This week, AmSpa founder and CEO Alex Thiersch, JD, speaks with Lisa Lickstein, MSW, MBA, co-owner and COO of Lickstein Plastic Surgery and Medical Spa. She previews her upcoming talk at the 2025 Women in Aesthetics Leadership Conference and shares how the concept of “unreasonable hospitality,” inspired by Will Guidara’s renowned book, has reshaped her approach to leadership, team development and the patient experience. This conversation includes:

• How clinical director Christina Hobgood Naugle, PA-C, built a thriving med spa patient base;
• What Lisa learned from Eleven Madison Park’s rise to #1;
• Why they created a staff book club to learn and grow together;
• How to systematize staff engagement for a strong company culture;
• The three rules of unreasonable hospitality and how to implement them with your team;
• How her team identified and elevated 100 patient touchpoints to enhance the overall experience;
• A sneak peek at what attendees can expect from her WALC presentation.

Join Lisa at https://experiencewalc.com/, for her session: “Achieving Competitive Advantage and Increased Profitability Through Unreasonable Hospitality.”

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This week, AmSpa founder and CEO Alex R. Thiersch, JD, speaks with Lori Werner, founder and chief marketing whiz at Medical Marketing Whiz, a woman-led marketing agency that specializes in marketing for wellness and medical aesthetics practices. They talk about her path from medical device sales to entrepreneurship and how her team helps med spas get discovered online using answer engine optimization (AI-SEO).

• How she transitioned from medical device sales to founding a woman-led marketing agency in aesthetics and women’s health;
• The marketing blind spots of practices newly adding cash-based aesthetic services;
• Why SEO and AI-SEO are critical to get recommended by Google, ChatGPT and other AI platforms;
• Going beyond Meta and Google ads with a strategy rooted in how patients research and choose providers;
• Using YouTube, press releases and scheduled content to boost search visibility and trust;
• Email, text and AI tools like Dr. Social Whiz that drive conversions.

For more on this topic, check out Medical Marketing Whiz’s recent webinar: Answer Engine Optimization (AI-SEO): How to Become the Recommended Provider in ChatGPT and Other AI Platforms

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This week, AmSpa President and CSO, Cathy Christensen, speaks with Kendra Bracken-Ferguson, celebrated entrepreneur, founder of BrainTrust and author of The Beauty of Success: Start, Grow and Accelerate Your Brand. They discuss her entrepreneurial journey from building brands to owning in the beauty space, how she evaluates opportunities, and the ways she protects her mental wellness with the help of her community. Listen for:

• Aligning opportunities with her four pillars: community, mentorship, education, capital;
• How she knows when it’s time to pivot, take a leap or let go of an opportunity;
• Her nonprofit’s efforts for diversity and mentorship in the beauty industry;
• The importance of building a strong community of trusted partners;
• Finding joy and managing stress to protect your wellness;
• Kendra’s advice for maintaining positivity in challenging times;
• Her upcoming ventures in wellness, retail, podcasting and more!

Kendra shares more about the power of building your brain trust in her presentation “Community and Counsel: Building Your Brain Trust” on October 4, 2025, at the Women in Aesthetics Leadership Conference. Register to learn why no founder should navigate the path alone and how you can build the counsel you need for sustainable leadership and self-motivation.

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