The story behind the Hair Restoration Institute began in 1982, when founder and President Vernon Cole chose to specialize in hair restoration and replacement.

A 1979 graduate of Horst Education Center, now The Aveda Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Cole served as licensed cosmetologist and owner of a national chain of salons before embarking on his specialty. As a member of the America Hair Loss Council, Doctors who are members of the International Hair Restoration Surgery, and the National Hair Society, Cole has also served as a platform artist and national speaker of a multi-billion dollar franchise.

Vern Cole’s focus on hair restoration was born out of a need to solve his own hair loss problem. Cole’s hair loss began in his late teens, and was traced to male pattern baldness, a condition that also plagued his brother and father. Intent on overcoming both the physical and psychological damage of losing his hair at such a young age, Cole took all his experience and energies and put it into building the premiere hair restoration clinic in the state – a feat he achieved in 1995, when he opened the doors to the first Hair Restoration Institute and brought together more than 75 years of combined experience in hair restoration procedures among Doctors, consultants, technicians, and clinic coordinators. Today, HRI has three private and discreet locations in: Bloomington, St. Paul, and Dallas Fort Worth.