Looking for state-of-the-art treatments that can boost wellness, restore energy, and even raise your confidence? Downtown Leesburg’s Loop Wellness Clinic and Refined Aesthetics have a uniquely collaborative solution for that. Upstairs, Refined Aesthetics owner Sarah Safa, MS, PA-C, helps clients look their best through her medical aesthetics practice. Downstairs, Loop Wellness Clinic owner Monica Unni, PA-C, applies personalized treatments like bioidentical hormone therapy to help them feel their best through her wellness practice. Though the businesses serve both men and women, Unni and Safa’s holistic approach to women's health, in particular, has helped them make a name for themselves.
A Friendship Built to Last
Safa and Unni’s story began more than two decades ago in physician assistant school, where their similar approaches to healthcare helped create an immediate connection.
After graduation, their careers initially took different paths. Unni pursued emergency medicine, while Safa entered plastic and reconstructive surgery. But their ongoing personal and professional dialogue would eventually lead to them finding complementary businesses serving Leesburg.
The Birth of Two Businesses
Safa was among the first physician assistants in the country to launch her own medical spa. “I served as a national educator, providing advanced training to physicians and mid-level practitioners across the country in aesthetic procedures,” explained Safa, who has taught more than 6,000 medical providers during her career. “Physicians often turned to me for clinical support, and it became clear to me that I had the expertise to create something of my own—where patient care, safety and outcomes would always come first.”
The ultimate result was Refined Aesthetics. For years after going out on her own, Safa encouraged Unni to pursue her own practice, recognizing her friend's talent for both medicine and the human touch.
Prior to opening Loop Wellness, Unni spent 17 years in emergency medicine but had begun to feel a growing desire to strike out on her own, partly because she enjoyed connecting with patients. In the hectic ER, Unni recalled, "I was the one that spent more time in the room with the patients. The patients would ask, 'Do you have a private practice? Can you see me independently?'"
Safa's support played a crucial role in giving Unni the confidence to take the leap. "Without Sarah, I never would have truly ventured out and considered pursuing something independently," Unni said. "For those last 10 years in the ER, her encouragement resonated: 'You need to branch out. You have a voice.'"
A Natural Partnership
The businesses' proximity was no accident. When Unni decided to focus on bioidentical hormone therapy—which uses hormones that are identical on a molecular level to those produced by the human body—Safa immediately saw a link to her own practice. Bioidentical hormone therapy can help with hormonal imbalance issues, such as those that some women experience around menopause.
"I remember saying to Monica, 'You do realize almost every single person in my chair complains about this, right?'" Safa recalled telling Unni. "'I probably see 30 women a day, easily. And this is something I cannot help people with. I can help them look better, I can give them confidence on the outside, but you are literally going to be the person to fix their inside.'"
The idea to locate in the same building came naturally. "It's so convenient," Safa said. "Patients can come to one place and get taken care of, whether they're upstairs or downstairs."
Complementary Services
At Loop Wellness, hormone therapy for both women and men remains the core, said Unni, a certified Biote®Legacy Partner. Her practice also includes medically guided weight-loss and body sculpting treatments, incorporating functional wellness to reduce inflammation and support recovery from acute injuries or surgery. Unni offers NAD+ shots, personally curated nutrition programs, inflammatory food testing and IV vitamin therapy, as well. “That really helps just with whole body wellness,” said Unni. “It can boost your immune system, help with rebound, recovery and muscle stamina.”
Upstairs, Safa concentrates on aesthetics. "We try to create a beautiful outward outcome for patients," Safa said, noting that Refined Aesthetics’ philosophy isn’t about making everyone conform to a single look or beauty standard. “We always say that we are here to help patients Experience Beautiful™—it is our motto.” Services include skincare treatments, laser therapy, injectables like Botox, and facial fillers, all with an emphasis on natural-looking results.
“We do a lot of balancing involving skincare, rejuvenation, trying to make patients feel more youthful and giving them more of their natural look—so building in that confidence by making them feel better about their aging process,” Safa explained. “We have a lot of therapeutic skincare that helps nourish and provide nutrients for their skin.”
The crossover between the businesses happens organically. "It ended up being, quite honestly, the best whole-health encompassed care that we could offer to our mutual patients," Safa said. Clients often move between the two practices, with Safa referring patients experiencing hormonal issues to Unni, and Unni's patients venturing upstairs for aesthetic treatments.
More Than Skin Deep
Both women emphasize that their approach also fosters a deep trust that starts with simply listening to patients’ needs.
"You can empower somebody just by listening to them," Unni noted. "If you can just address what their bottom-line issues are and listen to them and provide them guidance, that in itself empowers them."
For Safa, success isn't measured by compliments about how good her clients look. "I tell my patients that the best compliment they can give me is not that somebody told them how good they looked, but when they tell someone, 'Go see Sarah, she will take care of you.'"
Both practitioners pride themselves on staying at the forefront of their fields through continuous education and research. "We are research fanatics," Safa said. "We are both neurotic about what we believe in, and we want to see the best results. We want to offer the best treatments for our patients."
Asked what they want for women, both say they hope to inspire happiness and confidence in their patients. "If you wake up every single morning and you're happy when your eyes open, but the minute you roll out of bed, you can feel your weight and that pulls you down, that screams unhappiness," Unni said.
Safa agrees. "I just want them to wake up thinking, 'Today is going to be a good day,'” she said. “Especially living in Northern Virginia, we're just so caught up in the daily grind and looking ahead and worrying about tomorrow that we never enjoy today."
Through their collaborative careers and enduring friendship, Safa and Unni are helping more women in their community find that balance—looking good, feeling good, and facing each day with a sense of confidence.
"I can help them look better, I can give them confidence on the outside, but you are literally going to be the person to fix their inside,'" Safa told Unni.
Unni and Safa say they hope to inspire happiness and confidence in their patients.