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At Sola Salon Studios, YOU get to choose what music to play in YOUR salon! As inspiration, we asked the Sola community to share their favorite songs for the ultimate end of summer playlist. Enjoy!  Read More

Alysha, who worked with a celebrity stylist during her booth-renting days and participated in several hair shows, does the whole gamut in her Sola studio where she has owned and operated her business since March 1, 2014. But, it’s her unexpected specialty – scalp disorders – that makes her remarkable, and has earned her a reputation as “the docta’”. Alysha’s concentration also makes salon ownership not merely valuable, but crucial for building an expanding client base while honing in on a niche focus.

In today’s tech-reliant world, it’s vitally important to have a website for current and future clients to access. An Internet presence legitimizes your business and provides easy access for your clients to important information – like contact info, pricing and how to book an appointment. And since most consumers search for information on the Internet before they ever visit a brick and mortar salon, a website is your first chance to make a great impression!

When a regular client suddenly disappears from your schedule, you can’t help but wonder if they have given up investing in their beauty regime or if they made a switch to a different practitioner. It’s a bummer, but the truth is...most likely when someone leaves us, they are switching to someone new. My years of experience in this industry have taught me that clients will very rarely give up what is considered a low cost luxury investment (eyebrow waxing, haircuts and colors, facials, spray tans, blowouts, manis, pedis and massages).

Selfies are no longer just a silly time-waster; they can be harnessed as a marketing tool for savvy brands. And the salon industry might be one of the best industries to employ the power of the selfie. I don’t know about you, but the first thing I do when I leave the salon is snap a selfie to share with my friends. It’s fun to show off a new ‘do!

As a professional hair stylist, you’ve undoubtedly had clients who questioned the differences between the higher priced salon brands and the much more affordable hair products available at big box retailers. Between the extensive training we went through and our hands-on, day-to-day experiences, we understand that there’s a substantial difference between hair products. However, a few minutes of side-to-side comparisons can often clear up any uncertainties clients may have. Here are some of the main differences, as well as client benefits, associated with salon brands versus store brands.

Sun, salt, sand and chlorine. These are all important elements to essential summer fun and relaxation. However, these are also four elements which can ravage our carefully coiffed hair. With the proper precautions and tools, though, your hair can stay perfectly moisturized and protected all summer long. Who knows, maybe this year you’ll even achieve those perfect summer beach waves! Stylist Mindy Rodriguez of The Lather Lounge at Sola Salons Brentwood shares some of her summer hair protection tips:

Although she grew up surrounded by an entire family of stylists and barbers, Lisa Scott, owner of LHC Studio in Sola Salons Glen Ellyn, IL, originally had no intention of going into the beauty industry. Instead, Lisa pursued her own interests and career in business. After graduating with a business degree from Dillard University, Lisa went on to work for IBM. Eventually, and perhaps inevitably, an interest in working in the hair industry started to blossom within Lisa.

Whether your clients have curls, waves or teeny-weeny coils, here are 5 styling techniques you can use to keep their texture on trend in summer 2014!

With the height of wedding season upon us, the spring/summer months can be an exceptionally profitable time for stylists. There is nothing a bride-to-be appreciates more than feeling taken care of through the chaotic process of wedding planning, particularly when it comes to how she’ll look on the big day. With the intimate nature of boutique salons at Sola, our stylists are in a fantastic position to gain bridal clientele. A Sola stylist can offer specialized and private services a larger salon may not be able to offer. Here are a few helpful tips to increase your business during wedding season:

The foods you eat at work impact the way you eat at home and this is never truer than for salon professionals. As you know, working in a salon means that scheduled breaks are a luxury that you likely don’t get to enjoy and finding the time to eat can be difficult to say the least. Unfortunately, this busy pace can be super-stressful and when you combine stress and a busy schedule, it’s a recipe for disaster in terms of your diet and your overall health.

Growing up, Vannora Hawkins always knew she was destined to be a hairstylist; but she didn’t know that her styling business would also become a source of strength during a battle with cancer. As a teen, Vannora would help her mother who ran a styling business in their home in Northern Virginia. “I was always her assistant for updos and bridal styles,” Vannora remembers. “I got so much experience with these styles that I even did my own hair for prom!”

With all the social media outlets available, keeping them up-to-date can feel like a full-time job! But when you have a full day of clients in your chair, there’s only so much time to spend online. The good news is that 10 minutes a day is all you really need. In this post, we are going to focus on 3 social media platforms – Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. These three social media outlets are a great combination of photo, information and status sharing.

