We recently connected with Christie Val and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Christie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Back in college I had long beautiful blonde hair and me and my sorority sisters would be called the Blondtourage when we walked into a room. Fast forward a few years, when I randomly lost my hair to Alopecia at 23 years old, I felt so scared, hopeless, broken, and extremely alone. I did everything I could to “fix” my hair loss, steroid injections, changed my diet, saw a a good amount of doctors, etc. After my hair fell out for the second time, I knew I needed to “own” it and take the power back. I knew I wasn’t the only one experiencing this trauma and I wanted to find others to connect with. Being the born leader I am, I started teaching dance classes during the pandemic to kids online who also had Alopecia. Because of the media coverage I received when I landed a centerfold in Sports Illustrated, it helped me find families and women out there who were also going through hair loss. That’s where Baldtourage was born! I was no longer a part of a group of women with blonde hair, rather, now I had found my tribe of other women who were bald, aka The Baldtourage! Since the start, I’ve always had the purest intention of helping others and myself to love ourselves again regardless of what is happening on our head. It is not a place to seek medical attention, or find a “cure,” I personally don’t believe there is anything to be cured or fixed… there is nothing wrong with us who have Alopecia. Baldtourage creates a safe space for girls to find their voice, feel seen and loved, and empowers them to love who they are with their Alopecia.

Christie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Christie Val, I am from West Chester, PA, right outside of Philadelphia. I grew up in a ballet company and pursued dance as my major at Penn State University. I was in a sorority, on a dance team, and had long beautiful blonde hair. After college I moved to NYC to pursue dance. Right after graduation, my hair started to randomly fall out to Alopecia. After about a year and a half of wearing wigs and struggling to find myself again, I decided to take the power back and share my story. This lead me to being the first bald Sports Illustrated Model in 2020. From there I founded Baldtourage which is a community for girls with Alopecia. I’ve hosted about 15 live Fashion Show Events for girls with Alopecia across America. I’ve gone on tour as a professional dancer and shared my own story in over 50 cities across the world. I am a content creator who empowers women to love themselves regardless of their circumstances and I make a lot of content around fashion, makeup, and dance. I teach weekly heels classes, called The Heeltourage in Los Angeles. My classes are a space for women (without Alopecia), to find themselves again through dance. It is an hour and a half of vulnerability, support, fun, and friendships! I am also a YouTuber, with over a million subscribers, I share a lot about my Baldtourage Events and my personal life on there! I just really want women to find my page and feel inspired to love themselves exactly how they are.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I was 22, I booked an 8 month job on a cruise ship as a dancer. I grew up going on cruises with my family and this was my dream job at the time! About 6 weeks in I was fired out of nowhere because I “stood out.” At the time, I was losing my hair to Alopecia so I had patches all over my head.. I was mortified and so so heartbroken. It was discrimination and I couldn’t do anything about it. After 3 weeks, I lost the rest of my hair and was completely bald, with no job, no hair, and had moved out of my apartment in NYC for this job, so also no apartment. It was the hardest time of my life. I was so young and going through so much traumatic change. But deep inside my soul, I knew I needed to go to Los Angeles. So I glued on a wig and booked a one way flight from Philadelphia to Los Angeles to restart my entire life. And I never looked back! I am so proud of my resilience and the way I continued to pursue my dream after being at the lowest point in my life.

How did you build your audience on social media?

BE AUTHENTIC!!!! That is my advice over and over again. Put yourself out there, be consistent with content, but most importantly be yourself!!! Don’t get lost in the algorithm or what others are doing, stay true to you! Authenticity is SO easy to pick out and people are always drawn to it! :)

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christie.valdiserri
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Christieval
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@christie.valdiserri?_t=8n9BNyLMfwQ&_r=1

Image Credits

Sofia McMaster
EP Photography