Monarch Medical Esthetics, 738 E. 200 N., Warsaw, had an open house on Thursday, Sept. 2. The Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce was present for a ribbon-cutting and Business After Hours at the event. From left: Chamber President and CEO Rob Parker, Warsaw Community Development Corp. Board Member Juli Eckel, Chamber Ambassadors Chris Scheeren, Heather Lardino and Shelley Dobbins, Monarch Patient Concierge Jennifer Elder, Doctorate Nurse Practitioner Amy Stitt, Owner Linda Moore and Oversight Physician Dr. Lori Zimmerman, Chamber Ambassador Glenn Hall, Members Michelle Hansen and Eric Seaman, Ambassador Brittany Lyon and Member Relations Manager Scott Wiley. InkFreeNews photos by Leah Sander.
By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews
WARSAW — Change may come to mind when one thinks of a butterfly.
It’s why Monarch Medical Esthetics has the word “monarch” in its name. And it’s also how the business got its start in September 2020.
On Wednesday, Sept. 2, the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce had a ribbon-cutting for the medical spa or medi spa, at 738 E. CR 200N, Warsaw. It was also an open house for the business, with COVID-19 having pushed back the celebration of its opening by a year.
Owner Linda Moore noted change started the business.
“Well, actually COVID occurred and our team here, we all worked at another medi spa. And it closed,” she said. “So I thought, you know what, why don’t we just open a new one? Maybe not the smartest thing to do in the middle of a pandemic, really, we thought that, but we thought, at this point with everything so volatile, what do we have to lose? Let’s go for it.”
Change also describes the focus of Monarch Medical Esthetics.
“Beautiful change is our slogan, and I think this time in life, socially, economically and physically, you know just all the way around, beautiful change is a good thing to think about,” said Moore.
“The butterfly is our logo, the monarch … and our slogan being beautiful change because everybody can be a change to other people that’s beautiful and then we can help people experience beautiful change as well,” she continued.
As a medi spa, the business offers procedures like Botox and fillers along with those like facials. Its services include IV nutrition therapy, hair regrowth therapy, permanent cosmetics and laser treatments, including hair removal.
“Our favorite thing is right now, we utilize stem cells for anti-aging,” said Moore. “We take your blood and we (remove your) stem cells and then we can inject them back into your face. If you have scars or hair loss or just aging, those stem cells then rejuvenate and cause that healing effect, which produces collagen, so that’s really great to be able to use your body to anti-age yourself.”
She noted that treatment and other similar ones where a person’s own body helps “heal and anti-age itself,” known as biostimulation, have become popular in the beauty field.
She said the services are for everyone.
“People think that the medi spa is for 50 years and older women, but the truth is, when we do see men, they outspend women per treatments and the millennials because of awareness about skin health, because of increase in cancer, because of being more conscientious about sun damage pollution, millennials really are a target for medical esthetics and also Kardashians and Instagram and all those types of things, so there’s a lot more awareness about skin health,” she said.
Moore also said the business provides services for teenagers. They don’t encourage teens to get procedures like Botox but do work with them and their parents to help with acne.
Another part of their clientele is those who’ve had cancer.
“When people have chemotherapy, two things can happen: they lose the facial hair, their eyebrows, their eyelashes. They also lose a lot of hair on their head,” she said. “COVID patients … a few months after people have COVID, they lose hair, so helping them grow that back and stimulate growth, so what’s great is whether you have some scarring on the eyebrows or you’ve lost all the eyebrows to cancer, this is for men and women, we do what’s called micro-blading and we actually design hair-like strokes to make eyebrows, so they look real. And also people going through chemo and cancers, obviously the IV nutrition therapy helps boost their immune systems too.”
Monarch’s staff includes Oversight Physician Dr. Lori Zimmerman, Doctorate Nurse Practitioner Amy Stitt, Patient Concierge Jennifer Elder and Moore, who does advanced permanent cosmetics. The business is currently seeking an esthetician.
Meeting the needs of its female staff plays into the business’ hours. They are 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and Saturdays by appointment.
“We do that because we believe in families and … we like (staff) to have that Monday,” said Moore. “We’d rather work 9-10 hours four days ’cause moms are busy. We have to have that Monday to do our chores and take care of our children and clean our houses.”
