THE IDEA BEHIND
iAM Center
The idea of IAM Center was a dream of Michelle Brown and Amaris Murphy’s for years. Though they never knew when or how they would do it, they both felt a strong pull to go against the grain and provide something different in the medical industry that would fulfill an unmet need they saw in so many women.
Today, as the owners of IAM Center for Integrative Aesthetic Medicine, a medical aesthetic and wellness clinic, Michelle and Amaris are able to use their background as nurse practitioners to help women heal from the inside out. They provide natural anti-aging solutions such as hormone optimization that will work with your body to heal and rejuvenate. This includes hormone optimization, peptide therapy, menopause treatment, nutraceuticals, sexual health, gut health, and a balanced thyroid. They also continue to offer a wide variety of aesthetic services including wrinkle smoothing neurotoxins, Sculptra, fillers, collagen induction services, and much more.
A women-owned and veteran-owned company, the two have been in the women’s health and aesthetics industry for a combined 23 years. Amaris has a background in plastic surgery, medical aesthetics, and women’s health. She is also a Certified Aesthetic Nurse Specialist and a national trainer for Allergan and Galderma. Michelle’s background spans business, plastic surgery, women’s health and the field of medical aesthetics.
A TREND OF
Forgotten Women
In the work Michelle and Amaris did in medical aesthetics, they noticed a pattern. Many women were coming to them, struggling and desperately looking for answers. They were regularly hearing complaints of fatigue, exhaustion, and low sex drive and their clients needed answers for their symptoms of perimenopause, menopause, hormone, and thyroid problems.
Their focus was on helping women look better, but there wasn’t any time left to help them feel better. And because their symptoms didn’t lead to a big source of revenue, there wasn’t much out there available to help them.
Michelle and Amaris realized their patients needed more than they could offer them. Despite the fact that they had worked in OB-GYN clinics and had been nurses for a very long time, their hands were tied. At the time, the focus of the clinic they worked at was only on anti-aging injectables and medical aesthetics. Though they strongly believed in the efficacy of these products and services, they wanted to offer more. The only way they could combine medical aesthetics, while also meeting the needs of women struggling with perimenopause and menopause, was by opening up their own medical wellness practice.
So that’s what they decided to do.
“We couldn’t stop talking about it and dreaming about how to make it a reality. We were passionate about carving out a path for all these forgotten women,” Michelle said.
“It was a merging of two worlds—a little on the medical side, and a little on the naturopathic side,” Amaris added.
Offering a balanced approach was important to them—one that didn’t overdo the pharmaceutical side on the medical end, or the supplement side on the naturopathic end.
After some very serendipitous events that happened in their lives, Michelle and Amaris realized it was time to take the leap, and they opened their doors and started seeing their first patients in November 2022. They say it was one of the best decisions they ever made.
Now, as the owners of IAM Center, they no longer have to focus on only one component of women’s health, but they’re able to focus on each patient as a whole person. They’re helping them feel beautiful and energized from the inside out. And it’s not about what brings in more money.
“To us, it’s about relationships and taking care of people, and giving women their lives back,” Michelle says.
Also, because the two are continually wanting to improve and offer more to their clients, they’re committed to ongoing education in their field. They both have advanced training in Allergan and Galderma anti-aging dermal fillers, and they’re members of AmSpa and the American Academy for Anti-Aging.
Michelle has two boys and Amaris has three. In their spare time, they both enjoy spending time in the outdoors of the Great Northwest with their families. That often means gravel riding, hiking, trail running, skiing, and boating.
The IAM Center combines the world of anti-aging science with treating and healing the whole person through medical aesthetic treatments.
Hours: Monday – Friday 9:00am – 5:00pm