Today we’d like to introduce you to Claire Cross
Hi Claire, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born and raised in East Tennessee. I went to the University of TN where I graduated with a degree in Kinesiology. I then stayed for a fifth year where I attended UT’s accelerated nursing program and got my BSN. After graduating I moved to the Nashville and worked in the ER for my first year. I then worked as a labor and delivery nurse for the next 4 years. I always knew that I wanted to further my education and work outside of the hospital, so I started going back to school part-time while working to earn my master’s in nursing to become a Nurse Practitioner. With a year left of school, my now husband and I decided to move back to Knoxville so we could be closer to our families. We have been living here since and hope to stay here permanently.
I was working a very busy shift on L&D one day when I was assigned to a patient who had come through triage and was urgently needing to go to the OR for delivery. Once things had settled down and the surgery was taking place, I heard the patient chatting about what she did for a living – she was telling the surgeon how she owned a Medspa, Arabella Medical Aesthetics. I instantly was very interested as I had always dreamed of getting into the world of aesthetics when I was done with school. I may or may not have started asking her about her business while she was still on the OR table. We instantly hit it off and I ended up getting her number and sending her my resume before she had even made it to the postpartum unit. Here we now are 2.5 years later – I am working my dream job, and I have a pretty funny story about how I met my now boss.
Since working at Arabella, the biggest change to my life happened 7 months ago. My husband and I welcomed our son, Graham into the world. I have been fortunate enough to come back to work part-time so I am able to continue to work and get to spend some time together with our son .
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I would say one of the biggest struggles was that even though I had advanced my education, I almost had felt like I had taken a step backwards when I first started my new job. It was all so new to me, and all I could do at first was observe and learn. It was difficult feeling like I knew nothing pertinent when I had first started. I am so fortunate that my boss is a trainer for a nationally recognized cosmetic company, so it was like having my own personal in-office trainer to learn from as I got started. I would say that this continues to be a daily challenge – the aesthetics world doesn’t get enough credit for how dynamic, evolving, and complicated it actually is. I won’t lie – before I got into aesthetics I thought it honestly seemed like an “easier” option as a nurse, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Now don’t get me wrong, I do still have a lot of fun! (and the in house botox is a nice bonus), but it’s important to point out that the aesthetic world It is constantly evolving at a rapid pace and the education never stops.
In addition to this, I would also say that navigating this new role as a working mother has also had its fair share of challenges. Both of my parents worked hard my entire childhood so I knew that I was also going to want to be a working mother one day. I have realized that no matter what you decide to do as a mother, you will always feel some form of guilt. I am very thankful that i have a great support system that supports me as both a mother, and as a mom.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are a small medical aesthetics office that specializes in injectable services (neurotoxins and filler) but we also offer various other treatments including lasers, facials, microneedling, skin consultations, and more. Our goal is to treat every single person that comes in to our office the way that we would like to be treated. I think what sets us apart is the amount of time we try and spend with our patients. We are big on education and making sure they know enough to make informed decisions on their treatment plans. We try and get to know our patients on a more personal level. Our goal for our patients is quality over quantity, and we strive to make patients as happy as possible.
I want people to know that whether your skincare routine consists of a bar of soap, or you have been getting aesthetic treatments for years – you are welcome in our office Our office strives to treat each person that comes through our door like a friend, and we love nothing more than making our patients feel valued, and beautiful. I feel so fortunate to get to do what I do everyday and love getting to help be a part of patient’s aesthetic journeys.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I truly value the patient-provider experience. Deep down I am a people-pleaser, and I truly care about my patients lives both in the office with their treatments, and in their daily lives outside of the office. While I do like to have fun on social media and in the office, I understand that aesthetics is a vulnerable time for many patients, and I don’t take this lightly. I do my best to make sure they are heard, comfortable, and happy with the services that I provide.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://arabellaknox.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/claire.cross_np/
