Wakefield Woman Follows Mom's Career Path

By Maureen Mullen

Lauren Andreottola, of Wakefield, didn’t plan to follow her mother into the family business. A graduate of UMass Lowell, she had other plans for her degrees in psychology, criminal justice and legal studies.

But she did follow her mother and found she gets to use that knowledge every day.

“I saw that my Mom was really helping people,” Andreottola said. “And that’s what I wanted to do. I went to college to help people, and this is doing that, but just in a different way.”

“This” is the business her mother, Loretta Andreottola of Reading, established three decades ago. Loretta Andreottola was a nurse for more than a decade at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. But with two young children at that time, the single mother made the difficult decision to leave nursing to be closer to home. She opened an electrolysis practice in the basement of her Reading home in the early 1980s.

“It was a little scary at the time,” Loretta Andreottola said. “I didn’t know many women who owned their own business, so I didn’t really have any mentors. But I really wanted to be closer to home for my kids.”

In 1998, Andreottola, who has maintained her nursing licensure and is also a registered electrologist (RE) and member of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery (ASLMS), opened LaserCare Cosmetic Centers, offering various skin-care treatments from basic facials to liposuction and is one of the first clinicians to offer cosmetic laser services. She began offering Botox and cosmetic facial injections in 2002 when the FDA first approved their cosmetic use.
The business has expanded to two locations -- 2 Haven St. in downtown Reading and 1018 Beacon St. in Brookline.

Best of all, it is now a family business. Those young kids who prompted her to start her own business are now part of it. Lauren Andreottola and her sister Lindsay Brown, of North Reading, manage the Brookline office while their mom manages the Reading location.

“My mom really paved the way for us,” said Brown, a licensed medical esthetician (LME) and certified laser technician (CLT). “I know she was nervous when she first started out on her own, but I always saw her as being successful. So, I never had that kind of worry about going into business or running a business. But, I couldn’t have done it without her.”

“We’re together a lot. I mean, a lot” said Lauren Andreottola (LME, CLT) with a laugh. “But it’s very easy.”

And, with young children of their own now, it’s important for them to be available for their kids.
“We have to be available for our clients, of course,” Brown said. “But if I have something going on with the kids, I know my mom or my sister can cover for me at the office.”

“It’s really been the best of both worlds,” said Lauren Andreottola.

Mom Loretta offers advice for those who may be thinking of a similar career path.

“It can be scary,” Loretta said. “But you have to trust yourself and your skills. I can’t tell you how glad I am I took the chance.”

For more information, visit lasercarecenters.com or call (781) 942-1613 or (617) 738-1613. Maureen Mullen can be reached at mullen_maureen@yahoo.com.