“This is freedom and a reinvention of myself in my mid 50’s.”
From scary times with breast cancer and back surgeries to the comfort and freedom of owning her own medical aesthetics practice, it has been a long, arduous and very inspiring journey for Joanie Jenkins.
Joanie has been in business for herself almost two years now. Radiant You Medical Aesthetics in Fredericton provides Botox treatments to a rapidly growing number of patients. And for Joanie, with a deep-seated compassion for patient care, that’s a dream come true.
“You improve their self-esteem and make them happy,” Joanie told us. “And what could be better than that!”
It hasn’t always been happy times for Joanie. In fact, there were real scary times.
In early 2020, the primary care nurse was stressed out, working long hours in an under-staffed healthcare system. Then, just as the COVID pandemic hit, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She did what she had to do. Surgery and radiation. But in recovery and as she was contemplating a return to work, a pain in her right arm sent her back to hospital for an MRI. Fearing her cancer had metastasized, Joanie discovered instead that she had two herniated discs that would require surgery in April 2021. There would be yet another operation the following year for a third herniated disc.
Through all those darks days, the ever-optimistic Joanie found a silver lining.
“It was scary, for sure. But as clichéd as it sounds, when you’re diagnosed with something life threatening, you kind of do an inventory of what you want to do. It gave me time to reassess my life and what I wanted to do when all this ended.”
Joanie has been a nurse since 1987. She has loved her profession and worked tirelessly in primary care and preventative care for years. She became a Nurse Practitioner and did community clinical work in an indigenous community, worked in public health, and was a VON. But after 30-plus years and with primary health care in New Brunswick in crisis, Joanie was done.
“It was sucking the life out of me.”
It was before the pandemic and before her cancer that Joanie had a conversation with a nursing colleague in medical aesthetics. That sparked an interest. She reached out to Brandy Donald, another aesthetics nurse who owns her own clinic in Miramichi and is now a THMA clinical trainer. Brandy told her about the THMA Medical Aesthetics Foundation Course and put her in touch with me.
“I was between treatments when Tracey called me at home. I had already done my homework and was impressed with the THMA Foundation Course. The education centred on patient safety and best practice, and that fit perfectly with my nursing philosophy. But that call was what made up my mind to train with THMA.”
“I absolutely made the right decision. It was exactly what I wanted.”
Joanie did the virtual training components of our THMA Medical Aesthetics Foundation Course in February 2022. Because I was in New Brunswick for business at that time, I travelled to Fredericton for her Hands-on Training to complete the course. With her knowledge, nursing skills and devotion to safety and patient care, Joanie clearly demonstrated the ability to become a very good injector.
It was during this time that Joanie started thinking about running her own medical aesthetics business. “I know nothing about running a business … was I nuts?” she says, looking back and laughing now. But with her husband’s encouragement and support from an accountant and THMA, that’s what Joanie has done. Her perseverance and commitment has resulted in Radiant You Medical Aesthetics, her own independent business within Salon 791 in North Fredericton.
On June 30, Joanie officially retired from the Horizon Health Network in New Brunswick. The cancer survivor and mother of two adult sons has a new lease on life.
“This is freedom, and a reinvention of myself in my mid 50’s.”
“I really enjoy it. It’s less stressful. I love that I get to pick the hours I want to work and the number of patients I want to see in a day. I’m my own boss and I answer to myself. This is literally something I’m doing just for me and for my patients.”
Joanie acknowledges that getting established and comfortable in independent practice was daunting. But she’s used to taking on challenges and succeeding. Word of mouth has quickly built up a loyal clientele.
Like many of us in medical aesthetics, Joanie says her greatest satisfaction following the grind of primary care is having patients coming to see her who want to be there. People who want you make them look better and, more importantly, to feel better.
“I had a patient a month ago for Botox treatments on her crow’s feet, glabella, and forehead. When I followed up with her, she said, ‘What you did for me is life altering! I never wanted my picture taken before because i always looked cranky or tired. You completely changed that.’ And she gave me a big hug!”
How good is that! And how inspiring is Joanie Jenkins! She did it for herself, with a dogged determination to push adversity to the side and get a fresh start on life. She shares her happy outlook with her patients, and all of us are spiritually better for knowing her.