Raise Your Prices, Sell Without Selling, and Choose the Right Suite Beauty Biz Playbook

In this episode of Beauty Bound, Cristal Rubio (Beauty Pro Bookkeeping) sits down with Scott Halperin, the owner/operator behind three Sola Salons locations in San Antonio. Yes, Scott’s got opinions—backed by 11 years of leasing, building, and protecting spaces where stylists, estheticians, and injectors actually thrive.This isn’t a suite sales pitch. It’s the real beauty business talk: how to price without flinching, how to “sell” retail without feeling gross (hint: you’re not selling—you’re continuing the service), and why standard-setting and maintenance protect your reputation and your revenue.*WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:*✅ *“Selling” Retail Without Selling*Use products during the service, then hand clients what keeps results. That’s continuity, not sales—stop leaving money on the counter.✅ *Pricing with a Backbone*Costs are up (foils, disposables, everything). So is your value—clean studios, sound-dampened walls, and your skill. Full books? Adjust rates, unapologetically.✅ *Client Experience Is a Profit Strategy*Noise control, cleanliness, quick fixes, strong Wi-Fi—these aren’t extras. They justify premium pricing and bring clients back.✅ *Boundaries That Keep You Booked*In suites, you own scheduling and policies. Enforce late/no-show rules, protect your time, and fire clients who don’t respect your space.✅ *Insurance & Compliance (Don’t Skip This)*Carry general + professional liability and follow TDLR rules. It’s professionalism, not paranoia.✅ *Turnkey is not the same as Automatic*Studios, paint, installs, and free weeks ease the start—but only hustle fills books. Consistency on social can build a clientele in a year.✅ *Collaboration Beats Competition*Great suite communities trade referrals, cross-promote, and avoid drama. Scott vets so your neighbors are assets, not distractions.*EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:*👉*Retail That Feels Natural:* “It’s a continuation of the service.” Use-what-you-sell, sell-what-you-use.👉*Raising Prices Without Guilt:* Better buildout, cleaner environment, dampened noise = premium experience.👉*The Maintenance Mindset:* Water, power, HVAC—fix small problems fast to prevent big ones.👉*Design That Works:* After 20+ years of tweaks, studio layouts matter—flow, storage, sound, and guest comfort.👉*Quiet Services Need Quiet Halls:* Stone Oak’s non-hair wing gives facial/injectable services a calmer entry/exit.👉*Standards Protect Everyone:* Be respectful to neighbors; uphold policies; keep it pro.👉*Social Media Reality:* You can fill a book in 12 months with strategic posting. Consistency over perfection.👉*Fire the Client (Yes, Really):* If they disrespect your time/space, they’re costing you more than they pay.*KEY TAKEAWAYS:**Retail = Profit Multiplier:* Demonstrate, educate, hand it over. No hard sell required.*Price for Today’s Costs:* Foils and disposables aren’t $8 anymore. Neither is your time.*Experience Justifies Rates:* Cleanliness, quiet, layout, and quick maintenance are part of your value.*Policies Are Customer Service:* Clear boundaries help the right clients respect your time.*Insurance Is Non-Negotiable:* General + professional liability. Protect your future self.*Suite Success Is Systems:* Clear booking, reminders, payment, aftercare, and retail SOPs beat vibes alone.*Community Wins:* Choose spaces where ownership is present, responsive, and selective about tenants.*Consistency Converts:* Document results, batch content, post with captions that teach (and CTA to retail).🖥 *Follow Us for More:**Cristal Rubio* (Beauty Pro Bookkeeping): https://www.instagram.com/beautyprobookkeeping | https://www.beautyprobookkeeping.com*Matt Nelson* (Peachtree Rose Marketing): https://peachtreeromarketing.com | https://www.instagram.com/officialmattnelson/*Connect with us on all our social medias*https://www.instagram.com/beautyboundtx/https://www.facebook.com/BeautyBoundTXhttps://www.tiktok.com/@beauty.bound

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Anybody who's fresh, like out ofbeauty school, you think, well,
I don't like to sell. You're not selling.
You're not because you're using the product as you're using the
product, you're literally telling them this is what I'm
using because of this and this is what you need to for your
hair to stay the same way, right?
That's it. How much is it?
Here you go. You have it right there.
That's all there is to it. And you know you're not selling

(00:21):
them anything. It's a continuation of the
service you just provided. People don't realize when you
know, there's people who might say well it's cheaper here or
whatever the case might be, right?
I get it. But one of the things that they
don't see and they don't realizeis you don't have to buy
furniture. You're not paying for water,
electricity, Wi-Fi, like you're not paying any of that.

(00:45):
You're literally just bringing your tools into Sola.
You get $400.00 of free product.You get 4 weeks of free rent
like it's. It's almost sounds like I
trained you well, yeah. Hello everyone, welcome to

(01:06):
Beautybound Season 5. My name is Crystal Rubio.
I am the owner of Beauty Pro Bookkeeping and you can follow
me on beautyprobookkeeping.com or Instagram.
And today I have a very special guest who I have been begging to
be on the podcast for a little bit over a year and you guys

(01:26):
always hear me talk about him. You guys always hear me talk
about Sola. So I have with me Scott, owner
of Sola San Antonio, three locations.
So I'm very excited that you're here.
Thank you for agreeing because Iknow this is not your thing at
all. And.
I'm flattered, but no, it's not.Yeah.
So I'm very grateful that you decided to say yes.

(01:47):
And so I, I want you to introduce yourself a little bit,
kind of tell us a little bit of what started you on this Sola
Rd. OK, so my name is Scott Halperin
and we started Solo is a franchise and there are 750
something locations nationwide, over 23,000 occupants, been

(02:11):
around for 20 plus years. So this is not a startup or a
fly by nighter. You know, there are Solo has
like any franchise or they kind of have rules and design
elements and they just have a program that they really do want
you to follow, which is not always part of my nature, but in

(02:32):
this case it has worked out well.
And so. Yeah, so my brother who's in the
real estate business in Memphis,TN, he actually found the
concept of Sola. Yeah.
So he, he had a guy call him about some space that they have
in in Alabama. And so my brother being my

(02:54):
brother, he kind of wanted to know why this guy was interested
in space. And of course the guy was like,
well, does it matter? And my brother said, yeah, only
if you want me to answer any of your questions outside of that.
No, but he's, you know, he's been in the, he's been in the
commercial real estate business for over 55 O years.

(03:17):
So he knows a little something about, you know, space and
leasing and building out, etcetera, etcetera.
So he, the guy told him why he was wanted space.
My brother did some research andyou know, he's in the real
estate business, right? And ultimately that's what I am.
I'm in the real estate business at the time.
What I didn't know is that it really is different than just

(03:41):
leasing space and having occupants or tenants or
whatever. There is a personal element to
all of this. It has been my experience that
salon professionals, they, you know, they like to be spoken to
and they like to be heard, especially the heard part and
which is fine. And but, you know, this was

(04:01):
almost 11 years ago actually. So yeah, it's a little over 11
years. Go ahead.
So was, so did you. You started so because I know
you're also in another state. Correct.
Right. So it's, you can call it a
family business. My sister operates a Sola salon.
Saint Louis. Oh, that's awesome.
So we've got locations, you know, in both both cities and

(04:26):
we're kind of in the very beginning, we were under
construction at about the same time.
Oh, wow. So our timelines pretty much
coincide. Yeah.
So now that because you have, you have the three locations
here that I always, I always talk about the three locations.
I feel like each location has something special.
One of the biggest things when Ifirst came to San Antonio and I

(04:46):
contacted you that I always say he never wanted to run to me
because I had no clientele, which is understandable.
Like it wasn't even, he wasn't even trying to be a Dick or
anything. He was just literally like, how
are you? How do you suppose you're so
you're going to do this with no clientele?
Well, if the truth is, I mean, clearly I lost that battle.

