We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sherry Schaefer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sherry below.
Hi Sherry, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?
Going from being the hairstylist with the best hair in the salon to being the only bald one was the first part of my journey. I used to cut hair. Now I sell it. The transition began 24 years ago, when I was a busy hairdresser with an ironic condition: I suddenly developed alopecia areata, an autoimmune skin disease where the body’s immune system attacks healthy hair follicles. Within 4 months, I turned 40 completely bald and had lost my eyebrows, eyelashes and most of my body hair. I struggled to find a good wig that fit my single-mom budget, so I opened a wholesale account with a wig manufacturer because going to the salon to work on everyone else’s hair with a bad wig was not an option. Eventually, my hair grew back, but the alopecia would flare up again. The grow-loss cycle has since repeated itself four 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.
That experience was rewarding and cathartic. Shortly after, I decided to embrace my own hair loss (something I’d 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, another divorce meant I 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 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 over 2,000 women (and children!) with hair loss and have sold over $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 quickly 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 beautifu – 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.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
A few years ago when salons had to close because of the pandemic, I learned how to do a great virtual wig consultation online and a new aspect of my business was born – My Wig Coach. While in-person is always best, many women don’t have a wig salon in their area or are reluctant to go to a very public place where their hair loss is going to be front-and-center. They appreciate going to my web site and scheduling a private, professional consultation. Social media has become an important way to get the word out. After two-plus decades in the wig business, retirement is no longer a distant dream so I am actively looking for someone to take over my business eventually. I’m also feeling a strong desire to “empty my head before I’m dead” and have recently developed a virtual Wig Stylist Training course to teach others all aspects of the wig business. This is how I can have the most impact on women with hair loss – teaching others how to best serve them. Teaching the course has been extremely rewarding and I believe when that day comes when my salon door closes for good, I will rest easy knowing I have done everything I can to pass the torch to as many as I could.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The three qualities that have been most impactful on my journey have been, without a doubt, empathy, social intelligence (particularly listening) and perseverance. The solo-preneurial experience can be lonely, and combined with super-slow weeks and weeks so busy I’ve fallen in bed at night completely clothed, it can be scary. There are sacrifices to be made. I didn’t realize how personal friendships would suffer because I didn’t have the time or energy to pursue them. I wish I had started my wig business journey with a better concept of boundaries, because some people will either conciously or unconciously try to suck you dry, depriving you of what you need to be there for all the others, including your family and even yourself. Hair loss is a very emotionally devastating condition, and when you have not a cure, but a wonderful way to help cope with it, it can be easy to want to help everyone at the expense of your self-care. Boundaries will keep that from happening and help ensure you won’t burn out, and at the same time, keep you focused and effective.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
The challenge I’m currently facing is the cognitive dissonance I’m experiencing from feeling the following two things simultaneously:
1) With retirement on the horizon in a couple years, there’s not much time left to make the most impact on others with my teaching and wig sales/services. I must make a concerted effort, be very focused, make the most of each day as well as maximize my income so as to be in the best possible financial position to retire.
2) At 65 (a young 65, granted!) I should be slowing down, taking more time off, not pushing, just skating at this point. The business has been successful and money is not an issue, so work should be light, easy and as stress-free as possible.
I constantly feel like the angel is on one shoulder (#1) and the devil, #2, on the other. Usually the angel wins, but some days….
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mywigcoach.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.wig.coach/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mywigcoach/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alternativehairwigs/
Image Credits
All images credits: Sherry Schaefer except for the Second Opinion with Joan Lunden image. I have no name for that one.
