Psoas Massage + Bodywork

What they do

Founded by Jennifer Lightstone in 2003, Psoas Massage + Bodywork was born out of a desire to help athletes and people in pain. Psoas offers many modalities, including but not limited to deep tissue, sports massage, orthopedic massage, neurokinetic therapy, craniosacral therapy, and prenatal and postnatal massage.

Why we invested

One of the goals of the Employee Ownership Catalyst Fund is to promote resilient quality jobs, support benefits access and training, and increase worker voice by catalyzing a broad, regional shift toward employee ownership.

Jennifer is exploring employee ownership with the hope that a transition to employee ownership (a rarity in the massage industry) will allow therapists to be rewarded for their commitment to their work and community. She’s also interested in the impact that this will have on the massage industry and potentially be a catalyst for other businesses to follow Psoas’ lead.

The Employee Ownership Catalyst Fund provided a forgivable loan to Psoas to offset costs associated with their transition to employee ownership.

Updates

As of June 1, 2024, portfolio company Psoas Massage + Bodywork has repaid its forgivable loan. Due to management changes, the company did not achieve its employee ownership transition timeline as planned and was no longer eligible for loan forgiveness. Psoas began making repayments on its forgivable loan in 2024Q1 and successfully repaid the full outstanding balance.