We were lucky to catch up with Sherry Schaefer recently and have shared our conversation below.
Sherry, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
Life’s greatest irony is how a devastating curve ball that it throws at you can result in one of your greatest achievements. When a hairdresser loses her hair to an autoimmune disease well into her career, it’s not much of a leap to imagine her getting into the wig business, right? Wig salon ownership has been fulfilling and helped me find some purpose in my hair loss, and I’ve been blessed to work with over 2200 women and sell over a million dollars in wigs these last 20+ years. There’s even been a little notoriety along the way: a few local TV appearances, newspaper and magazine articles and a public television show aired nationally featuring my condition, alopecia areata. But something was missing. I had no time to figure out what it was though, because the phone kept ringing, the emails kept coming and I was booked out two solid weeks serving 8-10 hair loss clients a day.
Cue March 2020 and Covid-19. Salons across the country suddenly had to close for what turned out to be 10 weeks. I laid awake at night wondering how I could continue to sell wigs without heads to put them on. Would a virtual consultation work to sell something so personal? This is hair we’re talking about. No, it’ll never fly. But I have to try. The mortgage must be paid.
I learned Zoom, bought and (somewhat) figured out a high-end digital camera, learned lighting, audio, scheduling software and took a digital marketing course to better promote my new online wig consultation business, My Wig Coach. Wigs are such a tactile product – a woman wants to not only see her new potential hair but also feel it between her fingers, see the color dimension, run her hands through it and of course experience the sensation of it on her head. Without these aspects of a consultation, I wasn’t sure if it would work, but soon I was doing 3-4 virtual consultations a week, learning and perfecting the process with each one. I knew there were many women with no access to wig shops that were “flying blind”, buying wigs online and often returning them because of size, color or style issues, or sometimes even because of an easy fix they didn’t know about because they hadn’t worked with a wig pro. These frustrated women became my best virtual clients.
Early last summer, long after all salons re-opened and I was chugging along quite well blending my new online business with my brick-and-mortar one, I was listening to Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why” while getting ready for work. Those 14 chapters continually challenged me to dig deeper into why I do what I do. I almost didn’t get the book because I’ve always known “my why” – to help women with hair loss regain their confidence and look beautiful and feel comfortable in their wigs. But like I said, something was missing. For years I’ve been saying there ought to be a digital course for aspiring wig stylists because there aren’t enough of us and nowadays, everything is online. Manufacturers sometimes have 2 day classes, but they’re a long drive or a flight (or two) away and they spend a good share of the time promoting their products and do not dive deeply into all the aspects of wig styling and customizing and running a wig business. Before that book, I thought, “someone, someday, needs to create that course. The need is so great”. By the end of the book, the thought had changed to, “I’m going to create this course. Right now”.
Fast forward to a year later and as of this month, I’ve trained 8 students from around the U.S. how to work with wigs and hair loss clients, using one-on-one Zooms, video tutorials, PDFs and even in-person salon training for those willing to travel to my salon. Some of “my” new wig stylists are still fine-tuning the details before opening their businesses, where others were poised to jump in immediately. But they all have a heart for women with hair loss and want to do what they can to end their suffering by providing them with beautiful “alternative hair”.
This was the missing piece and I consider it my greatest career achievement. I will be retiring in another year or two but my passion, skills and the insights gleaned from my experiences and dedication to this wonderful business will continue through my students – those that have taken the course and those to come – and every client they serve. I’ll put down my shears and rest easy knowing I’ve done my part to pass the torch.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My salon is “Alternative Hair” and I sell and style human hair and synthetic wigs and toppers, working with many of the top brands. I offer virtual consultations between 15-60 minutes depending on the need. Because I have chronic hair loss and have personally experienced the loss/regrowth cycle four times, I’m intimately acquainted with all the emotions we go through, especially the joy and relief provided by a fabulous wig!
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
I started my wig business as a non-profit and made silver and gemstone jewelry to fund my inventory. All my salon furniture was purchased second-hand and I paid cash for everything so no debt would be incurred. After three years as a non-profit, I went through a divorce and turned it into an “regular” business, eventually an S-Corp.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
By far, the most effective strategy for growing my wig clientele has been word of mouth. Wigs are such a personal item that word of mouth carries a thousand times more weight than the most expensive advertising. I offer a free wig care product to anyone that sends me a client, but interestingly, no one has take me up on it. It’s been far more important to them that the woman they referred to me is going to get her wig from someone they can trust.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mywigcoach.com
- Instagram: @the.wig.coach
- Facebook: /mywigcoach
- Linkedin: MyWigCoach
