Announcer (00:06):
You are listening to the Aesthetically Speaking podcast presented by Nextech.

Tyler Terry (00:14):
Hey guys. Welcome back to the Aesthetically Speaking podcast. My name is Tyler Terry, and I'm your host. Today I have a very special guest who happens to be one of my very good friends. Her name is Kaeli Lindholm. Kaeli is the founder of KLC Consulting. She is the host of the Fierce Factor Podcast and also the founder of the ALT Experience. Kaeli, welcome to the show.

Kaeli Lindholm (00:38):
Aw, thank you Tyler. Thank you for that shout out for ALT and all the things.

Tyler Terry (00:43):
Oh my gosh, of course. I have to. It's amazing. I was looking at your podcast and you have 216 episodes and a hundred and twenty two five star reviews.

Kaeli Lindholm (00:53):
Oh, wow. Look at you with the stats.

Tyler Terry (00:55):
Yeah, I was impressed. I was looking. I'm like 122. Wow. Need to get some tips from Kaeli.

Kaeli Lindholm (01:01):
Yeah, well, I'm mostly impressed with 216 episodes because what kind of dedication that takes to think of something to say and show up and say it every week?

Tyler Terry (01:10):
A hundred percent. A hundred percent. Well, hey, welcome to the show. Thank you for your time and super excited to just dive in and delve into your background and all of your experience. And my first question is just to tell us a little bit about yourself and share your story of how you transitioned from a device rep to owning your own business and starting your own brand.

Kaeli Lindholm (01:34):
Oh, thank you. I just first of all want to say Tyler, it's been such a pleasure getting to know you in the industry and I'm excited to talk with you kind of formally on podcast today. I've been looking forward to this. We were introduced back, I think in 2020 by Brandon James Thompson. So give him a shout out for that. I always appreciate, I think networkers in our industry or in general, don't get enough credit, cuz I think it's just such a gift to be able to connect people that go come together to make impact.

Tyler Terry (02:02):
It's true. And that is a lost art. And Brandon, shout out to you because a lot of my networking I learned from the one and only Brandon. And if you know Brandon, you know exactly what Kaeli and I are saying.

Kaeli Lindholm (02:12):
Yes, absolutely. So my name's Kaeli Lindholm and I'm the founder, as you mentioned, of KLC consulting and our flagship program, the POP Aesthetic Leadership Academy. Our mission is to help 1000 inspiring and intentional women cross the next million dollar milestone in their business this year. And we're really a company who has built a variety of different programming and tools and services and support to help aesthetic and wellness entrepreneurs build deeply satisfying, lucrative, freedom-based businesses that stand the test of time. In terms of my background and how we got here today, I started KLC eight and a half years ago after I came into the industry, I was recruited out of the diabetes industry to come and sell skincare. And then worked my way up chasing the financial ladder, I would say, on the corporate side, selling devices and then becoming a sales director ultimately in corporate America for one of the industry's largest aesthetic medical device companies.

(03:20):
And that ran its course about eight and a half years ago. And I ultimately got to this level where I think we get to that point where chasing, chasing, chasing, climbing, and I kind of got there and then I'm like, oh, this is it? And my quality of life was awful. My husband's a VP of sales and we were both doing this traveling across the country. I just wasn't that happy. I had young kids and I'm like, there has to be more to this. I honestly just had always had that fire, this entrepreneurial spirit. I always knew I would have a business someday. I actually had two businesses when I was a kid. I did gift wrapping, I would wrap gifts for people as my first job. But anyway, I knew I would leave corporate and do something. And at that point I thought, well, I live in Orange County and there's so much business here and I have built such a network and my own sort of reputation in the industry that I could go and help people on my own.

