New salon comes to town

When Hannah Helms opened Heart of the Hair in Hill City on Aug. 4, it was the culmination of years of her passion of being a hairdresser coming together.

Helms grew up in Belle Fourche and would spend her time as a teenager in a salon there playing music and hanging out. Everybody was just having a good time, she said.

“I thought this was such a crazy thing — that you could have this much fun and then also it could be a job or a career,” Helms said. “Being in a small town, I just went and spent a lot of time there. That led me to beauty school in Rapid City. And, of course, working with people and working with women.”

Helms moved to Rapid City 16 years ago to attend beauty school there. Four years ago, she and her husband, Nathan, moved to Hill City. She worked in Rapid City before starting her own salon in Hill City in August.

She said she had been wanting to open her own salon in Hill City, but nothing seemed to work out until this year.

Heart of the Hair occupies the space that was once Curl Up and Dye, which was operated by Susan Kinsley until she retired in June.

Helms said she was in contact with Kinsley for about four years, and Kinsley was very aware that Helms was a hairdresser hoping to open her own shop in Hill City.

The two kept in contact throughout the years, Helms said.

When Kinsley’s retirement came, Helms said she was the one with whom Kinsley got in contact, so she did not have to “fight” for the spot.

Helms said Kinsley was very excited she would be the one taking over her old location and offering a service to the community.

During the summer leading up to her opening, Helms helped Kinsley go through Kinsley’s old salon and hair books. The two were able to discuss Kinsley’s 50 years of being a hairdresser and how things have changed for young hairdressers.

The two had a very close connection, Helms said.

Hill City was an obvious location for Helms to open her own salon so she did not have to drive to Rapid City every day, she said.

Opening her own salon allows Helms the opportunity to set her own hours and be her own boss and to enjoy all the perks of running one’s own business.

“Then I can also run my business how I want to run it,” Helms said. “I can treat the clients how I like to treat them and give them the whole experience of one-on-one, more of an intimate connection rather than just a quick hustle and bustle in and out like some shops are.”

Helms said she’s not the type of hairdresser when people are “in-and-out,” and, if someone is looking for a quick, in-and-out haircut, “I’m not your girl.”

She likes spending time with her clients, Helms said, and communicating and talking with her clients.

She said she’s not in a rush and is here to enjoy life.

“(I’m) trying to create a life I don’t need a vacation from and just enjoying each moment with each client every day,” she said.

So far, her business has been well received by the community, she said.

Hill City has been “incredibly giving and supportive,” she said, and very encouraging.

People have given her good advice and, at the same time, have been very welcoming to her into the Hill City business community.

She said she has had a lot of people, too, who are appreciative of the service she is bringing to Hill City and are very appreciative they don’t need to go to Rapid City to get their hair cut and can stay local.

Helms does women’s cuts and colors and is current with the new trends in hairstyling. She also does men’s haircuts but does not do children’s haircuts (she likes customers to be at least 14 years old).

In addition to haircuts and colors, she also does facial waxing.

She says she specializes in precision haircuts.

“I love detailed haircuts and trying to create a look that’s best for them,” Helms said. “And then, of course, there’s a lot of new trends and colors, and I love to do all of those new techniques and styles.”

To stay current on today’s hairstyles, Helms said there’s a lot of online education, and she follows a lot of major stylists on social media.

She also pays for classes and can teach herself at her own leisure on how to do the new style and technique. When she was working in her old salon in Rapid City, Helms said there were a lot of people who wanted new styles and techniques, so she was able to stay on top of current trends doing that, and she and the other hairstylists learned from one another.

Sometimes, though, she just attacks a new hairstyle and says a little prayer that it works out, she said with a laugh.

The hairstyling industry has come a long ways, and more and more stylists are working with one another rather than working against one another.

She said she can message anyone, and they will help her navigate a new color formula or help with a client with whom she might be stuck and can’t figure out why the client’s hair is acting a certain way.

There are also forums she is a part of where she can send questions and someone will respond with four or five different ideas — if not more — and one of those always works out, she said.

“We’re just a very close community now,” Helms said.