A good hairdresser can serve as the linchpin for a neighbourhood and Sarah Hansen Hair in Kent Town proves a good hair cut can build a great community.

Sarah Hansen has been hairdressing for 14 years, but she’s still experiencing a lot of firsts. She was the first retail tenant to move into the Verde mixed-use apartment and office building on King William Street, Kent Town and has just registered her business as a ‘sustainable salon.’

“I feel that I’m brave and ambitious, but I was also very scared going into a new part of town,” says Sarah about her choice to take the plunge as a pioneer in the new Verde development. 

Sarah started running her own business as a sole trader by renting a chair in Norwood but the chance to set up her own shop and make it hers was too enticing not to explore, when the opportunity arose.

Opening in January 2018, Sarah is proud of her business’ growth in just over a year. “Weekly we’ve been building our clientele and its starting to feel like a real community, especially with Rustic Gourmet customers coming in,” says Sarah.

One of the unique attributes of Sarah Hansen Hair is her focus on the social good her business can do. Whether it’s the switch she’s just made to become a sustainable salon and use of PETA-approved products or the role Sarah sees hairdressers playing as a sort of unofficial counsellor to their customers – this hair salon wants to have an impact beyond its shop floor.

“When I designed the salon I was committed to creating a calm and welcoming experience for my customers,” says Sarah, continuing, “we’re a meeting place, I can be a mediator and a friend and when I offer a champagne to one of my clients. I just love the spark of surprise it generates.”

Sarah Hanson.

At just 29 years of age, Sarah has a fair handle on the hard slog of small business as well as the requirement on her as leader of the salon to set a good example.

“We have the best job ever,” says Sarah as a way of responding to the hypothetical suggestion she believes some people may have about her being “just a hairdresser.”

“Everyone’s got hair on their heads, young and old, male, female and everyone likes to have great hair,” says Sarah. “We have a license to touch someone. Imagine your accountant touching you!

“We get to hold someone’s shoulder. We have an important job to connect with people and care,” she says. “It’s all about connection.”

sarahhansenhair.com.au
If you would like to set-up shop in Kent Town, connect with the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters Council here.

“I was committed to creating a calm and welcoming experience for my customers,” says Sarah