1851

Ray Solnik lives with his family in the Silicon Valley region of Northern California, and like many professionals in the Bay Area, Solnik built a long and lucrative career in technology. But after two decades in the industry, Solnik made a dramatic pivot, trading his fast-paced career running high-tech businesses for a more lifestyle-friendly endeavor as a franchisee with 4,400-plus-unit salon franchise <a href="https://www.greatclipsfranchise.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=why-this-great-clips-franchisee-left-behind-a-20-year-career-in-big-tech-to-open-his-own-salon-business-2719118" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Great Clips</a>.Today, Solnik operates 11 units in and around the Bay Area. He is also the most recent recipient of Great Clips’ Community Award, which recognizes franchisees for exceptional work in their local communities.“The first store I opened with Great Clips is now the fourth-highest-performing store in the greater San Francisco area in terms of customer volume,” Solnik said. The third store Solnik opened is “now the number-one salon in our market for both sales and customer volume.”But while Solnik admits he always had ambitions to become a top performer in the franchise, he says his initial inspiration to join the brand was simply to escape the relentless pace of his previous career in tech.“It’s an extremely demanding industry,” Solnik said of his 20-year career running technology businesses. “We were running global operations, and we had clients in Europe, the U.S. and India, so it was just non-stop.”When Solnik found himself spending six months in India on a project, he decided it was time to reevaluate his career goals.“My kids were 14, and I wasn’t around to see them,” he said. “I realized it wasn’t a good way to live my life, so I came back to the States and started looking into career options in low-tech.”Solnik says he researched a number of businesses in a range of sectors, but when he came across Great Clips’ franchise opportunity, he “fell in love right away, and that love never went away.”What about the legacy salon franchise appealed to the tech-operations professional? “First of all, it’s a business I can understand,” he said. “I love the service. It’s simple, it’s efficient and it’s not going anywhere.”Moreover, Solnik says he was inspired by the Great Clips, Inc. executive team, who he met when researching the brand. “They are incredibly smart, but without an edge — they are very friendly, which is not something I saw a lot of in my previous career,” he said.Solnik’s experience in technology clued him into the strength of Great Clips’ operational model, which has been refined over decades to leverage troves of data to help franchisees grow.“It’s a very quantitative model — very analytic,” he said. “When I met the team, the first thing we talked about was how the business uses analytics to improve operations at every opportunity. That wasn’t something I saw with the other franchise brands I looked at. I’m a numbers guy, so that really sold me.”Solnik signed on as a Great Clips franchisee in 2009, but he didn’t open his first store until 2011. “I moved very slowly at first — I still do,” he said. “I always want to be the tortoise, not the hare, and that’s worked out for me.”When asked how other new or aspiring Great Clips franchisees could replicate his success, Solnik didn’t hesitate: “Just do what Great Clips tells you to. That’s what I did. A lot of franchisees want to come in and reinvent the wheel, but that’s missing the whole point of buying into a brand like Great Clips. They have been around for nearly four decades, and they’ve continued to grow. They’ve built a killer model. It just works.”Every year, Great Clips hosts a celebratory event for all franchisees and salon managers. At last year’s virtual event, Solnik took home the franchise’s Community Award for his region. The award acknowledged the work Solnik had done to help not only his stores but all Great Clips stores in his region succeed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.“There were a lot of tricky issues to address during the pandemic, and I suppose I took on a bit of a leadership role,” he said. “For example, a bunch of franchisees in my area all work with the same landlord. I coordinated with the Great Clips corporate team and about ten franchisees to negotiate rent relief while salons were closed. I also set up a weekly conference call for franchisees to share best practices for navigating the pandemic.”Beth Nilssen, director of franchise development for Great Clips, Inc., says Solnik’s Community Award reflects an approach to community-building the brand encourages all franchisees to adopt.“We are a very community-oriented franchise, both in terms of our internal community and the local communities our franchisees serve. Ray’s work is a shining example on both fronts,” she said. “He’s done an incredible job of building a model that other franchise owners can follow. We see him as an amazing advocate for our brand and mission.”Solnik says he has no plans to slow his growth with the brand anytime soon. “I don’t have a particular number of salons in mind for the future. Could be another 10, 20 — maybe 50,” he said. “But I like growing with Great Clips. We’re the number-one salon brand in the country, and my goal is to be one of the top performers in the brand. So, we keep pushing forward.”The total investment to open a Great Clips salon ranges from $146,750 to $302,400. For more information, visit <a href="https://www.greatclipsfranchise.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=why-this-great-clips-franchisee-left-behind-a-20-year-career-in-big-tech-to-open-his-own-salon-business-2719118" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.greatclipsfranchise.com/</a>.

Why This Great Clips Franchisee Left Behind a 20-Year Career in Big Tech to Open His Own Salon Business

1851 Franchise

Searching for a more flexible lifestyle, Ray Solnik traded a “non-stop” career in technology to join the iconic salon brand.

