Kayla: Hello, I'm Kayla Brennan, owner of Afterglow Aesthetics in Greencastle, Indiana. We help you look and feel your best from the inside out.

Vince: Hello everyone. I'm here with Kayla with Afterglow Aesthetics here in Greencastle. I'm really excited that she was willing to join me and, uh, really take some time to get to know more about her, her business and what she's doing.

Vince: So Kayla, thank you for being here.

Kayla: Thanks for having me.

Vince: I really want to start and continue with showcasing you on this interview. Um, I'd love to, uh, you know, for you to share as much as you're willing to share about, uh, Uh, your background leading up until the day you opened your business. Sure.

Kayla: So I'm Kayla Brennan.

Kayla: I am born and raised in Putnam County in a small town, Bell Union, Indiana. If you blink while you drive through, you miss it. Um, I'm a 2005 graduate of South Putnam High School. I went right out of high school straight into nursing. I got my bachelor's degree from Indiana State University. I've been a nurse since 2009, mainly working bedside nursing.

I started out in geriatrics, long term care, and then I switched to working with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and then I also worked part time bedside at Hendrix Regional. Throughout those years, I learned so many different things, but then COVID hit. And the way things were handled with that, like I just, I saw nursing in a different aspect, and I didn't like the way the medical background was handled.

And I never thought that I would never not want to be a nurse, but seeing what I saw, I was like, I don't think I want to do this anymore. But then I got to thinking, I'm like, there has to be something different. So then I got to doing some research.  focused more so on preventative medications and that side of thing versus treatment.

Um, so I started doing research on that and kind of figured out that I wanted to go into like the vitamin side of nursing. So I worked my butt off literally on COVID floor in the hospital and saved every single penny that I earned there and opened Afterglow. So that's how it came to be. 

Vince: That's awesome.

So how far into, um, that year did you open? Like what, what date did you open? 

Kayla: So I opened this coming January will be my third year open. So I worked all through COVID and I want to say it was January of 2021.  I opened.

So obviously you had a lot of challenges, right? Um, you were opening during COVID, um, even though it was the back end, but it was COVID, you were clearly working hard to save money.

Um, how did you balance all of that? What were you, what were you going through when you were starting to plan the business? 

Kayla: So I've lived, my entire life has been chaotic. Um, I work the best under pressure. I think I worked two full time jobs and went to nursing school full time. So, I mean, I. I work pretty well under pressure.

So now that I have free time, I don't know what to do with it kind of thing. So I just balance things. I have a checklist that I live by. Like I'm very much a notes keeper. So I just go by my to do list and once it's done, I just move on to something else. 

Vince: That's awesome. Yeah. So physical checklist or do you have like a checklist app?

Kayla: No, like I'm very much a paper person I literally write down everything on paper. I still chart on paper I have a charting system for the computer, but i'm very much paper and pencil type person Which is weird because I grew up in the age with technology and I don't prefer to use it.

Vince: No, that's fair I recently bought a wallet that can fit a notebook in it It's really nice just to be able to write things down in the moment and not get distracted by my phone because I have my app that I do use, but you know, like, if I pull my phone out to type it in the app, then I see an email and then I check an email, then I make a phone call.

So I see, I see a lot of value in that. 

Yeah. And I don't take my computer, um, into my rooms with my clients when they come in because I just feel like it takes away that. Personal connection to so I literally just go in there with my clipboard my piece of paper and my pen and write everything down And then go from there.

Vince: That's awesome.  Have you read the book? It's called the checklist manifesto

I've not 

you may not even learn anything from it because you're already a checklist person Um, but it's all about like the power of checklists and so many professions require checklists. Like pilots have checklists, even though they know what they're doing, they go through it in an emergency, they pull out their checklist.

It's really cool book just about like different uses and reinforcing like the reasons behind checklists. So it's really something I recommend. I'll 

have to look into that. 

Vince: So, you know, you're working hard, you open the business, I guess. Let's take a step back. What were your inspirations in opening the business?

Obviously you were inspired by the way you felt about the medical field, but like Did you see anyone else doing what you're doing and maybe this is a chance for you to share more about what you do Um as you kind of talk through that. Sure. 

Kayla: So it's kind of more of a personal thing. I am a very Depressed person by nature, which is kind of weird to say Um, I lost my mom at a young age.

