WOMEN IN AESTHETIC MEDICINE
KNOW YOUR WORTH
Are you one of the many women in aesthetics who struggle to charge their true value? If so, you are not alone
writes Vicky Eldridge
If there’s one conversation that keeps surfacing among women in aesthetic medicine, it’s the discomfort many of us feel around pricing and assigning a monetary value to the services we provide.
We’ve all had those clients who want to pay the least and expect the most, so we know that nothing is more draining to our sense of self-worth than feeling undervalued. Yet, many of us frequently undervalue ourselves by undercharging for the work we do or feeling fearful about “owning” our prices.
MONEY TALKS
It’s estimated that 78% of practitioners in the UK’s aesthetics sector are female1 , a figure that rises to 86% when you include the beauty and wellbeing side of the market.2 With the sector now valued at £3.2 billion3 and showing an impressive 8.4% annual growth rate, women are making huge financial contributions to the economy. So why do many of us still find it so hard to talk about money?
Whether it is accepting less than our male counterparts for speaking or training roles, avoiding putting prices up or undercharging for treatments, many of us shy away from conversations about pricing out of fear that asking for our true worth will seem greedy, or worse, drive business away.
MIND THE GAP
It’s hard to believe that in 2025, a gender pay gap still exists, but it does. While progress has been made – the UK now records one of the lowest gender pay gaps since mandatory reporting began in 20174 – the imbalance persists.
In England, female hospital doctors earn on average 18.9% less than men when measured by full-time equivalent mean pay5, while female GPs earn 15.3% less than their male peers. In addition, a joint report from the World Health Organisation and the International Labour Organisation published in 2022 revealed that, globally, women in healthcare earn 24% less than men.6
And aesthetics is not immune. Female plastic surgeons reportedly earn around 11% less than their male counterparts, despite similar qualifications, experience, and caseloads.7
While the gap may be less visible when it comes to private practice, where many women are successful business owners, that doesn’t make the impact of it any less real. In fact, its presence may be manifesting in the subtle ways women undervalue their time, hesitate to raise prices, or accept unpaid emotional labour as part of the job.
As Dr Mayoni Gooneratne, founder of Human Health and member of the Women in Aesthetic Medicine (WIAM) board, notes, “If we want to close the gap, we have to start by valuing our own contribution and stop apologising for earning well.”
THE “GOOD GIRL” HANGOVER
Studies consistently show that women are more likely than men to underprice their services, hesitate in negotiations, or apologise when discussing money. In one 2025 survey by AllWork, 60% of female professionals said they knowingly charged less than competitors for equivalent work, not because they lacked skill, but because they feared rejection or self-doubt.8
As Hello Media notes, many women internalise the belief that being helpful is more important than being fairly compensated. It’s the “good girl” hangover.
We have been taught from an early age that being liked matters more than being assertive about our needs. Good girls say “yes”. They nurture, not negotiate.9
In aesthetic medicine, that dynamic is amplified. Practitioners are not only clinicians but also entrepreneurs, and the industry’s patient-facing, service-driven nature often rewards “pleasing” behaviour. This means the line between caring and over-giving is easily blurred.
WHEN PURPOSE MEETS PRICING
While men are more likely to approach clinic growth through a commercial lens, women often balance it with a sense of service, empathy, and patient care, qualities that, ironically, are priceless but too often underpaid.
Dr Gooneratne says, “Many women in our field come from a place of deep purpose. We care about people. We want to make a difference. But sometimes that sense of service makes it hard to separate value from validation.
“I see incredibly skilled women who have invested thousands in training and professional development, yet still feel guilty about charging properly for their time. One of the hardest things as a woman for me has been really standing up for my worth and knowing what I bring to the table. Not so much with patients and clients, but more in other roles I’m turning up in.”
THE HIDDEN COSTS OF UNDERCHARGING
So what is the harm in undercharging? In reality, undervaluing your services doesn’t just hurt your bottom line; it can leave you feeling exhausted, resentful, and financially strained. It may also seep through to your patients, who may subconsciously equate low prices with lower quality.
REFRAMING YOUR WORTH
So how do we begin to change this narrative? Dr Gooneratne suggests starting with self-awareness. “Undercharging is where self-doubt shows up in your business model. It’s a mirror”, she says. “Once you see that, you can start to change it. Ask yourself why you feel uncomfortable around money. Whose voice is that – yours, or something you’ve absorbed from the culture around you? Then, look at the evidence: your qualifications, your patient results, your reviews. Anchor your pricing in facts, not feelings.”
She also emphasises the importance of standing up for yourself and having boundaries. “Something I’ve got better at is really standing my ground. There’s this concept of detaching yourself from difficult people, personalities and poor-paying clients, and that has really stood me in good stead. When women charge their worth, it doesn’t just elevate their own business; it raises the standard for the entire profession.”
So the next time you hesitate to quote your prices, remember: you’re not charging for the 30-minute appointment, you’re charging for the years of education, time away from your family, and passion you have poured into building your business and making you the practitioner you are today. And that is worth every penny.