Darius Davie and Matthew Sears are making their mark on the men’s grooming and wellness industry.
In 2015, Darius Davie pursued a career in the barbering industry. The following year, he was trained and obtained his barber license at a beauty school in New York City, and was simultaneously working in business development at a startup called Harry’s.
He left the startup after a year and relocated to Washington, D.C., where he began building his clientele as a barber, cutting hair for executive leaders who helped spread the word. He recognized there was a demand and wanted to offer his services within a space, but he didn’t want to follow a traditional model. His blueprint was inspired by “Cutting Along the Color Line: Black Barbers and Barber Shops in America,” a book written by Quincy T. Mills.
“The book talked about innovation in the beauty space, barber shops in the early 1900s, and how they were integrated inside hotels,” Davie told AFROTECH
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Davie launched Groom Guy in 2020 as a blog featuring a marketplace of trusted hair products and brands. Davie wanted a physical home for the project, and through a connection with a developer, pitched the idea of converting dead spaces in hotels into self-care sanctuaries to a hotel owner. He hoped the space would offer self-care services and high-quality personal care products for hair, skin, and beard care.
In May 2020, Groom Guy found its home situated within IHG’s Yours Truly DC Hotel.
Photo Credit: Maeva Komenan
In 2021, Davie onboarded his longtime friend, Matthew Sears, a senior cybersecurity architect at American Express, as a business partner. Sears serves as head of strategy and operations, while Davie serves as chairperson and creative director.
Groom Guy’s post at the Yours Truly DC Hotel was initially intended to be a four to six-month pop-up, but became what Sears calls a pillar of the community, attracting the attention of various brands and becoming part of the day-to-day routines of travelers from sports leagues, associations, and corporations. The hotel recognized Groom Guy’s customer return rate, which remains, on average, at 85% according to information shared with AFROTECH
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, and didn’t want to end a partnership that was increasing brand loyalty across the hotel.
“From that four to six months until now, we learned how to integrate food, beverage, lodging, travel, tourism, enterprise, entertainment, and recreation,” Sears said.
Groom Guy is a well-oiled machine with a business model that includes an elevated hospitality design, partnerships, and professional services such as haircuts, beard trims, hot towel shave, and tailored self-care advice, according to its website, and has attracted further high-profile hospitality placements. It scored a two-year post at the PGA National Resort in 2023, making history as the first luxury barbershop on PGA property, according to African American Golfers Digest.
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Now, it has expanded to the Salamander Washington DC, a two-story oasis brought to life by Black Entertainment Television (BET) co-founder Sheila Johnson’s
Salamander Collection, according to a press release shared with AFROTECH.
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The hotel has 14 treatment rooms, advanced skincare therapies, exclusive first-in-DC treatments, steam and sauna facilities, and more, according to the press release.
Photo Credit: Salamander Washington
Groom Guy’s foray into the hotel coincided with the launch of its concierge service, where Groom Guy brings what they call the “world’s first luxury barber chair” directly to clients. It can be set up in three minutes and weighs 105 pounds less than the standard barber chair, making it ideal for transportation and less physically taxing for the stylist.
Photo Credit: Maeva Komenan
The service has been especially beneficial for groomsmen, Davie told AFROTECH
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“Once we got into that market, we also understood and connected with the sales team, and we knew that there was an underserved group, which was the bridal services and groomsmen. So we positioned the concierge as the targeted audience … Now we’re having an additional value add for the hotel,” Davie said.
To book the concierge chair, you must contact the front desk for a consultation and/or the concierge for the Salamander Washington DC location. Bookings require a minimum of four people, and can be done up to 48 hours in advance.
The Groom Guy Concierge service has also been piloted at conferences such as AWS Summit, Washington, D.C, according to information shared with AFROTECH
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Davie and Sears want to expand their footprint to more hotels, which they hope to onboard as investors at the start, to have more control.
“We’ve done it right, we’ve done it once, we’ve done it twice, let’s keep going again. And more importantly now also is bringing in other believers … the key ones to take us to the next level,” Davie said.
Groom Guy has fulfilled more than 8,000 men’s grooming services and has earned $720,117.93 in year-to-date sales (at the time of this writing) across its locations since its inception, according to information shared with AFROTECH
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. The co-founders have maintained their independence as the venture is fully bootstrapped. However, they are actively looking for investors, believing they have a proven model that will provide value to more hotels and have established themselves as leaders in men’s wellness and hospitality.
The founders also want to prepare their barbers to make an impact beyond the chair. In fact, those working at Groom Guy can teach workshops, speak at workshops, receive salary training, and learn about other roles within the hotels.
“It’s not enough to be a barber or a hairstylist, but we want to evolve you into a working professional, a career professional in the beauty industry,” Davie said. “We want to reset the tone, we want to change the narrative. And being in these spaces, we would hope gives them the vision to look beyond just behind the chair and into a future for themselves.”
The post How A Luxury Men’s Grooming And Wellness Brand Founded By 2 Friends Has Generated Nearly $1M In Sales appeared first on AfroTech.
The post How A Luxury Men’s Grooming And Wellness Brand Founded By 2 Friends Has Generated Nearly $1M In Sales appeared first on AfroTech.
