Adam Torres and Angie Meinhardt discuss beauty standards and medical aesthetics.
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Show Notes:
What are some tips for women who are interested in getting cosmetic injectable treatments? In this episode, Adam Torres and Angie Meinhardt, Nurse Practitioner Injector at The Laser Lounge Spa Sarasota, explore The Laser Lounge Spa in Sarasota.
About Angie Meinhardt
Angie joined the team on October 2021 bringing 10+ years of aesthetic experience with her. She became a registered nurse in 2000 and decided to pursue her Masters in Nursing a few years later. Over the years, Angie developed her passion for medical aesthetics and beauty and the results that can be achieved. Angie loves to bring her dedication and talent for aesthetics to every client that walks through the door!
About The Laser Lounge Spa Sarasota
At The Laser Lounge Spa and Salon Sarasota, they offer a wide range of treatments. Their hair salon and skin care clinic specializes in aesthetics, laser, anti-aging, injectable, filler, medical skincare, hair treatments, and much more!
A Med Spa That Delivers Results
They’re on a mission to ensure our clients not just look, but feel their very best! With services ranging from skincare, laser, and haircare treatments – They carefully select each service to ensure we’re only offering top-of-the-line services with stellar results. They use only the best technology and the latest training techniques to give you the results you’ve been dreaming of. Their only goal is to create a treatment plan that is specialized for each of their clients and to guide you along your skin and hair journey with out-of-this-world service. They pride ourselves in offering global treatments without the global price tag. Everyone should have access to and the opportunity to be the best versions of themselves.
TLLS is a leader in the Med Spa industry providing sought after treatments like; neurotoxins (Xeomin) and dermal fillers. Our team is passionate, experienced, and complete with highly trained experts who focus solely on one area of aesthetics to deliver amazing results, every time. They provide world-class service without the world-class price.
Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres, and if you’d like to apply to be a guest on the show, just head on over to missionmatters. com and click on Be Our Guest to apply. All right, so today’s guest is Angie Meinhardt, and she is a nurse practitioner injector over at the Laser Lounge Spa, Sarasota.
Angie, welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you so much for this opportunity. All right. So great to have you on today. And I know that you were referred over to us by the SRQ Women’s Expo that took place in Sarasota. And that was correct me if I’m wrong. That was a couple of weeks ago, maybe. Yeah, it was last weekend.
Yes, last week. And there you go. How was it? How was it? Give me an update. I wasn’t able to give me an update. How was it? It was amazing. It was just an opportunity for us to get together as women and support each other in business, share the things that we’re passionate about and network and all the good things.
So it was, it was a great time. Oh, that’s amazing. I wish I could have gone and I’m actually heading off to Florida next week. And I’m like, Oh man, and Florida keeps drawing me. I don’t know, Angie.
Just to kind of get us started. started here. What drew you , into this business? And even, even just the concept of like beauty and aesthetics, like , what drew you into helping other women? So I was one of those kids that just always loved beauty, loved playing in makeup loved skincare things from the time that I was very, very young.
So it was just one of those things that really brought me joy and happiness. And when I, So I’ve been a nurse for 24 years and decided that I would go back , and get my nurse practitioner license about 16 years ago. And then when I did a dermatology rotation and saw that there was a field, an emerging field called aesthetics, where they were doing injectables and just doing things that you , could support women and men as well, but women and make us feel more beautiful, , support us in that way.
I was just like mesmerized. I was like, Oh my gosh, that’s, that’s what I want to do. So my first ever position, I worked for a plastic surgeon in North Carolina and at the time injectables was kind of, , a smaller piece of the practice and over time it’s just gotten bigger and bigger and bigger.
So yeah, just one of those Kind of artistic expressions for me and just based on a real love of beauty and aesthetics and adornment and all of those things. Hmm. Why do you feel this is this is so important for women to express themselves in that way for those that choose to? Why do you feel that’s important?
I feel it’s important for us to feel like we have some control over how we show up in the world. I feel like when we are happy with what we see in the mirror that does influence how we feel inside. Like, I feel like it’s, this, this Kind of flow, , the inwards, the inside and the outside, , that when we feel good inside, it expresses outside, but also when we feel good outside, it, it changes how we feel inside.
And I know in my own journey, just personally, when I feel like, there are supports that I can take advantage of to look my best, it definitely makes me feel happier and more joyful.
