Today we’d like to introduce you to Carlie Corse.
Hi Carlie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’m a Ventura local through and through, and my path to opening Flora has been winding — but in the best way. My background is in nursing, and I spent my early career in the surgical setting before stepping into plastic surgery and aesthetic medicine around 2015. That mix of clinical precision and artistry was where everything clicked for me. I went on to earn my nurse practitioner license and spent years in family medicine and women’s health, all while continuing to work alongside plastic surgery.
I loved aesthetics — but I started to feel uneasy with how the industry could be. So much of it felt rushed and transactional, pushing patients toward more rather than truly meeting them where they were. So I stepped away and promised myself I wouldn’t go back unless I could do it my way.
Then life moved fast. I had a baby, came back from maternity leave to a world reshaped by COVID, and watched the broader medical landscape shift in ways that made me ready to build something of my own. In 2022, I opened Flora Aesthetics & Wellness in Downtown Ventura.
Flora was never supposed to be as big — or as special — as it’s become. What started as a vision for honest, holistic aesthetic care has grown into a practice that genuinely resonates with our community, with patients who travel from all over the region (and beyond) to see us. I think people keep coming back because we’re an intentional step away from the classic medspa feel. Nothing icky, nothing pushy — just real conversations, natural results, and care that respects the whole person. We can’t wait to see you bloom.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Has it been a smooth road? Mostly no — but the bumps have shaped everything good about Flora.
The biggest one has been navigating motherhood and entrepreneurship at the same time. I opened Flora not long after my first baby, and I welcomed my second in 2025 — so there has been a lot of “build and grow” happening alongside a lot of “be present at home.” It’s required me to constantly redesign how Flora operates so the practice can thrive without me being everywhere all the time.
The other surprise was how quickly Flora resonated with our community. I genuinely didn’t expect to grow this fast, and the truth is I wasn’t prepared for it. Learning to scale without losing the heart of the practice has been its own ongoing lesson — especially around hiring. I had to learn pretty quickly that skill alone isn’t enough; values-based hiring is everything. I feel so lucky to have a team that truly feels like an extension of me — Lauren and Morgan share the same standards, instincts, and warmth I want every patient to experience. And our Medical Director, Dr. Castel, has been an incredible partner in helping me build a practice rooted in safety, integrity, and exceptional clinical care.
The honest version: the hardest parts have all been growth in disguise.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Flora Aesthetics & Wellness is a boutique medspa in Downtown Ventura where my team and I offer a thoughtfully curated mix of medical aesthetic services — injectables and biostimulators for natural, collagen-driven rejuvenation, advanced laser and energy-based treatments like Alma Hybrid CO2, Sofwave, IPL, and Alma TED for hair restoration, microneedling, chemical peels, and medical-grade skincare — all designed to support how our patients feel, not just how they look.
What we’re known for is the way we practice. I’m an Aesthetic Nurse Practitioner with a background that spans surgical and family medicine, plastic surgery, and aesthetics — and that clinical foundation matters to me. But so does the experience our patients have when they walk through the door. We’re intentionally an alternative to the high-pressure medspa model: honest conversations, no upselling, results that look like the most rested version of you (not a different person).
What sets us apart is the team itself. Our patients become regulars because they trust us — and they trust us because we share the same values, the same eye, and the same commitment to natural, restrained, individualized care. Our Medical Director, Dr. Castel, provides the clinical oversight and partnership that lets us hold a high standard of safety and integrity in everything we do.
What I’m most proud of is the community we’ve built. People drive from across the Central Coast and well beyond to see us, and it’s because Flora feels different — warm, real, low-stress, and rooted in actual medicine and actual relationships. We want readers to know that aesthetic care doesn’t have to feel transactional. At Flora, we’d rather take our time, get it right, and watch you bloom.
How do you think about luck?
Luck has played a bigger role than I sometimes want to admit, and most of it has shown up as bad luck in disguise. Burning out in my previous role, watching the broader medical world shift during COVID, and feeling out of place in the standard medspa model all pushed me toward building something on my own. I’m not sure I would have taken the leap otherwise.
What’s interesting is that I stepped into ownership at a time when established medspas were really booming — riding the “lipstick effect” of people investing in themselves during a stressful era, plus the Zoom-era awareness of looking at our own faces on a screen all day. Honestly, Flora wasn’t established enough yet to capitalize on that wave the way bigger practices did. And in the years since, many of those same medspas have seen real declines. Flora has had year-over-year growth from the day we opened — and I don’t think that’s luck. I think people were ready for something different than the older “pop in, get your Botox, pop right back out” factory model. They wanted connection. They wanted to feel seen. They wanted personalized care from someone who actually remembered them — and that’s exactly what we set out to give them.
So the timing wasn’t lucky in the obvious way. The lucky part may be that we were unestablished enough to have to build Flora differently from the start — slow, personal, intentional. That foundation is what’s carrying us now.
Pricing:
- We won’t be the cheapest medspa on the block — and that’s intentional.
- We focus on quality, safety, and care that’s worth your time and trust.
- We’re also a far cry from the overpriced, ego-driven medspas that mark up everything just because they can.
- Our pricing reflects fair value for expert care, premium products, and a team that won’t recommend more than you actually need.
- Ask us about our membership for ongoing value and access to our favorite treatments.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://floraaestheticsandwellness.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/floraaestheticsventura/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/floraaestheticsandwellness/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/flora-aesthetics-and-wellness-ventura
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@floracarlienp | Address: 71 N Palm St, Upstairs Suite 200, Ventura, CA 93001 | Phone: (805) 973-0793
