Jan. 16, 2017
By Jack Smith
AuburnTigers.com
Chris Butler had an idea.
He envisioned the ultimate mancave, a chic salon where men could unwind and leave feeling fresh and looking good.
The dapper former Auburn football player pitched the plan to an NFL star he knew might like it. He called his old teammate and good friend Karlos Dansby, who had learned the importance of grooming and being clean cut from former Auburn coach Joe Whitt.
"Karlos loved the idea and ended up investing," Butler said.
Butler's Grooming Salon in downtown Birmingham was born.
The business soon developed a steady base of clients who came in for old-fashioned shaves, haircuts, manicures or massages. They reclined in leather chairs, sipped on good drinks and talked about life, sports or their families with the salon's friendly staff.
It took time to become profitable, but it worked because of Butler's attention to detail and the staff's ability to build relationships with clients.
"We were probably ahead of our time a little with that business model when we opened up, but it created a buzz and our clients really enjoyed it," Butler said.
The business took off a few years later when Butler struck a deal with Saks Fifth Avenue, opening a salon inside the swanky retailer at The Summit, an upscale shopping center off bustling U.S. Hwy. 280 in Birmingham. Revenues tripled.
'Karlos is a competitor'
Despite a successful five-year run at Saks, Butler saw another opportunity and changed his strategy like a coach drawing up an entirely new offense: He decided to compete in the $50 billion a year cosmetic and beauty product business, another challenge that appealed to Dansby.
"Karlos is a competitor," Butler said. "He wants to win at anything he does. We knew it might take time, but we thought it would work."
Butler's vision was to elevate men's grooming with hair, body and skincare products based on sound science and crafted from the high-quality ingredients. He knew developing their own skin and hair care products would take time, money and complicated regulatory approval.
They launched a new company called Montez Renault, created from their middle names.
During the tedious and at times frustrating process that followed, he often drew on the lessons learned playing football at Auburn, from suffering through Coach Kevin Yoxall's winter workouts in "The Bubble" to fighting through injuries that eventually sidelined his career.
"Football teaches you a lot about perseverance and teamwork," Butler said. "When you get knocked down, you get back up. As much as you hated the workouts with Coach Yox, you appreciated it," Butler said. "I learned valuable life lessons about what it takes to be successful."
Butler assembled a team of chemists to develop their own natural skin and haircare products that would pass muster with the FDA, which is no easy task.
"We literally built it from scratch," he said. "It was like baking a cake."
Butler found a way around the obstacles that came up on the way to creating and bringing to market a product that has since won awards from the likes of Men's Health Magazine.
He often leaned on the advice of mentors ranging from his pal Pat Parsi, co-founder of BillyJealousy-an edgy and highly successful brand in the grooming industry-to Auburn University Trustee Raymond Harbert, a business icon in Alabama who has become one of their alma mater's most generous supporters. The College of Business at Auburn is endowed in his name.
"Raymond has been a really good mentor," Butler said. "I've been bouncing ideas off of him."
Butler and Dansby had enough confidence in their new product that they decided to close the Saks Fifth Avenue salon recently, which Butler says was a "bittersweet" moment.
"We knew we wanted to shift our focus to skin care and we knew the future was bright, but it was tough," he said. "It was my baby."
Butler had the same advantage of other household names in beauty products that started in salons. They had years of input from customers who told them what they liked and didn't like about the wide range of products sold in the salon.
"We carried every top men's brand you can think of," Butler said. "We wanted to develop our own and compete. The relationships we built with our clients were very important. We got a lot of feedback from our clients, and we listened to them."
Within two years, they were ready to bring their product to market.
"The ultimate goal for me was to find a product that worked at an affordable price," Butler said. "I think we accomplished that goal."
If the buzz that has followed is any indication, they didn't just accomplish their goal. They made a splash that has rippled across the culture, including NBA stars like Kevin Durant, who posted an Instagram photo of him with the product sent to him by a mutual friend of Dansby's.
