Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelsey + Anna Hemenway
Hi Kelsey + Anna, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Kelsey – I started doing hair in 2010 in Saint Louis, MO because I loved being in the salon environment and seeing all of the different relationships stylists had with their clients. I thought it was so cool to see people of all walks of life and backgrounds gather in one place and enjoy each other. I became an educator for Surface Hair, a company that develops professional-grade, organic and eco-conscious products. While I was teaching at a hair show in Dallas, I met another educator from KC that had an idea to open up a salon with the same values that Surface had behind their products.
In 2017, I moved to Kansas City and opened my first salon, talēm, in Olathe, KS. As a creative, I found myself craving returning to a more urban environment, so I left talēm in 2020 and made the daring leap to open a salon in Strawberry Hill, called The Velvet Nova. In March 2021, I met the love of my life, and now, wife, Anna. She too, was a salon owner! Like typical lesbians, we “uhauled” it and quickly began working together at her salon, Sage, in downtown Overland Park.
After several years as salon owners and being moms’ to three young children, Anna and I made the decision to downsize our business and focus more on our relationship and family, which leads us to where we are now! We have a small, salon suite at 95th and Antioch called Glitter Pixies. I love the intimacy of our space because it allows us to have deeper connections with our guests and we can truly focus on the services we provide versus managing employees and a larger salon space. Glitter Pixies is a safe, salon space for everyone. Here we can focus on serving the LGBTQ+ community, our community. Our focus is to provide a gender-affirming, judgement-free, loving salon experience to our guests. Our greatest joy in our careers is helping our guests feel amazing and comfortable in their own skin.
My latest exciting project, is that I just joined the board for the JoCo Pride Association. We are currently planning Pride in the Park which will take place at Sar Ko Par Park in Lenexa on October 12th!
Anna – I graduated hair school in 2010 at Mitsu Sato Hair Academy located in Overland Park, KS. I was already working at Beauty Brands in Olathe, KS as a shift manager, so I easily transitioned into the salon there as soon as a graduated hair school. I worked my way up at Beauty Brands and grew a lot there, I will always be great full for the education and people I met there.
In 2015 I moved to Solera Salon and Spa in Overland Park, KS to open up my own business, Hair by Anna Claire. It was a really exciting time to move out on my own with social media booming around that time. I grew my social media, met some great professionals there, and got to go to a few hair shows. I got into the fashion scene while at Solera and started getting more involved in freelancing for photoshoots and Kansas City Fashion Week.
In 2018 I had an opportunity to move my business to Downtown Overland Park at Ashley Nelson Studios. I have always loved that area and really wanted to support my friend’s business down there. I worked there for two years with another friend at the time who was a hairstylist as well. We stumbled upon an opportunity to take over a larger space in Downtown OP that was already a salon, so we decided to go for it.
I opened Sage Colour Studio in January of 2020. It was a really exciting time and opportunity to co own a salon. We made it through the trials of the pandemic and came back strong when we could open again. We developed a great team and a really comfortable space for our clients. It was difficult balancing our families and the salon but it was well worth it at the time.
In March of 2021, life through a curveball my way when I met my future wife, Kelsey. I had never had the opportunity to explore my sexuality, I was raised in a very religious family and got married young and started having kids when I was 25. It was a really confusing time for me but my husband at the time allowed me the space to explore this “spark” I had with Kelsey, I can’t thank him enough for this. He was very supportive despite his life being torn apart. Kelsey and I have been inseparable ever since. She came to work in our salon at Sage and we realized we needed to scale back and focus on us and our family. Not everyone in my circle was supportive of my life change. It was a very difficult season, but it only made us stronger. It made me realize how we have a lot of work to do in our community here in Johnson County to make members of the LGBTQ+ community feel safe. We now have our own suite on 95th and Antioch where we started our business together, Glitter Pixies. We love our intimate and micro salon where we can really connect with our clients as well as offer a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community. Our business has grown so much in the last year and a half. We have made strong connections with our guests and my heart is so full.
I am currently in school at JCCC working on a marketing and analytics degree. I hope to use my marketing degree to help grown my business and work on other future pursuits to give our family a better life. I am very excited for our future and will continue to work hard to make it better and better.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Our journey has definitely not been a smooth road. There has been a lot of trial and error, complicated relationships with business partners, discrimination from both clients and coworkers due to our relationship, opening salons during a pandemic, the increase of product cost and finding the balance between providing affordable pricing while still being able to pay our bills. Sometimes we feel like we’re just keeping our heads above water, but nevertheless, we just keep swimming. =)
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We offer a well-rounded array of services. We do a lot of vivid-colors, balayage, blondes, extensions, barbering services, wedding hair and makeup, wig styling, makeup lessons and facial waxing. Something that sets us apart from others is that we tend to work simultaneously, together, on the same client. This allows color to process more evenly, for better results! We also offer free and reduced-price, gender-affirming haircuts to any member of the LGBTQIA community that is in need.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
We love watching reels from other hairstylists to learn new techniques.
We do the NYT crosswords, wordle, connections every day to keep our minds sharp. =)
To unwind, we love the podcast, “I’ve Had It.” It is absolutely hilarious!
Pricing:
- Scissor Haircut – $55
- Clipper Haircut – $40
- “Unicorn Hair” – $100/hr
- Makeup lesson – $75
- Blowout/Style – $50
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.glitterpixies.squarespace.com
- Instagram: @glitter.pixies
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=glitter%20pixies
