From London to Belle Fourche: How One Woman Brought Her Dream Home
Women’s Business Center Client Feature: Elizabeth Ann’s LLC
Hannah Wolf studied fashion on a different continent, chased a career across the country, and came back to her hometown with a plan — and the right support to make it real.
There is a building on the main street of Belle Fourche, South Dakota, that has stood for more than 126 years. For decades it housed the antique store of one woman — a grandmother who built something of her own and kept it going for thirty years. Now, sharing a wall with that store, is a bridal boutique. The woman who opened it? Her granddaughter.
Hannah Wolf grew up in Belle Fourche with a love for fashion and a sense that there was more world to see. She pursued both. After high school she enrolled at the London College of Fashion, earning a bachelor’s degree in fashion buying and merchandising, then spent three years living abroad before the pandemic brought her back to the States. A stint in the bridal industry followed, then a move to Seattle, then Charlotte, then a corporate buying role with a national department store. By any measure, she had built a career.
But something kept pulling her back. “I continued to feel a strong pull back to bridal,” she says. And underneath that, a pull toward home.
“I’ve always believed that brides in rural communities deserve the same beautiful experience, charm, and opportunities as brides anywhere else — they shouldn’t feel limited simply because those experiences aren’t easily accessible locally.”
— Hannah Wolf, founder, Elizabeth Ann’s LLC
In 2025, Hannah made the leap. She moved back to Belle Fourche, opened Elizabeth Ann’s LLC, a bridal boutique offering gowns, accessories, little white dresses, and vintage wedding pieces, and did it all in the same year she planned her own wedding and relocated across the country. “Nothing came easy,” she says, “but was all incredibly worth it and truly a dream come true.”
A Family Connection and a First Call
Before she signed a lease or placed an inventory order, before the business felt like anything more than a hope, Hannah made one phone call. She reached out to the SD Center for Enterprise Opportunity (SD CEO) West Women’s Business Center at Black Hills State University.
The referral came from her mother, who had gone through the same door years earlier when opening her own assisted living center. “She spoke so highly of her experience with the Women’s Business Center and that they helped her tremendously throughout the process,” Hannah says. “Women’s Business Center was the first organization I reached out to in the very early stages of planning when the business still seemed like a pipe dream.”
That first call connected her with Elizabeth Freer, Director of the SD CEO West WBC, and what followed was the kind of support that’s hard to put a dollar value on. One-on-one coaching. Honest guidance. A network of contacts for every question she didn’t yet know how to answer. And, perhaps most importantly, someone who matched her own investment in the business.
“Everyone I worked with made me feel so capable, comfortable, confident, and seen. They cared for my business as much as I did — and that excitement and support is worth more than words can say” Hannah shares.
The relationship didn’t end at launch. Elizabeth Freer continues to reach out with relevant resources and schedule regular check-ins. “I always look forward to those check-ins,” Hannah says, “and know that if I ever need anything, they are only an email or phone call away.”
Eight Months In
Elizabeth Ann’s has been open less than a year, and already the boutique has grown its inventory, participated in community events, and helped brides from across the Midwest find their dress. Hannah works every day next door to her grandmother’s antique store, a detail that is equal parts practical and poetic.
She is quick to acknowledge the community that surrounded the launch: friends, family, her husband Zach, and the clients who have walked through the door. But she is equally clear that the Women’s Business Center was foundational. “Both myself and my family are forever grateful to this organization,” she says, “for not only helping me achieve my dream but my mom as well.”
For other women standing at the edge of a business idea, wondering whether to jump, Hannah offers this: “I find there are more regrets in the ‘what ifs’ than the ‘why nots.’ You never know what you are capable of or how much your business is needed until you take that leap.”
Elizabeth Ann’s LLC is located in Belle Fourche, South Dakota. Appointments can be booked online or by calling the boutique directly.
Women’s Business Centers are a national network of more than 140 centers funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, providing free and low-cost advising, training, and resources to entrepreneurs at every stage of business. Whether you’re still in the idea phase or ready to grow, there’s a WBC near you. Use the WBC locator to find one.
Responses