(05:08):
I don't think I've ever won any kind of battle with you.
But my point is, you know, typically.
So I well, really what it boils down to is I don't least just
anybody that walks through the door because, you know, there's
a certain level of professionalism, etcetera that
that you know, I I expect because, you know, your
neighbors are paying to be therealso and to have to deal with,

(05:31):
you know, kids screaming and yelling in the hallways and
throwing, you know, footballs orsticking gum on the wall or
whatever. We really just can't have that.
And it's a matter of respect to your, to your neighbors,
etcetera. Yeah, there's a, a bit of a war
cry inside Solo. And you know, it's common
courtesy and mutual respect. And I really do hold people to

(05:52):
that. And, you know, there's a lot of
choices and I know better than most how many choices are out
there 'cause like I say, I started about 11 years ago and I
know how many facilities like Solo were around then.
And I definitely know maybe evenbetter how many are around
today. And it's never ending.
I mean, the market is, I don't want to say over saturated, but

(06:14):
boy, there's a lot of choice choices.
And I get it. And you know, I think that we do
offer some unique things. You know, the principle of SOLA
in the beginning when I started was, you know, we offer fully
furnished studios and the philosophy is, you know, folks
can sign their lease, move in, all they need are their personal

(06:36):
tools and their clientele and they're good to go you.
Got to turn key. Ready.
And that's still what we do. You know, not every solar
operate, operate solar operator,I'm sorry, or developer operates
the same way. And I'm certainly different than
some. And yeah, I don't think anybody
does more than I do. I know nobody does more than I

(06:57):
do. But you know, a lot of them do
plenty for sure. I feel like one of the things
for me that told me about Sola and I've, I've told you before
and even when I went in to see, to look at Sola, I had seen
other places. But the one thing that was
different was you were the owner, you were there, not some

(07:20):
manager. And, and now you do have
somebody who does the tours. But even then, like back then it
you were, you were honest with me about what you expected and
what I should also expect. Moving into Sola and a lot of
these other places, you meet somebody who is maybe a

(07:40):
temporary manager for maybe a month or two months and then you
know, 'cause they're constantly changing people and you don't
get that personable, like welcoming.
I feel like it's not, it's not personable.
They don't, they don't worry about you as the stylist and you
do that. You make sure that you will go

(08:01):
above and beyond of what everybody needs.
You make sure that when they come in, they know that what you
expect from them, but they also know what they expect from you
in return. Well, the truth is, so these
facilities, whether they're fully furnished or not, they're
very expensive to build. Today, my newest location is

(08:21):
4/4, just, we're just about to turn 4.
And we built that during the pandemic.
And man, listen, it wasn't, it was in fact a nightmare.
It just was. And not for any reason other
than it was the pandemic. Folks were shut down.
Folks were not getting out. You know, certain elements of

(08:42):
our build out were not available.
So, you know, I don't think anybody else does or I'm not
fully aware of it, but we put sound dampening in all the
walls. Nobody else does it.
Well, but you know that does not, that does not create
soundproof studios. But theoretically you can't work
in a soundproof studio because it's sensory deprivation, right?

(09:03):
And so if you do, you're going to kind of leave something
behind every day that you know, enough consecutive days and man,
you've left a lot behind. And I don't know if there's any,
I don't know if you get that back or not, But so, but it does
muffle, you know, it's been my experience that salon
professionals, God bless them, They're it's a chatty bunch,

(09:25):
depending upon the service, but it's a chatty bunch.
Hair stylist in particular I have found to be pretty chatty,
which I it's no problem, but then they turn on a hair dryer
and they, they do not break stride, man.
They just become a louder tanty bunch.
And so, yeah, but we have found that this dampening really does
it. It really does help and well, I

(09:48):
mean you lived it so. No, it helps a lot because it's,
I mean, I've, I've been, you know, I've gotten services at
other locations that I will not mention, but I've always talked
about them and you could hear how loud it gets.
And this is me getting a facial and hearing the girl that's next

(10:09):
door and it sounds like they're laughing in the suite, you know,
and that's, it's not relaxing atall.
But going like when I go to Mercy to get my services with
her. You really you could maybe hear
some of the muffled sounds from the hair stylist hair stylist
that's next to her, but it's very like but.

(10:29):
They are in fact muffled, Which?Is the whole point.
Yeah. And you could barely hear them
unless you're really paying attention or you're being nosy.
But even then, you still cannot make out what they're saying.
And other places you could make out what they're saying.
You could hear the whole conversation, you know, like if
they were in there. Well, you know, understand that.
You know, the the build out of solo, the the layout of the

(10:51):
studios, the hallways, everything it's been, you know,
tweaked, retweaked, re retweakedover 20 plus years.
Yeah. And so I think, you know,
they've got it down to a pretty good science and.
Yeah, and one of the things at the your new, your newest
location, which is Stone Oak, what I love about that one is

(11:11):
that the non hair, because it's not just recitations, but your
non hair area that you it has a separate entrance.
And that's the one thing that I'm like, man, if anybody like
it's looking to get into a spacewhere they need the quietness,
that's a location to get into. Well, so again, and, and that,

(11:31):
so it's a hallway inside of someone that has four studios
that are designated for non hairand they're built out that way
with, you know, you know, an upper cabinet, a lower cabinet,
you know, utility sink, plenty of room for, you know, your bed
and tools or or machines or whatever it is people use.
But that those 4 studios, again,the timeline in which we built

(11:58):
that out there were just a lot of stuff that just was not
available. And actually my GC ended up
driving, you know, hours to go find, to go get the right
materials in a timely fashion. And So what the net result is
those studios, I got to have an upgrade of sound dampening like
call it, you know, 3-4 ticks up and man, those 4 studios, they

(12:22):
are almost serene. It really it really they turned
out really well. But you know, that wasn't
because we're so smart. That's because we used what we
had access. To but even then, like you have
so and I feel the way that that everything is just set up in
that area and not just that area, the whole stone, stone oak

(12:43):
location, even the suites that you have.
And the there is a double suite that I freaking love and that I
feel like any hairstylist is dumb for not renting this suite.
Whoever is with another partner,you have one of the biggest
double suites in that location. The one in the back.
Yes. Yeah, so.
I love that one. You know, construction, I don't

(13:06):
care what anybody says. Yeah, I've lived through three
of these build outs and man, it is not an exact science because
especially if you have to demo aspace, you just never know what
you're going to find. And I know what studio you're
referring to. It's actually available if you
want to get back behind the. Chair.
He always tries to give you backbehind the chair, guys.

(13:27):
Yeah. And so, well, you were a great
occupant and you were a lot of fun because, you know, you
mostly work nights at that time.And I used to sneak in there and
scare the hell out of me, which,yeah, I was just entertaining me
really more than anything else. I mean, I love.
You did it a couple times then I, man, yeah, I, I, I'd like to
say that I don't scare easy, butthat's a lie because you've,

(13:48):
man, you got me so many times. I got you several times, but
again, I was just entertaining you.
Just for the record, no. And and that's the thing like
it's it's fun and you're not going to get that in at any
other like sweets, at least fromthe people that I know who have
sweets somewhere else. You're not going to get Scott.
Well, yeah, listen, the truth iswe're all unique individual

(14:13):
personalities. And, you know, most of my
occupants are not, well, not most, but all of them are
creative types. And not everybody in the world
is wired to be a creative type. I mean, I'm not a creative type,
but. You understand?
Well, I'm good with color and texture, but I can't verbalize
it. You have to touch it, feel it,
see it. But yeah, I'm a girl dad.

