What is Trichotillomania?

Rachel Rivera [00:00:02]:
Aside from building trust from day one, from that moment that my clients walk in and they sit in my chair, I always like to let them know that, hey, this process is for you and I. If there is something that you want to change, we have an open door policy. You let me know what you like, what you don’t like. And we work together in those kinds of things. I have a good reputation with my clients for that very reason.

Kevin Rolston [00:00:40]:
Welcome to Hairpod, the podcast where you get to hear real people talk about their hair journeys. I’m your host, Kevin Ralston. And each week I get to interview people from different walks of life whose lives have been touched by hair loss in some form or fashion. Many of our guests have experienced hair loss themselves. And every once in a while, we get to talk to one of those incredible people who helps people with hair loss to get their hair back. Let’s be real for a moment. One of the scariest parts of going to a professional to talk about hair loss is the fear, the fear of being judged, the fear of feeling shame, wondering if they’ll understand what you’re going through. All those thoughts can feel so overwhelming.

Kevin Rolston [00:01:22]:
It might feel like it’s just better to suffer in silence. But thats why im excited about this episode. Today we get to hear from someone who truly understands hair loss and cares deeply about her clients and their hair journeys. And I can say this from my own personal experience because shes my hair loss stylist. You might remember her from episode 21 when we talked about my hair system. Her name is Rachel Rivera, and since I started going to hair club, she has been there with me every step of the way. Today, we’re going to talk to her about what it’s like to be the hero in someone’s hair loss journey and why she got into the hair loss replacement industry in the first place. Because like so many hair specialists, Rachel’s career began in a regular hair salon.

Rachel Rivera [00:02:10]:
So I have been doing hair in total for about 21 years now. I just like a lot of the hairstylists at hair club. I started out at a salon. Of course, I finished my career working as an independent contractor. I rented out my own salon booth. We were a little bit slow at the time, so I ended up just having a glance@indeed.com and trying to look for maybe options of other places to work. At that moment, I had found hair club and everything seemed really nice. I’m like, okay, you know, I didn’t know what I was getting into, but let me go ahead and apply.

Rachel Rivera [00:02:45]:
And it was then and there that I discovered what hair club was all about with it being non surgical hair restoration. It’s a combination of what we do. I work in hair restoration, and I’ve been with hair club now for 13 years.

Kevin Rolston [00:03:01]:
Wow. Now tell me what it is like making that transition and coming over. Because one of the reasons why we do the hair pod here is to talk about some of the stigmas that exist that people have, because it’s the unknown and people don’t really know what they’re getting into. And the eighties really brought a lot of bad stigmas when it comes to hair systems. And did you have reservations? Did you feel it was weird at first to get used to the concept of you’d always cut real human hair, and now you’re cutting real human hair that came from another person that’s on another person?

Rachel Rivera [00:03:37]:
Absolutely. I remember when I first went in for my interviews, and I’m looking at, you know, the little, you know, what your hair looks like when we do your hair. Seeing a bunch of those and sitting in the back room, and I’m like, oh, my God, what is this? So the process was very different for me. I almost took it like an acceptance of a challenge. I’m like, okay, this is different. I’m going to cut hair the same way that I normally do, but in this case, it’s going to be different. I’m going to add it and then cut it in completely. So I took it, you know, challenge accepted, and I started doing it from there.

Kevin Rolston [00:04:12]:
Yeah, because the one thing I would imagine if you had to compare the differences of when you are a stylist at a regular salon compared to what you’re doing at hair club. I know just from my own hair systems, I come in and every other time, two times, whatever, it might just be maintenance. You’re just kind of trimming up the sides. And then my previous hair system goes on. But that, you know, every third time that I might come in, it’s all brand new hair. And I can’t imagine as a regular stylist, you get a lot of opportunities to go from such a radically long head of hair, which I know that I have into what I have now. So I imagine it’s almost even more challenging. So a hairstylist, I would think, at hair club, has to be somebody that is okay with the challenge.

Kevin Rolston [00:04:59]:
I feel like that would be really daunting. I see the hair that I have. I’m like, how do you even get what is on my head right now? It’s hair that is going down below my ears, and you make it into a stylish, short guys haircut. Does that scare some people, would you say? Maybe the hair club’s not for every stylist for that reason?