I've gone through a couple other health issues issues myself. So, and I have seasonal depression as well. So I mean, on paper, like I fit the full description of the depressed candidate. I was on 450 milligrams of Wellbutrin a day, and I still did not want to get out of bed. Like, I might I'm 30 years old. I should not feel like I'm 90.

Like there has to be something different. So I had started taking, um, vitamin B12 injections and I then started to feel a little different. Like I had energy and I wanted to actually go, when I got home, I wanted to do things. I didn't just want to lay on the couch. So then I incorporated some vitamin IV infusions and I was like, man.

This is, this is what it's like. And I remember when it hit me, it was March of the second month after I opened and I was standing in our kitchen and I had a big smile on my face. And Scott's like, what is wrong with you? And I was like, I forgot what it felt like to feel normal. And I'm normal again. Like I have energy.

I want to go hang out with my friends. So I'm pretty proud of the fact that everything that I have in here, I have tried and I know that it works. I'm a redhead. So if it's not going to work, it's not going to work on somebody. With like my gingerness. So if I can absorb it and it works for me, it's going to work on everybody else.

We're, we're a different breed, the gingers. So  it's weird. Like we don't take the lidocaine either. Like we have to, anytime we get lidocaine or anesthesia or whatever, they have to give us an abundant amount. Like I, that's a true story. Cause yes, yes, it's crazy. So I just got it into my head. Like. It's not normal to feel exhausted and like crap all the time even though doctors tell you like it's It's just part of aging, just part of getting old.

You're doing too much. It's your depression. It's this. It's that. It's, it's not like there are vitamins and things that help prevent these that we're supposed to get in our diet that we eat and bring in, but we don't absorb it when we eat it. So when you're injecting it, you get a better absorption rate.

So I did that and I come completely off of my Wellbutrin, which is huge because 450 milligrams is a giant dose. And then, um, recently I had to go back on it. Um, but I only take 150 milligrams every like Monday, Wednesday, Friday. So I still believe in traditional medicine as well, but I also believe the prevention is more where we need to focus.

If we can prevent, then we don't have to treat. 

Vince: What's your, um, like, obviously I know you can't speak to specific individuals, but what does your typical client look like? Like, why are they, how do they find you? What are they coming for? What are you giving them?

Kayla: I started out in one room with two chairs just doing IV infusions and vitamin injections.

And then I, Transitioned into Botox and filler and things like that. But a lot of my clients, they just come to me because they're tired of feeling tired. They're like, I've seen how this works. And then, you know, my friend comes to you and she says that she gets a B12, you know, every so often, and let's try that.

And then they're like, Oh, This works for me too. So then they send their friends in and it's literally gone by word of mouth by how people just feel. I, the only time I ever pay for advertising is if I have an event that I'm having coming up and then I sponsor an ad on Facebook. My business has grown strictly on word of mouth.

Vince: That's awesome. And so it sounds like most of your patients are coming because of that kind of tired sadness, something along those lines. Yeah.

Kayla: I have some of the DePaul football team come. I have like my vitamin drips. They vary on what they are wanting. Like I have an athletic drip. I have like a beauty drip.

Um, but my biggest one that I sell is the immunity infusion, and that's because people don't want to be sick. 

Vince: What are the differences? You know, you have these different drips, is it just different vitamin combinations or what does that look like? Yeah,

so people come in and I'm a little different than what other IV bars are, um, because I don't use multi dose vials.

I get mine from a 503B pharmacy that does single dose vials. So my vitamins are a little bit more potent and patient specific. So, um, my, they all basically build off of each other, depending on how, like what your ailments are that day. But everybody gets like the basic B vitamin complex in their bag. And then if they want vitamin C, if they're like sick or going on a trip, they get high dose vitamin C and then aminos and things like that.

They just build on each other. 

Vince: Okay. That makes sense. What would you say to someone who might be considering. Uh, contacting you, but they have hesitations.

Kayla: Give it a try. At least start with a B 12. The B 12s are only 25, and if it doesn't work for you, then you're only out 25, but I guarantee you it will work.

And what does it look like, like, if someone contacted you right now for, to come in? What's the process? So 

they contact you, Um, they fill out their consent forms and everything. And then my medical director reviews all of that and make sure that they're a go. And then, um, they come in, they get an injection.

