Owner of Bosque Aesthetics Eric Evans demonstrates how the EmSculpt Neo machine works on Ashlee Costales, owner of Prickly + Pear Skin, which is housed in the medical spa’s facility. Amy Byres photo.
(This is another article in a series by staff writer Amy Byres, who will be checking in on local businesses to see how they are faring during the pandemic.)
A first-time business owner who opened a medical spa during the pandemic is doing well in Rio Rancho.
In July, nurse practitioner Eric Evans opened Bosque Health and Wellness, and rebranded the business to Bosque Aesthetics in February. The medical spa, which offers beauty and medical treatments, has seen a steady increase in clients from month to month, he said.
“We are doing good, but we are not doing great. We are surviving in COVID; we are keeping the books open; we are doing good but we could always do better,” Evans said.
The nurse of 13 years works in an emergency room while running the business.
“It is hard work (owning a business). It is a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week job,” he said. “You are always doing something for the business, if it is marketing, if it is paperwork, if it is books; making sure your taxes are paid, making sure all your licenses are done. It is hard. I thought I would open up a business, make some money and that it would be fun, but it is an investment in time and effort.”
Evans is evolving as a business owner and learned to slow down and adjust his expectations. Before the pandemic and opening, he pictured each room with a patient he could zip in and see, then move to the next. With the public-health orders, Evans can have only two patients at a time in the facility.
Being able to have this one-on-one time with patients has been a blessing in disguise, he said.
“Patients seem to like that a lot better,” Evans said. “We are getting a really good response out of it, and I think people like that rather than large corporations that treat you as a number; we treat you as a guest.”
In addition, he partnered with Ashlee Costales, owner of Prickly + Pear Skin, which provides face and body skin-care treatments.
“For the laser facials I can give you, Prickly Pear has the other facials that can pamper you afterward, make your skin look that much better,” he said, adding Costales brings a feminine touch.
“Being a male in this service industry is hard because you’re very rare. There are not very many males in this service industry, and she helps to offset that,” he said. “When I see it as a treatment, she sees it as a service; that is one thing she has been trying to teach me.”
Costales said on the medical side, spas similar to Bosque Aesthetics are not expected to go the extra mile and provide more of a service. Evans has paired products and facial services from Prickly + Pear with many of his treatments.
“It is not cheap to take care of yourself with a lot of these treatments, so there are little things that we can add,” Costales said.
Evans does not accept insurance for any of his services.
“We are bringing down services in other medical spas to here locally in Rio Rancho,” he said.
He is treating people from across the state and has had customers from Colorado.
As COVID restrictions are lifted and herd immunity builds, Evans hopes business will increase to where he can hire a full staff. Costales said she and Evans are like-minded this way because they are looking to the future and how to expand.
“Our goal is to help build our staff as well as our presence here in New Mexico,” Evans said.
For more information, visit Bosque Aesthetics at 1400 Jackie Road, Suite 105, or call 349-0839.
