Ryan Rao reveals how VIO Med Spa scaled to 65 locations by obsessing over franchisee selection, site psychology, and creating an experience customers refuse to give up — even in a downturn.
Ryan shares how the brand scaled from a single Ohio location to 65 franchises across 20 states by prioritizing franchisee selection, site psychology, and a curated in-location experience. He breaks down what it takes to maintain brand consistency at scale and how a membership model creates loyalty that holds even in tough economic conditions.
Welcome to Elevating Brick and Mortar. A podcast about how operations and facilities drive brand performance.
On today's episode, we talk with Ryan Rao, Chief Development Officer at VIO Med Spa. With an experienced career, Ryan has helped grow VIO from its founding in 2017 into one of the country's top-ranked med spa franchise concepts, now operating in 20 states and counting.
Guest Bio:
Ryan Rao is a passionate franchise professional who co-founded Apex Franchise Development Group, a full-service, highly professional business development solution for brands that want to franchise their business or take their current franchise business to the next level.
With his entrepreneurial spirit and passion for franchising, Ryan has consulted for multiple franchise-based businesses that grew into national and international brands with a focus on unique and differentiated business models.
Ryan has vast experience in franchise sales, real estate, start-up financing, and the intricacies of growing and developing a brand. He is always looking for new challenges and ways to innovate and improve the franchise industry.
TIMESTAMPS:
01:06 - About VIO Med Spa: Brand, services & history
04:56 - Ryan's path into franchising
09:03 - Differentiating in a competitive wellness market
12:40 - Site selection & brand standards across locations
20:52 - VIO’s brand & digital refresh
26:59 - Pre- vs. post-COVID consumer mindset & AI strategy
37:12 - Advice for franchise leaders & what's next for VIO
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[00:00:00] Producer: Welcome to Elevating Brick and Mortar, a podcast about how operations and facilities drive brand performance. On today's episode, we'll hear from Ryan Rao, Chief Development Officer at VIO Med Spa. He'll share how intentional site selection, franchisee partnerships, and a curated in-location experience have helped VIO become the number one Med Spa franchise in the country three years running.
[00:00:28] Producer: Now here's your host, Sid Shetty.
[00:00:31] Sid Shetty: Hello, everyone. Welcome to season five of Elevating Brick and Mortar. Thank you for joining us. I'm here today with Ryan Rao, Chief Development Officer at VIO Med Spa. Ryan, welcome to the show.
[00:00:43] Ryan Rao: Thanks, Sid. Appreciate you having me.
[00:00:45] Sid Shetty: So Ryan, let's get, let's just jump in, right?
[00:00:47] Sid Shetty: For listeners who might not be familiar with, with your brand, tell us more about, you know, what, what is your offering and what does it stand for, some of the history behind it.
[00:00:57] Ryan Rao: Yeah. So VIO stands for value in ourselves. We're a medical aesthetics business and a franchise concept, so we're primarily franchise-driven.
[00:01:07] Ryan Rao: We were founded back in twenty seventeen by Joe and Nick Staniszak. My background has been franchising pretty much since I've been out of college. I was doing consulting, and I wanted to pivot into an active leadership position within a concept and category that I had a lot of conviction in. I thought there was a big opportunity in medical aesthetics, and I was introduced to Joe and Nick Staniszak back in twenty seventeen, where they founded the business.
[00:01:33] Ryan Rao: First location was in Strongsville, Ohio. Really enjoyed the way they approached it. First with a spa-like environment, class A real estate, lot of focus on guest experience, and we decided to partner up in twenty seventeen with the plans to franchise. So since that point, we've developed over sixty-five locations.
[00:01:55] Ryan Rao: We're now in twenty states, primarily focused on injectables. That's our leading service category, so things like Botox and fillers. We also offer skin rejuvenation, facials, and wellness, which is now a, a growing, fast-growing lane of our business, so think peptides and weight loss and things like testosterone replacement therapy.
[00:02:17] Ryan Rao: And overall, we're in about fifteen hundred to two thousand square foot locations and have been recently awarded for the third straight year as the number one Med Spa franchise concept in the country by entrepreneur.com.
[00:02:31] Sid Shetty: Congratulations.
[00:02:32] Ryan Rao: Appreciate that.
[00:02:34] Sid Shetty: So Ryan, you've spent your career in franchising, in real estate, and essentially brand development, right?
[00:02:41] Sid Shetty: How has that experience kind of shaped how you think about, you know, building and scaling brands in general?
