“I think leading with education, but also letting clients speak for us ... has been a huge strategy that’s worked.”
— Courtney Yeager
BACKGROUND:
• Yeager founded The Tox in 2019 as a wellness concept for body contouring and lymphatic drainage.
• It started franchising in 2021 and has 41 units, with nine more expected to open this year.
Reporter Alyssa Huglen asks what makes emerging brand leaders tick—and presents their edited answers in this column in each issue. To suggest a subject, email [email protected]
What drove you to start this concept?
I’ve always had a background in health, wellness and fitness in one capacity or another, and I try to live the most organic, healthy lifestyle I can. I was a fitness franchisee in my early years, around 2012, so I learned a lot about franchising. Between that period of time, I had my two young kids. I’ve always suffered from really poor digestion and gut issues, so after I had my kids, I was working way too much and not feeling great. I did a bunch of research about the digestive system and how it works with the lymphatic system, and I started to see a lot of body sculpting and body contouring treatments done in other countries that were doing it in a way that followed your body’s natural pathways.
We were living in Los Angeles, and I was like, is there anywhere in LA that does this? I’m sure there is because we’re one of the most vain cities in the world. But there wasn’t. There were a few random people doing different variations of it but nothing on a brand level.
I started doing a ton of research, hired a few mentors to help me, and we curated the technique. I opened our first location in 2019 in LA. I leveraged a lot of my personal relationships, but I also had a background in social media marketing, so I posted it on social media. Right away, it started to be all over.
Lymphatic drainage is a buzz phrase online. How will the brand stay relevant beyond a trend cycle?
Well, we were the first ones to do it, so it’s not new to us. I think organic social media is what’s grown the brand. Until six months ago, I never spent a dime on marketing; it’s been based on organic client testimonials. I think leading with education, but also letting the clients speak for us instead of it coming from us, has been a huge strategy that’s worked. I will never make a claim about what our services can do because we are not a medical treatment, but our clients’ voices and testimonials are really what has put the brand on the map and continue to spread awareness.
What goals do you have for the brand as you look to future growth?
I really just want to continue what we’re doing on a larger scale but with the right partners. I think the partners are a direct reflection not only of the brand, but of myself. It’s important we’re not just awarding territories to anybody but that we are choosing partners very strategically. I do see The Tox having a few hundred locations, but I want to do it at a pace that feels right for our entire system. We only offer the one service, and I never want to change that. I just want to stay laser focused. We also have a full product line and over 80 SKUs, so we are continuously coming out with new products and are able to have a leg up on anyone in the space as far as providing the best products for any lymphatic type of treatment.
I love to see our partners opening locations. In franchising, you see a lot on LinkedIn where it’s like, ‘X amount of territories awarded.’ But who’s actually opening them, and at what pace are they opening them? That’s what I’m really excited and most proud of—we aren’t just awarding territories. We’re opening doors and spreading awareness of our treatments nationwide.