(14:36):
So the overwhelming majority of my clients are female.
And man, you know, you're just not going to move my needle.
And, and I mean no offense by that.
And and you know that I'm a bit of a smart Alec.
Yeah. But I mean, no offense.
Yeah. And again, I say stuff and I'm
just entertaining. You.
Yeah. And that's it.
I feel like, I think that's why we get along because I know that

(14:58):
I'm able to give you shit sometimes and you're able to do
it back and there sometimes, I mean all the time.
But I think that that I, I get along with you because of that,
because it's not like I don't feel like you're going to get
offended or, you know, or I'm going to get offended and you're
just very, you're like a big teddy bear.

(15:19):
Well. You know, and yes, you, you have
your attitude, of course you know, sometimes.
I mean, listen, does everybody inside solo love me?
Probably not. Do I love everybody inside solo?
Yeah. No, maybe I'm just.
Kidding. Well, of course I do.
Of course he does. Yeah.
They're my occupants. They're my customers, right?
Yeah, so you love? Them again, it's, it's, yeah,

(15:42):
you got, you got, you know, 6000square feet and you got, you
know, 32 different occupants andyou've, you know, with 32
different occupants in, in a creative world, there's really
probably about 53 different personalities, right?
Yeah, that's true. The creative sort.
I mean, you know, there's multiple personalities, but I am

(16:03):
a girl dad, so you don't scare me.
Yeah. Because you have two girls.
I do, and they're great kids. I tease all the time because I
seem to always refer to my kids.But yeah, I think 24 and 21.
Oh, man. So what that means is I've been
in business for 11 years and, and yeah, and I get it.
And I know how important it is. And I know what can happen if

(16:27):
things go sideways in a, in a, you know, salon.
And, but again, I, I have great kids.
I'm lucky to have them and but I've learned from them quite a
bit. Because I'm sure also they help
you in a way that I know you always say that you have one of
your daughters is just like you.She's not just like me, she is

(16:50):
just like me. And it's scary only for me, but
it's scary only for me because, you know, I know what she's
thinking before she thinks aboutthinking about it.
So 'cause yeah. But she's both.
My kids are terrific. I'm lucky to have them.
And but yeah, I've learned. I've learned plenty from them,

(17:11):
without a doubt. So what's 1 of the things that
like, I know, I know there is like obviously horror stories,
things that you've gone through as a solo salon owner, but I
feel like you have such a big heart, but you also are very

(17:33):
picky on who you bring in, whichis really good.
But there's times that you still, your big heart is what
kind of gets you to bring peoplein that maybe you shouldn't
bring in. And I'm sure there is horror
stories and I'm not going to askyou for to give me an example of
one or anything. But how do you manage that?

(17:55):
Like when something bad happens and you're just like fuck, I
shouldn't have trusted them likethis or I should have done
something differently. Well, you know, they, I have, I
have tightened up the program over 11 years.
And yeah, I mean, listen, if youmake an appointment to see and
you know, much like the salon professional, we also operate

(18:18):
scheduled. And you know, we don't, you
know, there's no, there's no reception area, there's no
receptionist. You know, there's no front desk,
for lack of a better expression inside Solo.
There are benches in the hallways for those waiting for
service. But you know, everybody, they,
you know, they, they book their own appointments.
They, they, you know, they decide their own services and

(18:38):
fees. And we just, we're just facility
providers, right? Albeit I hope we're as nice as
any. I think we are.
I've seen, and I've seen all of them, which sometimes isn't that
easy because, you know, you tendto get called out.
They know me or whatever, but itdoesn't matter.
I mean, I've got nothing to hide.

(19:00):
You know, I operate in a very transparent manner.
And yes, but you know, no one, no one does a tour without
talking to me first. And that's not a it's not,
that's not, it is a little bit of a controlling thing, but I'm
just trying to make it very efficient.
So I've got two people in particular, Carol and Rick.
And you know, I, I can just tellyou now, Sola is not what it is

(19:21):
without them. Yeah, they're awesome.
They are better than awesome. And I am remarkably fortunate to
to have them. And they are untouchables for
me. But so I live in Houston, but
I've been here every two or three weeks other than the
pandemic for almost 11 years. And if you think that drive from

(19:46):
Houston to San Antonio, it is not, it is not the Continental
Divide, I'll tell you that rightnow.
But there are two Bucky's on theway.
And you know, those of you who know what Bucky's is, there's
there's two of them. And my body is pretty geared
after this period of time to where I have to stop at both of
them and. Don't do much for your waistline

(20:08):
but the way I tell you but. Bucky's man.
That's they are a cultural phenomenon, seriously.
And we can all learn something about marketing our business
through them because they're some of the greatest marketers
anywhere. Are so talking about Bucky?
Are you originally from Texas? I'm originally from Tennessee,
Tennessee. I was born and raised in
Memphis. OK, so do they have a Bucky's

(20:29):
'cause I know there's a couple of states who have a Bucky's,
right? I think they are building 1 in
Tennessee. I think I'm right, but no, I did
not grow up knowing anything about this.
So when you what was your experience when you came to the
first Bucky's? I blew my mind, right?
Right. Yeah, I mean, Oh my God.
Like I say, they're marketing geniuses.

(20:50):
They really are. And I, and I think the one of
the original guys lives in Houston.
No way. I think so.
Oh, man. And but yeah, I I just, I am
fascinated. I've been doing it, like I say,
every couple three weeks. Yeah, for 11 years.
Dang, yeah, that's. Just I'm blown away every time I
walk into one. It's just I really.
Am it's crazy. I just, I just stopped that one

(21:13):
last week. I was on my way to Austin and
like the, the, the fact that they're so packed, like all the
time, I feel like probably Disneyland doesn't even have as
many visitors in a day, like in and out, you know?
I, I don't know, but I, I mean, yeah, it it again.

(21:34):
I just that, yeah, I am astonished.
After 10-11 years, every time I see it I'm astonished.
Yeah, 'cause everything. And, and there's one in Katy,
TX, which is if I'm coming here,the first stop, they have the
best car wash I have ever driventhrough.
No way. It's unbelievable.
Is it like also as big as all their?

(21:56):
I may be making this up, but I don't think I am.
I read it somewhere. I think it's the longest car
wash in the United States. No way, I'm going to have to go
to it. It's, it's unbelievable, it
really is. I feel like you have to
experience Bucky's no matter youdo.
Yeah. If you come to Texas, you have
to experience Bucky's. Well-being from Memphis, you
know, the big thing that they, they really market heavily is,

(22:18):
you know, they're the, the BBQ, the brisket, all that stuff.
Well I'm from Memphis and we have a different idea of what
BBQ is and people from Memphis do not think that BBQ is white
bread with brisket on it and sauce.
That's not what BBQ is to us. What is BBQ you?
Guys, it's typically pork and it's pulled pork and it's, you

(22:39):
know, cooked in starts, I think with molasses, you know, it's a
sweeter, it's a it's a sweeter BBQ than because I don't eat
spicy. So even at my size, I know it's
hard to believe, but so yeah, it's a sweet.
I I think it's more of a sweet. A sweet OK.
Than it is a a spicy. Yeah, 'cause here is is
different that that is differentalso for me, man.

