Exploring Life & Business with Lauren Hodge of Selah Aesthetics & Wellness

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Hodge.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My journey into aesthetics and entrepreneurship has been anything but traditional. I’m a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner, and my career actually began in chronic pain management and orthopedics. For years, I specialized in ultrasound-guided joint injections, which taught me precision, anatomy, and the importance of truly listening to patients. I had no idea at the time that God was quietly shaping the skill set I would later use to change lives through aesthetic medicine.

I fell in love with aesthetics because it allowed me to blend science, artistry, and compassion in a way nothing else ever had. I began traveling all over the country to train with some of the top injectors in the world. I wanted to master not just how to inject, but how to create natural, confidence-restoring results that made people feel like themselves again.

Selah Aesthetics & Wellness was born from prayer, grit, and a desire to create a space where women could pause, renew, and genuinely fall in love with who they’re becoming. “Selah” means to pause and reflect, and I wanted to build a sanctuary that felt luxurious, faith-rooted, and profoundly empowering.

I opened Selah in Columbus, GA, with nothing but a vision, my family cheering me on, and a belief that women deserve a place where they are seen, valued, and treated with excellence. In our first year, Selah grew faster than I ever imagined, and today we offer advanced injectables, skin tightening treatments, wellness offerings, and a level of patient care that is deeply personal.

Every part of my story, my clinical background, my training, my motherhood journey, my faith, has shaped Selah into what it is today: a place where luxury meets purpose, and where every person who walks in is reminded that they deserve to fall in love with themselves again.

Alright, 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?
The road to building Selah Aesthetics & Wellness has not been smooth, but it has been sacred. Every challenge I’ve faced has shaped me into the provider, mother, and woman I am today.

When I transitioned from chronic pain management and orthopedics into aesthetics, I had to start completely over. I had the clinical foundation, but the aesthetic world is an entirely different level of artistry, nuance, and investment. I poured thousands of dollars into advanced injector trainings, often traveling alone, exhausted, and questioning if I was doing the right thing. But I knew God had placed this passion in me, so I moved forward even when it felt uncomfortable.

Opening Selah was another mountain. I bootstrapped everything. I was a full-time provider, a full-time mom, and a full-time entrepreneur all at once. I was doing marketing, payroll, business strategy, ordering, cleaning, and patient care, all while trying to build a brand that felt luxurious, intentional, and rooted in faith.

There were days I cried on my way home. Days I wondered if I had made a mistake. Days when fear was loud and finances were tight. Entrepreneurship will stretch you in ways no one prepares you for. You outgrow old identities. You have to make decisions that not everyone understands.

But the hardest challenge was feeling like I had to prove myself. As a woman in medicine, as a mother in business, as a new injector entering a competitive industry, I felt the pressure to be perfect. Over time, I learned that perfection isn’t what builds success, consistency, integrity, and grace do.

Through every setback, God made a way. He brought the right patients, the right mentors, the right opportunities, and the strength to keep going when I felt empty. Looking back, the challenges weren’t punishments, they were preparation.

Selah is what it is today because the journey wasn’t easy. The obstacles sharpened me, humbled me, and built a resilience that I now pour into every patient who walks through my doors.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Selah Aesthetics & Wellness?
Selah Aesthetics & Wellness is a luxury, faith-rooted medical spa in Columbus, GA created to help women pause, renew, and fall in love with who they’re becoming. The word Selah means “to pause and reflect,” and that’s exactly what I wanted to build a sanctuary where modern women can feel seen, valued, and restored.

At Selah, we specialize in advanced injectables, non-surgical facial balancing, skin tightening technologies, collagen-stimulating procedures, and personalized wellness treatments. My clinical background in chronic pain management and orthopedics, combined with extensive advanced injector training with top providers around the world, is what sets our results apart. I approach every face with anatomy-driven precision and an artistic, “natural-but-elevated” philosophy.

We are known for offering some of the most advanced treatments in our region, including Morpheus8 Burst, Quantum RF, Radiesse biostimulation, cheek and jawline sculpting, full-face balancing, and customized skincare programs. What truly makes Selah different is the experience, a luxury, evidence-based medicine, and deep compassion. Patients constantly tell us they feel safe, cared for, and genuinely transformed.

Selah is not a volume-driven medspa. We are intentional, educational, and ethical. I believe patients deserve transparency, excellence, and a provider who invests in continuous training. I treat every patient like I would treat my own family with honesty, gentleness, and a commitment to doing what’s truly best for their face and their confidence.

Our brand is built on empowerment and faith. Everything at Selah, from our aesthetic to our patient experience to our team culture, is designed to remind women that they are worthy, they are becoming, and they deserve to feel beautiful inside and out.

I am most proud of the trust we’ve built in such a short time. Selah grew faster than I ever imagined, and the majority of our patients come from referrals because they feel cared for, not “sold to.” I’m also proud that we’ve created a space where women can feel like the most radiant version of themselves, a place rooted in elegance, integrity, and God’s grace.

Selah isn’t just a medspa. It’s an experience. It’s luxury with purpose. It’s a pause in the middle of a busy world. My mission is to help every woman who walks through our doors fall in love with herself again, because she deserves it.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
My biggest advice for anyone just starting out whether in aesthetics, entrepreneurship, or anything new is this: start before you feel ready. If you wait for the perfect moment, the perfect finances, the perfect confidence… you’ll never begin.

I wish someone had told me that fear doesn’t mean stop; it means grow through it. Every successful person you admire once stood exactly where you are nervous, unsure, underqualified on paper, but deeply called to something bigger.

Here are the lessons I learned the hard way:

1. Invest in your education.
Not in fancy décor or branding first, invest in your skill, your craft, your safety, and your expertise. Training with world-class injectors changed everything for me and elevated the way I care for my patients.

2. Build with integrity.
Shortcuts might get you attention, but excellence gets you longevity. Do what’s right for patients, even when no one is watching. Your reputation is your most valuable currency.

3. Stop comparing your Day 1 to someone else’s Year 5.
Social media can make you feel like you’re behind, but the truth is, your journey will not look like anyone else’s. And that’s the gift.

4. Let God lead.
Every time I tried to force doors open, it never worked. When I surrendered my business to God, He brought the right people, the right patients, and the right opportunities.

5. Give yourself grace.
You will make mistakes. You will fail forward. You will outgrow versions of yourself over and over again. Keep going.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.selahaw.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/selah_clinic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Selah-Aesthetics-and-Wellness-61557621011292/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@selah_clinic

Image Credits
Michelle Dorrill, Cirrus Gold Creative Co.