In this interview, Lacey McCrary, APRN-CNP, shares how she built BellaDerma Aesthetics and Wellness from the ground up and reached $100K per month in just three months. You’ll learn how she identified market demand, overcame early challenges, priced with confidence, and built a cash-pay practice rooted in trust, quality care, and smart growth decisions.
Please introduce yourself and the healthcare organization you lead today.
I am Lacey McCrary, a nurse practitioner that currently co-owns BellaDerma Aesthetics and Wellness in Oklahoma. I have been a nurse practitioner for nearly 15 years and spent a little over 5 in aesthetics. Prior to that time I worked as a family nurse practitioner and in urgent care. I always worked for someone or a company.
When I started in aesthetics I was working for a local hospital that had a very small aesthetics clinic. They actually only had a laser. I worked there to gain experience for 2.5 years. Myself and my business partner broke off privately in 2022. We currently lead a team of 8-10 people operating our aesthetics and wellness clinic.
We currently have only one location but we are hoping to expand that in the future. We are also planning to build a new facility within the next 1-2 years, we have outgrown the space we currently rent. We have two nurse practitioners on staff, one registered nurse, and 3 estheticians. We currently service mostly women but our male clientele is definitely on the rise.
What inspired you to start or take ownership of your healthcare organization?
I was working for a corporate facility, the local hospital, and we were so limited on what we were able to do. I was not offered any training and was expected to grow this business. It was hard and scary, I was injecting on faces in a small town without any support. We could not advertise the way we wanted to on social media and I felt stagnant.
Trying to grow a business while feeling stuck was not the mental space I wanted to be in. It was after covid and during that time I felt like another number, not an important provider. So I spoke with my medical director and we agreed to was best to branch out on our own. His wife is my business partner. She is an industrial engineer and in the past implemented surgical suites in another hospital. She is our office manager and both of our backgrounds make a great pair.
In the beginning, what specific patient problems were you focused on solving-and how did you confirm there was a real deman for it?
In the beginning I knew several people who were driving 30-60 minutes for aesthetic services. There was nothing close by for patients to get to for any type of aesthetics treatments. Also, many patients in our town and surrounding are naive to even skincare. There was a need in our local community for women to feel comfortable with self-care.
What was the first service, treatment, or offering that consistently brought tin revenue?
I would say the first service that seemed to be bringing in revenue were lasers. Anything from laser hair removal, sun damage, or laser resurfacing was bringing in patients. They were nervous to start injectables but lasers did not seem as scary to them.
Laser packages are usually costly and the revenue started coming at that time. I also already had laser packages that would transfer to our new facility. This brought in the clientele and then I was able to discuss all of the new services we offer.
How long did it take you to reach your first $100k in revenue, and what were the biggest obstacles during that period?
It took 3 months to bring in our first $100K. During that time it was hard to get patients in the door. People still did not know BellaDerma existed because of the lack of advertising that had been done and the lack of advertising that was even available in our town.
How did you attract your first 50-100 paying patients or clients?
We started to build our social media presence. In aesthetics, social media is a huge marketing avenue. It is one of the first places that people will look for you to see your work. We started trying to be consistent on social media so we could have a presence. Word-of-mouth referrals were also big for us, they still are but especially in the beginning.
How did you decide on pricing in the early days, and how did it evolve as the business grew?
In the beginning I felt like we needed to be priced on the lower side, I felt that was the only way to get people in the door. I had imposter syndrome to some degree because I could see all of these big name injectors charging fair market value and that intimidated me, I did not feel worthy to charge that. I almost wanted to be the best deal in town.
Now, as I have grown as an injector and we have grown as a business, being the cheapest is the last thing I want to be. I also did not feel we could charge what was being charged in the bigger cities. But as we have grown I realize we can come close to that for sure. People are willing to pay for quality and that is what we provide.
Which growth channel produced results first, and why do you think it worked for your business?
The first channel to provide significant growth for us was word-of-mouth referrals. We had many friends and family supporting us and they started referring all of their friends and family. That was the first way we were able to get our name out there and the first channel that provided growth for us. That paired with a social media presence is what helped us start to take off.
What key decision or change most accelerated your path to $100K in revenue?
I would say marketing is what most accelerated this. We needed to get our name out in the community. There are not many places to advertise in our community but we were able to find some local places, a magazine, a business referral group, and again on social media. I think advertising is huge in my industry.
What early mistakes slowed your growth or created unnecessary challenges?
For me, it was becoming too friendly with my staff. I love my staff and we are small so it is hard not to get close. But I learned that during the hours of 9-5 it needs to be business focused. I let too many get too close and that blurred the lines of professionalism. I was not a good leader and I did not set the tone for my team well.
I learned to be a leader during those hours better and to stay focused on the business. I learned to check in on personal things with my staff after the job was done.
When did you start thinking and operating with a true business-owner mindset, rather than only focusing on day-to-day operations?
I heard somewhere that if you are not able to step away and the business still make a profit then you have created a job for yourself and not a business. That is when my mindset shifted. I wanted long term success of BellaDerma even if I was not at the bedside everyday. The only way to do this was to relinquish some control and train other staff members to do certain jobs.
How did you maintain high standards of patient care while also focusing on business growth and sustainability?
My business partner is the absolute best when it comes to keeping our revenue and KPIs. She keeps us in check and this has allowed me to continue to provide quality care because I have not had to focus on both at the same time. I have an idea of where we are daily and monthly but she handles the day-to-day so I can focus on the patients.
Our standard includes a good result, good outcome, and ethical decisions above price and revenue any day. I think when you are honest about this with yourself and patients then that alone will grow your business through trust.
What systems, processes, or routines helped bring consistency and predictability to revenue before your reached $100k?
We had very loose systems up until about 2 years ago. Many systems were in place but being underutilized. We did get staff workflow nailed down fairly quickly but we had to work on our follow-up with patients and the scheduling. Continuing a social media presence became hard to do on our own so we outsourced the BellaDerma social media and that helped to relieve that from my duties.
Are you currently using any Ai tools or Ai powered systems in your healthcare business? If yes, in which areas are they helping you today?
Occasionally we use an Ai charting system or we use it to create take-home instructions for the patients. We are underutilizing this and definitely hope to get better at that.
How did you fund your early growth, and what would you recommend to healthcare founders at a similar stage today?
We had to take out a business loan. We were able to pay ourselves a very low salary by doing this but it paid off and as time went on we were able to pour our revenue back into the business. If you have the money or support where you do not have to take out a loan then do that, but if you don’t, it is perfectly okay to take out a business loan.
What advice would you give to doctors, founders, or healthcare owners who want to start a new healthcare business or scale an existing one?
My advice would be to analyze your market and see where the needs are in our market. Then focus on those areas for growth while continuing the current areas for support as you grow. Do not invest in large equipment devices that are not a priority to do the job. Definitely have a manager that you trust fully to run the business operations if you are the provider bringing in the revenue.