Faith @ Work
It is about much more than great hairstyles and haircuts at T. Fox SalonSpa in Hoover, Ala.
located at 2080 Valleydale Road. The Salon
is celebrating 12 years in business and
specializes in haircuts and Aveda color, hair
extensions, special occasion hair, and spa
treatments.
“When I hire a new employee, it’s really based on servanthood,” says Traci Fox, owner of the faithbased full service salon on Valleydale Road. “I have a team of service providers that really have servant’s hearts,” explains Fox. “Serving the community is part of our core values. It is a daily ministry for us to be able to touch lives and make a difference.”
Defining the Mission. Making a difference means providing great customer service but also reaching people outside of the salon’s styling chairs. For example, Fox and her team recently provided makeovers at the WellHouse, a local ministry serving victims of human trafficking. “So often the women will say that it took a while to trust in others, believe in others, believe in themselves, “ says Holly Bunn, WellHouse Development Officer. “So, the showing of love by area businesses like T. Fox I believe is what brings them around. They begin to believe in God’s love for them… for that we are so grateful.”
Fox’s team has also established “The Fox Box” inspired by the memory of Traci Fox’s mother, Nancy, who passed away at the age of 31 from ovarian cancer. “We collect money for local cancer patients going through chemotherapy and give them salon and spa services gift cards and organic Aveda products.” The Fox Box is 100% funded by the stylists and customers. The salon also raises funds for HairToStay (hairtostay.org), a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping cancer patients afford scalp cooling, a treatment that can dramatically reduce chemotherapy induced hair loss. Another passion is supporting the Cahaba River Society, which is the salon’s water source and helping Alabama Youth Camps with health screenings. “We’ve administered over 10,000 health screenings as volunteers at summer youth camps.”
When the salon had to close its doors for eight weeks due to COVID-19, Fox and her stylists asked themselves, “What do we do here?” The team chose to make more than 2,500 calls to the shut-in and elderly community to see if there was anything they could do to help them like running errands and picking up prescriptions. “We did this daily and sent out hundreds of cards of encouragement,” remembers Fox.
Setting a Standard for Service. Although T. Fox has not sought recognition for its service minded practices, their actions have not gone unnoticed. “As a past recipient of the Shelby County Small Business Award, T. Fox SalonSpa set itself apart as one of our community’s most successful small businesses,” explains Kirk R. Mancer, President & CEO of The Shelby County Chamber. “In receiving their recognition as a ‘small business of the year’, Traci Fox and her team demonstrated a substantial history of business success, growth in number of employees and revenue as well as a commitment to “giving back” to their community through a number of internal and external initiatives benefiting those less fortunate and in need. What’s more, their commitment to excellence continues with their recent recognition as one of the Top 200 Salons in America!”
Fox says her faith in Christ is what motivates her to be a servant leader. “I couldn’t do all of this without my team,” says Fox who strives to be a small business advocate as well as teach, mentor, and help young people realize that they can use their business to live out their faith and in turn better the community. To read more about T. Fox SalonSpa visit www.tfoxsalon.com.
-Melissa Armstrong
