MEET MARRIED SANFORD BUSINESS OWNERS KARLI & JESSE PLUNKETT

“The best thing about living in downtown Sanford is our walks with our small furry friends, Jake and Miss Lady. The four of us spend a lot of time both downtown and at Paw Park.”

HOW DID YOU BOTH DECIDE TO OPEN YOUR BUSINESSES IN SANFORD?

Sanford is home for us; we live downtown and enjoy a great view of Lake Monroe. The last thing we wanted to do was spend two hours in traffic every day just to be in a “hub.” It just made sense to us that no one else in Sanford wanted to travel to Winter Park or Orlando to visit their favorite medical spa or financial advisor. Being in Sanford also allows us to enjoy our interactions and invest in our relationships with the people we serve, as we don’t feel we need to rush people in and out the door to cover absurd overhead costs. Building our businesses in Sanford was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made!

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT YOUR BUSINESSES?

Karli: I absolutely love our team at Fountain of Youth Medical Spa. We spend a lot of time laughing with our patients, which means FOY isn’t just a place to leave looking better, it’s a place to leave feeling happier too. Most of all, I love sculpting faces to restore and enhance my patients’ natural beauty and health. The Fountain of Youth is a very precious place to me. We put a tremendous amount of time and care into building it out, from doing the grunt work ourselves to personally painting every piece of art in the spa.

Jesse: I love that an integral part of the retirement planning I do is to get to know the people I serve, so I can fully understand what’s most important to them. There is a tremendous amount of work, sacrifice, and delayed gratification that goes into saving for retirement; I want to fully understand what my clients had in mind while they were delaying gratification. These crucial conversations guide both our investing and comprehensive planning decisions. They also bring the sacrifice and purpose behind each dollar of my clients’ portfolios to the forefront of my mind.

HOW DID YOU END UP WHERE YOU ARE NOW?

Karli: After practicing as a medical esthetician for years, I became inspired by the health and beauty industry. I realized there was so much more to learn and, after plenty of research, I decided to become a Physician Assistant. While attending PA school at Nova Southeastern

University, I substantially grew my esthetics business on the weekends. Once I graduated, I expanded my facial spa into Fountain of Youth Medical Spa. My curious nature led me to gather as much information as possible about everything that true wellness, inward and outward, entails. As part of my never-ending quest for knowledge, I begin my Doctorate in Medical Sciences at Rocky Mountain University with a specialty in Regenerative Medicine this September.

Jesse: A career in investments was always my plan. My father has been a financial advisor since I was born and has his own practice in Lakeland. His expertise gave me a love for economics and investing, which enabled me to build a significant portfolio and graduate from college debt free. I eagerly accepted an offer from Edward Jones before my University graduation. Now I get to spend my days doing what I love— meeting with clients and spending several hours a day reading on the couch in my office.

WHAT IS THE EXPERIENCE OF A FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH PATIENT OR AN INVESTMENT CLIENT?

Karli: Our patients know what and whom to expect when they come to us. As a patient focused provider, I offer a full consultation to each patient before treatment. No face or current state of health is the same, and I’ve found it’s worth taking the time to listen and understand the exact result each patient is seeking. We put together a treatment plan that outlines how we will achieve those desires and schedule it out based upon each patient’s timeframe. We take every measure possible to ensure that patients enjoy a continuously comfortable treatment experience. One of our recent additions was offering PRO-NOX, an inhaled 50/50 mixture of oxygen and nitrous oxide for patients who experience anxiety with injections. Our patients tell us they love us, but the laughing gas may deserve a little credit. Our many esthetic services include skincare, Botox, dermal fillers, threads, PRP treatments and more. Because feeling great is just as important as looking great, we offer transformative wellness services, such as Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy, Stem Cell joint injection, vitamin therapy, and massage therapy.

Jesse: I believe it’s important to first invest my time in order to fully understand each person’s most important financial objectives and obstacles before we consider making any decisions. I then use an established process to build personalized strategies to reach those goals, while minimizing unnecessary taxation and risk. After establishing a formal “roadmap,” my clients know they have a partner for life, as I have at least a solid 30 years before I consider retiring. Many of my client’s appreciate the security of a firm that’s been around for 97 years and manages over $1 trillion in client assets. As a partnership, Edward Jones isn’t tied to quarterly earnings reports and shareholders. This enables me to make decisions that focus on the best interests of our clients, rather than large shareholders.

WHAT DO YOU BOTH ENJOY DOING IN SANFORD?

The best thing about living in downtown Sanford is our walks with our small, furry friends, Jake and Miss Lady. The four of us spend a lot of time both downtown and at Paw Park. Our favorite Sanford destination is Wondermade; we’ve never had better ice-cream in our lives, and they know us well there!

Photo by Kelly Clore with kabiki photography