(04:19):
And so I kind of made it my goal. I just want to earn my salary on my own. I want to show myself that I could do that. And that was sort of where I printed my first business cards and said, Hey, I'm available to help anybody want help growing their business. And anyway, it sort of took off from there. I think that my first client was another device company who heard I was a free agent and said, Hey, why don't you come help us build the Go-to-market strategy for one of our new devices. And then through that experience, I met a young plastic surgeon in Newport Beach who said, listen, if you come work alongside me, we could be profit share partners. And I did. So I kind of got the experience of working on the manufacturer side and then in the practice, and then it was from there, I was with him for about 15 months and then I'm like, okay, I got to figure out a way to scale this up and help a lot of people. And that's really where we launched the academy.

Tyler Terry (05:09):
That's amazing. One of my favorite things that you told me when we first met and how you are where you are is how practices absolutely loved working with you and you could work with them for only a certain amount of time and then you had to say goodbye. And they continued to reach out and would want to continue to work with you. Whereas now today you get to do that. You have a new client who you're helping grow their business and you get to work with them every day, every month for as many years as they're with you. But that was really cool to hear.

Kaeli Lindholm (05:40):
Well of course I would tell you that people love working with me.

Tyler Terry (05:44):
I've seen it firsthand. People really do love working with you. I mean, you're one of my favorite people in the industry, seriously.

Kaeli Lindholm (05:51):
The context behind that just to provide for the people who like is this egomaniac here, the reason why can't you work with someone forever was that was the whole model switch for me was being a consultant and coming in as someone who would help with specific projects to switching to becoming a coach for them and more of a strategic growth advisor that is focused on helping them learn the skills to be a great leader and find their own solutions to problems. And I think when you come in and fix something for someone, the problem goes away temporarily, but they don't learn and develop the skills on how to solve that problem on an ongoing basis. And so I think what's changed really is the way that I partner with aesthetic providers and entrepreneurs and quite frankly, Tyler, building my own business and doing it on my own. I see this from a completely different lens than from when I was a rep and I saw what good was and what bad was. When you are building something from nothing from scratch and in an industry where there's real competition, you learn a lot and I can be a different kind of resource for them. And so I think that's why I get to spend more time with them now is that there isn't a come in do the project and leave, it's a true partnership.

Tyler Terry (07:07):
That makes sense. So let's go ahead and shift gears a little bit and talk about branding. And it's something in many of your episodes you talk about, and I know I've learned a lot from you in terms of branding from listening and also being a part of some conversations, but when you think of a med spa or any aesthetic practice, how does a brand relate to that and what is so important about differentiating yourself and building that brand?

Kaeli Lindholm (07:32):
I love this topic, Tyler, because I think it is actually one of the most misunderstood kitschy terms like building a brand. I think it's completely opposite of what most people want to do when they're looking to build a brand. And I kind of think of it like this. If your entire ecosystem, everything around you, all the investments you make, the people that you bring in to support you, that you hire the partnerships. Everybody is a big spider web and a lot of people think, oh, I'm going to build this web, and the brand is just that one little piece and it's actually the whole web, this interconnected ecosystem of all of these components about who you are. So I think a brand in this industry, in any industry is best described as really the emotional or the psychological connection that your customers have with your company.

(08:22):
And I think that's why it's one of the most difficult points in your business to master and grasp because it's so intangible in many ways. It's the act of shaping the perception of what someone thinks or feels about you, which is essential to compete in our industry of course and in any category. So how do you create an environment or this brand that people connect with and want to be a part of when it's so intangible? That's kind of the challenge behind building a brand, but I think it's critical and I think that it's one of the most important pieces in building a distinctive company, an industry where there's so much sameness as we would say.

Tyler Terry (09:05):
Yeah. So when you're working with, you have many clients and every client is unique, what are some of the questions that you ask them when you first meet with them? You're sitting down, you're building their brand. What are some questions you ask them to decide what direction to take the brand?