[00:02:48] Ryan Rao: I, I'd say first we have to think about the category. I, I think the category matters quite a bit. Anytime I'm looking at a new business, I wanna understand who are the market leaders? Are there market tailwinds?
[00:03:02] Ryan Rao: Is the industry growing? What are the threats to the category that we're entering into? Get an understanding for white space. How big do we think we can take this concept in business? What geographies? The, the classic example is if you started in Manhattan or LA, there's not many markets in the country with similar demographics.
[00:03:24] Ryan Rao: Where I was attracted to Vio because it started in Northeast Ohio, and a lot of suburban markets around the country had similar demographic factors. So I think about the category, I think about the customer profile, I think about any threats to the business. Now, especially with the rise of AI, that's an enhancement to what we do, but some industries could be facing some challenges as, as AI continues to grow and, and evolve and become more of one's daily routine from a professional and even personal setting.
[00:03:57] Ryan Rao: And overall supply chain, I think food's a good example for that. There's regional test, taste preferences and, and some challenges having a supply chain that can scale around the country with the concept. And then ultimately, do the numbers make sense? So unit economic profile, looking for a certain return on investment ladder, and definitely taking into consideration overall payback period if it is a franchise business for potential franchisees.
[00:04:27] Sid Shetty: So Ryan, you know, you've been a big part of the growth and the brand itself, right? You've been there since the beginning. I'm just curious, you know, when you were getting into it, did you know this is what you wanted to do, you know, in your career? Like did you know you wanted to get into the, the world of franchising and that this would be, you know, a category that would, you know, kind of be as attractive as it is?
[00:04:50] Sid Shetty: 'Cause you know, you spent, you've spent a lot of time there. Uh, I'd love to hear that part of your journey as well.
[00:04:56] Ryan Rao: I, I had no idea about franchising. In fact, a, a mentor of mine since I've been 16, his name is Ryan as well, Ryan Rose. We've been working together in Vio and some other businesses pretty much since I've been out of college.
[00:05:11] Ryan Rao: When I was graduating from college, I was speaking to him, and I said, "I wanna be in sales. I know that. I, I think sales is interesting, attractive to me. There's upside based upon what you can produce." And at that point in time, he was becoming CEO of a regional pizza brand, a, a franchise in Ohio. And he said, "Ryan, if you wanna sell, why don't you come sell franchises for me?"
[00:05:37] Ryan Rao: And I said, "Ryan, I know nothing about franchising." He goes, "Me neither. Let's figure it out." So that was about 12, 13 years ago now. And, and went to work in the store to start. I went through the general managing training program, working in the pizza shop, started to attend conferences, created some great mentors, and was able to learn a lot from folks in the industry that had far more experience and, and worked in a variety of categories and just fell in love with franchising.
[00:06:07] Ryan Rao: I, I think it's a wonderful business model. You're working with a, a collective group of entrepreneurs under the same brand and flag that you share together and, and want to develop and, and create success stories for them, for their, their stakeholders, their, their employees, and ultimately customers in their markets, and leave the communities we do business in, in a better place.
[00:06:29] Ryan Rao: So it's a wonderful business model. There's obv-obviously pros and cons compared to developing corporate, but franchising has been an industry that I fell in love with and overall see the rest of my career within the franchise world.
[00:06:45] Sid Shetty: Love it. Well, thank you for sharing that. So every brand has a North Star, right?
[00:06:50] Sid Shetty: Would love if you could share what is the North Star of VIOú and what experience are you trying to create for your consumers?
[00:06:58] Ryan Rao: Yeah. Our North, our North Star, first it starts with safety. So it, it's a physician-guided experience. Every one of our locations has a medical director, so there's a physician who oversees the clinical side of our business.
[00:07:11] Ryan Rao: Most of our locations are overseen by either a plastic surgeon or a dermatologist. From there, we have a lead medical provider. That medical provider is either a nurse practitioner or physician assistant. They're well trained. We invest a lot into training and, and resources, and we partner with our vendors and put on system-wide events like VIOú University, where we b-bring in world-class physicians, plastic surgeons, dermatologists, provide ongoing training and education to our providers within the VIOú network.
[00:07:45] Ryan Rao: From there, we're, we're thinking about convenience, so we want conveniently oriented retail locations. We, we don't, you know, want this to be a challenging appointment experience, so convenient booking, part of one's daily routine, and make it a life-changing result. So we have what we call a comprehensive treatment plan, part of our consultation, where we uncover the guest needs and goals, and we provide recommendations to help them achieve it.