Rachel Rivera [00:05:17]:
Sometimes, in all honesty, it’s not. I remember when I first got started working for hair club, and it was a little scary, you know, because it does come with, you know, it as simple as it looks, it does come with certain things that we can and cannot do. For example, we have to leave your own. The hair that we are putting on and blending in with your own hair is something that we have to leave just a little bit longer. Sometimes it’s a little uncomfortable, and it pulls you out of your comfort zone when you have to leave something a little bit longer and not blend it in. But we do it for the purpose of, as your own hair is growing out, all it does is create a more seamless look. You will not see that division in the hair. So, yes, it can be scary, and there are some times where it’s just not for everybody, where they.

Rachel Rivera [00:06:04]:
They’re just not used to cutting the hair. I’ve seen people come in full on wanting to do this in gung ho, and for some reason, they just get stumbled on. Just doesn’t work.

Kevin Rolston [00:06:15]:
Yeah, I could see that. Because, you know, when you are a regular hairstylist, how often are you not making that much of a change to somebody’s hair? Is a lot of it just trimming and maintenance and things like that? Where the hair club seems to be more of a daunting challenge to start from such a broad base and whittle it down to something that the person actually wants.

Rachel Rivera [00:06:35]:
Oh, yeah. I would say about 85% of the time, when you’re working in a salon, most of the clients that you see that are coming in, they don’t want to change their hair. It’s here, give me a trim. Let’s do the same color. Let’s do all of this. It’s very simple when you’re coming in and we’re cutting in a new head of hair, which is my favorite time, by the way, because I love new styles, but it can be a little bit scary.

Kevin Rolston [00:06:57]:
Yeah. I’m wondering how long it takes for you to get used to it, because with any new job, any new style, it takes a little bit of time to get used to it. Did you feel that there was kind of a ramping up period from when you went to a regular salon to going into hair club?

Rachel Rivera [00:07:11]:
Yeah, I think in total, what it did was it it took me about a year to really become efficient and comfortable with what I was doing, to get it done in the way that I was happy with. Mm hmm.

Kevin Rolston [00:07:22]:
And tell me about the knowledge that you had, because I imagine over 13 years, you know, when I talk to you, you’re just an expert inside and out of hair systems and how to do them, how to treat them, how to color them correctly so that they match up with the regular hair that somebody might have for sideburns or on the side of their head. Would you say that every single year that your knowledge grows? And at what point. How many years were you at hair club before you would say, okay, I am a true hair system expert?

Rachel Rivera [00:07:49]:
It’s a hard timeline. I feel like I am always learning something at some point in time, and whenever I see something that’s maybe different, I always pick it up and try to figure something out. But the years of experience that I have have taught me a lot of things which make me really good at what I do.

Kevin Rolston [00:08:14]:
As a client. I am grateful for Rachel and her expertise when it comes to hair replacement technology and how far it’s come in the past few decades. You want someone like Rachel, who is a lifelong learner, on your side. I know that as technology continues to change, I have a stylist who will be able to explain it all to me.

Kevin Rolston [00:08:33]:
As for me, that builds a foundation.

Kevin Rolston [00:08:35]:
Of trust, which is so important, between a stylist and a client, especially one who has experienced some hair loss. Losing your hair is an emotional experience already, and trusting someone to help you out can feel a little bit like putting your life into somebody’s hands. So I wanted to know just how Rachel establishes that rapport with her clients, starting with the time they sit in her chair.

Rachel Rivera [00:09:04]:
Well, aside from building trust from day one, from that moment that my clients walk in and they sit in my chair and getting to know them, I always like to let them know that, hey, this process is for you and I. If there is something that you want to change, we have an open door policy. You let me know what you like, what you don’t like, what you want to see, and we work together in those kinds of things. I have a good reputation with my clients for that very reason. You know, my clients and I, we work together. If there’s something you want, I will make sure that you get it.

Kevin Rolston [00:09:39]:
And do you say that when somebody sits in the chair and you put a hair system on somebody for the very first time, do they walk out immediately satisfied? Or does it maybe take a couple of hair systems before they kind of find their look and their groove. And how do you help a client find what their perfect look is? Because look, a lot of times they’re dealing with hair that they haven’t had in five or ten years, and now that they’ve aged, have no idea what hairstyle is even going to look good for them.

Rachel Rivera [00:10:06]:
So we always come together. We try to work on a style that’s going to suit the client and something that they’re going to be comfortable with. At the same time, for some people, I want to say the majority of the people leave and they absolutely love their hair. It’s always a comment where people are like, oh, my God, I should have come here years ago. And, you know, we love to hear that because it lets us know that they’re happy with what they have. There are your select clients that sometimes getting used to having hair and going through those processes, it is a little bit longer, and it takes them a little bit more time, one, to get comfortable with having something that they haven’t had in a long time and also trying to maintain and care for their hair.

