Wendy’s interest in nursing began in her teens with volunteer work at Northridge Hospital in Southern California. After high school, she attended the LA County-USC Medical Center nursing school and graduated with honors. She began her career in the operating room, followed by a 4-year stint in the emergency room. She then moved on to outpatient surgery and recovery, eventually accepting a position as operating room/recovery room supervisor at Sereno Surgery Center in Los Gatos, California.
Then an opportunity arose that allowed her to combine her nursing skills with her interest in aesthetics. She took a course in micropigmentation, a procedure then used by plastic surgeons to color the nipple and areola of women who had undergone breast reconstruction. Wendy became one of the first nurses in the United States to be trained and certified in this technique. At that time, micropigmentation was also used to provide lip and eye makeup for disabled women unable to apply their own cosmetics and for people who suffered hair loss or scarring. Plastic surgeons, dermatologists, and ophthalmologists heard of Wendy’s skills and referred such patients to her. Wendy also began to work with healthy women who simply wanted to look elegant and groomed at all times.
In 1996, Wendy founded the “Derma-Medical Institute” to train doctors and nurses in micropigmentation techniques. She both designed and taught the courses, which were certified by the American Academy of Dermatology and were awarded continuing medical education (CME) status.
At this time, another new procedure was emerging — the injection of collagen to plump up skin depressions, lips, and erase wrinkles. Wendy entered a training program to hone her skills in this technique. After completing the course and training extensively under a prominent, board certified dermatologist, Wendy was certified by the Collagen Corporation to perform cosmetic injections. She also took a course at UC San Francisco School of Dentistry to learn local anesthetic techniques to enhance patient comfort during facial cosmetic procedures.
Whenever a promising product appeared, Wendy was among the first to receive training. She was an “early adopter” of Botox. She trained to use laser equipment to perform gentle dermal resurfacing. She mastered Thermage, an application of radio-frequency (RF) waves to tighten skin and stimulate collagen renewal. She was also one of the first to offer Gentle Waves, in which a bank of LEDs performs fast, painless photo-rejuvenation of collagen.
Wendy draws on her years of experience to develop personal, custom beauty services, weeding out the “trendy” and focusing on safe, sensible procedures that are beneficial, reasonable, and practical. She constantly investigates new procedures and techniques to offer her patients increasingly varied choices. Ultimately, it’s all about making you feel good about yourself.