Kaeli Lindholm (09:21):
I'll start by saying this. I think most brands are built wrong to begin with. One, it's let's start by what it's not. It's not your logo, it's not the visual components. Those are the things that people connect with to recognize that, oh, that feeling that I have, I see that. But that feeling that you get is through what happens inside internally. So that meme, that's like the iceberg, like the tip is kind of outside of the water, but then the bulk of all of it's underneath that is what a brand is. All of it happens inside. It is who you actually are. And where I see a lot of people go wrong, one, especially in our industry is it's very ego driven. So they think the brand is about me and who I am and what I stand all of those things about, look what I did. And so the first thing when I look at marketing is pitching, like so obsessed with their new device, so obsessed with the products and services or who they are in their photo shoots that all of their marketing and everything they put out to the world is about them and about what they offer. But think about a great brand, Tyler, maybe I'll ask you, what's a brand that you really connect with?

Tyler Terry (10:27):
Well, I like Rivian. Rivian. It's a truck I drive. I feel like I connect with the brand. I love what they stand for and how they're trying to preserve nature. And I love what the CEO stands for, anyways, Rivian would be the brand.

Kaeli Lindholm (10:42):
Rivian. Okay, so great. So when you look at the Rivian logo, when I look at that logo, it means absolutely nothing to me. I would know nothing about that. But the reason why it sounds like that you really resonate with that brand is what it makes you feel and how it serves you as a customer. To answer your question, the first place that you start when you're building a brand, to me, a brand is so intimately connected to leadership, and I know this is going to sound, people are going to listen to this and be like, oh, here we go, this crazy girl. But I went to business school and got a marketing degree. I spent a lot of time working on marketing projects and building marketing strategies and everything that has to do with marketing inside and out in terms of how to create visibility or brand awareness.

(11:26):
But the brand itself is built around the leader, the person who builds it and what they stand for. So when you talk about your truck, right, it's like those intangible things. It's their purpose. It's the way that it makes you feel when you get in there. It's the connection that this brand has for you to the kind of person that you want to be. So when I think of where to start, it's going to be a lot less about you as a company actually and a lot more about your customer and then how you lead a customer and you lead your business to serve that client.

Tyler Terry (12:05):
I love that. When I think of that question you ask me and then as I really start to think of Rivian and their marketing and watching and following as a fan, a lot of it is the connection with family and what I could do with my girls and the adventures we can go on with my family and my wife and being able to go to the lake or the ocean or wherever the outdoor piece of connecting with nature. So I love that. And I've never thought about it from the flip side. A lot of times even I fall victim to seeing it and I think, oh, the logo and the typography and the colors of the website, but really trying to get that deeper connection to the customer is amazing.

Kaeli Lindholm (12:44):
And I think this is what we do is we are trying so hard to create something for someone else, but really it's about the way that they connect and they resonate so that they can trust us. Every transaction is built on an exchange of trust. And I'll tell you when we have clients even come in, prospective clients to work with us and we'll have a discovery call and I'll ask them, what's your mission? And they're like, hold on one sec, let me call somebody. Or they're like, pull up some piece of paper that shoved in a drawer, dusting it off, and they have no idea what their mission is. And then I'll ask them, what's my mission? And they can rattle off my mission in 10 seconds. Wow, why would somebody know my mission? But for even their own, it's because they care about what I'm going to do for them. So if we can flip the script in terms of the brand that we're building to how am I going to enroll other people, how am I going to serve them and engage them in an experience where they want to transact? So ultimately pay me to solve a problem that they have. It's a complete mindset shift and it starts with who you are as a company inside.

Tyler Terry (13:53):
As I think to just in my career, something that I uncovered just in selling to somebody is of course you want to build a friendship and you want to have a connection, but making people feel confident and comfortable in not just the product but in me because my own brand. Right?

Kaeli Lindholm (14:08):
Absolutely.