[00:08:16] Ryan Rao: So I mentioned injectables is our leading service category, but we're also offer skin rejuvenation and wellness. So it's, it's really an internal and external approach to help our guests achieve their overall goals that they're after, which is results-oriented and can really provide a, a life-changing experience for our over twenty thousand members around the country.
[00:08:42] Sid Shetty: Now, you know- You've seen some great growth over the past few years, and I'm curious, when you look at just wellness as a whole, as a category, it's become increasingly competitive, right? And every, every brand has to find a unique way to differentiate itself, and, you know, you shared a lot of that, right, just now.
[00:09:01] Sid Shetty: But is there anything else that in comp-- you know, comparison to the other players out there that consumers and customers are always loyal to your brand as a whole and are willing to drive that extra mile or two to come to Veo versus any other, you know, off-- you know, brand that offers kind of similar services, I guess, right?
[00:09:23] Ryan Rao: I'd say the first thing, it's our membership program we call Club Veo. So we have two different membership tiers, and it's a banking membership. So think roughly ninety-nine dollars a month for our introductory tier. Three months later, you have roughly three hundred dollars, and you can redeem that for discounted services.
[00:09:40] Ryan Rao: The price point for our members is a value-oriented price point in the marketplace. So through our scale, we're able to create strong pricing arrangements for our franchise owner and the overall network and deliver an exceptional experience to the guest, but at a competitive-oriented price point through the membership program.
[00:10:01] Ryan Rao: There's also a lot of other benefits that come with being a member. You can redeem services around the country at more of our-- at, at more than our sixty-five locations in twenty states. So if you have a second home, if you travel, a lot of benefits to our membership program. Second, I'd say it's the comprehensive service mix.
[00:10:21] Ryan Rao: So I mentioned we do a lot under one roof. Many med spas or aesthetic practices or wellness practices tend to have a narrower focus of services. We're able to offer quite a bit through our training, again, through our vendor relationships, and keep innovating in this category and be able to expand in other lanes of business like wellness.
[00:10:44] Ryan Rao: So that comprehensive approach to what we do helps us stand apart. I'd say it's the, it's the strength of a national brand, and we've accelerated from a single location in twenty nineteen to more than sixty-five locations today. However, we have locally owned operators in the market, so it's not a corporate model that brings the same blueprint to every market that they open.
[00:11:10] Ryan Rao: We're owned by local entrepreneurs, local franchise owners that we empower them to get involved in the community, to find causes that they wanna support, and overall lead the communities that we do business in, in a better place. I'd say those are some of our main factors of, of how we differentiate and why customers are so attracted to our membership offering within Club Veo.
[00:11:36] Sid Shetty: Now, when you think about growth and going from sixty-five locations to You know, I'm not sure what your number is. Like, do you have a number in mind? Like, is it one fifty, two hundred? Is it seven hundred? Wh- when you think about what does growth look like for a Veo, you know, do you, do you have this kind of aspirational number that you're working towards?
[00:11:55] Ryan Rao: Yeah, absolutely. I, I'd say our north star right now, within the next six years, we have about two hundred locations committed to through our existing franchise owners. Oh, wow. So within the next six-year period, it's achieving on that development schedule that we have in front of us and continuing to, to develop.
[00:12:14] Ryan Rao: But our approach, we're focused on quality over quantity. So yes, the number of locations matters, but also the performance of the existing fleet, and we're very cognizant about things like impact and cannibalization, appropriate distances as we're developing new locations, site selection process, and overall supporting our existing franchise owners to help them continue to expand within the system.
[00:12:39] Sid Shetty: The numbers are very interesting. So basically, you're saying you're gonna quadruple in the next six years, right? That's a pretty phenomenal, pretty phenomenal target. When you think about growth, and you think about where you go-
[00:12:51] Ryan Rao: Mm-hmm ...
[00:12:51] Sid Shetty: and the site selection, which you just talked about, and I know that's really important to you, what, what drives that process?
[00:12:57] Sid Shetty: Why is that so important? And, you know, you also talked about how it's about quality, not quantity. How do you start by selecting the right site? What makes it an attractive place to go find the right franchise owner? And I'd love to ask more questions around that as well.
[00:13:14] Ryan Rao: Yeah. From a site selection profile, we, we use a data-driven approach.
[00:13:18] Ryan Rao: So we leverage platforms like Placer AI and Esri to build out our ideal market profile and understand where our customers are as we're expanding into new markets. We're also very cognizant about co-tenancy and the centers that we enter into, the overall upkeep. Think the site psychology, so how does it feel as you enter into the, the center?