(23:02):
OK. So obviously having the three
locations going back to to owning Sola, do you plan on
having any more locations here in?
San Antonio looking, but the real estate market in San
Antonio was horrible. It's just not cooperating at
all. Yeah, and this is true.
So 11 years ago when I was looking for space I found one

(23:23):
and you know I put in multiple calls to the landlord or or my
broker. Did you know multiple calls?
I'm still waiting for the call 11 years later and that exact
space is still empty. No way.
So yeah, do. They not want.
To this I can't understand. Again, my brother who's older

(23:45):
than I am, and you know, he's got a feel for this stuff and
he, he just doesn't understand it at all.
Yeah, like why would you want something empty for so long?
It doesn't make any sense to. Me because I know with every
location I feel so your GalleriaOaks location that.
Was my first. Your first location, but that

(24:06):
location is I remember. I always remember because I
freaking loved her. Texas Balayage used to be at
that location, and that is somebody who I followed from the
beginning of my career. Yeah, I vaguely remember that.
Yeah, she was super. She was there for a number of
years. Yeah, yeah, I remember that.
So I remember I was so I was like, Oh my gosh, I'm gonna rent
from the guy who has Texas, you know, balayage like that was

(24:30):
like my biggest like flex I think at that at that time.
Yeah, I vaguely remember that. I mean, I I cannot tell you what
I had for lunch yesterday. Yeah, I vaguely remember that.
You know, 8-9, ten years ago, whatever it.
Was Oh my gosh, it's been so. Long, but you know, and that's
that's the age or that defines the age of social media, which
you know, you know, I'm not a big I'm not I'm not a big fan of

(24:52):
it and just for one really simple reason that's all my own
is that, you know, anybody can post anything at anytime.
And the truth is just not necessarily a part of the
program. And that really, yeah, you can
ruin somebody with the social media.
I mean, we've seen it, you know,we've seen it and, and a lot of
us who, who know you, who know what solo is like, we know what

(25:17):
we should believe and we know the truth.
I feel like in a lot of instances, you know, and for me
it's if you've never been a solotenant and you are no one to be
commenting on anything that you see on.
Well, that's just true with anything it seems to me.

(25:37):
First hand experience. I mean, listen again, does
everybody love me? No.
Do I blame them? No.
There's there's moments of any given day where I'm not that
crazy about me either, to be honest.
With you. But you know, if I tell you I'm
going to do something, I'm goingto do it.
And if I don't do it, I simply forgot.
I mean, I'm a lot older than multiple in in many cases,

(25:58):
several of my tenants combined their ages, right.
So so I just forgot. All you got to do is, you know,
send a text. Hey man, I don't have this yet.
I'm going to be like oh hell, I forgot.
But even then, you're so good atany, like when something goes
wrong at Sola, even if it's on aweekend.
And that's one of the things that I also always talk about,

(26:19):
it's if something breaks on a Sunday, well, you're going to
get it fixed as as fast as you can if it's fixable right away.
Well, I think what people need to understand is that really I'm
playing defense. I mean, you know, it's the old
nursery rhyme. And I tell this everybody the
calls, you know, one thing that any of these professionals when

(26:40):
they're looking around and I encourage people to look
elsewhere. I really do, because, yeah,
again, I don't beg people to come there and I don't beg them
to stay. I mean, if you have to do either
1, You know, the writing's on the wall, right?
But you know, the old nursery school rhyme, you know, the
ankle bones connected to the shin bone.
And these facilities have a lot of water.

(27:03):
They have a lot of electricity, and they have a lot of air
conditioning. And man, it's just, it's just
human nature. If one thing goes wrong, it's
going to parlay into something else.
And I try to prevent that. And yes, I know why other
operators do not. And, and every, any, anyone
looking for a place like for Sola or a place like Sola,

(27:24):
there's really, to me, the number one question should be
OK, Mr. whatever it is or miss whatever it is, how what's your
maintenance program for, for these facilities?
And I'll, I can just tell you and if, if you can ask any
occupant, current occupant or past occupant, and if they're
telling you the truth, they willtell you that guy's a smart ass.

(27:46):
But if there's a problem, he wants to know about it as soon
as you know about it. And yes, more times than not,
I've got somebody there the sameday for one simple reason.
Well, two reasons. One, I'm playing defense to
protect the facility. And two, in my agreement, I'm
obligated to to keep a clean, fully functional facility for

(28:09):
for everybody. I mean, do we have problems?
Of course we do because, you know, everybody knows the water
in San Antonio, man, it's the devil.
And the devil part is, you know,water in general runs it ruins.
And the devil part is that it's silent.
And man, that'll put you out of business in a hurry.
And plus, I'm, you know, all my facilities are, are fully
sanitized six days a week. Thank God, Carol, Rick, both of

(28:33):
them, they are almost, they seemto me to be a little bit of, you
know, germaphobic. And I'm a little bit like, you
can't tell by looking at me, butI'm a little bit like that too.
And but we're obligated. To provide clean.
Fully functioning facilities. And you know.
Yeah, yeah. I can't control the people that
come in there. And even more importantly, I
cannot control who they bring in.

(28:55):
And so, yeah, we're we're constantly playing defense.
But it's worked out well. I listen, I have been remarkably
lucky. I've got some great occupants,
you know, I don't have to like them.
I'm just. Easy to like.
I'm, I'm lucky that I do like them, most of them anyway.
And but you know my #1 take awaysince all of this started and

(29:17):
yeah, yeah, I've been getting myhair cut my whole life.
I used to have a lot more hair to cut than I do now.
But my #1 take away, and I'm notkidding, I'm not exaggerating.
And and you know, again, I'm very transparent and I don't say
things just to hear myself say them.
But my number one take away is what it takes to be successful
when you're a service provider, you know, whether it's hair,

(29:39):
skin or whatever it is. And that is, you know, these
occupants, if they want to be successful.
Yeah. You just don't lease a studio
and, and people show up. It doesn't work that way.
You guys work, you know, you guys work your asses off.
And, you know, it's a full body experience for you as well.
You're on your feet typically, you know, ankles, knees, hips,

(30:00):
hands, wrists, the hands, the wrists, the elbows, the back.
I mean, I get it. And, you know, I've got a
horrible back. So I'm very, very sensitive to
it. And my heart goes out.
But yeah, well, number one, I'venever, and I've been involved in
several different things, but I've never been involved with
anything that I had the passion for what my occupants have, for

(30:24):
what they do. And I I guess that feeds the
creative part of their brain that I wish I possessed.
But yeah, I've just never witnessed that.
It's just so impressive. It really is.
And it blows my mind. And again, if anybody wants to
be, if anybody who who is successful, they didn't come

(30:45):
that they didn't become that by not hustling.
Yeah. It's yeah.
Hard work. I've seen people fill, fill, you
know, fill their books full in ayear's time off of Instagram,
which just, you know, blows my mind.
It's insane. Yeah, I've been yelling at my
kids to get off their damn phones for I can't tell you how
long. And now you're like, wait, you
have to, you know, especially when you're running a business,

(31:05):
you have to be on social media. You have to either be consistent
or know if you're not consistent.
Know exactly what to post, know when to post, know at what time,
know what comes with it you know.
Well, I'm, I'm the first to admit that I might be the worst
poster in the history of Instagram or social media.
I just, yeah, I don't have the patience for it.

(31:26):
And again, just inherently it bothers me.
But yeah, my kids listen. They're all over that stuff and
you know, you've helped me with that.
I've got other folks that helpedme with that.
But, you know, there's man, again, I encourage people to
look around, but I am overwhelmingly confident and,

(31:47):
you know, I think. Once you come here.
I think you'll back me up. I hope so.
Oh, no, of course. I I mean, I, like I said, I
always talk about Sola. I always talk about you because
I, I feel like you gave me an opportunity that nobody else was
willing to give me. Reluctantly.
Yeah, a little. I.
Say that no, but. It had nothing to do with your
personality 'cause if I if it was just personality alone, well

(32:10):
then there would have been nothing to think.
About Yeah, you're great. Yeah.
But I remember you even asked Javier, my husband.
You even asked him. Like Are you sure she could do
this? Well, of course I was, and I
meant it. I wasn't being ugly and.
No, I know that. Good God 'cause listen well.
So I guess the next segment of your program here.
So the things that I do for those who sign an agreement and

(32:32):
just know again, I am old, you know, even for Sola, I'm old
school Sola in that you know we provide on the front end.
I do give 4 free weeks which I don't think anybody else still
does that now. They might if well so.

(32:52):
They might if they hear what you're doing right, so.
I also write a check to the distributor of your choice, the
occupants choice. I don't care for, you know, $400
to put retail product on your shelves.
And that's simply me putting my money where my mouth is.
So, and I've done it twice now, but the first time is because
there's two points of retail shelving in every studio.