The business has focused on women’s needs through its Botox for Boobies breast cancer fundraiser.
It’s also done work with United Way, and Moore said she hopes to have the business be more involved with charity groups in the future.
To learn more about Monarch’s pricing and services or to set up an appointment, people should visit its website mybeautifulchange.com. The business offers free consultations.
“Unfortunately right now, there’s a lot of negativity and depression, and so by coming to a consultation, we encourage positivity and everybody’s beautiful, and we just want to enhance their own natural beauty,” Moore said.
People enjoy food and conversation inside Monarch Medical Esthetics during the Business After Hours portion of the event.
From left are Tina Arend, Heather Bontrager and Bonnie Long during a planning session for SAAFE Circle, an outreach offering through Beloved: Not Forgotten to provide support to women 18 and older who have been victimized by sexual trauma. The group’s next meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 7. Photo provided by Dawnna Plummer.
By David Hazledine
InkFreeNews
Since its founding in 2015, Beloved: Not Forgotten has continued to make progress on behalf of women who have suffered sexual trauma.
The last nine months have been particularly fruitful, according to Executive Director Dawnna Plummer, and she hopes to maintain this momentum in coming weeks and months, as Beloved works to attain its goal of purchasing a home with eight to 10 beds for women 18 and over who have escaped sexual exploitation through human trafficking.
“A lot of good things happened in the last nine months,” Plummer exclaimed, “A lot of people from the community came through.”
Most importantly, Beloved helped an individual escape a trafficking situation. For their safety, details are kept confidential; however, after being contacted through the internet, Beloved was able to find safe shelter in another state.
After receiving a $25,000 grant from PB&J Foundation of Fort Wayne, Beloved purchased an apartment capable of housing two individuals in an emergency situation. Plummer noted such individuals often escape with little more than the clothes on their back and are often without identification, another way they are kept at the mercy of their captors.
Through contacts gained during the last five years, Plummer can provide preliminary medical assistance and counseling. Beloved also works with organizations such as Indiana Trafficking Victims Assistance Program to obtain legal aid and National Shelter Alliance for more permanent housing. Of course, Plummer is looking forward to the day Beloved will provide such housing.
In August, Beloved was able to reconvene SAAFE Circle (Sexual Abuse & Assault Forum for Empowerment), a support group for women 18 and over. “It’s difficult for survivors to find that courage to step out,” said Tina Arend, who has been a part of Beloved since its founding. “They all have unique stories with common threads.”
All too often, Arend explained, survivors are forced back into the day-to-day world before being able to “shut out the world and figure things out.” SAAFE Circle meets privately at 6:30 p.m. every other Tuesday with the mission to provide a safe, confidential, supportive community where women who have been victimized by any form of sexual trauma are able to share like experiences and “walk together in their journey of healing.”
The group’s next meeting is Sept. 7. Women wishing to take part can contact Arend at [email protected] or Plummer at [email protected].
Donations have enabled Plummer to work full-time for Beloved. A board of directors has also been formed, though Plummer noted more board members are needed.
On Aug. 21, a “Fill the Car” event hosted by The Ruwm in Warsaw raised roughly $6,000, as well as an actual car, donated by Margarita Cervantes, which will be raffled off Sept. 26 during Beloved’s Fallfest, a diverse event including activities for kids and adults alike — including a sporting clays tournament — from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Back Forty in Bourbon. This brings Beloved’s total to nearly $50,000, around 5% of what is needed to purchase the home.
Fallfest will also include unique craft and vintage vendors, live music, food trucks, bouncy houses, games and more. Go to the Beloved website for more information or send an email to [email protected].
For more information on Beloved: Not Forgotten go to www.belovednotforgotten.net, where there is also information on ways to donate. Send checks to P.O. Box 962, Warsaw, IN. 46581.
On Aug. 21, Margarita Cervantes, left, donated a vehicle to Beloved: Not Forgotten during the organization’s Fill the Car benefit at The RUWM in Warsaw. According to Beloved Director Dawnna Plummer, right, the car will be raffled off during Fallfest, a “family fun” benefit taking place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sept. 26 at Back Forty in Bourbon. Fallfest will also be preceded by a Sporting Clays Tournament in the same location starting at 12:30 p.m. Photo provided by Dawnna Plummer.
