As salons and barbershops remain closed, business owners—small and large—are being hit hard financially and are figuring out ways to pivot.

Maya Smith, founder and CEO of The Doux haircare line and salon, says that while protecting her business during the financial crisis is important, it is important to prioritize health over hair as she does business.

“For us as a business, we’ve had to cut our shipping staff in half just to keep everybody separate—and do all of the legwork as far as customer service remotely,” said Smith.

Of course, we are the most disenfranchised when it comes to the business growing, scaling, and being acquired—but I really feel like in a lot of ways, so many of us going digital and having access directly to our consumer kind of leveled the playing field for a lot of black-owned businesses,” said Smith.

As businesses pivot, Smith also shared that it’s also key for owners to communicate with their customers and provide quality customer service.