Long before founding two businesses at the intersection of beauty, aesthetics and wellness, Nicci Levy was the college student who genuinely could not wait to go to work at the Benefit Cosmetics counter. Her early career took her from Benefit to MAC Cosmetics and an innovative beauty personal styling role at Nordstrom, where she learned firsthand how experience, storytelling and human connection could transform the way consumers engage with beauty. Those lessons became even more powerful when Nicci was recruited by Allergan in 2009 to represent Botox and Latisse in Beverly Hills, giving her a front-row seat to an aesthetics industry that delivered results but, in her view, was missing the aspirational experience consumers already expected from beauty.
That insight ultimately inspired Nicci to create Alchemy 43, a branded medical aesthetics concept built around making injectables feel elevated, positive and consumer-friendly. She opened the first location in 2016 and grew the company to nine locations before deciding that her strength was building businesses rather than operating them indefinitely. Throughout the journey, Nicci relied on a mindset that has followed her since childhood: “Why not me?” She talks candidly about raising outside capital without a track record, learning the regulatory realities of medical aesthetics, knowing when a company needed a different kind of leader, and ultimately making the difficult decision to step away from the business she created.
Now Nicci is building again with Clume Health & Wellness, inspired by what she learned after bringing GLP-1 medical weight loss services into Alchemy 43. Nicci believes GLP-1 care is evolving from a short-term weight loss conversation into a much broader lifestyle and wellness experience, touching everything from nutrition and muscle mass to skin, hair and everyday social life. Her vision for Clume combines telehealth, community, education and relevant brand partnerships to make that experience feel more personal and less transactional. Alongside Jodi and guest co-host Dawn Hilarczyk, Nicci explores the future of telehealth, the importance of preserving human connection in medicine, and why she sees herself as an “experience architect,” someone who takes an underwhelming experience and asks how it could become exceptional.
This episode is presented by Beauty Connect.