No Church in the Wild
IYKYK, in the Black community, barbershops and beauty salons provide therapy, refer people to their next insurance agent or babysitter, and are just safe spaces for good conversation and community.
Maya Smith, a professional hairdresser, and Brian Smith, a businessman and veteran, founders of The Doux, felt that breathing life into a thriving Black presence in Kaiserslautern, Germany, was necessary. While a Black presence existed in Deutschland, not much Black heritage was present.
Image: The Doux
While salons catered to textured hair, Maya saw that few spoke to the culture. That ignited a desire to create a space where women could walk through their natural haircare journey and have a home away from home.
“I got [to Germany]and realized that there was a huge need for people who look like me to go to spaces that affirm their identity in Germany. When you’re in the military, the first thing you do, no matter where you go, is look for somewhere to get your hair done and a church; that’s really everybody’s experience. When you’re overseas where you don’t necessarily speak the language, you really build this surrogate family.”
From there, the Honeycomb Salon was born, where Maya worked with various hair types, catering mostly to military spouses, government contractors and plenty of German nationals. “We found that people didn’t want the products they saw anywhere else; they wanted the products that Maya was using,” Brian says.
Image: The Doux
On to the Next
Feeling the need to further serve their community abroad through haircare and self-care, they decided to develop the product line. After their brand launch, the couple gained momentum thanks to social media (in the early days of Instagram), with recognition in national publications and tons of requests for Maya to do hair back home in the States. While initially developing their products, the couple felt that market spoke to a singular aesthetic.
“Initially, the vision was for us to scale the salon concept and possibly franchise more haircare spaces because, at the time, there were no natural hair salons that spoke to everybody, so I just wanted to create more salons,” Maya declares.
Back at home and booked almost three months out, Maya realized, “OK, I have this product line that I really developed for me and my clients; how do I help to educate people and give people new ways to care for their hair and give them what I would give them from behind the chair?”
At this point in building your business, organizations like State Farm® and its local agents are dedicated to supporting small businesses as they flourish and expand within their communities.
Image: The Doux
24 ‘til Infinity
These days, the pair has a salon and has successfully launched The Doux in the U.S., which is sold in multiple retail stores nationwide. Equipped with dynamic marketing fueled by the couple’s shared love of hip-hop, their social media The Doux social media page, which hosts over 200K followers, booms with color, flavor, vigor, good music and haircare tips.
When asked what advice they would give aspiring business owners, they say, “We had a clear vision of what we wanted, how we wanted it to look, who we wanted to serve and the problems we wanted to solve. So, remain authentic and don’t feel pressured to adjust your performance to what’s happening in your market [because]if you know who you’re serving, then you don’t have to sell.”
Image: The Doux
You Can’t Stop Us Now
As for legacy, the pair are a family of seven, including five boys. “This is all our kids know; they’ve been a part of this journey. They spent a lot of Saturdays and time after school in the salon. They helped us set up the salon.”
They are adamant about bringing the children into what they are doing to pass the torch in some form. “I think a lot of times traditional parenting is [beholden]to all of the kid’s activities, but our kids have different parents. Even though Brian was in the Air Force, we’re both artists, creatives and entrepreneurs. So, they see us, and we [bring]them in to be a part of that process: packing boxes, learning shipping and logistics and doing anything age-appropriate they can participate in.”
Just as State Farm agents are there to help their communities, Maya and Brian are committed to empowering their own communities through their businesses. State Farm partners with small businesses and encourages wealth building and generational wealth, ensuring their legacy is about creating opportunities and fostering a sense of belonging and support.