[00:13:42] Ryan Rao: Convenience, we know is, is a very important metric for our customers. So the grocery-anchored center where our female-centric member finds herself in, in that area three, four days a week already within that center has been a target for us. So think grocery-anchored centers like Whole Foods, Sprouts, Wegmans, et cetera.
[00:14:07] Ryan Rao: There's traffic to that center. We can capitalize on the demographic that's already come there and, and really convert those users into new members within the Veo locations.
[00:14:19] Sid Shetty: Are you seeing success in, like, specific areas like cities or suburbs? Like, do you have a target area, or you find that, you know, you're going where the customers are, and it could vary based on state-
[00:14:31] Ryan Rao: It, it's a very portable concept.
[00:14:33] Ryan Rao: So we're, we're primarily suburban-focused. We are entering into more urban markets. We also work in a, a variety of centers. So the tier one grocery-anchored center, as I mentioned, is, is really our target. But we also enter into neighborhood centers or smaller pad sites that have great visibility and a lot of traffic, vehicles per day driving by.
[00:14:55] Ryan Rao: So it's a portable business. The market is growing exceptionally fast. Depending upon the industry report that you read, it's about a 10% growth rate year over year. So the industry's compounding, and overall, there's still only been roughly 11 or 12% of the addressable market, so those who are of age and can afford the services, who've still tried an aesthetic service.
[00:15:18] Ryan Rao: So there is a long runway in front of us. There's, there's quite a bit of tailwinds be- behind this category and what we're offering in BEO, and we couldn't be more excited about the path ahead.
[00:15:30] Sid Shetty: Do you think the demographic that s- you know, uses your services is expanding and, you know, based on age and all of that, that...
[00:15:39] Sid Shetty: You know, is it, is it something that you're seeing as just growing because consumers are now wanting more of this offering?
[00:15:47] Ryan Rao: I think it's growing for a lot of reasons. I think social media's a factor. I, I also think there's just a, a growing awareness of one's overall health and wellness, and your skin's your largest organ.
[00:16:01] Ryan Rao: And, and that's what we address on the aesthetic side. So the wellbeing, the results that we help our, our guests and members achieve, looking in the mirror, feeling more confident about oneself. On the wellness side, we can really measure over time through blood work some of the performance metrics that we're driving.
[00:16:20] Ryan Rao: So it is a, a full-body internal, external experience, and wellness is just top of mind more so than ever for, for our, our demographic around the country.
[00:16:32] Sid Shetty: Now you, you talked about this idea of site psychology. Uh, can you help us understand what that-- what do you mean by that?
[00:16:40] Ryan Rao: Yeah, so what I mean by site psychology, think if you enter into a center, and it's a brand-new center, beautiful sys- facade, modern, brick, clean, well-kept.
[00:16:52] Ryan Rao: The signage, it's an attractive place. Um, we're a medical business, so cleanliness standards, having a, a, a, a very clean facility, all of that matters to us. So if we think about centers that may be dated, may not be as well kept up- Yeah ... may have a lot of vacancy, may have a variance of, of co-tenants within the center, so whether it's, it's thrift stores or smoke shops Those things matter to us, so who we orient our brand next to, the overall upkeep of the center.
[00:17:29] Ryan Rao: Our customers think about those things. So we are looking for a certain quality of the real estate, which, which in our words is how we describe the site psychology when we're, we're developing in new markets.
[00:17:44] Sid Shetty: And that makes a lot of sense, and that's a big part of what we talk about on this show, right?
[00:17:47] Sid Shetty: We have leaders like you come in. We talk about, you know, how the physical in a built environment has such a huge impact on the brand and how the brand is perceived, and how you deliver the value to your, to your customer and your consumer. How do you ensure that as you're growing, especially in a franchise-driven growth business like yours that is very experiential, how do you ensure that the partners that you're choosing in all these markets are holding to the standards that you have?
[00:18:19] Sid Shetty: 'Cause again, like you mentioned, right, the facade, the signage, you know, the look and feel. W- what does it feel like when you walk into the space? Is it warm and welcoming? Does it feel fresh, or does it feel tired, and does it feel too hot? And you know, no one wants to spend, you know, an hour or more, you know, in a place that is damp and, and just uncomfortable.
[00:18:43] Sid Shetty: How do you ensure that every day when a consumer walks through your doors, like, they are getting the absolute best experience that, that Veo has set for itself in terms of standards?
[00:18:54] Ryan Rao: I, I'd say it starts with franchisee selection. So m- my role a- as a Chief Development Officer, I oversee franchisee selection, real estate, and construction, and all those components work together.