Kevin Rolston [00:10:48]:
I assume you probably have some clients to sit down and they’re a little apprehensive, they’re a little nervous. What do you say to them to calm them as you’re getting ready to take clippers to the top of their head?

Rachel Rivera [00:10:57]:
I always like to make sure that I’m explaining to my clients everything that I do, and I always want to make sure that they know that they have the option, so they don’t always have to shave their hair all the way down. They can choose to leave it. And I’ll always go over the options and how the look is going to be, but I never want them to feel uncomfortable. So making sure that I’m looking at them in the face and looking at me and understanding that, hey, this is okay, we’re going to do this together, and I’m going to make sure that you’re as comfortable as possible throughout this whole process.

Kevin Rolston [00:11:29]:
Describe to me what is the look of somebody who needs a hair system? How much hair have they lost? Up top, what does a hair system really benefit? What does that person’s head look like?

Rachel Rivera [00:11:39]:
Usually what we are looking at is when a client, when I can see through a client’s scalp, you want to look. Scalp visibility is one of the biggest things. So when you are seeing more scalp than you are hair, that is usually when we are the option for non surgical hair restoration, they’ve usually exceeded the point where they can’t do any treatment. Usually at that point, we come in and we explain to them how the hair goes and everything, but usually that’s what we’re looking at. When you’re seeing more scalp than hair, when you’re seeing a lot of dead follicles and you’re seeing those little one strand hairs here and there, that’s when you know there’s time to do something.

Kevin Rolston [00:12:17]:
Yeah. Cause a lot of people are saying, hey, just, you know, you should always go with the hair transplant. But the one thing I discovered after finding out about hair transplants is that a lot of times, one procedure doesn’t cover all of the loss that you have. And so a hair system makes sense for people that may not want to spend a the money to get five, six, seven hair transplants. And is that what you’re saying? Is that if you notice that you’ve got more scalp than hair, that maybe the hair transplant isn’t the right thing for you, that hair system is a better call?

Rachel Rivera [00:12:50]:
Yeah, I believe, listen, I’m a big believer in instant gratification, and there’s some people that, unfortunately, when the hair loss is severe, yes, it is something that you. One transplant, one surgery will not give you that density of hair that people are looking for. So usually in our initial consultations, before we even get called to do any kinds of measurements for a client, for prospective client, we always make sure that we explain to them the situation and giving them the option to do surgery, as well as giving them the option to do non surgical hair restoration and letting them know the difference between the two. But, yes, in our cases, we’re giving you hair right away. We’re giving you hair all the, all the hair that you lost in all those years.

Kevin Rolston [00:13:39]:
A hair system was the right option for me.

Kevin Rolston [00:13:41]:
I was at the point with my.

Kevin Rolston [00:13:42]:
Hair loss, and I just wanted that instant gratification that Rachel talks about. I was ready to take the leap, but not everybody is at that point. And there are other options for folks who arent interested in getting a hair system. Even within the world of hair systems, there are a lot of options, and Rachel helps her clients navigate figuring out what’s right for their individual needs.

Rachel Rivera [00:14:09]:
So we have so many different types of technologies is what we call them. A lot of them that we use are very, it’s a very fine thin lace, and when we do your initial measurements for the first time, we usually mimic the skin. So what we do is we take the color swatches, and we usually match it to your own skin. So that really all you’re looking at is just the hair. So on the thin laces. And we also do have skin type systems that are almost mimic a contact lens. But with those hair systems, usually what we do is they knot the hair or they be loop the hair in it and then we put it on. All you’re seeing is the hair coming out of the scalp.

Rachel Rivera [00:14:50]:
You’re not seeing anything else.

Kevin Rolston [00:14:52]:
How do you match up different types of hair structure to other different types of hair? Let’s say I have really coarse hair or I have fine or thin hair. Are you able to match that up? And how do you wind up doing something like that?

Rachel Rivera [00:15:04]:
Yeah, usually what we do is we have hair club has a slew of different types of textures for hair. Anywhere between your afros, all the way down to your slick, straight heads of hair. Anything that we have to do, maybe in between, we can also do in house. So there really isn’t anything that we can’t customize.

