Rising costs, shifting employee expectations, and unpredictable crises prompt retailers to rethink benefits as a core retention and resilience tool. Stacy Juetten, Executive Foundation Director at Sally Beauty Holdings, navigates the challenge by integrating benefits strategy with crisis support and nonprofit impact.
Sally Beauty Holdings operates across North America, Latin America, and parts of Europe as a retailer and distributor serving both consumers and salon professionals. It supports a large, predominantly female workforce across retail stores, distribution centers, and corporate functions, shaping how it approaches benefits, access, and employee support.
Stacy manages plan design, leave, disability, vendor strategy, and a nonprofit focused on employee safety. As costs rise and employees look for more support, benefits leaders must balance cost control with access, education, and crisis response. Her broad role reveals how benefits now influence whether employees remain productive, get care, and handle personal emergencies.
Stacy brings a cross-sector view to her work. She started in HR, then progressively moved through employer roles, third-party administration, and consulting. “My career has afforded me the ability to gain expertise in a variety of areas which have taken me in different directions,” she shares. That exposure gives her insight into how systems operate behind the scenes. “I’ve amassed a depth of knowledge and understanding that is quite unique which allows me a greater behind the scenes perspective of the internal operational structure of carriers, third-party administrators, and brokers to better accomplish my goals.” That experience now shapes how she connects traditional benefits with broader employee support. “It dovetails nicely into the benefits aspect,” she adds. For Stacy, benefits go beyond coverage, they help employees manage risk, time away, and recovery.
Affordability meets expectation
Stacy did not set out to specialize in benefits. “I always wanted to stay in HR,” she notes. Over time, her work led her into a more focused role that lets her support employees across stores, distribution centers, and corporate teams. “We can help employees and really meet them where they are.”
That perspective matters in a cost-driven environment. Retail runs on tight financial constraints, and Stacy adapts to that reality. “All we hear about is affordability,” she observes. “It can be challenging to work on a shoestring budget because retail naturally runs lean.”
Her role involves constant trade-offs. She balances cost control with making sure employees can use the programs available to them. Her background helps her navigate vendor relationships and carrier structures. “It allows me to negotiate well and understand capabilities. I like to negotiate – I advocate for both the company and the employee,” she remarks.
Her responsibilities also include leave and disability, expanding how she defines benefits. The work goes beyond enrollment and claims and into responding to real situations employees face. “Not everything is roses and rainbows,” she reflects.
Supporting practical inclusion
Disability support sits within Stacy’s remit, shaping how Sally Beauty approaches inclusion in practical terms. It integrates disability coverage with broader workplace support, ensuring employees can stay in role where possible while accessing the resources they need.
“We incorporate people with disabilities into the business,” she explains. The approach combines formal programs with internal education, including training on neurodiversity and workplace behavior. The sessions help employees and managers understand how to support different working styles while maintaining performance expectations.
Stacy has built in direct support through the benefits structure itself. “We have a fund within our disability program to assist our employees with special needs,” she adds. That funding can be used for tools, adjustments, or equipment that help employees with disabilities remain productive.
For Stacy, the work aligns with a broader goal: keeping people connected to work while reducing barriers. The focus is not only on coverage, but on usability, ensuring employees can access the right support at the right time without unnecessary friction.
SBH Inspires born out of necessity
Stacy joined Sally Beauty to launch a nonprofit foundation for the workforce and industry. Her efforts led to SBH Inspires, focused on domestic violence awareness and support. Sally Beauty stores create moments of privacy and trust, allowing chances to intervene.
One interaction shaped the foundation’s direction. A customer walked into a store looking for products. A manager noticed signs of harm and asked a simple question relating to her injuries. “She said no, she was not ok and she started crying. ‘I have been beaten and battered, and I don’t know what to do’.” Stacy recalls.
The manager followed her training, avoiding inserting herself into the situation, and shared information for the National Domestic Violence Hotline, explaining how to seek help. The customer later returned with an update. “She got her child and herself to a shelter, and it was ultimately the manager who saved her life,” Stacy relates.
The foundation now works with partners who provide education, support, and access to services. It led to the creation of the Associate Relief Fund, which supports employees facing crisis. The fund expanded beyond domestic violence to include natural disasters, financial hardship, and loss. Early data revealed a clear trend. “Forty-two percent of the individuals requesting a grant were impacted by domestic violence,” Stacy reports.
That insight shapes how Stacy structures support: benefits, leave, and relief programs work together. When employees face risk, they may need job protection, financial support, and access to care at the same time. “There’s protection for their job so they can take leave and find a safe place,” she explains.
Building teams and systems
Stacy’s work reaches leadership and team development. “Good leadership is not transactional. It’s transformational,” she highlights. That principle shapes how she manages her team, especially as responsibilities grow. “Keeping them motivated and in a place where they can grow their careers is a tough balance,” she admits. Her approach focuses on communication, support, and development.
That philosophy guides how Stacy builds systems. She aims for integration rather than isolated programs. In one instance, an employee survived a domestic violence incident connected to the workplace. The response required coordination across multiple programs. “It was a horrible situation, but our response to it was successful,” she shares.
Expanding reach and deepening impact
Looking ahead, Stacy aims to strengthen employee benefits engagement and broaden nonprofit partnerships. Sally Beauty will encourage customer involvement in foundation initiatives through in-store and digital channels. Additionally, the company is launching a product donation program to aid shelters.
SBH Inspires will expand regionally, then internationally. For benefits, Stacy focuses on access, education, and usability for a distributed workforce.
Her planning horizon matches that pace. “I’m always working on our 12, 18, and 24 month plan,” she points out. The work keeps building. “I can’t wait to see what the next three years hold.”
