Today we’d like to introduce you to Courtney Wilson.
Hi Courtney , we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been a registered nurse for over 14 years, and my background has included cardiac and plastic surgery nursing. I’ve always loved medicine and taking care of people, but when I found aesthetics, I immediately loved that it combined the clinical side of nursing with artistry, creativity, and helping people feel more confident.
I started Modern Beauty very small—really just me, a vision, and a lot of hard work. I continued to invest in advanced education and training and eventually became a Certified Aesthetic Nurse Specialist (CANS). From the beginning, I wanted Modern Beauty to feel different. I never wanted patients to feel rushed, pressured, or like they needed to change the way they looked. My approach has always been about creating natural results and helping people feel like the best version of themselves.
Over the years, the practice grew primarily through word of mouth and relationships within our community. What started with me as a solo injector has now grown into Modern Beauty Aesthetics & Wellness, with a beautiful larger location in Carlsbad and an amazing team of aesthetic and wellness providers.
Patient safety has also become a huge passion of mine. Through my experiences in aesthetics, I created The Aesthetic ER Kit®, an educational resource designed to help aesthetic providers be prepared for complications and emergencies. Being able to educate and support other injectors while continuing to treat my own patients has been one of the most rewarding parts of my career.
Today, my vision for Modern Beauty has expanded far beyond injectables. We’re bringing aesthetics, skin health, hormone optimization, medically supervised weight management, and wellness together under one roof because I truly believe that how we look, how we feel, and how we age are all connected.
Building a business while being a nurse, wife, and mom of three has definitely come with plenty of challenges, long days, and learning experiences, but I’m incredibly proud of where we are today. Modern Beauty has grown into so much more than I originally imagined, while still staying true to what mattered to me from the beginning: taking great care of people, building genuine relationships, and making every patient feel heard and cared for.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely hasn’t been a completely smooth road, but I think that’s also what has made the journey so rewarding. I started Modern Beauty very small, and in the beginning I was wearing every hat—nurse, injector, receptionist, marketer, scheduler, business owner, and everything in between.
One of the biggest learning curves has been going from being a nurse to becoming a multi-business owner. Nursing school teaches you how to take care of patients, but it definitely doesn’t teach you how to run a business! So much of my journey has been learning as I go, through trial and error, figuring out finances, marketing, hiring, leadership, systems, and how to grow a team. I’ve made mistakes along the way, changed directions when something wasn’t working, and learned to become comfortable with the fact that I’m never going to have all the answers.
Growth itself has also been a challenge. As Modern Beauty has expanded, I’ve had to learn how to delegate and trust other people with something that started as such a personal vision, while still protecting the patient experience and culture that made us successful in the first place.
There have been financial risks, long hours, difficult decisions, and plenty of growing pains. And as a wife and mom of three, there’s also the constant challenge of building businesses while still being present for my family. I don’t think there is ever a perfect balance.
But I’m incredibly grateful for the journey. Every challenge and mistake has taught me something and pushed me to grow from a nurse with an idea into the business owner and leader I am today—and I’m still learning every day.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My work really has two sides to it. I’m the owner of Modern Beauty Aesthetics & Wellness in Carlsbad, and I’m also the founder of The Aesthetic ER Kit®, which focuses on education and preparedness for aesthetic complications.
At Modern Beauty, I specialize in natural, full-face rejuvenation. I never want someone to walk out looking like a different person. I want people to notice that they look refreshed, rested, and confident without necessarily knowing what they had done. I’m a Certified Aesthetic Nurse Specialist (CANS), and I’ve always been very focused on anatomy, safety, education, and creating individualized treatment plans rather than chasing trends.
Modern Beauty has also evolved into much more than injectables. We now bring aesthetics, skin health, hormone optimization, medically supervised weight management, and overall wellness together. I really believe that how we look and how we feel are connected, and our goal is to care for the whole patient. We’ve worked hard to create a very personalized, concierge-style experience where patients feel heard, never rushed, and genuinely cared for.
I think what sets us apart most is the relationships we build with our patients. We’re not a high-volume practice where someone comes in, gets a treatment, and leaves. We get to know our patients, their families, their goals, and often go through different stages of life with them. That sense of community is something I’m incredibly proud of.
I’m also extremely proud of The Aesthetic ER Kit®. Patient safety has always been one of my biggest priorities, and creating something that helps other aesthetic providers feel more educated, prepared, and confident when complications occur has allowed me to make an impact outside of my own treatment room.
But what I’m probably most proud of is what Modern Beauty has grown into. I started as one nurse with a small business and a vision, and today we have a team of talented providers and a beautiful space where we can offer both aesthetics and wellness. Seeing other women grow within the business, watching our patients refer their friends and family to us, and realizing that we’ve created a place people truly trust is incredibly rewarding.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, with my parents and my younger brother, so I was definitely the older sister of the family—and I think I still have a lot of those classic older-sister qualities today. I’ve always been driven, responsible, independent, and probably a little bit of a perfectionist.
I was also really fortunate to grow up with incredibly supportive parents. They never made the next step in life seem impossible. Their attitude was always, “If you want it, go get it. You can do this.” I think having that positive voice in my head from such a young age shaped me more than I realized. I grew up believing that if I was willing to work hard, learn, and put myself out there, there really wasn’t a reason I couldn’t accomplish something.
A huge part of my life growing up was dance. I grew up in the competitive dance world and danced at a studio throughout my childhood. I went on to dance in high school and college and eventually became a professional dancer for the NBA, all before going to nursing school. Competitive dance taught me discipline, confidence, how to perform under pressure, how to take criticism, and how to constantly push myself to improve.
I’ve also always been a true girl’s girl. Female friendships and having a strong group of women around me have always been incredibly important to me. Some of my best friends today are still my friends from grade school, high school, and college, which is something I’m really proud of. I think that says a lot about what I value—loyalty, relationships, showing up for people, and growing through different seasons of life together.
Looking back, I can see how all of those things shaped who I am today. I certainly didn’t know I would eventually become a nurse and own multiple businesses, but the foundation was there—the discipline from dance, the responsibility of being the older sister, the importance of strong relationships, and parents who taught me to believe that if I wanted something, I could go after it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://modernbeautycarlsbad.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modernbeautycarlsbad/
- Other: https://linktr.ee/modernbeautycarlsbad?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAcGRvZgJzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA85MzY2MTk3NDMzOTI0NTkAAad84DQZAw-BH5QNeC1nMUZntSHBqGt3xt9mbjFnVSKGXrl6OuV_Oqwhb-wcfQ_aem_MIo_oj2OY6GOK8arvFj44g