For those that maybe are just kind of new to this, to the concept of going into maybe , a spa like the Laser Lounge Spa in Sarasota, like what are some thoughts or some tips as they’re kind of, as they’re kind of just starting to explore? Well, I would say that’s kind of one of the things that, , that, that I feel upset a part in this industry is I feel like it’s really important for women to begin from a place of really deep self acceptance and, , not necessarily looking for cosmetic treatment to be a mask or to To give them confidence or to take place of that sort of internal feeling about ourselves in my experience, I feel like that’s where things can really go arise when they’re looking for something to, I guess, take the place, , of that, of that inner journey. So, one of the things that I really focus on is , supporting women in being able to see their own beauty and not trying to change themselves to fit a particular narrative. That’s one of the things that I have found as a woman is that we are highly influenced by the stories that we’re told, the narratives, the things that we tell ourselves about what it means to be beautiful , different beauty standards really influence how we see ourselves and so I think that’s probably one of the most key pieces for me is, really having that understanding within ourselves as women that that aesthetics cannot take the place of, that internal, Work or , , that internal piece.
Yeah, I feel it’s very helpful because when we think about like let’s just say some some of the views around whether someone should, shouldn’t, if they, if they, if they like it aesthetically, like that’s again, individual preference, but that concept of taking care of the whole. I mean, that, that’s universal, right?
Like everybody should be thinking about that, in my opinion, women and men, right? I mean, just in general, like everything that you said, it resonates with me too, right?
Specifically for maybe some of the women that are interested in also getting cosmetic and injectable treatments, like if, what are some tips that you could offer if there, if, if someone’s interested in doing that? I think, so, what I have found is that That works really well long term and that’s really kind of as an injector.
My focus is on, , what looks good immediately, , what serves people, , in the present moment, but also what serves long range. And one quick thing, Angie, just to preface this real quick, just to correct me if I’m wrong on this, and I want to bring this up for the audience. You’ve been doing this for quite some time, right?
Like, you’re a pro. Yes. Like, yeah, how many years? Yeah. What I see here. Yeah. 16 years. Yeah. So you’re 16 years in. So you’re a pro. I just wanted to qualify your answer to let the audience know that I’m not, I think they know that I wouldn’t bring somebody on that wasn’t a pro, but just in case, I mean, you do this 16 years.
So I respected , , your insight in this. So go ahead, continue, please. I just wanted to make sure. Yeah, the longevity does offer insight because I’ve seen different trends come and go. I’ve seen things, , being pushed in the industry that now we see years later, like this isn’t a good idea, but what I have found is I primarily base my treatments on bioregenerative treatments, things that are going to work with stimulating the body’s natural production of tissue and cellular regeneration and, and kind of focusing that as like the primary foundation.
And then utilizing things like fillers that are going to, , reshape and, and contour the face or the, or the body, if you will using that much more sparingly, but, , so the primary focus is on supporting the body, supporting , good tissue quality , that good glowing quality to the skin, I feel like is what makes, People’s natural inner beauty shine.
And so, yeah, my focus is less on augmentation and trying to make people’s faces fit , a certain ratio, which is kind of the going narrative now in the aesthetics industry is like, , there’s a certain ratio that humans perceive as being the most beautiful and I feel like that can Kind of implant ideas into people’s subconscious that maybe does not serve them in the long run because I do See from My observation is that when we start trying to reshape people’s faces too much or make them fit into a certain standard People start kind of looking the same they start losing some of their Individual unique qualities that in my opinion make them more beautiful, , it makes them unique and so I feel like the way that we were Made is innately divine, innately beautiful, and we don’t need to.
Teach people that they should change themselves to, to be more beautiful, if that makes sense. It does make sense. Mm hmm. And so, I mean, we’ve taken kind of one side of the question. I guess I’ll take some of the other side of the question as well. Like, maybe mistakes you’ve seen along your way when it comes to getting injectables, or for those that, like, what does that look like, or what can that be like?
The mistakes I would say is definitely trying to do too much. I think, , like I said, when, when I have worked with clients who are coming in from a place of, they don’t see themselves as beautiful, you can sense that there’s like a non acceptance. I feel like they start trying to, to augment and change themselves too much with injectables and and I’ll just say this as an aside, I don’t feel like there’s anything wrong even with wanting, , we live in a magical time where you can get a whole new face, a whole new body if you want.
