By Sarabeth Castro
Current research suggests that activities involved in maintaining beauty influence our emotional and physical well-being positively. They create optimistic internal experiences that can result in decreased stress and identifiable benefits to the body and brain. For Shaundra Waddell, NAIT Business Administration student, beauty is a way of life. She started Crave Beauty & Wellness Lab in 2019—a medical aesthetic spa focusing on cosmetic injectables and laser services.
Seeing the impacts of her clients gaining confidence inspired Waddell.
“When there are certain aspects externally about them that hold them back, for example, patients who suffer from extreme acne, aging, or getting their skin back on track, the treatment changes perspective on how someone can carry themselves, which translates into their self-esteem and how they treat others, relationships, and confidence in their skin,” said Waddell.
Crave’s vision is to create a space where people feel comfortable addressing concerns that are not something people want to speak about publicly. The company invests in relationship building, creating a safe environment where customers’ problems are treated professionally and on a personal level. Facial treatments like Botox, dermal fillers, and laser services are the most popular services. They also offer skin boosters, IPL or Intense pulsed light treatment, micro-needling, and various face and body services to choose from.
According to Waddell, everyone is beautiful in a unique way. “There is no mainstream way to see beauty. A lot of beauty comes internally—the way you present and carry yourself is the external beauty; it’s more than what meets the eye.”
Waddell explained that “it’s easy to group [Crave] into a superficial industry, where the people going to the clinic only care about their looks, but I believe that it is just the surface level, and you have to dig deeper into it. It is a beauty-related industry, but what defines beauty is how they carry themselves once they leave, and that’s not necessarily superficial; if they feel good from within, then it spreads through every area of their life.”
She also advised young entrepreneurs that if they are passionate about starting a business, they should go hard and work for it. “Do not let the bad days overpower the good days,” Waddell added.
