Shikhar Saxena - Building Milan Laser as CEO - Ep.196

Ep.196: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Shikhar Saxena (@shikhar-saxena). My guest today is Shikhar Saxena, co-founder and CEO of Milan Laser Hair Removal. Milan, founded in 2012, is the nation's largest laser hair removal provider with over 300 locations in 32 states and 1,900 employees performing 50,000 treatments a month. Keys to Shikhar’s growth story have been an obsession with customer experience and a constant study of other CEOs and resources to improve his performance. We talk about that obsession with customer experience and lessons learned through scaling, studying peers, and the market for med spa businesses today. Please enjoy this fantastic episode with Shikhar Saxena. Listen weekly and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Breaker, and TuneIn.  Learn more about Alex and Think Like an Owner at https://tlaopodcast.com/ I want to tell you about our audience survey we are currently running. These surveys help us create the best content for listeners and better understand your needs and interests. Thank you in advance for sharing your feedback, we greatly appreciate it. After 30 days we are giving $250 cash to 4 survey responders, just add your email at the end of the survey. Take the survey here: https://bit.ly/3QLBB1N Links: Milan Laser Hair Removal Shikhar on LinkedIn Topics: (00:00:00) Intro (00:03:59) The Milan origin story (00:13:07) Verticals to pursue in the Med Spa space (00:14:43) Improving the customer experience (00:21:05) Studying companies to learn about consumer experience (00:23:59) Changing clinic management through scale (00:26:33) Key executive roles (00:28:44) Hiring and interviewing (00:33:51) Disseminating core values across locations (00:37:08) Dealing with stress (00:41:59) How PE changes processes (00:45:15) Predictions for the industry (00:46:17) The decision to focus solely on hair removal (00:50:42) Future growth plans (00:53:54) Shikhar’s book (00:58:29) Final thoughts