Our Blog

If someone were to ask if you were living your life with intention, would you be able to answer honestly? Would you even know what it means to live your life with intention? We sat down with Amanda to find out just exactly what it means for her and how you can find intention in your everyday life.  Read More

It’s true that there’s no place like home — And if you want to keep your clients coming back for more, it’s time to think about how you can make them feel at home in your studio! Here are a few of the many things Sola stylists do when they want to treat their clients like family.  Read More

Whether you’re cross-promoting and collaborating within your Sola or you’re partnering with local businesses, getting more exposure for your brand will keep your business thriving. We spoke with one of our 2018 Faces of Sola Morgan Cameron who shared some creative cross-promoting tips.  Read More

One of the best parts of owning your own salon is the ability to create your ideal clientele. If you desire to work with textured hair, curl patterns and specialized needs but don’t already have clients with those hair types, it will require a bit of strategic planning to start attracting a new type of client. So we turned to our 2018 Faces of Sola, Mahogany Plautz, owner of Carve Salon in Minneapolis, Minnesota for a little advice.  Read More

For many salon owners, the holidays are one of the busiest times of the whole year. Small business owners everywhere are gearing up to capitalize on holiday merriment, so don’t let the holiday bustle get the best of you. Invite your guests and loved ones to sell-a-brate the holidays with you in your salon studio! Check out these holiday marketing tips that will keep your guests coming back for more in 2019….  Read More

For estheticians, building an Instagram brand can be challenging because there are only so many eyebrows and after shots of facials you can post! One esthetician that is killing it with content is Morgan Cameron, owner of Enlightened Beauty and one of our 2018 Faces of Sola. We asked Morgan to share 10 tips for using Instagram to grow your brand and increase your clientele.  Read More

In our 5 Business Tips from an Attorney blog, attorney Christopher Matthew, and owner of Dillinger’s Hair Company touched on the importance on why you should form a separate business entity, either a corporation or an LLC. We asked him to explain those reasons in more detail because, let’s face it, not everyone has the opportunity to get free, helpful advice from an attorney!  Read More

There are a lot of perks to owning your salon, but with freedom and flexibility also comes pressure to constantly have clients in your chair. As a Sola salon owner for the past 7 years, I've learned that one thing that makes salon ownership less stressful is having my books filled at least six to eight weeks out. But to have them filled requires a healthy clientele. Here are the do's and don'ts I’ve learned for building and nurturing a clientele.    Read More

Two days, 10 vendors, 16 presenters, 400 beauty professionals, and over 1000 balloons, the Chicago Sola Sessions provided endless opportunities for our attendees to discover inspiration, education, and community - yielding the biggest and most successful Sola Sessions to date! Check these 10 reasons why this was a Sola Sessions for the books!  Read More

One of the greatest parts of an event like the Sola Sessions is the knowledge and wisdom our community is able to share with each other. We wanted to capture some of that wisdom we collected on our Wisdom Wall where we had attendees offer their best Sola advice.  Read More

There are a lot of salon models out there to choose from. And there's a perfect home for everyone. Maybe you feel more comfortable in a traditional salon environment as a commission based employee. Or maybe you are ready to carve your own path as an independent salon owner and take your future into your own hands. Over 11,000 stylists have discovered the Sola difference and have taken the next step towards creating a business they can call their own. But why Sola?! Discover the difference...  Read More

To be a successful salon owner today, you must know how to grab the attention of your customers. Creating a cohesive and engaging digital brand identity isn’t as easy as some may think. So in case you aren’t a social media savant, it helps to have accessible resources to give your social media posts an edge. Here are 5 user-friendly apps and websites you can explore to take your social media channels to the next level.  Read More

There are infinite ways life can throw curveballs your way, but the only thing you can ever be sure of is a change is gonna come (cue Sam Cooke). Change can be great. It can  open us up to new opportunities and new people we never would have met. But change can also bring uncertainty and fear.  Read More

