My story began when I was 8 yrs. old and I was diagnosed with Alopecia Areata. My hair began to fall out in small patches. At first, the doctors thought that I was pulling my hair out in my sleep so they delayed advanced testing during the initial stages. Shortly after the first few incidents, the patches began to grow larger and larger until eventually my hair came completely out. The next to go was my eyebrows. By the age of 10 I had recurring episodes of a “peach fuzz” like hair growth on my scalp. My eyebrows never fully recovered even until this day. My hair also never grew back. I can remember having a hair patch on the back of my head that was shaped like the country of Africa, so the high school students used to make fun of me and call me little Africa. Some of the kids went so far as to smack me on the back of the head and throw things at me when going from class to class. I experienced this persecution almost until the last few years of high school. I was quite embarrassed and begin to develop some social isolation with respect to my day-to-day interaction with the school kids. The good part was that my parents were born again Christians. They kept me in constant prayer because the medical treatments were unsuccessful. The prayer is what did it. The prayer is what kept me! I could also remember my personal prayers. I would ask God for my hair back on numerous occasions. I really believed that he would give it to me. From 8 yrs old until 18 yrs old, I asked God repeatedly in prayer. My hair never grew back during this time period so I always wondered if he heard me.
The scripture says in Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” I always have believed and I have given my life to Jesus Christ. I also believed that one-day my hair would grow back. The blessing is that after I graduated from High School, my bald scalp looked “normal”. As I began to mature in age people just assumed that I shaved my head. So the pressure and embarrassment diminished a bit. But God has a sense of humor and he never forgets your prayers. He remembered my prayer and he begin to give me my hair back in the strangest way. If you recall, the school students teased my by calling me “Little Africa.” Well in 2008, I met my beautiful wife while deployed overseas and she was from Ethiopia. In 2009, we began to retail hair and hair care products in the small country of Kuwait. In 2010, our business name was trademarked and we began to establish small hair retail shops in Kuwait. Since then God has shown me that he answered my prayer and that he heard me. He also showed me how he can turn a sad situation into laughter, and how he can use our flaws and infirmities as a testimony to our lives.
Currently, we are a major beauty supply company in Kuwait. My wife and I have other retail locations in the country of Kuwait as well. However, there are a number of challenges in the Middle East when it comes to doing business. One of those challenges is the requirement for sponsorship and sponsorship fees. In order to operate here effectively, we must have a Kuwaiti national sponsor. Although we have overcome this obstacle, we yet need working capital to help grow the business. We believe God has a very big vision for this hair business.
I am hopeful that our story will inspire others in this region to pursue their dreams. Since we opened, we have had a number of customers (primarily female) who are also suffering from hair lose due to alopecia areata. It is so interesting to see this as I know what I went through as a man, so I can only imagine the challenges women go through.
Our theme is “Beauty is In Her Hair.” With that said we will be donating 2% of our annual proceeds to the Alopecia Areata foundation.
Exact Need for Funding:
International Franchise Association Fees
American Business Council of Kuwait
Product Insurance Fees
For your donation of $200 or more you will receive a free wig as a souvenir and a token of our appreciation. We hope and pray that this story is a blessing to you and motivates you to sow into a powerful gift from God. God Bless you and we kindly thank you for your time and support.