Kristie Friedrichs spent 7 years as an intensive care nurse before responding to an ad for a nursing position with Dr. Peter Vogt at Wayzata Plastic Surgery. That was 13 years ago, and she’s since become a registered nurse and one of the top injectionists in the state.
Now she’s branching out on her own and moving her business—Wayzata Med Spa—into the newly renovated Martinson Clinic building on Wayzata Boulevard. With all 3,000 square feet of the main level, the company is expanding its services to clients.
The area is one with quite a storied—though often unknown—medical past. Minnetonka Hospital was built in the 1920s on Lake Street, eventually becoming a part of the Martinson Clinic Foundation. It was a full-fledged hospital, with some 1,500 babies delivered there before it closed in the 1960s, and lab work was done in the Wayzata Boulevard space that is now Wayzata Med Spa. The original hospital was torn down, but the Martinson family still owns the Wayzata Boulevard building. Bruce Martinson, a grandson of the original Dr. Martinson, practices dentistry on the lower level.
Moving out of a more clinic-esque space within Wayzata Plastic Surgery, Friedrichs wanted her new space to feel homey and decidedly not like a doctor’s office. She changed the layout of the space, painted the walls soothing grays and lavenders, and added marble countertops throughout. Crystal chandeliers and lush window treatments add a touch of glam.
“I enjoy the business of building relationships and making my clients—mostly women—feel great about themselves. I wanted my space to reflect my mission and make them feel like they are a guest in my home,” says Friedrichs. “My parents were gracious hosts to family and friends, and that has taught me to enjoy giving.”
Friedrichs says that being a woman from a small town in northern Minnesota and a daughter of hard-working small business owners gives her a work ethic that runs deep, along with a do-it-yourself attitude. Part of her DIY mantra meant taking on most of the remodel work herself, enlisting her family and friends to help when needed.
Molly Biwer from Wayzata, a client of Friedrichs for four years, says that moving to its own building has done wonders for the client experience at Wayzata Med Spa. “I travel a lot for work. I might be moving, and I’d still come back to see Kristie,” Biwer says. Though she’d follow Friedrichs anywhere, Biwer says the new space is more relaxing. “You feel like you’re going in to get pampered. It’s a much more inviting atmosphere,” she says.
Another client, Debbie Edwards from Plymouth, has been seeing Friedrichs for nearly a decade. “She is an amazing aesthetic technician. When it comes to injections, symmetry prevails—and Kristie has an amazing artistic eye. I just think she is the best at what she does,” says Edwards. The new and improved space fits Friedrichs’ professionalism and experience, feels “fabulous,” Edwards says, and puts her at ease the moment she walks in the door. Clients like Edwards are able to transition out of the craziness of their everyday lives and into a retreat-like, relaxing, private atmosphere with glamorous details.
Though Friedrichs lives in Eden Prairie, she’s done business in the Lake Minnetonka area for years and would have it no other way. “I love being in the western suburbs and on the lake. There’s just so much to offer. You come to Wayzata, and it feels like a small town,” she says.
Wayzata Med Spa is hosting an open house on Wednesday, October 21 from 4-8 p.m.; stop by, see the new digs and make an appointment for a service.
