In this episode of the Business of Aesthetics podcast, host Michael Walker sits down with Dominique Waples Truffle, an accomplished practice owner who successfully grew her business from a single location to a thriving multi-location operation with over 1,200 membership patients. Together, they discuss “Scaling Smart, From One Location to a Thriving Membership Model.”
Dominique shares the biggest challenges she faced during her expansion, particularly the “terrifying” mental block of letting go of control when moving from one to two locations. She emphasizes the importance of intentional systems, processes, and a strong culture centered on employee experience to maintain the personal touch that patients love. Dominique also provides insight into her successful membership model, explaining how it creates predictable revenue for the practice and a sense of belonging for patients.
For any aesthetics professional looking to expand their practice, this episode offers an invaluable guide to achieving sustainable growth through a focus on team empowerment, culture, and a smart, scalable business model.
Key Takeaways
- Overcome the Fear of Losing Control
The jump from one to two locations is often the most terrifying step. The biggest challenge is getting past the mental block of letting go of control and accepting that you cannot be at every location at all times. - Build a Company Based on a Strong Team and Culture
The team you build is the company you build. Empower your employees by providing them with the company’s vision and core values. When faced with a decision, employees should be able to act based on company values, not on what the owner would do. - Implement Systems and Processes
To successfully replicate your business, you need well-documented systems and processes. You should be intentional about creating these systems, even if you are not a “natural systems person.” Michael suggests a dashboard with a few key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor the business’s health from a distance. - Create a Thriving Membership Model
A membership model helps the practice by creating a predictable revenue stream and increasing patient retention. It also benefits patients by making them feel they are getting good value and belonging to a community. - Maintain Your Relational Capital
The relational side of the business is the “gold bars” of your business. The brand is more than just a logo; it’s the consistent experience patients have at every location. Using a CRM to track client preferences can help create a highly personalized, “Michelin 4-star restaurant” experience.
Key Highlights:
- 00:15:03 – Introduction View Transcript
Michael Walker: Welcome to another episode of the Business of Aesthetics podcast. I’m Michael Walker, your host for today’s conversation. Before we dive in, I want to thank all of our incredible listeners from the United States, Canada, and around the globe. Your continued support means the world to us. A special thank you also goes out to our sponsor for this episode, Equa Marketing. With nearly 20 years of experience, Ekwa is a leader in digital marketing services for aesthetic practices. By the way, they’re offering our listeners a complimentary digital marketing consultation, complete with a tailor-made 12-month strategy for your practice. I have seen the outcome of these things, and they’re wonderful, and really worth the opportunity to take a hold of them, but if you head over to www.businessofaesthetics.org/msm, and you can book your consultation today. So I really encourage you to go ahead and take advantage of that complimentary offer. There’s no tricks or hooks in there, just simply a complimentary offer.
- 00:16:18 – Meet the Guest View Transcript
Michael Walker: So, let’s dive into today’s topic, growing and scaling without overwhelm. That’s a great way to put it, with Anita Lane. And today, I am excited to welcome Anita Lane, a seasoned aesthetics industry leader with nearly two decades of experience helping practices grow strategically while maintaining a balance. Anita, it is great to have you here with us today. Thank you for taking the time. You’re a veteran with us, and we so appreciate all your input and all your wisdom.
Anita Layne: Hey, Michael, it’s such a pleasure to be with you folks again. I really appreciate the opportunity to help your audience figure out how to grow and scale without.
Michael Walker: Getting overwhelmed.
Anita Layne: Yes, exactly. That’s the thing. Exactly.
Michael Walker: Well, Anita has worked extensively in sales, marketing, and practice development, and she’s passionate about teaching owners how to scale their businesses without sacrificing standards, culture, and probably most important, peace of mind. Wouldn’t we all like to know that is the foundation of how we go to work every day?
- 00:17:12 – The Challenge of Growth View Transcript
Michael Walker: In this episode, we’ll explore practical strategies for managing growth without burnout, supporting client relationships in the digital age, maintaining service and culture as practices expand, adding new revenue streams, and achieving predictable income in an often unpredictable industry. Anita, again, thank you so much for joining us. To start, though, what’s the very first step you would recommend for a med spa owner or aesthetics professional who wants to grow their business without feeling overwhelmed? and make their vision manageable. What a great question.