This brand page has been paid for by 1851. Content within this page that is paid will showcase a Sponsored icon. This means the brand has engaged 1851 FRANCHISE to write the content. Content without the Sponsored Icon is aggregated media placements the brand earned. Questions can be sent to editorial@1851franchise.com

why-this-great-clips-franchisee-left-behind-a-20-year-career-in-big-tech-to-open-his-own-salon-business

HomeTeam Inspection Service

Photo of home inspectors speaking with another person outside of HomeTeam Inspection Service vehicle

From Inquiry to Ownership: How HomeTeam Inspection Service Paves a Clear Path to Franchising

hometeam-franchise-path-to-ownership

Mellow Mushroom

Art and Economics: How Mellow Mushroom’s Local Commitment Helped Secure Franchise Times Top 400 Spot

mellow-mushroom-franchise-times-400-rank-growth

Sola Salons

Photo of interior of Sola Salons location

How Much Can I Make as a Sola Salons Franchise Owner?

franchise-earnings

SweatHouz

Memberships That Matter: SweatHouz’s Recurring Revenue Model Explained

sweathouz-recurring-revenue-model

Pigtails & Crewcuts

Pigtails & Crewcuts National Convention Spotlights a Business That Builds More Than Just Revenue

Why Franchisees Are All In: Pigtails & Crewcuts National Convention Spotlights a Business That Builds More Than Just Revenue

pigtails-and-crewcuts-national-convention-2025

Buying a Franchise Masterclass

 Franchise Opportunities

Get Support Buying a Franchise

How to Buy a Franchise White Paper

How to Buy a Franchise

How to Sell Franchises

How to Grow a Franchise

Find a Franchise Supplier

1851 Franchise Opportunities

Franchisor News

Franchisor Power Rankings

FranCamp Mastermind Summit

Franchise Development Website Builder

Franchise Resources

What ALEC-Laffer's Report Means for Franchising

Website Awards

Power Rankings

About 1851

Advertise on 1851

Contact 1851 Editorial

Terms of Use

1851 Login

GROWTH CLUB LOGIN

facebook

instagram

twitter

linkedin

youtube

Authority Brands Enters Q4 with Record Momentum

Authority Brands Enters Q4 with Record Momentum, Surpassing 200 New Franchise Owners in the First 10 Months of 2025

authority-brands-enters-q4-with-record-momentum-surpassing-200-new-franchise-owners-in-the-first-10-months-of-2025

Franchises, work-life balance, millennials in franchising, millennials work-life balance

The Best Franchises for Millennials Wanting Work-Life Balance

best-franchises-millennials-work-life-balance

Photo of Papa Murphy's Take 'N' Bake Pizza franchisee Lily Wilford

Entrepreneur: This 18-Year-Old Saves Babysitting Money for College — Then Decided to Buy a Business Instead

18-year-old-franchise-owner-lily-wilford

Amazon outage, AWS outage, Amazon AWS logo

The Day the Cloud Stalled: How Amazon's Outage Impacted Franchise Economy

amazon-aws-outage-franchise-impact-travel-dining-failure

Thursday 1851 Franchise Agg - NASAA’s Noncompete Push

NASAA’s Noncompete Push Puts Franchise Growth on Uncertain Ground

franchise-noncompete-nasaa-advisory-reasonableness-standard

image of jerome hanway from right at home Las Cruces, New Mexico 1851 franchise franchisee spotlight

Jerome Hanway Is Building His Right at Home Franchise Around His Mission To Serve

right-at-home-franchise-las-cruces-jerome-hanway

image of michael panos and michel panos, owners of mellow mushroom in Atlanta

The Panos Family’s Role in Preserving Mellow Mushroom’s Character — and Expanding in Atlanta

mellow-mushroom-franchise-panos-restaurant-group-metro-atlanta

photo-of-laynes-chicken-fingers-dalton-dennis-southern-oregon

23-Year-Old Entrepreneur Brings Soon to Be Famous Chicken™ to Southern Oregon With 3-Unit Layne’s Chicken Fingers Franchise Signing

laynes-chicken-fingers-dalton-dennis-southern-oregon

1851 Franchisee Spotlight graphic with photo of Ron Taylor and SweatHouz logo

From Edible Arrangements Leader to Wellness Entrepreneur: Ron Taylor's $53 Million Franchise Journey

ron-taylor-edible-arrangements-sweathouz-franchise-journey

A Practical Playbook: Who To Call First When Franchising Your Business

franchising-your-business-who-to-call-first

NJCAR v. Ford - New Jersey Supreme Court Limits Standing Under Franchise Practices Act

New Jersey Supreme Court Limits Standing Under Franchise Practices Act

new-jersey-franchise-practices-act-njcar-v-ford

image of franchise deep dive from 1851 franchise on doody calls franchise authority brands

DoodyCalls Franchise Costs, Fees, Profit and Data for 2025

doodycalls-franchise-deep-dive

Graphic with arm, holding graduation cap, coming out of stack of books

Why This Great Clips Franchisee Left Behind a 20-Year Career in Big Tech to Open His Own Salon Business

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS