This week, we sit down with Physician Associate and business owner, Sarah Balladares, PA-C for one wild ride! It all started with Sarah’s original career post-marketing degree, Financial Planning. After 5 years helping medical professionals get a handle on their money, she decided it was time to leave her career and head off to medical school for a career in Plastic Surgery. That was a short lived, as a few of her close physician friends talked her off the ledge, and offered up a career as a PA as viable alternative. That was all it took, and Sarah went back to school to take a year of prerequisites only to be waitlisted!
That didn’t stop her, one of the many times she would persevere. She eventually got into PA school that year, and the rest is history…sort of! Sarah had her goal in mind- Aesthetics- and despite repeated interventions from her professors, she stayed the course. After PA school, Sarah embarked on a journey that would take her to Ohio where she still works periodically then to Louisiana. She got involved with a practice in hopes of owning it one day, but her curiosity was not welcomed, so she found herself in a tight spot. What to do to end this ‘fun employment?’ Well, Smooth by Sarah was born!
Through a bit of desperation and a lot of gumption, with $7000 in injectables, a chair, and a one room rental spot, she opened her own practice. Now, she goes back and for to Ohio, works at another medical spa in Metarie, LA and has her own clinic in Baton Rouge. She’s a busy gal managing 3 practices and a packed schedule, and flying home to North Carolina to see her new(ish) husband and remodel a home! She’s definitely on the go, but so many of her decisions have been ones that may have seemed crazy at the time, but looking back, it’s exactly what needed to happen in that moment to arrive at the destination.
Now 3 years into owning Smooth by Sarah, she is continuing to innovate and evolve as a business owner and an injector, learning valuable lessons along the way. In this episode she shares:
- What fueled her decision to completely change careers and start over
- The impetus behind opening her practice, Smooth by Sarah, while also working in 2 locations
- The benefits of being an entrepreneur AND an employee
- The cautionary tales of going too big in the beginning
- Asking the tough questions, even if it hurts at the time
And, so much more!!! This episode is FULL of laughs, southern charm, and Sarah’s fiery spirit. But it’s also a testament to just jumping in, trusting yourself, and realizing that whether you crawl, walk or run, you just have to keep moving forward.
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