Rejuvenating Simply Aesthetic

The winds of change finally shifted towards Simply Aesthetic last week. With the departure of Joey and Candy within days of each other, the energy has changed considerably. Julie has finally settled the spa sufficiently to start focusing her attention on the clinic. And I've been very blessed in being able to persuade an old friend to come in to help organise the place medically.

I first met Celia in 2001 when I went to Cambridge to sub-specialise in Day Surgery. A fellow Singaporean, she was the Sister in charge of the transplant theatre. She also happened to live just around the corner from me! Although we tried to keep in touch after my return to Singapore, the inevitable happened and we lost contact with each other.

Out of the blue, I received a Facebook friend request from her. So I accepted and we sent a few messages to each other. Her comment was that I looked so different she'd never recognise me!

At the end of last year, she announced that she was taking early retirement, and heading home to Singapore. We had planned on meeting up, but never got round to contacting each other till a couple of weeks ago. I realised I needed someone strong and organised to come in to set the procedures right. Without a sensible leader in the clinic, things were spiralling out of control. Previously, we had either Mery or Dyna co-ordinating everything. Since they left, it seemed they took common sense with them too! So we had to come up with procedures & operational policies for everything. Decency & integrity seemed to have disappeared too, and I'd been robbed blind by some of the staff that had left!

So Celia started earlier this week. She's written out the policies and is now organising the chaos the old staff left behind. Julie has removed anything that is remotely scary for anxious patients in our treatment rooms. Jam, our spa receptionist has kindly donated sarongs, to match the bed skirtings, which have finally arrived. The rooms have now a much softer feel, quite different from the minimalistic clinical feel it had before. Every corner is being cleaned, and all unnecessary clutter tidied away.

Staff-wise, MJ is learning to cope with being the only trained Clinic Assistant in place. Marigold, another nurse from the Philippines is finding her feet. Aubrey's pass has just been approved (finally!) and she arrives next week. We have also just interviewed Jam's friend, who is keen on coming in as our Intern.

With the new furnishings in the treatment rooms, the walls suddenly look very bare. So I'm in the process of ordering some prints for the walls. I've chosen a pretty floral theme with frangipannis. These should be up by the middle of next week.

In addition to our new takeaway menus (designed a few weeks ago), we will soon have some posters outside our front door, so it's not so easy to walk past without realising we exist.

All in all, it feels really good to finally move towards the next phase with a new team, and two fantastic women helping me. After years of struggling on my own, it's such a relief to finally have assistance, and I'm truly blessed as both Julie and Celia are power houses on their own right.