With illustrious careers on two continents and traveling the world to teach artistry and inspiration, Matrix Artistic Directors Brian and Sandra Smith continue to meld their complementary talents to advance stylists' careers around the globe. Even more important, they come from a "walk the talk" POV. Since joining forces in the late '80s with formal "I dos," the Smiths have been salon owners, working stylists and artistic directors. Their one caveat: "Whatever we do, we do it as a team."
"I met Sandra while doing a hair show with Nicholas French in Chattanooga, Tennessee," recalls Brian. "She was our assistant. We soon discovered that we had so much common ground, including our love for beauty and growing our skills, and passion for sharing education. We work together beautifully by combining our strengths for longhair styling, color and avant-garde work. We love listening to each other's opinions when designing hair. And, no matter what, we know that we can always depend on each other."
"We're also students at heart," smiles Sandra. "We believe that when stylists are finished changing, they're finished, period. We acknowledge that we'll never be as good as we could be; we're constantly in search of knowledge to grow our careers."
When asked about their current stint as Matrix Artistic Directors, Sandra becomes animated. "We've been with Matrix for the past 18 months," she beams. "Within the Matrix framework, we're allowed to artistically express our shared passions. We're also blessed to be mentors to Matrix Spread the Love stylist LaKeisha Michelle. We not only share our knowledge about hairdressing and color with her, but also how to become a better leader and an accomplished educator. It's hard to put into words how thrilled we are to see LaKeisha onstage, showing so much confidence, talent and grace."
When asked if they ever thought that their shared destiny was to become top educators, the Smiths respond almost simultaneously. "Never in our wildest dreams did we think we would accomplish what we have thus far, but we were always willing to give it a go," says Sandra. "I don't think that we'll ever feel like we've made it," adds Brian as Sandra nods in agreement. "The moment that you think you've arrived, you're actually on your way down." (MyMatrixFamily.com)
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