Illume offers advanced medical aesthetics and holistic anti-aging that not only support the way you look on the outside but also how you feel on the inside. With a new focus on Regenerative Medicine and Functional Rehabilitation, Medical Director and owner Jennifer Bullock, FNP and her staff utilize the latest technologies in anti-aging to give their clients the best. Illume works to enhance and compliment natural radiance through functional wellness therapies that go above and beyond traditional aesthetics practices. Illume’s friendly staff is highly trained, holding advanced medical, injecting, and laser certifications. Illume provides you the latest technologies available in both non-invasive and minimally-invasive laser and medical aesthetics. In today’s interview I speak with medical director, Jennifer Bullock, FNP about her unique lifestyle approach to anti-aging and aesthetics.Hi Jennifer. Welcome back to LocalsGuide.
Thank you! We have grown so much this past year and I am excited to share what we have been up to. We moved in April to a much bigger space right across the street from SOU and have expanded our offerings.
I’m intrigued to learn hear about your “Lifestyle” approach to aesthetics. I think it makes so much sense to be connecting the dots of how we feel on the inside also showing on the outside.
Anti-aging and regenerative medicine in the aesthetics realm is more than simply addressing how we look on the outside. Although that is often the primary reason a lot of clients show up at Illume, we all know the pursuit of vitality is bigger than that. The way we feel in our bodies, the freedom in which we move, the ability to use our bodies without pain or restriction, how much energy we have for life AND what we see when we look in the mirror all contribute to how we perceive our aging. Over the last couple years I have had the opportunity to work with a lot of different clients. I started to see some really interesting themes in outcomes for some of my clients. For one, those who were active, eating healthy and managing stress levels were consistently getting better outcomes across the board. Second, I had a couple of clients that had a significant health crisis during the process and when we looked at their outcomes they just weren’t as good. Our skin is the largest organ in the body and it mirrors your lifestyle and health. When you are stressed, ill, have poor sleep, or have nutritional deficits your skin will be the first place that shows up. I can treat those external things with laser or Botox but if everything remains the same you might return to pre-treatment status within a couple months. I started to really focus on that whole system approach, expand my education in functional health, and develop programs designed to support the best outcomes. The results have been awesome.
Jen, can you please take us back and give us a little background and history to the evolution of Illume.
I started Illume nearly two years ago seeking solutions to my own aging process. I have a background in functional wellness and orthopedic medicine, and started my love affair with aesthetics about 14-15 years ago now. Illume started almost as a hobby and has quickly grown into a full-time thriving business.
Would you say the best results you are seeing in your practice are directly related to full health and wellness of the individual?
Absolutely. People can spend all the money in the world treating aging from the outside and still get suboptimal results. I believe if a person is going to spend a bunch of money on anti-aging treatments it makes sense to take care of the whole organism for optimal longevity of that investment.
Can you please give us an overview of the services you provide at Illume?
We have what I like to call a hybrid spa and wellness center. We offer the traditional things like Botox & fillers, laser hair removal, IPL photo facials, body contouring, skin tightening, skin resurfacing, acne therapies, microneedling, plasma rich protein therapies, stem cell treatments, peels, microdermabrasion, waxing, amazing facials and massage but also offer functional and nutritional detoxification, medical weight loss, treatments for sexual health including the O-shot and P-shot, health coaching, pain therapies, and most recently our lifestyle programs that offer medically supervised solutions for things like weight loss, chronic pain, hormone imbalances, fatigue etc.
The lifestyle training programs you are offering are quite transformational. Please tell us about those and why you created them.
I wanted to find a way to go deeper and to provide better service and more meaningful outcomes for my clients, but also for myself. I have done some really profound work throughout my medical career from working in end-of-life care, to trauma, to working in the operating room. I wanted to continue to feel a sense of contributing to something greater in this work as well. I felt like I was being called to do more than traditional medical aesthetics. These programs allow me the freedom to continue to grow what I have built but to also do a bit more.