Tyler Terry (14:08):
But then thinking of that from a practice point of making patients feel confident and comfortable, how do you do that? It's not by the logo and the colors and the location, although those are nice things, but how do you make somebody feel confident and comfortable? So super insightful. That was amazing, Kaeli. So I want to talk about your brand and how are you growing your brand? What are some of the things that you're doing? I know that you mentioned the pop academy and then we know that we have the new alt experience, but what are some of the ways that or the new directions that you're taking your brand to impact the different businesses that you work with?

Kaeli Lindholm (14:47):
So everything that we've created has been built alongside of our customer. And I think when I mentioned your brand identity being so closely tied to leadership, I think a lot of people are probably glazing over that. Like, oh, okay, what is that? So I think going back to what does that mean for me? But Tyler, I think building a really great brand, most of us forget to think for ourselves about what it is that is important to us and what we stand for and why I think great personal brands can do so well because let's talk about med spas as an example or providers. They can build really effectively early on and quickly when it's just them because they are them and their clients, connect with them. Just be a great doctor, just build trust, you as a rep, like if it's just you, you're going to walk in and you're going to connect with that client and build trust and rapport and help them feel confident about who they're investing in.

(15:46):
But now you're a leader and you have a team. So when you become a business that needs to scale, that is where that inflection point of I actually need to be able to verbalize and communicate what that brand is. And so I talk about thought leadership a lot and a lot of the programs that we have built, our pop leadership academy, our Voice of Impact, which is our public speaking communication program, our CAPL, which is our certified aesthetic practice leader program, we're building practice managers. All of this happens from having conversations with your customers and then building alongside of them. And I think investing in people who are in alignment with your core values. Because if you think about it, you can be the best marketer in the world. I can attract a million people to come and want to do business with me, but if I don't have an army of people who are going to fulfill on that, so exceptional customer service, right?

(16:39):
We're like white glove service, blue collar approach to work. I want every single customer or you, Tyler, to interact with every team member that's on the KLC team and walk away feeling like you miss them when you left. I had an exceptional experience and that's what really builds the brand. And so when you ask how have you built your brand, it's truly by living and being the brand and being an example, when I talk about leadership, a lot of people ask me, how do I motivate my team? Or how do I get people to think of my brand this way? Be that embody that actually show up and make decisions, even difficult decisions that might not be the sexy answer that are reflective of your core values and who you are.

Tyler Terry (17:28):
Wow. Kaeli, this is amazing. I feel like you've already given so many pearls on branding and it goes back to that spider web that interconnectivity for it to be from the inside out. So just to kind of dive a little deeper, how often should you check in on your brand? I mean, what would be a best practice?

Kaeli Lindholm (17:50):
Well, I think it's a practice of who you are. So I think building systems, my advice before you scaled to five locations was to be really clear about your mission, vision, values and to have a team of people that you've hired to your core values. So we look at core values as the standards by which you operate and hire in your company. When you talk about five locations, the problem where maybe I have one core location, not my flagship, that just is a frigging machine, and then I start to build these and then I become so dependent on now operationally overseeing every single location to reflect the first one. Well that's because typically we're hiring quickly to skills and not to the core values of what really built that flagship to what it is. So I'm not trying to avoid your question. I actually really believe deeply that this is the answer to branding is that I'm asking from the very first point of hiring an employee, I know what my core values are and I'm hiring to those.

(18:57):
So for us, it's going all in. So are people willing to invest all in, full send with everything? Do they have a winning mindset? Do they embody somebody who is not so invested in a job but invested and obsessed with the opportunity to grow with our company, and the challenge of becoming somebody through that process. I'm looking for that. I'm looking for somebody who is our second core value willing to challenge themselves to grow. They like that they're looking for ample growth and someone who's willing to have fun. If you're not an A plus in all of those, I don't care how skilled you are at something. And so we have this, Tyler as an example. It's called the culture Reset. It's a team training that we run for our academy clients. And so people will be like, come and help us reset our culture.

