On-demand stylist app brings the salon to your door, books gigs for beauty professionals  

The luxury of on-demand salon services in the convenience of your own home is now available to the Kansas City community, Ruth Shrauner shared.

The Poshed On The Go app officially launched July 18 after a “wild, awesome, crazy ride” of a year for the Shawnee-based founder and CEO and her team.

“Exciting, surreal, scary, all of the feels,” Shrauner said of the rollercoaster of emotions accompanying the app’s big debut. “A long time coming, that’s for sure.”

Poshed On The Go allows users to find and schedule salon providers to come to them, either on-demand or by appointment with services for hair, nails, skincare, massage, spray tans, and lashes.

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Shrauner shared a message she received from one Kansas City woman who used the app to get a pedicure. She told Shrauner the app “is everything,” because with her two children and busy career, she typically doesn’t have time.

“It was good to know the need is there,” said the former wellness and women’s business coach. “People typically don’t try to understand all the things especially women are juggling in life — kids, career, friendships, travels. So to be able to give them their time back and allow them to use their time with people that they love instead of in the car traveling to a salon, it changes everything. It really allows them to have control over their schedule.”

Poshed on the Go app

In celebration of the launch and to welcome new clients, Poshed is offering $15 off services booked before Aug. 1 (the appointments can be after that date; just add Poshed KC in the notes when booking); the timing could come in especially handy as back-to-school preparations are being made, Shrauner said.

“That’s one area we were kind of surprised to see that was so popular was kids and parent haircuts together,” she added. “So instead of loading everyone up, just having the hair stylist come to you, that convenience is huge for busy moms and dads and families.”

It’s innovative for the beauty industry, Shrauner noted, not only because of the convenience for clients, but also because they are empowering beauty professionals, who won’t have to rent a booth, split commissions, or follow a set schedule.

“As the app’s built out — and as it becomes more mainstream and popular — it’s really giving beauty professionals this lucrative and flexible lifestyle that they really don’t have access to right now and allows them to make more money on their own terms,” she explained. “Ninety percent of the beauty industry is female, so really where we want to see this impact is allowing women to have the career that they desire and then also have the lifestyle that they desire.”

“We’re also helping to shift how clients and customers view their own beauty professional as an entrepreneur,” added Kathleen Livingston, director of business operations. “And it’s really exciting to see that our clients are already acknowledging that because our average tip is over 25 percent for professionals. So that’s really exciting to see.”

It’s been exciting to see the positive traction Poshed On The Go has gained through beta testing, the soft launch, and now the hard launch, Shrauner said, especially in regards to revenue and the amount the startup has been able to pay out to beauty professionals.

“We’re here to empower those individuals, so to see the amount of money that we’re helping generate in this industry has been super exciting to us,” she continued. “It’s just one sign that we’re on the right track. And there’s many, many, many more people — beauty professionals and in-home clients — we can serve to help improve their lives.”

Ian Worrell, NXTUS, Kathleen Livingston, Poshed On the Go, and Amber Dunn, NXTUS, at the graduation for the NXTSTAGE Customer Traction Cohort; photo courtesy of NXTUS

The past year has meant months of learning, said Shrauner — who participated in Digital Sandbox KC, the K-State Center for Entrepreneurship Accelerator program, Dolphin Tank, and the NTXSTAGE Customer Traction cohort — as this is her first venture in building a company from the ground up.

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Ruth Shrauner, Poshed On The Go

“We’re drinking from the fire hose over here, truly,” she explained. “We have immersed ourselves into learning things about going to market, finding our ideal client. And we’re still learning through all of that. The Kansas City community has been amazing in those efforts in regards to educational opportunities, grant opportunities, funding opportunities. We’re very thankful for that.”

“But it has been a wild, awesome, crazy ride,” she continued. “And we’re just very thankful for the different opportunities that were put in our paths and that we’ve been able to tap into those and use them to educate ourselves as entrepreneurs and also grow this company.”

The connections gained through these programs are especially impactful, Livingston added.

“To know that I’ve met so many people at this point that — no matter what question I have — I can immediately think of somebody that I can go to and ask, it’s just invaluable,” she added.