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Entries (RSS)4Women.com’s Open House “Opened Our Eyes”!
Each morning I make my way to the office with the same guiding mission, to help as many women and girls as I can to rise above the difficult emotions triggered by medical hair loss. I receive many heart-felt letters, messages, and calls thanking 4Women.com for helping women and girls to regain their self-confidence and self-esteem in the face of such a difficult appearance change. Because 4Women.com is mostly an online business, I seldom get to interact in person with the many women who have come to us looking for something to help them feel beautiful or the many women who support and contribute to our efforts to advocate for greater emotional support for women facing hair loss. Our recent Open House provided an opportunity to share our beautiful new office with the many local women (and men) who are connected to 4Women.com. Once again, it was the community of people who support and contribute to 4Women.com’s mission that made the evening so meaningful and reaffirmed the importance of 4Women.com’s work.
4Women.com’s Open House provided us an opportunity to show our love for our work, from the organization of our inventory and all the care we put into the presentation and shipping, to our research and writing, to our fabulous staff. I was so pleased to have an opportunity to share the many touching photos and letters that women have sent me, illustrating their resilient beauty and beaming spirits. Our Open House guests were touched beyond words by the letters of the many beaudivas who write to us. We laughed with our surprised guests as they were led through the stacks of 374 different scarves, marveling at the seemingly endless inventory that is meticulously organized by Jillian. While I felt the warmth and support of each and every guest, there was one guest in particular that reminded me just how important my work it.
Upon entering the scarf room, her eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store. For a 10-year old girl with Alopecia, fashionable head scarves are far better than candy! Despite having no hair, Madison possesses a sense of self that is rare in a girl her age, and her excitement over beaubeau™ headscarves was contagious that evening. Her story is a moving one, and one which inspires me to continue raising awareness about the emotional side of medical hair loss.
I first met Madison at a benefit running event for Alopecia. She was extremely shy and withdrawn. This fund-raising event was in our honor, but it took nearly an hour of coaxing Madison to convince her to have her picture taken with me for the local paper. Madison was wearing nothing on her head that day, and I knew the source of her reluctance. I know the deep embarrassment a woman or girl can feel in public after losing all of her hair; the stares, the uncomfortable and invasive questions, all compile towards total aversion of social interaction. To see a child feel these emotions was heart-wrenching.
After this first meeting with Madison, I decided to expand my line of beaubeau’s™ to include girls’ scarves. Madison was my first girl’s scarves customer! Formerly withdrawn and introverted, she seemed to blossom. I felt so lucky that I was given the opportunity to help Madison develop the confidence and sense of self she possesses today!
Overcoming the emotional side of medical hair loss can be quite daunting, but helping women and girls to do just that is the primary objective of 4Women.com. Team beaubeau™, as I like to call us, consists of me, my husband Jack, my assistant Jillian, our resident research specialist Michelle, and our boutique and systems expert Brooke. Team BeauBeau™ began with me, my hair loss and my desire to remain fashionable. My husband, Jack, joined the team bringing his lifelong business sense to our operation. Jack is the sole male of the company and manages the nuts and bolts of our business. Jack had a very successful career in business and, as my husband, he is truly my right hand man in the company! We began with a dozen or so different fabrics and have grown into a storehouse of 374 different scarf varieties. Jillian has been a wonderful asset to 4women.com since she arrived in August of 2009, and tackles any project I give her with enthusiasm. Jillian’s willingness to assist customers with their questions about our scarves, fabric choices, sizing or just be a compassionate ear is outstanding. Her organizational skills would put most to shame. Michelle has been with our company the longest, since 2008, and has introduced an incredible number of women to our company’s products and services through her outreach efforts. Michelle speaks multiple languages and is spreading the 4women.com word throughout the world as she continues reaching out to women with medical hair loss. Also a wonderful writer, Michelle is a vital resource 4Women.com could not do without! Brooke is our newest team member, and has out poured positive energy since her first day on the job. Since her arrival in December of 2009, Brooke has outreached to hundreds of boutiques, and helped overhaul less efficient systems with more easily accessible and user-friendly ones. We are excited to see what she does next! We are a happy little family 5 days a week and welcome all and any calls, emails, and letters from anyone interested in our company, and especially from women we can help overcome the daunting task of the emotional side effects of medical hair loss.
Warm Regards,
Susan M. Beausang
President, 4Women.com Inc.
Tags: 4women.com, alopecia, beaubeau scarves, Hairloss, openhouse
