Exploring Life & Business with Samantha Niccum of BBE Aesthetics

Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha Niccum.

Hi Samantha, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I’m an ER Nurse by trade. I’ve worked in roughly ten different Emergency Departments between staff nursing and travel contracts. I’ve worked in large, Level One Trauma Centers, Free Standing Emergency Departments, and everything in between. I started this business with one idea in mind: I want to love walking into work every day. I want to make people feel incredible, happy, and confident.

My goal for BBE Aesthetics is to be a safe space for anyone and everyone to come and love themselves. I am proudly LGBTQAI+ friendly, plant-friendly, and coffee friendly. Throughout my time as a nurse, I’ve learned that as a species, we typically give and give to others, but we don’t always make time for ourselves. I want you to walk in and feel like you’re meeting a friend for coffee. My space will be inviting and full of laughter with positive energy. It will be a place for anyone to come and feel accepted.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh ABSOLUTELY not. The list of struggles is only something that compares to a Monday after a holiday weekend. Long AF. I started planning to build this business in October of last year. I had the desire and the dreams of opening for many years prior, but in October of last year, I started putting in the work, and I’ll tell ya, it is WORK. I won’t say ‘was’ because the trials and tribulations of opening a small business never seem to go away.

Breaking the glass into not only being a business owner as someone who had NEVER really considered it, nor knew ANYTHING about it, took more than just a quick punch to the aforementioned glass. It took more of a sharp ice pick, with which I repeatedly smacked the glass until I finally got a teeny hole. Then basically I had to chip away, piece by piece until I could get a finger through, then a hand, and now I’d say I have my head and an arm through this glass.

I hired a lawyer to build my business for me from a legal standpoint. I had done a ton of research, literally googling ‘how to open a med spa.’ and in my blind research, I found advice that having a legal team behind you from the start was best practice. So, that’s what I did. Next was figuring out what I wanted my business model to be. (Just go ahead and assume that I had never considered any of this stuff before doing it because I had NO idea what I was doing..)

Anyway…. a business model. Okay…. what the heck is that. I went to school for nursing. I didn’t go to business school. I have a visceral reaction thinking about it. I spent lots of time googling ‘What is a business model’  and proceeded to spend weeks researching, considering, and planning. Oh did I mention I was still working full time, nightshift as an ER nurse while doing ALL of this? I was.

I got my LLC secured, and all of the legal mumbo jumbo that went along with it. Cool. What’s next? Find a space to work out of. Okay… let me look and see. Woof, that’s expensive. Holy crap, that’s even MORE expensive. What the heck am I doing?? Nope, we don’t have time to second-guess ourselves, here. Oh, here’s a spot… and it has room to grow my business. Perfect. Wait, now we are growing the business? Hahahahahahahahaha, let’s just get open first, deal? Deal.

I talk to myself a lot. Don’t make it weird.

I began the process of applying for a business loan in July. Over the next 3 1/2 months, I had four different meetings, made several business plans, and had a proctology exam. Okay, maybe not that last part…but it sure seemed like it. Applying for a small business loan is more in-depth and more invasive than applying for a home loan…. in my humble opinion.

The bank and I went to CIRCLES for three and a half months. I’m sure you’re familiar with the dog-and-pony show they enjoy. It’s a special brand of torture, and that’s my PG opinion of it. But, I digress. Finally, at the end of October, I got my approval from the bank *pending* SBA (small business association) eligibility. This was more of a formality, as I was already eligible for the SBA loan.

What’s that? Is that a rug being pulled out from under me? SURE IS! SBA denied me. Why? My credit score dropped just three points too low to qualify. The bank approved me on a Friday afternoon, and SBA denied me on the next Monday morning. Talk about heartbreak. I had the space, all the painting, decorating, vendor payments, supplies, etc. All of it was paid in cash by me at this point, and now my safety net just got ripped out from under me.

What’s better? My grand opening was that coming Wednesday. Things have been smoother since opening, but as any small business owner knows, starting from the bottom is never easy. There are fires every single day that I have to put out, or just mentally process. So, to make a long story even longer…. no, it has not been a smooth road. I think riding in an ATV with no suspension down the side of Pikes Peak whilst juggling cacti would’ve been a smoother ride than this.

We’ve been impressed with BBE Aesthetics, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
BBE stands for ‘Bad Bitch Energy.’ (Can I say that?) butttt, yeah. That’s what it stands for. It is a fully functioning medical spa, offering injectables like botox and dermal filler, and microneedling treatments for the skin with radio frequency. I also offer skin care from Skin Medica.

My microneedling machine is my favorite part of my practice. The machine is called the ‘VirtueRF’ and it is INCREDIBLE. I could go on for hours about everything it can do. No downtime and you get a full microneedling treatment with radio frequency coupled in with it to give you the best skin you’ve ever had. I have a signature treatment called The BBE Glow up, which includes microneedling, botox, and the use of plant ecosomes to give you a refreshed and more youthful look. It’s the end-all, be-all of skin rejuvenation.

My proudest aspect of my brand, and what I believe sets me apart from others, is that I am a safe space for all.

Have you ever been in a medical spa? They can be intimidating for a lot of people. I want to alleviate that stress when you walk into my office. I will sit with you, chat, credential myself and let you get to know me before I just go ahead and stab your face. Do you not do well with pain? That’s completely fine! Let me show you all the different things I have available to help prevent or minimize pain for you. Nervous? Here, I have a stuffed animal you can squeeze if you need it. No judgment here, babe.

I want this to be an enjoyable experience for you, as much as it can be. I want you to leave feeling confident, or with Bad Bitch Energy. My heart SWELLS when clients tell me that they feel more confident at our follow-up appointments because that’s all I wanted for them. I want them to feel good about themselves, and if a little botox, lip filler, or a microneedling treatment helps them get there, I am HERE for it.

I am fully transparent with my clients, and this allows them to feel more comfortable with me. Who wants to tell just some random stranger that they just met all of their insecurities? Um, no one. I want to remove the stigma of what most people think getting botox and filler means. The negative connotation that medical aesthetics have needs to be washed away. There is NOTHING wrong with doing things that make you feel good about yourself.

What matters most to you?
Boosting my client’s confidence. I feel like as a population, we struggle most with confidence and self-love. I want to change that. I want people to love themselves, and if I can add to that self-love with some artistic placement of filler, melting away lines, or other skin issues with a Microneedling or laser treatment, I will.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bbeaesthetics.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bbeaesthetics/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BBEAesthetics