(19:47):
And I know automatically if you have a challenge with your culture, it's not because you're not a great person, you haven't built a great brand, it's that people are coming with a set of values on their own and if they're not aligned with yours, then that is going to create a misaligned culture. So answering your question about how often to check on the brand, I mean it should become systematized. So there should be SOPs, the white glove experience, every time a customer walks in, this is how they're greeted at the door, this is how they're offered this cup of coffee or whatever, or the cookie when they check out or at the lavender towel or those types of things that everybody is held accountable to having a smile on their face to treating the customer a certain way. That's how you get to a point where somebody knows that they're consistently, every time they show up to Tyler's med spa, they're going to get this level of consistently a certain level of experience or care there. So it happens from the very minute. And I think doing surveys and checking in with your team and your customers is really important constantly.

Tyler Terry (20:54):
I love what you're saying, going all in on your employees and your team and your brand. My wife and I are trying to be more minimalistic and one of the things we've learned is if it's not a hell yes, then it's a no. And I think the same thing as you're talking, I'm like, oh yeah, if this employee isn't a hell yes, it's a no. If this product, if anything that I bring into my practice should be all in. So that was amazing. Kaeli. So I want to ask you this as a, an aspiring entrepreneur. How do you have balance in your life and what are some of the habits, like daily habits that you set in place to be successful?

Kaeli Lindholm (21:34):
Focus. I know where I do my best work and I know what drives impact, and I do this religiously. I outsource, I delegate, I get help. And I am fiercely committed to developing people to become their best and absolute greatest potential so that they can build my company. And that for me has been the only way I can have quote unquote balance. I'm not a PTA mom. No one wants me to be.

(22:06):
I'm obsessed with my work and my company and my customers. And I also know that when you look at my calendar, if I was to open up my calendar and you were to see it, you would say, ah, I see. Like my priorities are there's time blocked. I don't get up in the morning and sit down at my desk. I go get my workout done, I make breakfast for the kids and pack their lunches and spend time with them, and I start at 10. I am totally good with that. To me, the idea of the American dream and the entrepreneurial journey, I've built a multimillion dollar business independently coming from a sales job. I have a Cal State Dominguez degree, I'm scrappy, and I know that there are a lot of people out there that are chasing this idea of becoming whatever your financial sort of ultimate end game is.

(23:01):
But I think a lot of people are chasing some carrot that they believe when they achieve it, they're going to then be happy. And yet you could just build a life right now in which you're happy today. And I think when you have that viewpoint, my terminology is the life first business that I make time for my lunches with my girlfriends or the things that I enjoy and make me happy. And then I work around that and I built a business that supports my life and not the other way around. And for some reason, God willing, I have earned financially beyond my wildest dreams, but I don't think I would have done that if I wasn't a role model for other women that I'm coaching on how to do it. And so again, when we talk about branding, I will be that, and that's not been easy, but it's been a commitment that I've made to myself and I will continue to make to my team and the people that work with me and will ultimately be this company and who knows where they'll take it someday, that no one has a gun to their head and none of us do in this life.

(24:08):
We all get to choose what we show up and do every single day. And so we have to be committed to prioritizing the things that matter to us. And whatever that is for you, that's your balance. And for some people it is all work and that's great, do that. But for me, it's being a great mom and it's doing different kinds of things in the world and the work that we do. And so my advice would be to put that filter on everything, Tyler, is it a hell yes or a no? And to not waver from that.

Tyler Terry (24:40):
I love it. So many things about what you just said, life first business, and it's really tapping into your superpower, and I love that you know that your superpower isn't a PTA mom, however, that is a superpower of some, and some people can do multiple things, right?

Kaeli Lindholm (24:56):
Yes.

Tyler Terry (24:56):
But I love that your strengths and you're delegating, that's something I'm working on, is being better at delegating. And I would love to hear your thoughts on this. I believe just doing some research that people have a hard time hiring people that they might perceive as smarter or more talented than they are, and making sure that you have great people in your room. But do you ever run into that? Do you ever run into some of your leaders having a hard time, I don't want to say being outshined, but hiring someone that might be smarter than them?

