Treating melasma starts before the laser. In this recorded provider training, Meredith, a nurse practitioner and medical director with Aestheticare, breaks down her approach to managing one of the most challenging pigmentation concerns in aesthetics.

In this episode:

• Why melasma requires ongoing management, not one-time treatment.
• How dermal versus epidermal melasma affects treatment decisions.
• Using VISIA imaging to assess pigmentation and vascular involvement.
• The suppress, stabilize, remove approach to melasma.
• Addressing hormonal and inflammatory factors in dermal melasma.
• Oral versus topical tranexamic acid: uses and precautions.
• Balancing hydroquinone effectiveness with irritation and rebound risks.
• Building maintenance routines with topicals, antioxidants, and SPF.
• Managing heat and inflammation with Moxi and Halo.
• When BBL may help—and when it may worsen melasma.
• Microneedling, growth factors, and vascular treatment options.
• Managing recurrence through patient education and long-term maintenance.

Helpful links:

MOXI Laser E-course
HALO Laser E-course
Episode #30 – Get to Know Dr. Jason Pozner (chats about melasma)
In-Person Training at MINT

Ad links:

MINT Online E-courses
Laser Mastery Track

A great skincare product doesn't guarantee a successful launch. Kat explains why med spa product introductions can stall when teams lack the confidence, training, and implementation plan to recommend something new. Using Aestheticare's recent 54MD launch, Kat shares how management evaluates brands, introduces products to staff, and builds momentum through hands-on education, sales contests, and coordinated marketing.

The takeaway: build a repeatable launch playbook before introducing your next product or treatment.

In this episode...

• Why providers default to familiar products.
• How a structured implementation plan can shorten launches.
• Evaluating new brands through clinical science, ingredients, manufacturing, and alignment with your clinic.
• Why management and key team members should test products before a full-team rollout.
• Building provider confidence through hands-on training, product comparisons, and ingredient education.
• Giving retail-focused front desk employees the same product training as clinical providers.
• Using team sales contests and regular updates to maintain launch momentum.
• Comparing new products against existing inventory before expanding your shelves.
• Coordinating e-commerce inventory, website updates, and marketing before launch.
• Using retail stop tables and interactive events to bring attention to new products.
• Documenting a repeatable launch playbook.
• How team experiences with 54MD Brightening Serum influenced confidence in its pigmentation results.

Helpful links

• Business Blueprints E-Course
• Tuesday Training: Retail Products Lesson
• Episode #69: Stop Selling, Start Connecting
• Events: Big, Small, & Virtual E-Course
• Episode #70: The Strategy Behind AesthetiCare's $3.7M Open House

Ad links

• MINT Online Medspa Training
• Tuesday Training Webinars

Want to divide a room of medspa owners? Ask about their thoughts on influencer programs! Influencer marketing doesn't have to mean paying expensive celebrities or giving away treatments with little to show for it.

In this episode, Kat Taranto shares why $20M medspa, AesthetiCare Medspa + Wellness prefers treatment trades over cash payments, how influencers support grand openings and events, and why tracking referrals and following up with potential clients are essential to understanding whether these partnerships are working.

In this episode:

• Build influence within your team using professional social media accounts.
• Set clear guidelines for patient consent and sharing clinic content.
• Prioritize local micro-influencers over large follower counts.
• Explore partnerships beyond beauty, including fitness, wellness, and local businesses.
• Use AI to discover potential influencers in your market.
• Evaluate engagement, posting consistency, and audience location.
• Use MoDash to check follower authenticity and engagement.
• Start with a consultation and treatment before committing long-term.
• Set clear posting expectations before offering complimentary treatments.
• Consider trading treatments for content instead of paying cash.
• Build longer-term partnerships rather than one-off promotions.
• Coordinate influencer, provider, and clinic accounts to expand reach.
• Use influencers to promote events and attract new attendees.
• Track referrals and follow up to measure partnership results.

Helpful links:

The Marketing E-course

Online Consultation Training

Hosting Events E-course

Our Medspa, AesthetiCare

Follow Kathy on Instagram

Follow MINT on Instagram

Ad links:

The Laser Mastery Track

Online E-courses

We're back! Join us for an episode each week to learn what we've done that's taken our medspa from bump-in-the-road to Best Place to Work nominee.

