19-year-old celebrates business? first anniversay

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At a time when thousands of college freshman were beginning their first semesters in the fall of 2000, Ozark native Brandi Derges opened her own business Advanced Aesthetics Skin Care Clinic. And last month the 19-year-old celebrated one year in business. The clinic is located at 1736 E. Sunshine, Ste. 213 in the Plaza Towers where Derges offers massage therapy and skin care.|ret||ret||tab|

Her road to entrepreneurship developed from a combination of courses, be-ginning with an evening massage therapy/esthetics class at the Missouri College of Cosmetology. The nine-month course lasted from 4:30 to 11 p.m., Monday through Friday, which made for long days for the high school senior.|ret||ret||tab|

"I got up at 6 a.m. for a seminary church class, then I went straight to school, came home, had a snack, did some homework and went to (cosmetology) school," Derges said in retrospect. "I got back (home) at 11:30 at night, went to bed and got back up at 6," to do it all over again. "I had no life whatsoever."|ret||ret||tab|

But the hard work has certainly paid off. The esthetician license from the Missouri College of Cosmetology is one of three she has earned. The others are in permanent cosmetics and microdermabrasion.|ret||ret||tab|

College of Cosmetology|ret||ret||tab|

The Missouri College of Cosmetology, which is privately owned by Jeff Stanley, has three area locations: 3636 S. Camp-bell, 1035 W. Kearney and 1820 Spring-field Road in Bolivar. It offers courses in cosmetology, hair and nails, and esthetics, or skin care.|ret||ret||tab|

Stanley's assistant, Laurie Evatt, senior manager and instructor, said that students get hands-on experience with customers under instructor supervision. "We check their haircuts and do their consultations for them," she said.|ret||ret||tab|

The certifications are based on an hourly scale: 1,500 hours for cosmetology and 750 hours for esthetics. Evatt said enrollment varies, but right now about 40 students attend day sessions and 10 students attend at night. Upon graduation, students "can go to a shop and work on their temporary working permit until they take their state board," Evatt said. The state board tests are issued in Kansas City and St. Louis. |ret||ret||tab|

"When I graduated high school, I graduated also in the massage therapy class," Derges said. The degree gave her an esthetician title, which includes massage therapy, waxing, make-up and facials.|ret||ret||tab|

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Microdermabrasion|ret||ret||tab|

That was in January 2000. Last April, Derges continued her education with a four-day course in microdermabrasion, which is the latest nonsurgical skin exfoliation procedure. She flew to Scottsdale, Ariz., to meet with national instructor Laura Root, whom Derges found on the Internet. "That was really neat," she said. "In fact, in that cramming course, I almost learned as much as I did in school. It was amazing."|ret||ret||tab|

The very next weekend, Derges had another national instructor, Janice Eyer-ly, fly in to Springfield to teach her permanent make-up. In these week-long, day-and-night training sessions, she was able to work on about 20 different models. "I picked up on the permanent make-up pretty fast," Derges said. "(Eyerly) was surprised. She said I was probably one of the best students she's ever had and she's been teaching for, I think, 20 years."|ret||ret||tab|

Derges has been painting her whole life, which has given her a good background for make-up. "I've been an artist my whole life," she said. "I have the creative mind from my mother." Her mother is Tricia Derges, owner of Mostly Mem-ories, a candle and gift manufacturer in Ozark.|ret||ret||tab|

Derges first opened Advanced Aesthet-ics Skin Care Clinic in the Salon Suites at Battlefield and Kansas in September 2000. She operated there for about nine months before moving to the Plaza Towers last June. "I moved over here because I needed a bigger place." |ret||ret||tab|

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Aqua Massage|ret||ret||tab|

Derges said the move has expanded her clientele to include several other tenants in the tower, who often visit her on their breaks. "It's been pretty busy over here, but I really like it. I get a lot of referrals from the building," especially, she said, since getting the Aqua Mas-sage.|ret||ret||tab|

The Aqua Massage machines, which give a full-body massage with computer-controlled jets of water, were put on the market in 1991 by AMI Inc., a Connec-ticut-based company. They first became popular on the coasts and are now in 59 countries, she said.|ret||ret||tab|

"Everybody loves it," Derges said. "They come in and within 15 or 20 minutes they've had what feels like a full-body massage without even having to take their clothes off or anything." It looks like a tanning bed and has an in-verted v-shaped spray bar with 36 water jets contained under an acrylic canopy. The client can adjust water pressure, temperature and pulsating frequency of the water. "You get in there and you feel like someone is working on you, it's so neat," she said.|ret||ret||tab|

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Packages|ret||ret||tab|

Derges charges $20 for a 15-minute aqua massage and $10 for seven minutes. She is also working on some packages similar to tanning bed packages. "This is like the tanning bed of the future," she joked, or at least the massage of the fu-ture.|ret||ret||tab|

Even with her three licenses in esthetics, permanent cosmetics and microdermabrasion, Derges is looking to add ano-ther: advanced permanent make-up technician. She said that in about six months Eyerly will again come to Springfield for more one-on-one training.[[In-content Ad]]