Kaeli Lindholm (25:29):
Yeah, I mean, I think one of the biggest fears that entrepreneurs in our industry have in terms of scaling is if as hiring, look, any business, let's just be real. If I hire somebody who's so great, then they're going to leave, right? I could invest in them and train them and develop them. And then what about me? And I have worked through this myself. I think this is where coaching is really great. I think that when you look at leadership through the lens of the rocking chair, when you're 80 years old and you're on your porch and you look back at your footprint and what you created and made in the world, you aren't going to be proud of yourself for, oh, look at me, look at how much money I made, or look at how I don't know the vanity stuff. You are going to be proud of the impact that you made in terms of the people that you've touched and people calling you someday and saying, wow, you touched my life in this way.

(26:30):
I get people who will never spend a dollar with me, but that listen to my podcast every single Monday morning. And they'll message me and say, I listened to that and I made this one decision that's changed my life. That was the one domino. And to me, that's why we get up and do what we do every single day. So I would challenge anybody who has that. And when you're facing people that are nervous about hiring somebody or developing or investing in them because they'll become greater, take that as an opportunity to become greater yourself and grow yourself. Because I think it is the gift that we have in this lifetime to develop and grow humans and for them to excel beyond you. Who are you to tell somebody they can't go and do greater things? I think that anybody who passes through my company and says she invested in me and I learned and grew and I became a better person because of that, I'm going to look at that as the ultimate flex.

(27:28):
Not that I was smarter than somebody at that moment in time. Now, with that being said, I will say one of the mistakes that can be made as somebody that's probably insecure about their own skills. So for example, a provider maybe who's like, I know nothing about managing people, and so I'm just going to hire somebody who can do that, and they haven't done the work to, because they're avoiding that on their own. Start learning how to dribble at the other hand, learning a new skill. Especially somebody who's really, really great at what they do clinically, it is so scary to think about learning something they don't know and they outsource it, and then they're in a spiral of challenge because now that's someone else running with leading the operation of their values and the things that are important to them. So I think I would say don't avoid hiring great people, but make sure that you're investing in yourself first, and then you won't have that insecurity about bringing great people in because you're really clear about what you're building.

Tyler Terry (28:27):
Yeah. Wow. That's super insightful. Thank you, Kaeli. I want to really shift gears and tap into something that you have tapped into since I met you, and I know now you're all in on it. Feminine leadership, which really relates to so many different things. And our industry and aesthetics is specifically med spas is majority owned by females, which is amazing. And this resonates with me as a girl dad. I have two little girls. So seeing what you're doing for female leaders and women in general is super inspiring to me, and I'd love for you to share all about that, but also to shift gears a little bit into the ALT experience.

Kaeli Lindholm (29:09):
Yeah. So thank you for that. So I was on vacation with my family in Hawaii maybe four years ago or so, and I was on a walk with my husband, and I was telling him just normal challenges of and conversation about growing my business. And I was saying how I had this big book, this portfolio of male plastic surgeon clients, and a lot of women will call me, but they're not willing to invest as quickly. And I feel like getting women to, I have to talk to my husband, or I'm not sure, I don't know the numbers or let me talk to my accountant. This was my personal experience in somewhat generalizing, but also I think that the way that we're programmed raised as boys versus girls, a lot of times in our households, you got to go and make a decision where you as maybe your mom relied on your dad to make that decision, right?

(30:03):
Or let me check with him first. And so that was modeling. And so I'm having that conversation and I'm like, that's a problem. And my husband just sat there, he just listens to me, talk to myself basically. And he was like, what are you going to do about it? And I'm like, that's the problem I need to solve. And so it was actually less about, I had already broken the glass ceiling in my mind, I believe, and I was raised by a Samoan American father that he came from very humble beginnings. He had one pair of shoes with holes in 'em and ended up becoming a professional football player for the Rams through hard work and believing that you can achieve anything. I believe that wholeheartedly. But I think this whole thing where women have such a gift with the emotional intelligence side and building people, and you think about what a brand is, what building a team is, what building a brand is, what building a company is finding a way to incentivize, encourage other people to want to come and do business with you or invest in you for their own reasons.

