Author Charlese Milford of Charleston on Life, Lessons & Legacy

We recently had the chance to connect with Author Charlese Milford and have shared our conversation below.

Charlese, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
This year I celebrated six years as an indie author with eleven completed books, including a few audiobooks, which still amazes me by the way. I also have several works in progress in various genres and styles to see what fits for both myself and my readers. I can actually remember checking out my first library book and in that moment my biggest dream was to see my name on a hardcover book. To now have both hardcover editions and audiobooks is one of my proudest accomplishments. Another proud, recent, yet unexpected moment was launching my wellness company, Hair We Grow LLC. This wasn’t on my 2025 plan at all, yet it has become the highlight of the year. I had promised myself no new projects or hobbies, but this has proven to be much more than that. It feels like a calling. Through it, I get to witness powerful hair regrowth journeys my clients once thought were impossible. From hair loss caused by medication, stress, or tension, to restoring overall hair health, every member of the Hair We Grow family has experienced real, visible results. That impact is what makes me most proud.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Charlese Milford, a local author, podcast host and the founder of Hair We Grow LLC, a wellness brand rooted in restoration, confidence, and results. Our hair oils and butters aren’t just cosmetic as they’ve proven effective for clients dealing with hair loss from chemotherapy, stress, alopecia, and more. As I mentioned earlier I am also an author and writing has been my heartbeat for years! I create stories that make people feel seen, heard, and no longer misunderstood. Whether through suspense, raw truths, or reflections of life’s complexities, there is always something or someone that my readers will connect with beyond the pages of my books.

What makes my work special is that it isn’t just about products or creative stories, it’s about the people. My books open doors to conversations we often avoid but need, it opens dialogue about topics that often get overlooked. While my hair and wellness line restores confidence for those who’ve battled male pattern baldness or chemo, to simply wanting to feel their best. I believe in creating things that heal, inspire, and most importantly, last.

At 50, I’m building a legacy brand and company positioned for both generational wealth and health. Not just for my family but for our entire community. Right now, I’m expanding Hair We Grow’s product line, pushing into new markets, and continuing to write stories that challenge and inspire. For me, it’s about more than building a company or publishing a book—it’s about leaving people feeling better than where you met them.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
For me, it was the opposite. I was exactly who the world told me to be until I chose to become who I knew and felt I truly was. Growing up in the South came with its own version of hard: constant pressure to obey, nod, and agree. Yes ma’am, no sir. It didn’t matter what you felt, believed, or desired.

I was on track to become a cookie-cutter version of the girl next door if I hadn’t stepped out from under the proverbial foot on my neck. The script was clear: graduate high school, get a steady job, find a good church, a good husband, and raise good children. But there was no room to be fully myself. I wanted to color outside the lines, in fact, I didn’t want lines at all. I wanted to follow my own desires and stop ignoring truths that traditionally demanded silence. The woman, mother, and friend I am now lives and loves as she wants and I build spaces where others can feel safe enough to do the same.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Yes,this year. Honestly, almost all of 2025. As high as the year has been, it also threw blows that had me toeing the line of giving up. The emotional rollercoaster felt personal, like life itself was attacking me. I came to understand the word grief in ways I never wanted to, mourning not only the loss of a loved one but also parts of myself I had been holding onto from the past. I didn’t want to face the absence of either. And when I finally accepted I had no choice, I experienced ,for the first time, the physical pain that comes with emotional hurt.

I didn’t know how I would recover, if I even could, or in some moments if I even wanted to. I kept hearing -“fall back” and just be “content.” I started to believe the negative thoughts in my head: that maybe I didn’t have another story in me, that the wellness market was already full and no one would miss what I had to offer.

I’d love to end this by saying one day I just woke up and everything was fine, but that wouldn’t be the truth. The truth is that every day I wake up, it gets just a little better. The pain lessens long enough for me to remind myself that giving up is not an option.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
My closest friends would say what really matters to me is legacy, truth, and impact. I care deeply about the futures of my daughters and granddaughters, and everything I build ties back to them. They’d also say I don’t do surface talk or surface-level thinking. I’d rather have real conversations and get to the heart of things than settle for small talk or safe answers. At my core, I want to leave people better than I found them, whether that’s personally or professionally. They’d definitely mention my resilience too. I may bend, but I don’t break, and that’s something they know defines me. And honestly, they’d say what matters most is just being me, not trying to fit in, not leaning on gimmicks, not marketing myself as something I’m not. Just me.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
What I understand deeply that most people don’t is that everyone is different, and that’s actually a good thing. Too often people treat differences like problems to fix or reasons to divide. I see them as the exact opposite. Our differences are where innovation, creativity, and connection are born. In my work, whether through writing or building a wellness brand, I’ve learned that honoring individuality is what makes impact possible. It’s not about fitting people into the same mold, it’s about giving people space and the freedom to be fully themselves.