Courage, community, and confidence. The golden trio to embrace when creating the best version of yourself.
Start with courage — whether it’s the courage to make a change or to try something new. Then, find a community and surround yourself with others who share a passion or goal. From there, celebrate both big and small victories. As you build confidence, you’ll feel it rise — standing a little taller, pedaling a little faster.
Kerri Willis, hairstylist and owner of Elevated Edge Salon, wants to help you feel your best. When you leave her chair, she hopes you feel empowered, bold, beautiful, and capable.
Located in Three Springs, Elevated Edge Salon is a homage to Willis’s own journey of courage, community, and confidence. An avid mountain biker, Kerri has competed in the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde for many years. She fell in love with Durango’s scenery and its people. After moving here four years ago, she found immense gratitude for the women she’s met through mountain biking.
“Mountain biking isn’t just mountain biking,” she says. “You build confidence out there, you cry out there, you do whatever it takes. You build community with other women, you grow together, and get stronger together.”
That same courage led her to open her own salon, thoughtfully named Elevated Edge Salon. “When you cut hair, you elevate it; we also live at elevation,” she explains. The “edge” nods to both the salon’s location on the edge of town and the edge of a blade. Since opening earlier this year, the salon has evolved with chic, sharp modernism. Inside, you’ll find two stunning jewelry cases featuring pieces by Marie Bleeker and Micki Hassemer, and joyful artwork by local artist Heather Freeman brightening the walls.
As a hairstylist, Willis aims to uplift every client. “I want everyone to feel welcomed and to just be themselves — and leave feeling their best.” With 18 years of experience, Willis specializes in lived-in color, a technique that blends highlights and lowlights for a natural, multidimensional look. This includes balayage and grey transitions. The style suits Durango’s outdoorsy, natural beauty vibe, offering minimal upkeep for any lifestyle.
Beyond haircuts, Willis wants to create an experience, not just provide a service. With a spa background, she focuses on your comfort, taking her time at the shampoo bowl with relaxing massages. She describes this as “hairapy.”
“It’s all-around hairapy,” she says. “It’s massage, touch, and a sensory journey as well. I use a product line with an essential oil base, emulating that spa kind of feeling.” Willis carries a range of Mr. Smith products, all sulfate-free, paraben-free, and cruelty-free. “It’s all the things you want.”
The freshest style is one of confidence — the courage to pursue your dreams, and the community to support you along the way. Stop in and visit Kerri Willis at Elevated Edge Salon. You’ll leave with more than a trendy haircut — perhaps a new pair of earrings, and definitely a wonderful new friend.