From Burnout to Seven Figures: How English Black Built a Purpose-Led Aesthetic Practice

What if the very pain you’ve walked through was preparing you for the impact you were born to make?

In this powerful episode of Her Purpose, Kindra sits down with English Black—physician assistant, founder of The Curated Aesthetic, and a woman who turned her pain into purpose. After nearly two decades in medical dermatology, English broke free from a broken system and built a seven-figure aesthetics business in just one year—without compromising her values, her time, or her soul.

She shares her journey from a chaotic childhood marked by addiction and emotional abandonment… to building a life and business defined by integrity, healing, and radical authenticity.

Whether you’re in healthcare, dreaming of launching your own thing, or just in a season of rebuilding—this episode is your permission slip to believe in yourself again.

We talk about:

• Breaking away from toxic systems and starting over
• Creating a business that empowers rather than exploits
• Navigating substance abuse, family trauma, and loneliness
• How follow-up is the secret sauce in both business and relationships
• What it really means to lead with love and live in purpose

💬 Ready to be inspired? Hit play and let this conversation show you what’s possible when you stop settling—and start building something that truly reflects who you are.

Keywords

entrepreneurship, aesthetics, empowerment, patient care, self-care, personal growth, business success, connection, overcoming adversity, women in business

Takeaways

Breaking even was not the goal; exceeding expectations was.
The importance of creating a safe space for patients.
Empowering women is at the core of the practice.
Self-care has evolved from material to emotional well-being.
Building a business is about solving problems for clients.
Follow-up is crucial for patient satisfaction and trust.
Creating a unique experience sets a business apart.
Overcoming personal struggles can lead to professional success.
Connection with clients enhances their experience.
Empowerment comes from understanding and meeting individual needs.

Chapters

00:00 The Journey to Entrepreneurship
03:09 Transforming Patient Care
05:58 Empowerment Through Aesthetics
09:01 Overcoming Adversity
12:07 Finding Purpose and Authenticity
15:11 Creating a Supportive Environment
17:57 The Impact of Personal Experience
20:58 Redefining Beauty and Self-Worth
25:43 Understanding Beauty Standards and Self-Perception
28:42 Building a Patient-Centric Aesthetic Practice
32:29 The Journey of Learning and Mastery in Aesthetics
36:54 Overcoming Personal Struggles and Finding Purpose
44:46 The Meaning of Love and Connection
47:38 Empowering Women and Future Aspirations

Aligned & Ascending is an 8-week space where I help you get clear on your next step, your message, your offers—all of it—so you can stop second-guessing everything and actually build the purpose-driven business you’ve been thinking about.

So if you’re craving clarity and momentum—and a business that feels like you—DM me the word ALIGN on Instagram to get all the info.

Transcript

Kindra Morse (00:00)
Okay, so the curated aesthetic. You've been in business for three years. What an incredible three years it's been. Talk to me just a little bit about what happened in the first year of opening this new business financially.

English Black (00:14)
Yeah,

yeah, it was so exciting. I have practiced dermatology and aesthetics for nearly 20 years at that point and decided to go out on my own. And about 20 % of my medical dermatology practice was aesthetic. And I opened a business knowing I could break even. And turns out I broke seven figures in my first year. So that was pretty world rocking and mind blowing.

Kindra Morse (00:41)
Yeah, that's insane. So you've been in the industry for this long, but you weren't in business for yourself. ⁓ What was it that caused you to decide, I want to have my own business?

English Black (00:53)
couple of things. as a seasoned PA, thought, you know, medicine keeps changing and changing, and I would not necessarily say for the better, which is very frustrating for somebody who wants to be a giver. unfortunately, the system providers are kind of stuck in the middle these days of needing to generate more income, but patients wanting more and more out of it. the math doesn't work that way. So I thought, well,

And in my area, there had been nobody solely focused on facial rejuvenation. So I was like, well, here's an opportunity. I can take as long as I want. I can have relationships that I foster and feel safe and open up my own clinic. A lot of people have been doing it for a while. yeah, so that's how I got there.

Kindra Morse (01:41)
As a physician's assistant, prior to opening your business, what were you mainly doing for work?

English Black (01:46)
Yeah, medical dermatology and aesthetics. I'd been kind of like a wavelength. I did focus on medical some years and other years it was only aesthetics and then some years it was a combination. So yeah, over 10 years just doing aesthetics and then the other portion of blend.

Kindra Morse (02:03)
Now, you didn't go into business for yourself though thinking I'm going to crack seven figures.

English Black (02:08)
Heck no, no. mean, I was like, I just knew I had to do it. I had to, and it's kind of crazy because I'm not a big risk taker. And I just knew I had to do this. And I have three children that I'm responsible for. And I thought, well, I hope this goes well. I'm pretty sure I can break even. it just so far exceeded my expectations. I thought, hopefully this will work as long as I show up to work every day and...

give people my very best, you

Kindra Morse (02:38)
When you say you had to do this, what was going on in your world that made that so?

