Power Women: Melanie Speed Of Flawless Medspa On How To Successfully Navigate Work, Love and Life As A Powerful Woman
…Resilience. To make it in business you must come to terms with the idea of failure and delayed gratification. So fail! Fail fast and try again. Try things you’re not good at and NEVER take no for an answer. Far before I conceived Flawless Medspa, I conceived my twins during my final year of nursing school. My dean pulled me in her office and suggested I stop school until after the kids were born and be a stay-at-home mother until they were a little older. I said I needed money to raise those little babies and refused to leave. I did my clinical rotations eight months pregnant, they often had to tell me to go sit down at the nurse’s station. But I was resilient and graduated two months after they were born…
How does a successful, strong, and powerful woman navigate work, employee relationships, love, and life in a world that still feels uncomfortable with strong women? In this interview series, called “Power Women” we are talking to accomplished women leaders who share their stories and experiences navigating work, love and life as a powerful woman.
As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Melanie Speed MSN, APRN, NP-C, CANS, owner of Flawless Medspas located in Las Vegas and Beverly Hills.
Melanie Speed is a highly sought-after celebrity injector, nurse practitioner and successful businesswoman. She opened Flawless Medspa in 2014, an aesthetic wellness destination with locations in both Las Vegas and Beverly Hills offering a variety of renowned non-surgical cosmetic and wellness treatments, including injectables, thread lifts, weight loss injections, hair restoration, vampire facials/facelifts, vitamin shots and more. The popular med spa, one of the busiest aesthetic practices in the entire country, has over 40,000 followers on Instagram and prides itself on offering the most innovative and advanced industry techniques.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood “backstory”?
I was raised by a single mother in rural Ohio. As a child, I was strong-willed, artistic and charismatic (I was even voted class clown!) However, living in Ohio didn’t provide much opportunity for upward economic mobility outside of agriculture, so my mother struggled to keep our family afloat. Seeing that struggle at a young age made me hungry for success. I knew I needed to get off the farm to make my dreams come true.
Secondly, although the women in my family were extremely powerful and capable, they simply didn’t have the access to achieve the kind of career success outside the home that I wanted, their opportunities were very limited. So, I also knew that I’d have to look up to role models that I wouldn’t be able to observe firsthand in order to achieve the type of success I desire because I simply did not have a frame of reference for the type of trajectory that I was looking to go in. Thankfully, I had always been quite imaginative and my big imagination of mine took me all the way to the “big city,” — Columbus, Ohio, where I completed college.
After working in the hospital for a few years, I realized my opportunities there were still fairly limited. That’s when I decided to bet on myself and step into the unknown, just like I’d always imagined. I took a huge risk and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada–which was the best decision I ever made.
Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?
I’ve always had a deep love and appreciation for art and beauty. I even started out my college path as an art major but I quickly realized that unless I had the proper connections, it’d be pretty difficult to achieve the level of financial stability that I desired as a professional artist. So, made the decision to change my major to nursing. After earning my nursing degree, I began working in hospitals. Because of the financial struggles in my early childhood I had a deep appreciation for the job security that nursing provided me–but I couldn’t help feeling unfulfilled in working in the hospitals because I wasn’t able to use my creative side.
I ultimately made the tough decision to try my hand at a few other career paths that didn’t quite pan out. Then I discovered aesthetic nursing, and my passion was lit! My eye for beauty and appreciation for art, compounded with my medical training, paved the way for me to become an excellent aesthetic injector. A decade later, I am so grateful to be doing what I love and am passionate about. With hard work, planning, and dedication, I was able to open my own medical aesthetic destination, Flawless Medspa.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
This career has awarded me many opportunities and experiences that I would have never thought possible, even with my active imagination. One story that I think was particularly interesting was when a producer from the TLC hit reality show, 90-Day Fiance, called asking if I would do lip filler injections for one of the cast members and have it filmed for the show. This was a huge deal to me because at this point my family and I were all gathering around the TV each week to watch this show together, for years. We were all so excited about this opportunity!
