In Da Club: Adulting Edition

By Stacey Gualandi

The first rule of The Happy Hours club is: “You do talk about the Happy Hours club,” says founder and self-described “Xennial” Heather McHardy, who opened the over-35 rotating Las Vegas dance space a year ago.

The former professional dancer, who performed on European cruises for more than a decade, wanted to bring back the club experience for Gen Xers and millennials — but at a more reasonable time. Kind of like an alternative nightclub without the late night. Or taking the night out of nightclub. Sort of.

“There’s no judgment. People are dancing the entire time and everyone’s having a good time. It’s just good music, good people, and then at 11 p.m., literally, it’s empty,” McHardy says.

The first-come, first-served monthly event has a resident music maestro, DJ Velvet Rebel, who spins tunes from the ’80s, ’90s and early 2000s. One month, it’s at Grey Witch in Henderson (“like a ’90s basement party”); the next, it switches to the more spacious Notoriety downtown.

When McHardy isn’t holding court in da club, she is a personal trainer, Pilates coach and Gyrotonic instructor. We spoke after she finished training one of her five clients. While she has big plans for the future of The Happy Hours, this dance diva isn’t planning to quit her day job ... yet.

Chic Compass: What can someone expect from The Happy Hours?

Heather McHardy: Whether they’re in Henderson or downtown Las Vegas, you can expect an atmosphere where not everyone is on their phones. It’s our generation, so we’re just there to have a good time. The honest truth is, we are not going toward any trends because we want to go back in time.

Chic Compass: But are you surprised that you tapped into this demand?

Heather McHardy: There are a lot of people who are like, “I’ve been wanting something like this for so long.” The first time I put it out on TikTok, I said, “Hey, this is what I want to do. Who else would be interested?” When I tell you that was the first time a video actually hit and thousands of people responded, I was like, “Whoa, okay, we’re doing this.”

Chic Compass: What is the attraction?

Heather McHardy: If you ask anyone over both generations, Gen X and millennials, they’ll all tell you that it was the best music around, period. It wasn’t just the nostalgia part of it. It was just good music. My kids love it. They are 13 and 10!

Chic Compass: As someone who is hyperfocused on health and fitness, how good is this mentally?

Heather McHardy: I think movement is medicine, but more than fitness, I think that anyone, if they want to move, should not do something they don’t like. It’s not going to continue. It’s not sustainable. So if you enjoy dancing, then don’t do cardio, just go find somewhere to go dance. But there are very, very few places for us to do that. On top of that, movement in the form of dance has way more mental benefits than I think a lot of people realize, especially when you’re stressed. Like, the world is burning down right now, so this is a place where we can go and forget about it for four hours. We can just feel happy and enjoy moving and fill ourselves with endorphins. So, for mental health, you get that moment where you’re not under 5,000 pounds of stress. Then you add on top of it the discoveries now that if you strategically move your body or move it to rhythm and you have to think about it, then it also staves off things like Alzheimer’s and dementia because you’re actually connecting your brain to your body. When I tell you, when you walk through the crowd on the dance floor, just look at everyone’s faces because not one of them is worried about anything. They’re literally just living and just free. It almost makes you want to cry. It’s so amazing to see.

Chic Compass: Is this a positive for social connection, too?

Heather McHardy: You meet other locals. So many people have come to The Happy Hours and left with a huge group of friends, or they’ve come on their own and I’ve introduced them to friends and they’ve left with a boyfriend. Everyone will tell you that dating in this town is terrible, so it’s somewhere where we can go meet people who aren’t traveling through. It’s almost all local. There are a few people who catch it when they’re here, but it’s almost all locals.

Chic Compass: What advice would you give to someone, particularly a woman, when it comes to creating something that doesn’t exist?

Heather McHardy: Well, first and foremost, I wish I had done it sooner. I don’t know what in my head said you have to wait for somebody else to do it. I literally started the first one with zero money. You just talk to people and tell them you’ll find collaborators. You’ll find people who want to help you. Just do it. The sooner you do it, the better. If I had started it four years prior, I would’ve been the first. It drives me nuts now, but you’ll be surprised, especially if you have kids, you’ve already done, like, the hardest thing that could ever be done in life.

Chic Compass: Do you have plans for The Happy Hours world domination?

Heather McHardy: I want a brick-and-mortar space. I want us to have a club that we know we can go to any night or afternoon raves … something that’s for us, because this city has so many clubs that are not really for us. And I want one in every major city!

Chic Compass: So, no more hesitation?

Heather McHardy: That is the plan. As soon as we can get enough people to know about it to where there are multiple events a month — not just one a month — then we will have the momentum to have a place for everyone to go. And it has to have free parking. I will not open it if it does not have free parking. Ha!

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