Sonya Ellis, APRN, CPSN, CANS, ISPAN-F

Sonya M. Ellis has spent nearly three decades in plastic surgery and aesthetics — almost twenty of them as an injector. She is the co-founder, lead injector and head trainer at The L.A.B., an award-winning med spa in Southlake, Texas, and one of only two nurses in the state of Texas to hold certification in both Aesthetics and Plastic Surgery.

Her career began in 1998 as a nurse's aide while she worked her way through nursing school. In the years since, she has trained with some of the most respected plastic surgeons and dermatologists in the world and used that education to develop her own techniques and her own approach to consultation.

That consultation is where every patient relationship starts. Sonya covers the full picture — skincare, neuromodulators, dermal fillers and resurfacing — and answers every cosmetic question a patient brings her before recommending a single treatment.

Together, they prioritize concerns and build a plan around the patient's skin type, what's bothering them now, and what they want for their skin years from now.

Her approach is deliberately conservative: natural-looking results, delivered with an artistic eye. Her goal for every patient is the safest, most results-oriented, longest-lasting and most cost-effective treatment available — which is a large part of why so many of her patients have been with her for years.

Sonya is proficient in every dermal filler and neuromodulator currently on the market, trained on numerous laser and skincare devices, and well-versed in skincare ingredients and formulation.

Her plastic surgery background adds a layer most injectors don't have: she also works as an OR circulator and recovery room nurse and handles pre- and post-operative appointments for plastic surgery patients.

That range means she can recommend or refer with real confidence — whether it's a surgical consultation, a laser treatment, or simply a different neuromodulator or filler better suited to the patient in front of her. She works under the direction of Medical Director Stephen R. Ellis, MD, and Dr. Jesse Smith, MD, FACS.

Teaching, Mentoring and Service is the other half of her practice. Sonya has been a certified trainer for most of the top aesthetic manufacturers, lectures at numerous aesthetic conferences, has served as Aesthetic Chair for the International Society of Plastic Surgery and Aesthetic Nursing Education Committee, and now sits on its Board of Directors as the Aesthetic Chair. Her hard work has not gone unnoticed.

Over the years, Sonya and the L.A.B. have collected a steady run of awards — Best Med Spa, Best Injector and Most Loved Injector among them — along with top-tier status from several aesthetic manufacturers.

She has been named one of AmSpa's Distinguished Women in Aesthetic Leadership and recognized as a Master Injector by the Foundation for Aesthetic Medical Excellence, and she is a regular guest and feature in industry magazines and podcasts.

She teaches private and group advanced technique classes to physicians, PAs and fellow nurse injectors in her state-of-the-art training facility 15 minutes from DFW Airport and runs one of the only FREE mentorship programs for injectors in the United States.

She is an active member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, the American Nurses Association, the International Society of Plastic Surgery and Aesthetic Nursing and the Texas Association of Aesthetic Nurses.

Outside the practice, Sonya and her husband, Dr. Stephen Ellis — together since 1998 — travel as often as they can and spend as much time as possible with their 26-year-old son (Cade), 90lb Giant Schnauzer Kaiser, family and friends.