The show’s producers had me sign an NDA and showed up to the appointment at Flawless Medspa with a ten-person camera crew and a team of producers. The whole thing was surreal because I’d never experienced anything like this.
Much to my surprise, the most challenging part of the experience was the anticipation of waiting months for the episode to air and then that awkwardness of watching myself on TV. I try never to say never, but after watching the episode, I don’t think reality stardom is in the cards for me. However, the whole experience was so exciting, fun and provided great exposure for Flawless Medspa.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
- Ambition
I had an overwhelmingly strong desire to accomplish some sort of great achievement or distinction. I also had an even stronger desire not to experience the same struggles as my mother did when I was a child. That desire, coupled with the willingness to put in the hard work and dedication required to overcome challenges is what contributed to my success as a business leader. I’ve always put in the extra effort to achieve the results that I want, and I still do.
When I first started out, I answered my own phones, did my own scheduling, cleaned, stocked, etc. Flawless Medspas was essentially a one-woman show, starring me. But I believed deep down in my heart that I was destined for great things and that my success was only limited by one thing–me. I knew that if I worked hard enough and long enough, anything was possible. Along my journey, I learned that to be strong, you have to be willing to suffer and the sad truth is most people simply aren’t willing to do so. My ambition is what allows me to suffer through the hard times to see the good times.
Even now, as a successful business owner, the climb doesn’t stop. I don’t get much sleep and my mind never stops planning for the future and thinking of ways to grow. I never settle and I keep advancing — that’s the type of ambition it takes for a business to grow and to provide guests with the best experience possible. It kills me a little inside when people tell me that I’m lucky because while that may be true, I also worked nonstop and made the necessary sacrifices to get where I am. I know that the people who say that are well-intentioned but for me, the word “luck” doesn’t exactly acknowledge my dedication or sacrifices.
2. Courage
Courage is absolutely necessary to make it as a successful business owner. When I first started my career in medical aesthetics, I worked under another injector who owned a medical spa for quite some time. However, I had big dreams of starting my very own practice, so I naturally wanted to part ways professionally. The other injector didn’t like this very much and told me it was a bad idea and that I’d never be able to get my own practice off the ground. At that point, I had two choices — I could believe her and not even try, or I could be brave and trust in my own abilities. I chose the latter, and now I am here to tell my own story.
3. Discernment
I have a remarkable ability to read people, which allows me to make informed and wise decisions. My discernment has also taught me that people come into your life for certain reasons. It has helped me to develop great long-term relationships with some and has also helped me avoid many “opportunities” to work for or with others. I truly believe you become the people you surround yourself with, so you must choose your circle wisely. Surround yourself with the people who inspire, encourage and support you.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. The premise of this series assumes that our society still feels uncomfortable with strong women. Why do you think this is so?
I think that it’s because strong women upset the status quo. Being confident, intelligent, and financially independent, as a woman, threatens the gendered hierarchy that has existed for centuries. Change is an uncomfortable and costly process, so many individuals and institutions want to fight this shift toward gender equality. This is especially true in the business world, where we’re all competing for resources. When wealth and opportunity are distributed more equally, the mediocrity that has existed in male-dominated spaces is challenged.
Without saying any names, can you share a story from your own experience that illustrates this idea?
I do remember this one particular experience I had in the business world. When I first started working in Beverly Hills, I rented office space from a male plastic surgeon. At that time, all of his breast implant patients received a complimentary vial of Botox with their implants through the manufacturer. He told me that he had absolutely no desire to do injectables and in no uncertain terms, told me that surgeries were his only priority. So, he asked if I would treat these clients for him. It was very clear from the offer that he expected me to do this with no compensation, he just wanted me to get this task off of his plate. I was keenly aware I’d be working for free but I still agreed because I saw it as a great opportunity for me to show these guests what I could do and potentially turn them into my regular clients.
This plastic surgeon clearly underestimated my abilities and the field of aesthetic injections as a whole. My small business began taking off! Once he realized this, he tremendously increased my rent every few months and demanded that I pay him referral fees on top of that. I don’t think he expected that I would be able to build up such a strong clientele base and just assumed that I’d do the work he didn’t want to do for free. Obviously, that professional relationship ended shortly after.