English Black (02:44)
Well, just the pressure that I was describing about needing to be more productive, know, in medical dermatology, it's very normal to see 45 patients in a day. So you may have five or 10 minutes for every single patient, and that's very real. And that's your day. And I just remember sitting down one day thinking, I mean, I am a very productive person and I love to be efficient. And I just remember thinking, I don't know if I can do this the rest of my life.

I don't know if I want to do this the rest of my life. mean, I've got you get patients that are upset with you when you're behind or if I'm doing a procedure like filler, then I then you're nervous because you you know, you have limited time, but that's something that you really need to take your time doing. ⁓ needing to I just needed to get out there and see for myself what was possible as far as how I could deliver patient care in a safe, effective and super high result way.

And from a perspective of helping empower women and not just feeding off of insecurities or really a cash cow is what most people would say. And I've had a hard time discussing this. For a long time, I have not wanted to discuss how great my clinic has done because it has not been about the money. That has been a happy side effect of coming in and doing

what it is I wanted to do for people, for other people, right?

Kindra Morse (04:12)
Well, you

are, yeah, when you're motivated to create a different environment, to create a different experience for your customers, the byproduct of financial gain obviously is something that nobody is going to be disappointed by. But if you're motivated by, I want to provide a transformational experience for my customers and clients instead of treating them like just a number. People want to feel that as a customer.

English Black (04:30)
Right.

Yeah, for sure they do. that's what I'm saying about the medical derm is that people don't want to feel like a number. And I was very, very attuned to that. And particularly when they're investing a lot of money into their face, because they want to feel better. They don't want to feel rushed and discarded because you're in a hurry and also be able to get a fantastic result. I think I would have been hard pressed to tell any administrator I've ever had that I need an hour and a half.

for a filler patient, which is what I do now sometimes. So it's nice to that flexibility.

Kindra Morse (05:12)
And

how glorious is it to be able to spend that much time with your clients and to not be financially stressed, but to also not be overwhelmed by the expectations that you had as an employee in a business like this?

English Black (05:29)
⁓ it's

just so liberating. It's fantastic. mean, there's no pressure anymore. And that's what I tell patients when I walk in. I'm like, look, we've got all the time in the world. Not maybe literally, but as far as for what we need to accomplish, there's no pressure and we're going to be just fine. And if we're not, and if I am not perfect, I am on occasion late for our next patient. But then I tell them, we'll do whatever we need to do to make up for it. And sometimes that's in a small gift and sometimes

They don't need the time, it just depends. But ⁓ I will certainly give that time back to them.

Kindra Morse (06:04)
How would you describe what you actually get to do, that transformation that you provide for women, without the shaming that you saw in your previous work environment?

English Black (06:15)
Yeah, so I love that question because that I have, I have recently discovered that that is really my purpose. It's what I do. And I didn't even, I had never thought about it this way, but I've been doing it my whole life is lifting other people is empowering them to help them see what's possible when they are just true to themselves. You know, how I do my patient care and this clinic is

I don't always start with an assessment. With the right person, I will do an assessment. But as I tell them, the concern is no woman needs any help feeling worse about themselves. We all feel picked apart and judged plenty. And we don't need another person doing that because you're still going to feel the way you feel about yourself when you look in the mirror, regardless of somebody else's assessment, professional or not. And so when we come from a place of starting with, well,

I feel tired, I want to look more rested, I feel sad, I feel like I look sad. We want the inside to match with the outside. And I've been doing that. And sometimes when we start to get better results, sometimes in our clinic, it is almost like a therapy session. We're talking about the inside too, because we're women, we're fostering relationships. And I have learned in my life, people like opening up to me. And what a gift, what a blessing.

Kindra Morse (07:36)
And did you have that in your previous practice when you had 15 minutes?

English Black (07:39)
Am I?

Yeah, not all the time, but the people that saw me repetitively, yes, the people that stuck with me and they got to know me. And even growing up, you know, I had have people call me from forever ago or it's just been seems like a natural progression.

Kindra Morse (07:57)
Growing up, what did you see as purpose or what did you see in your parents that you thought was the way to live or maybe the way not to live?

English Black (08:07)
Yeah, so I would say I wasn't sure what my purpose was growing up for sure. And it's been a big, you know, one of those maps, you know, what they say, what we think progress looks like and what it actually looks like. Mine's definitely the chaotic little map there. But I definitely knew that I wanted more out of life than what I had seen most of the adults in my life play out. I mean, and I had a lot of angels along the way, though, that really helped guide me. But I knew I didn't want to live in poverty.

I knew I didn't want to live in addiction. I knew I didn't want to ⁓ live in a way that undervalued this gift of life that we have because it's such a gift, right? So, yeah.

Kindra Morse (08:56)
So when you talk about addiction, where was that in your family childhood?

English Black (09:01)
Yeah, so my father struggled with alcoholism and then my mother has struggled with pain management and you know, it's almost if anybody's had any experience with addiction out there, it's like you have the addict but then you have the other person in the relationship with the addict and they almost act just like addicts because they're not trying to necessarily control an addiction to a substance but they are trying to control another person.

And so, you my mother bless her, you know, she was consumed with trying to raise three children. She put herself through nursing school and did a bang up job of it. And, and also, you know, being a, being a baby boomer, neither of them were really equipped with skills to soothe that they knew of and they did the best they could with what they had.

Kindra Morse (09:49)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. think we all are always doing the best that we can with what we have. And I think we have so many more tools and resources at our fingertips literally today than people had then. But what impact did living or growing up in that environment have on how you saw life then versus now?

English Black (09:55)
We are.

gosh, well,

I definitely grew up thinking that I needed to do it all. I needed to do it all. I was very independent. mean, and a lot of wonderful skills were developed as a result of that, but it's all things for good or bad. The dark side of that is not asking for help, overcompensating and doing, you know, in a way that gets, that's unhealthy because A, it's too much of a workload and B, you don't have a life that was not real living. It was the opposite.

of what I was really going for. wanted to feel like I was living a full life. But then when you fill up your schedule in every minute of your day, whether through work or kids or dogs or whatever, I'd find a way to pack my day in. And now I take time to journal on the weekends. I definitely exercise every day and I pace myself at work. I make sure to take a lunch break, which that may sound obvious, but a lot of people in my industry don't. They don't take a break during the day.

And, ⁓ but yeah, it's a lot of self care and self care in the past typically was more material. Whereas these days self care may be having more difficult conversations that I really wouldn't would rather not have, or it might be, like I said, doing the journaling and the deep work of figuring out where I really am.

Kindra Morse (11:28)
Hmm. Yeah. So when did you see that you wanted to go down a different path? At what age did you realize, I do not want to live this way?

English Black (11:38)
Well, it's been an evolution, you know, because at different points there have been different motivations. I would say the PA school portion was definitely a huge piece of that because I knew that I wanted to help and I knew that I wanted a reliable income. I needed a way to pay off my loans that I was going to be taking on. And so that to me seemed very predictable and safe. Get it? I mean, it was safe and it's very, but I could do what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to help people.

And I knew I wanted to make the world a better place. And so the physician assistant seemed the obvious place for me ⁓ because it was hilarious. know, at 24, I thought, I'm too old to go to medical school. But it's fine. But I also knew that I'm type A enough that if I got used to working 120 hours a week, I might never not do that. So for me, being a PA was a lifestyle choice. But then opening a business has been the next level.

of living differently because I wanted to have, I didn't want to dread going to work every day. I'd still wanted that sense of purpose and to enjoy where I was. spend more time at work than we do with our family. If you work full time, unless you found another creative way around that. So I wanted to create a space where not only patients came in to feel cared for, safe and fantastic when they leave, but also as providers and everybody that works here to feel that way.

Kindra Morse (13:05)
Hmm, that's beautiful, absolutely. So, go ahead. Yeah, that's amazing. That's the dream, is to be able to create an environment where you provide that for your customers and your employees and yourself, right?

English Black (13:08)
Thanks. I just said thanks.

Yes, that's the dream. That's the dream. a, a, it's a, I think you can do anything when you really, really make up your mind to believe in yourself. And I just knew I had no other choice but to do it. And if, and I guess those are the two examples I gave where I didn't know how I was going to do it. I just knew that I was come hell or high water. I was going to go to PA school and I also knew I was going to open up a business. So, and here we are.

Kindra Morse (13:49)
How many years apart though was that? When did you go to PA school? How old were you?

English Black (13:53)
I was 24, so I graduated at the turn of the century, just kidding, in 2004. And then I opened my business in 2022.

Kindra Morse (14:06)
So what transpired between 2004 and 2022? A lot.

English Black (14:13)
Yeah, that's such

a great question. Yeah, because when I first went into medicine, if you would have told me I'd be an aesthetic, I would have just laughed and laughed and laughed. I wanted nothing to do with aesthetics because I, like many people, thought that it was just a very superficial thing that fed off of women and other people's insecurities and profited from it. And also a lot of traditional medical people don't want to have anything to do with it because it is elective. And by the way, it carries risk. And why take the risk?

And with time, you know, and I'd watched my mother, she had been exploited in my opinion by a provider that she saw and worked with. And I wanted nothing to do with that. But as time went on in my dermatology career evolved, ⁓ because you know, injecting a little bit of Botox here and there became a requirement. And so as I dabbled in that, ⁓ I had my first child was offered a great job only injecting. And I thought, well, this is a great setup for my family.

They also offer medical derms, so maybe I can get back to that. And came across all these CEOs and academics. It was pretty elite college town. And these women were not trying to look 20. They were not trying to look distorted. They simply wanted to be treated as they always had throughout their life and felt like things were changing as they aged. The changes that happened to women can be masculinizing. And it's not always a

You know, I feel like I'm a joke. I say that the women that say that we should do all natural they look like supermodels already But at the same time these women they just wanted to be treated the same and I was like, ⁓ I can sign up for this You know, I can fight the good fight to help these women feel good about themselves to empower them not to take away from them, right? That's what changed

Kindra Morse (16:01)
So what does it mean

to you? Why is it important to you to empower people to believe in themselves?

