Nekeyta's Story
My earliest memories of living with alopecia date back to early elementary school, when I was diagnosed with Alopecia Totalis. I wasn’t sure what to think of it. I was waiting for the reaction of the adults around me to tell me how to feel. Instead, the neighborhood and school kids would be the ones who would shape my opinions about it for most of my life.
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The kids were mean and cruel. They would pull my hats and wigs off many times throughout my adolescent years. Being teased, taunted, and bullied was a part of my everyday life. Wigs were and still are not covered under
insurance because they are considered “cosmetic fixes,” and were over $100. I started coping by avoiding. As a child, I avoided sports and amusement parks; as an adult, I avoided showing what I actually looked like.
Society told me that hair is what makes you a woman. I was taught to keep “my business” secret. “You don’t go around telling your business,” my family told me. So I did precisely that. I did everything I could to be the prettiest woman while keeping my insecurities to myself.
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I spent years hiding from the open curtains in my home so I wouldn’t be seen by neighbors, the mailman, and even my family and friends. It was an emotional prison. In 25 years of hiding, I never saw a bald woman in public. I thought it was just me.
How ShesUnCovered Started
In 2015, my daughter helped me begin my confidence journey when she spotted a woman who was uncovered (bald) at a track meet. My daughter told me, “You can do it too,” encouraging me to be confident and comfortable anywhere.
The same year, I founded ShesUnCovered, to support women and girls with low to severe forms of hair loss. Our mission is to restore the confidence of these women and girls, connecting them to resources and options to sever them along their confidence building journey.
