After building a double-digit enterprise with European Wax Center, Tanner Holmes noticed a pattern: his best and most ambitious team members were leaving to start their own businesses in salon suites. Rather than trying to fight the trend, he got on board. With a transition to franchise ownership with Sola Salons, the national salon suites concept, Holmes was able to continue scaling in the beauty industry while evolving to follow the demand.
“Over the years, we lost a lot of our top performers in the waxing business to salon suites,” he said. “At the time, it was bittersweet. We celebrated our top performers being able to build their own businesses, but in that case, I didn’t have a business presence on the flip side that would allow me to reap the benefits of them going off on their own. I started doing some early exploration just to find out what it was that I was competing against for estheticians.
This research was the “beginning of the end,” of sorts, for Holmes’ tenure with European Wax Center.
“From the beginning, I felt an alignment with the culture of Sola,” Holmes said. “More than any other concept, they saw the business through the lens of the stylist — the independent beauty professional — and understood that if they succeed, we succeed.”
When he began considering the transition, Holmes said he was worried about the relationships aspect of the business. He truly enjoyed the team-building aspect of European Wax Center and was concerned he may not be able to access that in the Sola model.
While Sola Salons is, in a way, a real estate play, it’s not a strict landlord-tenant relationship. Sola Salons owners are also focused on building a strong community of independent entrepreneurs and providing them with support and an environment to help them flourish. This philosophy of empowerment was a major draw for Holmes.
Ultimately, the key reason Holmes transitioned out of European Wax Center became a primary driver for his success with Sola.
“That candidate pool becomes more accessible in a salon suite environment, whereas it was quite restrictive in a waxing model,” he said. “And I think that’s similar in most beauty services. The transition has also turned what was an employer-employee relationship into more of a partnership between me and the Sola pros, which is incredibly rewarding.”
For entrepreneurs with backgrounds similar to Holmes’, there is great potential for growth and diversification with Sola Salons. And often, the model will open doors to expansion opportunities and unlock growth in the evolving beauty industry.
To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/sola-salons.
Sola Salons
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After watching his best team members grow to become their own bosses, multi-unit franchisee Tanner Holmes made the strategic pivot to Sola Salons’ partnership-driven model.
After building a double-digit enterprise with European Wax Center, Tanner Holmes noticed a pattern: his best and most ambitious team members were leaving to start their own businesses in salon suites. Rather than trying to fight the trend, he got on board. With a transition to franchise ownership with Sola Salons, the national salon suites concept, Holmes was able to continue scaling in the beauty industry while evolving to follow the demand.
“Over the years, we lost a lot of our top performers in the waxing business to salon suites,” he said. “At the time, it was bittersweet. We celebrated our top performers being able to build their own businesses, but in that case, I didn’t have a business presence on the flip side that would allow me to reap the benefits of them going off on their own. I started doing some early exploration just to find out what it was that I was competing against for estheticians.
This research was the “beginning of the end,” of sorts, for Holmes’ tenure with European Wax Center.
“From the beginning, I felt an alignment with the culture of Sola,” Holmes said. “More than any other concept, they saw the business through the lens of the stylist — the independent beauty professional — and understood that if they succeed, we succeed.”
When he began considering the transition, Holmes said he was worried about the relationships aspect of the business. He truly enjoyed the team-building aspect of European Wax Center and was concerned he may not be able to access that in the Sola model.
While Sola Salons is, in a way, a real estate play, it’s not a strict landlord-tenant relationship. Sola Salons owners are also focused on building a strong community of independent entrepreneurs and providing them with support and an environment to help them flourish. This philosophy of empowerment was a major draw for Holmes.
Ultimately, the key reason Holmes transitioned out of European Wax Center became a primary driver for his success with Sola.
“That candidate pool becomes more accessible in a salon suite environment, whereas it was quite restrictive in a waxing model,” he said. “And I think that’s similar in most beauty services. The transition has also turned what was an employer-employee relationship into more of a partnership between me and the Sola pros, which is incredibly rewarding.”
For entrepreneurs with backgrounds similar to Holmes’, there is great potential for growth and diversification with Sola Salons. And often, the model will open doors to expansion opportunities and unlock growth in the evolving beauty industry.
To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/sola-salons.
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