English Black (16:09)
Okay, so yeah, you're here. You're the pot, striking the fire. I've had to do that my whole life is to lift myself. You know, when things have been dark, when things have been very difficult, I have had to lift myself up. And so it has, ⁓ from an evolutionary standpoint, become a natural thing to be able to do the same for others and meet them where they are because that's what we have to do with ourselves in times of trouble and duress.

And it's been from a series of overcoming extremely difficult things to learn that you truly can overcome anything. it's the only recently have I understood that these problems and challenges are actually the way through to our goals. They're actually the way through to happiness. And that when we view them as opportunity, when we view them as gifts,

which can sound so bitter when you're in the throes of trouble. And at the same time, once you've done the reps, you've had enough trouble in your life, you're like, actually, I can do this. Look at me. Look at everything I've overcome. I can do anything.

Kindra Morse (17:24)
Let's talk about what's something that comes up for you when I ask what's one of maybe the hardest things that you've overcome?

English Black (17:31)
I would say one of the hardest things I've ever come was getting the gumption to be able to break out of the socioeconomic status that my parents had gotten us into. ⁓ That, know, doing the best that they could. It was, it was very tough growing up. So that would definitely be one of the toughest things. went through it.

Kindra Morse (17:50)
What did you see?

Like what were you seeing as a kid that seemed tough?

English Black (17:57)
⁓ lack of self-worth. ⁓ That just seemed bottomless and that was so consuming it made it hard to see anything or anyone else. And the suffering that came apart for other people as a result of that. ⁓ In the addiction, was like, God, what a

What a horrible, what a very difficult way to live and how miserable because, you know, as I would imagine for somebody living altered, you're not living. You're just going through the motions, you know.

Kindra Morse (18:39)
Was there ever a time where you felt that you might fall into that same pattern?

English Black (18:44)
For sure. Well, actually, no. I would say I wasn't ever afraid I was going to fall into the same pattern, but I definitely went through a period of ⁓ substance abuse where I was just kind of repeating history. You I was like, you you can, you carry other people's shame that you, that have helped raise you until you learn that it wasn't yours. And of course, then at that point you might've done your own shameful stuff, then you got to do the work on that too. But.

But yeah, I thought, wow, this is miserable and I would never ever want to live like this. I hate it. And at the same time, culturally, there just seemed to be so much pressure where I grew up to fit in that way. You would really stand out if you weren't having a drink or if you weren't hanging out until two o'clock in the morning or whatever. So it's taken some time to find a place of comfort and safety and not

needing to be that way.

Kindra Morse (19:45)
Yeah, so you are the lone ranger in stepping out of breaking that pattern.

English Black (19:51)
For the most part, mean, I really, I mean, even some of my best friends, I get it. I mean, I love to have a cocktail, but I really, it messes with my sleep so much and just my mood, how I function day to day, my sharpness. And I don't want to sacrifice my sharpness. And really the biggest tipping point for that was having children. And I think it's probably is for a lot of people, but it's really just not worth feeling terrible or being moody. It's not fair to them. They didn't do anything, you know.

Kindra Morse (20:19)
So are you totally alcohol-free at this point?

English Black (20:23)
I'm not completely alcohol free. mean, I may have a drink two or three times a year. But yeah, so guess you could probably call it that.

Kindra Morse (20:30)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, I would I'm the same very rarely at this point because again, it's not worth it I'm not person that is totally alcohol free forever and ever and ever but it's pretty rare at this point that I will have a drink

English Black (20:44)
Yeah, I guess I wish I had different metabolism. Some people tolerate that better than others. I did not get the tolerant gene.

Kindra Morse (20:54)
Even though you saw your parents with some form of the tolerant gene or your dad.

English Black (20:58)
Yeah,

well, yes and no. mean, you know, actually my dad said to me once and I, you know, it wasn't really welcome, but he was exactly right. He's like, you know, English, unfortunately, I think you're a lot like me. He said normal people, they have a drink and their body tells them when to stop. He said that you and I, our body says, me more. But that's really more in actually getting out. And it wasn't always like that, but it could be like that. And I couldn't really tell.

Kindra Morse (21:17)
⁓

English Black (21:25)
I was aware that if I hadn't eaten, that was a setup for a disaster. Also, if I had been emotional or really having a hard time, but that's obvious. Alcohol is a depressant, but you think it's only when you're using it, but it can be a depressant for days, weeks. Neurons that fire together wire together. If you're feeling and thinking low, the more you do that, the more you're going to stay there.

Kindra Morse (21:41)
Mm-hmm, absolutely.

Mm-hmm, absolutely. So do you feel that through your business you're able to be there for women in a way that no one was able to be there for you? That you had to be there for yourself?

English Black (22:02)
Yes, in a way that I've had to show up for myself, know, in complete raw authenticity, you know, no editing. And that's taken a lot of courage, you know. Yeah.

Kindra Morse (22:14)
and

Yeah, so how does that feel every day now to know that you are making that kind of an impact?