What should a powerful woman do in a context where she feels that people are uneasy around her?
I believe it is important for any business person to approach every situation with kindness and an openness to making new connections. However, as a powerful woman, it is a sad reality that no matter how lovely and sociable you are, there will still be people who feel uneasy around you. So, my best advice is to try to be in environments where your drive and success doesn’t threaten the people around you. It is not the burden of women to make themselves smaller to make other people feel comfortable–we are all responsible for our own feelings and reactions.
What do we need to do as a society to change the unease around powerful women?
I think it all starts with our youth because they are the next generation. Society has arbitrarily designated some personality traits/activities as masculine and some as feminine. Then, to some varying degree, we shame boys and girls for possessing traits or enjoying activities typically associated with the opposite gender. Doing this is harmful to us all. I think it is the responsibility of women and men alike to unlearn a lot of the harmful gender roles we’ve internalized and work not to instill in future generations with the same regressive values. And I would like to emphasize that this is the responsibility of both women AND men. Patriarchy (and all types of discrimination, for that matter) hurts us all, and therefore, it is all of our duty to create a better, kinder, more equal future.
In my own experience, I have observed that often, women have to endure ridiculous or uncomfortable situations to achieve success that men don’t have to endure. Do you have a story like this from your own experience? Can you share it with us?
Unfortunately, I do have many stories like this. The sad reality is that I’m sure many other women have had experiences like this too.
One of the worst instances of this that I can remember was when I purchased my medical spa facility and did a full construction build-out on the commercial facility. All of the contractors onsite were male and it didn’t seem like they were accustomed to working for a woman. I felt so demeaned throughout the entire process, it was agonizing. The owner of the company exclusively referred to me as “hun” or “girl.” Whenever I had to interact with the contractors or workers, they would stand way too close for comfort, inappropriately touch me, interrupt me and talk over me. When his crew didn’t complete things correctly, the owner would come out, make excuses and ultimately gaslight me. He would tell me things were up to code but when I asked him to provide me the code they were referring to, he looked shocked and agitated because I dared to question him. I just wanted my facility built correctly, meeting all construction standards, so that I could provide my guests with the best experience possible.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women leaders that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
Ascending to leadership is difficult enough as it is, but women have to navigate that climb with the weight of misogyny on their shoulders. As women in the workplace, we must constantly prove ourselves to be as capable as our male counterparts. Our intellect is often challenged and we are criticized and belittled for having the same characteristics that men seem to be rewarded for, such as being discerning.
On top of that, the way in which we operate professionally is governed by a different set of rules and standards. Networking, an integral part of building a business, is complex for women because we fear our niceties are often mistaken for flirting. Our appearance is constantly policed, especially in the aesthetics industry where women must be their own walking billboards. Meanwhile, our male counterparts in the aesthetics industry get to be judged simply on their skill as opposed to their outward appearance. I’m sure it’s like that in other professions as well.
Let’s now shift our discussion to a slightly different direction. This is a question that nearly everyone with a job has to contend with. Was it difficult to fit your personal and family life into your business and career? For the benefit of our readers, can you articulate precisely what the struggle was?
Yes, it was difficult to fit my personal and family life into my business and career. I felt a great amount of guilt over being a working mother and not being home with my daughters as much as I would have liked to while they were growing up. I wanted to give them a better life and be an example of a strong, successful woman — I wanted to give them the framework for success that I didn’t have. I worked very hard to balance work time and family time and did the best I could. However, I do wish I could have enjoyed those years and been more present. But that was just one of the sacrifices that I made to get to where I am and provide the life that my husband and I have provided for our girls.
Now, all three of my daughters are all grown up. They’re all college graduates and amazingly successful women that I couldn’t be more proud of. With that, I am also so proud of myself because I have equipped them with the tools and education to care for themselves. I now have the freedom to spend more time with them and even make amazing memories traveling the world with them. The sacrifices and hard work that I put in have allowed me to provide an amazing life for my daughters, full of opportunities that most people don’t have.
What was a tipping point that helped you achieve a greater balance or greater equilibrium between your work life and personal life? What did you do to reach this equilibrium?
To gain more equilibrium and take more control of my career success, I decided to go back to school to obtain my Nurse Practitioner degree. This enabled me toI open up my own independent medical aesthetics practice so that I would no longer be required to work under the supervision of a medical director. As a nurse practitioner, I can be a medical director and I can hire other practitioners. I have built a successful business with other injectors who I trust working under me. I can take time off and my business will still be running smoothly.
Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Powerful Woman?”
- Strong client relationships
My wonderful client base is what sustains me. I’ve had some very loyal clients who have stuck with me since I started as an aesthetic injector ten years ago and they have followed me to every location. Some clients really open up to me during their appointments and have allowed me to share their grief, joy, transitions, accomplishments, and everything! It is beautiful to build a connection with guests through empathy and compassion. It also so happens that most of my patients are women, too, so I am happy to have created a safe space for women to share and be vulnerable while helping them gain self-confidence.
2. Professional team
I cannot stress enough the importance of a strong team of professionals to help you build your business. Any powerful woman needs a good attorney, CPA, and financial advisor–at the minimum. Then, one must continue to build their industry-specific team. My public relations team, manufacturer reps, management firms, malpractice insurance providers, cleaning staff, etc., all have proved indispensable in building my business. Remember, mistakes are costly and you don’t know what you don’t know. So, sometimes it’s best to enlist experts to handle the things that you’re not so great at. It is crucial to create a network of people who can help avoid errors and take you to the next level.
3. Thirst for knowledge
In order to reach the highest echelons of success, you must be in a constant state of metamorphosis. To be a leader means to put aside one’s ego and realize that there is always more to learn. So invest in yourself, pursue your interests, get more education, attend seminars and read articles. There are really only two options, stay curious or remain stagnant.
Going back to school after 20 years to get my NP was one of the best business decisions I’ve ever made. It was intellectually, emotionally, and physically taxing but on the other side of things I can say I took yet another chance on myself and it was worth it.
4. Resilience
To make it in business you must come to terms with the idea of failure and delayed gratification. So fail! Fail fast and try again. Try things you’re not good at and NEVER take no for an answer. Far before I conceived Flawless Medspa, I conceived my twins during my final year of nursing school. My dean pulled me in her office and suggested I stop school until after the kids were born and be a stay-at-home mother until they were a little older. I said I needed money to raise those little babies and refused to leave. I did my clinical rotations eight months pregnant, they often had to tell me to go sit down at the nurse’s station. But I was resilient and graduated two months after they were born.
5. Plan
A goal without a well-crafted actionable plan is just a delusion. Create a step-by-step plan and use that as your guide. Of course, some things will change and require you to redirect throughout the process, but breaking down big dreams into smaller parts makes it more attainable and easier to track progress.
When I started my own medspa 10 years ago, I planned to start small and grow carefully. I started renting a room from a physician one day a week, then a couple of days a week, then I started renting it full-time. Eight years ago, I moved to my own 2000 sq ft commercial location in Las Vegas. Five years ago, I opened a second location in the Golden Triangle in Beverly Hills. Then three years ago, I purchased a 6500 sq ft commercial building. I went from being a sole injector to now having a team of four amazing Nurse Practitioners working under me.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
Well, that’s an easy one–Serena Williams!
I admire her so much for so many reasons. First, because she is the epitome of a strong woman– in the literal and figurative sense. She has faced so much racist and misogynistic criticism throughout her tennis career despite being the best in the world for many years. But that didn’t stop her from creating an empire for herself. She now owns multiple clothing and beauty companies and has parlayed into venture capital, and she’s even a licensed notary. She accomplished all of this while having a family and being a fashion icon who, fun fact, booked my youngest daughter for her first runway fashion show as a model.
So Serena, if you do happen to see this, I love you, my whole family loves you, let’s make Flawless Medspa a nationwide beauty destination!
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