(33:13):
And then the second time is I'llwrite a check to the distributor
of your choice to put retail product on your shelves.
That's just all there is to it. I mean, I again, I'm not the
smartest guy, but I know the value of selling retail product
if for no other reason I'm a girl dad and they have never
come home without a bag of something.

(33:34):
And I will also say in my own defense, I'll toot my own horn.
You know, I can buy the same stuff they buy and I can buy at
wholesale, but I never do that because I know that that's part
of that professionals, right? Yeah.
That's. It I.
Mean anybody, anybody who chooses not to do that or to
come to solo when you offer for me, man, when you said that and

(33:57):
again, starting out fresh in a whole different state, I was
like man, $400.00 worth of product like that could get me
so much, you know? Well, I mean you should.
And it helped. You should make at least $400.00
off of it, right? Yeah, but but some people, you
know, they don't like the selling part.
And you know, my response to that is always, listen, I'm not

(34:17):
going to tell you how to run your business.
I'm not going to tell you how tooperate.
But but there's really no sales involved.
I mean if you sell what you use,you just hand it to them and say
you need this. And that's exactly how I should
be. And I think anybody who's fresh,
like out of beauty school, you think, well, I don't like to

(34:37):
sell. You're not selling because
you're using the product. As you're using the product,
you're literally telling them, this is what I'm using because
of this. And this is what you need to for
your hair to stay the same way. That's it.
How much is it? Here you go.
You have it right there. It's all there is to it and you
know you're not selling them anything.
It's a continuation of the service you just provided

(34:58):
really. Yeah, especially if you're
spending so much money on your hair is not cheap.
And I'm sure now you, I'm so I'msure you know this now too, but
you know, dealing with hair stylist and Neltex and
estheticians, you know, none of the services are cheap, so you
want to keep up with it. Well, but what I also know, and
I've seen it, you know, they're expensive expenses, excuse me,

(35:22):
have gone up because stuff that they used to call them 8 used
to, I'm sorry, product or utensils or whatever it is.
I mean down to foils, you know, it used to cost them $8 is now
$28.00. And I mean, I get it.
And but I also tell folks that, you know, you move into solo and

(35:44):
you cycle through your clienteleand it turns out with the sound
dampening and the build out and the cleanliness and all that,
make no mistake, you can raise your prices and get away with
it. I'm not saying you, you know,
you don't gut your clientele. But you got.
To be smart about it. And they have to understand,
especially if you came from a traditional salon, that you

(36:05):
know, your, your overhead is either just been created or has
gone up significantly. And yeah, we got to make ends
meet. And listen, you know the girls
historically in my life, they are very loyal to their stylist
or what lady who does their facials or waxing or whatever it

(36:27):
is. I mean, I get that and.
As a guy, are you not? Oh yeah, I've been going with
the same lady that cuts my hair for Ally long time.
Oh, Dang. But she's great.
Yeah, she's great. But you.
Couldn't trust anybody else, right?
Well, that's not a matter of trust.
You know, I don't like somebody.I I don't, I don't, I don't want

(36:48):
to sit in front of them for 40 minutes, especially when they
have scissors in their. Hands right So.
It's self preservation, yeah, but.
And she actually just recently moved from a traditional salon
and into a, you know, a a studioor, well, sweet is what
everybody calls them. So solo originally was solo
salon studios, which, you know, but sweet everybody.

(37:10):
Now it's a salon sweet concept. Yeah, whatever.
But. I like studio better.
It sounds more like bougie. Well then sweets.
I feel like sweets. Everybody's trying to pop up
with their sweets. Well, I hope a little bit of
solo, a little bit of us, maybe more Bougie than other places,
but I don't, I don't know bougie.
I'm too old for bougie, but my, my kids are not too old for

(37:32):
bougie. Well, they are.
They, they, they tease about it.They're really not.
They were raised differently. They're not really bougie per
SE. But but yeah, I mean, selling
retail I think is just a major function of success for any
salon professional. So that's my opinion.
It is. It is because I always tell.
That's the one thing. Even as a bookkeeper, that's the

(37:54):
one thing that I always tell anystylist.
Your money makers are not alwaysdoing the hair because your cost
of product is a lot and you might make a, you know, a few
dollars or however much, but your money maker is your retail.
No matter what, that's where you're going to make your money.

(38:14):
It's in your your retail. Well, the way I've this is my
view. And again, it's only my view.
It's not only my view, but it iscertainly the view that I've
acquired over the past next number of years.
You know, the end result of anyone that sits in your chair
or is on your table or whatever it is.
It's a little bit of a given because if the end result wasn't

(38:36):
good, they would not be a repeatclient, right.
So what they're really paying for, it seems to me what I'm
paying for when I get my hair cut it.
Well, yeah. And you're also, you're paying
for their time. And some folks value their time
more than ever. Others, but I think everyone
again. If you have a lot of repeats,

(38:59):
you need to value your time higher than maybe you have been.
That's when you raise prices. Because I mean, don't think
that, you know, my cost of living has gone up just as much
as your head, yours has, whetherit's getting my haircut or
buying eggs or just whatever it is.
Well, yeah, I'm living the same world that you're living in.
And so. Obviously you have to charge

(39:21):
accordingly. As well.
Yeah. And if you lose clients, well, I
will say this, I mean, you know,there's nothing it says you
can't fire a client. You know, if they're don't
respect your time, if they don'trespect your space, they don't
respect my space. You.
Better fire them. I'm teasing them, but I mean,

(39:41):
listen, I've, I've had people leave solo, not necessarily
because they wanted to, but because of behavior or whatever
it is. I mean, listen, I'm in business
too. I'm not a greedy guy.
I mean, I my prices, you know what I get for studios?

(40:04):
Sure. Has it gone up in the last 1011
years? Well, of course, cost of living,
but it has not gone up barely 10% in the past, past 10 or 11
years. But I mean, listen, I am for
profit and I want to make money.But yeah, my rent escalates, you
know, certain periods of time, after certain periods of time.
Over the course of the agreement, my expenses have gone

(40:27):
up tremendously. And you also have to be able to
keep up with that. Well, sure.
I mean, otherwise I don't, I'm not providing you with what you
know you're used to, what you'vebecome accustomed to and that's
also a little bit part of the problem.
So again I do 4 free weeks. I do 400 bucks in product.
Plus you paint. In the studio, yeah, I I do

(40:48):
believe in personalizing 1 space.
I mean, listen, it's your space.You're the one that's in there.
I'm not. I, I, I do flybys and if there's
a problem, I make, go in and look at something.
But so, yeah, I encourage peopleto personalize it.
To that end, you'll pick a paintcolor.
We've got a certain paint that we use, but I'll buy the paint,
I'll get your studio and paint it for you.

(41:10):
If you have something heavy thatyou want put on the walls, which
I encourage, but you know, I'd say that you know, 9 more than 9
1/2 times out of 10, I'll have you know, Rick will install it
and for no other. And you might be very handy.
And I mean no offense, but for the simple reason is, you know,
if I know if if we install it wherever you want it, it's not

(41:32):
coming down until we take it down, right?
You know, a wall mount, you know, a certain wall mount,
certain type of wall mount is required ATV.
There's some, you know, there's specifications.
Nothing bigger than 32 inches has to be a smart TV.
I used to have cable boxes that was just an absolute nightmare
dealing with, you know, spectrum, etcetera, etcetera,

(41:53):
etcetera. So now everything, you know,
I've got an abundance of bandwidth really, knock on wood
is I mean like. It works awesome.
Knock on wood, it really does. Because.
That's what I used to. I mean, that's what I love that
too because my clients would come in.
What show do you want to watch? And that's what I would put on
Netflix or, you know, whatever it was.
You're not alone. I mean, yeah, I mean, that's the
whole point, right? Create your own environment.