Yeah, I just that’s not I think the best realm for for non surgical , I feel like if you want, , really more permanent structural changes, a plastic surgeon would be a better route for that, but That’s probably one of the biggest mistakes that I see is just trying to do too much with the syringe a lack of acceptance of the aging process where it’s like any little sign of aging where, , grabbing a syringe and trying to erase it and that does not translate into a natural and beautiful look in my opinion in the long run.
It, , starts to look like you’re trying to create a mask. Yeah. So, yeah. That’s probably one of the biggest, biggest mistakes. I want to circle back to that concept that you, that you were talking about regarding like controlling the, the narrative, right? And, and how cultural narrative narratives influence women and just society, whether it’s social media, otherwise like why is, I want to circle back to that thought process.
Cause I think it’s important to bring out the, the concepts and the idea of controlling your own narrative. And we talk about this in many, many other ways. We don’t always talk about it when it comes to beauty. So I think it like when we talk about like race or gender like a lot of other things But we don’t necessarily all kind of at many times accept it just as cultural norms Like this is the new almost like it’s fashion, right?
But it’s a little bit different when you’re talking about Like changing your season and your wardrobe versus like your overall look of your face and otherwise like those are different Exactly. Yeah So, I mean, talk a little bit more about the importance of that, because I think, I think that doesn’t get talked about enough.
Yeah, I mean, I feel like I’ve, , had the experience in my own life of just, , living and really coming to understand how the stories that we tell ourselves about who we are as women and, and, , what we expect to see in the world. Like how much that influences the lives that we create.
You had sent me a recording to someone that you would interview, David Meltzer, and he was saying, , how humans are, we’re like a walking bag of beliefs and that’s, that’s you, right? , so true. So like, isn’t that a great way to say it? He’s so good walking bag of belief, . It’s walking back of belief and , we live in a time where we are just so influenced by, , the narrative and the stories and, Mm-Hmm.
, and I hate to say it, but I feel like our, our economy and our culture is so based on, , selling Mm-Hmm. for through pain points and stuff like that. So it’s like we’re constantly, , touching on those pain points and, Mm-Hmm. . And my observation is that I can see that I feel like there’s sometimes a play on women’s insecurities, , as a way of kind of driving them to go and and do things and I feel like that in the long run can can end up being Into, , creating distorted beliefs about ourselves and then manifesting as distortion, , in our own face and bodies and that lack of acceptance and, , I was talking with a client recently and, , she was saying with all the support that we have, it should be easier for us to accept ourselves.
And it’s not, it’s become more challenging. I feel the same way. I just notice myself when I’m on social media. It’s like sometimes I’ll be scrolling and then something that didn’t even bother me about my own face or my own body. All of a sudden I’m looking in the mirror and seeing myself differently.
And so I just think it’s important for, , for, for women to be aware of that and aware of, , kind of what’s. that and to be able to distance herself from that and create her own safe space, , where we’re able to hype ourselves up and see our own beauty and recognize and kind of see through the veil of what’s going on, , it’s like some of these things are meant I think to, , like I said, influence our spending and , press on a pain points.
It’s like if you have that awareness and , , that You’ve got your own back and you can be your own in your own corner, no matter what, and, , be able to see your own beauty. It’s going to change how you spend. It’s going to change, , how you see yourself and the types of, , beauty treatments and things of that nature that you’ll be inspired to, to get for yourself.
Has been my experience and what I see. Yeah. And we think about like, especially when you talk about like in spending habits and things like that, I mean, advertisers going back at the very least, at least my knowledge of advertising would be like the mad men days of like the fifties and everything else when they’re literally inventing products for women to be able to buy.
And, and the math. Market to them of like, that’s what beauty is or otherwise like that’s, that was very strategic and that was very potted and they made, they literally made up things. Yeah. And it continues today. Yeah. And now, oh, the tricky part now with social media is now it’s kind of like if there was a flywheel effect.
It’s like now it just kind of goes on its own. And then you obviously have the people that are still, , doing what they do and, , the marketers and everything else. But then it’s just like with social media and all the, all the different all the different touch points that we have on a daily basis, that becomes tricky.
Like that’s tricky for everyone. Huh. It does. And I’ve definitely seen shifts in patterns and what people are asking for. The things that they come in saying are bothering them. It’s like. The things that women are focusing on now just wasn’t an issue when I got into this business 16 years ago, when I first started, I didn’t have teenagers coming and seeking injectables treatment.