(31:03):
And I think as women, we naturally have that innate ability to do that, and yet we hold ourselves back because we lack the confidence or the imposter syndrome or those sort of intangible things that we need to work on to just go and achieve the most. And so I felt like I could be somebody because of what I am doing every day and what I had done and through the lens that I had who could help other women feel empowered and show up and invest in themselves in that kind of way. To the first part of your question, the ALT experience really came from a lot of what I felt like was missing in conferences in our industry, which you and I know from the rep perspective, we've sat in a lot of exhibit halls, right?

Tyler Terry (31:47):
Too many.

Kaeli Lindholm (31:48):
I wanted to be a speaker so bad for my whole career. And then I finally became one, and I started giving talks and I kept getting asked to talk about, let's talk about the top 10 mistakes people make in hiring. And I was like, I want to talk about mindset and setting boundaries, and I want to talk about the things that actually impact us as female entrepreneurs. And as I became a speaker, but also just as learning and taking my own insights from what I'm hearing and as building my own business, and I felt like, well, shoot, everyone's already so successful. And I would constantly want to compare my chapter one to their chapter five, but what is in the middle there? And what you and I know Tyler about achieving success is that what really makes you successful isn't the things that people see on your Instagram, it's the failure that you overcome. And so I wanted to put an event together where women could come together. Every speaker that came was non-sponsored, non endorsed. They came and they were asked to share their biggest story of failure and the lessons they learned along the way.

(32:54):
And so it was really ALT for alternative or Thought Leadership Advisory kind of flipped on its head. It was this way for women to come together and sort of let the guard down and talk about the mess ups and the things that nobody is sharing. And I think that really it was pretty mind blowing. I think that not only is our industry, but our society is ready for thought leaders who aren't just talking at you, regurgitating, mimicking, sharing, selling you, but that are opening up to you to tell you that, look, we all are human beings and we all go through these challenges and here's how we can together overcome them.

Tyler Terry (33:35):
Wow. When you think of sports, usually when you go to practice and you're engaging in any type of coaching, you focus on the things that you could have done better, the things that went wrong, right?

Kaeli Lindholm (33:47):
Yeah.

Tyler Terry (33:47):
I love that you are actually talking about something different that's not on podium at every conference on repeat, which is fine, they could do that. But the fact that you're talking about things that are hard, things that are challenging, and I bet almost everybody related and some stories intertwined and everybody had a me too moment. It's amazing. I love that.

Kaeli Lindholm (34:10):
I think we're a society that's built around optics and perception and an industry that is, you have to be that, right? The aesthetic, and so it's nice, I think to have permission to say, I'm not perfect, and you realize you're not alone. I think that's very comforting and empowering and inspiring for somebody to look at someone else who's a human being too

Tyler Terry (34:37):
Outside of that lens of social media. Because like you said, it's easy to show our best outcomes and show all the cool things that we're doing and the conferences that we're going to, but to actually talk about what got us there, and you said comparing my chapter one versus their chapter five, it was probably pretty mind blowing, like you said, to hear all of the chapters that were shared and all of the correlations. So super cool. And this is the inaugural year, right? This was the first year of the ALT experience.

Kaeli Lindholm (35:06):
Right.

Tyler Terry (35:07):
First of many,

Kaeli Lindholm (35:08):
I think so.

Tyler Terry (35:09):
Yes. That's super exciting. For those that are listening, we'll be sure to include a link in the show notes so that you can check out the ALT experience along with Kaeli's podcast, the Fierce Factor, which is incredible. I honestly think you don't even have to be a part of the industry and listen to it, and you would find so much value, which is one of my favorite things about your podcast, Kaeli.

