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When I Lost My Hair to Alopecia, I Started Selling Wigs. In 'All My Bald Glory,' I've Helped Over 2,000 Women.

Sometimes, a painful diagnosis leads to a career calling you never imagined.

By Sherry Schaefer Edited by Frances Dodds Nov 30, 2022

This story appears in the December 2022 issue of Entrepreneur. 

Image Credit: Courtesy of Sherry Schaefer

I used to cut hair. Now I sell it.

The transition began 23 years ago, when I was a busy hairdresser with an ironic condition: I developed alopecia areata, an autoimmune skin disease where the body's immune system attacks healthy hair follicles. Within three months, I was bald and had lost my eyebrows, eyelashes, and most of my body hair. I struggled to find a good wig that fit my budget, so I opened a wholesale account with a wig manufacturer. Eventually, my hair grew back, but the alopecia would flare up again. The grow-lose cycle has since repeated itself several times.

During the second flare-up, a good friend developed breast cancer and needed a wig. She came to what was then my "regular" hair salon, where I shaved her falling hair and she tried a few of my wigs on. We cried, and talked about her fears of navigating the dating scene in a wig. I'd gotten married two years earlier, and my husband was the only person I'd dated since developing alopecia, but I understood her anxiety. At one point we laughed about how the two most appearance-focused women in town lost their hair.

The experience was rewarding and cathartic. Shortly after, I decided to embrace my own hair loss (something I had been reluctant to do) and help as many women as I could with theirs. I began letting go of my regular clientele to make room in my schedule, and then sold wigs at greatly reduced cost to those in need. I believed these women deserved a break. Good wigs can be expensive.

Three years later, however, I got a divorce and could no longer support my nonprofit wig venture. I'd built a reputation as the go-to place for a great wig and good service, but I was concerned that business might fall off when I started charging market rates. I had a mortgage to pay, so I did it anyway — and discovered that I needn't have worried.

My photo on my website, in all my bald glory, spoke to the hearts of women facing hair loss. I understood them — and what it's like to watch your femininity circling the shower drain. Business thrived and continues to thrive today. At this point I've served more than 2,000 women (and children!) with hair loss and have sold $1 million worth of hair goods, all from a 10-by-12-foot room in my suburban home. That mortgage I worried about has been reduced by over half because of the extra payments I've been able to make.

With every woman I serve, I'm reminded of the panic of sudden hair loss and the struggle to feel beautiful — heck, just normal. And with every wig we all put on, we are reminded of the transformative power that beautiful hair can have. We look in the mirror, smile at the image looking back at us, breathe a sigh of relief, and go out to take on the day.