The company's public relations firm helped secure endorsements from celebrity weatherman Al Roker to actor Ethan Hawke, who cleaned up for the Golden Globe Awards red carpet with Montez Renault's 3-in-1 performance wash.
Product No. 56 as they call it (inspired by Dansby's jersey number) has already gotten national acclaim with the likes of Men's Health Magazine calling it the best new product in its class.
Men tired of juggling bottles in the shower love the all-in-one performance wash, which is a shower gel, facial cleanser and shampoo. It and a range of about a dozen other products including a non-foaming shaving gel, body wash and lotion can now be purchased online or in store at retailers including Nordstrom, Belk and Lord & Taylor. He is particularly proud of its availability at The Locker Room in downtown Auburn.
It is even available in the home and visiting locker room of the Browns' Stadium. Dansby's teammates love it. Coaches are even using it.
"We're supposed to be warriors." Dansby told GQ magazine in one of the company's most impressive media placements. "A barbarian-like atmosphere. But you'd be surprised how these guys are into keeping their hair up, keeping their skin looking good."
Butler sees more opportunity on the e-commerce platform, which is currently a focus for the budding company. Their goal is to grow in the niche market, not become a mass-market product.
'Life of a well-groomed man'
Butler says Montez Renault's philosophy runs more than skin deep. He has known the value of looking good, feeling good and "living the life of a well-groomed man" since his days as a successful banker.
"For the well-groomed man, anything is possible," the company's brand philosophy states. "There's a simple philosophy behind Montez Renault: Men who look good and feel good can be inspired to do good."
He learned it from the person he admires most in the world, a former Ebony Fashion Fair model who later became a cosmetic sales sensation, philanthropist, fundraiser and cancer survivor.
She is known throughout the Birmingham community that reveres her as Rosie Butler.
Chris just calls her mom.
"Mom was always a stickler for putting your best foot forward and dressing well," Butler said. "She knew it is part of what defines who you are."
'Cherish every moment'
That's not what Butler admires most about his mother.
"Her grace," Butler said. "She has such a great spirit and she just has a warm heart. She instilled that in me and my younger brother, Joshua."
The Butler boys saw their mother fight through liver disease, lung disease and cancer. Twice.
"We're just going to cherish every moment we have together," Butler says.
The painful experience and the life his mother has lived has made Butler realize his success would not be possible without those who gave him opportunities, from former Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville and executives at AmSouth Bank, who gave him his first job, to his brother, family and friends who offered support and encouragement along the way.
"You have to have a support network," Butler said.
He also credits his mother for the faith that is central to his life and the guiding force in his family of four: His wife, Leigh, and his two boys, who want to be entrepreneurs like their dad. They often hold mock conference calls or pitch ideas for future businesses at the dinner table.
"I grew up in the church," Butler said. "My mom instilled in us that God has a purpose for all of us. God allowed certain things to happen for me where I am now. He has been the center of my life."
While his mother and his home church in Birmingham planted the seeds for a Godly life, his faith grew during his time at Auburn when he got involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, where he became co-president of FCA along with Phillip Yost.
Faith has helped him persevere through all of life's challenges.
"When you go through adversity, you have to have faith. You can't get down on yourself. Get up and keep pushing. That's what makes people winners."
'Everybody has a story'
As his family pauses on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to remember the dreamer who hoped and believed dreams like his would one day come true, Butler will pause and count his blessings, humbly hoping he can inspire other minorities to take a chance and become entrepreneurs.
"I tell my mother and my wife all the time, someone had to give me an opportunity. As a minority business owner, I can say the sky is the limit."
While Butler says he was blessed with a loving and successful mother and God-given talent that earned him a football scholarship and a chance to get a college education, he hopes even those who come from tougher circumstances know their past isn't their always their destiny.
"Everybody has a story," he said. "Everybody has a journey. It's how you define your journey that counts."