The Entrepreneurial Artist
Wolff Student Haley Salinas Brings Her Passion To Business
Haley Salinas has found the art in business. She is the founder of Soluna Studios, a media production company and creative art house in Houston, and a student of the Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship.
Her passion for film and the arts began when she was in high school. She enrolled in a theater class, and while she loved acting on stage, she developed a deep appreciation for all the work that went on behind the scenes.
She got involved in short film projects and dived into artistic analyses. She helped oversee production and said she has worked nearly every role on a set so she can have a well-rounded idea of everything that needs to be done to make the movie magic happen.
"My first and forever love is film."
What started as a film media production company quickly branched out to cover other art mediums. She has been involved in booking venues for concerts, coordinating fashion shows and curating art galleries.
“It’s expanded a lot more than I thought,” Salinas said. “But my passion has always been in film. My first and forever love is film.”
Salinas said she was nervous about pursuing the arts as a career at first. She was told how risky it was and that she would never be able to support herself. Everyone thought she would end up a “starving artist.”
“Students should never have to choose between their passions and being able to survive,” Salinas said.
However, she never gave up on her dreams. She continued working on various film sets and contributed to other productions around Houston to expand her expertise and experience.
“Houston has the potential to be a powerhouse in terms of art and culture and music.”
When she joined the Wolff program, she had the passion — they helped her find her vision.
“I always felt like I was an art kid in a business class, or a business kid in an art class,” she said. “I always felt odd in either environment, because they never fully felt like me. When I got into the Wolff program, they pushed me to find my personal vision... it combined the two (art and business) together for me.”
Salinas has big dreams of contributing to the blossoming Houston art scene through student-focused film festivals and expanding her company to a place where she can offer scholarships for students who want to go to college for the arts.
“Houston has the potential to be a powerhouse in terms of art and culture and music,” she said. “The people are already here. I hope my production company can help foster that growth.”
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