In February of 2014, stylist Kim Detken of KD Hair Designs in Sola Salons Costa Mesa went on the adventure of a lifetime: a two-week trip throughout Cambodia. Instead of days filled with sightseeing, Kim arrived in Cambodia with a team of ten stylists as part of the Rapha House Freedom Salon education program. Backed by the philanthropic mission of targeting girls who are at risk of being trafficked in the regions’ sex trade, the Freedom Salon program provides these youth with skills in hair styling and salon management as a means of providing them with tangible business skills to ensure their long term health and safety.

One of the many fantastic things about being a salon professional at Sola is having the freedom to customize your own salon space. Each Sola studio comes fully equipped with the amenities and major equipment you might need, including a high-end cabinetry package complete with plenty of storage options. From there, you can customize your studio to your heart’s content with paint, artwork, music and more. As we learned from a visit to Sola Salons in Brentwood, CA, the creative and dynamic salon professionals at Sola are experts at bringing their own unique visions to their space. In walking the halls, we gathered tons of inspiration and are excited to share some tips and tricks for organizing and updating your salon studio this spring:

Social media is a fun and effective marketing tool. It’s a great way to open up dialog with your clients and share what’s going on with your salon. But it’s also easy to fall into bad habits. Here are five common social media mistakes and how to avoid them.

For stylist Alyssa Manning, Sola Salon Studios has provide her with a place to hone in on her niche while carving out her own passion-driven path in the beauty industry. During her first apprenticeship, Alyssa worked at a salon where her boss was a distributor for Balmain hair extensions. As a result, her early career involved direct, one-on-one training with extensions, giving her early exposure to this growing segment of the hair industry. "I got to work with hair extensions every day," Alyssa explains, "they were all around me in the salon and eventually working with extensions became second nature."

Julien Farel–celebrity hairstylist, haircare innovator and entrepreneur–has been perfecting his craft for over 20 years. Hailing from a small village in France, Farel now owns three salons in New York City, Miami and Cabo San Lucas. He is also known as the official hairstylist for the US Open and has created his own line of anti-aging hairstyling products. We recently had the wonderful opportunity to talk to Farel who shared with Sola some of his vast business knowledge and wisdom gleamed from years of hard work and perseverance.

Whether you’re just starting out at Sola, or you’ve been working for yourself for many years, a Facebook page is an easy way to make your salon visible on the web, help you stay connected with your clients and enable you to share important information about specials or open appointment slots. Chances are, you already have a personal Facebook account, but if you don’t, create an account in order to access all of the features of a Facebook business page. Once you’ve logged into your personal account, it’s time to get started.

Whether she has hair styled in a slicked back bun with pale pink lips, or she’s rocking a fedora and just-got-out-of-bed hair, Jessica Alba always manages to look gorgeous. Favoring glowy skin, penciled-in brows and sexy hair, she manages to incorporate trends (hello neon pink lipstick and icy blue eyshadow) while still retaining her own personal style.

Hairstylist Cheryl Johnson of In Vogue Hair Designs at Sola Salons Victoria Promenade in Rancho Cucamonga, CA is an industry veteran of more than 20 years. Cheryl found her way to the hair industry through her love of fashion. After being accepted at FIDM for fashion design, she ultimately decided it made more sense financially to attend Citrus Community College to study cosmetology. Hairstyling was the ultimate way for her to combine her love of fashion with her creativity into a highly profitable career path.

A lot of people may think that a successful salon has everything to do with image. A successful salon actually has everything to do with customer loyalty. Think about your favorite store or coffee shop. Whether you’re loyal to big corporations like Starbucks and Nordstrom or your neighborhood coffee shops and boutiques, it’s likely they have two things in common – a well-defined identity and a loyal customer base. Consumers have more options now than ever before. The way to make your salon successful is to create client affinity – or a bond between you and your clients. Client affinity equals loyal, long-term customers. At Sola, you have the freedom to create your own identity as a salon professional. Use these three steps to create your identity and capture client affinity.

In today’s fast moving technological market, having a strong online presence is an absolutely essential part of any business. Small business owners in particular can expand their earning potential by engaging in online communities. As stylists, a day in the salon can generate plenty of postable content which if managed wisely, can make great strides in supporting and growing your business. Alison Groves, of Raven Internet Marketing, shares some advice for how to best represent your business online.

Watching the latest celebrities go from a chic angled bob to voluminous long hair within a day can cause serious hair envy. If you’re considering adding hair extensions to your repertoire as a Sola stylist, or are simply an adventurous hair chameleon, here are the fast facts on the different types of hair extensions so you can go from shorn locks to full Rapunzel in a matter of minutes or hours.

During the cold winter months, it’s fun to bundle up in your coziest hats and sweaters and sip some tea in front of a roaring fire. But all the grey skies and cold temps can have an effect on even the most chipper of us all. The winter months are the perfect time to schedule some extra pampering services like a massage or facial. Outside of the salon, there are also many ways you can keep those grey skies at bay...