Stephanie Sey

The first time I sat in a trichologist's chair, I was 14. I had lost a lot of my hair, and neither my mum nor I understood why. We believed it was a bad relaxer. We went to a prominent clinic, and they did not give my mum many answers. I sat quietly while they recommended shampoos and topical treatments, all with high prices attached, and my mum pulled out her credit card. After a while I told her I was okay and asked her to stop paying. I was not okay. I just could not watch her worry about the money any longer, and I did not believe the treatments were working. From 14 to 18, I wore wigs on and off.

The second time I sat in a trichologist's chair, I was 18. He knew far more about Afro hair, and for the first time I received real answers about the itching and breakage I was experiencing.

The third time, I had just turned 30, and it changed my life. I had dealt with hair loss throughout my adolescence and adulthood, and I was fed up. I wanted to understand my own hair properly and break the cycle. When I say I understand the fear and frustration of hair loss, I do not mean it as a figure of speech.

The third chair belonged to the Head Consultant Trichologist at the Battersea Scalp and Hair Clinic, who was also a tutor at the Institute of Trichologists. I started talking enthusiastically about my hair and everything I had been researching, and he asked me a question that changed everything: had I considered studying trichology? I scraped together what I could, borrowed the rest of my fees from family, and moved back home. By September 2011 I was studying, and unlike my law degree, I loved every moment of it. I qualified in 2013.

I will be honest: I was terrified of setting up my own practice. But when I qualified, there were very few genuine experts in Afro and textured hair, and barely any clinical images of hair and scalp disorders on darker skin. People were being misdiagnosed, or not diagnosed at all. So that is where I began, serving that community, correcting misdiagnoses, and helping people finally understand what was happening to them. Today I work with all hair types, and that remains the heart of why I do this.