[00:19:07] Ryan Rao: So when we're out having conversations with those interested in our franchise opportunity, we wanna manage expectations of the work involved in this business. It's a lot of work. It's an ex- an exciting category, and there's a ton of potential, and overall economics are very attractive. That's why investors have really surged into our industry.
[00:19:29] Ryan Rao: But it takes a lot of work to get there. So we wanna ensure we're bringing on the right owners, and as we onboard new owners, we have a detailed process. We have a tremendous support team and approvals along the way. So our franchise owners are unable to sign letters of intent or move forward with leases or create their own set of drawings without our approvals, without our support, and, and really for the most part, ch- tying into our vendors.
[00:19:58] Ryan Rao: The interior experience, it's, it's well-curated. So we have a signature scent. Our millwork, our paint colors, they're all standardized a-around the country. So the environment, it's aesthetically pleasing. It's a tremendous scent. It's upbeat music that's not overpowering. All of that is curated and, uh, presented by the brand that our, our franchise owners follow the guidance, guidance of.
[00:20:27] Ryan Rao: From there, we're meticulous about ongoing training, support, and audits. We're also always monitoring how customers speak of us. Platforms like Google. Our, our average Google review score around the country is about four point nine two or four point nine three, which is an exceptional number for, for franchise retail concepts or frankly any concept.
[00:20:52] Ryan Rao: So it, it is a curated experience that we hold our franchise owners accountable to, and, and really they live and carry forward in, in all of our markets that we operate around the country, and it's best showcased through that four point nine two Google reVIOw score that we have system-wide.
[00:21:14] Sid Shetty: I love it.
[00:21:15] Sid Shetty: You know, it's amazing how these sensory experiences can either add to or take away from the overall experience, right? I mean, to, to have that brand familiarity when you walk into a location, to your point, like the scent, this-- the, the music that's playing, it has to feel familiar. It has to feel, you know, that is more, you know, uh, uh, in alignment with what a consumer expects with the brand.
[00:21:41] Sid Shetty: Now, now you recently went through a brand and, and digital refresh as well, right? Tell us more about that.
[00:21:47] Ryan Rao: So a-as I mentioned, the, the business was founded late twenty sixteen, early twenty seventeen. We went through a redesign throughout twenty eighteen to present our brand the, the best way we felt possible at the time.
[00:22:02] Ryan Rao: Over the years, preferences change, and we wanted to continue to e-evolve the concept. So we went through a redesign process of bringing in some different tones, feelings, furnitures, textures within the space, and simultaneously redeveloping our website, bringing in very similar features and color schemes and an overall redesign.
[00:22:26] Ryan Rao: So it's an elevation of the brand. We couldn't be more excited about the direction we're going, and it's, it's really built around aesthetic wellness versus aesthetics on, on its own, and we, we believe we're, we're pioneering a new category of, uh, the combination of the aesthetic and wellness side. And all this will be unveiled in, in the weeks and months to come.
[00:22:49] Ryan Rao: We're targeting May or June for the launch of our new website, as long as-- A-as well as the first location with this New look, improved Vito, which will be launched in Zionsville, Indiana, and we couldn't be more excited to showcase that to the country here very shortly.
[00:23:11] Sid Shetty: Very cool. You know, a lot of, you know, the folks that, that do great work sometimes tend to be behind the scenes, right?
[00:23:20] Sid Shetty: Because, you know, you think about a location, the location opens up. You kind of take it for granted that this is the brand. But it takes a lot to actually, you know, curate, to your point, the physical experience, you know, and then maintain it going forward. And a lot of those teams, a lot of those leaders are, like, working, you know, tirelessly behind the scenes.
[00:23:41] Sid Shetty: And if everything is going well, you don't think about, you know, the design and the maintenance of those locations 'cause it's just, it just works, right? Tell us about how... What it takes, you know, to go and do a brand refresh at where, like, the physical experience is such a big part of, you know, this relaunch that you're doing.
[00:24:05] Sid Shetty: H- what does it take to go do that? How do you make that central to the conversation when you look at the brand as a whole?
[00:24:15] Ryan Rao: It's a process, and it take, it takes a great team. And I'd say from, from our experience, it, it starts with ops as well as customer feedback. So we, we work closely with our operations team.
[00:24:28] Ryan Rao: We gathered feedback from our franchise owners of, we have 65 existing locations. What's their feedback? How do we continue to improve our layout, our prototype? We speak with our customers. What do you appreciate about our overall look and feel, design, experience? As you walk in, what would you like to see?
