Leslie Tracey: How MedSpas Can Grow With More CEO Time

Catch Leslie Tracey’s talk “Actionable Ideas for Medspa Owners: Head, Grow and Inspire Your Team” on May 7th at Modern Beauty Con. 

Leslie Tracey didn’t start out in aesthetics, but after being introduced to the industry she saw an opportunity to leverage her financial acumen to help owners build their businesses.

Now Leslie is a national speaker, business faculty for Galderma, podcast host of “Diamond Hands,” and founder of two privately held companies, Tracey Donavan Insurance & Retirement Services and Diamond Hands Media LLC.

Discussing business matters including planning for the future can be difficult for founders. Leslie approaches these conversations with a down-to-earth and engaging approach. 

Her media company Diamond Hands Media has done video work with multi-million-dollar brands such as Evolus, Alumier MD, CO2LIFT by Lumisque, Aesthetic Record, and more.

With over 15 years of business experience and a history of running a 7-figure medical practice, Leslie is always excited to speak on a variety of business topics. 

Leslie will discuss “Actionable Ideas for Medspa Owners: Head, Grow and Inspire Your Team” at this year’s Modern Beauty Con. In this eye-opening interview, Leslie shares how she got into the business and some of the biggest challenges the industry faces. 

How does someone in financial services end up in the aesthetics world?

Leslie Tracey: That is a question for the universe for sure. I have been in financial services specializing in risk management for businesses since 2017 and in 2019 I happened to move to the Boston area from New York. I met a beautiful woman named Audrey Rose on Instagram and was asking her about haircare products. We hit it off and she invited me to her inaugural aesthetic school event. When I got there, all of these beautiful women were dressed to kill, and I was like wow! What is this? I learned that all of these women held advanced degrees and many of them were running their own businesses. When I talked to her later about it, she said ‘Leslie, we need you in this industry, no one is doing what you are doing for us.’ I didn’t even think twice because when I stepped into the room, I knew I had met my tribe—women who are educated, sassy and who dress to the nines. 

I haven’t looked back and have dedicated my life’s work to this. I help my clients grow and protect their practice, retain and attract the best employees and exit on their terms. I have a special focus on smart estate planning and business succession planning, and I have a close-knit network of attorneys nationwide to accomplish these goals. I also own Diamond Hands Media and we do high end video production and brand management for corporate brands such as AlumierMD, CO2Lift by Lumisque, Aesthetic Record and some of the top medspas and conferences across the country. 

Without giving away your entire presentation, what are the topics you will speak about?

Leslie Tracey: I am going to be speaking about leading, inspiring and growing your team while protecting your practice along the way. I think that there is so much focused on growth but no one talks about the UH OH’s that can essentially derail an entire business literally overnight. We need to pay attention to things such as ‘what if one of my biggest revenue producers gets disabled or passes away’ or what happens if as the owner I get disabled or really sick? What happens to my business, my employees and my clients? Or how do I retain my top people? I always say these two things: Do not inject unprotected and Botox is not an employee benefit. 

Based on your experiences, what are some of the biggest hurdles MedSpa entrepreneurs face?

Leslie Tracey: One is that not enough time is spent on CEO hours, not taking the time to truly lead their team, or not taking the time to really work with a team to check on the risks to the business. Often, I find they are not planning adequately for their future exit or financially for the future. 

Two, in line with the aforementioned topic, not enough time is spent on truly branding the business so that the brand stands on its own. We are past the point of having to tell people what Botox and fillers are…it is time to build a brand that is aspirational and draws top clients and top employees to our front door.

What do you see as the biggest challenges for the industry in the next year?

Leslie Tracey: I think that as private equity continues to swoop in and buy up the smaller, but successful Medspas who are doing $3 to $5 million in revenue with strong EBITDA, many owners who have been in the game are going to have some tough decisions to make. Do you get out or do you continue to build? 

Further, I think that there is going to be a real onus on becoming more sophisticated as businesswomen. Dancing on Tiktok and Instagram is cute, but what do you stand for? Are you leading or following the crowd? I think that to stand out, Medspas are going to have to get more sophisticated with showing the world who they are, what they stand for and essentially where they are going. 

Catch Leslie Tracey’s talk “Actionable Ideas for Medspa Owners: Head, Grow and Inspire Your Team” on May 7th, 4:30PM at Modern Beauty Con.