Salon studios franchise Sola Salons announced the appointments of Liz Hartwell as vice president of operations and Rachel Vaughn as vice president of marketing. The new additions to the Sola executive team come on the heels of the success the brand achieved in 2021 where it opened 53 new locations, 600 units systemwide, and welcomed about 6,900 beauty professionals to its community of independent salon owners.

“We are thrilled to have Liz and Rachel join our growing team,'' said Christina Russell, CEO of Sola Salons. “They are exemplary leaders, each possessing a wealth of experience in our industry and beyond and will undoubtedly make invaluable contributions to our rapidly-growing franchise system.”

Liz Hartwell was brought up in franchising with her parents operating multiple Massage Envy franchises throughout Ohio. She began her career path managing three of her parents' locations during college where she learned the dedication and ambition it takes to run a franchise business. She pivoted to the food industry in 2015, spending three years with the Wendy’s Company before being named as the director of franchise operations for Amazing Lash Studio. During her tenure, Hartwell worked directly with franchisees to create strategy and action planning to impact top-line revenue and bottom-line profit, upheld brand standards, and ensured operational excellence.

As vice president of operations at Sola Salons, Hartwell will plan, direct, coordinate, and oversee operations activities for the brand, ensuring development and implementation of efficient operations and cost-effective systems to meet current and future needs of the organization. 

Rachel Vaughn brings over 15 years of marketing experience to Sola Salons. She spent 10 years at a traditional marketing agency where she built holistic marketing programs for large national consumer packaged goods and consumer brands such as Kraft Foods, Einstein’s Bros. Bagels, and PepsiCo. From there, she moved into the fast casual food industry and served as the director of marketing for Smashburger, Live Basil Pizza, and Tom’s Urban (now Tom’s Watch Bar) where she fell in love with the franchise model. Finally, she found her niche in beauty and wellness franchising, serving as the director of marketing for Floyd’s Barbershop before moving on to WellBiz Brands where she was the vice president of marketing for leading franchise concepts Amazing Lash Studio, Drybar, Elements Massage, and more. Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, Vaughn has a deep appreciation for the successes and challenges faced by independent business owners, making her an invaluable asset to both Sola’s franchisee network and community of beauty professionals.

In her new role as vice president of marketing, Vaughn will manage Sola’s marketing efforts top-to-bottom, including the brand’s digital presence, the Sola Blog, social media strategy, traditional and nontraditional marketing campaigns, media relations and innovative programs.