Women's Tribute: Donna Waddell

On a typical day at Waddell Clinic Primary Care & Aesthetics, Donna Waddell might treat a longtime primary care patient in the morning and perform cosmetic injections in the afternoon. Both services, she says, are ways she can help people feel healthy and confident in their own skin.
Waddell opened Waddell Clinic Primary Care & Aesthetics in Henry in March 2024. She estimates about 75 percent of her patients visit for primary care, while about 25 percent see her for aesthetic services.

Many of those primary care patients have been seeing her for years, dating back to when she worked with Dr. Pagoaga in McKenzie.

Waddell grew up in McKenzie and graduated from McKenzie High School in 1987. She then attended Bethel College, earning a degree in chemistry with a minor in biology in 1991.

She returned to school soon after and earned her nursing degree from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis in 1993.

Her first job was in the surgical intensive care unit at Jackson General Hospital. The position meant long drives from McKenzie and overnight shifts.

After the birth of her first child, Dalton, in 1994, she switched to a more flexible schedule that allowed her to work when needed while spending more time at home with her family.

Several years later, she returned to school again, earning her master’s degree from Union University in 2008 and becoming a nurse practitioner.

She began practicing in McKenzie in 2009, working with Dr. Pagoaga at the hospital clinic. After the hospital closed, she continued working in local clinics, including McKenzie Medical Center and later Christian Family Medicine.

At McKenzie Medical Center, Dr. Volker Winkler and Dr. Terry Colotta asked whether there were additional services she could provide that might bring in more patients.

“I said, ‘Well, I would love to do Botox and lip filler,’” she said.

She completed hands-on training in Nashville and began offering injectable treatments at McKenzie Medical Center. When she joined Christian Family Medicine, which was classified as a Rural Health Clinic, she was unable to continue providing injectable treatments through the clinic. She instead hosted Botox parties at her and her husband’s event space, the Venue at Waddell Place.

After more than a decade practicing in McKenzie, Waddell decided she wanted more control over how she practiced medicine.

That led her to Henry, where she opened Waddell Clinic Primary Care & Aesthetics just minutes from her home.

While the clinic provides routine medical care, Waddell has also continued offering aesthetic services.

“I like making other women feel better about themselves,” she said. “Now that has carried over into this business where I do Botox and lip filler and try to help people feel like they look better.”

She said her goal is not to provide dramatic or obvious cosmetic work, but to provide subtle changes that improve someone’s confidence.

“I don’t want people to look at you and say, ‘Oh, you had your lips done,’” Waddell said. “I want people to look at you and say, ‘Oh, you’re so pretty.’”

Her interest in helping women feel confident about their appearance goes back years before she began offering injectables. For a long time, Waddell was involved with Mary Kay cosmetics, eventually becoming a sales director and earning the company’s well-known pink Cadillac.

Waddell said feeling good about appearance can affect more than just how someone looks.

“How you look affects your self-esteem,” she said. “It affects how you communicate with other people, too… If you feel better about yourself, you can be a better mom, you can be a better wife, you can be a better whatever.”

Outside of medicine, Waddell and her husband, Ronnie, also operate The Venue at Waddell Place, a wedding and event venue on their property. The venue space on Joy Sparks Road includes a rustic, Amish-built barn and a white chapel.

The couple built the venue in 2016 after their son Dalton’s wedding revealed some things Waddell felt could be improved upon at similar venues.

The venue hosted its first event that same year — McKenzie High School’s prom — and it has since been a popular space for weddings and other gatherings.

For Waddell, the venue offers another way to be part of important moments in people’s lives.

“It’s fun meeting the different brides and seeing the different ways that people decorate,” she said. “I’ve met so many people over the years doing that. That’s the most fun part — just seeing other people’s vision come to life.”

Asked about her biggest achievement, she points first to her family. She and Ronnie have three children — Dalton, Brittany and Lucas — and several grandchildren.

Professionally, though, opening her own clinic stands out.

“I’m glad I did it,” Waddell said. “Looking back, I should have done it years ago.”

Waddell Clinic Primary Care & Aesthetics serves all ages from newborn to geriatric, providing primary care services including routine check-ups, management of chronic conditions (diabetes, hypertension, ADHD, depression, etc), treatment for acute illnesses (flu, strep, Covid, UTI’s, etc), women’s health, weight management, DOT physicals, telehealth and minor injuries (sprains, lacerations, etc). The clinic also has an onsite x-ray.

On the aesthetics side, the clinic carries ZO medical-grade skin care products and provides treatments such as facials, Hydrafacials, Botox, dermal fillers, RF microneedling, laser hair removal and other skin rejuvenation procedures.

Waddell Clinic Primary Care & Aesthetics, located at 9785 Highway 79 South in Henry, Tenn., is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and is closed on major holidays.