Kaeli Lindholm (35:30):
Thanks, Tyler.

Tyler Terry (35:31):
So I just wanted to end with this. Where do you see our industry going? A lot of people are jumping in right now because it's hot and there's a lot of money in it, and it's a sexy industry. Where do you see our next, let's just say, our next five years in this industry?

Kaeli Lindholm (35:48):
Yeah, I love that question. So first of all, it's going to be a part of everything as it relates to aesthetics is going to integrate into every kind of industry in a different way. You looked at back after 2020 how wellness kind of became on the scene. But I would look from the bigger landscape of now AI really, and now access to information. And we've got private equity coming in. We've got this fast paced mission to capitalize on the growth financially and people who are coming in to take advantage because of the money. And I think that the more that we move at this pace, the more commoditization we're going to have and the more homogenization we're going to see. And so when somebody is looking at how do I keep up or how do I continue to evolve? And they're so focused on that, I really think that the practices who are really focused internally on serving their clients at the highest level are going to stand out.

(36:54):
By that, I mean the best brands are not built by keeping up with trends, they're built by setting trends. And so I think that staying focused internally and solving real problems that your customers have is going to be key to thriving and succeeding. Regenerative medicine, so tacking onto wellness is like 1.5 trillion industry, and now we see aesthetic providers that are retailing everything from, there's hair restoration, we've got exosomes and we've got stem cell and real regenerative medicine. I think that there's going to be huge advancements and very exciting advancements for us as I'm on this whole hormone health wellness journey, allergy things I never thought I would be like that girl in California. I'm kind of turning into that.

Tyler Terry (37:43):
But now you are?

Kaeli Lindholm (37:44):
No, I am her. That's why I say just never say never. So there's going to be a lot more conversation around health and wellness in the aesthetic industry for sure. And then I think the technologies, you look at ultrasound and I think a lot of the shifts around one better understanding of how to measure and track our bodies through that technology, better options for us, like non-invasively. And I think safety and ethics, that's really where we need to continue to invest in supporting practitioners is they're keeping up with this demand of patients coming in.

Tyler Terry (38:27):
So something that's exciting is you're talking about AI and all the new products coming out and how wellness is colliding with aesthetics. What I think is most exciting is that practices have the ability to be one of the first to implement and adopt, to actually say in 20 years that you were an early adopter of AI. And I love, one of my favorite things that you said that I just learned from is that the best brands don't keep up with trends, they actually set trends. And actually, one of my favorite songs is called Trendsetter. Be a trendsetter, be a trailblazer like you, Kaeli. And I just want to end with just saying thank you. You have been one of my favorite and best friends and this industry, and I feel super, super grateful to know you, to learn from you. You inspire me as I'm sure, well, I know you inspire thousands of people, and I would love to have you back on.

Kaeli Lindholm (39:21):
Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it, and I'm really proud of you and everything that you have done at TouchMD and what Nextech is building too. So kudos to, I am excited to see your path and the company's path as well.

Tyler Terry (39:35):
Thank you so much. And again, those who are listening, be sure to check out the show notes to follow Kaeli, to subscribe to her podcast, to check out the ALT experience. And of course, know that Fierce Factor might become your favorite podcast, so be aware, it's going to be, I believe the average American listens to eight podcasts a week. Fierce Factor will fall into those eight. So thank you again, Kaeli, and we'd love to have you back on.

Kaeli Lindholm (40:02):
Thanks Tyler. Take care.

Announcer (40:05):
Thanks for listening to Aesthetically Speaking, the podcast where beauty meets business, presented by Nextech. Follow and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. Links to the resources mentioned on this podcast or available in your show notes. For more information about Nextech, visit nextech.com, or to learn more about TouchMD, go to touchmd.com. Aesthetically Speaking is a production of The Axis, T-H-E-A-X-I-S.io.