Mane Metaverse: The Doux Founder Maya Smith Talks…
Black hair is formally coming into the gaming chat, and for The Doux Founder Maya Smith that means more than laid edges on an avatar. It’s a likelihood to convey the tradition, creativity and entrepreneurship of the Black salon expertise into a new digital space.
Source: The Doux
The Doux has expanded into Roblox with an immersive salon expertise that brings textured hair, salon tradition and entrepreneurship into the digital world. Developed with Exclusible, the expertise permits gamers to construct and operate their own salon while shampooing, drying and styling purchasers across a vary of hair textures and protecting types.
For Smith, a cosmetologist who has labored in the wonder industry since 1995, coming into gaming isn’t about following a tech development. It’s an extension of the same salon tradition that impressed The Doux in the first place.
“I think one thing that The Doux is known for is being innovative, but also really thinking about not just the hair itself, but the everyday life and the quality of life of the people that we serve,” Smith said.
She said Roblox provided the model an alternative to meet shoppers where they already are while increasing conversations about textured hair, entrepreneurship and the position salons play in Black communities.
Source: The Doux / The Doux
“My thought was really to take our consumers and our followers on this journey of what it was like for me to start The Doux,” Smith said. “You know, if you know anything about The Doux, you know we started from our salon.”
The Doux Is Taking Players Beyond The Styling Chair
Rather than merely dropping digital bottles of The Doux into a sport, Smith wished gamers to expertise what it takes to truly operate a salon.
Source: The Doux / The Doux
That contains serving purchasers, maintaining appointments, choosing hairstyles and managing the main points that can decide whether or not prospects go away glad. Smith said that strategy also speaks to ongoing conversations about the variations between “new school” and “old school” salon tradition.
“People have always seen the craft or seen what hairstylists or barbers and Black salon culture produces in the community, but nobody really thinks about the actual business,” Smith said.
For her, the neighborhood salons many Black prospects grew up visiting have been constructed on more than expertise.
“The long-standing businesses are built on great customer service, being on time, no ‘hey boo’ text, right?” she said. “All of the things that make you love your neighborhood salon from back in the day are parts of the actual business of hair care.”
The expertise provides gamers a likelihood to explore those behind-the-chair tasks while still having enjoyable with the artistic facet of magnificence.
More Than 50 Textured Hairstyles Put Representation At The Center
The digital salon contains more than 50 textured hairstyles created with members of the Roblox creator group, with choices spanning different textures and types.
Source: The Doux / The Doux
Smith said making that illustration intentional was one of the project’s greatest priorities.
“We all know what it’s like to, you know, be in the store and not see your name on a little license plate, or you know, want to pick an avatar in a game or any of your younger memories of playing and not seeing yourself represented in play,” she said.
Players will encounter avatars with various pores and skin tones and hair textures, along with hairstyles including twist-outs, braid-outs, Afros, fades and locs.
Smith said she wished customers across backgrounds to find a way to establish with somebody in the sport while also gaining an appreciation for the broader group represented within it.
Source: The Doux / The Doux
“The first game where the representation of the actual avatars is very, very intentional,” Smith said.
Maya Smith Wants Players To See The Business Behind Beauty
Entrepreneurship is just as important to the expertise as styling hair.
Source: The Doux / The Doux
Smith’s own path to turning into a magnificence founder started behind the chair. She said she initially wasn’t centered on turning into a product entrepreneur. Her business centered on building areas where Black girls might really feel secure, perceive their hair and improve their haircare experiences.
“The heart of the brand really rests in that salon space,” Smith said.
That origin story is mirrored in the sport as gamers make appointments, serve prospects and even select parts for their digital salons.
Source: The Doux / The Doux
“All of the little things, the little details that are missed because everyone’s so focused on the hair, I wanted to bring that to the space and give our user an opportunity to experience that,” she said.
For The Doux, Gaming Is Part Of A Bigger Lifestyle Play
Smith also sees the Roblox expertise as an alternative to problem concepts about where impartial Black-owned corporations belong.
Source: The Doux / The Doux
“I hope it says a lot more about what Black founders are capable of in the beauty space,” she said.
Smith acknowledged that Black creatives are continuously acknowledged for setting trends that later affect bigger manufacturers, but she needs Black founders to have alternatives to lead conversations around rising technology fairly than merely inspire them.
“I see The Doux as a lifestyle brand,” Smith said. “So yes, hair, but also art, music, fashion, tech.”
That means coming into areas that could not historically be thought of half of a haircare company’s lane.
“More Black founders, more people of color that are willing to step outside of what other people may see as their lane, I think really will inspire and empower other creators,” she said.
Smith added that taking part in those areas is turning into more and more important as shoppers encounter manufacturers digitally before they ever stroll into a store.
“How do we engage with them from a place that they are instead of demanding that they come to find us?” she said.
The Products Are There, But Smith Says Serving Comes Before Selling
The Doux’s real-life merchandise are integrated into the styling course of. If a digital buyer requests a twist-out, for instance, gamers can encounter merchandise related with creating that model.
Source: The Doux / The Doux
The expertise also incorporates age-based restrictions. Users 13 and older can see branded content, while procuring performance is reserved for adults 18 and older.
Still, Smith said the last word aim isn’t to flip the sport into another digital storefront.
“We want to create and entertain, edutain, if you will, the people who love the brand,” she said.
Smith said she’s more in building a relationship with gamers by inviting them into The Doux’s world.
“I think a lot more about serving than selling, and that really is like what this game is about,” she said. “It’s an opportunity for us to engage in a way that is unique.”
As The Doux continues exploring what exists past the standard magnificence aisle, Smith isn’t placing many limits on where the model might go next.
“My mission has always been to create more spaces and provide more opportunities for people to do whatever it is that they want to do, just through the lens, right, of The Doux,” she said.
For now, that lens is bringing the Black salon expertise into Roblox, full with the textures, creativity, business classes and sense of group Smith hopes gamers acknowledge from real life.
“My hope is that the people who use the game will feel seen, and have a sense of belonging, and feel included in this world,” Smith said. “So I’m super excited about it.”
For more on The Doux, its textured haircare merchandise and the latest from the model, go to TheDoux.com.
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