Feeling alone on your Med Spa journey? You're not. In this episode of The Injector Business Blueprint, we dive into why we launched this podcast—to make your path a little less lonely. We share personal stories, the importance of mentorship, and how to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. 

Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out, join us for real talk on overcoming Imposter Syndrome and finding your way in the aesthetics industry. 

Tune in and let's navigate this journey together.

So, welcome back, everyone. This is episode, I think, two, maybe one. I'm not really sure. We're still figuring out what we're doing, but welcome back to The Injector Business Blueprint, where we are all about making the journey of Med Spa ownership just a little bit less lonely. So, today, I'm playing host.

Erin: Welcome back!

Brandon Mullen: Yeah. So, we're still trying to figure this out. So, bear with us. We're getting our sea legs on this little podcast journey. The technical challenges are interesting to me because, normally, we don't really have that many during our normal lives. And this is what we do to help streamline people that are business owners and entrepreneurs, right?

Erin: 100%. And again, like, just diving in, why did we really start this podcast? What inspired you, me, us? What really inspired us to start this?

Brandon Mullen: First off, when I met you, whenever I saw your presentation at the Aesthetic Next event accelerator, I saw you on stage, I saw your slide deck, and I was, like, I really like what this girl's saying. Because you were on stage, you commanded presence, what you said made sense, and you gave actionable feedback.

Erin: And it's so funny because I don't know if you remember what I first said to you was, like, I heard you speak. And I was, like, I need to know him. If you remember, I said that to you. And then we just got chatting a little bit, I learned a little bit about what you do and your background, like, very little.

And we exchanged stories, and we've been fast friends ever since because I think, we really resonate together. One, obviously, how lonely it can be when we think about everything that brought us from the very beginning of where we started to where we're at now.

Brandon Mullen: Absolutely. There's so many pitfalls and potholes that can be avoided. And to someone who has not been in the industry, or maybe, they're in health care, but in a different capacity. I think, that it has a very different outlook than what real life is.

Instagram shows all of the good fun things, and I even experienced this myself with doing the most recent APMG Assembly virtual conference. I was, like, sitting here, it was 2:30 in the morning, and I woke up and had these random ideas that I wanted to get down and refine. And I'm, like, I really wish that I could record myself now because this is the shit that you don't see, right?

And all of these things that we try to emulate are real, but the behind-the-scenes stuff that you don't see is just as important as the stuff that you do see on Instagram.

Erin: Yeah, I agree. And it's interesting cause, you just mentioned, I wish I could record this. And I don't know if you get this request a lot, but I certainly do. I have my private Facebook group, I have my digital programs and my coaching. And there are people over the last, I would say, 18 months who are, like, Oh my gosh, you need to start a podcast.

And they also have that stream of insight, that stream of, like, where they can just download an episode that's going to help them grow a little or dig a little deeper. Yeah, we thought, maybe a podcast, since you are on social media a lot, I'm on social media a lot, and people are reaching out to us constantly, right?

Saying, like, can you just bottle that up? Can you repeat that? Can you send me the video for that? Did you record that? With that said, leaning into the podcast, what do we really want to bring to our audience?

Brandon Mullen: One of the goals that I have for us, and I know that you share this too, is really to provide accessible feedback that is going to help somebody on this journey. It's going to get probably really detailed in some aspects and some are a little vague, but that's the world that we live in, right?

I think, we really just want to give people a shot of realism with some steps and guidance to help this journey into aesthetics, no matter where you're at, if you've been in business for 5 years or 5 minutes. Just a little bit of hope and guidance to get on the right path and avoid some of the pitfalls that people commonly get stuck in.

Everything that you want to learn, there's a YouTube video, there's an Instagram channel, a TikTok channel. There's a channel for everything, information exists everywhere. What differentiates us and what we want to bring here is not just information, you can get information anywhere.

It's what you do with that information, and what we want to help with is the direction. Because information and direction are very different. You can have all the information with no direction and wind up somewhere you didn't want to be.

So, information is good, right? You could get that everywhere, but for us, it's really giving you those right next steps based on some of the things that we've learned, right? When we think about mistakes we've made, feeling Imposter Syndrome, that's huge, right? And having burnout.

So, some of those things, if our listeners or the average Med Spa owner, practice manager, injector, esthetician, if you're afraid to talk about it or admit a mistake, admit that you feel like an imposter, admit that you don't know what your right next step is, that's why we're here, right?

We want it to be a little less lonely and give you some guidance and be a reference point for people. So, with saying all of that, right? Brandon, I know you've had such a rollercoaster of a career, right? A lot of people have.

Brandon Mullen: It's happening right now in this moment. I feel like an imposter because I don't know why I feel eligible to even be sharing this information. No, I always joke and say that I'm the Anna Delvey of aesthetics because I started as a bedside nurse and fell into aesthetics after personally diving into neurotoxin first.

When I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to help my friend develop her practice in Virginia, I was, like, I don't know what I'm doing and I'm very candid with admitting, I had no idea what I was doing. But I have the skill set that makes me a good asset because I am a self-starter.