English Black (22:23)
It feels great. You know, I wake up excited, you know, and that's when I know things are I'm in my flow. That's when I know I'm doing what I'm supposed to be is I'm ready for the day. I wake up excited, you know, joyful. I really do. I mean, I'm just excited. I go to the gym and life just feels great. And the only times that it doesn't is we know that when people aren't happy here.

It's almost always has nothing to do with us, almost always. And we try to, when we do make mistakes or things aren't optimal, we do our very best to try to make it up to people. And I sleep really good as a result. Feels great.

Kindra Morse (23:02)
How would you describe what you do in the services that you provide and the transformation that you want to provide for your clients on an inside and outside base aspect?

English Black (23:15)
How do we provide the transformation both inside and out?

Kindra Morse (23:19)
know what is, how would you describe what you, your experience, like someone that walks into your business, what experience or what transformation will they get working with you that's different from walking into a lot of other clinics?

English Black (23:33)
Yes.

Absolutely. Yes. So when I do a consultation, I do not start from a place of here's my assessment of what you need to look nice. Here's my assessment. Basically, yes. And I've had a patient come in here and she said, yeah, the last plate I went, I left feeling ugly. Because they're like basically spent $10,000 to look pretty.

Kindra Morse (23:48)
Let me just tell you what's wrong with your face.

English Black (24:02)
While it's not to say that if you have a goal to look a certain way that that may not be a piece of it, that's a very overwhelming amount of information on a first time meeting. And so really where I start is with how people feel when they look in the mirror. It's not my opinion of how someone should or shouldn't look. You know, you may have a recessed chin that by a quote unquote standard of beauty,

might need to be quote corrected, but it might be your mother's chin, your grandmother's chin, and you might really like that chin and you don't want to do anything about it. And as a provider pointing that out, the way that I have cultivated my practice is we meet people where they are. You like it? Great. Keep your, you know, whatever it is. And it's, you know, you feel tired. Here are all the options of how we can help improve that. You can start from here and we'll keep working down the list.

until you have met your own expectations of what you would like. And I keep a long Rolodex of before and afters of what we think looks nice. None of them are edited. They're all normal people who have been so kind to allow us to use those photos. And these are outcomes that were achieved on their budget. So I think that that's the most realistic testimony of what people can expect when they come in here is.

is to do these pictures align with my goal, number one, but also ⁓ do I want a provider that's going to, that I may or may not leave feeling good about myself? Because for some people, it's a very sensitive theme. Not everybody, but for some people it is.

Kindra Morse (25:43)
Mm-hmm.

Well, like you say, most women are trained to know all the things about them that are wrong because of society.

English Black (25:54)
That's right. That's exactly

right. And so, you know, from a beauty perspective, do we know how to optimize a hundred percent? And if that's something that you're into, let's talk about it. And at the same time, I have women that come in all the time. One of my favorite examples is like, they don't like their frown lines. They don't want to look angry and they want Botox there, but they really like their smile lines because they say it's the reflection of a life well lived and more power to them. You know, not all women even feel confident enough to articulate that.

They might let us assess it and think, well, they think I need it, I better do it. But then they may leave resentful because they spent the money and that's not what they really wanted to start with. So it's really getting down to the bottom of what is it really that you want out of this experience together.

Kindra Morse (26:33)
And

So what I'm hearing is that you ask far more questions than the typical injectable provider.

English Black (26:46)
Yeah, I mean, we book a lot more time than the typical med spa, a lot more time. A lot of models would probably look at ours and think that it's not sustainable, but our patients are happy, providers are happy. It's not a rushed environment. No one feels like a number. And we regularly hear, yeah, no one's ever taken the time to explain that to me. And I didn't leave here feeling ugly.

Kindra Morse (27:11)
seven-figure business in the first year says it's absolutely sustainable and needed in the marketplace.

English Black (27:16)
Yes.

Yes.

Kindra Morse (27:20)
What is the impact that you know you're providing for the women that are walking out of your office, not just for when they look in the mirror, but how they're showing up in the world?

English Black (27:30)
I love that. So my favorite thing to show is that when you do look at our before and afters, you can just see in their gaze that they feel more confident, that they feel better about themselves. It's the coolest thing ever. And I have witnessed my patients cry seeing their before and afters. I have had women grab me in shock because they are so blown away when they see their before and after.

I mean, because it's one thing you see yourself in the mirror all day long and you forget what your baseline is. So it's really, really important for all of our patients and as a culture for patients to be able to see what they've invested in so that they get that feedback that they are actually getting what they came for or not.

Kindra Morse (28:21)
For the woman that's listening that wants to provide something like this, we chatted a little bit off camera that you need a four-year education in most states to be able to start something like this. But let's say the listener does have that. What advice would you give to her to take that courage to step out of what's comfortable working for someone else to building something of your own?

English Black (28:42)
Yeah, I would say, well, to start, I think what set me up for success was working with other successful women. You I think you set yourself up for success when you work or model other people that are way ahead of you. And I had my first full-time aesthetics job. I was really fortunate to work with a group of very professional middle-aged women who were excellent with patience and excellent communication skills and excellent with safety.