[00:24:47] Ryan Rao: From there, we worked with, uh, some great partners to help curate a design, starting with mood boards, getting into renderings. And then overall, the look and experience and renderings are one thing, but we still need to ensure it falls within a budget. So we ran an RFP process based upon the go-forward direction that we wanted to move in.
[00:25:10] Ryan Rao: Kimberly Mays on our team, she's our director of new store development, did an exceptional job, and we were able to actually cut and value engineer our build-out, but elevate our experience dramatically, at least in our mind of where we're going with, with the future rendering o-of Vito. But it, it, it took a lot, and this was a good six to 12-month process from start to finish to ensure that we had the right look and feel.
[00:25:35] Ryan Rao: We brought in operational concerns, and then overall, we had the, the, the, the strong construction partners who could scale with us, but also provide us a price point that would fit within our budget
[00:25:48] Sid Shetty: Now, you know, in a franchise-driven business, you know, it's a massive growth lever, and you can, you know, grow really fast and, you know, something that, you know, a lot of brands have successfully done.
[00:26:00] Sid Shetty: But it also adds a layer of complexity, right, in terms of, like, how do you ensure, like, brand consistency and so on. Do you and your team just go around the country and, and actually experience it yourself to see, like, "Hey, are we upholding the brand standards, you know, across the different sites that we have or the locations that we have?"
[00:26:21] Sid Shetty: How do you, how do you essentially, you know, for lack of a better term, not audit, but how do you ensure that you're, you're in touch with, you know, the, the brand at the local level as well?
[00:26:32] Ryan Rao: It, it's a process, and, and it starts pre-construction. So ensuring that we're working with... Ideally, we have a couple architectural and general contractor partners we've worked with around the country, so making sure we're working with our partners, and we have approvals in place.
[00:26:47] Ryan Rao: So we're part of the test fitting process. We're part of the full set of drawings. We're part of bidding out, out the location. We're part of the overall construction schedule, and we have weekly calls. We receive images. Pre-opening, there's an on-site inspection, so we're, we're part of the punch list and, and the walkthrough.
[00:27:10] Ryan Rao: Overall approvals are given for opening. And then our operations team, our franchise business consultants, are in all locations within the system at least quarterly. So there's a lot of frequent touchpoints, but it, it starts with the process and leaning into the partners that we've identified that continue to grow with us and, and are fantastic resources for the system.
[00:27:33] Sid Shetty: Love it. Now, if you look at the past seven years, you know, COVID happened. Yeah. It's already been, like- Yeah ... five years since, you know, the world kind of came out of it, right? Which is pretty phenomenal to think about it, like, it's been five years. But you've, you've seen that phase. You know, it was early on in your growth.
[00:27:54] Sid Shetty: Was there a difference in mindset and mentality in terms of what you thought consumers now needed to see to actually go to your locations in a pre-COVID world and then post-COVID? What changed, and what do you think continues to exist today in terms of just high expectations from customers of the brands that they love?
[00:28:16] Ryan Rao: I, I'd say for, for our industry and our business, we saw just a complete surge coming out of COVID. COVID was, was a scary time. We only had a couple locations open going into it, but when we o- we were able to reopen, we saw a true pent-up demand, and phones were ringing off the hook. Customers were, were truly fighting to get in, get appointments, and '20-- the back half of twenty twenty and twenty twenty-one, I'd say was the catalyst that has fueled our growth today.
[00:28:47] Ryan Rao: So because of the success we had, it created and fueled interest in, in the overall category and certainly interest within VIO and attracted a lot of new owners within the system. We've learned a lot since that point, and I think the, the customer has also been much more educated. Uh, educated and they appreciate the approach we take.
[00:29:09] Ryan Rao: S- uh, a compliant training. It, it, again, that safe, easy, life-changing philosophy that we have with our business. Competition has rose, but that's why our membership program is so attractive, where you're part of a, a community. You- you're part of our brand ethos. You're, you're part of Club VIO, which adds a lot of benefits and allows you to create a very deep relationship with the providers within, within our locations and have a, a price point that it's extremely competitive that the mom and pops in, in our industry just can't compete with because of the scale and, and overall relationships that we have with our vendors.
[00:29:54] Sid Shetty: That makes a lot of sense. Ryan, let's talk about technology, right? I mean- Yeah ... technology, especially all the new technologies that are out there today, they're changing every industry and every category in our business. How is it making its way into your business? Like, what is-- When you think about technology and whether it's changing how your consumers interact with your business or experience your offering or allows you to offer more things within your locations, help us understand what that is.
