We were lucky to catch up with Kelly Airhart recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kelly, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

If you are not from Louisiana, or are not a chef, you may have never heard of a “roux,” so let’s start there. A roux, pronounced [ r OO ], is a flour base used in many dishes, but it is especially important in one of my favorite dishes, Gumbo! Gumbo is the official state cuisine of Louisiana and is a very special dish to many people here.

I LOVE to laugh, I LOVE a good gumbo, and I LOVE Christmas. All of these things remind me of my mother, who I lost in 2022 to cancer. She was my rock and my home, and I love her so much. I dedicate all my future success to her.

One day I was scrolling through a Facebook Group for watercolor artists. The members were all making these beautiful winter wonderland landscape paintings for their family Christmas cards. They were so darling that it moved me to create a Christmas card for my own family!

I guess I was hungry because the next thing I knew, I was doodling out a silly little gumbo pot with a red nose. I named him “Roux-Dolph,” [ r OO d aw l f ] and instantly fell in love.

I shared Roux-Dolph with the group, and everyone else also fell in love. Someone suggested I put him on t-shirts. I put him on some t-shirts and sold a few.

Then someone suggested I put Roux-Dolph on tea towels, and he took off! I have since sold thousands of my little Roux-Dolph towels all over the United States (and a few have even made it out of the country!) Never underestimate the power of a good tea towel in the south.

This year, I am excited to announce “The Legend of Roux-Dolph the Gumbo Pot,” will be published as a children’s book in the fall, and my family has other big plans for my little gumbo pot! I like to joke that he will either become the Blue Dog of Christmas or the Mickey Mouse of the South.

Whatever happens next, I am just so grateful to see the smile my little creation has brought to people’s faces and honored to know that my work is worthy of being gifted to people’s loved ones. That is something I will always be proud of. May the joy of this punny little gumbo pot live in all our hearts forever.

Thank you,
Kelly Airhart

Kelly, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have such an eclectic background. As far as becoming an artist and an entrepreneur, I have always been one. I loved ALL art. I would put together girl groups with my neighbors and we would sing songs together dreaming of being famous pop stars. I would make up dance routines and pretend to be on Star Search. And my mom always made sure I had journals to write in and paint to paint with. I just knew one day I was destined to bring creativity to the world.

I am the owner and creator of Roux-Dolph and Co. where I sell my artwork on gift items such as tea towels, mugs, and t-shirts. I am also an author and a Digital Creator.

I love to use puns and have fun with my work. I love to make people laugh and feel inspired. I mostly love to inspire people to be their weirdest selves because weird is wonderful. I struggled so much with being “the weird” child as a kid, and I would give anything to go back and tell that little girl to own it. Own what makes you different, because one day, it will be what sets you free. My art is a little different, and that is what makes people love it.

My art (and writing) have also carried me through some of the darkest moments of my life. In 2015, my youngest son, Elijah, passed away unexpectedly at 3 months old and my world just fell apart. I became so ill from the trauma of losing my child, and my family experienced homelessness because we could not keep things together. It felt hopeless a lot of the time. I wrote a blog every day for 4 years after my son passed away, just getting everything out of my head. And I don’t think I would have survived without my writing.

While struggling with the loss of my son, I also started working on children’s books, and painting Christmas ornaments, and just slowly but surely finding my way back to the light through the joy of creating. I felt very close to my son in all of my work. This past year was very similar when I lost my mother. It has been extremely traumatic, but I feel so close to her in my work with Roux-Dolph, that it keeps me going. It keeps me alive, and I think that is a beautiful gift from my mom. She always encouraged my love for the arts.

I am most proud that my work is a joyful gift to others. At craft shows I watch people get so excited about finding the perfect gift for a loved one, and it makes my heart want to explode because it’s not just a gift they are about to purchase, it’s a memory they will share with a loved one. I don’t think there is anything that can match the feeling I get from that. I truly LOVE what I do, and I LOVE my customers. It’s genuine, and that is something to be proud of.

We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.

I hand-print all my tea towels at home. I actually kind of love that I have such a personal touch with this aspect of my business. But it has been a wild ride learning how to make this work.

My first year putting Roux-Dolph on tea towels was wildly successful and disastrous. I didn’t know what I was doing, and it soon caught up to me. I asked a friend, who did all sorts of things with vinyl and printing t-shirts, how I could put Roux-Dolph on tea towels and she suggested sublimation.

I put together the most basic setup I could to do sublimation in my home, and I started to get to work. What I didn’t do, was research what fabrics I had to use for sublimation ink.

I posted an ad on Facebook, and I was blown away by how quickly I got a response! I was selling towels faster than I could find towels to sell. So I went online and purchased a ton of what I thought was the style I wanted, and what I got was not what I wanted. But NONE of this mattered, because I never researched enough to know that you can not sublimate on cotton towels! It won’t bind to the fabric. The ink will actually fade away on cotton. It’s not good. I didn’t learn any of this until after I had already sent out hundreds of towels.

Luckily, no one complained, and I learned from the mistake. I found a wholesaler who had the towels I actually wanted and worked for sublimation, and I kept going. I’ve only ever had one person say anything to me about it and when I offered her a new free towel, she said she would be purchasing the new ones because she wanted to support my business.

I guess the lesson here is RESEARCH, and when you make mistakes, learn from them, adjust, and keep going. Most people genuinely want to support good ideas.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I’m still pretty new to the game, but I think the most important book I’ve read for business and my personal life is “The Four Agreements,” by Don Miguel Ruiz.

My favorite of the four agreements is, “Don’t take things personally.” This helped me when I was working in Guest Relations for Disney World, where you can imagine people got pretty heated about their less-than-perfect vacations. When guests would approach me with anger and disappointment, I always had to remember that it wasn’t me they were angry or disappointed with, it was something going on in their own lives.

If I could separate myself from their problems, then I could help them much more efficiently. From a customer service standpoint, it just makes sense. You can not take it personally. It will only bring you down, and if you are down, then it’s much harder for you to help the person you are supposed to be helping. It’s not about you, it’s about them. Help them the best you can, and then send them on your way.

Also, you will always run into naysayers and “haters” when trying to do something original or different. These people will try to talk you out of anything or put you down. It really has nothing to do with you though, it has everything to do with their own reality and lack of confidence in their abilities. If they have time to bring you down, they have time to lift themselves up, but that is their problem, not yours. Keep shining. You do you. That’s the best thing you can do.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rouxdolph.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/rouxdolphandco
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/rouxdolph
• Other: www.etsy.com/shop/rouxdolphandco

Image Credits
Photo credits to Mala Bernard Photography