Today we’d like to introduce you to Courtney Gill.
Courtney, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I am a Native Texan and the youngest of four girls in my family. I attended the University of Texas and fell in love with Austin. After attending a Masters of Physician Assistant Studies at UNT in Fort Worth, I traveled for three months and decided to come back to Austin to start my career as a PA in Dermatology. I started practicing mainly medical dermatology but soon gravitated towards the cosmetic aspects of the practice. I personally have struggled with acne, sun damage, and scars and I love the hands of aspect of my job. It is satisfying for both myself and my patients to see the transformation we can help patients achieve.
I married my husband in 2016, we had our son in 2018 and our daughter in 2019. Ten days after the birth of my daughter, I experienced a rare heart attack called SCAD- Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection.
This event has greatly changed my life in a lot of ways. I do have heart damage and will most likely take cardiac medications for the rest of my life. However, it did inspire me to take the leap of faith that you always think about in the back of your head- “should I go out and do this on my own? or do I have what it takes to start something new?” and after COVID hit a few months later- my eyes were opened even more and things kept pointing me in my life that this is the time to try it and thus Refine Aesthetics was created. Any of us can be gone tomorrow so live the life you want to live and create your own reality.
I wanted to create a space that both patients and employees were happy, felt heard and not stressed because we are trying to rush all day long. I wanted a nontraditional doctor’s office if you will- smells good when you walk in, fun music, happy staff. And daily mantras posted at the front door. We are in the industry of beauty so we want everyone to feel good when they walk in and even better when they walk out.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Honestly no —- starting a new business in the middle of a world pandemic with a newborn and two years old while still getting a handle on my own health is not an easy task and a lot harder than I ever imagined. My husband is a lawyer and an entrepreneur and so he helped to inspire me to have the guts and some of the know-how on where to start. I also have the most amazing staff – all whom I have worked with in the past that helped me to execute the vision and the most supportive patients that I have had the privilege of meeting over the years and building trust and a relationship with that followed me to Refine. But that being said it has taken so much more mental energy than I was prepared for – it has affected my marriage in both positive but also negative ways, I struggle to find the balance of being a working mom and the guilt you feel with raising two children when you are away. I am learning about SEO and Marketing and things that never really interested me before but it is still challenging and exciting at the same time. I feel like I am just starting to catch my breath a little personally and professionally. I need covid and snowmageddon and broken arms to just slow their roll a bit…. I am realizing this is just life and you just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other every day. I feel blessed to have such a supportive community and staff to keep Refine Aesthetics and myself going when I am feeling stressed.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a Certified Physician Associate (previously known as Physician Assistant). I have practiced both medical and cosmetic dermatology for 11 years and spent nine years where I worked aside some amazing practitioners. When I created Refine Aesthetics, my vision was to create a more boutique experience for the patient- a place where we have less wait time, more patient time, a calmer more experience all around but still have the same caliber of medicine and new technology to offer as treatments. I have two other providers- Emily Johnston PA-C and Erma Morris LA, who combined we have 40 years of experience between the three of us. I think between the medical dermatology background and our years of experience – we truly understand the behavior of skin and can address both medical and cosmetic needs-we stand out from the crowd as not your typical medspa. We offer a range of services to injectables such as filler and botox, skin services like laser resurfacing or photofacials, body contouring with the latest EmsculptNeo and diamond glow facials chemical peels and an array of retail skincare. I love attending conferences and training to learn about the latest trends and newest devices to help patients achieve their own version of beauty.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I love AUSTIN! and I love being downtown again! We have such a youthful city in so many ways – people are invested in their health here- we have tons of outdoor activities partnered with tons of live music and good food to eat. I love the newly developing areas we are getting and there really is something for everyone here- but you are still in Texas and people are just friendly. People want to feel good and look good when they go out and being in downtown has been such a blessing to plug into the new Texans and give them guidance on what we can offer them.
I have been disappointed with our current homeless situation. We have the beautiful streets and a downtown that has really become more of a trash dump for the homeless. I wish as a society we had a better way to help these individuals – I believe that mental health and addiction really play a big role in this situation and if we did a better job at addressing these underlying issues for people instead of just ignoring or incarcerating them we could come up with a more realistic solution. I just hate seeing trash and tents all of this beautiful city that I love so much.
Pricing:
- Beauty bank – savings account for patients and guaranteed discounts – 159.00 a month
Contact Info:
- Email: info@RefineAesthetics.com
- Website: www.RefineAesthetics.com
- Instagram: @RefineAestheticsATX
- Facebook: Refine Aesthetics ATX
Image Credits
Kerri Lohmeier photography Emily Hines of Captured Austin Photography