And over the past almost 4 years of being a practice manager, I've learned a ton, and not only that, but I have a unique purview because I am very close with a lot of solo injector practice owners. So, I can share in their experience what they have done or what they wish they could have done.

And kind of learn through osmosis, how to avoid their mistakes. And I tried to leverage that knowledge with anything that is up and coming to see, how can someone maybe implement this a little better, a little smarter. Or how can they do it in a more streamlined way?

Erin: Yeah. It's so interesting, that talk specifically, I remember saying to Natalie, who's on my team. When I got off stage, I said, that was a 6 out of 10. And she goes, really? And I said, yeah, I know I could have done this better, I could have executed, I could have, whatever. And it's so interesting because, as long as we've been in the industry, and again, like, throughout that journey, there are different variations of career points we were in and knowledge that we had.

I still get Imposter Syndrome all the time. I think it's a little less than before, but every time I'm trying something new, including being on this platform, it's like same, right? It goes through my head, same as what you said earlier, who do I think I am? Like, why would people want to listen to me?

And now, openly and candidly, my business is not multi, multimillion dollars. And I'm, like, how do I feel, like, I'm the right person to guide this person? Now, I'm going off of my business today, and forgetting sometimes that, Oh yeah, Erin, you did run multi, multimillion-dollar operations before.

So, yes, you are qualified. But it's so interesting when you think about the Imposter Syndrome, I don't think it actually goes away. We learn how to quiet it or fact-check our Imposter Syndrome. You mentioned as well that you kept seeking out advice and you would do trial and error.

So, I have two questions for you. What makes you get back up after you fall, right? If you've made a mistake in any capacity, why do you feel now, like, it's okay to admit a mistake and keep going versus before, maybe, when you were super afraid to do it?

Brandon Mullen: That's a great question. I think that's how I've learned a lot of personal life lessons. Like, I can't wallow in the mistake, I have to just look forward and just keep going because that's the only way that I know how to continue to keep going on. Once I make a mistake, I definitely learn from that.

It was a couple of hundred dollars. It meant to me, that was a ton of money, but I just felt so personally responsible for that. So, what did it do? It propelled me to adopt a task management mindset and a new platform that made tasks more visible, more actionable, and more visible in different formats that helped me to forget a lot of other things.

So, that was, like, a benefit from that mistake. I try to look at the good that came from that error and just continue to move forward. Because if I sit there and say, Oh my gosh, I paid that bill incorrectly or not on time and I just wallow in it, what's that going to do? It's not going to help me get better or correct my process.

Erin: Yeah. I think you just, like, after you start openly challenging yourself when you do something that you feel isn't to your standard, or you could have done better, or you have that moment of shame where you're, like, Oh my god, I can't believe I made that mistake, I'm such an idiot, or whatever internal talk you have. But realizing, I'm not going to unpack my bags and live here, I have to keep it moving if I want to keep excelling or I want to keep getting better.

And really, like, where I'm at in my career now, I just realized, if I can make mistakes faster and more of them, I actually get to the successful part quicker. So, I realized that, if I try to do it perfectly, I go so slow that almost no progress is made and you come up for air and you're, like, Oh my god, everyone else is moving faster.

You mentioned about the mentorship that you sought out, and everyone's version of mentorship looks different. But what I do find is a lot of people get stuck in, I don't want to admit where I'm at, because if I say it out loud, people will think I'm a failure, or I have to admit I'm not as good as I thought I was, or whatever ego thing that's holding you or keeping you stuck.

Brandon Mullen: The key for me has been to get comfortable being uncomfortable. In the beginning, it was hard, because you do want to gatekeep that insecurity. To your point, when you say it out loud, then it's true, then you have to do something about it. And that's the hard part, when it's inside, nobody knows, it's only hurting you.

But I'm sure that the repercussions of some actions, when you don't take action affect a lot more than just yourself. But getting comfortable being uncomfortable for me was a lot of networking. I'm a really introverted extrovert, everybody thinks that I'm Susie Sunshine, miss bubbly shit, talking to everybody, but I do have a limit.

It's 18 to 20-hour days, you're still working in between. You need to make those contacts, and talking to people that you necessarily wouldn't run into just because you don't have, or need a partner right now in the aesthetic space, or a certain vendor, like, someone else may need it.

Erin: Yeah. I want to ask you another question cause I want you to dig in deeper.

Brandon Mullen: Oh, I was going to say, do you not have Home Depot in Canada?

Erin: We do. But what I wanted to ask you is, like, specifically, because I struggle with this, and I know, again, like, people see you on Instagram or whatever they see you on podcasts and they're like, Oh, but how would you struggle? It's like, girl, I struggle. I have to say hate or like a capital H, I Hate introducing myself. Honestly, I feel like I'm having a mini-stroke. Every single time someone's like, Oh, and in front of all of these people, please tell us your story in 10 seconds.