Anita Layne: I, you know, I love this question, Michael, absolutely. I think the very first step is to get clear on your capacity. And what I mean by that is both your operational capacity in your business organization, as well as your emotional capacity. Growth without a clear operational plan is really the recipe for the burnout. So I’m always telling, you know, practice owners and med spawn owners, or just solopreneurs, simplify before you try to scale. What that means is you’re going to want to be auditing your current client journey, trimming away any service offerings that aren’t really aligned with the ideal client you’re trying to reach and serve, and automating some of those repetitive tasks. The moment that you feel like you’re drowning is usually the moment when you either need to delegate or systematize, or both. And scaling doesn’t have to really feel like sprinting uphill all the time. it can. Feel like a flow when your systems are aligned with the vision and the energy, and you’ve really identified those areas that you want to focus on.
Michael Walker: Yeah, thank you, Nina. I think simplify before you scale. I mean, I think that’s one of the things. We tend to… well, I have to… I can speak for the male side of the audience, that we tend to do a lot of stuff forever, and put everything in the pot. And, you know, there’s this need to just break it down. What’s… I like to focus in my coaching realm, what is the next right step? Simplify it. You know, and we always, like, what’s your passion? What are you passionate about? What are the core values that are non-negotiable? And what do you want your story to be in 5 to 10 years from now? simplify, and bring it down, and I think that’s just… I know that’s one of your strengths, is how… helping people do that. And you just… just laying that out, just… just simply… and something to our listeners, make sure that as you’re taking notes, don’t try and capture everything. Capture the sound bites that really stick out to you, that… that you could make an actionable step forward. As soon as you get off this… podcast. So, I’ll leave that thought.
- 00:19:49 – Client Relationships View Transcript
Michael Walker: And the second question I have for you, Anita, is how can we support and nurture relationships in a hands-on client business? Without the tools in today’s digital world.
Anita Layne: Yeah, that, again, another great question. You know, this industry especially, client relationships are really the heartbeat. You’re physically touching people, you’re, often perhaps even a functional medicine or a healer, in the healing space. You don’t have to sacrifice that personal touch, and you really can’t. That’s part of what you’re actually delivering to the client. But just because you’re using digital tools doesn’t have to make it impersonal. In fact, I actually believe that the digital tools can enhance the intimacy level between you and your client if they are used intentionally. Things like very personalized email follow-ups, the automated things, simple things like birthday or anniversary texts, check-ins that are sent out automatically after services 3 or 4 days later to see how recovery might be going, or to check for bruising, or whatnot. All of those little touches about caring about the individual build the trust. When you layer in something like a digital tool, like a CRM and the client experience platform that really remembers those preferences. and prompts your team to follow up, then you’re going to be able to create that consistent relationship-rich experience at scale. My favorite thing to teach is what I call that tech-assisted touch, using those automations to remind people that they really matter.
Michael Walker: Yeah, and that’s the… that real… really matter. I mean, it’s coming back down to people and relationships and building trust, which is a huge aspect of this industry. And I think, you know, when you think of that digital side, you know, review, you know, like, we… We love to get reviews and likes and all those kind of things, and they’re part of the digital footprint, and they… they get tracked, and the words get tracked, and everything gets fed back in, and it becomes very powerful. One of the things we’ve seen that really is a game changer in that realm is when you go beyond just a review or a like to an actual, what we call a love story. how they were touched by the people that touched them. You know, there’s a saying, we don’t… people don’t care. how much you know until they know how much you care, which I know you’re very passionate about, Anita, but I think it’s just so important to… to remember how can… to keep that personal touch to it, because at the end of the day. The type of work you’re doing, the intensity of it, it requires a high level of trust, and trust can only be built through sustainable relationships, and sustainable relationships come from vulnerability, transparency, authenticity, all those big words we love to use these days. But at the end of the day, how… what are you doing in your system that’s ensuring that you’re protecting the integrity of the trust that you’re pursuing? Does that make sense?
Anita Layne: It does, and also, a word that comes to mind for me is anticipatory. When you set your digital system up to really anticipate the needs, the questions, the… things that delight your client, they know, wow, they really thought about this in advance to set a system up that really addresses these things. I didn’t even know I really wanted that until… so that anticipatory service, these are the things you find at, you know, legendary five-star places like the Waldorf Astoria or the Plaza Hotel. They anticipate the needs of the client before the client even arrives, so yeah.
Michael Walker: Yeah, that’s… absolutely. The hospitality industry is a great model to consider and look at in the sky.
Anita Layne: Absolutely. you say that, I have 25 years in that industry as well, before I even got into, you know, marketing and aesthetics and beauty, so… And it all plays into it, for sure.
Michael Walker: And it’s that we… we talk about the anticipation, we… how do we… anybody can meet a customer’s needs just by providing what they ask for. to exceed their needs is that it became a little more personal, it felt more customized. But to unexpectedly delight them that’s where the game changes. That’s where you’re doing something they… they had no idea… I just… I never expected that. And it just… and hospitality, I worked a lot with, a couple of, five-star brands, and We worked hard at trying to develop those unexpectedly delighted moments. And we actually focused on housekeeping staff to identify opportunities where we could see in a client’s garbage can that there was a Mars bar wrapper and an empty Coke can. Not that those are particularly healthy, but we could…
Anita Layne: Filling, though, yeah.
