This morning I'm here with Mr. Paul the founder Wigs for Kids. And my wife, Zina.
But if you call me Jeffrey it's better because I don't know who Mr. Paul is
unless it's my father. Ok. So I got to ask, what made you guys decide to found Wigs for Kids?
Like, what made you decide to come up with the idea of it? Well I was traveling all
over the world doing celebrities and runway models, presidents of the United States,
that was my hair cutting career and I was excited about it. I studied in
Europe, so I thought I'd already hit the top of my mountain and I was so excited
about it. And one day my niece Laura Hody ran into
my salon and said the magic words, the life moving words that said, my
life was gonna change, she said uncle Jeff don't let me go without hair. And
not knowing anything thirty-five years ago, she ended up letting me know and the
father let me know that she's losing her hair because of chemotherapy, that was a
new drug at that time and it could help her survive leukemia. And I promised her
she'd have hair. And she was in a gymnastic competition the very next day
after we had gotten the hairpiece ready. But 35 years ago there wasn't a
wig for a kid and there wasn't a wig that would stay on through gymnastics.
They, none of that technology had come on yet. So we put
together all our hands in our efforts and came up with something. But we
weren't sure what it would do in the event and she was gonna be in all of these
you know, those exercises and all the things that I do. Not the exercises, but
you know the apparatus. Yeah. So we're sitting there my wife and I
like holding each other, like almost like trembling. What happens in a full gym of
her peers if her hair falls off, just, just would devastate her. She went
through everything stayed on and the last event is where she has to give at
the end of the gym run down the mats, jump off of a trampoline over the horse,
and she looks at me, I mean just like you're looking at me right now
and it was like everything stopped. She went through the apparatus came down and
she put a thumb up in the air to me. I'm crying like a little baby and I heard
God's voice telling me that I was going to now take my talent and take it from
making beautiful people beautiful, and make beautiful people inside and out. And
I didn't even know what that meant at that point but I learned very, very
soon after that that Wigs for Kids was a the thing that the world needed and we
now served for 35 years children all over the United States, and you get hair
ponytails from all over the world and it's become just a passion driven by
what, everyday I do. That's amazing. It all started with one little girl at a gymnastics meet.
Yeah, her legacy goes on because, you know, we really credit her for the reason, you
know, Jeffery, and Zina, and all the stylists are very important elements
that play a role in the administrative and things, but the motivation is to this
date is still Laura's face, saying Jeff don't let me go without hair. So I
guess we've heard of the creation of such a wonderful
organization that's helped like thousands of kids all over the world. You know, it's
it's amazing, Lauren, people like you that have continued the inspiration. And it's
people who've given money, you know, because it takes a lot to put, a normal
hair piece that we put on, you know, our kids throughout the United States free,
completely free for every year, including the products and, and all the other
things that we do to service that, would cost somebody anywhere from three to
five thousand dollars. Virgin hair, from the ponytails, that's what we're proud of
being able to know that we, we do it. And that's, that's the other part of a lot of
people don't know out there. We, we have a minimum of twelve inches and people say
well, you know, other people take ten inches and nine inches. The reality of
looking at you, that's actually 14 inches, plus four more inches that are tied. So
that means I have to have 18 inches to give you what you want. And that's where
the the wonderful people giving hair, letting it go even another month, another
year, or whatever to get that extra couple inches, makes a difference. Because
even though you would be happy with hair, you want to look
yourself, you want to look like the people that you, every day, participate with,
go to school with, you know play with. And if you had something that wasn't you we
know that that's not fair to our kids. We want our kids to be able to look
themselves and live their life. So the donations are really really important. I
think that's amazing that you guys have this program to give the wigs to the
kids for free 'cause I know, I know that's helped my family a lot.
The fact that we get these for free and that I've been here, I've been here so
long so I've definitely taken advantage of that myself. Every, every year you
know the the applications go in, we re-up the next year. Annie, who you interviewed, which is a was a
precious interview has been with us, you know, you know since she was in second
grade. She graduated from Ohio State last last month and now is in her career and
you know, she's been with us every year with that process. So it's been wonderful.
It can't be done by one person. It can't be done with just a couple of dollars.
It's, it's a big, big commitment. And the donors, the ponytails as I said. The
stylists around the country now that help us measure the kids and put the cap
fittings and everything that we certified them to train them how to do,
free. Again will train them if they'll just take care of our kids, you know, when
they have a need at that point. And then the salons, you know, cutting those
ponytails everyone pulls the hair back and think that's a ponytail harvest. Not
true. They lose all this hair that ends up on the floor once they do the cut and
it's like we need that hair that extra inch is important. So we've done a
complete certification on how to section it off, how to bind it so that it
actually will come to us un-damage. Because a lot of times if the hair
gets all damaged in shipping you can't use it and that's really a heartbreak
for the person who's giving it as well as the person that could be receiving it
at that point. I remember like, the little head quarters, it's somewhere in this area
and I remember going there, like seeing the process of all, like the hair shipped in
and like the whole like patching it all up thing. Like that was like such an
amazing experience like see like, wow this is like just a little bit of the
process that goes into making these wigs that I love so much. You know, it's
interesting I forgot that you were out there at the Wigs for Kids
headquarters and they're working on hair everyday. But you know what's even its
better part of that? I hope you got to see it. When you open the envelope and
there's these ponytails there's also this letter, or note, or
pictures, the life experience that this child is healthy
and well and with hair is giving that part of their body to someone like
yourself, or Emily, or Annie, or any of the kids that we take care of. And those
notes really are also another stimulus that's pretty incredible. But there is a
lot, because just to make that hair then end up in a hairpiece it took me almost
five years of working with manufacturers and designs that I would create to be
able to do that. Because it's not as easy as it sounds, you know, because it takes
almost 15 to 20 ponytails to make one hairpiece once they go through the
process. But in turn, once it's done, you feel that hair and it's it's wonderful.
