Exploring Life & Business with Catherine Ngo of Calista Aesthetics

Today we’d like to introduce you to Catherine Ngo

Hi Catherine, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Growing up in a low-income Asian family, I learned early on the importance of hard work and a stable career to help take care of family. This foundation became even more significant when I had my daughter as a teenager. She was the motivation for both my husband and I to build a better future for our family.

I began my career as a bedside nurse, dedicating 10 years to in-patient care, before advancing to become a nurse practitioner. After receiving my nurse practitioner license, I’ve gained experience working in family practice, hospice, and dermatology. However, I always had a passion for skincare and getting aesthetic treatments on myself and I knew I wanted to get my feet wet in the beauty industry. In my early years working in aesthetics, I focused on developing my skills, creating my own brand, and connecting with my clientele. I still continue to advance my skills by going to aesthetic conferences and paying for multiple training courses a year.

My husband was also a big support to where I am today. He was a software developer for a company called Allergan, a well-known leader in medical aesthetics; therefore, he also understands the aesthetic industry as well. With both of us having background in medical aesthetics, we eventually took a leap of faith to open our own med spa and provide the care that I want to bring into my practice.

We started out in a one room studio in a sola salon in July 2023 with two injectors including myself. I was wearing many hats at first doing all roles including front desk, social media coordinator, injector, and management when we first started out. My husband was still working his previous job while helping me with handling finance and marketing. As our clientele grew, we realized we needed a bigger space and expanded into a second studio to accommodate our bookings. My husband also quit his job to help me grow this business full time. We also expanded our team by adding a front desk and social media manager as well. Fast forward to 18 months after starting this practice and we are now in the midst of starting construction on a larger office space and hoping to move into this location early 2025.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
This biggest struggle that I believe we faced when we first started out was having clear and constant communication with my business partner and other members of the team. We quickly learned that if everyone is not aligned on strategy and vision, then it would throw off the focus or goals that we want to achieve. We have learn to trust the role that we each are responsible for and relinquish any strong opinion and control we might have on certain decisions.

We realized that team meetings are important to us to allow our staff to provide their input on what has been working for our business or any changes that they would like us to make. We make sure our staff knows that their input is appreciated and we considered. Anytime we bring in a new staff to our team, we make sure they understand our core values such as integrity, growth mindset, being humble, ownerhsip, and work transparency. These core values define our work culture. It’s how we operate professionally towards each other and our customers.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Our business motto is to help our patients “radiate beauty, embrace confidence.” Our focus in on the average person who wants to feel good about themselves. Our team is here to guide and empower them to achieve their confidence again. We strongly believe that every person possesses a unique beauty, and our team is dedicated to unlocking that beauty, empowering you to embrace your true potential. We strive to create a warm and welcoming environment where you can feel comfortable discussing your concerns and goals, knowing that you are in the hands of experienced professionals who genuinely care about your well-being.

Our practice focuses on empowering our patients through education. We discuss facial anatomy, the science behind the treatments and why we are providing these services. In doing so, our patients can make informed decisions and become a partner in their care.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
When it comes to business, we make decisions by gathering as much information as we can to the point where we feel confident enough to either move forward or back out. Many times we get paralysis analysis on a decision, but that’s because we lack information. Our immediate goal then is to gain more information, be it through research or networking. Once we have enough information, then we can see if the risk is worth the reward. That’s our perspective on taking calculated risk.

The major risk we took is starting our business and deciding to leave our careers to go all in on the business. After assessing our financials, skills, strategy, vision, and fall back plan, we had enough information to take the risk on leaving our careers and going all in to build our business.

The next biggest risk we will be taking is the expansion into a larger office space next year. We are excited and hopeful that this is right step to start a new chapter and take the business to where we want it to go.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.calistamedspa.com
• Instagram: calista.aesthetics.oc