Maegan Griffin began her nursing career in the ICU, before enrolling in a Family Nurse Practitioner program. “I fell in love with the nurse practitioner model right away—providing holistic care, looking at the human as a whole and focusing on preventative measures,” she says.
Maegan worked in plastic surgery and led the practice’s injectables clinic, giving her fundamental training for her next step. “I noticed the need to offer patients a better experience when receiving aesthetic treatments,” she recalls. She founded Skin Pharm in 2017—creating a clinic environment and product line she sought as a patient herself.
Now, clinics are open in Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Franklin, Tennessee, with Houston and Alpharetta, Georgia in the works. “We never want your skin health journey to feel overwhelming,” she says. “On the contrary, skin care should be approachable and allow you to create a routine, a ritual, a habit of self-care and maintenance that you feel comfortable with.”
Tell us about the clinic “customer experience.” From design to ambience to services, what can visitors expect when they book an appointment?
I started Skin Pharm for customers like me who didn’t feel satisfied by the existing beauty market. Our customers are really the women and men of today—those who desire ease in their skin-health routine and don’t have time to second-guess if they’re investing in the right products and practitioners. We’re committed to providing this experience both with our in-clinic treatments and at-home skin care products.
The style of each space is gorgeous! Can you share a bit about your vision?
The design of our clinics has always been a priority of mine. I believe our surroundings have a huge impact on how we feel, and the right environment has the ability to improve both our clients’ experience and our team’s well-being. For our flagship clinic in Nashville, I chose finishes, furnishings, and decor myself. It was a learning process for sure, but one I enjoyed—I learned a lot about the design and install process for our Skin Pharm spaces.
Once we grew outside of the Nashville market, I was unable to manage this alone. We brought on Lori Paranjape and her team to help with our Atlanta clinic and continued to partner with them for Dallas, Charlotte, and Franklin. As we’ve continued to open clinics, we’ve added more custom woodwork, exposed ceilings, and thoughtful moments (like a touch-up station) to enhance the clinic experience.
The cosmetic dermatology space grows more and more crowded by the day, but Skin Pharm was truly one of the first in the industry to offer personal, individualized care. At its core, Skin Pharm’s model was built upon my own desire to receive safe treatments from trustworthy providers in a relaxed, comfortable environment, and I think we’ve mastered this!
How did you decide to launch the skincare line, and do you have any products that are a great introduction to Skin Pharm?
On the product side, our skincare line complements the treatments we offer in-clinic, maintaining and amplifying our patients’ results! We built a product line to address the skin concerns of real patients we work with daily. How neat, right? We pride ourselves on being a minimal skin care line, too. By offering fewer, better products, we’re minimizing decision fatigue and avoiding wasteful overconsumption from the start. Just one of the ways we’re prioritizing sustainability as we continue to grow!
Regarding my favorite, please don’t ask me to pick! Our products are hard hitters and multitaskers— you don’t have to buy a hyaluronic serum, then a niacinamide serum, then a vitamin B serum. We don’t overcomplicate it.
If you could go back in time, what advice would you give yourself before becoming a small business owner?
Trust your gut. Some of my biggest mistakes (I try to think of them as learnings) have come from not trusting myself. It takes time, and I’m still learning to trust my intuition, but I’ve gotten better at this as I’ve progressed in my career. In recent years, I’ve had scenarios where my intuition was sending off Mayday signals, which led me to ultimately walk away from wrong deals or situations. Make sure the decision in front of you is going to be a fulfilling one, because you’ll have to push yourself to extreme limits to get to that fulfillment!
Where do you see yourself, and the brand, in five years?
I am so grateful for the community Skin Pharm has cultivated. I’ve met some of the most amazing women who are moms, sisters, wives, businesswomen, and fellow healthcare professionals. I hope to meet even more people on their skin health journeys as we continue to open more clinics—and would love for Skin Pharm to become a staple in everyone’s skin care routine!
Finally, how do you define success?
Success can be defined in many different ways and really depends on the individual. To me, it’s this right here! Creating a brand while building a family has been one of the most empowering experiences of my life. As a mother, I enjoy setting an ex- ample for other women seeking both a career and to raise a family. We’re too often told we can’t do it all, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to show women all we can accomplish.
