The world of aesthetics is overflowing with cutting-edge technologies, artistic vision, and a passion for beauty and skincare. But what drives these experts to dedicate their careers to helping others look and feel their best? In this blog post, we connect with three incredible leading ladies and dedicated faculty of the upcoming Medical Aesthetics Professionals (MAP) Meeting, who share their personal experiences. Read on to discover what inspires and motivates them and learn about their unwavering desire to make a positive impact on people’s lives.
Jenn Plescia is a board-certified family and emergency nurse practitioner with over 15 years of ER experience. After earning her Doctorate from Rutgers University in 2017, Jenn began her career as an APN in the emergency room. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she noticed a significant gap in overall wellness which led her to form IVs by the Seas, a mobile IV infusion company. Over the past two years, she has expanded her practice to include aesthetics, firmly believing in wellness from the inside out.
Dr. Elena Blackburn is a seasoned aesthetic injector and medical director with over 26 years of experience. She specializes in holistic aesthetic medicine and promotes beauty through health from the inside out and vice versa. With expertise in cell health, rejuvenation, and epigenetics, she emphasizes the importance of nutrition and hormonal balance. Dr. Blackburn has developed extensive training programs and provided expert guidance across the U.S. and Europe, committed to enhancing practitioners’ skills and advancing aesthetic medicine.
Sabrina King is a licensed master aesthetician and certified body contouring specialist dedicated to creating personalized treatment plans that help her patients achieve their goals. She is also a certified dermatology technician and certified medical assistant. When she’s not seeing patients, Sabrina teaches at the Aesthetic Mentor. With 19 years of experience in the aesthetic field, her expertise includes fat reduction, skin tightening, body smoothing and contouring, and anti-aging treatments. Sabrina believes in delivering exceptional results by employing various modalities and developing comprehensive treatment plans tailored to each patient.
JP: As a board-certified Family and Emergency Nurse Practitioner, I love the ability to combine these medical fields with holistic medicine and aesthetics. When providing IV Vitamin therapy, I can marry Western medicine with holistic medicine and provide my patients with options best suited to their wants and needs, not based on their diagnosis or insurance reimbursement.
As a former ER provider, attention to detail is of the utmost importance, and I truly feel that this background has given me an edge in the aesthetic field. I am able to focus on the fine details, and I am also highly aware of anatomical landmarks and worst-case scenarios. When rendering aesthetic medicine, I love the ability to enhance my patients’ facial features and never let it look like they have had work. I love being able to improve the overall quality of their skin, as well as their confidence so they can learn to love themselves from the inside out.
EB: What I love most about my career is, first and foremost, seeing the joy and sometimes even happy tears on my patients’ faces after they’ve undergone certain procedures and followed my advice about their nutrition, health status, or lifestyle tweaks. Their appreciation is incomparable. Secondly, as strange as it may sound, I’m thrilled to be at a stage in medicine where we are still exploring and developing real tools for dealing with aging. I believe this is a pivotal time in medicine, where we can move beyond just applying Band-Aids or specialized treatments. We’re looking into regeneration and helping the body to heal itself functionally, leading to a more profound and lasting beauty.
SK: I love the opportunity to help others feel good about themselves and allow them to feel comfortable and confident in their own skin. It truly is an amazing feeling!
JP: During COVID, I worked on the front lines in the ER. During this time, I saw a massive disruption in care and noted that providers were treating patients as diagnosis codes and insurance reimbursement and not as an entire entity. I truly believe in wellness from the inside out and that when you treat a person as a whole, you not only get better results, but you also allow your patient to trust you. This is something that I feel has been lost in the medical industry as a whole post COVID. At the end of the day, I treat every patient the way I expect my father to be treated, and if you follow my Instagram, you know Harry is my rock!
EB: I chose this line of work because, in my opinion, it is the most comprehensive way to ensure a healthy and beautiful human at any age. With my knowledge and experience in holistic and classical medicine, I have more tools to apply and use to help each individual. From my experience, I realize that while we have many modalities and treatments available, it is even more important to choose the right approach for each specific person.
SK: I chose this career path when I was a young adult. I had always struggled with self-esteem, body image, and my own skin conditions which made it difficult to have any confidence. If I can help others with these very real issues that we all struggle with, it is beyond gratifying personally and professionally.