Nobody wants to borrow trouble. Nobody was a cowgirl. so having had that, I know, I know. Well, you know, and there are some that bless them because we need them to help drive us forward sometimes, but that's just not been my MO. And using that model to help set you up for success when you are ready. And as far as the keys, the secret sauce, one of the most important things is seeing people for follow-up.

Kindra Morse (29:16)
You a towel, girl.

Thank you.

English Black (29:40)
If you're not seeing follow ups for every single thing you do, not only are you not, there's the patient not getting the feedback of their investment, but if you aren't delivering, you aren't getting the feedback. So that's a really, really important step in this space to set yourself up for success.

Kindra Morse (29:58)
think that's applicable to any businesses out there. If you're not following up to be sure that whatever you're telling your customers, you're here to provide that. How do you know that you're not hitting the mark if you're not following up to see where you're landing?

English Black (30:12)
That's exactly right in every sense of the word. mean, and it's not, and in this space, it's not always just about the result. Sometimes it's knowing that you cared enough to call after a procedure to have that done. And while that takes much more resource to be able to offer, it's a worthy cause. It's a worthy add-on to be able to do that for patients and our clients in business.

Kindra Morse (30:35)
Well,

speaking to your own experience of the difference between someone coming in and you telling them this is what's wrong with your face versus tell me what you're not liking when you look in the mirror, it's the same with the result. If you believe that you're the one that determines that you hit the nail on the head with the results versus asking them, are you happy now when you look in the mirror? Are you feeling what you wanted to feel when you walked in telling me what you were not feeling?

English Black (31:04)
Yeah, that's a great point. there is something called, I call it the fun house mirror where when we look at our own reflection, to be a good aesthetic provider, we need to be able to gauge whether or not we can even meet that person's needs. And there will be small flags. If they've been to a lot of other providers or in a business, if they've gone through several other businesses in short form, then that's usually a flag.

that we might not be able to meet their expectations. And I'm very clear about that, by the way, is that I'm not afraid to say, you know, look, I'm not positive. I think we can make progress. Whether or not that meets your expectations, I don't know. There's no guarantees. And we can work together. Or if that feels like too much of a risk to you, then we don't have to, you know? But so much of it is a matter of perception. So that's why those...

pictures are so, so, so important from an aesthetic provider standpoint. You have to be a good before and after photographer to be able to illustrate that because otherwise you can make a before look worse. Actually, you can make the after look worse. You can make the result look worse, you know, depending on the tilt of the head, the lighting and all that, which is buyer beware, you know, looking at other provider before and afters as well. That's why you want to see a lot of them.

Kindra Morse (32:26)
And how did you learn all of this?

English Black (32:29)
gosh, isn't that so interesting? There's no standard education for aesthetic providers. And a lot of people, don't think know that. There's all kinds of things popping up now that offer certification, but the certification as far as competency really means nothing. All it means is that you attended a specific training program. And frankly, it takes years.

years to really be able to hone this craft and be very good. In fact, the statistic is that our incidence of adverse events drops by 70 % at five years. So five years seems to be the magic mark for ⁓ improved mastery. But even then, you know, even after doing this for 10 years, I continue to learn, learn, learn. And that's part of the great thing about medicine is if you like to learn, this is a great place to be.

Kindra Morse (33:21)
I think it's so interesting that you never saw yourself going down this path and helping people with something that was superficial, but you've learned it's so much more than just superficial if you allow it to be that kind of a space.

English Black (33:36)
That's exactly right. Yeah, I know. It's so funny. I mean, my poor mother, she would dye her hair lots of different colors for whatever she felt like. And actually, that is where I get a lot of this is she was so brave. She did not care. She was her own person. And I say she did not care in some ways because she wanted to be however she wanted to be. And that's admirable. mean,

There's lots of other people in the world out there like that. I I used to always joke, whether you like Madonna or not, that woman has been her own person from the very beginning and look at all that she's accomplished, whether you think she's great or not. So it's interesting that I've been able to digest my experience with her and marry that with the experience of these CEOs and academic women.

that just wanted to feel better and be able to come up with that formula of a natural look. I kind of joke, you know, I pat myself on the back. I was doing quote unquote natural looks long before it was cool and trendy. I mean, that's the only thing I've ever done. ⁓ So yeah, it's, it's, but I think I'm able to do that because I find the sense of purpose and empowering not in the, ⁓

projecting my values onto someone else.

Kindra Morse (35:04)
Because we do that.

English Black (35:07)
We do, we do. it would be very, I mean, and I personally just don't think from a business model, I couldn't live with it, but I think that I'm able to build a better, more consistent and reliable practice by doing things this way than simply giving people what they want. I mean, and as I tell everybody, go ahead.

Kindra Morse (35:29)
Now,

you see your mom, even though you saw her in some ways living out her authentic self, but did you also see her being influenced to do things that you felt were superficial that weren't a reflection of who she really was?

