We recently connected with Angelique James and have shared our conversation below.

Angelique, appreciate you joining us today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

The Baldie Diaries wasn’t something I necessarily stumbled upon; it’ something I lived first.

When I was in my freshman year of high school, around 14, I began to lose my hair in patches. It was difficult and honestly, I had no idea how to deal with it. At that point, I didn’t want anyone to know about it. I went to every doctor you could think of and was eventually diagnosed with Alopecia Areata. I tried everything from topicals to steroid injections. This took a toll on my mental health and I struggled with depression and anxiety. There was a deep sense of grief that came with losing my hair. But more than anything, it was isolating. I didn’t see anyone around me going through the same thing, and I didn’t have a space to process what I was feeling.

As I got older and started preparing for college, the one constant in my life (career wise) was that I loved Oprah Winfrey and Savannah Guthrie (The Today Show) and I’ve always been drawn to hearing people’s perspectives. I chose to go to college to study Mass Communications with a concentration in Broadcast Journalism. I absolutely loved it but while in the program at Virginia Commonwealth University, I realized that I didn’t want to just ask people about the most important moments in their lives and only share their stories; I wanted to provide help and care for those people as well.

That led me to pursue my masters in Counselor Education with a concentration in Couples and Family Therapy. I learned how to ask the right questions, but also to hold space, provide care, and help people process their experiences in a meaningful way.

After graduating in 2024, I was still hiding. For 10 years, I covered my hair loss with wigs and headbands; anything that allowed me to avoid facing it. And then I had an honest moment with myself: I realized that I couldn’t help other people if I wasn’t helping myself first. For me, that meant stepping into the baldie life fully and taking the wig off. I haven’t put it back on since.

After about six months of living that (honestly, amazing) baldie life, I went to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation (NAAF) Conference. Being in that space changed everything for me. I heard powerful stories and for the first time, I was surrounded by people who truly understood the experience. To the point that people with hair were the minority.

That’s when everything clicked. I started reaching out to different people experiencing hair loss and alopecia, just to talk. I was nervous and it had been two years since I did anything surrounding broadcast journalism but I was driven by the 14-year-old version of myself who had so many questions and no one to answer them.

The Baldie Diaries became a business after I connected with Amy Gibson. originally reached out just to hear her story, but while we were talking, she said, “Why don’t you just interview me for the podcast now? I was hesitant but when you get the opportunity to speak to an Emmy-nominated actress that wants to be on something you haven’t even created yet, you say yes.

That interview (which is not released), changed everything. Amy told me that what I was doing mattered, not just for me but for the many other people navigating hair loss. This journey is hard. It impacts self-esteem and self-worth. It’s important that people know that they are not alone.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I was going to succeed but I knew that I would have needed something like The Baldie Diaries when I was younger.

So I created it.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Angelique James, most people know me as Angel and I’m a Resident in Counseling based in Northern Virginia, as well as the creator and host of The Baldie Diaries. At the core of everything I do is creating space for real, honest conversations about identity, healing and finding yourself through hardships.

I got into podcasting and therapy because I’ve always been drawn to people’s stories. I want to understand how they think, feel and how they make sense of their experiences. My background is in broadcast journalism and creative writing, which evolved into counseling. Over time, I realized I want to tell stores while helping people rewrite them. That’s what led me to therapy.

The Baldie Diaries is where my work expands into storytelling and community. At first, it was a personal outlet and now it has grown into a platform where I have vulnerable, unfiltered conversations around hair-loss, confidence and identity. Through these interviews, I am building something that sits at the intersection of mental health, media and culture.

I’m most proud of the community that is coming out of The Baldie Diaries. I’m also proud of how I’ve turned my personal journey with alopecia (something that was once so painful) into something that empowers not only me, but other women navigating their own confidence and identity.

If there’s one thing I want people to know about me and my brand it’s that this is a space for honesty. You don’t have to perform here. You don’t have to have it all figured out. You are welcome to feel everything and I’m here for that version of you.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I think as a creative, you’re translating experiences, your own and other people’s into something tangible. And when that resonates, it creates connection and impact. The most rewarding aspect is creating a space where people feel seen in ways they didn’t know they needed.

With The Baldie Diaries, it’s all about the connections people make with themselves and other people too. When someone listens to an episode or watches a clip and thinks, “wait.. I’ve felt that too, or finally hears something they haven’t been able to put into words, that means everything to me.

It’s also really rewarding to see something that started as an idea in my head turn into something real. The process of bringing something to life and watching it evolve is something I don’t take for granted. The Baldie Diaries is my child and it’s amazing to watch her flourish and grow.

But more than anything, it’s the fact that my creativity allows people to feel less alone.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I’ve had to unlearn the idea that I have to share everything to be impactful.

If you’ve watched or listened to The Baldie Diaries, you’ll always hear me say “vulnerability creates room for more vulnerability.” And I still believe that. In the beginning, I thought the more vulnerable I was; and the more people that were vulnerable with me; the more people would connect with the podcast.

And honestly, it did work. It created a space where people felt seen, heard, and safe enough to open up in ways they hadn’t before. But overtime, I started to notice moments where I would share things and have to edit things out because they were for me and not the internet.

I’ve realized that there’s a huge difference between being open and overexposing yourself. Vulnerability is a huge part of my brand, but I don’t have to share every detail of my life, especially the parts that I am still healing through. Now, I focus on being intentional with what I share.

And that shift has allowed me to still be honest and real, while also protecting my peace.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Thebaldiediaries.com
• Instagram: Theebaldiediaries
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Thebaldiediaries
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Thebaldiediaries