[00:30:29] Ryan Rao: So, uh, I think back to when I was first getting started in the franchising world. At the time, Amazon was such a hot topic, and brands, industries were very concerned about Amazon and how it affect what, what-- how they position themselves in the overall category. Now I, I think AI is very similar and- Yeah
[00:30:49] Ryan Rao: and even more dramatic, whether it's intimidating or industries and, and brands are really embracing it. I'd say we're embracing AI. We think AI is going to be an exceptional tool for our business. We're, we're leveraging AI for things like business intelligence dashboards- The lead follow-up process, so some automations with AI to help make the booking process easier and more convenient for our guests coming through the door.
[00:31:17] Ryan Rao: So AI is a phenomenal tool. It's only going to make the way we do business easier and a, a more convenient and e-experience for our, our customers coming in the door. So we're excited about what's to come. I'd say there's a lot more to come, but we are hyper-focused and have quite a few of our team members really leaning into the, the potential of AI.
[00:31:42] Sid Shetty: Interesting. Yeah, I mean, your business, I presume, is a very, like, human-centric business, right? It is, yes. Not, not only with your customer- Yeah ... but also how you deliver the offering. And what I'm hearing is you're trying to take all the areas that possibly create friction or possibly take a lot more human intervention, and you're using technology to go and simplify that and automate that and take the, the repeatable tasks, make that, you know, you know, leverage AI and leverage today's technologies and automations.
[00:32:15] Sid Shetty: But the end goal being that you allow your people to focus on just being with the customer and taking care of them. Focus
[00:32:24] Ryan Rao: on the experience. Right. Absolutely. Yeah. Right. How do, how do we leverage AI to make the mundane tasks like inventory management, lead follow-up, digital marketing strategy, CRM outreach?
[00:32:37] Ryan Rao: How do we, how do we take the very repetitive task and lean into AI to help support the role but focus more on the customer experience, so the guest walking through the door? So we know if they're a coffee drinker, how they like their coffee, you know, if they're, they're married, anniversary, birth dates, et cetera.
[00:32:57] Ryan Rao: So it's really curating the experience to them walking in the door and then giving our provider more time for the consultation, for developing that deep relationship with the guest walking in, and allowing AI as the tool to make all of this happen. So we're, we're excited about it and, and again, a definitely big initiative for the entire organization.
[00:33:21] Sid Shetty: Now, th- there's some other broader economic challenges and macro challenges that, that we're all facing and, you know, some of them have, you know, subsided since COVID, like supply chain and so on, but there's still, like, some lingering issues there. There's also labor shortage, like folks willing to work in a retail-esque environment.
[00:33:40] Sid Shetty: There's a lot of people that, you know, or businesses that are struggling with keeping talent. There's also cost pressures. How are these dynamics kind of impacting your business, especially as you're looking at, you know, growing through franchises and, you know, these are, these are businesses that are very local and part of the community?
[00:33:59] Sid Shetty: How is it impacting them, and how are you supporting them, you know, uh, open up their locations and actually deliver on, on even their, their goals and their dreams, right?
[00:34:10] Ryan Rao: Yeah. So we've been fortunate. I, I feel like we've been very much insulated from existential factors that have been going on, macroeconomic o- overall, or different world events that, that have been happening.
[00:34:23] Ryan Rao: If, if you talk to our customers and, and read industry reports, medical aesthetics is a high spend for our, our customers. So they're going to go to a med spa, receive, you know, things like Botox, and sacrifice, if needed, a vacation or dining out. So it, it's a high discretionary disposable spend.
[00:34:48] Ryan Rao: It's probably close to top of the list, if not the top of the list when, when you speak to our customers. And again, our experience is exceptional, but we are able to deliver tremendous value through that membership program. So over time, as our brand grows and our members and customers continue to spread the word about BYou within the community and our, our, you know, different entrants into this market are doing research on the med spa to choose, BYou is certainly near the top or at the top of that list, and we think we're, we're positioned well.
[00:35:27] Ryan Rao: So if you can receive an exceptional experience at a value-oriented price point, and it is a top priority discretionary spend, we, we've been positioned well just given any existential factor at this time.
[00:35:42] Sid Shetty: Makes sense. And, you know, as we kind of wrap up and we... You know, I'd love to look into the future and get your take on what the future looks like, right?
[00:35:50] Sid Shetty: W- what do you think about the category as a whole? Like, in five years, what does the category look like, and what does the consumer of tomorrow look like?
