Leadership Team

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  Christina Russell

  Chief Executive Officer

  As a serial franchising executive, Christina has held top-level leadership roles at industry-leading brands for over 20 years. Christina is currently the CEO of Sola Salon Studios, the leader in the salon suites sector with over 600 locations across the US and Canada, and more recently in Brazil. Sola prides itself in providing premier studio spaces where beauty professionals can realize their dreams of working independently in a field they love. Prior to Sola, Christina served as the CEO of Pure Barre, President of Camp Bow Wow, and VP of Operations at Curves International. Christina started her franchising career nearly 20 years ago as a multi-unit franchisee, which informs her passion for helping others achieve their dreams of business ownership. Christina lives with her husband and 5-year old daughter in Broomfield, CO.

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  Nathan Jensen

  Chief Financial Officer

  Nathan possesses a wealth of executive finance, analytics, private equity and public accounting experience central to the company's reputation as a franchise leader in the salon suites industry. His experience with business analytics and designing highly efficient reporting systems will help our company as we continue to expand our store footprint. Previously, Nathan served as CFO at Rocky Mountain Healthcare Companies, Director of Finance at Closetbox, Inc., a venture-backed startup in the self-storage industry and Waste Connection, Inc. a national player in the solid waste industry. Nathan also has several years of experience in the hospitality industry working as a Controller with Marriott International. Nathan's career began as an audit associate with KPMG and he earned his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Brigham Young University – Idaho and holds an MBA from Washington State University. His well-rounded experience makes him an asset to the Sola Leadership Team.

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  Myrle McNeal

  Chief Operating Officer

  Myrle's extensive work history—combining both real estate and communications—gives him a unique perspective and skill-set for managing not only Sola's overall corporate goals, but also its day-to-day operations.
  
  In addition to helping facilitate Sola's forward progress as a company, Myrle also owns five Sola Salon locations of his own in both Oregon and Louisiana, and operates an additional 13 corporately-owned Sola locations in the Denver Metro area.
  
  Myrle's background in communications—which no doubt helps him tackle so many responsibilities at once—began with serving in multiple capacities for numerous large corporations. He has previously held senior leadership positions with AT&T, Sprint, and Level 3 Communications. While serving as the Vice President and General Manager for Level 3, he ventured out into real estate by managing the company's 75 locations, totaling an incredible 3 million sq. ft of space across the United States and Europe.
  
  Prior to joining Sola Salon Studios in his current position, Myrle honed his skills as a Senior Vice President of Operations for Datavail Corporation in Boulder, Colorado.

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  Jennie Wolff

  Chief Marketing Officer

  With an eclectic mix of talents, skills, and experience, Jennie brings a holistic strategy to Sola's Marketing and Education initiatives.
  
  Jennie's diverse experience set was first developed when managing Kroenke's Sports & Entertainments Special Events Department, after graduating from Emory University with a Degree in Creative Writing. After five years of managing the Special Events department at Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, Jennie joined Motive, a boutique creative marketing agency where she worked on experiential campaigns and digital projects for top brands such as Mars Chocolate, Van's Natural Foods and Cartoon Network. In 2013, Jennie joined the Sola team to put her talents to work in the salon industry.
  
  Jennie's consistent focus on developing foundational tools and strategies to truly support the independent salon owner make for an authentically useful marketing strategy. Jennie oversees all of Sola's marketing efforts, both traditional and nontraditional, and also led the creation and launch of Sola's innovative education initiatives including the Sola Pro app and Sola Sessions. Her passion is to enhance the independent salon owner experience and help the salon owners at Sola to succeed.

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  Ben Jones

  Chief Development Officer

  Ben Jones propels Sola Salon Studios forward by developing innovative strategies and assessing risk for all national and international growth opportunities. His deep knowledge and understanding of Sola Salon Studios operations also stems from his experience as a Sola franchisee, owner of three Sola locations in Colorado.
  
  Ben earned a Bachelor's degree with distinction from Duke University, followed by a Doctor of Law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. Prior to joining Sola in 2012, Ben was responsible for business development and risk management for tech giant, Qwest Communications and real-estate investment company Affordable Residential Communities. He is overly active in supporting his alma matter, as past-member of Duke University's Trinity School Board of Visitors and past-president of Duke's Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation. In addition, he recently joined the Board of Directors for the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, which provides grants to those seeking to effect positive change in North Carolina and at Duke University.
  
  Ben's passion for supporting and helping the independent salon owner community thrive is a driving force behind the ongoing evolution and innovation of the Sola brand. His ability to develop large-scale strategies for growth combined with a realistic understanding of the associated risks, make him uniquely situated to help Sola break new ground globally.