Michael Walker: The next day, that night when that guest came back to the room, what was sitting on the counter with a note? Mars Bar. You know, it’s those little things, and finding ways to be unique, but you can’t do that without… from a mechanical or digital structure, it has to be interactions with people, and to your point, which is what this is all about, so… yeah.
Anita Layne: True, yeah, good stuff.
- 00:25:04 – Maintaining Standards as a Business Grows View Transcript
Michael Walker: Anita, the next question I have for you is, how can a business maintain standards of service results and culture as their business grows, and what are the crucial things to focus on?
Anita Layne: Yeah, so growth really reveals those gaps, right? So as you’re scaling and growing, you’re like, oh my gosh. that’s gonna go off the rails if we don’t address it, right? So the way to keep that quality high as you’re growing is through the clarity and the repeatability. That’s why the simplification at the front end before the scaling is so necessary. You really need those crystal clear standard operating procedures, those SOPs, for every part of your business. You need to know what your process is, where the client touchpoints are along Along the way, through the entire current experience. The culture is the soul of the business, so that comes from, you know, your hiring, your training, the modeling, the values you want to see in your staff. I always encourage my clients to really think of their team as brand ambassadors, not just employees. They’re really representing the culture and the brand. If everyone knows the why behind the service standards, they’re going to deliver it even when you’re not in the room. You’re gonna scale by creating leaders, and not just delegating tasks. And when it’s systematized, and there’s no questions, and it’s being modeled from the top down. I think the culture just begins to… be organically developed, which is really the only way to develop culture. You cannot create culture manually. Culture is kind of similar to brand. you can do what you want, but your brand is how people perceive you, and you only have so much control over that. It’s a feeling, it’s an emotional…
- 00:27:54 – New Revenue Streams View Transcript
Michael Walker: So, let’s talk about new revenue streams. What are some of the most effective strategies for introducing new revenue streams without confusing your existing clients or disrupting your current operations?
Anita Layne: Yeah, well, I think it starts with a great vision. You know, you really wanna start with a low-risk strategy. Consider a pilot program with a small group of your ideal clients. You can call it your VIP group, and use their feedback to refine your offering and make sure that it’s aligned, and then you can launch more broadly. Your patients already trust you with their well-being, so introducing something that’s complementary to your existing services makes perfect sense. They already trust you for your judgment and your recommendations. It’s the path of least resistance. You can always start by analyzing your patient data to look for trends and demand. You know, if you have a lot of patients who are interested in weight loss or hormone optimization or skincare, that’s where you might want to consider adding a new revenue stream, or even perhaps a new provider with expertise in those areas. The whole key to this is to integrate it seamlessly into your existing operations. We’re back to that simplification and that systematization. What does your client journey look like and how does this new offering fit into that client journey? It’s really about solving another problem for your patient. What’s the next problem your patient is facing that you can help them with? Because we have this great trust relationship already established, and we have this platform with which to communicate to them, right?
Michael Walker: And, you know, I think what’s so critical about what you just said is, because we live in a world of social media, and you can just see… I just saw a video the other day with somebody holding a card up with all the things they do, and you’re just like, wow, you are… you are, you know, an aesthetics, you’re a med spa, you’re a chiropractor, you’re a financial advisor, like, you’re all these things to all these people, and that’s exactly what you said, is it confuses your existing and potentially new clients, and so when you go back to that simplifying, you know, what’s our core values, what’s our why, what’s the story we wanna tell? You know, is this new revenue stream in line with that? And if it is, then go for it. If it’s not, just don’t do it. Just cause it sounds cool, or someone else is doing it, or, you know, it’s just something that you can add in, just because you can doesn’t mean you should, and I think that’s a huge thing. And that goes to the whole overwhelm part of this, right? Is that we just try to do so much. We try to be so much to so many people that we end up being nothing to anyone, and that’s, I think that’s what you just so simply put.
- 00:30:26 – Achieving Predictable Income View Transcript
Michael Walker: The next question I have for you is, what is the key to creating predictable income in an industry that’s often unpredictable?