A successful med spa business model doesn't automatically translate to every new partnership, equipment purchase, or service line. In this episode, host Kat Taranto shares three costly lessons from building a four-location, $20M Aestheticare Medspa. Kat explains how these experiences changed her approach to evaluating business partners, conducting equipment demos, gathering team feedback, and structuring wellness operations. From documenting partnership exit strategies to assigning clear ownership of patient support tasks, she shares the questions she now asks before making major decisions.

In this episode:

• Protecting team culture over business partnerships.
• Choosing the right business partners.
• Listening to team feedback before making big decisions.
• Setting clear expectations and exit strategies.
• Lessons from a $180,000 equipment mistake.
• Getting honest feedback from other clinics.
• Testing equipment before committing to a purchase.
• Avoiding rushed equipment purchases.
• Why aesthetics staffing models don't always work in wellness.
• The value of dedicated wellness support staff.
• Defining roles throughout the patient experience.
• Rethinking compensation for wellness providers.
• Giving providers time for meaningful patient conversations.
• Turning business challenges into learning opportunities.

Helpful links:

Our Medspa, AesthetiCare

Follow Kathy on Instagram

Follow MINT on Instagram

Ad links:

The Laser Mastery Track

MINT Online E-courses

The Perfect Consultation

Dr. Benji Dhillon, owner of Define Clinic in the UK, explains why sustainable growth came from doing fewer things exceptionally well—not chasing every new treatment. He shares how global clinic exposure shaped his approach to patient experience, treatment planning, and patient education, then details the hiring and development systems behind his three-location team. The conversation explores practical onboarding, monthly provider role-play, bimonthly model sessions, quarterly all-team meetings, open financial reporting, and the responsibility everyone shares for business sustainability. Dhillon also introduces Aesthetics 360’s anatomy- and evidence-focused cadaver labs, discusses an AI tool for injectable complications, and closes with advice for new injectors: be patient, keep learning, and never assume you are an expert.

Talking Points
• A compelling patient experience prevents a clinic from becoming a commodity.
• Treatment plans simplify choices and strengthen provider guidance.
• Asian clinics often build trust through deeper patient education.
• Defying Clinics grew after narrowing its focus to core medical aesthetics.
• Hiring starts with character, communication, and good hands—not a perfect skills list.
• New providers mirror the consultation process before practicing independently.
• Monthly role-play and bimonthly model sessions support ongoing clinical development.
• Quarterly meetings align culture, treatment planning, finances, and individual performance metrics.
• Financial transparency helps teams understand commissions, costs, and business sustainability.
• Education should translate anatomy and evidence into bedside decisions.
• New injectors should stay patient and never assume they have become experts.
• The best clinic investment is the people who deliver the patient experience.

Resources from the Episode
Dr. Dhillon Instagram
Define Clinics Instagram
Sciton Laser Training

Ad Links
MINT Laser Mastery Track
MINT Online E-courses
Omni Bioceuticals

You thought we were done but we're BACK!

Christina Naugle reframes med spa growth as more than adding services or saying yes to every patient request. As the owner of Selah Aesthetics in Florida and a plastic surgery PA with 20 years of experience, she shares how collaboration with plastic surgeons, thoughtful treatment planning, and strong clinical judgment shape sustainable aesthetics. The episode explores why the five-year mark can be a risky stage for providers, how “no makes your career,” and why referring out can build trust instead of weakening authority. Christina also discusses lasers, year-long patient plans, live events, customer connection, and the role of stacked treatments in pursuing better results with practical downtime.

Talking Points

• Med spa growth now requires more intentional focus than organic demand
• Plastic surgery relationships can support referral-based patient acquisition
• Collaboration works best when providers respect each other’s clinical lane
• Strong treatment plans give each category more room to succeed
• The in-between plan can waste money without delivering visible results
• Year-long planning helps patients understand aesthetics as a relationship
• Reproducible results make clinical work easier to scale
• Providers need accredited training, not YouTube-based learning
• The five-year mark can create risky overconfidence
• Saying no and referring out can protect both patient and provider
• Lasers can complete the aesthetic tool belt beyond injectables
• Device investments require intentional ROI and utilization plans
• Customer service can come from personal notes and real connection
• Stacked treatments may create stronger yearly results with manageable downtime

Links in this Episode

Selah Aesthetics + Wellness
Omni Bioceuticals
MINT E-courses
Laser Mastery Track
MINT Tuesday Training

A huge thank you to our sponsor, Omni Bioceuticals! Be sure to check out this innovative skincare line.