And it also gives you a kind of a cuddling of 15 or 20 people that are
hugging you that really care. Going along with the people that donated the money that takes to the
manufacture that process. That's amazing. How does it feel when you have kids like Annie and
Emily and me who come back we want to expand on everything that you've given
to us, when we want to expand like the love, and the caring, and the spreading of
like, the word. Like how does that feel to you knowing that there are
people who want to like just do more with it. I'll tell you my mission in life,
I don't think I've ever shared this. I don't even know Annie knows this, but my
mission in life I use an acronym called time. And no matter what time I spend
with you with anybody I want to be always teaching, mm-hmm, inspiring,
motivating, empowering you to be absolutely everything you can be. So when
I see a kid like you that comes in that's lost her hair because of alopecia, that I
know that if somebody's not taking care of that, not teaching you how beautiful
you are inside and out, not inspiring you to know that you can do anything you
want to do, motivating you with hair to be able to be like everybody else and
empowering you to do what you're doing right now to take the gold award for the
Girl Scouts and becoming you know college student going on into life and
relationships. It's just like, it's like some just absolutely blessing that I was
born God said you know you're gonna do this
that was like, wow was i lucky, Yeah I was absolutely lucky and blessed because when
I see you when I see the Annie's, I see the Emily's, it's like you know the pebble in
the brook. I know it's only one pebble but man what it can do in a big picture.
And you know, you're taking the alopecia awareness and telling kids out there
that they're, they're okay, they're not alone, they can make it,
they can have courage, and if they're bullied you know how to get through it
and get the support system. Man, yeah how could any one person do it. So you, you
bless me beyond what you can imagine.
Doing this whole thing has it's been like a learning experience to you?
Because I know you said this all started because your niece who had cancer but
you know, I have, there's people with alopecia. I know there's been other
things you said I can't remember the names, I feel really bad, but... Yeah, in
fact, there's been alopecia came second you know, for the cancer patients, which
everybody understands that the cancer patients lose their hair for a while. But
what they don't understand is alopecia could be a lifelong experience.
And then trichotillomania, which is where they twist their hair, and that's an
expanding compulsive disorder that is incredible and embarrassing and all the
things that they go through has really brought it. We've got some burned kids
and that type of thing. But it has been a learning experience because it was just
recently, as you know, I started the Hair Loss Solutions TV program to educate
both the public that need hair, hair, hair loss solutions, but also the public
around them to know, your normal, your regular, your cool. You know it's not like
you're, you're different just because you don't have hair. So it's really been a
learning experience because now I've been bringing in a lot of the experts,
like a trichotillomania top psychologist, that's telling about how they've got new
programs. Alopecia where they're doing some research. So we were trying to just
educate people because we're being educated, I love to be
interviewed or interviewing, because it's like that's a learning experience and
that's really what gives me another buzz in my life. Yeah that's good 'cause I know like
with me, I, I'll be just, I can tell it's just something it's gonna stick with me
for the rest of my life but I've met like a lot of people through the
alopecia community and some have been lucky enough to
their hair back, some have just had stages. I know Annie said it's come back
in patches but then it lost again. I know I have a friend Brooke who, sadly we
don't talk as much right now, she got her hair back and was such a like exciting
moment for her. And again it's, it's, it's a challenge and one of the things that
we try to encourage them because you know you're waiting for, you hope to get
hair back, with alopecia, and if you get hair back you hope it stays. Yeah. And if
it doesn't come all back but it comes in parts, it's a challenge that I think
you're going to help in your awareness development is going to be so much more
powerful than you realize. Because again, there's so many venues, there's so many
flavors of alopecia. It's not just... Yeah... alopecia areata, you know,
universalis, totalis. You guys kidding offset and off-camera about the eyebrows
and, and what people notice and what people don't notice. It really needs what
you're doing. It really does, that awareness to continue to press into the
you know elementary school, into the middle school, where, you know how tough
it is in middle school. So they're, they're tough, they're feeling the
toughness so they try to be tough. Or they they feel that hurt so they try to
hurt others. It's, it's just what happens and if you can educate them
that's where they become educated to reach out to care, to love, to, to make the
difference in people's lives. I know you, every time I've come in to order my
wig you make sure you asked like, what can I do to improve? What can I do to
make this better and I think that's a really important part because it always
seems like you care, you could go even further than you've already gone.
You test the limits, you reach out and just try everything you possibly can. I
think that's amazing. Thank you. My son, who works in our salon, said to me, dad
when's it enough? And I said, when I'm done. He goes when are you gonna be done?
I said when I'm in heaven because it's never good enough, you know. And I don't
mean that it has to have perfection and as you said it's just I feed off of what
you need. If you you said to me Jeff I want to put it in a ponytail then I
start to go into design what that can do, or develop something. Or if I want you
know an ombre, what do I do with that, Jeff. So all the things that we want
you to be able to have which is to look yourself and live your life, which is the
model of Wigs for Kids. Takes a lot more than just making a wig. And how about
security, you know, putting it on so that it stays on. And then when you've got
advanced levels like Annie, we can attach it on a 24/7 basis and go through that
process of a whole different attachment system. So again I continually, and I'm so
blessed by you noticing that but the reality is, is that it's it's really
about dealing with the child that you have in front of you. And so in your life,
in your life, what do you need. If it's a soccer player, you know, a college student
whatever it is, and we try to make it the best for them that we possibly could. Well I want
to thank you so much for everything you've done, for all of us and just for the lives
that you've created. I just know thousands of kids every day go away happy because
you've made their dreams come true. So thank you so much.
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