October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and most people know someone who's been touched by this disease. The treatment can often be long and difficult; and so can the recovery process. One of the most difficult aspects, for women, can be losing their hair to chemotherapy. Tati met a local woman who's helping women feel better about the process one wig at a time.
Tiana Bell, owner of the Allen Michael Experience, learned how to make wigs in her spare time while a student at Michigan State. "I was watching YouTube in my dorm room and I was like, 'this is something that I can do.' And I caught up on the idea of the wigs and I started making them for myself. Then friends thought it was amazing so I started making wigs for them, as well.", she says. Before she knew it, she had a full-fledged business on her hands.
Tiana says she loves taking care of people’s hair needs, but has been most inspired by helping her mom through her breast cancer journey. Tiana says, "And then my mom got breast cancer I started making wigs for her, as well. And she started posting on social media that she was wearing a wig and people just couldn't believe it and it just blew up from there and everyone wanted a wig. And now I make wigs for people all of the world."
Her mother, Tiffany Rose, could not believe the reaction she got from people when they saw her wearing the wigs her daughter created. She says, "A lot of people didn't believe that they were wigs. I would take pictures when I would go to chemo therapy with no hair but I'm smiling with no hair... and the next picture see that I have on a wig and they would be like 'oh my goodness'."
The emotional toll the hair loss took on Tiffani was difficult for her to deal with but she feels like the wigs make all the difference. "I think I did fall in to a little bit of a depression when I did lose my hair... but she got me right back.", says Tiffani.
Tiana says her mission is as much about taking care of her client's emotional needs as well as their hair. "I talk to my customers on the phone for like an hour or two and they'll kind of just tell me about losing their hair and just try to give them their confidence back about wearing a wig. And not feeling like, I look like someone's grandma wearing a wig; I can feel amazing and beautiful."
Find more information on Tiana Bell at: https://www.allenmichaelvirginhair.com/