English Black (35:49)
Well, yeah, I mean, and as my mother, I wanted her to feel good about herself. She was gorgeous, beautiful. I mean, she's a beautiful woman. And what I saw was ⁓ providers that were willing to exploit what she didn't feel good about. And instead of helping her, leaving her feeling better, was like an unfillable pit. And because no matter what they did, none of that whatever

meet what needed to be fixed in on our heart, on her heart of having that sense of self-worth. And that's the empowerment piece is that if somebody doesn't need something, that's saying, look, you know, if you want to look like a caricature, there are providers that do that. And I don't say it in these words, but there are providers that are happy to give you a very unnatural result. But that's not what I do.

And that's not what we deliver. That's not our aesthetic.

Kindra Morse (36:50)
What has been the best business advice that you've received?

English Black (36:54)
The best business advice that I receive is focus on the solution. What is the solution that you offer to your patients, to your clients? What is the problem that you're fixing for them? Do that in all of your messaging. And to me, that has been the best advice that I've gotten outside of the nonverbal advice of just treating people really, really well.

Kindra Morse (37:15)
Hmm. It's interesting. How did you come up with the version of your business that you felt good about that wasn't what you had always seen?

English Black (37:27)
Well, I don't know that I really came up with it. It was just how I'd always done things. And so it was just iterations of how I had always practiced. like I said, it started with those women, ⁓ that worked in academia and the CEOs that I was like, I got it. Cause I was like, these are intelligent women. They are not, they are confident already, but they just want the outside to mirror the inside. So that's.

really where the iteration started.

Kindra Morse (38:01)
Interesting. What is one thing about you that you wish more people knew better about you?

English Black (38:08)
Oh, you know, I had a patient say once she was shocked that I had experienced any struggle. And I would just say that I have, I think the, the ups and downs of my life would be shocking to most of my patients that, you know, some of it's the stuff of like time movies. And that I think based on what I have learned and accomplished, anybody can accomplish anything.

that they want, that they truly want. You gotta really want it.

Kindra Morse (38:37)
Can you tell me

a little bit about what you're talking about?

English Black (38:43)
Sure, there's, you know, I have had to overcome just the, you know, basically being very poor growing up in an affluent area. I didn't have any money to go to college. I had to take a risk on myself to borrow all the money, which back then was a ton of money. It's not that much anymore, but it was a lot then. And, you know, even opening up a business, it comes to a point in your life where you really do have to bet on yourself. That's what it all boils down to, you know?

And it's not that no one else is going to be there for you. No one else should be there for you. This is about you and your life and we have to create it.

Kindra Morse (39:20)
Mm-hmm. What is one struggle that most people have never heard you actually walked through?

English Black (39:26)
Hmm. Well, no one has actually well I got I really got to a point in my life where my brother was very ill and both of my parents were tied up in their own problems and and My friends, you know, my life was so heavy and dark It was it was as if you know the friends that I had and they were good friends

But nobody really knows what to say because no one can relate. It was very out there. ⁓ So I got to a point I was just so lonely. I didn't want to live anymore. I really didn't because I thought, if this is what life is really about and I don't have connection to anyone, then what's the point? And I had to make a decision. know, going back to the substance abuse and

You know, it wasn't an overnight switch, but I had to decide, do I want to keep just going through the motions or do I really want to live? And it began with something as simple as a bath bomb. I'm going to lay here and enjoy this and really smell the scent and be in the moment. and, you know, because when I think you've been as hard on yourself as you tend to be growing up in that environment,

Not getting it right can feel pathetic for lack of better words. That's how it feels on the inside or it did to me. you don't see all the accomplishments. You're just where you are because you keep going. Understanding that this whole life is a process. It's a process in that looking back, all of these huge hurdles have really helped.

Kindra Morse (41:11)
Thank

English Black (41:19)
shape who I am as a person. They've helped shape who I am as a professional and they have all created me to be the person that I am and and I like me most days and it can get to that point if you can just hang in there and find support. You know I had therapy. I went to Al-Anon. I have had a lot of very special people. I had an aunt and a grandfather that were huge supporters of mine.

and special friends that have just been guides. Not all of them have been here for the lifetime, but they've been here for the season or the reason if you've heard that before. But I'm so thankful that they showed up when they did. all of that experience has shown me that I really can do anything. It's just a matter of self-trust. And I think that's been the thing is learning to trust yourself.

Kindra Morse (42:10)
Mm-hmm.

English Black (42:16)
and understanding that connection is really where this life is at.

Kindra Morse (42:21)
So you felt like you didn't have connection with your parents or your brother through that season?

English Black (42:27)
No, well and of course, I mean, they, they both of my parents were in the throes of their addiction. So it wasn't really them. It was a version of them, but it wasn't them. And my brother, ⁓ I had to commit him and that was an extremely lonely time. He was in a terrible place. And, but I was also scared that if I didn't do that, something worse would happen to him. So, and I was just desperate for him to get help, to have a life at all.

Kindra Morse (42:55)
Was he older

or younger?