I put it in their arm and then they get a cute little pink bandaid and then they're well on their way. 

Vince: That's awesome. I talked to a lot of business owners, you know, even when business is going well, they have anxieties and fears about their business. Is there anything that kind of, uh, as a business owner, you know, you always have on your mind?

Kayla: So we are an elective service. I mean, Botox and filler and IV vitamins and things like people don't necessarily have to have us. They want to have us. So we are typically the beauty industry in itself. Like we're typically the first to go if the economy is bad. Um, we have noticed a little bit within the last few weeks, like we're not as busy.

As what I feel like we typically are, um, we still have some clients coming, but I've noticed, like, my clients that are more reserved, they're not booking as often for treatments and things, and I feel like that's just with the upcoming election, like, that's how it's going to be, um, especially now that the ports are closing.

Like this, that strike that kind of has me a little nervous. Just the election in general has me nervous, but I think it'll be fine after the first of the year. We'll see. Everybody will kind of get under their belt how things are gonna go, and we'll either pick back up or we won't, but hopefully we stay busy.

Vince: Mm-Hmm.

feels like every election year, uh, especially presidential election year, there's always those. Concerns and hesitations. So 

yeah, 

hopefully that's all it is. And then November 6th or 7th, whenever, I don't know what the election is, but, uh, hopefully after that you get all your clients back. I'm hoping, I'm 

hoping.

Kayla: And again, it just comes in waves. Like I'm busy. Like I have clients throughout the day, but then there are weeks like where I'm completely booked three days in a row. And, and I'm grateful for it all, but it worries me because we are a two Income household. We both have our own businesses, so we don't have like a continuous paycheck to fall back on.

Vince: Absolutely. I hear that a lot. And a lot of the businesses that I speak to, even when things are good, you're thinking about what the bad days could look like because

yes, 

you have to, I am very much a 

money hoarder because I, I literally come from nothing. Like, I mean, we had everything that we needed growing up and not necessarily everything that we wanted.

Like I watched my dad. Literally work every single day to just barely put food on our table growing up. So I'm always stashing money away for a rainy day because you never know what's going to happen. 

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I try to be the same way. 

Kayla: And not only that, but now I have like a team, like I have a nurse practitioner.

I have a full time esthetician. I have a front office manager. Like I have people that rely on me to get business, to get paid. So then that's always in the back of my mind. Mike. If I'm not bringing in money, then I can't pay them. Like how is that going to work? So I have, I have people that rely on me now, so I need to make sure that this stays afloat.

Vince: Absolutely. Absolutely. How, um, how long have you had team members? When did you hire them?

Kayla: So I was saying earlier, I started in one room with two IV infusion chairs, and then I quickly grew into a second room because I, I was just growing at a rapid pace. So my IV room went from two chairs to four chairs, and then I had a checkout room.

And then I grew out of that. So I went across the hall and I moved my IV infusion room over here with my checkout in the same room. And then I have my Botox and filler room across the hall. And then I have a full time esthetician as well. I hired my esthetician, I want to say she's probably been here six months now.

And then I found I hired a front desk person December of last year because I knew, like, I needed help. Like, I was too busy getting burnt out. I needed, I needed an extra set of hands to answer the phone when I couldn't. And then, um, my nurse practitioner, she's always been in the background, but she didn't really want to come full time.

So, but now she's seeing clients and doing testosterone replacement, hormone replacement therapy, and stuff like that. So she started seeing clients, I think, two months ago?  

So, okay. 

Yeah. 

So in december when you hired the front office person, was that the first time you'd managed? Uh, people, or have you done that before in prior experience?

Kayla: So with my own business, yes, but Scott has his own business. So I kind of was doing his front office work as well. I'm used to handling, like managing people and telling them what they need to do.

Vince: Did it feel any different being like your own business?

Kayla: It was a relief, honestly, because then I could go back to what I enjoy doing, which was injecting and communicating with people.

And I wasn't worried about rushing a client out, like to have to check one out and then hurry up and rush and get another one in. So it kind of like put a gap and let me spend more time with my clients. So, so 

you briefly mentioned burnout, uh, common in any business owner. I speak to, they're always on the verge or just in the trenches being burnt out.

