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Since coming over to Sola and opening her salon, BAB & Rojo, Rona has brought over four more stylists, including those two friends who joined in on the initial meeting with Miller. “I love it at Sola,” Rona says. It’s a sentiment her friends obviously share, too.  Read More

When it comes to education and inspiration, John Paul Mitchell Systems has undoubtedly become an industry leader. With a focus on leadership, business building and finding one’s own path to success, the Business rEvolution 2-day event featured speakers from all aspects of the professional beauty industry. The Sola team feels incredibly fortunate that we had the opportunity to attend this event and wanted to share a few of our favorite takeaways with you:  Read More

Hair is important. There’s just no getting around it. It’s tied to self-esteem and identity, and it plays an important role in how we present ourselves to the world. Our appearance impacts our lives socially, professionally, and personally. For many women (and men), hair loss is a devastating experience, which can lead to low self-esteem and even depression. “People may not know this, but there are over 30 million women in this country who have experienced some type of total or diminished hair loss,” Roxanne Scrivens, aka Jilena, explained.

Join us in celebrating 5,000 stylists & salon professionals nationwide at Sola Salon Studios! The Faces of Sola will give you a peek inside our dynamic and thriving community – enjoy this series of Q&As with some of our successful rock stars!

Name: Cora Rose

Sola Location: Phoenix, AZ

How many years have you been in the salon industry? 9 Years

As the son of a part-time barber in Chesapeake, Virginia, Derek Williams picked up more than a few tricks of the trade while hanging around the neighborhood barbershop. His dad always discouraged him from cutting hair, though, because, Williams says, “he didn’t see any money in it.”

When Williams was thirteen, despite his father’s advice he “started shaping up guys in the neighborhood,” he says. “Next thing you know, you’re doing a haircut.” And, that was Williams’ informal induction into the fast-paced, billion-dollar, demand-driven industry of hair.   

After a winter that felt far too long, summer is finally here! That means school is over, vacations are starting, and your customers are busier than ever. Unfortunately, this can mean that your bookings may slow down. If you’re facing the summer slump, selling products is more important than ever. Since products typically have a higher profit margin than services, they’re a great way to help boost your bottom line.

Go Beauty, Stop Cancer — That’s the slogan for Eyes on Cancer, a nonprofit cancer awareness organization that teaches beauty professionals to identify skin cancer in its earliest stages. We’ve taken a few moments to catch up with the husband-wife responsible for this innovative organization: retired orthopedic surgeon and cancer survivor Dean Foster and his wife, Jeanne Braa Foster, a beauty guru who spent the latter part of her career working closely with the legendary Paul Mitchell.

Clients come to Jackie Shoop-Zugschwert and Kim Zugschwert “for a good laugh, good time and good hair,” explains Jackie, the more organized, chattier spouse. “Kim’s definitely the dreamer,” Jackie continues, calling herself a realist.

The stylists’ individual journeys into hair offer more insight into their unique personalities.

Join us in celebrating 5,000 stylists & salon professionals nationwide at Sola Salon Studios! The Faces of Sola will give you a peek inside our dynamic and thriving community – enjoy this series of Q&As with some of our successful rock stars!

Name: Polly Sanders-Peterson

Sola Location: Denver, CO

How many years have you been in the salon industry? Just celebrated my 50th year!

What are you going to do with the extra daylight – and time! – these long summer days bring? Growing your business promises both financial and noncommercial rewards, and it doesn’t necessarily entail adding to your list of salon services. Increase customer loyalty and up clientele by partnering with other Sola Salon Studios professionals to offer referrals, promotions and specials. Here’s how to get started.

Join us in celebrating 5,000 stylists & salon professionals nationwide at Sola Salon Studios! The Faces of Sola will give you a peek inside our dynamic and thriving community – enjoy this series of Q&As with some of our successful rock stars!

Name: Ashley Johnson

Sola Location: Bentonville, AR

How many years have you been in the salon industry? 2 licensed / 11 total

Instagram is a wildly popular social media app, and it’s a fantastic way to market your salon. But with more than 300 million users worldwide, standing out from the crowd isn’t easy. One of the most important aspects of cultivating a captivating Instagram account is to pay special attention to photo quality. Instagram is all about the photos! Makes sense, right?