(42:16):
So again, 4 free weeks, 400 bucks in product, hang paint,
install, you know, pull, push, bench, whatever it is.
And then lastly, per my agreement, you're required to
carry certain limits of, of, of both general and professional
liability insurance. And I'm of the opinion, you
know, everybody knows a lawyer these days.

(42:38):
And I have not met many lawyers that didn't think they were the
smartest guy in the room. And so I strongly encourage
whether you're inside Seoul or anywhere else, you need that
protection in today's world. You just do.
And my agreements are a very typical state of Texas occupant,
you know, tenant or tenant landlord agreement, which really

(42:59):
ultimately that's the relationship.
And you know, a lot of these agreements, when you and I hate,
I hate the agreements are 7 or 8pages and there's nothing but
legalese. And you know, it makes me
nauseous and gives me a headachetoo.
Yeah, you have. To read them.
Well, you should, but I can tellyou what they say when you boil
it all down in a very raw manner, what it says is as the,

(43:22):
as, as the, you know, the landlord, I can do what I want
when I want, because I want. And as the occupant, you cannot.
It really, it really is what they say.
But getting back to, I think I mentioned in the beginning is
that what I've learned is this is a much more hands on personal
relationship. And yeah, listen, you've got

(43:42):
kids and you've got overhead andyou've got groceries and you've
got cars and you've got same stuff everybody else does,
including me. And yeah, I just want people to
be happy, successful. And in most cases, I prefer they
do it inside solo. But if it's not your, it's not
your bag, then OK, then that. Well, I mean, God bless you, but

(44:04):
be happy. I mean, life's short, man.
I mean, you know, I don't sign to anybody that walks through
the door and. And I hope my current occupants
recognize that they benefit from.
That they do. I feel like I know, I know not
all of your occupants, but I know a lot of.
Good number of them. And I know that everybody that I

(44:26):
know is very happy there. One of the things that I I love
is how everyone has something positive to say about you, at
least all the people that I surround myself with.
Well, that's that's nice to hear.
I don't really. And I know you don't.
I don't absorb that very well, but that's very, it's very kind
and that's. Nice.

(44:46):
Yeah. And I know you and I know you
hate compliments. I understand.
I know that. But I hope that you do know that
there is so many tenants at all three locations that just love
you, you know, and that that love everything that you do
because you are you are somebodywho takes care of their tenants
and. I mean listen and, and I hate to

(45:07):
say this. You're obligated, but you're
still. It's more than that, yeah.
It's more than that. It's not just your.
It's not an obligation. I feel like you go above and
beyond well. You know, I'm very, I've, I've
been remarkably fortunate. You know, all three facilities.
So one's, you know, a little over 10, one's a little over 7,

(45:28):
and then one's a little over 4. I tell you what, the majority of
the folks in all three locationshave been there damn near since
I opened. Yeah, I know Mercy has been one
that has been there for. Let's not mention her name again
because I don't want her going anywhere and we're all
susceptible. To change.
You know what I mean? But I'm lucky she literally

(45:50):
walked in and I will never forget the day she walked in.
And that's true with a lot of myfolks because they've been there
for so long and man, it just wouldn't be the same to walk
through there like I do. And I do flybys.
I don't hang out. For no, you're always just like.
Periods of time. Everything good?
You good? Yeah, I mean, hey, you happy?
Everything cool? You need anything, anything not
work right? That's.

(46:10):
Literally got a problem. And that's literally what he
does as he opens, you know, he knocks first to make sure you're
everything's good, and then he opens the door.
And that's exactly everything hejust said right now.
That's exactly what he will ask.You.
Well, I guess I'm, you know, creature of habit, but but yeah,
I mean, if you're not happy about something, I'm, there's
nothing that I won't address. But if I don't know about it, I

(46:32):
mean, I'm not psychic, right? But honest to God, yes, I'm the
first touch and I'm the I'm, if there's an issue and, and you
know, you will always have direct contact with me, whether
you like it or not, I'm the first stop.
And some people don't like it atall.
Well, OK then. Bye.

(46:54):
Well, about bye, I'm not quite that.
I know. I mean, again, he's nicer than
that. Well, me, I'd be like, OK, you
don't like me? Bye.
Well, listen, like I told you, I'm Yeah, there's some points in
the day I don't like me. So I get.
I get it, man. Yeah.
But really, Carol and Rick, man,oh man, I cannot express verb.

(47:16):
I don't have the verbal skills to express how much they mean to
me and how much they mean to Solo and really how much they
mean to everyone at Solo, whether the people at Solo admit
it, acknowledge it or whatever. But they should.
And man, they should do what I do every time they see record
Carol, and that is say thank. You, yes.

(47:38):
And in today's world, I'm telling you, string those two
words together. It means so much.
It means so much. It means it.
It goes a long way to me, but people are today's world.
They're just don't seem capable of expressing that.
I don't know what you call it, but it's it's, it's, it's not

(47:58):
great. Be more grateful, I think.
And a lot of times, thank you really does go a long way.
And that's true anywhere you go and under any circumstance.
And I don't care if whoever it is you dealt with pissed you off
or not, there you would like to think they're there with good
intentions and doing the best they can.
And you. Are we perfect?

(48:19):
No. I mean, I can't.
I can't even spell that word. I don't believe in perfection.
But I tell you what, you're not going to find a group that tries
harder than we do. Now you have to suffer through
me being a bit of a smart ass. And you know, really my only
defense is that when you hear it, it's very likely that I am
also hearing it for the first time at the same time.

(48:42):
And I just don't necessarily feel I should be held
accountable. So there you go.
Yeah, because it's, you know, before it it came out before he
even thought if it should come out or not.
Yeah, well, a lot of times he probably didn't think it whether
it should come out or. Not it was just a brute.
But but I, I mean no offense. I mean, listen, do I regret the
way I dealt with some circumstances?

(49:02):
Well, of course. I mean, I'm human, right?
I make mistakes. You can, like we all, we all
make mistakes. We all do things that we're not
proud of sometimes. But at the end of the day is I
think everything else that you do is way bigger than one
little, you know? Listen, people have left solo.
Like I say, maybe not, yeah, because they wanted to.

(49:24):
But if I get to that point, there's a reason I got there
you. Probably already put up with a
lot. And it's not self-inflicted and
I don't have to share with everybody everything inside Solo
that you know, whomever did whatever, it's just it's
irrelevant. But if it you know, again, with
all that we do, all that we provide, man, if you can't be

(49:46):
happy at Solo, I I wish you all the happiness in the world, but
I probably wish you that happiness to begin same day.
Yeah, although in my agreement, I think I get 48 hours, Yeah,
before you're to plan your exit strategy.
And you know, and one of the things too that people don't
realize when, you know, there's people who might say, well, it's

(50:09):
cheaper here or whatever the case might be, right?
I get it. But one of the things that they
don't see and they don't realizeis you don't have to buy
furniture. You're not paying for water,
electricity, Wi-Fi, like you're not paying any of that.
You're literally just bringing your tools into Sola.
You get $400.00 of free product.You get 4 weeks of free rent

(50:34):
like it's. It's it's almost sounds like I
trained you well. I'm, I'm, I'm teasing you.
You were, you were pretty complete minus the clientele the
first day I met you. But the truth is, yeah, I mean,
but that's the whole, that's thephilosophy that I was raised on

(50:54):
when we first started this. Business.
And I've always told you, if I ever did go behind the chair for
whatever, whether it'd be hair or anything else, I chew Solo
all over again. Well.
I mean, and he said he'd I wouldn't be alive if I didn't.
Well, no, I did not. I did not threaten your life.
I did. I did threaten to haunt your
life. There's a difference.

(51:15):
I I don't, I never get physical,but I can get emotional.
And yes, I would haunt you. There's no question.
About that. But but yeah, I mean, again, I'm
very fortunate. A lot of my locations have a
good number of folks who've beenthere for years.
I never take them for granted. I never take it for granted.
Carolyn and Rick never take anyone or anything for granted.

