Female Founders: Mila Alishaev of Manhattan Laser Spa On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
The workday never stops — As an entrepreneur, you are always working and thinking about the next step for your business. You don’t stay steady just because you are “off the clock.” You never are.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mila Alishaev.
Mila Alishaev is the owner and founder of Manhattan Laser Spa, a renowned medical spa that boasts years of experience serving New York City in Manhattan, the Upper East Side and Brooklyn and recently expanded to Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. It started with only laser services, and now Mila and her mom have grown the brand exponentially into a medical spa that offers a variety of services to clients including CoolSculpting, IV Therapy, Injectables and much more. Her team is made up of board-certified nurse practitioners and aestheticians who are trained and certified to administer medical cosmetic procedures and laser services.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
My back story is no different than many immigrants coming to this country at a young age. I came to the United States from Israel in the year 2000. I grew up with a single mom and I’m the oldest of 4 children. At a young age, we all learned that having only our mother going to work every would not suffice financially. One source of income was not enough to provide for all of us children. We all decided to start figuring out a source of income for ourselves. I went to college and graduated with my bachelor’s degree in business administration.
When I started Manhattan Laser Spa in 2005, I was only seeking job security for myself. I felt that by starting a business, I would be employed, and employed by myself, and that’s all I wanted. If I’m being honest, there was no vision for what this company could be in the future, there was only hope that I would be able to provide for myself and my family by starting a business as a first-generation entrepreneur. Overall, my idea was to establish a brand that would be successful and my passion grew from there. Today, I visualize my company to be the premier medical spa serving New York and Florida, which is a huge jump from when I first started Manhattan Laser Spa.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
One of the most interesting, and quite funny, stories that happened to me when I first started my career was when I was interviewing various candidates for an open role at Manhattan Laser Spa.
Throughout the entire interview, I could not help but feel constant déjà vu, and I couldn’t figure out why. Something just felt so familiar about this person.
As we were on the way out of the door and we were saying our goodbyes, she told me she also had a feeling like she knew me and after chatting for a while, we realized we were 1st grade classmates! It truly showed me how small the world is.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
A funny and silly mistake I made when I first started my business was when I was on a phone consolation with a potential client.
I began the call by asking what area they want to get rid of, rather than what area the client would like to treat. It’s still funny to me to this day because we all slip up sometimes! Though, the lesson I learned isto always think before you speak and be careful with your word choice. If we can avoid mistakes like these, of course, try!
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Yes, I’m extremely grateful for my mother. Without her, I wouldn’t be where I am today. She brought us to the United States from Israel over 20 years ago and gave all of us, as her children, the opportunity to change our lives for the better. She wanted us to pursue our dreams in America.
When it came to Manhattan Laser Spa, she always helped me and supported me along the way, starting my business as a first-generation entrepreneur. We both became interested in the beauty industry in 2005, and from there we were able to launch this medical spa together. She helped me conduct research for the brand and bring the company to where it is today.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?
I believe that the stigma around women comes from birthing and nurturing children from ages ago is what holds women back. Many women still feel the need to compromise and figure out how to split their focus between starting and growing a business and also raising children. That is not an easy task. Both growing a business and being a mom require 24/7 engagement. Trying to balance it all is difficult; I’ve done it myself, but that doesn’t mean it’s not doable.
I think there’s a small difference in risk-taking abilities between the genders. Having some sort of safety net would definitely help, but at the end of the day, I believe it is a matter of individual choice.
Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?
A few things that we could do as a society and through the government are encourage more women to be entrepreneurs, quality daycare and affordable medicine throughout pregnancy and early childhood. These are simple things that could be fixed to empower more women to feel like they are capable of more and start their own businesses.
Personally, I feel lucky enough to say I haven’t faced many difficulties growing my business as a female entrepreneur in America. When it came to my vendors, landlords, suppliers or financiers, I never felt discriminated against because of my gender. America, particularly New York, is a very pragmatic place that’s built on the idea of “you can do anything that you set your mind to.” One’s worth is usually defined by their ability to generate a bottom line for their partner. Maybe I was just fortunate enough to not experience that, but for any women that do, don’t let them knock you down. Know your worth.
This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
One main reason why more women should become founders is because EVERYONE CAN. Regardless of race, gender, status or anything, you can do it if you set your mind to it. We live in a world where more and more women are climbing up the ranks and gender norms are diminishing. Let’s continue to keep it that way.
My other reasons would be women have great attention to detail and know certain angles men sometimes have never even ventured into. Women have a presence in the world of business, and it’s only a matter of continuing to move forward and take on leadership positions.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
- You need to have money to start a company. This is not true, I didn’t have anything when I started. You figure out loans, finances and funding where possible and make it happen.
- You must make a big investment in your company to start it. You can start small and grow as demand grows, and as your client base expands, but not right from the jump.
- You need to hire a lot of people. You can hire and grow as your company grows. Also, don’t underestimate yourself and everything you are capable of when starting your business out small.
Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?
If you put your mind to it and want it bad enough, you can be a founder. The number one trait that I see in a potential founder is as follows:
1. A person that is constantly growing emotionally and professionally, and adapting to their environment. This will be a trait of a person who could be a founder one day.
Though, the type of person who should not be a founder, and should be an employee has the following characteristics:
1. A person who does not have a well-thought-out plan of action is not likely to be a founder. You must look ahead when planning on starting your own company.
2. A person who is not comfortable with change or making moves within their career is unlikely to be a founder because they are typically happy with a standard salary that ensures a certain lifestyle that is sufficient for them.
3. A person that achieved a certain level once, but fell off and spent the rest of their energy chasing the return instead of applying their energy and skills pursuing other opportunities; also, unlikely to become a founder.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
1. The workday never stops — As an entrepreneur, you are always working and thinking about the next step for your business. You don’t stay steady just because you are “off the clock.” You never are.
2. Clients always know better — As a founder, you might think to yourself, “I’ve worked my butt off to get to this point; I know what I’m talking about!” You cannot let your ego get to you. You have to listen to your clients and hear what’s best for them.
3. Most energy will be spent running mundane “boring tasks”, reading contracts and managing expenses — Yes, this doesn’t sound fun, but it’s a big part of the job and it’s worth it.
4. Things that can be bought are not worth obsessing over — Money comes and goes. If something breaks, replace it. It’s not the end of the world.
5. Best reward is your own ability to manage your time — This is truly remarkable! As I said, you’re working 24/7 as a founder, so once you learn to manage your own time, you’ll be impressed with yourself.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
I’d like to think I’ve used my success to make the world a better place. I provide a workplace to many people and help them succeed. I love supporting others on their journeys and hearing what they have planned next as they’re working at my company that I started trying to make a living for myself. I want to continue to do that.
With my services at Manhattan Laser Spa, we’ve left many people thrilled with their results, whether it was necessary treatments or treatments to help them get rid of some of their biggest insecurities. When people are happy with their results and how they look, I’m happy.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
It’s weird, I feel like I am not a person of any meaningful influence. I am running a small business and all I can do is make sure that my corner of the world is not worse, or may be slightly better than its neighboring parts. If that’s my impact on this world, then I am content.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
Oprah! I would love to sit down with her and hear about her life directly from her. She is a truly remarkable person and entrepreneur. I look up to her in all of my ventures, so I would be thrilled to have a chance to speak with her.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Female Founders: Mila Alishaev of Manhattan Laser Spa On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.