PS Salon & Spa was founded in 2008 to transform the typical senior community “beauty shop” in a professional salon and spa experience. For the past 11 years the company has experienced consistent growth thanks to the unwavering commitment they have to their customers. There are currently more than 900 PS locations in 37 states with 1,600 employees who, as of January 2019, have performed 5 million salon and spa services for senior community residents. According to PS CEO and Co-Founder John Polatz, the company’s culture is rooted in their core values of People, Empathy and Respect, and their success can be attributed to the meaningful relationships they have built with families and residents alike: “The biggest lesson we have learned is to know exactly who your customer is and develop your model accordingly. If the customer isn’t happy or doesn’t feel connected to your product, you cannot succeed.”

PS is also a believer in the power of partnerships to drive growth and establish trust. In January 2018, they partnered with Paul Mitchell, the global and highly-respected hair care company. Both companies realized that their values were aligned and that they shared a four decade relationship with this demographic. Paul Mitchell grew in popularity in the early 1980s, and some of those original Paul Mitchell customers are 70-80 years old and customers of PS today. When those customers are searching for a trusted brand name, Paul Mitchell comes to mind and so PS can reassure customers that the products PS uses and the training PS professionals receive are coming from the brand they have trusted for decades. 

One of the company’s priorities is to provide the highest-quality service to their customers which includes older adult residents in independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing and memory care settings. PS is uniquely positioned to reach both the resident customer as well as the family member and loved ones of that older adult by engaging in a dialogue with those individuals about authorization of salon services, especially when a resident may be experiencing cognitive decline that prevents them from expressing their preferences. Furthermore, PS took another step toward facilitating engagement between residents and families launching this year their revolutionary “PS Celebration Accounts”, which allow loved ones to be a direct participant in the resident’s salon service by providing an avenue for contributing money toward their experience. Family members and loved ones can go to the PS website and contribute money to a resident’s salon account and receive a digital message when the funds are used. This satisfies a longing in family members to find a way to connect with the resident when they don’t live nearby or don’t have the time to visit as often as they’d like. There are now thousands of family members who have peace of mind by using this feature which is more than just a practical transaction solution but a way to connect families to residents emotionally and culturally in a convenient way.

There are new opportunities for innovation and growth in the field that PS is currently pursing. The company has started to build partnerships with resident engagement technology solutions for senior communities so that PS is listed as a service and connection point on those platforms. Technology adoption isn’t always strong in senior communities, so offering a way for a resident to access their PS account and manage their salon services digitally can help increase user engagement for the resident engagement technologies. In the near future, PS plans evaluation opportunities to expand Celebration Accounts to include more than just PS salon services and products. Eventually the accounts may allow family members to buy other types of products and services of interest to residents in a digital marketplace where PS acts as an affiliate or direct representative for other product solutions in this space.