Posted 11:23 pm Sunday, November 11, 2012
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Spa combines clinical and therapeutic services
BY CASEY MURPHY
cmurphy@tylerpaper.com
Achieving beauty and balance is Kim Pearson-Wahl’s business motto.
cmurphy@tylerpaper.com
Achieving beauty and balance is Kim Pearson-Wahl’s business motto.
With decades of experience in the medical industry, she took a traditional spa — Identity Med Spa and Salon — and combined the therapeutic services with more medical, clinic services, she said.
Mrs. Pearson-Wahl, 54, bought Identity Med Spa and Salon in Lindale about a year ago. She said it had been a day spa for about 10 years, and she added medical services to it. She decided the spa’s concept would also do well in Tyler, and Sept. 10, she opened a second location in The Market shopping center off of Old Jacksonville Highway.
Mrs. Pearson-Wahl and her husband have longtime backgrounds in the medical field, which spurred her idea to combine clinical and relaxation services in one place.
She grew up in the Dallas area and moved to Tyler in 1992. She worked as a nurse for 25 years and managed the emergency trauma system at East Texas Medical Center before becoming corporate vice president there 12 years ago.
Her husband of 25 years, Tony Wahl, is chief executive officer for Texas Spine & Joint Hospital. They have three children. Michael, 25, who manages the two spas, while Lacie Massingill, 31, and Nick Gregory, 27, work at ETMC.
Mrs. Pearson-Wahl said that with all of her exposure to health care and seeing what that stress could do to people, she tried to combine her clinical knowledge with health and beauty. With her business motto to “achieve beauty and balance,” she offers relaxation to clients while they are getting other services.
Because she is a nurse by training, it is important to her to offer everything as medical as she can, using only products that are FDA approved and natural, she said. Even their nail polish is in compliance with the same clinical standards doctors’ offices use, she added.
Walking into the Tyler salon and spa, customers see a traditional-looking hair salon to the right and pedicure and manicure stations to their left.
In the back of the building, private rooms offer facials and deep peels, Botox and Juvederm administered by a physician. They also have a Dermafrac machine, which penetrates the skin slightly with microneedles so products can go deeper into the skin and be more effective for wrinkles and other things, Mrs. Wahl said.
Mrs. Pearson-Wahl and her husband have longtime backgrounds in the medical field, which spurred her idea to combine clinical and relaxation services in one place.
She grew up in the Dallas area and moved to Tyler in 1992. She worked as a nurse for 25 years and managed the emergency trauma system at East Texas Medical Center before becoming corporate vice president there 12 years ago.
Her husband of 25 years, Tony Wahl, is chief executive officer for Texas Spine & Joint Hospital. They have three children. Michael, 25, who manages the two spas, while Lacie Massingill, 31, and Nick Gregory, 27, work at ETMC.
Mrs. Pearson-Wahl said that with all of her exposure to health care and seeing what that stress could do to people, she tried to combine her clinical knowledge with health and beauty. With her business motto to “achieve beauty and balance,” she offers relaxation to clients while they are getting other services.
Because she is a nurse by training, it is important to her to offer everything as medical as she can, using only products that are FDA approved and natural, she said. Even their nail polish is in compliance with the same clinical standards doctors’ offices use, she added.
Walking into the Tyler salon and spa, customers see a traditional-looking hair salon to the right and pedicure and manicure stations to their left.
In the back of the building, private rooms offer facials and deep peels, Botox and Juvederm administered by a physician. They also have a Dermafrac machine, which penetrates the skin slightly with microneedles so products can go deeper into the skin and be more effective for wrinkles and other things, Mrs. Wahl said.
There also are several massage rooms offering basic massages for relaxation, as well as massages for prenatal, preconception, postpartum and chemotherapy patients, Mrs. Pearson-Wahl said. They also offer weight-loss services, such as Zerona laser, as well as laser hair removal, teeth whitening, professional make-up and eye lash extensions.
She said all of the growth off of Old Jacksonville Highway was why she chose the location to open her second spa in The Market. She said she wanted her Tyler business to be close to new growth.
Business has been good, she said Tuesday, adding that she was preparing to serve a 20-person “pedicure party” on Friday.
At 5,400 square feet, the Lindale facility is larger than the one in Tyler, which is more than 3,000 square feet. Mrs. Pearson-Wahl has about 14 employees at the Tyler salon, as well as 10 employees in Lindale.
She said all of the growth off of Old Jacksonville Highway was why she chose the location to open her second spa in The Market. She said she wanted her Tyler business to be close to new growth.
Business has been good, she said Tuesday, adding that she was preparing to serve a 20-person “pedicure party” on Friday.
At 5,400 square feet, the Lindale facility is larger than the one in Tyler, which is more than 3,000 square feet. Mrs. Pearson-Wahl has about 14 employees at the Tyler salon, as well as 10 employees in Lindale.
