Today we’d like to introduce you to Cassie Lane.
Hi Cassie, 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?
I actually never set out to own a med spa! My background is in anesthesia. I’m a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) with a doctorate in nurse anesthesia, and I spent years working in the operating room, including providing anesthesia for open heart surgery. I genuinely loved my career, especially the hands-on, procedural side of medicine, but somewhere along the way I caught a bit of the entrepreneurial bug.
My first experience with entrepreneurship was actually pretty unrelated to medicine. My husband and I owned a vacation property at Wintergreen that we turned into a short-term rental. I absolutely loved the business side of it. I got really into the branding, photography, customer experience, and all the little details that made our property stand out. We eventually sold it, but I realized I really missed having that creative outlet and a business of my own to work on.
Around that time, a friend casually mentioned that she got Botox, and I was genuinely surprised because she looked so natural. I had never really considered aesthetic medicine before, but I immediately thought, “I could do that!” As a nurse anesthetist, I was already very comfortable with needles, anatomy, and precision-based procedures. Aesthetics seemed like a fun way to use those skills in a completely different setting. My initial plan was just to have a little side gig while continuing my anesthesia career.
So, in 2020, I started Cassie Lane Med Spa by subleasing a small space and seeing patients on the side. It was a pretty scrappy beginning. I built my own website, marketed myself in local Facebook groups, and learned an incredible amount through trial and error. I didn’t have a business degree or some grand vision of building a company. I just knew I loved what I was doing and wanted to see where it could go.
As it turns out, I don’t think I’m very good at doing anything halfway! What started as a small side business continued to grow, and I found that I loved entrepreneurship just as much as I loved medicine. Today, we have an incredible team, our own beautifully renovated building in Richmond, and a practice that has expanded beyond injectables into advanced aesthetics, lasers, and medical wellness.
Along the way, I also founded Injectables EDU, which I now co-own with my business partner, Suzanne Jagger. It actually started as a blog because I couldn’t find much information about how medical professionals could get started in aesthetics. Other providers began asking for training, and that eventually grew into a company that provides education and mentorship to medical professionals across the country.
One of the most rewarding parts of this journey has been realizing that I didn’t have to choose between being a medical professional and being an entrepreneur. I’ve been able to build a career that combines both, while creating opportunities for other talented people along the way.
It’s pretty funny to look back and think that all of this started because I wanted a fun little side gig. I certainly didn’t see it turning into what it is today, but I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built and excited about where we’re going.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Oh, definitely not! I think one of the biggest misconceptions about entrepreneurship is that successful businesses are built by people who knew exactly what they were doing from the beginning. That certainly wasn’t the case for me!
I came into the aesthetics industry with a strong medical background but absolutely zero business experience. I knew how to take care of patients, but I didn’t know the first thing about marketing, accounting, hiring, or managing a team. And I was trying to figure all of this out while still working in anesthesia and raising two young kids. There were a lot of late nights, early mornings, and moments of wondering what on earth I had gotten myself into.
Aesthetics is also an incredibly competitive industry, and I quickly learned that it isn’t necessarily one that welcomes newcomers with open arms. Building credibility, earning patients’ trust, and finding my place in the market took a lot of persistence. I had to get comfortable putting myself out there, hearing no, and occasionally making mistakes in a very public way.
Honestly, one of my biggest learning curves has been leadership. Being a great clinician doesn’t automatically make you a great manager, and I had never managed a team before. I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way, and I’ve had to learn some lessons the hard way. Learning how to hire the right people, delegate, have difficult conversations, and build a healthy company culture has been an entirely different education.
But I think that’s also what I’ve come to love about entrepreneurship. Every time you figure something out, there’s a new challenge waiting for you. I’ve learned to be much more comfortable not having all the answers, surrounding myself with people who are smarter than me in their areas of expertise, and being willing to change course when something isn’t working.
I’m still learning every day, and I hope I always will be. Looking back, some of the things that felt like my biggest failures at the time ended up teaching me the most. They’ve made me a better business owner, a better leader, and probably a more resilient person in general.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Cassie Lane Med Spa?
Cassie Lane Med Spa is a medical aesthetics and wellness practice in Richmond, Virginia. At our core, we’re all about helping people look and feel their best, while still looking and feeling like themselves.
We specialize in natural-looking aesthetic treatments, including Botox and other injectables, dermal fillers, advanced laser treatments, and skin rejuvenation. We’ve also expanded significantly into medical wellness, offering hormone replacement therapy, medically supervised weight management, and other services that help our patients feel as good as they look. I love that we can take a more comprehensive approach to someone’s goals rather than focusing on just one treatment or concern.
I think what really sets us apart is the combination of medical expertise and the experience we’ve created for our patients. We’re a team of highly trained medical professionals who take our clinical responsibilities incredibly seriously. Education is a huge part of our culture, and we invest heavily in continuing education, advanced technology, and making sure our patients understand their options. We want people to feel empowered to make decisions about their care, never pressured into a treatment.
At the same time, I never wanted Cassie Lane to feel like a traditional medical office. I wanted it to be a place people actually look forward to visiting! We’ve put a lot of thought into creating a beautiful, welcoming environment where patients feel comfortable, cared for, and genuinely connected to our team. We love getting to know our patients, hearing about their lives, and being part of their journey over the years.
Branding has also been one of my favorite parts of building this business. I’ve always loved the intersection of beauty, design, and business, and I’m really proud that Cassie Lane has developed such a distinct personality. We’re sophisticated and a little glamorous, but we’re also approachable and don’t take ourselves too seriously. I think there’s something really special about creating a brand that feels elevated without feeling intimidating.
One thing I’m particularly proud of is the team and culture we’ve built. Our core values are what we call “The CL Way,” and they center around character, learning, welcoming others, appreciation, and recognizing the importance of each individual. Those values aren’t just for our patients. They’re how we want our team to treat each other and how we make decisions as a company.
Ultimately, I want people to know that aesthetics doesn’t have to mean looking different or chasing unrealistic beauty standards. Most of our patients are people who simply want to look a little more rested, feel more confident without makeup, or feel like themselves again as they navigate aging and hormonal changes. Our job is to listen, educate, and create an individualized plan that makes sense for them.
If someone leaves our office feeling more confident, genuinely cared for, and excited to come back, then I think we’ve done our job well.
What matters most to you? Why?
At this stage in my journey, what matters most to me is being a great leader to my team. And I’ve learned that leadership might be one of the hardest things to get right! It’s this incredibly delicate balance of supporting people, challenging them, holding them accountable, and giving them room to grow. Some days I feel like I’ve got it figured out, and other days I’m reminded just how much I still have to learn.
Something I remind myself, and thankfully my team reminds me too, is that perfection isn’t required. What matters is showing up with good intentions, being willing to have honest conversations, owning your mistakes, and continuing to get better.
I’ve come to believe that one of the most important things I can do for our patients is actually to take great care of the people who take care of them. When our team feels supported, appreciated, and excited about their work, that naturally carries over into the patient experience.
As Cassie Lane grows and becomes a more established business, one of my biggest priorities is protecting what I call “the magic” of our office. It’s hard to put into words, but it’s the laughter, the relationships, the little moments of connection, and the feeling you get when you walk through our doors. Those things are easy to take for granted when you’re small, and they take a lot more intention to preserve as you grow.
I want us to continue building a successful, sophisticated medical practice without losing the warmth, personality, and genuine care that made it special in the first place. If I can create a place where my team loves coming to work and our patients love coming to see us, that’s the kind of success that means the most to me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cassielane.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassielanemedspa
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cassielanemedspa/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cassie-lane-medspa/posts/?feedView=all
