Dr Raquel Amado – behind success is skill
Dr Raquel Amado is a good example of how expertly-trained skill and professionalism can guide a business through tough times and help it rise to the top. Her doctor-led skin and medical aesthetics practice was named Best Skin & Hair Clinic in Kent in the 2024 Global Excellence Awards as well as recently taking home gold at the 2024 Kent Health and Beauty awards in both Skin Clinic of the year and Medical Cosmetic Practitioner of the Year. She shared with us how working from Capital Space has enabled her business to grow.
Training for brilliance
Dr Amado is no stranger to a hard graft. She began her career as a dentist, developing an extensive knowledge of the anatomy of the face and refined the dextrous skills required to undertake complex procedures. However, she realised she’d truly found her calling in aesthetic medicine and decided to undertake even more training.
She says: “I enrolled into a master’s degree in aesthetic medicine and then opened the clinic when I joined Churchill Square in February 2020. So, I retired completely from dentistry in December 2019 and then opened the clinic. I was already doing treatments in my own dental practice, as well as laser clinics, but then I decided that I wanted to do my own clinic, so I had full control over it. And then, Covid hit.”
Undetectable excellence
Despite this early setback shortly after starting the business, Dr Amado emerged from the pandemic triumphant as customers recognised the importance of only opting for the best when it comes to important aesthetic decisions: “We really focus on the patient journey and regenerative treatments as well. I think that’s what set us apart: the qualifications that me and my team have, make this the safest place to have natural-look aesthetic treatments.”
Ironically, the measure of Dr Raquel’s success is often in how unrecognisable her work is. She explains: “Unfortunately, the industry is associated with overdone and overfilled faces. A lot of people don’t understand anatomy, the ageing process, or conditions like acne and rosacea. That’s why customers end up with bad aesthetic treatments, because good aesthetic treatments really should go undetected. And unfortunately, it’s only the bad ones that you can pinpoint. So that’s our ethos in the clinic.”
Growing at Capital Space
Dr Raquel knows how important it is to put your best face forward. So when searching for the perfect space to set up the clinic, Dr Amado looked for somewhere that would reflect the high standards and discretion that underpin the ethos of her business: “I wanted something that looked professional, with easy access, where my patients could park easily. And that looked like that they were coming to a serious business that will look after them. And that’s why I chose Capital Space.”
Even in a period that has seen businesses faltering, Dr Raquel’s quiet brilliance has seen her outgrow two Churchill Square offices so far: “My profile has really grown in the industry, so I’m doing a lot of lecturing and training myself now, which means I’m already looking for a bigger space. I started in building ten, in the second smallest room possible. I’ve already moved once, and it’s great that I am able to use the conference rooms to teach the theory part of the course. But the practical part has to be done in the room, which means the rest of the team can’t use it. So, I’d love to get an even bigger premises so we can have the whole team working together at the same time.”
Fortunately, even when Dr Raquel is the only one in the office, she knows she is never alone with the Capital Space team behind her. “I really love the team. They have this great attitude where nothing is too much trouble. And it just makes my life easy knowing that I have someone supporting me. Although they are not directly in my business, anything that I need, they do. I can’t be happier.”
Dr Raquel will continue to rise
With thoughts already of expanding her business further, Dr Raquel’s plans for success show no signs of stopping. In her handful of years in business, she has already been nominated for or won a plethora of awards, including the What Clinic Patient Service Award 2023 and Safety in Beauty’s Best Choice Badge 2024, so it would be remiss not to ask Dr Amado for some business advice.
Here’s what she says: “Make sure you really believe in the person you have as your first point of contact. They are the face of your business. I have learned this the hard way. Having a great person answering the phones and booking your inquiries in, it’s probably one of the most important things and it’s something that I will highly recommend people to invest in.”
