Women’s History Month: Chrissy Skates runs her own boutique and helps to empower other business women

Photo Courtesy: Women’s Network of Rapid City Facebook

RAPID CITY, S.D. – Women’s History Month highlights the contributions of women in history but it’s also a chance to celebrate some of the women you might see day to day.

For Rapid City, there are women in law enforcement, leadership roles, doctors and even business owners like Chrissy Skates.

Hello Beautiful Boutique

She has owned Hello Beautiful Boutique for about three years and will be moving on May 1 to 801 Deadwood Avenue with Black Hills Contraband Distillery.

“It’s a little bit bigger,” Skates said. “Since we’ll be attached to the distillery, and people can bring their drinks in and shop and we can do separate shops. So, it should be really fun.”

The Boutique, currently located on Mt. Rushmore Road, is filled with clothes, jewelry, wooden signs and even two friendly cats.

“I just didn’t think we had really any affordable boutiques,” Skates said. “So, I don’t mark up my products as much as some, and I would rather you just be able to buy more than just one or two things.”

Owning this Boutique is a job that Skates still enjoys after three years even it it’s a lot more work than some people may think.

Photos of the business and organization Skates is a part of:

Women’s Network of Rapid City

But on top of her business, Skates is also secretary of the Women’s Network of Rapid City.

“We meet once a month for a lunch. If you’re a member, we also have a ladies’ night once a month,” Skates said. “It’s just a women-only networking group. It’s a lot of fun. We meet for about an hour, hour and a half for lunch, and sometimes we play games and we just get to know each other a little bit.”

The group that eventually would form the organization first met in January of 1981, under the direction of Lois Weston. They referred to themselves as All the Good Old Girls (AGOG), and the Women’s Network of Rapid City was incorporated on Aug. 26, 1983.

According to their website, any of their meetings has “an uplifting, encouraging atmosphere where women empower each other to do great things and live fully. We pride ourselves on being a fantastic professional resource for women within Rapid City and the Black Hills.”

There is a range of businesswomen involved in the Women’s Network of Rapid City from different backgrounds to different talents.

They also encourage women who might not be members to join their monthly lunch meetings every second Wednesday of the month at Fork Real Community Cafe.

“It’s always nice being able to support each other and getting to know other women owned businesses and just having people you have things in common with,” Skates said.