Join us in celebrating 5,000 stylists & salon professionals nationwide at Sola Salon Studios! The Faces of Sola will give you a peek inside our dynamic and thriving community – enjoy this series of Q&As with some of our successful rock stars! Salon Name: Jessica Zeinstra Sola Location: Uptown Minneapolis, MN How many years have you been in the salon industry? 7

Join us in celebrating 5,000 stylists & salon professionals nationwide at Sola Salon Studios! The Faces of Sola will give you a peek inside our dynamic and thriving community – enjoy this series of Q&As with some of our successful rock stars! Name: Carl Slack Salon Name: Hair by Carl Sola Location: Jacksonville , Florida

The life of a salon professional is straining on your body. You spend the majority of your day on your feet holding up beauty tools, crouching over clients, and tensing muscles to work with a steady hand. At the end of the day, give your body the love it deserves by unwinding with these relaxing yoga poses. The more you practice, the more receptive your body will be to opening up and releasing tension over time. Remember to breathe deeply.

Join us in celebrating 5,000 stylists & salon professionals nationwide at Sola Salon Studios! The Faces of Sola will give you a peek inside our dynamic and thriving community – enjoy this series of Q&As with some of our successful rock stars! Name: Kim Bennett Horvath Salon Name: Kim Bennett Studios Sola Location: Centennial, CO

Join us in celebrating 5,000 stylists & salon professionals nationwide at Sola Salon Studios! The Faces of Sola will give you a peek inside our dynamic and thriving community – enjoy this series of Q&As with some of our successful rock stars! Name: Kim Schine Salon Name: The Painted Ten Sola Location: Colorado Springs

It’s no secret that social media is an important marketing tool for small businesses. It’s most often free, and it’s easy to manage. Pinterest is one platform that is especially useful for marketing your salon studio. It’s a bulletin board style photo sharing social network where images are either uploaded by the user or shared from someone else’s pin boards. Pinterest has more than 70 million users worldwide, and since the salon industry is a visually based industry, Pinterest is a perfect fit.

Here comes wedding season, and with it-the dolla dolla bills. The bridal industry is a BIG business, and if you’re not strategizing on how to attract and maximize your “Future Mrs. So-And-So” clientele, you’re missing out. A study conducted by The Knot revealed that wedding costs topped an all-time high in 2014, averaging $31,213 (excluding their honeymoon).

Salon studios host a wide variety of activities that release chemicals, pollutants and toxins into the air, from aerosol sprays to cleaning solutions, beauty products and more. A charming way to freshen the air and lively up your studio is to snag 1 or 2 of the following powerfully purifying plants.

Nyki’s previous digs were fine, but in the back of her mind the stylist knew she wanted to open her own salon — she even had the name picked out: Hair Junk-E, a collaborative effort between Nyki and a friend whose military husband was relocated to Colorado before the duo realized their pipe dream might actually be possible. For Nyki, the biggest barrier to salon ownership had always been bookkeeping. “I color hair, I don’t crunch numbers,” she says.

Marketing your small business is all about being creative, especially because there’s rarely a one-size-fits-all approach for your clients. Luckily, there’s one thing you can count on for every last one of your clients: they all have birthdays. Some of your clients will dread it, and others will be counting down the minutes until they can let loose and have a day that’s dedicated solely to them. Regardless of their outlook, birthdays apply to everyone and most people consider it a good excuse to spoil themselves. That’s where you come in.

“Let’s just say I’ve been doing hair for 100 years,” says veteran stylist Mary Bruggeman, owner of MBA Hair Salon in Wellington, Florida. Sola empowers motivated stylists in amazing ways, and sharing that mission is something Mary feels particularly passionate about. She even calls herself the Vanna White of Sola Wellington because she’s constantly showcasing and promoting it.

When you’re putting in long hours at the salon, it’s always a great idea to have some snacks on hand. Sometimes, the same old options like carrot sticks, popcorn or pretzels can get a bit boring and repetitive. Instead, try these healthy and creative snack ideas to spice up your work day. Some may take just a few minutes of extra prep time but you’ll have delicious and exciting batches of snacks on hand for the week!

“If I could do hair for free, in a heartbeat I would. That’s how much I love what I do,” says 29-year industry veteran Georgette Vetock, owner of the Maryland-based salon Expressions by Georgette. Georgette was the first stylist to sign on with Sola Salons Pasadena last September, and as far as she’s concerned, “Hair is about being around people, talking to them and making them feel good.” Having loyal, satisfied clients is pretty darn gratifying — but, even better is that feeling Georgette gets when she donates time and energy to people who can’t afford to come to her studio.