30:50

Congratulations on the new location. I may have to stop by. Yes, please do. Thanks so much, Stephanie. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 31:06

Thank you for listening to the Women's Money Wisdom podcast. If you found value in this episode, the best way that you can support the podcast is to forward an episode to a friend or leave a review. Go to ProPlan.com and the podcast link to get all the resources and links mentioned. This presentation by Pro Planning is intended for general information purposes only. No portion of this presentation serves as the receipt of or substitute for personal investment advice from Pro Planning or any other investment professional of your choosing. Copies of Pro Planning's current rent and disclosure brochure and form CRS discussing our advisory services and fees are available upon request or on our website platform at PerlPlan.com. The information that we share is meant to educate and inspire, not serve as personalized financial advice. Everyone's situation is unique, so be sure to consult with your own financial professional for guidance that fits your life. And just so you know, the opinions shared in this podcast are Melissa's own and those of her guests. They don't necessarily represent any organizations with which Melissa is affiliated. For more important disclosures, please go to our webpage at ProPlan.com.