Fran’s Approach for Smith + Fox
I love art. I wanted to make a career out of it when I was young, but became overwhelmed with the idea of needing to make a living. I told myself it was a hobby and left it at that.
Careers in my 20s kept me looking for something I was passionate about. I was an elementary school teacher in Baltimore and a state park ranger, but those weren’t my calling. A razor bob haircut by a skilled stylist changed my life and I felt connected to myself. My hair had spunk like me. I felt proud, became obsessed, and moved to Seattle to begin my education and practice in the art of hair.
Hair is amazing. It can be our armor, our message, and our voice for the rest of the world to see. It is something we can shape, color and change to express where we are in our journey. It’s an external representation of how we creatively express ourselves or that we just don’t give a damn. It grows, it changes just like us—we were born with it. How we manage it is up to us!
I work to create a place where we can look, listen and learn. My goal is to help you look and feel your best. I invest in my craft through advanced education in order to provide you with the best experience. I provide products that work and produce easily achievable results. I love empowering my clients with the right product.
Smith + Fox is a space that was created to reflect not only my work, but the amazing pieces of art created by local artists. Georgetown is special and I want to support my neighbors by representing them and helping them grow their passions.
Community is everything!
Welcome to Smith + Fox. I can’t wait to see you!
Fran Connolly
Owner and stylist of Smith + Fox
The Story Behind the Name
Frances Smith was my grandmother - a resilient and determined single mother, educator and matriarch.
Frances Smith was a force. Willful from the beginning, she always managed to overcome adversity. She was an independently-minded woman who loved her family fiercely and stood up to anything and anyone that she felt was unjust. She raised 2 girls in wake of World War II in a time when society was not forthcoming in its support of forceful female leaders and single mothers.
WWII and PTSD had devastating effects on her marriage. Her husband, deeply disturbed by his wartime experiences, never returned home and Frances became a single mother of two daughters in New York City. She scraped together modest means to keep her house and help her family survive.
Formerly a buyer at Franklin Simone in New York, Frances sought a career that was better suited to raise her daughters. She attended Hunter College in NYC and earned her degree in education at night. Frances implored the help of her sister Edna to watch her daughters outside on the steps of Hunter College while she was in class.
My grandmother didn’t have much money, but she treated my mother and aunt like queens. She wanted her daughters to have access to the world - reading them poetry and frequenting the theaters and museums of New York. She made them dresses to match those they saw as they walked by the store windows in the city.
Independence was Frances Smith’s motto and one that she passed on to her daughters. One of my most prized possessions is the diamond ring she gave to my mother in her early 20s. She told her daughter Mary, “Here is your diamond. Make your own money first, don’t marry for a diamond.” Frances Smith cherished independence, and she drove her daughters and grandchildren to do the same. Her passion, intellect and love was overwhelming, as was her fury for anyone who crossed her family or daughters. She made sure her daughters journeyed through both college and graduate degrees.
Frances retired from education in Cape Cod with two homes and two daughters that knew the value of independence.
I can only imagine what she went through; surviving the Depression and the loss of her marriage as a single mother of two daughters. I do know that she moved mountains with her will power, her unashamed assertiveness and clever wit. She always reminded me that “I have my dignity, and you can’t take that away.”
This salon is my dream, and it has taken all of the passion and determination that she showed me to make it real. I name this in honor of Frances Smith. A stylish and clever fox she will always be.