Before Megan Kozak connected with Enterprise Toronto, the former model and certified nurse had modest dreams of running a small-scale aesthetic injection business.

Now she’s out to build her business endeavor, Pout, into a Botox empire.

“I had no background in business or marketing so I had no Idea how far my business could grow,” says Kozak. “My goal is no longer to have this office ­– it’s to take over Canada with Pouts across the country.”

All it took was a few eye-opening chats with mentors from Enterprise Toronto and Futurepreneur to help Kozak realize the business was more than just that, it was a brand.

It’s hardly shocking though.

Kozak is hyper conscious of her personal brand and what Pout will represent. Although the business is just her at the moment, she talks like a futurist, like time is the only thing standing between her and a sprawling staff of chic, young, like-minded nurses.

“Our nurses are fashionable and trendy, this is a fun brand, we know beauty inside and out,” says Kozak.

Her drive to rethink and rebrand the world of aesthetic injections like Botox and hyaluronic acid fillers stems from working in run of the mill spas and dermatologist offices where patients were funneled through.

“I would inject 20 patients in six hours – it’s terrible from a nurse-patient perspective because you don’t actually get time to sit with a patient and learn about them and consult,” she says. “It’s like a factory so you can make the quick buck, I really hated that.” 

She grew weary of the medi-spas offering dirt-cheap $6 injections or sketchy shop fronts advertising Botox next to foot scrubs and saw the need for a specialized business focused on injections.

“I would never get my face injected at the same place I get a pedicure,” she says.

Kozak thrives off the one-to-one experience.

But her mentors at Enterprise Toronto weren’t going to let the drive to create that one-to-one experience stifle Pout’s growth.

“When you’re talking with someone so knowledgeable like our mentors, they put ideas in your head,” says Kozak. “Between January and now my growth personally from a business perspective has been exponential, I can’t even explain all the information that they've helped and shared with us.”

She admits turning Pout into a reality has been arduous and a bit of a culture shock. Having spent years modeling and basking in the freedom of spending her steady paycheques as she saw fit, the entrepreneur muscles take time to form.

But building the brand is her path to liberation, the payoff for hard work and developing an astute business sense.

“Once I have built a team that works to my standards at other locations, that’ll give me more freedom,” says Kozak.

In the meantime, the young entrepreneur plans to grow organically with a little guidance from her mentor.

“The $15,000 dollar loan (through Futurepreneur) was really helpful but more than that was the mentor,” says Kozak. “They’re only committed to two years but we've become friends so forever she'll be a part of my life.”

By Andrew Seale