[00:36:00] Ryan Rao: I think the consumer tomorrow look like-- it looks like much more wellness-focused, and that's where we're heading as a brand, this intersection of aesthetics and, and wellness.
[00:36:08] Ryan Rao: Much of this industry has been focused on the outward appearance, which is important, and it's a big piece of what we do, and we're never going to- Leave that. It's, it's the core. But there's another piece of kind of the external and internal and, and the wellness side that I think our customers are gonna talk much more about and be more cognizant of.
[00:36:32] Ryan Rao: If you have heard much about peptides, which I'm sure you have, that's a good example of the momentum building, I think, on the wellness side, and it really started with GLP-1s and, and, and the weight loss and now getting more into peptides becoming mainstream. And I, I, I feel like where that's at today is kind of where Botox was 10 to 15 years ago, and we're positioned to offer both.
[00:36:58] Ryan Rao: We have medical providers. They're exceptional. They're well-trained. There's physician oversight, and we have a 20,000-plus membership base a-around the country that believes in VIO as the resource to receive these kinds of services and treatments. And as we continue to extend in the wellness side, I think it's, it's only going to compound over the next five-year period, and I think our customers are going to be more intentional and aware about the opportunities on, on the wellness side of what we do.
[00:37:34] Sid Shetty: That's great. What is-- what can the audience expect next from, from VIO? You know, you already shared you're expanding-
[00:37:42] Ryan Rao: Yeah ...
[00:37:42] Sid Shetty: 200 locations in the next six years, but just, you know, the next six months, you know. You, you have newer locations with a refreshed brand and look and feel, but what markets are you look-- what can, can we expect to see you in, and, and are you, are you gonna be international too?
[00:37:58] Ryan Rao: Right now, very much focused on domestic. Um, we're, we're super excited about the website refresh, along with the store redesign. Our first one will be opened up in Zionsville, Indiana, uh, this June, and we're, we're opening up in a lot of markets. So currently in 20 states. We're working on a few new ones, so it is national expansion, and we are continuing to welcome new franchise owners within the system.
[00:38:25] Ryan Rao: We've already had a tremendous amount of new signings so far this year in 2026, so it's an exciting time, and that refresh of the store redesign, given the topic here today, is probably what I'm most excited about for the near term.
[00:38:41] Sid Shetty: Love it. Now, there's folks in our audience who, you know, are in the franchise business or, you know, are part of a brand that uses franchising as one of the levers for growth.
[00:38:51] Sid Shetty: What advice would you give folks in our audience who are listening in on, you know, how do you ensure, you know, you have strong experiences with your customer, create that connection, and what is most important that they get right as they grow?
[00:39:06] Ryan Rao: I'd say franchisee selection. So that, that's the most critical piece.
[00:39:10] Ryan Rao: It, it's very much a partnership And it's, uh, the extension of the brand. So understanding who's the avatar you're looking for as a franchisee, how do you get in front of them, and how do you manage expectations on them understanding what they're getting into when, when they sign on for to carry forward the, the brand that you built.
[00:39:29] Ryan Rao: So I think that's the biggest piece for any growing franchisor. It's the franchisee selection piece of bringing on the right partners to grow your brand.
[00:39:39] Sid Shetty: I love it. Well, with that, Ryan, I just wanna say a huge thank you. Thank you so much for joining us today. I really enjoyed our conversation. For listeners who might wanna learn more about VIO Med Spa or look you up and, and reach out to you, where can they find you?
[00:39:53] Ryan Rao: I'm on LinkedIn, so Ryan Rao. I'm very active on LinkedIn, and then our, our franchise website, VIO Med Spa.com, a great place to learn more about the franchise and where we're located for, for any that might be interested in services as well.
[00:40:09] Sid Shetty: Love it. Yeah. Well, with that, again, huge thank you. Thank you for joining us.
[00:40:12] Sid Shetty: And to everyone in our audience, thank you for joining us, and we'll see you on the next episode of Elevating Brick and Mortar. Well, that was Ryan Rao, Chief Development Officer at VIO Med Spa. It's very apparent how much intentionality goes into building and scaling a brand, especially one that relies heavily on franchising, from site selection and design to franchise partnerships and the overall customer experience.
[00:40:40] Sid Shetty: Ryan shared how important it is to get the fundamentals right while continuing to evolve with changing customer expectations and new technologies. As brands grow across locations, maintaining that consistency while still creating meaningful experiences is what ultimately will set the best brands apart.
[00:41:01] Sid Shetty: With that, I'm your host, Sid Shetty, and I'll see you on the next episode of Elevating Brick and Mortar.