MEET THE TEAM
TINA FRENCH - FOUNDER OF VJUV
Phoenix business woman Tina French is the founder of VJuv. She started her holistic health business, focusing on treating incontinence, because of her own previous health issues. As a busy environmental building inspector, Tina traveled to sites throughout Arizona and across the country. In her 50s, Tina was the picture of a healthy and physically active woman - until she developed incontinence.
At first, she attributed leakage as due to aging. But her condition worsened to the point Tina was having to look for a restroom nearly continually. Finally she couldn’t leave her home. She couldn’t do her job nor run the environmental inspection business with her husband. Their sex life was nonexistent. Tina recalls getting a respiratory illness. She stockpiled her home’s entire towel collection by her bed because every time she coughed, she would urinate uncontrollably.
Knowing she couldn’t continue to live this way, Tina began searching for every treatment option she could find. “I didn’t like anything I found,” she says. “All were invasive, or they wouldn’t solve the problem long-term, or I didn’t want to risk the side-effects.”
Surgical options included colposuspension, which involves a cut in the lower abdomen, the lifting of the bladder neck and getting the neck stitched into place. There was also no guarantee that the neck of the bladder wouldn’t droop again over time. The common side effects included pain during sex, inability to completely empty the bladder and the patient experiencing frequent urinary tract infections (UTIs). Another concern was the typical six weeks of recovery time from the surgery, though the time could be less for laparoscopic surgery, but it was still surgery.
Other surgical options include: mesh bladder slings, injections into the walls of the urethra to harden the wall (ongoing injections are required to maintain the treatment), Botox injections, (again, challenges fully emptying your bladder), augmentation cytoplasmy - enlarging the bladder (side effects – need to use a catheter to urinate) and a few others. But Tina wanted something better with fewer risks.
She researched medications to treat incontinence. Most of the medications fall into the category of anticholinergics, neurotransmitters, or a chemical messenger. And they, too, came with a whole host of side effects including: drowsiness or sedation, blurred vision, dizziness, urinary retention, confusion or delirium, hallucinations, increased heart rate and dry mouth.
“None of these were what I was looking for. And then I found it - an article about electromagnetic treatments working. I kept digging and found studies showing that the treatment worked and that it was FDA approved. It really seemed too good to be true. So, I called the manufacturer and that’s how it all started.”
Today, Tina is fully recovered and determined to offer others an affordable option for incontinence treatment.
Dr. Ernesto Gomez is a Board Certified physician and graduate of the prestigious University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (formerly the University of Colorado Medical Sciences Center). Dr. Gomez has been recognized as a Phoenix “Top Doc” and is an honored recipient of multiple Patient Choice Awards and Compassionate Doctor Awards, as well as the Colorado Obstetrics and Gynecology Award. Dr. Gomez graduated from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in 197. He works in Mesa, AZ and 8 other locations and specializes in Obstetrics & Gynecology. Dr. Gomez is affiliated with Banner Gateway Medical Center.
Dr. Gomez has served the Arizona community for over 35 years and has served as an appointed committee member of the Banner Heart Hospital Women’s Heart Center Physician Advisory Panel, the Vice-Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Dr. Gomez specializes in anti-aging evaluation and treatment, menopause therapy, weight loss therapy, non-invasive and minimally invasive body sculpting procedures, diagnosis and treatment of Interstitial Cystitis (IC), diagnosis and treatment of Stress Incontinence (surgical and non-surgical), laparoscopic surgery, gynecological surgery (minimally invasive and robotic), and bladder procedures. Dr. Gomez is now Co-Owner and Medical Director of VJuv.
DR. ERNESTO GOMEZ
ANDREA DeFABRITIS
Since 2008 Andrea has been licensed in cosmetology; working first in the hairdresser industry for many years, eventually she felt more aligned with Aesthetics and Skincare and began expanding her education and knowledge within that field. In 2019 Andrea began working as an esthetician and became dual certified in her first medical grade treatments Plasma Pen skin tightening and Radio Frequency Micro-needling. Reviving her passion for helping others she then apprenticed under a master esthetician (Joanne Stark) for a year.
As medical aesthetics became more advanced, Andrea was approached by a local company about her experience working with RF Micro-needling machines; she then became a contracted trainer for the company Aesthetics Biomedical. Traveling around the US to train new technicians on safety and protocols of the Vivace RF. Andrea is now the Co-owner and Director of Aesthetics and training for VJUV Medspa, continuing her passion and education in the practice she has dedicated herself to.
ERICA SANCHEZ
Erica Sanchez, MBA has more than 15 years in Franchise operations, sales and leadership. Erica opened her first consulting business at 29 years old called Thrive Profit engineer, as a business consultant, and a native of Phoenix, Arizona.This consulting firm assists small business owners with growing their brands and net worth. She also partnered with Franchise Creator to establish her second consulting firm in the Phoenix area, offering franchise development and helping small business scale into a successful franchise. By integrating her startup with a leading franchise consulting agency, she was able to put the onus of the work on their highly qualified team.
She currently serves as a business consultant for two nonprofit organizations—RAIL and other entrepreneur nonprofits serving the community. Before building her business, she worked as an Area Director for the franchise division of Amazing Lash Studios. While there, she focused on managing a large territory and helping new franchise owners with starting their businesses. She also worried for other Franchise companies as Elements Massage & Massage envy in the sales and operations division. Erica is now co-owner of VJuv Medspa and is Chief operating officer & Franchise developer for Vjuv corporate and franchise division.