In 1994, Chrissy Thomas graduated from the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing and landed what she thought was her dream job: working as an operating room nurse at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.
“I always wanted to be an OR nurse and within nine months I was the charge nurse for plastics, pulmonology and ENT and had [gotten] married. I was never home and knew I needed a different schedule,” said Thomas, RN, BSN.
Thomas thought that working in a private practice would free her schedule. Running the day surgery center for plastic surgeons Dianne Leeb and B.A. Pihl opened a new career path for Thomas. It eventually led her to owning a small business.
“That’s the wonderful thing about a nursing degree,” Thomas said. “It can take you anywhere. Skin care was a whole other world for me. I knew muscles and physiology, but I wasn’t an aesthetician.”
To get the knowledge she needed in her new job, Thomas began attending seminars and earning certifications. She also operated a small skin care business as a sideline to her bosses’ plastic surgery practice. When Leeb and Pihl retired in 2002, they offered to let Thomas keep the skin care portion of the practice and to serve as her medical directors.
“They retired on Wednesday. I gave birth to my second child on Saturday, and within three weeks I was seeing skin care clients. I had a 17-month-old and a newborn. It was crazy, but I didn’t want to lose the clients I had built up,” she said.
Her persistence paid off and About Face Skin Care was born. Although Thomas started her business without initial marketing or advertising, she has grown it by word-of-mouth and with the help of her husband.
“Starting a business as a nurse is a trial by fire. You don’t learn those skills in nursing school,” Thomas said. “I was fortunate that my husband, Sam, had an entrepreneurial spirit. He did the initial marketing and business plan, and I learned so much from him.”
In 2009, he left his corporate IT job to run the business side of About Face Skin Care.
The company employs eight people in a 3,000-square-foot office in Snellville and has added the About Mind & Body Center, which offers wellness education and Pilates, yoga and circuit training classes.
Thomas believes that her nursing background helps clients feel more comfortable and confident about her expertise. “People trust that I have the knowledge to know what skin care practices are safe and effective, especially if they have medical conditions such as breast cancer, MS or diabetes.”
Thomas’ experience and keen eye enables her to spot melanomas or other suspicious symptoms, and to encourage clients to seek medical treatment.
Having worked in the field, she's aware of the pitfalls of plastic surgery and knows that it isn't the answer for everyone. She listens carefully to her clients' goals and needs.
"I would see women struggle after plastic surgery. Patients would say that although the outcome was beautiful, it did not look like them, so there would be a feeling of loss," she said.
Thomas and her staff provide nonsurgical, customized ways for people to look refreshed, toned and younger.
“ My patients don’t have unlimited resources, so we work with them to create a realistic plan with a definite end point,” she said. “We find a couple of things that will allow them to see results within their budget.
“Patient education is a huge part of what we do. As a nurse, you learn to assess patients and teach on any level.”
One of the business’s most popular series of treatments is a nonsurgical facelift, which includes microcurrent facial toning to tighten cheek muscles that have sagged and to lengthen forehead muscles, which tighten over time and cause frown lines. The process also includes exfoliation (using chemical peels and LED light therapy) to decrease brown spots and red patches. A new treatment uses radio frequency energy to heat, strengthen and realign collagen.
“Over time, the nonsurgical facelift addresses large pores, dull skin, brown spots, a flat mid-face section, jowls and sagging neck, all without surgery,” Thomas said. “Through reading the latest research and because of my nursing background, I began pairing therapies that would work well together early on . I think I was ahead of my time on that one.”
Thomas aims for a no-pressure, friendly, relaxed atmosphere in her salon, something she says attracts and retains female and male clients.
“More than 250 patients came to our annual Fall Bash. I’ve seen some rebuild their lives after cancer or other down times in life’s journey,” she said. “I’ve learned so much about life and appreciating my parents, my husband and my children from this practice. I couldn’t be happier in what I do.”
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