Queer Eye’s breakout star Jonathan Van Ness has been a busy bee since joining the Sola family five years ago. Between creating and producing an absolutely hilarious web-based series, recording a podcast, filming two seasons of Queer Eye (with a third on the way!) and owning and managing his own salon, it’s amazing to follow along his Instagram stories to see that he still has ample time for self-care and raising his two gorgeous cats. He chatted with us about the joy of owning his own salon, being nominated for an Emmy and that day he gave his mother’s vintage Barbie a makeover.  Read More

Stepping into the unknown is always intimidating, but knowing others before you have walked the same path and made it safely to the other side can make those first steps a little less scary. As we prepare to welcome the 2019 Faces of Sola to our dynamic group of inspirational Sola leaders, we wanted to hear some advice from our 2018 Faces to pass on to the rest of our Sola fam.  Read More

In today’s digital world, people are looking for a way to connect with brands on a deeper level, far beyond a traditional website. As an independent salon owner, social media can be utilized to create a secondary face of your salon. Instagram especially is a platform on which you have the opportunity to create a visual story of your brand and provide valuable messaging to your clients and followers.  Read More

Getting inspired is like falling in love. It often happens when you least expect it and can disappear when you crave it most. As creative artists, whether your canvas is hair, a face or a blank sheet of paper, a lack of creative energy can leave you feeling frustrated, desperate, and lost. So when the ideas stop flowing and you feel lost in the dark, here are 5 things to do that will reignite your spark.  Read More

The dynamic and beautifully diverse Sola community is made up of more than 10,000 independent salon owners. Our expertise ranges across all facets of the professional beauty industry. From young and fresh to experienced and seasoned. Male and female. East coast to west coast (and Canada, too!). Learn more about our awesome #SolaFam...  Read More

Our Sola community is a culture of beauty professionals who are continuously motivating each other in and out of the salon. We come from all walks of life, share like experiences and strive to be successful business owners. What’s beautiful about this community of ours is that we have all either given or received some great career advice at some point that we can pay forward. We asked our 2018 Faces of Sola to share what their best career advice would be. Here's what they had to say...  Read More

As Chief Awesomness Empowerer at Passion Squared, Nina Kovner is the educator to turn to when it comes to building a purposeful brand, empowering entrepreneurs, and educating on all things social media. Nina recently hosted a social media webinar for Sola professionals (if you missed it, you can find a recording inside Sola Pro!). See the below for 10 webinar takeaways and learn how to Create Awesome with Social Media.  Read More

Ashley Lewis, @the_blondologist, from Nest Hair Studio in Richmond, Virginia, donned her creative color cap and stepped away from her passion for balayage to create a look would make the owners of Pulp Riot proud. Below she shares her Pulp Riot formulas and colormelt process, and then explains how she achieved a smooth, silky finish using Eufora styling products.  Read More

This textured bob is ideal for that client who comes in with a handful of damaged ends, desperate for a solution and a new style. Jennifer LaVigne gave her first-time client, Liz Lin, this angled bob with a lot of natural-looking texture. It was a cut that was well needed (check out Liz’s before photo showing her faded and damaged ends). Here, Jennifer shares her cutting and styling how-to and shares why she took Liz’s hair from long to short.  Read More

In today’s world of non-stop information, it is often difficult for clients to tell the difference between the skin care myths and the skin care facts. But don’t worry! We’re here to help you identify truth from fiction. We’ve asked a panel of licensed estheticians and skin care experts what sun care myths they hear most often – and what the truth is behind these myths. Here are the top SPF myths you should warn your clients about.  Read More

In honor of Father’s Day, we’d like you to take a few minutes and read what Faces of Sola, Alex Sylvester, had to say about time management, priorities, and working behind the chair as a single dad when we recently caught up with him this Father’s Day weekend.  Read More

If your schedule is falling by the wayside when June hits, don’t take it personally. With the exception of tourism, every single industry takes a hit during the summer months. It’s NOT you! While there’s no one right way to cure the summertime blues, opportunities abound with a quick read of Sola’s strategic solutions for maximizing your time.  Read More