This week we sit down with one of the most well-known, influential, and, at times, controversial figures of the Aesthetic industry, Josh Davis, BSN,RN or as we all know him, Tox Josh!
From his start in rural Tennessee to music, trauma nursing, and now Aesthetics, Josh has trail-blazed his own way from simple beginnings to superstar status. But things aren’t always what they seem. Behind that larger-than-life persona is a man who has fought his way through incredible challenges to not just survive, but to turn those messes into a metamorphosis. Since battling through a life-altering complication with filler just last year that was extremely serious, he’s reemerged as a new Josh- one who is focused on his own mental health, using his platform to bring awareness and advocacy, and sharing his journey to help others do the same.
There was a time when most people thought of Josh as nothing more than a social media influencer. Can he really inject? Is he just a personality? While he was logging 9-10 hours a day of screen time to cater to his growing follower count, he was also running a successful business and delivering high-quality patient outcomes. For those of us watching, it became more about what kind of tea he might spill and less about his skillset as a bona-fide injector who has trained alongside some of the biggest names in our industry.
Over the years, he’s taken the stage at multiple conferences for live injections, conducted trainings and programs across the country, been a guest injector at well-known clinics, and become a KOL for industry partners who align with his value system. He’s quieted the doubters and proven that there’s more to him than what you see on Instagram. During his meteoric rise to industry fame, he was also busy building a successful medspa that also experienced rapid growth and change.
He started small at Davis Aesthetics then traded up to Whisper Wood – a traditional, Tennessee suburban-approved med spa that benefitted from Josh’s notoriety, growing quickly in parallel. He soon found out that a growing business means more time spent working on the business and less time doing the things he loves- treating patients, being involved outside the practice, training and. managing his high-profile brand. He made the decision to downsize and get back to what he loves- in addition to aesthetic treatments, he’s created a unique experience that is about more than just outer beauty. It combines his love of non-traditional treatments like reiki (he’s a certified healer!), human design, massage and more into the medspa environment. This exodus into the eccentric was too much for some- 30% of his patients didn’t make the move from Whisper Wood- it had nothing to do with skillset and everything to do with optics. But as Josh often does, he turned that challenge into a triumph by using that experience to attract patients who better align with the holistic experience he’s building.
Instagram Josh Version 2.0 has traded his call outs and controversy for a focus on mental health, healing, and being a force for positive change in the industry. He coined “Community Over Competition” not so many years ago, and while that message has been muddled and misused over time, it’s something he still believes in – you are only in competition with yourself. But now more than ever, it’s apparent he knows you can’t run a marathon at full speed. Nobody can. With a new book launching in January, a faculty position with the vendors he wants to work with, a thriving practice that is the right amount of business and pleasure, he’s standing on top of his mountain going in to 2024. Like any metamorphosis, the journey never stops, and we’ll all be watching! As Josh says….in a field of horses, be a unicorn, and he’s certainly one-of-a-kind!
Find out more about Tox Josh at:
www.toxjoshstudios.com
https://www.instagram.com/toxjosh/
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