Eau Claire Salon Owner Named Regional Stylist of the Year

Bridget Solheim still remembers renting a single chair inside another stylist's Eau Claire salon a decade ago, unsure whether she'd ever have a business with her name on the door. This month, she was named Regional Stylist of the Year by a Midwest hairstyling association, an honor that recognized both her technical color work and the mentorship program she has built at Chippewa & Co. Salon, the studio she now owns outright near the Chippewa River.

"I was genuinely shocked," Solheim said of the award, which is voted on by a panel of licensed stylists and salon owners across several Midwest states. "There are stylists doing incredible work in bigger cities. I didn't expect Eau Claire to be where the recognition landed."

Solheim opened Chippewa & Co. seven years ago after leaving the rented-chair arrangement, starting with three stylists in a small space before expanding twice to accommodate growing demand. The salon now employs nine stylists, two colorists, and a nail technician, making it one of the larger independent salons in the Chippewa Valley.

A Mentorship-Driven Business Model

Much of the award citation focused on Solheim's approach to training newer stylists, a structured mentorship program she built after noticing how many cosmetology school graduates in the region struggled to find salons willing to invest in their development beyond a brief onboarding period.

"A lot of salons hire new graduates and just throw them into a full book of clients within a month," Solheim said. "I remember how disorienting that was for me early on. I wanted something more deliberate."

Under the program, new stylists at Chippewa & Co. spend up to six months assisting senior colorists and building technical skills on model clients before taking a full independent book, a slower ramp-up that Solheim said costs the salon short-term revenue but has paid off in retention. She said four of her current stylists came up entirely through the internal mentorship track, and none have left the salon since completing it.

Recognition Beyond the Chair

The award has brought a noticeable uptick in bookings, according to Solheim, particularly from clients outside Eau Claire proper, including several who have started driving in from Menomonie and Chippewa Falls specifically for color services.

Colorist Ingrid Halvorson, who trained under Solheim's mentorship program before becoming a senior stylist at the salon, said the recognition felt earned rather than sudden. "Bridget has been doing the work that gets you this kind of award for years," Halvorson said. "It just took the industry a while to notice a salon outside Milwaukee or Madison."

Solheim said she plans to use part of the visibility from the award to expand the mentorship program into a more formal partnership with a regional cosmetology school, offering structured externship placements for students in their final semester. She's also fielding calls from stylists in neighboring communities interested in adapting a similar training model at their own salons.

"I don't think Eau Claire gets enough credit as a place where serious salon work happens," Solheim said. "Hopefully this helps change that a little, not just for us but for other independent salons around here doing good work without much attention."