What's up, Bartie t fan check out this bonus clip. Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Christie Valdisari lost a job after she lost her hair. Christie, how are you? Thank you for being with us? Thank you so much for having me. So can you share with us your journey. I grew up as a ballerina, a cheerleader. I had long blonde hair my whole life until college. I was in a sorority. I felt like I fit in and things were going
my way. When I graduated, I found a tiny bald patch on the top of my head and I had no idea what was happening. As time, her grass hair just continued to fall and fall and fall right. And then I booked my dream job on a cruise ship as a professional dancer with my long blonde hair. And then within six weeks I was fired. I was told that I stood out and I drew attention. And then within three weeks from that, I lost all of my hair. So I'm like twenty three years old, completely bald, and
I know where to live. I had no job, and something in me was like, you can't give up yet, glued on a blonde wig, and I was pretending to be the girl that I used to be. And I got to the point that I was sick of presenting myself one way to the world and people perceiving me as this happy, go lucky, blonde girl, but behind closed doors, I was suffering. I worked at a bar in Hollywood and people would always ask me, Oh, is your hair real? Are you wearing extensions? What color is your natural hair?
Is it a wig? And I would go to the bathroom and cry, and I feel so upset that I couldn't explain it. And I was sick of the exterior factors dictating my happiness and making me have these emotional breakdowns. So I decided it was time to take the power back and get in front of it. And I took off my wig and posted a video and shared my story to the world. And I felt like that was the first day of the rest of my life, and
that was the best thing I've ever done. And I just felt so much freer that I wasn't hiding something or hiding behind something. It's beautiful. I love that. So, Christie, were you the first ball Sports illustrated model? Yes, you got that. R's awesome. And I was like, that's it. I'm filming a video. I'm ripping my weight off, I'm sharing my story and I'm submitting it to the the Sports Allustrated Swim. And I'm not thinking twice. I'm just gonna
push myself. I'm just gonna do it and see what happens. And now I have a centerfold in Sports Illustrated Swim as the first fall. Mom. Okay, Sasha, we're seeing Yeah, yeah, I love it. Really inspirational. I feel so strongly, but the standard of beauty needs to change, like people are so much more than what they look like. And within the past four years of my career, I've gotten so many nose because I'm I don't fit the box of
what the beauty standards are and I'm not your traditional beauty. Yes, last question, tell us about working with kids with alopecia. I created a community called the Bald Rage is a community for women and girls and mothers with daughters with hair loss of any sort. And we have all these different events online. We have a mentorship program. I teach them dance online. I feel really strongly that these little girls and these little kids shouldn't have to walk this
walk alone. A lot of them feel like aliens in their hometown because they don't see anyone in their family and their friends at school, at their teachers that look like them. So amazing. Yeah, girl power all the way. I love it. You Know what I realize now is that there's so many of us that feel ashamed, you know this condition, and I've had so much outreach and you know, so many beautiful stories. I feel like we're
part of the most awesome tribe. And yeah, thank you so much for listening to this bonus content.