What do you do for yourself to try to avoid that? 

Kayla: Well, right now, nothing,  just because I just feel like there's so much going on. But like I said, I feel like I'm constantly working, trying to figure out social media and reels and all of these things that keep you relevant, I guess it's insane that social media runs.

So much of our job when it really shouldn't, I personally enjoy like taking breaks. We have a house in Tennessee and we try to go down there as often as we can. And then when we're down there, I just kind of shut off. Like we don't have satellite or internet or anything down there. So we just kind of put our phones away and just relax for a few days.

And then generally concert season is my favorite thing to do. So 

that's awesome. The house in Tennessee sounds incredible. It's, 

it's nice. We are on top of the mountain, so we very much enjoy going down there and. Seeing and just relaxing. So 

that's really cool. Yeah. What do you think is really driving you when you wake up every morning?

And you think about all the good and bad you have to do that day in business Like what's your motivation? 

Kayla: My parents didn't raise a quitter and this is gonna sound very clicky But there's a lot of people that want to see me fail And I'm not going to give them that satisfaction.

Vince: That's awesome. Yeah.

Vince: What things do you do that you feel make you unique? And, and what I mean by that is like, what's your advantage? Why are you doing well? And what are those tips you can give to people that, uh, might be watching and wanting to be successful? I

think just because I'm relatable, like I put my life out there.

People know my life story. Like I said earlier, I stick by the fact that I've tried everything in here and I know that it works. And I listen. to people when they come in. When they come in, they're not just sitting in my chair getting Botox and filler and vitamins and all of that. I become their therapist.

They tell me their secrets and things that are bothering them and body dysmorphia is a huge thing in my industry and people can come in and they can sit down and they can talk that through with me and I can try to help them. feel better. Like that's probably the best thing about my job is that I can actually visually see when a client comes in and they're sad and depressed or whatever it is.

And then we sit down and we have that 30 45 minute conversation or whatever. And they get up and they have a pep in their step and they feel more confident when they leave me. Then I know I'm doing a good job 

on a similar note, but kind of a segue. Ideally, there'll be people watching this from all over the country and maybe even the world.

A lot of the people are going to be local to us, but we have people watching from everywhere if they're looking for a service like yours, but maybe it's not realistic for them to come to you, What should they be looking for for someone who's going to be high quality and just a good experience? 

Kayla: You want somebody who has a medical background?

There are a few states in the US that allow anyone to inject botox and filler and that's very very scary Um because essentially People are walking around with my business card on their face. Like, I'm not afraid to tell people no. I'm not overdoing something. I want you to feel your best and look your best in the most natural aspect of things.

So if you're looking for somebody who go on their social media or their website or whatever, look at their before and afters. Look to see if people look overdone. Um, look up their information. See if they are actual, Medical providers, like I said, and if they're using reputable products, there are spam email after spam email, people in my inboxes trying to sell me filler and Botox and stuff that is not USA FDA regulated for cheap amounts.

And if you're going to a place where their product is super cheap. It's too good deal. It's too good to be true It really is because they're not using usa fda approved products. So 

that's fair. That's scary 

It really is like texas is it's just weird over there Like they have people who do hair are allowed to do botox and filler like you don't even know Like the facial anatomy and you're putting stuff in people's faces like it's  Very scary.

Very scary. 

Vince: Not getting my Botox in Texas.

Yeah, I would not recommend it. I tell people all the time, like I know that I'm not the cheapest, but I don't strive to be the cheapest. I strive to be the best and you get what you pay for. Like I have clients that have come to me and they're like, well, we didn't come to you because you were a little bit more expensive, but now you need me to fix.

what this other person messed up. So be conscious of that. Like if you don't have the money for the service that you want, save up until you do. 

Yeah, there's um, I don't know the name of it, but I'm sure you've seen there's the triangle example, um, where each corner one is cheap, fast and good. 

You 

can only have two.

So, you know, if you want good and you want cheap, it's going to be fast. You know, that's not, I just said it wrong, but you know what I'm saying. I know what 

you're saying. Yeah. And you essentially, that's What it is like, it's really, it's really sad. And then the people are like, well, I drove up to Carmel because they were 10 a unit and you're 12. 

How much time did you take off of work? How much gas did you use in your car? Like, you spent more than you would coming to me, but that's okay. 

