Rising Stars: Meet Stephanie Stewart, PA-C of Ferndale, Michigan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Stewart, PA-C.

Hi Stephanie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
On March 23rd, 2005 I was in my best friend’s car on the way to high school when I was launched through the windshield after hitting head-on with another vehicle. I sustained multiple injuries mostly to my face. For years after that I underwent multiple facial reconstructive surgeries and procedures. It was the last thing a teenage girl wanted to be going through. However, to this day, I have never considered it a negative experience in my life because it not only made me who I am, but also gave me such perspective for my career. Throughout this experience, I knew I wanted to help people, which lead me into the medical field. Being a Metro Detroit native, I attended Wayne State University for my undergraduate degree and University of Bridgeport for my Masters in Physician Assistant Studies. During clinicals, I realized I was good, quick and precise with my hands, leading me to practice Emergency Medicine, where I could be continuously performing procedures.

Then, years later and with thousands of procedures under my belt, I found myself extremely burned out. I was ready to leave medicine all together, but was crippled by student loans. I started training in injectables and applying to dermatology and plastic surgery offices just to pay off my loans, however, no one would hire me. Then one day I googled how to start my own business and that is when The Aesthetic Method was born. 7 years later and a dream team of 10 and I’d say we’re pretty good at what we do.

I spent a lot of my career working in the emergency department and although I was literally saving lives, I never got to build relationships with patients. Something was always missing. The way medical providers made me feel when I was in a horrific accident was how I wanted my patients to feel, but it never felt that way. Now working in aesthetics I not only see patients that choose to see me, but get to know them on such a personal level. We have a joke at our office that botox is cheaper than therapy because our patients become family and often feel comfortable enough to cry in our treatment chairs.

I’ve always known I wasn’t the smartest person in school, but I worked hard to get everything I’ve ever had. My parents instilled in me that if I didn’t like something about my life, it was up to me to go and change it. I did just that with my career. I hated working in the emergency department so much that one day I took an injectable class. I was the tiniest fish in a huge pond, heck I still am. However, I always stayed true to myself and work ethic. I worked hard, started small and slowly but surely built an amazing team of 10. We get asked a lot how it happened and I have a few secrets; I never call my staff employees, they are my team, I treat them how I have always wanted to be treated in my career, I make sure they put their personal lives first because if that’s not good, their work life definitely won’t be either, and lastly I honor their input in regards to the growth of the company. We have had little to no turnover.

Leading a team is not the only thing I pride myself in as a business owner, I also have worked really hard to develop my injectable skills. There is a lot of education that must be obtained before you can take a needle to someone’s face, however there are no regulations with it being such a new field. I knew that in order to give my patients the best results I had to make sure I was educated the best. I traveled, and sent my staff, around the country to train with leading injectors in the field. Our goal has always been to rid the stigma that these treatments are vain and superficial, but instead to empower individuals to feel good about themselves. We’ve taken a full facial balancing approach so that when others see the work we’ve done to our clients, they have no idea why they look so good, they just know they do. You will never see any of our clients walking around with enormous lips and looking unnatural. I actually follow very few injectable accounts on social media because I stay in my lane. I never want to follow what others are doing.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I went to physician assistant school and therefore never took a business class. Performing injectables and developing relationships with clients was never the hard part. It was learning how to start, build and operate a business through the years. In 2020, as the world was shutting down, I knew I had to invest in what I wanted to grow and that is when I found an amazing business coach that would forever change the trajectory of the business and ultimately my life. I’ve had to make really hard decisions and have really tough conversations throughout the years, but I do not regret a single one.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We’ve had zero to no turnover at The Aesthetic Method and it is because of how I lead my team. First and foremost, they are not my employees, I don’t own them. They are my team. Second, I invest in them. I spend tens of thousands of dollars each year educating and promoting them to be the best in their industry. Even if they leave TAM, I want them to look back and be thankful for the opportunity they had to be the best they could. I also involve them in decision making for the company. I want them to feel part of the growth. Their opinion matters. Lastly, I never have left the arena. I will never make decisions about roles I have no idea about. They deserve a leader who understands what their day to day looks like in order to make important decisions.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
You do not have to own a medical spa to be a successful injector. I also see injectors start these huge practices, open a couple locations at once, buy a ton of machines, hire a bunch of staff and expect patients to come strolling through their doors. My advice would start small and build slowly. I would also advise that injectors figure out what fills their cup because for me it wasn’t the hustle mentality. Instead it was building a sustainable business that I could step away from when I needed to and have the freedom to enjoy my life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theaestheticmethod.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theaestheticmethod/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theaestheticmethod
• Other: Is there a way to link our google reviews?