Building SQT Australia: How Renée Altakrity Turned a Gap in the Market Into a National Education Brand
When Renée Altakrity started her career in cosmetic tattooing, she wasn’t planning to build a national skin treatment and education brand. But looking back, the path makes sense. In a recent episode of the Aesthetic Business Masters Podcast, Renée told host Nicole Montgomery that while her entry into aesthetics wasn’t mapped out from day one, one thing always was: she knew she’d end up building something meaningful and leading others toward success.
Today, Renée is the founder and master educator of SQT Australia, a bio micro needling education brand now used by more than 650 clinics across the country. Her conversation with Nicole covers the science behind the treatment, the business philosophy that shaped it, and the personal resilience it took to get there.
From Cosmetic Tattooing to Skin Health
Renée’s foundation in cosmetic tattooing gave her more than technical skill. It taught her how to manage client expectations, hold consultations that mattered, and understand what she describes as the emotional side of transformation.
“People aren’t just coming to us for a treatment,” she told Nicole. “They’re coming to us because they want to feel better about themselves.”
That insight was reinforced by her own experience with acne as a teenager. Living with the emotional toll of a skin condition, she says, built a deeper empathy for clients and shaped the direction her career would eventually take.
A Gap in the Market
Before founding SQT Australia, Renée says she found herself frustrated by an industry that often treated symptoms rather than causes, layered with conflicting information and, in her words, plenty of promises. She saw products being sold without adequate education or genuine partnership with the clinics using them, and results that were, at times, underwhelming.
“I wanted to build something bigger than just a treatment,” she said. “I wanted to create a community where practitioners felt supported and confident in what they were doing.”
That vision became SQT Australia, a name built around the words spirited, quintessential and transcend, paired with a hummingbird motif that Renée says resonates strongly with the clinics she works with.
What Is Bio Micro Needling?
Central to SQT Australia’s offering is bio micro needling, a treatment that differs from traditional needling in both method and mechanism. Rather than mechanical needles, the treatment uses naturally derived spicules — biological structures extracted from freshwater sponges grown in a marine lake within a national park environment. The spicules are dried in a vertical drying oven for around 60 hours before being carefully extracted and prepared for use.
According to Renée, the treatment creates an estimated three million micro-channels in the skin, compared with roughly 200,000 achievable with traditional needling methods, including medical-grade devices. The spicules are pressed into the skin by hand over approximately 15 minutes and remain active for a stimulation window of around 72 hours.
“It’s like micro needling on steroids,” Renée said, “but it’s liquid micro needling — no device, no mechanical needles.”
Because the spicules have a hollow, mesh-like structure, Renée explains they also act as a delivery mechanism, helping active ingredients from take-home serums absorb more effectively into deeper layers of the skin during the recovery window.
Comfort, Recovery and Suitability
One of the points Renée was keen to clarify is that bio micro needling is designed to be more comfortable during treatment than traditional needling, with most clients reporting discomfort at around two to three out of ten. There is, however, some post-treatment sensation — Renée describes a mild warmth or “sunburnt” feeling as the 72-hour regeneration window progresses.
She also noted that the treatment can be used across all Fitzpatrick skin types and a broad range of skin conditions, including on clients with active acne who may not be suitable candidates for traditional needling until their skin barrier has been repaired.
Renée referenced clinical measurement data from one of SQT Australia’s partner doctors in Poland, which recorded an 8.1 percent increase in dermal thickness after three bio micro needling sessions — a finding she says she has noticed personally through her own regular anti-wrinkle treatments, where her practitioner commented on the increased resistance felt during injection.
(Note for editorial team: this is a single practitioner-reported measurement referenced anecdotally in the interview, not a published, peer-reviewed clinical trial. Recommend framing this as “reported” rather than an established clinical claim, and adding a general disclaimer that individual results vary.)
Education as the Foundation, Not an Add-On
Throughout the conversation, Renée returned repeatedly to the idea that education, and specifically ongoing education, is what separates a treatment protocol from a successful business.
“Many practitioners attend a course, receive a certificate, and then they’re left on their own,” she said, describing what she sees as the biggest gap in industry education more broadly.
SQT Australia’s onboarding process runs in three phases: self-paced access to a training portal with workbooks and instructional video content, practical hands-on training either online or in person, and ongoing support, including monthly Zoom sessions and bi-monthly meetings on specific skin topics such as acne, pigmentation, ageing and menopausal skin.
Renée also pointed to the brand’s approach to ordering, with no forced minimum monthly commitments, as a deliberate decision to let clinics move at their own pace rather than being locked into supplier-driven targets.
Innovation Versus Trends
Asked how she distinguishes real innovation from short-lived trends, Renée offered a simple filter: is there science behind it, can practitioners achieve consistent results, and will it still be relevant in five years’ time?
“Innovation solves a problem,” she said. “Trends create temporary excitement. The two aren’t always the same thing.”
It’s a philosophy shaped in part by watching other clinic owners invest heavily in devices that ultimately didn’t deliver a return — a scenario Renée says she has witnessed more than once, including clinics still paying off equipment that isn’t generating income.
Balancing Business and Family
Renée is also a mother of three, and she was candid about what balancing business leadership and family life actually looks like.
“Balance shouldn’t be about perfection,” she said. “It’s about priorities.” She credits strong systems, delegation and clear boundaries — alongside, notably, an ordinary notepad and pencil rather than digital tools — for helping her manage both a growing national business and her family life.
Advice for Aspiring Founders
For practitioners considering starting their own business or brand, Renée’s advice was direct: believe in yourself, and don’t wait until you feel ready.
“You don’t need permission. You don’t need to have all the answers right then and there,” she said. “Life’s no dress rehearsal. We only get one shot.”
Renée sees the aesthetics industry moving toward a stronger focus on skin health, regenerative approaches, higher education standards and more informed, discerning clients. She also pointed to the growing role of technology and artificial intelligence in supporting clinics, an area she says she only began exploring a few months ago.
As for what success looks like to her personally, Renée was clear it isn’t a finish line. “I will never feel there,” she said. “Success means knowing we’ve created a long-lasting legacy — one built on integrity and excellence.”
SQT Australia will be exhibiting at this year’s Beauty Expo for the fourth consecutive year, with molecular biologist Camille Szymanski of Phoenix Biomedical (Ireland) presenting on the science of spicules on the main educational stage.
Listen to the full conversation on the Aesthetic Business Masters Podcast: https://aestheticbusinessmasters.com.au/podcast/