Essentially, what I hear in my head is, like, why do you deserve to stand on this stage? And I'm, like, having a mini panic attack in my soul, because, in my head, I'm still the imposter.

I'm going to be a hundred percent honest, when I go to conferences, like the last one we were at together, I watched you introduce yourself, walk around, and act like you just fucking belonged. And you own the place and I'm just, like, I want to be like you when I grow up.

I know a lot of people don't believe me, but I'm so shy. I hate putting myself out there, even though I do. In that setting, I was like, Oh my god, I need to learn this skill. So, for you, like, how do you go from scanning a room to going, I want to talk to that person, that person, and then actually going and doing it? For me, I can hear my heart in my ears. You, how do you get through that?

Brandon Mullen: I could tell, because when we were at Aesthetic Next, you were a little shy. But I think you caught on that I'm just like throwing you in. So, here's the secret, everyone. I'm going to lean in real close. This is a secret. You just keep doing it until it feels good. Like, literally, that's it.

He's, like, 6' 3'', 6' 4'', 6' 6''. I don't know, he's taller than me, and I'm 6 foot. I don't even know what I said to him, but it was so stupid. I was, like, I think, I just said, Hey, my name's Brandon and I've seen you on Instagram, but we've never met in real life. It's nice to meet you.

If you're nervous, I think, the best advice would be to just compliment someone or just throw it out there and be honest, and say, you know what? I'm so nervous, but I really wanted to meet you. Like, I've seen something that you've done, or I've seen you on Instagram, or you do great lips, whatever the heck it is, just throw it out there.

Because what's the worst that could happen? They could say, no, they could completely ignore you. Okay. So, what? No skin off my back. Like, it's fine. So, I don't know if that makes a lick of sense, but it's literally as simple as that is to just keep doing it.

Erin: It makes a lot of sense because in a lot of the stuff that I teach people. Even getting on Instagram, I had a call with a client yesterday, and we were discussing her October results and whatever. And she was saying how much she grew and we were looking at the numbers.

And all the things that I coached her through, and that was the difference of a big spike in sales and more followers and all this stuff. And I know this, Brandon, like, I teach this stuff where I teach my clients, the more you practice, it's just that, like, when you're nervous or you are uncomfortable, it's because it's not normal for you.

And I'm very aware of that. And even as you were sitting back, you talking to Dr. Subbio, like, I watched you talk to him and you recounting that my armpits are sweating. I remember feeling, like, I'm standing back and I'm watching you go for it. This is real talk, I'm watching you go for it and I'm feeling nervous for you because I'm nervous, like, approaching someone that I look up to, but also sitting there simultaneously envious that you just go for it.

And I'm even comfortable, I'm great talking here right now. I don't feel nervous or anything, but it's also because I'm very practiced at it. I realized, I just do this every single day, whereas I know for some people that's really nerve-wracking. So, I think, to wrap up what we've been talking about today, which is, we want to be here and have this platform and our conversations to bring people value in what they're doing and help give you those right next steps or some good direction.

Brandon Mullen: Yeah. I just have, do you have a phrase or something that a piece of advice that somebody gave you along the way, if it was 10 years ago, 20 years ago, or last week, that has changed your perspective in general, about just how you approach life or just, like, any kind of, like, little bit of wisdom just to wrap up this episode? Cause I have one, but I want to see what you got.

Erin: Yeah. Okay. So, this is really simple and I go back to it in my mind over and over again. I think I was about 22 when I met my first real mentor and I remember him saying he was a chain smoker, just like smoking cigarette after cigarette after cigarette. And we had this like a long discussion about, you know, my past and where I'd come from and my confidence and you know, where I think I could go.

Brandon Mullen: Mm. Mm

Erin: Like, it really resonated with me. And honestly, I'm 40 now. This still plays over and over in my mind. Why not you? Because what I realize, again, over time, and when you're in your 20s, like, you don't, you, you think you're, you know, you think you're amazing, you think you're all that in a bag of chips, but You at the same time, you don't think you're shit.

And I go back to that so much with clients now with friends and for myself, because what you realize is no one is special and everyone is special. So then, why not you? Yeah. Why not me? Why not me? What about you?

So that like little bit, just always like, you know what, just go for it. Even if you don't get that desired result, you still put yourself out there and you know, you may not have gotten to the stars, but you're a little bit more forward because you took that action. So I just always tell people that Whenever, you know, they, they may have a certain expectation for something about an outcome with whatever it is, a business decision or, you know, a process or whatever, just reach for the stars, even if you land on a cloud and it

Erin: I love that. No, I love that. That's so fantastic. So that's all for today's episode of the injector business blueprint. And we're so excited that you guys joined us on this journey today. We hope that you guys got some value from our conversation today. Obviously there's a lot more to come and we hope to.

And remember the road to being a med spa owner and aesthetic practice owner, and the road to success doesn't have to be walked alone. So we're here with you every step of the way. And until next time, stay resilient.

Brandon Mullen: Bye guys.