English Black (42:56)
He's a

younger brother. Yeah, we were about two and a half years apart and he, uh, it was just so diff, so hard to watch people that you love suffer and you just.

Kindra Morse (43:05)
How old was

he and how old were you at this time in your life? wow. Did you feel that you were responsible for him because you had your life more together than your parents had their lives together?

English Black (43:08)
in our late 20s.

Well, sure, if I didn't do it, I was pretty sure nobody would. And I believe that. I don't think that they were in a, they had a bandwidth to even know who to ask or call. And you know, when you're dealing with your own addiction, I think it's a way of kind of trying to self preserve. Then they might have to look at themselves too. And neither one of them were ready to do that at that point. So.

So yeah, and my baby brother was, he had a brand new family and lived two hours away. And ⁓ so, and it was just me in the same town with him. yeah, that was.

Kindra Morse (43:54)
But you

were!

English Black (43:57)
Mm-hmm.

Kindra Morse (43:57)
You were

the one that was willing to look at your own patterns and see, okay, if I'm really going to help him make a difference, I've got to be the leader to make those choices and changes to show him what's possible.

English Black (44:10)
That's exactly right. That's exactly right. but you know, it's, that's tough because in the situation that he was in, he's not even able to receive it. I mean, in life has felt like a series of trying to help people that can't be helped. And you know, some people are ready, but not everybody is. And that gift has been learning to meet people where they are and to love them anyway, which is not always easy to do. But it's just, you know, but it's something you cultivate.

Love.

Kindra Morse (44:42)
Yeah, what does love mean to you now?

English Black (44:46)
Yeah, love to me. Boy, that's a big question. You know, there is we've we all want unconditional love. And I think that that's really learning to love someone is loving them at their best and their worst, but not necessarily having to be the what's the right word doesn't mean that we have to enable bad habits. It doesn't mean that we have to carry their burden. We can love them and

I love the example in Al-Anon of, know, if an alcoholic came home and passed out on the floor, what would you do? And a lot of people, you know, people in relationships with addicts that hadn't done a lot of work might try to wake them up or put them in the bed or, and the idea was, well, you just cover them up with a blanket and let them lay there, you know, which is, which is really hard for a lot of people to do. It may sound simple, but it's just this idea of letting go, letting them do whatever it is they need to do and go through.

Kindra Morse (45:44)
not stepping

in and trying to be the rescuer. ⁓

English Black (45:47)
That's right. Trying to the

lighthouse, not the tugboat, not the repairman.

Kindra Morse (45:54)
And I can imagine you've created so much success in your life and your living life as a 10x version of yourself that a lot of people would think you've probably never had experiences like those and so interesting I wonder as people hear more about your story how surprised they might be

English Black (46:11)
Yeah, and actually I just read 10x is easier than 2x and that's really where I am in my own process and trying to let go even more of, you know, most of these things I have not wanted to talk about because they're very dark. And like I said, you know, there was a one point in my life where I felt very lonely and abandoned is probably an accurate word, but not abandoned in a negative way. People just didn't know what to say or what to do, you know, and, ⁓

But understanding now that because of my experiences that I may be able to help more and more people that may be going through the same things or having the same doubts that I might've had at one point. That to me is, I went to a leadership retreat in the fall with my business coach, Kaylee Lindholm. And I came to the revelation that I'm intimidated by myself. I'm intimidated by my own power. And that...

has really stirred the pot. And then going through this process of learning more and more about ourselves and potential and putting ourselves out there and letting go of fear has been amazing. It's been life changing.

Kindra Morse (47:27)
Yeah, so what's your next big vision goal that you have now that you kind of have all this awareness and you've accomplished so much in the last three years? What's the next look like?

English Black (47:38)
Yeah, well, the next is there's several forks and it's I'm still working on this in my mind's eye is is leveling up aesthetics as a whole. So teaching more injectors how to empower and then also reaching out to more providers to help build connection, patient retention and relationships to help their business. And then from there, even to expand with women in general.

I mean, it's such a big lofty goal to me and it's not clear at all, but I know that there's going to be so much power behind coming together and lifting each other. mean, you and I are experiencing that together in a coaching group and it's electric and I'm ready for it.

Kindra Morse (48:27)
What a beautiful mission that I have no doubts that you will create, you'll bring to life. Where can people find you?

English Black (48:34)
Yes, so follow me at the English aesthetic on Instagram. And if you DM me the word growth, I'll be happy to send you my Google sheet on Behind the Glow, how to build a seven figure business without losing yourself. And if you're just interested and more feeling better about yourself, DM me the word glow and I'll send you my guide on the top three treatments to look refreshed and not done.

Kindra Morse (48:59)
my gosh, I need those all of the above, please. I wish I had so much fun chatting with you today. Thank you for sharing what you've shared and sharing your heart and being brave enough to actually share some of the things that are from the darkest moments in our lives because that is where real transformation is connected.

English Black (49:14)
Agreed. Thanks for having me, Kendra. I really appreciate your time and let me share.

Kindra Morse (49:19)
Absolutely. Have a good day.

English Black (49:21)
Thanks, you too.