When a client is enrolled in a lifestyle package what are you doing to achieve and support your clients in this process?
A person can still come in for ala carte services, but for those wanting something a little more in-depth, the packages are a great approach. We provide an individualized plan that is designed to help each person meet his or her goals. All programs include a core curriculum that focuses on education, support, and when appropriate, accountability. Depending on the desired outcomes, we can do as much or as little as a person needs. For some that means doing blood work to evaluate overall health, nutritional deficiencies, inflammation levels, hormone levels or food allergies. For others it could include working with a health coach on functional weight loss, sleep hygiene and/or stress management. We can do things like nutritional detox and gut health protocols, or can put together all-inclusive packages that include the traditional laser services or Botox and filler memberships.
I understand you are even building your own mini-gym at the Illume Center.
I am. I hold certifications in both functional movement and functional rehabilitation. My first job out of graduate school was working with a group of orthopedic surgeons. Many people experiencing pain from old injuries, arthritis, post surgical issues, or sports injuries have had somewhat limited options to treat those issues. The traditional approach includes treatments like steroid injections, referrals to physical therapy, and surgeries that may or may not alleviate the symptoms. They also may fix one thing only to create other issues down the road. Many of these solutions are temporary.Recently, I was in Texas at a functional medicine conference and got to see Garret Salpeter speak about the work he was doing in his Neufit clinic in Austin Texas. I was impressed with the results he was getting providing a new type of direct current neurostimulation therapy that effectively and permanently treats and improves all kinds of physical issues including treating both acute and chronic pain, post surgical rehab and improving athletic performance. I was riveted by the presentation and floored by the outcomes he was getting. I knew I needed to learn more. I went back to Austin and visited his clinic and bought the device that day. Within two weeks I had flown back to get certified and am currently one of about 40 providers in the whole world that are offering this groundbreaking treatment. The implications for use are vast. Although this isn’t in the realm of medical aesthetics per say, but when it comes to aging I think regenerative medicine, as a whole is what more and more people are looking for. This fits into that dynamic perfectly.
This sounds exciting and I think you are really onto something great!
I firmly believe people are looking for something better than what our traditional system has offered. The pharmaceutical industry and device manufacturers have directed a lot of healthcare. Nontraditional modalities have been written off as being less sophisticated than traditional modalities, but we now know that’s not true. We understand so much more about the body and how our body and nervous system interact with external inputs to give us outputs. It is what the field of epigenetics is built from. The inputs are things like stress, nutrition, movement, bodywork or laser therapies. The outputs are things like energy or vitality level, mood, pain, or healthy skin. I have become really passionate about helping people navigate the needed inputs and really have meaningful improvement in results with the outputs. I am invested in the big picture and the whole system approach makes sense to me.
Something you mention is that we often don’t realize what we have until we’ve lost it.
I think most people get caught up in living life. It is complicated, busy, demanding, unforgiving sometimes and often really stressful. I think all of that takes a toll on us both spiritually and physically. One day we look in the mirror and the person we see looking back looks more and more like our parents and we wonder how we got there. Then we are on damage control trying to figure out how to get back to where we came from. We all want to feel good about how we look and feel. So much in this industry is often seeking the quick fix, which has a place but ultimately isn’t my style. If we don’t wait too long and we are willing to put in a little up front effort, we can significantly alter the process. None of us are getting out of here alive or without a wrinkle, but I think we can certainly influence the process and ease into it with grace, on our own timeline, and with a focus on maintaining optimal wellness.
Jennifer, what are some of the highlights you get to experience in working with your clientele?
