With lots of female cousins, as a child Nia Hill was constantly surrounded by someone getting their hair done.

When Hill was just 10 years old, her mother stepped away from doing her cousin’s hair to use the restroom. Hill snuck into the room to pick right up where her mother left off. This moment Hill knew she had a natural affinity toward hair.

This burgeoning act of childhood curiosity grew into Nia’s Touch, a hair salon located at 223 E. Lincoln Highway, Suite E.

Hill, the owner of Nia’s Touch, has continued doing hair for most of her life. For many years, doing hair was a side passion of hers. It was not until 2018 when her father died that she had to step away from her primary job, which encouraged and gave her the opportunity to pursue hair as a full-time job.

“It was just something that was a natural skill set for me,” Hill said. “I just took joy in doing hair.”

As her business grew, she eventually upsized to her current location in 2021, moving Nia’s Touch out of her home.

“My clientele, it grew so great, I didn’t feel comfortable accommodating everyone at home,” Hill said.

Since then her business has grown steadily, taking both female and male clients. Much of her clientele comes in by word of mouth, as clients often spot a hair style and ask who did it, eventually finding their way to Hill’s chair.

According to Hill, moving into the new location has grown her business so much she now has to turn away clients.

“I am in a space where I often have to turn clients away or refer them to others,” Hill said.

While Hill specializes in natural hair care, she always appreciates servicing a community of interracial families who may not know how to manage their child’s hair. Beyond just salon services, she’ll also give tips on how to maintain their hair at home.

“I’m willing and open to serving anyone,” Hill said. “Even though I focus primarily on natural hair, anyone can benefit from my services.”

Some of the services Nia’s Touch provides are box braids, braided ponytails, knotless braids, twists, faux locs, fulani/tribal braids, natural hair care, lemonade braids and more.

The connections Hill builds with her clients and the feedback they provide is something she deeply values.

“I look at my clients as more than just clients,” Hill said. “I build connections with pretty much all of them naturally, not on purpose, and so to hear them say that they appreciate the services that I provided and they don’t want to see that end and they’ll just show gratitude.”

Hill has shared her entrepreneurial spirit with her children. Her daughters now mimic the work she does at home, twisting and playing with each other’s hair. Hill’s son works at the salon, cleaning it.

Hill’s goal is to become her children’s first employer and to show them what building something of your own looks like.

“I made a platform for myself that allows me to take care of my family and enjoy what I’m doing at the same time, and I have control of it,” Hill said.

Looking ahead, Hill said she plans to significantly scale back her services to clients on June 1 to pursue fraud prevention, which is a skill she has been building and is something that interests her.

But Hill was clear the business is not ending, as she plans to develop natural hair oils to sell as well so customers will have something of hers even if she is not doing their hair.

“Even if I’m unable to actually physically service clients, I still want Nia’s Touch to be a thing,” Hill said. “If I’m not able to do hair, at least you can have a part of me and use that at home.”

For those interested in receiving hair care, appointments can be set at Nia’s Touch website.