Women's Hair Loss Project

For this episode I am joined by Joe Tillman The Hair Transplant Mentor to discuss the topic of women and hair transplants and if women actually make good candidates for this procedure. It is my understanding based on my what I’ve read over the years, and also based on the experience I have with my own type of hair loss, female pattern baldness aka androgenetic alopecia, that women like myself are NOT candidates for hair transplant surgery. I wanted to dive deeper in to this topic and get the facts from an expert, so that women can be empowered and educated when making decision on treating their hair loss. 

While I wasn’t surprised to hear that in Joe’s opinion, 90% of women are not candidates for hair transplants, I got educated in learning about which procedure would be preferable for a woman if she was in fact a candidate, the controversial industry topic of Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) vs Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) for women’s hair restoration surgery

In this episode Joe will discuss all the reasons why 90% of women are not candidates, and he will also discuss the other 10% of women that could potentially be a viable candidate.

Follow me on Instagram: @whlpnetwork
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Diane Williamson is a full time voice over talent professional for Fortune 500 companies, phone systems and also broadcast. She is a veteran hair wearer and deals with Alopecia Universalis (total hair loss, from eyebrows, eyelashes, to leg hair).

Diane has been following my Facebook page since 2012, and has been a tremendous support to myself and other women dealing with the incredibly difficult affliction of hair loss. Dealing with Alopecia Universalis since the 80’s, she discusses dealing with hair loss and hair wearing, while working in the very public industry of broadcast reporting.

In May of 1988 while working for a radio station in Louisville, she was given the  job of covering (as a radio personality for the TV station) one of the big events during Derby week, which was the steam boat race on the Ohio RIVER [think: wigs, wind and large bodies of water!] on a paddle wheeler.  With that in her line of sight she made her way to a small wig shop and got herself a synthetic wig and made it through the  job on the Ohio river without her wig blowing off. That was the start of her hair wearing journey. At this moment I’m feeling rather fortunate that my first big outing of importance wearing hair in 2012 was a conference indoors, and not on a boat! I have to raise the roof for her being able to show up and get through that.

Diane has dealt with hair loss and searching for hair, during a time period where information was even less prevalent and accessible, than when I started my own journey. She has experienced total hair loss, transitioning into wearing wigs in the workplace, and dealing with the devastating emotional impact of hair loss in all aspects of her own life. She has battled through and as I like to call it, “made it to the other side, where there is life after hair loss.” It is a thing, it does exist. Her story is inspiring and I absolutely loved speaking with her.

Please join us for this episode, while we discuss her hair loss journey, and as she shares her knowledge and insight to people dealing with hair loss now.

Follow me on Instagram: @whlpnetwork
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The journey to finding the right type of alternative hair for yourself takes time, whether it’s a topper or a wig. Much of this will not only be determined by our level of hair loss, but also our comfort level.

Often times I get asked if I jumped right into wearing Follea (the brand of wigs I wear) or if I tried other methods of alternative hair/ or brands. I definitely tried several other things over the years and had what I called many “Failed Starts,” where I’d get an item of alternative hair, find it was a total failure for whatever reason, and then I’d give up for YEARS. I definitely did not accept my hair loss easily and certainly didn’t accept hair wearing easily. My first failed start to wearing alternative hair dates back to 2001 (hair loss began in 1999) and I did’t start wearing hair full time till 2012.

In episode 3 of The Women’s Hair Loss Project podcast I discuss a couple of my “failed starts” throughout the years, and share the importance of being patient with yourself when attempting to wear hair for the first time or finding the right piece for you.

Follow me on Instagram: @whlpnetwork

*Videocast Below*
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For quite sometime I’ve wanted to do a podcast for The Women’s Hair Loss Project, to hear (not just read) the stories of other women and to provide another medium for women to connect. Life happens, and then nothing happens [face palm] it seems, but it’s here… finally, and I’m super excited to share the first episode with you.

I met my first guest, Ashley on Instagram not too long ago, and side note, if you didn’t know A ) I’m not dead and B ) I do have an Instagram account (@whlpnetwork), both seem to be a mystery to some who followed me years and ago and then I fell off them map. See above regarding “Life Happens,” but I digress.

I had answered a question sent to me by Ashley via posting a video response on Instagram and to my surprise she replied back via a YouTube video response. It was definitely a first for me, as many women have written over the years, but I can’t ever recall ever receiving a personal YouTube video response. As she went on to share more of her own story in her video, I felt an immediate connection to her dealing with hair loss at such a young age – starting at 23 and she’s now 28. [click to continue…]

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