For me there is a real sense of joy and satisfaction to seeing real change. Since starting with a more holistic approach to anti-aging, I have been able to see much more impressive outcomes for my clients. One example is a husband and wife that enrolled in one of our lifestyle programs. In 3 months they have lost a combined total of 45 lbs of fat and built lots of muscle. We have effectively treated chronic post surgical shoulder pain in one, and chronic post hip replacement pain in the other. We have improved memory, normalized blood work like pre-diabetic glucose levels and bad cholesterol. We have eliminated the need for 4 prescription drugs, and improved many other facets of their life and they both look amazing! They put in the work; I provide the pathway to get there. Most people that are struggling with things like weight loss or fatigue aren’t there because they are failures at life. They are often working really hard trying to find the right way to get where they want to go. There is so much conflicting information out there. We help clear out all the nonsense and really focus in on what each individual needs.
As Illume continues to evolve what direction do you imagine it continuing to go?
There will continue to be a focus on the traditional medical aesthetics like Laser Hair Removal and Botox. Those services are phenomenal and the outcomes are consistently good. As we move forward, I want to build on and expand our offerings in the regenerative medicine realm. We are in an exciting time in the exploration of non-surgical and minimally invasive therapies for aging. I think people are starting to understand the value in approaching health and aging from a holistic perspective. We can offer as little or as much as a client is looking for. Ultimately there is a relationship we are building and I want our relationship to be long and mutually fulfilling.
Jennifer, can you please share some recent success stories with us?
I could tell all kinds of great stories, but sometimes I think sharing what other people have to say is even better.Here’s what a couple people said about us lately.“I started body contouring with Jen at the end of June 2018. It is mid -August and my legs are completely transformed. Jen is warm, supportive, and inspiring. In the last month and half I have had a life transformation because of Jen! She inspired my workout plan and new diet. All of the changes worked together to make me feel more confident than I have ever felt. I highly recommend Illume Aesthetics! Jen is a professional who takes care of your body AND soul.” Jennifer, Ashland Oregon“I have had non-diabetic neuropathy in both feet for 20 years. It is like having leather for skin that often feels hot or cold with a discomforting prickly sensation. I’ve discussed these symptoms with three physicians over the years who each told me there is nothing medically that can reverse or significantly relieve peripheral neuropathy. In July Jen, the Nurse Practitioner, offered me treatment using the Neufit which is a recently developed technology that uses electrical impulses to encourage nerve healing and muscle fitness. With my first, one-hour Neufit treatment session, I felt sensation and normal feeling in areas of my feet that I hadn’t felt in two decades! I was shocked (no pun intended) and noticeably emotional at what seemed a bit miraculous to me. I am excited to continue treatment and have a new sense of hope where there was only resignation.” Clint, Springfield Oregon“The girls at Illume are lovely tributes to the compassion and care they put into this beautiful spa and their clients. It is exactly what a person looks for when seeking these types of treatments. They are professional, experienced and kind. All are skilled and informative and answer all questions graciously and have knowledge in realizing the delicate and very personal nature of choices people make regarding treatment options. The atmosphere if the clinic is warm and comfortable. Btw all genders are welcome and appreciated here.” Maggie, Ashland Oregon
I’d love for you to tell us about your intake process.
I like to get to know a little bit about each of my clients before we decide if we are going to work together. Everyone comes in with a unique set off experiences, desired outcomes, and of course a budget. In a consultation we talk about all of those things and determine if, and what, I can offer and if we are going to be a good fit. When I first started, I thought I wanted to work with anyone and everyone, but that really has shifted this past year. If I don’t think I can help, or I get the sense the expectations are unrealistic, I am going to refer to someone outside of the practice.
In closure, are there in last thoughts or comments you would like to share with our readers?
Yes! We have been moving towards a more education-based introduction to the services we provide. We have hosted multiple dinner events and socials where we talk about a specific service or topic and then we provide an opportunity to come in for a consultation. In the coming months we are going to do a lot more of that. We have one coming up in September 18th at 6 pm here in Ashland where I will be talking about the Neufit technology and our approach to treating and eliminating chronic pain patterns. Interested people can call 541-631-8387 or email us at info@illumeaesthetics.com to reserve a space.
