January 20, 2017

Meet Lyn Ross of Institut’ DERMed Spa in Atlanta

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lyn Ross.

Lyn, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was born and raised in the South, a wonderfully, magical place where eccentricity is celebrated. The South is rich with history and I embraced my “Southern Belle” feminine heritage with a fascination for all things big, bold and beautiful. As a young girl, I loved dressing up in perfectly coordinated outfits and watching my mother apply her makeup. I remember going to Rich’s Department Store where she would have her foundation custom blended from colorful green, yellow, blue and pink powder dispensing tubes. By the time I turned eleven and experienced my fist acne breakout Cover Girl Medicated Makeup had launched in Drugstores and my mother purchased it for me to cover my skin imperfections. The infusion of Noxema in makeup promised to give me clear skin, however, my acne became more problematic as I got older.

Millions like me suffer from acne and other problematic skin conditions which can affect self-esteem. My passion in the field of esthetics started as a young teen and has been a continuous journey of research and education to learn about skin disorders. Helping people do more than cover up visible and challenging skin imperfections led me to a career in the professional beauty industry.

A woman of “Modern Times” I moved from the South to Northern California to find myself and would find myself culture shocked. In the early 70”s there was nothing available there for girls and women who enjoyed enhancing their “Girly” nature and wanted to have clear beautiful skin. Being a Southern Belle with a blind ambition I became the proud owner of the only cosmetic shop in Santa Cruz, California.

It’s been said that one’s vocation is their calling or mission in life. What I learned about the art of business, beauty and being in service of others in that little 500 sq. ft. Second-floor cosmetic shop became the cornerstone for the future Institut’ DERMed Clinical Skin Care Company. I gained an in-depth knowledge of product ingredients and how they interacted with all different skin types as well as how to artistically apply natural cosmetics to bring out that inner glow. I loved the business of beauty and after owning my shop for five years I realized I longed to take my concepts home to try them out in Atlanta.

Arriving home to Georgia I quickly found a position in a prestigious beauty salon and continued to nurture others and dispense advice on makeup and skin care. My client list grew to include the who’s who of Atlanta society and local celebrities. My clients were spreading the word about my facial and makeup skills and to my surprise, I was getting referrals from the top cosmetic surgeons and dermatologists’ in the area. I was covering up bruises after surgical procedures and performing deep pore cleansing extractions for severe acne patients.
Working with Doctors opened up another opportunity for growth and learning. With a foundation of physician relationships, I decided to create a center that would provide aesthetic services to the medical community.

I opened The Institut’ DERMed Spa in 1989, the first med spa in the Southeastern United States. My idea to provide patient support for physicians and specialized services to individuals seeking serious skin rejuvenation was a complete success. The Institut’ DERMed Spa continues to be the premier MedSpa and Laser Center in Atlanta, Georgia and is the inspiration for the cosmeceutical brand of products as well as the Institut’ DERMed College of Advanced Aesthetics.

Believing that self-image and reflective image are deeply connected and that the way we look and feel impacts our self-confidence and ability to fulfill our dreams in the world is the driving force behind every product formulation I create for Institut’ DERMed Clinical Skin Care brand. When what you see when you look in the mirror can influence your outlook on life, having clear, healthy, youthful looking skin can make a powerful difference regardless of your age or profession. Creating products and treatments that help to correct troublesome skin conditions like; acne, hyperpigmentation, fine lines and wrinkles for all skin types using today’s most innovative high-performance ingredients is incredibly rewarding work.

I founded the Institut’ DERMed college of Advanced Aesthetics in 1995, after years of providing patient support for the medical community. I decided to develop a Medical Aesthetics Certification to teach estheticians, nurses and physicians the specialized skin care and makeup techniques I developed working side by side my doctors to help patients recover after surgery. With many of the professionals, I train wanting to know how to offer my exceptional methods of skin health care in their area I launched a wholesale distribution company for the product lines and a consulting program for the clinical skin care business systems established at the Institut’ DERMed Spa. Today I spend most of my time devoted to educating professional skin care specialists and spa business owners on my unique success systems

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Being underfinanced in the beginning, employee recruitment, training and retention, expansion, 9/11, the economic crash of 2008 right after an expansion. Costs of doing business increasing just as we are coming out of the recession and not enough funds for advertising in the traditional sense. Fortunately, we learned very quickly how to use the Internet and social media as it was coming online to the best effect, so we have been well positioned for the digital revolution that followed.

Please tell us about Institut’ DERMed Spa.
We are known as a premier skin and body care medspa. I am the proudest of our cosmeceutical results oriented Institut’ DERMed Clinical Skin Care product line. it took years to develop and now we are distributing the brand globally.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Being outside running. I loved to run. I never walked as running could get me there faster. I would run beside my little sister on her bicycle and beat her every time. I also loved catching lightening bugs at dusk in my back yard. I put them in a jar and watched them for hours then let them go fly away. the smell of honeysuckle still takes me back to childhood. Growing up in Atlanta the sound of the June bugs at night, the rain, thunder and incredible lightning were (and still are) thrilling to me.

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