Today we’d like to introduce you to Jesse James.
Hi Jesse, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Years before going to medical school, I felt called to the service of helping women. During my training, and for the past 10 years as a practicing physician, my passion for women’s health has continued to flourish. However, as a full-time urgent care physician during the Covid pandemic, I found myself getting severely burned out and feeling dissatisfied in my career.
I was driving past a new development in Draper and admiring a couple of the other new businesses in the area, and thought, “That would be a great place for a medical spa!”, and it was like a lightning bolt to my soul! I could open a medical spa right here and fulfill my goal of serving and empowering women. I was fortunate enough that in the course of the next 7 months, Femme Moderne became a reality in the very location that inspired me to open a medical spa!
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There is no smooth road to success! People see the result of success and assume that everything leading up to that was easy. Unless you’re in it, or very close to it, you haven’t seen the years of sleepless nights, agonizing business decisions, self-doubt, course correction, patting yourself on the back for the small successes only you know about, etc.
Not too many people are comfortable talking about the hardships, because, while that makes you relatable, it also makes you vulnerable, and vulnerability is a scary thing, especially when you’re already putting yourself out there to do something big and feeling that fear anyway. This experience has been a lesson in humility for me, but also one in believing in and trusting myself, which has led to a lot of personal and professional growth, and I’m grateful for that.
As an experienced physician, I am well-trained in clinical knowledge, but I received zero training in business development, marketing, or management. Medical school doesn’t prepare you to own a business. However, I am very adaptable and have always done what it takes to accomplish my goals. That being said, I had the steepest learning curve you can imagine as a new business owner, and I admit I did it all wrong in the beginning! 2.5 years into this beautiful venture, I now feel comfortable surrendering some control to the amazing team I’ve built, knowing they have our collective goals in mind.
I’ve always been sure of my vision…the hardest part of that has been trusting the process, knowing mistakes are inevitable, allowing others to help me when I’d been taken advantage of in the past, and seeing my vision come to fruition in ways I didn’t foresee.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Medical spas in Utah are on every corner, and many of them have medical directors who aren’t involved in the day-to-day operations. I chose to open this business out of a real desire to help people, and I am proud of my credentials as a board-certified Medical Doctor which has allowed me to do that. I have pioneered devices and brought trademarked services to Utah that no other medical spa can claim!
For example, we are the first medical spa in Utah to perform Physiq body contouring, which is the only treatment on the market utilizing sequential thermal and electrical pulse technology to dissolve fat and tone muscle, as well as our Elluminate 4-in-1 laser facial (which is incredible for treating wrinkles and acne scars, removing pigment, treating vascular anomalies of the face, and resurfacing the skin). I also started a revolutionary medically-supervised weight loss program that we have had a lot of success with! I stand behind everything we do at Femme Moderne Center for Aesthetics and ensure we are giving the highest standard of care.
We have a friendly, dedicated, expert team who exhibit true passion for the industry, and we are steadily making a name for ourselves as the go-to destination for comprehensive, innovative, and elevated medical aesthetics in the Salt Lake Valley.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
My hope for the industry is increased regulation over the next few years. Medical aesthetics is evolving faster than regulatory efforts can keep up. I’ve seen and heard some disturbing things going on in the industry.
While I don’t believe providers deliberately set out to hurt anyone, and clients may have adverse reactions even when everything is done correctly, I see a lack of medical education contributing to preventable adverse outcomes frequently. I’d love to be involved in setting a standard of care for the medical aesthetics industry locally and nationally.
Clients also need to be educated on the importance of selecting reputable establishments to receive services, and I am passionate about efforts to promote that message. I’m very proud that Femme Moderne Center for Aesthetics is setting a professional standard!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.femmemoderneaesthetics.com
- Instagram: @femmemoderneaesthetics
- Phone: (801) 980-0788