(51:37):
But, you know, again, thank you.Goes a long way.
I don't expect it. It's all cool.
You know, I tell folks, yeah, ifyou get to, if we get to the
point where everything that I told you was going to happen has
not happened, then I forgot something.
So remind me all. You got to do is tell me and
everyone has my chagrin 24/7 access and it just blows my mind

(52:00):
that, you know, I'm old man. I go to bed pretty early, but
I'm up really early. Yeah, we're opposite on in that
because I go to bed very late. Yeah, and you text me at you.
Know, I know not. 10:30, 10/30 11:30 at night and I'm thinking
what? What the hell is she doing up?
But he wakes up really early andI wake and I don't wake up as

(52:20):
early. Right.
I'm up before most folks, but you know, that's my time of day.
I'm drinking my coffee and I have nobody asking me for
anything. I've got nobody yelling at me.
See, and for me it's the opposite.
At night, I have my kids are asleep, I don't have to deal
with anybody asking me to do anything.
So that's my time to just like, OK.
Well so with my kids, you know 1you know one lives you know well

(52:45):
they both for the most part livepretty far away and but even
they know the man. Come 93010 o'clock, you know the
answer may not be the answer youwant.
The answer will be why are you calling me this?
Well, yeah, I don't know if I those are probably not the exact
words that I would choose, but yeah, yeah, I'm I'm definitely a

(53:10):
morning. Well, not, not a right in the
morning person, but yeah, I mean, I listen, we rarely say no
to our occupants. And, and you know, I appreciate
what they have to go through to be successful.
And but you know, I I hate to say no and I really do lose
sleep when I do say no. It bothers me.
But it's really very simple. Again, it's not that hard.

(53:33):
It's not that complex. I'm not that smart.
You're very smart. Not really, but but I'm good at
is making you think I'm oh see. Then that's see, that's smart
then. Well, I don't know, but you
know, if I do say no, the reasonis probably simple.
Yeah. Is that if I have, if I do it
for you, I'll put myself up to having to do it for everybody.

(53:55):
And it just may not be feasible.I mean, I don't know what to
tell you. It's not a bottomless pit.
And it's tougher for me than it's ever been.
It's tougher for you than it's ever been, and I get it.
So I'm not a greedy guy, but I mean, you know, return on
investment, right? That's what it's all about.
And you need a return on your investment time product,

(54:18):
whatever it is. So obviously it's it's you want
to see them grow because their growth is also good for Sola.
Again, I didn't know what I didn't know when I started, but
what I know now is and and it's just the truth.
Whether I like them or not, I just have immense respect for
those who go the distance because I know what it takes.

(54:39):
And it's just really impressive with to be able to exercise that
passion that you have for, you know, that creative part of your
brain. It's got to be so satisfying.
And I'm not sure I've even ever accomplished that, to be honest
with you. I mean, you know, yeah, it's
just very, it's just very impressive.
And and, you know, I mean, yeah,I'm my kids will tell you, I'm a

(55:02):
crier by nature. So I could just cry thinking
about it. Guy my size crying is it's not a
pretty song, but it's just the truth.
The the passion and being able to fulfill that, the need, you
know, it's just it blows my mind.
It really does. It's just very impressive.
Yeah. And I think that's what.
Satisfying. Three locations.

(55:24):
Three locations trying to do more but man the the real estate
guides are just don't seem to bebreathing in my favor.
I, I feel like they're yeah. And I San Antonio is growing
tremendously right now at a ratethat is so fast.
And it's like just buildings aregoing up.
Even where I live, I live in an area where it was all trees and

(55:45):
now there's so many buildings coming up, there's new things
coming up. There's a Dollar Tree that just
opened across the street from where we live.
And I'm just like, what the hell, You know, Like, it's
insane. It is.
I mean, Houston's not a whole lot different.
And you know, you drive in between Houston and San Antonio,
man, you can see they're puttingstuff up everywhere.
You're like, golly, who? Who operates that?

(56:07):
What's it doing here? You know, I tend, like I say,
it's not the Continental Divide,baby.
I mean, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's not warm and fuzzy at
all. Oh man, so now you have do we
have? Is there suites available?
I do, I do. Are you looking?
For hair stylist or injectors. I would love hair.

(56:27):
I actually I've got an injector in one of my locations.
That's awesome. And man, if I can get two more,
one in each location, I would love it.
Galleria has an injector. And she is wonderful.
She's awesome. There's a little shout out.
I guess that is that how you. Say shout out.
Am I too old for that? No, you're good.
I. Think I'm too old?
Yeah, Audrey is fantastic, but Imean, she's, you know, she is

(56:49):
what again, we were trained to think of as a sola pro.
She's really great. I mean personable, you know,
years of experience and. She's a registered nurse.
She's a registered nurse and. And so listen, the worst thing
can happen is somebody comes in,gets a service and gets hurt or
scarred or, God forbid, whateverit is, right?

(57:13):
So yeah, we tend to try to vet people out as best we can.
And when I say we, it's typically me.
Yeah, but I make mistakes. I mean, I'm human, right?
Yeah. But I tell you what.
Yeah, she's great. And.
You have Amy there too. I love Amy.
Amy Whitaker. Yes, she's the.
Best Yeah, she is great, She really is.
She's funny as hell, but. Oh my gosh, she is her.

(57:35):
Post She's hilarious. Matt, she is one of the she's
going for an award with behind the chair for this year.
So this is also a chat, a shout out to her.
So vote for her for the funniestvideos on Instagram, on social
media. She is funny, she is

(57:56):
one-of-a-kind and she's a pros pro and man, I will do anything
I have to do. She's actually going to keep
her. Oh, is she?
You got her to agree to. It didn't take you very long.
Nope. Yeah.
I don't even know what to say. She's she.
She really is. She really is awesome.

(58:16):
She is personality plus and fromwhat I'm told she is very good
at what she. Does.
Oh yeah, she's amazing. So.
She's great. She's got a great sense of
humor. Yeah, she's got, you know, she's
an adult, right? Yeah.
So she's someone you guys need to follow, but I know you have.
So you have locations available right now at all three
locations, or? Just I've got I do have it all

(58:40):
three. So if you take it from South to
N Sunset Ridge, which is, you know, it's on north New
Braunfels. I do have a couple of studios
there. I've got one studio for sure for
hair. And then at Galleria Oaks headed

(59:00):
north, which is inside of 16 O 4between Thousand Oaks or Brook
Hollow, I've got a couple of studios for well, actually I've
got a couple studios. I've got 2 for hair and I've got
and I think I've got 2 for non hair.
And when I say non hair, you know, again, aesthetician,
injector, whatever it is. Not at that one though, because

(59:21):
you already have an injector. Yeah, no injectors, no
injectors. And I really, you know, I don't
need 15 lash people in location and nothing against lash people,
but. You know you can only have so
many of each. All of these facilities and, and
I really don't care what anybodyelse tells you, all of these
facilities have hair stylists inmind, right?

(59:42):
You know, one of the reasons we got in this business and my, you
know, my brother said it, I think, you know, you cannot get
your hair cut on the Internet. Nope.
All there is to it, and it's just the truth.
And so they're all, they're all designed for hair stylists.
And yes. I think all of them have that
flexibility to bring in a non hair stylist, but I've got, you

(01:00:06):
know, a couple studios that were, you know, they have been
non hair from day one. No one has ever done hair in
them. And at one point I think TDLR
and I am, listen, that's my governing body.
That's your governing body. Everybody inside Solo's TDLR
licensed. That's all there is to it.