Kevin Rolston [00:15:24]:
And tell me about coloring too, because the one thing that I think is such a great advancement and what you get with todays hair systems is how it blends in. Because for me, as an example, I still have all my natural hair on the side of my head. And then it just blends up perfectly with the same kind of texture and the same kind of color. How are you eyeballing that so that you match that up every single time?

Rachel Rivera [00:15:46]:
I always make sure that I know my clients first, but when we first get started, we always do the initial swatches to make sure we match color. But really knowing your client’s hair color and the different changes that we have to make as their hair maybe gets grayer or if they want to start adding color, it just depends on what you want to do. It’s always my job to pay attention and just make sure, and if not, always asking questions.

Kevin Rolston [00:16:11]:
Okay. And then there are so many different options that they have. At hair club, do you ever recommend to somebody and say, you know what, maybe a system is not great for you? Because I know that there’s a great selection of wigs and things like that as well. How do you know the difference between I’m a person that should do a hair system versus a person that should do a wig?

Rachel Rivera [00:16:28]:
Sometimes you’ll find people that are not comfortable with styling their hair every single day. It’s very different. When you’re wearing human hair, you’re waking up and you have to style it in the morning. There are some women that don’t want to style their hair every day. Sometimes that shake and go wig that already has that preset style is usually the best option for them. So it’s usually finding out what’s best for them.

Kevin Rolston [00:16:53]:
Tell me. As a hairstylist who has worked at regular salons compared to being at a place like hair club, I imagine that when you give that perfect cut, you just have the person that is in awe, and they’re so grateful, and they’re so happy. Is your level of satisfaction higher working at a place like hair club? Because to me, the transformation is so much greater that you’re making a massive difference more often than you do working at a regular salon.

Rachel Rivera [00:17:21]:
100%. It is such a good feeling. Sometimes I can’t even explain it, because what we do is so life changing. When I see somebody for the first time and I’ve given them back that hair, and they look in the mirror for that first time, and they’re like, oh, my God. And I just stand back, and I’m like, I can’t believe I just did that. You know? And it makes them so happy, and it’s this joy that you can’t have get anywhere else. I mean, I can do the same haircut, the same hairstyle on everyone, but every time when you’re creating something new, it’s just so different. I love what I do now.

Kevin Rolston [00:17:57]:
How do you find the perfect hairstyle? I got lucky. I got paired with you, and I said, this is enough. And I’m to the point where if something happens with you, if you’re sick, I am moving my entire life around to be like, I’m only seeing Rachel. Rachel is it. She gets me. She gets my hair perfect. So how does somebody walk into hair club and find their Rachel? And that often happened. They find the perfect person the first time, or can you rifle through different stylists? How does that happen?

Rachel Rivera [00:18:25]:
You can pick and choose different stylists. Initially, you can start off with somebody, and then what we try to do is we try to pair you up with different clients just to see if maybe they do something maybe different that you like. I’ve been very blessed, I can say, because I have a lot of clients. They love me. They love the work that I do. They come and see me consistently. I absolutely love it. But you always have the option, and usually when they’re coming in, my biggest thing is, hey, show me pictures of what you used to look like.

Rachel Rivera [00:18:54]:
Show me pictures of what you may want to look like. Are there any actors that you like? Is there anybody that you maybe want to. Whose hairstyle you want to mimic, Pinterest, YouTube, anything that they see that they may want to look like, which or look similar to. So that’s always what we go by.

Kevin Rolston [00:19:16]:
As you can clearly hear, Rachel is not just a knowledgeable stylist and someone I’m glad to have on my team. She’s an amazing person who genuinely loves her work and cares for every client who sits in her chair. And that’s so important when you’re on this journey to try to get your hair back or finding the right solution for you. You need to find the right professional, someone like you, someone you trust and who truly understands your vision. Someone who will be honest with you about what they can afford and guide you with compassion and expertise. Its not just about finding a stylist, its about finding the right stylist for you. And if youre lucky, like me, you might just find someone like Rachel. Thanks for listening to another episode of Hairpot.

Kevin Rolston [00:19:59]:
Check us out at hair club on Instagram or search hairpod on Facebook to continue the conversation. If you know someone who could benefit from hearing this episode, we would love it if you would share it with them. If you’re enjoying the show, consider leaving us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app. We also have a website. Check it out by going to podcast Dot hairclub.com. we’re here to build people up and share real stories so people experiencing hair loss feel a little bit less alone. And when you share, review, and subscribe, it helps us do just that. So thank you.

Kevin Rolston [00:20:33]:
Until next time.