In this episode, Kathy challenges the default assumption that lasers should slow down in the summer, arguing the real issue is not the season, it’s patient selection and compliance. She breaks down how Fitzpatrick type, sunscreen behavior, and lifestyle habits determine who can safely be treated. Kathy explains why non-ablative fractional lasers like MOXI create opportunities for year-round treatments, while cautioning against treating recently tanned skin or melanin-rich clients during high sun exposure months. She also outlines how to avoid and correct common complications and why most practices miss revenue by not properly educating clients on safe summer options.

Download the free resource here

Get the key frameworks for summer laser safety, including client selection, treatment strategy, and complication prevention.

Talking Points

• Summer laser treatments are viable with correct patient selection and timing
• Fitzpatrick I–III are safest starting point for summer treatments
• Melanin-rich skin types should generally wait until fall or winter
• Face treatments are safer than body due to sunscreen compliance differences
• Lifestyle and sunscreen habits determine candidacy more than season
• Frequent reapplication and visible lack of tan signal safer treatment windows
• Vacation schedules require spacing treatments at least two weeks before sun exposure
• Recent tanning increases complication risk; allow time before treating
• Non-ablative fractional lasers like 1927 thulium offer low downtime with strong results
• Nd:YAG devices remain safe across Fitzpatrick types, including summer use
• Avoid treating tanned areas with BBL to reduce risk of burns and complications
• Moxi can correct BBL striping or stamping with low-energy, high-density passes
• Education during consults reframes “lasers” as distinct technologies with different risks
• Offering summer laser promotions depends on proper screening, not assumption

Our Sponsors

Episode Sponsors:

MINT Aesthetics

Most providers are focusing on the wrong variables when it comes to energy-based treatments. James Bartholomeusz, Chief Innovation Officer at Sofwave, joins Kathy to break down how providers should evaluate and apply energy-based devices and why results vary so widely across practices.

The conversation focuses on how energy is actually delivered, showing why total energy and distribution matter more than per-pulse intensity or full-face coverage.

He explains how fractional injury drives more predictable outcomes, why targeted treatment zones outperform blanket approaches, and how device simplicity often reflects a stronger underlying biological mechanism.

The discussion also covers patient comfort without numbing, the role of perception in pain, and how GLP-1 use and hormone-related changes are shifting treatment planning toward earlier, more proactive intervention.

The result is a practical framework for delivering more consistent outcomes, improving team adoption, and building scalable, system-based treatment strategies.

Talking Points:

• Device outcomes depend on how energy is delivered and distributed, not just the technology itself
• Simplicity in explaining a device reflects true understanding of the underlying biology
• Fractional injury creates more consistent results than bulk heating approaches
• If outcomes vary significantly by operator, the device design or protocol lacks consistency
• Total treatment energy matters more than individual pulse intensity
• Targeting high-impact zones is more effective than full-face coverage
• Treatment effectiveness is driven by energy distribution, not surface area alone
• Combining technologies improves outcomes when each targets a different tissue layer
• Cold air distraction can improve patient comfort without relying on topical numbing
• Patient comfort is influenced by perception and distraction, not just physical sensation
• GLP-1 and hormone-related changes impact skin and muscle, requiring more proactive treatment planning
• Long-term regeneration requires system-based treatment planning, not isolated treatments
• Simpler protocols accelerate team adoption and improve consistency across providers

Download the free resource here.

Get the key takeaways and treatment strategies from this episode, including total energy application, patient comfort, and device optimization.

Episode Sponsors:

Omni Bioceuticals

Ad Links

Omni Bioceuticals

MINT Aesthetics

MINT Online E-courses

Links from this episode
Sofwave