Christine Klueh of Pelle Medical Skin Care
How did you start your business?
A couple years prior to the start of my business, I had devised a business plan – which was a little rough in nature since I had never done one before – and a strong desire to do something on my own.
From working in the field, I knew a few physicians in the area who didn’t offer medical skin care in their offices, but very much wanted to provide it. With only a nursing degree, I lacked the confidence to make the change until my husband strongly urged me to. His confidence in me was the force behind me starting my business. I took that motivation and presented Debbi Gittinger, my co-owner, with the plan. We became business partners and went from there.
How did you come up the idea for your business?
After several years of working as a skin care nurse for a local plastic surgeon, we had the opportunity to really learn about the wants and needs of patients, research the many medical-grade skin care products available and provide our knowledge and services to our patients.
Three and a half years ago, we had the opportunity to establish and run our own skin care clinic under the medical directorship of Dr. Allison Lied, a board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon.
What resources here did you take advantage of and how did they help?
My main resource has definitely been my husband, Doug, and his years of experience and knowledge of being in sales. Everything from our initial website set-up, online scheduling and startup marketing was done with his help.
Other close family and friends provided great support and networking. Mostly though, we owe our abilities and success to our strong faith, prayer and divine intervention.
What inspires you?
Our passion for what we do. We love our jobs and the patients we work with. We are very blessed to be able to go to work every day and have this positive outlook and attitude. What also inspires us is assisting people to feel and look their best. We love when patients get a boost of self-confidence and have a spring put back in their step because their skin has cleared up, feels healthy or has a bit more luminosity to it.
Our faces are the very first thing other people see and study. If we can help make someone feel really good about herself, as well as improve the health and quality of her skin, then we are thrilled. Our favorite thing to hear from our patients is how happy they are with the results of their skin care.
What’s next for you and your company?
The next step for Pelle is to hire another Skin Care Nurse Specialist, as well as to continue to work closely with our marketing company and expand on our advertising strategies. We would like for Pelle to reach a broader demographic of patients.
Interview by Robin Donovan