JP: The best piece of advice I can give someone entering the field of aesthetics is train, train, and TRAIN! I invested two years and over $50,000 in my training before I ever touched a face. I approached aesthetics like a course outline for a college degree and started with cadaver labs, basic online courses, and then progressed to hands-on training with the incredible French NP, Sandy Hunt, in Hingham, MA.
I believe that as an aesthetic provider, you must know every anatomical landmark, anticipated reaction, complication, and adverse event before you ever consider touching someone’s face and I am always trying treatments on myself before a patient. While I understand that training is expensive, it is important in order to maintain your skills and trust.
EB: I think the key for someone starting a career in aesthetics is to understand that aesthetic medicine today is not what it used to be. It’s no longer just about topical procedures to exfoliate your skin or fill it with various substances. Modern aesthetic medicine is holistic; it starts from the inside out. As people live longer, superficial procedures alone won’t suffice. To improve skin quality and support external aesthetic procedures, we need to focus on skin renewal, which occurs roughly every month. Influencing the development, rejuvenation, and renewal of skin cells—keeping them healthy and precise—is crucial. This, in my opinion, is the best approach to the future of aesthetic medicine, ensuring the skin remains in its best condition at any age.
SK: The aesthetic field is always evolving and changing. I have almost 20 years of experience and have seen so many amazing improvements, and new technologies all of which allow me to better recommend the most appropriate treatment plans and best outcomes for everyone I see.
JP: I truly believe that to excel in aesthetics you must be open-minded, honest, eager to learn/adapt, and you need a thick skin. You must be open to new treatments and eager to continue your education as the industry evolves. You must be honest with yourself and know your limitations and be honest with your patients to provide realistic and effective results. Remember, your patient’s face is your canvas, and you must be able to paint with all the paint brushes before you hang the photo on the wall. Lastly, the aesthetics industry is very cutthroat. You must have a thick skin to criticism with other providers, but also with your patients as there will be times you say no, and they will not be happy.
EB: The most important quality for someone looking to start a career in aesthetic medicine is to be a dedicated clinician. This means focusing on the clinical aspects of the patient, being knowledgeable, and being committed to thoroughly understanding the underlying processes affecting each individual. This dedication not only ensures patient safety but also allows you to stay on top of advancements and effectively achieve the desired outcomes to help your patients in the best possible way.
SK: If you are looking to enter the aesthetic field, you need confidence in your craft. Keeping up-to-date with new protocols, products, devices, etc. Also showing empathy. You should always remember and understand that patients are coming to see you because they have something that is bothering them. They trust your experience, expertise, and honesty. Maybe they need a treatment that you do not personally offer, knowing when to refer patients to a colleague to ensure they have the best results is a MUST! This will help to build amazing trust with your patients, and they will remember that!
JP: You should attend the MAP meeting because I am speaking- DUH! Haha, just kidding (kinda ;-)). But in all seriousness, you should attend MAP to learn from pioneers in the industry. Aesthetics is always evolving and growing and when rendering these services, you always want to be on your A-game and what better way than to learn than from other providers in your industry.
EB: I am very happy to attend the MAP meeting, even though public speaking is still nerve-racking for me and probably won’t be my best performance yet. However, I believe it will get better with experience. The reason I attend isn’t to show off or be the best speaker, but to contribute my dedication and knowledge to the improvement of healthcare in general, and especially aesthetic medicine, which is greatly influenced by regeneration and overall health.
My goal in life is to provide the most comprehensive information to clinicians and my patients. Their trust in me is what drives me, and I truly appreciate it. I love what I do and am dedicated to sharing my expertise to help others.
SK: MAP is an amazing and one-of-a-kind opportunity for ALL providers in the aesthetic space to come together, regardless of titles, to learn not only from some of the most successful professionals in our industry, but also from each other so we can all be the best we can be! The better we all do in this field, the better we all do in this field!
These passionate professionals share a common thread—a commitment to their patients, satisfaction in their chosen roles, and dedication to continuous learning. They have highlighted the many aspects that make their careers so rewarding, and their enthusiasm is contagious.
If you’ve been inspired and want to dive into the world of aesthetic medicine further, consider joining us this November 6-8 in Boca Raton, Florida for the incredible MedSpa Pro Event. This is your chance to learn from industry leaders, discover the latest innovations in aesthetic treatments, and network with experts like Jenn Plescia, Elena Blackburn, and Sabrina King.
Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of the ever-evolving world of aesthetic medicine. Register now to take advantage of early bird discounted prices!