Anita Layne: Yeah, well, you know, this is the Holy Grail, right, for every business. How do you forecast revenue? And, you know, it’s the beauty of this. Is that so many of the services that we offer are repeat. So the key is to really move from that transaction-based model to a relationship-based model. We’ve talked about that a lot already. And the way to do that is to put your offerings into a predictable model for the client. So that can be something like, you know, your membership or subscription models for your recurring treatments, your med spa treatments, things like that. Or even your bundled package deals where, you know, you get more than one thing at a time. The more that you’re able to lock people in for a year or a six month period, the more predictable your revenue stream is going to become. The other thing is that you have a certain number of new patients that you take in every single month, and you need to look at your capacity, you need to look at your close rate, you need to look at all of the data, and we can talk about that a little bit, but there are certain things, you know, the KPIs, the Key Performance Indicators that you should be looking at. This is a very predictable business model, because it is a relationship, it is a referral-based business model, if it’s done well, and so you can really forecast for growth very simply just by putting some systems and some predictability in there on your side and on the patient’s side.
Michael Walker: And is there a platform that you… do you have a name for that or is there a way that people can go and check out something like that?
Anita Layne: Well, you know, I think it’s, for me, when I’m looking at, you know, a marketing strategy, it’s not just a CRM, it’s a full-on client experience platform. So it’s something that, you know, we’re building into, you know, the Ekwa systems and the offerings that we have to our clients, because it’s not enough to just manage the client data. You have to be able to see where the client is at any given point in their journey. And that is so, so important. And that’s what, you know, the client experience platform is all about. It’s about seeing all of the touchpoints, it’s about seeing all of the data that’s being, you know, being created by that relationship so that you can forecast revenue, so that you can see where the gaps are, so that you can see where people are falling off in your funnel, you know?
- 00:33:04 – Closing Thoughts View Transcript
Michael Walker: So, if you’re a listener, and you’re listening to this, and all this sounds so complicated, and I’m not a marketing expert, I’m a surgeon, I’m a spa owner, I’m… this isn’t what I went to school for. What I want to share with you is that that’s the reason why you partner with people that are already experts in this. And that’s why, again, the sponsor for this is Ekwa Marketing, and they have been a leader in this for nearly 20 years. They’ve been a leader in this for a reason, and they understand the industry better than any other. I’ve worked with a lot of them, and I’m just telling you from the ground level, nobody really gets it. Like, they get it, and so what they’ve done is they’ve created these systems to take away the overwhelm for the marketing side, for the digital side. I’m gonna ask you to remember that. You recall I mentioned at the beginning that there’s a complimentary digital marketing consultation available for you with a custom 12-month strategy. As I said before, it’s not a… there’s no hooks to it. It’s simply, I know that they actually go in and spend about 4 or 5 hours kind of doing a forensic digital deep dive on what you got there now and come back with ideas of what’s working, what’s not, what could be done better, and things that could be added on. So, again, it’s a wonderful opportunity. If you go to www.businessofaesthetics.org/msm and you can book a session. It’s with Lila, she’s the Director of Marketing for Ekwa. She’s phenomenal, and so I really encourage you to take, take up that opportunity. We’ve kind of made it clear that those are… that’s some of the low-hanging fruit that’s available, and helps take over… take out some of that overwhelm we’ve been talking about. So, again, Anita, thank you so much for your time, and until next time.
GUEST – Dominique Waples-Trefil
Dominique Waples-Trefil is the co-founder & CEO of RESTOR Medical Spa in Denver, Colorado. She is an entrepreneur, public speaker, and a recognized leader in the medical aesthetics industry. Before pivoting to entrepreneurship, she had a career as an assistant deputy district attorney for the City and County of Denver, advocating for survivors of family violence.
Alongside her sister, Dr. Flora Waples, Dominique co-founded RESTOR Medical Spa in 2011. She has successfully scaled the business from a single location to a thriving multi-location operation with over 1,200 membership patients. Her expertise lies in implementing systems, building strong team cultures, and creating a predictable revenue stream through her membership model. She is also a recognized authority on leadership, hiring, and building a brand that can sustain multi-location expansion.
HOST – MICHAEL WALKER
Michael Walker is a seasoned leadership coach and analyst (Q.MED) who is passionate about adding value to individuals and helping them unlock their untapped potential. With over 35 years of diverse business experience, he specializes in organizational development, succession planning, conflict resolution, and mediation.
As a Qualified (Q.MED) mediator with the ADR Institute of Canada and an Analyst (WFA) with the Workplace Fairness Institute, Michael has a strong foundation in conflict resolution and workplace dynamics.
His expertise extends to providing workshops and seminars that equip participants with practical tools to apply immediately for improved relationships, fairness, innovation, productivity, and profitability.
Michael is dedicated to supporting personal and professional transformations and is committed to helping individuals achieve greater financial, relational, physical, spiritual, and emotional prosperity through his coaching and advisory services.