Grand Opening of Salon Noir

Dwayne: Hello! Welcome to my salon, SalonNoir.

Renca: I’m interviewing the owner of a Deaf-owned business that just opened on September 25th. His name is Dwayne. Let’s have an interview with him!

Renca: Hello! Wow, I’m really happy to be here. This is a very nice salon called SalonNoir. Can you quickly introduce yourself and tell us where you’re from. Did you grow up here?

Dwayne: I was born in New Mexico in Albuquerque, then I moved around to the Midwest and the West. I went to four different schools for the Deaf, plus I was mainstreamed at public schools too. So, I graduated at Iowa School for the Deaf (ISD) in 1993, then I went to a political technical college for one year and decided it wasn’t my major so I moved back here to be closer to my family. The reason why I have always been liked for doing hairstyles is because I always looked up to my mom and my sister doing and curling their hair. I thought, yeah, why not? I started working with hair and loved it. So… That’s why I love doing my hair.

Renca: Now, in this salon, you do many things like makeup, dye, and... What else?

Dwayne: Pedicures for feet, and I also do manicures. So, I think this place is a great fit. Plus there’s another lobby area for people to sit, chat, and have drinks. People can bring their own, with a limit of 1-2 drinks. They can drink water, too.

Renca: That’s cool. This is a really nice hotel, too. It looks like you found a space in a hotel. How did you find this space?

Dwayne: Ok. One of my friends used to work as a bartender here, and the hotel manager shared that there was an open space that was never used, so my friend suggested using that space as my salon because it would be a good opportunity for the hotel to bring customers and have different kinds of events here. It was a fantastic opportunity. Also, there’s a lot of good competition in Downtown because the East Village has a lot of salons but here, there are only three… My salon, one Marc salon, and there’s another one across the street from here - a barber shop. There’s not much competition. Plus, this is cheaper to rent. Business is good. So… I think it was a great opportunity for me to use this space.

Renca: You communicate with hearing customers through an iPad and your iPhone.

-Yes.

Any other ways, or is it just these two methods.

Dwayne: Just these two. We write back and forth, and speak. There are four things. We use an iPad, or iPhone, photos, text, or write back and forth.

Renca: Cool. Now, if a Deaf customer comes in obviously you sign.

Dwayne: Obviously we sign, yes. We use body language. Yes.

Renca: Right. Cool. Now, I’m curious… Why the name “SalonNoir”?

Dwayne: Noir means the color black, and it’s like the color palettes gold, white, and black… a pretty. I got that word from Europe and the UK. So, I thought “Noir”... There's nothing in the state of Iowa that has the word “Noir”. So, I’m the first one who chose that word. So, I think using the word Noir is a perfect fit for this salon, because the colors are black and white, and gold and that’s why I love that. Also, I like Art Deco.

Renca: And you mentioned that the floor is self-heated?

Dwayne: Yep. We have under floor heating with tiles on top, and it was remodeled.

Renca: Cool. Plus you have this. Very nice fireplace.

Dwayne: Yeah! It had a fireplace ready, as a backup. Very fancy. Come!

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Renca: Out of all things you offer, what is your favorite service to do?

Dwayne: My favorite thing to do is cutting hair because it’s more creative. There are different styles, like punk rock, like back to old times in the 80s or 90s, like my hair with a shave, mullet hair… I like these old styles. There’s a good variety. Yeah.

Renca: If you happen to stop by Des Moines, or live here, or live nearby, do come to get a haircut, pedicure, or one of the other services that thai place offers! Check out SalonNoir’s Instagram and Facebook! I’ll put the link in the transcript. I want to congratulate Dwayne, one of the Deaf owners of a salon. We have different Deaf owned businesses in the U.S., and Des Moines owns that category of Deaf-owned salons!

Renca: Ok.

[Renca dramatically grabs the very end of her long hair and hands it to Dwayne, who is holding scissors.]

I’m ready. Ready.

[Dwayne cuts off a small length of Renca’s hair.]

I’ve checked SalonNoir off my list! Thank you!

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