(01:00:26):
And I've I've lost people because they weren't TDLR
licensed. And to me that's a maybe false
sense of security, but a little bit of a safety net.
So but yeah, so Galleria Oaks, I've got a couple for hair and
two for non hair. At Stone Oak I've got a double

(01:00:47):
available. Yeah, that one's a huge double,
guys. It's not something small.
Yeah, it is, and it's beautiful.I well, yeah, I'm.
I mean, they're all I think well, so I think they're all
really beautiful, but for some reason that suite has always
stood out for me because of how big it is.
It's one of your biggest suites,I believe, but.

(01:01:08):
Because of, you know, building it out during the pandemic.
So the chairs and so a double is, you know, there's two sets
of there's two of everything. Shampoo Bow.
This one also has two sinks though, right?
It's got 2 shampoo bowls, it's got 4 points of retail shelving.
It's got 2 tall pantries. It's got it's got 2 of
everything. And the chairs are actually

(01:01:30):
COVID protocol, which I think atthe time was 7 feet apart.
I think if I remember correctly,I think I'm right.
So yeah, Studio turned out big. Because of that.
Yeah, and truthfully, it's just the truth.
Double studios are more difficult to lease now than they
ever have been. You're going to want to be with
each other. Again, I'm very transparent.

(01:01:51):
Well, I think that that's a, it's a legitimate somewhat
concern from the pandemic, I guess.
But any double that I have I think would be COVID protocol.
Yeah, 'cause they're all, they don't have enough space in
between. One of the things too like that
I, I do see it's a lot of collaboration between your

(01:02:14):
tenants within each other and always trying to either, you
know, give clients to one another if somebody's not there.
That's one thing that I feel it's something that Sola has
created for them to be able to work within each other and be
able to support one another in alot of their businesses.
And I feel you do a good job in betting them so that they could.

(01:02:37):
Well, I think that that's a a phenomenal really happy, happy
byproduct of, of, of not just signing anybody that walks
through the door. I think that's pretty self.
I mean, I am aware that that hasgone on, but I think that a lot
of that is self motivated by those, you know, individual

(01:02:58):
folks. I mean, listen, they're all
individual business people and Idon't tell them how to run their
business. I tell them how to operate
within my business, which but I'm equal opportunity, right?
So everybody falls under the same, you know, kind of
guidelines, if you will. TDLR definitely, definitely sets
those parameters to some extent.But at the same time, yeah, I

(01:03:21):
mean, I think it's wonderful that they would interact in a
very positive, you know, fashion.
I mean, listen, I don't have a lot of tolerance for drama.
Again, I'm a girl, dad, so I understand drama, but yeah, I
just. Does it still occur?

(01:03:41):
Yeah, I mean, to some extent. But I tell you what, they're
pretty good at covering it up ifI'm there, which.
Is better, which is what? Not about that.
Don't, Don't let me sound. Like no, no, no, no, but no, I
think like I think I think they know that you don't like the
drama so and they it stays out of solo.
I feel like, and if I, I don't think even well, at least when I

(01:04:03):
was there, I never experienced any drama.
Like there was no drama. There was nothing, you know,
everybody kept to. Themselves, I think it's there a
little bit and, and yeah, listen, yeah, there's plenty of,
you know, it's a, it's a, it's aturnkey gig, right?
They well, I didn't say that. Yeah, I did, because I know how
we are. Well, yeah.
Yeah, I know too. So I think that I think it's

(01:04:27):
important that, that, that they're in a workspace that they
feel safe and that makes them, it needs to be their happy
place, right? Because, you know, working your
ass off. And if you're not happy there,
well then find a place that you're happy.
Now you've got an obligation with me and I have gone above
and beyond my obligations. And I just baseline, I expect

(01:04:48):
you to fulfill your obligations.That's just the way of the
world. I mean, I'm sorry, you know, I'm
not like I say, I'm not blazing any new trails here.
But I would like to think that between Carol, Rick and I hope
myself, we treat people extremely well unless they put
us in a position to not care anymore.
And if I quit caring? Then that's it, it's done.

(01:05:12):
Well, it's just time. I mean, that means something has
gone horribly wrong. And again, knock on wood, I've
been very fortunate. Most of my folks have been there
for some period of time and I don't want them to leave.
That's all. And, well, I'll never give you a
reason to want to leave that I'mpretty confident of.
It's not always reciprocated, but that's life.
I mean, what am I going to do right?

(01:05:32):
Yeah, I think that's one one of the things is I feel like,
again, I always told you the only reason I left was because I
was done doing hair. Right.
And I knew that. But I don't think I, not that I
don't think I know that I would have never just left to go
somewhere else. It was just I was done doing her
Well, Yeah. You call it a threat.

(01:05:54):
I was just kind of expressing reality.
Yeah. About You know, a ghost can
haunt people. Oh yeah, I'm teasing, I'm
teasing. I know he'll he really will
haunt me. Yeah, you probably so.
But as you know, at the time when you told me, I told you I'm
not happy about this. Yeah, I'm still not happy about

(01:06:16):
it. For whatever it's worth, it's
been how long? Man, 2021.
Yeah. Yeah, four years, 04 years.
Yeah, that was a dark solo day. But see, but it's still like, I
mean, I I help with social medianow for solo and I'm, you know,
happy to do it. So I also do want to thank you,

(01:06:38):
Scott, for saying yes to coming on the podcast finally.
It took me, you know, a whole year and a few hours on the
phone to convince him. I it's not my natural element,
but I'm very flattered that you want to be.
I'm flattered that you know, it's a great listen.
I hope this is a good platform to express and and you know,

(01:06:59):
maybe something goodwill come out of it.
Regardless, I've enjoyed it and you know I love you.
I love you too, Scott. Thank you.
Fully supportive. Yeah, you've always been, you
know, I'm so grateful for that. Yeah, you're super nice.
Thank you. So if you guys haven't followed
Sola Salon San Antonio's, he's on Instagram, also on Facebook.
And if you're looking for a suite, you could just go on

(01:07:21):
solasalons.com and just look up the location.
And you could also call Scott at.
I do answer the phone what's my number 210-488-3399.
There you go. I'm sorry.
Yeah. But yeah, you could call him,
schedule a tour and you know he will not personally give be

(01:07:44):
giving you the tour. Well, that's not all to if I'm
here if. He's here.
I'm. Happy to yes.
I got I got the tour from Scott,yes, but I think that was before
Carol. Also, when I came in, Carol
still was not with you 2019. That, or maybe she maybe she was
just getting started. I think so because she started,
I think maybe a month or two months after I.

(01:08:07):
Might be, but at this point, youknow, if, if, if I can, if I'm
here, then yeah, it's no questions.
But I, you know, I try to arrange to be here for tours.
But you know, a lot of people, they reach out and you know,
they want to see it in the next 30 minutes.
And you know, that's just very difficult for us.

(01:08:27):
Again, you can't get your hair cut with 30 minutes notice.
You can't get your facial 30 minutes notice.
But we we try hard and. There's also QR codes on the
doors of each solo. Is there well there?
Well, there was. I think there is a Galleria.
Oak OK Galleria Oaks location has AQR code that you scan and

(01:08:49):
it'll create a little. Well, so I kind of yeah, in some
cases, yes, and a lot, but a lotof that, you know.
We're working on. We're working on but the problem
is you can't, you know, people will use QR code and leave a
review. Oh.
We don't. Need a review?

(01:09:09):
Well, you, well, I mean, positive reviews are just that.
But you know, again, if somebodyannoys you or pisses you off or
whatever, I mean, I can't policethat and I don't want to police.
That no, because that's at the end of the day, all those
reviews you're leaving for your stylist, remember as if you, if
you're a consumer, then the reviews are for your stylist.

(01:09:32):
But if you're a tenant, then out.
Of out of self-defense if you got a bad service, I had
nothing. To do with that, that has
nothing to do with Sola, right? Yes.
But thank you so much, Scott forbeing on.
I'm so grateful for you. And again, don't forget to
please follow him and thank you for watching and we'll see you

(01:09:52):
next week. Thank you.
Thank you.