Vince: Who's someone that inspires you?

Kayla: I would have to go with my parents. I was 29 when my mom passed away. She was 48 years old. And I watched her fight her cancer battle like nothing I've ever seen before.

She's the strongest woman I've ever met. And probably we'll ever know. And then my dad, because my dad lived a very hard life growing up and I know his background story and I know how hard he's worked in his life to get to the successful man that he is today. And I just strive to be like both of my parents.

So 

from everyone I talked to, um, You know, one piece of advice you'd give someone that might be something unique they, they haven't heard or something that you do really well that a lot of people don't do, which is something that, um, any business owner watching can really grasp and take tangibly back into their business.

Kayla: So one thing that I'm super proud of, like I said earlier, is the fact that I did not take out any business loans to open this up. I used a large chunk of my savings account and I slowly built my business. I didn't go in and purchase. 100, 000 worth of building space. Like my father in law owns this building, but I still pay rent.

I it's part of it. I still do, but I was fortunate enough that I had a space and a good landlord that would allow me to do what I needed to do build out wise. And then I just brought in things slowly. I didn't bring in everything all at once. I built up a clientele and then I just mastered one. And then I mastered another and slowly continuously build, build my brand.

Just go from there. You don't have to take out massive debt to start a business. So I'm pretty proud of that. 

Vince: I love that. That's um, that's my mindset as well. And I know not every business can start like that, but if, if you can, I definitely think you should. Yeah. I've known so many businesses who, who could have started in their home or started small, but instead just want to break the bank to do it all.

Right. Yeah. The first time. Yeah. But then they have all that debt and they're not as flexible. Right. 

Kayla: Don't get me wrong. I want a giant high end, glamorous office space. And eventually one day I hope to have that. But right now, I'm happy with the space that I have. Like it's a great space. Comfortable space like people feel welcomed when they come here They don't feel like they're out of place when they're here either because it's not like super fancy, but it's not like trashy either Like it's it's really nice.

It's very clean. It's very organized  It's just a nice homey space. So 

that's great. Yeah, it gets the job done. It's good What's the one mistake you've made that you You've learned from 

probably not hiring a team faster, honestly. Um, because I can only do so much as a person. And then when you hire different team members, that brings in a different group of people that may not have even known that I existed.

So just by hiring different team members, like I should have done that sooner. 

Vince: That makes sense. Yeah, I have two final questions. What have I not asked you that you want to share today?

Kayla: So we do have a mobile trailer. Everybody was really interested in the Botox parties and things and that's a huge hit, but it makes me very uncomfortable.

I get very nervous going into settings that I'm not familiar with. So I purchased a brand new cargo trailer and converted it to  It literally looks like my office in here, but it's on wheels. So we can bring that to anywhere. We can do girls nights, weddings. October is a big festival month, so I actually have, uh, a festival event to go to every weekend this month.

In the trailer, so when people come in, like, it's actually funny when we see people walk by, they're like, Botox and filler and a trailer, and then they come in, and they're like, this is a trailer? Like it's completely crazy. So, um, we do have the, we call it the glow getter. So we do have that, that we can take to your place of business, your parties, your wedding events, things like that.

Vince: That's awesome. That's so cool. Yeah. Um, how can people reach out to you about your services or the trailer or all of the above?

Kayla: So I have social media. Um, you can find me on Facebook. Um, Instagram, there are two afterglow aesthetics. So make sure that you're in the one in Indiana, not the one in Missouri, because we do actually have clients that book for each one of us.

We kind of laugh about it. Um, and then I have a website, www. afterglowaestheticsllc. com. And then you can hit those channels and it'll bring you to my social media as well. 

Vince: Nice. And I have this concept for these interviews of kind of paying it forward. Who's a business owner you think should get on next and kind of talk about their business and get some promotion?

Kayla: Heather Taylor.

Kayla: Heather Taylor. That's awesome.

Kayla: Heather Taylor is someone who I like, I tell her all the time. I'm like, when I grow up, I want to be like Heather Taylor.

Vince: Yes, that's awesome. All right. We're going to have to share the link with Heather, see if she'll schedule something. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for being here.

I hope you enjoyed it. I know I enjoyed it. 

Kayla: Thanks for having me. I had a good time.