Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ellie Johnson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Ellie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
My parents are both educators and placed a heavy emphasis on doing well in school and excelling academically. I did well in high school, took multiple AP classes, and became involved in extracurriculars. When the time came to explore colleges, I hadn’t fully developed what career path I wanted to pursue. After exploring my options, I decided that getting a degree in Speech Therapy was the choice for me. I loved science and with my parents’ background in education, they knew how rewarding it would be. I was accepted into the University of Redlands and got my degree in 3.5 years. After graduation I got a job as a speech therapy assistant while I waited to be accepted into grad school so I could become a licensed Speech Pathologist. This is where my life took an interesting turn. For my whole academic career, as long as I worked hard, I was able to achieve the goals I set for myself. My first round of applications were denied. I continued to work, gain experience, and study. I applied the next year and was denied again. I began to worry that I would never be accepted. At the time I was very upset, but many years later, I would realize that this was a blessing. On a separate vein, I developed Alopecia Areata at the age of 3 and up until I was 20, my hair loss would come and go. This created a sense of uncertainty for my adolescent self which is probably the reason why I delved into my studies so much as a young adult. Around 20-21 years old I lost all of my hair completely and began wearing a very incredible wig made in New Zealand. One day when I was 25 years old, I was feeling very stressed not knowing where my life would lead as I kept getting denied acceptances into grad school. I like to call this my quarter-life crisis moment. The wigs from New Zealand are called Freedom Wigs. They are so amazing because an Independent Agent takes a 3-D image of your head and sends it into Freedom Hair and they create a custom suction wig from that image. The wigs I wear do not need tape or glue to stay on and you can go swimming, surfing, hiking, etc without worrying that your wig will fall off. There are multiple Independent Agents throughout the world, but none in Southern California. Even though I’ve had alopecia pretty much all my life, I was not involved in the community at all. So on a whim, I decided to call my Independent Agent and see if there was a need to have an agent in my area. At the time, she said no. I took it as a sign and sealed my fate to be a Speech Therapy Assistant forever. Randomly 2 weeks later, my independent Agent called me and let me know that the owners of Freedom Hair asked her if she had any clients interested in becoming an Independent Agent. I was able to get a meeting with the owner and made the decision to become an Agent for Freedom Hair. If I had not taken the risk and called, my life would have been on a different trajectory.
Ellie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I have alopecia. Alopecia is an autoimmune conditon that causes hair to fall out. There are a lot of different kinds of alopecia. Alopecia Areata is when only patches of hair fall out, Alopecia Totalis is when all the hair on your head falls out, and Alopecia Universalis is when you are unable to grow hair anywhere on your body. I currently have Alopecia Universalis. I had Alopecia Areata from 3 years old to 21 years old. Around 21/22 I progressed to Alopecia Universalis. For my childhood, adolescence, yound adulthood, I was able to hide my hairloss decently well. I never got into the alopecia community. Looking back, it wa an emotional mixture of wanting to run from my hairloss identity and also not feeling like I fit in with the alopecia community because I wasn’t completely bald. During this time, I wanted so badly to keep the hair I had, I went on many medications, shots, and creams. Unfortuantely those treatments caused serious health problems and I had to stop which threw me into Alopecia Universalis. At this point in my life it was actially a relief. I was tired of running from the inevitable. I always saw it as a defeat to let the hairloss win, but in reality, it was a release of years of tension and uncertainty. I became decently comfortable with going out in public with a bald head or headwrap, but I still wanted hair for special occasions and work. I tried traditonal wigs and hated them. They were itcy, cheap, too loose, and I would have to tape them down or they would go flying away if a gust blew. I had heard about Freedom Hair, a New Zealand wig company that created wigs using 100% silicone in the cap that creates a vacuum seal without the need for tape or glue. I met with an independent agent and created my custom hairpiece. A year of wearing my Freedom Hairpiece and loving it went by. I wondered if there was a need for an independent agent in Southern California and when she said yes, the rest has been history. I met with the owners of the comany, trained with them, and even visited New Zealand to see how the hairpieces were made! I also had the opportunity through becoming an agent to immerse myself in the alopecia community. I finally had my life purpose imagined. I can help people like me who are at a crossroads and want to do something about their hairloss. Although our product isn’t for everyone, I have enjoyed my conversations with these individuals and in helping them any way I could. The alopecia community is a wonderful community with differing mindsets. Some believe we should be proud of our baldness and ditch hair completely. Others do not want anyone to know they are bald and will even wear wigs to bed. As someone who experiences her journey somewhere inbetween those polars, I feel I can help my clients acutalize their needs. If a client is very insecure and wants privacy, time, patience, and acceptance, I need to come alongside that client and meet them where they are at. It would be inappropriate in that moment to be so flippant about hairloss. Part of my purpose as an independent agent is of course transactional in helping them achieve the hairpiece they want, but also emotional because I am potentially the only other person they know with alopecia. Because our hairpieces are 100% custom, I also need to take their wants/ desires and turn that into a hairpiece that will make them feel comfortable and like themselves again. Communication is key in making sure I have the color, curl, length, etc exactly how they want. Our product is the only one of it’s kind on the market. Our caps are 100% silicone, the hair we implant into the caps is always 10% virgin hair, and they allow an active lifestyle for our clients without the need for tape or glue. I am most proud of the quality of our product. They are durable, beautiful, and practical. They truly have changed so many people’s lives to allow them to live life as they did before hairloss.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
Right now, the issue with growing clientele is getting the word out about our product. There are only a handful of people in the USA with Alopecia, and even fewer with Alopecia Universalis. Many alopecians I chat with, have never heard of Freedom Hair. I have seen more activity since my presence on social media, but there is still a pocket of alopecians who are not active on social media. Two of the places individuals visit when they see hairloss emerging is the hairdresser and dermatologist. These are places that I need to work with to increase their knowledge and educate on the resources available.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
The quality of our product has allowed our reputation to grow in the wig production community. We create custom hairpieces for each individual with 100%virgin hair. We do not mass produce hair, and we do not use synthetic hair or dyed hair. We have been on the market for well over 30 years and have clients who have been with us since the beginning. Before social media, we relied on word of mouth, and support groups.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.topknotchhairsolutions.com
- Instagram: @topknotchhairsolutions
Image Credits
True Perspective Photography Lynne Peters Photography