A salon that was born to fulfill the needs of people with textured hair and make them feel satisfied when going to the salon for their hair care desires continues to thrive, and the reason might be the intentionality behind the business.
“I had a lot of really terrible salon experiences throughout my life,” said Piersten Gaines, founder and owner of Pressed Roots, in an interview with Fortune.
After recognizing that this experience isn’t the same for patrons of hair businesses like Drybar, a chain of blow dry bars, Gaines reflected on her relationship with getting her hair done. She wanted to ensure that people who looked like her could afford to receive quality treatment.
“When I learned about these blowout bars where people could just walk in and trust that no matter whose chair they sat in, they were in good hands – I had never had any experience like that,” she continued.
After pitching the concept of Pressed Roots to investor Kevin O’Leary from the famous “Shark Tank” series during a class presentation, Gaines received good feedback. She decided to take the idea from a project into reality.
From there, in 2018, Pressed Roots was born. However, before it landed its first of three brick-and-mortar locations, Gaines and her team tested the model with popups.
“It just made sense to me that if we could do the same thing for people with textured hair, it would be a really great business model,” said Gaines to the outlet.
Today, Pressed Roots has raised $3.1 million in funding, and notable investors include tennis superstar Naomi Osaka, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz’s Schultz Family Foundation, the Slauson & Co. firm, and others.
For the company, honing in on its key audience is a testament to its success.
“People weren’t going to get their hair done [during COVID],” Gaines explained to Fortune. “But our demographic was. Even if they don’t have anywhere to go, this demographic needs to get their hair done. What resonated with [investors] was that this demographic shows up, and they spend a lot of money.”
With specialization in the silk blowout, Pressed Roots offers its consumers the service for $75.
What’s more, hairstylists don’t become contractors for the company in the traditional way. Instead, they receive training from a program developed by the chain and work as brand employees.
“We spend a lot of money, a lot of time in salons, and the level of services just do not match the money we’re spending,” Gaines told the outlet. “Our goal is to make quality hair care accessible.”
Pressed Roots is now available across three locations in and around the Dallas, TX, community.
