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The Challenge: Building a Standout Practice
Before founding Citrus Aesthetics, Jessica honed her skills in the fast-paced environment of ER medicine. A mentor recommended she explore aesthetics, particularly PDO thread lifts, due to her natural talent. After working at a medspa in Arizona and gaining experience for over a year, she and her family moved to California.
While juggling part-time work in a medspa and a full-time position in urgent care, Jessica hit a low point due to being in a very negative and toxic work environment. With her naturally positive, genuine, and energetic personality, it took a significant toll on her mental health. It was during this lowest moment that the idea of Citrus was sparked. She wanted to create an empowering, positive, and rejuvenating space and culture, where she could thrive as a provider and welcome others in to help them reach their potential in confidence as well.
As she worked at another med spa at that time, she gained many skills as an injector but found that appointments were rushed and she wasn't able to deliver the education and care she strived to.
She decided to turn that low point into an opportunity. “At that point I started to think, how can I take everything I’m doing here and make it even better? How can I optimize this experience and implement everything I’m good at?” she shared, explaining how this pivotal moment pushed her to open her own medspa.
Determined to optimize her clients’ experiences, Jessica founded Citrus Aesthetics despite limited financial resources.
“Unfortunately, I’m not the heir to a lot of money. I had to figure out how to do it financially. I didn’t want to take out a big loan, so I took out my 401(k) to start Citrus. I have no regrets, that’s been paid back, but it was a scary thing to do.”
Even though she was serious about opening a practice, and had the drive, commitment, and aesthetic experience to do well, she needed business insight and experience to help her build a standout practice — “I don’t come from a family of business owners,” she shared, “there was so much unknown that it felt very overwhelming.”
“When I began in Emergency Medicine and then transitioned into aesthetics, I began to realize my dream and vision of opening up my own medical aesthetics clinic. I knew I had the necessary skills, drive, perseverance, and passion but I didn’t have the business insight or experience. That’s where Moxie came in to make my dream a reality," she shared.
The Solution: A Partner for Every Step of the Journey
For Jessica, finding Moxie was integral to her success. “At the time, I literally knew no one who was running a solo practice, I didn’t know another PA. I did a Google search and came up with Moxie. I knew I needed to invest in people who knew what I didn’t know, and the biggest key with partnering with Moxie was the fact that they had so many answers to my unanswered questions.”
“When I first heard about Moxie and what they offer, it was a breath of fresh air. I knew it was the right fit for me. There was so much to figure out with legal aspects, organization, and so many details I was unsure about that Moxie had the answers to. To have people that I have the foundation and full guidance from gave me so much peace of mind to accomplish my goal.”
As soon as Jessica signed her contract with Moxie she began to receive support to help her through every step of the launch.
"Having Moxie’s assistance in guiding me through all the steps was essential in starting my practice. They educated me, connected me to resources, and explicitly laid out each step to make my business a success. Their help was truly key to efficiently and effectively starting my medspa.”
Working with Moxie gave Jessica a step-by-step approach to help her with everything from finding a medical director and insurance broker who specialized in medspas to finding the perfect location and setting up relationships (and securing discounts!) with relevant pharma suppliers.
“Whenever I needed help, they were available and always had my back. I felt like they were as invested in me as I was in myself, which brought me peace of mind in this grandiose undertaking!"
With everything in place, Jessica was ready to open Citrus Aesthetics.
The Results: A Triumphant Launch & Successful Growth
During the soft launch period, Jessica worked 2-3 days a week at the practice (while still maintaining her urgent care job). Despite only working part-time at the start, Citrus brought in over $10,000 in sales in the first month, becoming cash flow positive in its first month, and grew to over $18,000 in sales in the second month.
“I was off to a running start with the help of Moxie! It was a lot of work and a huge learning curve but it is 100% worth it,” Jessica shared.
Moxie’s support allows her to focus on providing the best care for her clients without the stress of managing the backend logistics. She also loves the support she gets to help her medspa thrive.
“My PSM is like my work wife, I have so much support from her. She supports me with any feedback I need. I know when I have an issue, she is there to answer my questions and give me support. It feels like she’s just a part of my business. We have regular meetings where I can get advice, receive feedback, and discuss how I can optimize Citrus.”
As Jessica reflects on her journey, one key milestone stands out: “When I reached 100 5-star reviews within six months of my business, it was such an incredible milestone,” she says. Now with nearly 300 five-star reviews, Citrus Aesthetics continues to thrive, driven by Jessica’s passion and the strong foundation built with Moxie’s support.
“Without the support of a medspa company like Moxie, I would not be in the place that I am. I truly think that in partnering with Moxie, they've allowed my potential to thrive."
Jessica also shared, “Moxie has influenced my patient numbers, my growth over time, gross sales, and how many leads I'm getting from marketing. When I take a look at those numbers, I think ‘what would I have been able to accomplish if it was me trying to run this on my own?’ I can't even fathom where I'd be at. All of those factors are things Moxie has helped me with to become an exponentially thriving med spa.”
Besides building a one-of-a-kind practice, she’s also able to live her life more fully and take time to spend with family and friends.
“One of the most fulfilling things is after two years of running a business, I’m still happily married to my husband of 15 years. I’m still a mom to two beautiful kids. And I’ve been able to achieve building up this third baby of Citrus while still being able to be the mom I want to be and the wife I want to be.”
With Citrus Aesthetics now a well-established medspa, Jessica’s next venture is to replicate her success and franchise the brand. “I’m creating a franchise opportunity with a full training program and mentoring from me,” she explains, eager to share her knowledge and help others succeed.
Jessica has trained nationally and internationally with some of the world’s top aesthetic providers (including Julie Horne, Dr. Shino Bay, Dr. Tim Pearce, Dr. Tom Van Eijk, Julie Bass Kaplan, Dr. Ayad Harb and many more), continually investing in and prioritizing continuing education to deliver the most natural and beautiful results for her clients. Her passion for elevating the aesthetics industry through education runs deep, and as a former teacher, she is committed to educating and supporting solo aesthetic providers. Through Citrus Training Academy, Jessica has personally trained dozens of providers one-on-one at Citrus, offering unique immersive learning experiences that cover advanced clinical techniques and invaluable med spa business insights. She believes in collaboration over competition and is dedicated to empowering her trainees with the knowledge that has contributed to her success, helping them become confident, skilled providers and successful med spa owners.
For aspiring medspa owners, Jessica offers this advice:
“You have to have an underlying passion. I call it a very reasonable obsession. You have to love what you do, that’s what will get you through harder times. Running a solo practice isn’t easy, but it’s so fulfilling.”
Need a strategic business partner? Reach out to Moxie today to expedite your medspa’s growth.
