2026 Faces of Sola Visionaries

Every year, we get to do one of our favorite things: shine a spotlight on the beauty and wellness entrepreneurs who make the Sola community what it is. This year's class of Faces of Sola Visionaries might be our most impressive yet.

Nine independent professionals. Nearly 100 years of combined industry experience. And an incredible range of expertise — from bridal hair and tattooing to skincare, barbering, and cranial prostheses.

What do they all have in common? A commitment to building something meaningful, on their own terms.

Abbey Jae | Bridal Hair | Wilmington, DE | @jaeaustralia

Abbey has spent five years at Sola building JAE AUSTRALIA Studio Salon into far more than a bridal hair destination. Alongside her work behind the chair, she's organized fundraisers for Wigs for Wishes, co-founded community events, led international beauty outreach during a mission trip in Thailand, and mentored youth through an SBA program. Her newest passion project, the Sensory Chair Project, is creating sensory-aware salon experiences — and a full certification pathway so stylists everywhere can offer them too. Abbey's vision doesn't stop at her studio door. She's building infrastructure, expanding partnerships, and working toward a future where sensory-inclusive education is the standard, not the exception.

Alex Sharkey | Barber | Cedar Knolls, NJ | @sharkeyalex

Six-plus years into his Sola journey, Alex has built TONSORIUM through pandemic shutdowns, a partnership split that forced him to start over, and the challenge of hiring and managing an employee — and he kept going every time. He donates his skills to local charity cuts, runs an annual toy drive for children with cancer, and volunteers a full week each year at a summer camp for kids with cancer and blood disorders. What keeps him going is simple: he believes in making the impossible possible, and he's done it more than once.

Alex Quinn | Tattoo Artist | Warwick, RI | @alexquinntattoos

Alexandra has operated her private tattoo studio at Sola in Warwick for 3.5 years, building a space where clients can feel genuinely at ease throughout the process. Tattooing is deeply personal work, and having her own studio has allowed her to meet clients where they are — with privacy, trust, and intention. Beyond the studio, she's raised funds for ALS foundations through charity tattoo events and returned to her high school to speak with students about tattooing as a real, viable creative and entrepreneurial career path.

Caroline Kim | Color Specialist & Hair Stylist | Los Angeles, CA | @CarolineKimHair

Caroline has been with Sola for five years, and she brings more than a decade of experience on the Wella Artistic Team to every client who walks through her door. She's collaborated on global campaigns, led photo shoots, and presented at major hair shows across North America, Europe, and Africa — and she brings all of that back to her Brentwood studio. She also volunteers as the community leader for her Sola location, and created "First Fridays," a monthly gathering where studio owners share a meal and build something that feels less like a business park and more like a family.

Emily Clark | Esthetician | Chicago, IL | @emilytheskinguru

Emily made the leap from the med spa world to open ESTE Aesthetics at Sola's West Lakeview location, and she built her practice around something intentionally different: long-term relationships over quick transactions, education over upselling, and genuine connection over cookie-cutter treatments. She's been transparent about the realities of going out on your own — sharing the wins, the hard parts, and the mindset shifts and that honesty has made her a trusted resource for other estheticians considering the same move. Since opening, she's regularly offered mentorship and shadowing opportunities to those ready to take the leap.

Pich Seng | Hair Stylist | Houston, TX | @beautybypich

Pich began her career while navigating the loss of her mother, and as a first-generation immigrant, building her own salon space became an act of honoring her family's sacrifices. Now four years into her independent journey, she's self-funded everything — advanced education, branding, business development — and runs her suite at Beautybypich LLC with a long-term mindset that shows in every detail. She hosts seasonal pop-ups, collaborates with local businesses, and creates experiences for her clients that go well beyond a haircut. Her long-term goal is a multi-chair salon that mentors and creates opportunities for other stylists. Everything she's building now is in service of that.

Rashleigh Béaton | Barber | Euless, TX | @vybzessestudio

Rashleigh came up through the Sola community before he even had his own suite — attending the annual retreat as a student through the Canvas Me program, then returning the following year as a collaborator on educational programming with John Mosley's Popular Nobody team. Now running VYBZ ESSENTIALS STUDIO in Euless, he shows up for clients and the community through back-to-school drives, discounts when they're needed, and a commitment to inclusivity and fairness that runs through everything he does. He's newer to the industry, but he moves with the intentionality of someone who's been paying attention for a long time.

Rachel Swire | Hair Stylist | Atlanta, GA | @rachel_olivia_hair

Eighteen years. Three complete business rebuilds. Multiple rounds of economic uncertainty. Rachel has seen and survived it all at Sola, and that accumulated wisdom is exactly what she's putting to work now. She sits on the board of directors for SkillsUSA as the industry representative for Georgia's beauty sector, working directly with cosmetology students across the state. As a Visionary, she's bringing a clear mission: to close the gap between cosmetology graduation and real career confidence by connecting Sola Pros with students who need mentorship from people who've actually lived it.

Victor Scotti, Jr. | Hair Stylist & Cranial Prosthesis | Arlington, VA | @thedonnajeanclinic

Victor left careers at Google and Netflix to attend cosmetology school. After losing his mother, Donna Jean, to multiple myeloma, he transformed his Sola suite in Arlington into The Donna Jean Hair Restoration Clinic — a trauma-informed, HIPAA-compliant sanctuary that engineers custom, texturally accurate cranial prostheses for oncology and alopecia patients, with a particular focus on Black, Brown, and Queer communities routinely overlooked by the medical industry. His S.P.A.C.E. Fund supports equitable access to healing-centered beauty experiences, and his Restoration Sanctuary Residency brings local cosmetology students into his suite to learn clinical trichology and prosthetic engineering firsthand. Victor isn't just redefining what a Sola Pro can be — he's redefining what healthcare can look like.

More Than a Recognition Program

Now in its 11th year, Faces of Sola isn't just about celebrating success; it's about showing what's possible when talented professionals take control of their careers. These nine Visionaries will represent Sola at events, photo shoots, and editorial opportunities throughout the year, while continuing to mentor and inspire the next generation of independent business owners.

"Every year, this long-standing program gives us the chance to recognize a group of incredible Sola Pros who represent the heart of this community," said Daryl Hurst, President & COO of Sola Salons. "I love how our professionals always show up with passion, creativity, leadership, and a real drive to raise the bar for what it means to build a business independently."

With more than 21,000 beauty and wellness professionals across 750+ locations in the U.S. and Canada, the Sola community is full of stories like these. The Faces of Sola program exists to make sure some of them get told.