So it just, , in some ways is alarming to me. And I think it’s important for us at times to question the society. Like, what are we, normalizing. What are, , what are the stories that we’re telling ourselves? What are we telling our daughters and our children about what it means to be a woman?
And, and, , there’s just, it’s just so many levels deep. And I feel like, , going even deeper into that whole narrative piece. I feel like as women, we’re kind of conditioned to just see ourselves as innately oppressed and that we’ve come into a world where we are just less than and oppressed and it’s just the way of the world and, , and I think, The intent is to empower women and empower girls, but what happened in my life and what I’ve seen, , happened in the lives of other women as well, is that we internalize these things and it becomes like this subconscious fear of men, it becomes this subconscious fear of women.
Like loathing of being a woman and this feeling like we need to fight, we need to fight for equality and we need to fight for all of these things. And I just, , I know for me, it came to a head. It just is exhausting. And, , I feel like the, the current, , Paradigm and that the narrative around women’s empowerment is it’s just truly exhausting, And then the beauty comes into that as well because it’s like, okay now we now you have to fit these beauty standards on Top of that in order to to be beautiful and to be relevant in the world and you can’t age , so it just is like I just feel like the collective of womanhood just kind of caving under this pressure and it doesn’t need to be that way Yeah, I agree with that and it’s good to have people like yourself in my opinion in the industry who are really on a mission to even working within the industry to support women into their, , into feeling good and their long term outcomes, right?
And not without necessarily without necessarily feeding into insecurities or maybe other things like that’s where I see it. It’s kind of like a, , some light over there because you have someone like yourself and in your team that are over there that are working hard to make women, to work with them, but also to, to support them.
So I think that’s, that’s interesting and special. Yeah. Yeah. And I would say that’s kind of what’s special about the company that I work with as a whole is, is there is that care for the individual and , they’ve really supported me in being able to Operate in a way that’s in alignment with my integrity and not, , continue to feed into that that narrative that I feel is, , long term unhealthy for women.
And I think, , playing with these things, makeup, cosmetics, , injectables, all of it is super fun and amazing. And I see it as modern day magic, like these little potions that we get to play with. But when you feel like you have to do it. That’s when it’s no longer fun, , I can just feel that pressure for women where they , it’s not necessarily fun for them.
It feels like something that they have to do. And that’s one of those things that I really, , want to shake up in the world. Yeah, I don’t, I don’t feel like that needs to be there. I like the way you position that too, Angie, that, , when you want to do it then it, it can be fun and exciting and, , great.
But if you feel like you have to, maybe it’s if that’s a, that’s a thing, right? Like, I like the way that you word that. I like the way that you word that a lot. Actually, that kind of clears it up for me as well. Just in my concept and understanding of it. Angie, this has been so much fun having you on the show today.
I learned a lot. I hope my audience did as well. And thank you for, , being vulnerable and sharing too, like about the real play. Cause , you, you’ve been in the business 16 years or so. You, you’ve seen a lot, you’ve seen the trends, , what’s going on. And you also kind of can say from the inside.
, on the inside what, what, , what it’s like that being said, if somebody is listening to this and they want to follow up or they want to learn more about what you’re doing over at the, over at the spa at the, at, excuse me, the laser lounge spa in Sarasota. How do they, how do they connect?
How do they follow your journey? So the easiest way probably would be to follow me on Instagram. I am at injector, Angie. So just all one, one thing. And the place that I practice at is the Laser Lounge Spa in Sarasota. So they have a website as well. If you Google them, you’ll be able to find the website.
We’re in downtown Sarasota, right across from the Selby library. And I’m always happy to see people for free consultation, give lots of information. I love an empowered client who’s had the opportunity to research and kind of feel into what feels best for, for them. So yeah, that’s how you can find me.
Amazing. And for everybody listening, just so , we’ll put the links in the, in the website so that you can just head right on over. And speaking of the audience, if this is your first time with Mission Matters and you haven’t done it yet hit that subscribe or follow button. This is a daily show each and every day we’re bringing on new guests.
New, new ideas, new thought leaders, and hopefully new things that are going to inspire you in your life and along the way in your journey. So again, hit that subscribe or follow button. And Angie, again, thank you so much for coming on. I had a lot of fun. I did too. Thank you so much. This was so wonderful.
And I’m really grateful to have had a platform to share my love for the beauty industry.
