How to Support The Baldtourage
What is The Baldtourage?
The Baldtourage was founded by Christie Valdiserri after she lost all of her hair to Alopecia Universalis. As a model and dancer in the entertainment industry, she was sick and tired of pretending to be someone she wasn’t, just to appease the beauty standards. She felt so alone, unheard, and hopeless after losing her hair. That’s when she created The Baldtourage.
The Baldtourage is a community of women, girls, and mothers who have daughters with hair loss, mostly Alopecia. We host monthly online events that give the members an opportunity to share their personal experiences with others who can relate to them. We have a mentorship program where the ladies work with the young girls to dive deeper into their emotions.
We have so many stories of women hiding under wigs for years, until joining Baldtourage and meeting others who are experiencing the same thing that they finally feel confident enough to go bald in public… and it’s so beautiful to witness!
Here at Baldtourage, we are redefining bald as bold. Rather than trying to ‘fix’ this, we are learning how to embrace it!
We are determined to normalize hair loss for women, provide a community where everyone feels accepted, heard, & understood, and encourage each other to embrace exactly who we are! It is one place we show up to where we wholeheartedly feel like we ‘fit in.’ Looking on the screen each month and seeing at least 15 other bald women or girls, gives us all a sense of unity and comfort.
What is Alopecia?
Alopecia is an “autoimmune disease” that causes your hair to fall out with not much explanation or reasoning. There are several different types of Alopecia that can affect anyone, at any age. The 3 most popular types are Alopecia Universalis: hair loss everywhere on your body, Totalis, is hair loss on your head, and Areata is hair loss in patches. Although it does not cause physical pain, it can definitely cause mental and emotional distress. Having to go through life with a ‘difference’ can be extremely challenging.
How can you help?
This event will be our biggest Baldtourage Event ever. Some of these women & girls have waited their entire lives to meet others that look just like them. The impact this event will have on our community is truly immeasurable. Any amount will help and we cannot thank you enough!
Our goal is to raise $5,000.
The funds we raise will go to the following:
Venue costs
DJ
Photographer + Videographer
Decorations
Tables & Chairs
Special Guest Speakers
Catered Dinner
Drinks - Alcoholic beverages + water bottles
Production team for Fashion Show + Dance Performance
SPONSORS:
Please write your name/company so we can include you on the event materials + announce you as sponsors at the event.
What is the Cali Event?
After developing friendships over zoom for the past year and a half, we know the value it has to meet these new friends, face to face. Since we’ve had two past events on the east coast, it it time to go west! We’re so excited for internet friends to become real life friends at our Baldtourage Weekend Event in California! We have SO many exciting things planned for the girlies, the mommas, and the ladies on Sunday, Sept 26th! We have a Fashion Show, Dance Performance, Makeovers with Professional Makeup Artists, Photo shoots, and much more! We have a huge itinerary planned and in order to produce this type of event for our community, we need some help!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for thinking of us, supporting us, and celebrating us.
XO,
Christie & The Baldtourage Team
What our Community is Saying…
“Baldtourage means so many things to me but what truly stands out is the community. I joined in April of 2020 and before then had never seen so many other beautiful woman who looked like me. Since joining Baldtourage I've had the courage to show up bald in every aspect of my life and I'm so thankful for Christie and my sisters.”
-Alyssa Collier, Ohio.
“Where to even begin? I honestly don’t know where I’d be without Christie or the Baldtourage family. They have created a safe space for my daughter to grow and thrive in confidence and for me to feel a connection and supported. Evelyn began her Alopecia journey at age 4 and at about age 5 ½ had lost all her hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes. She has always loved to dance, sing, and express herself through those things, but after her hair loss – it seemed to diminish. I can’t remember what exactly led me to Christie’s Instagram account (probably my constant googling about Alopecia and anything to do with the stinky, dreaded condition) but I immediately knew Evelyn would love her, so I started to follow her. We watched her posts from afar and eagerly awaited any and all new posts she would make. Especially any dance videos! I still remember Evelyn saying “Momma – she looks just like me!” Not too long after, I learned that Christie offered Zoom dance classes for other little kiddies and we made the connection. To say that this was life changing for both of us, is an understatement. There are still days that we both struggle, because having Alopecia is a crappy situation all around. I will never forget a night where Evelyn was feeling especially low and sad about her baldness. I sent Christie a message to see if she might be able to chat with Evelyn and within minutes, we were FaceTiming her. She pumped Evelyn up and made her feel 100% better. Since then we both have tried to be involved in every opportunity Christie puts out there. For me to connect with other Mommas and get that support and advice is a bright spot in what can sometimes be a very dark place. For Evelyn to see Christie weekly and other little kiddies who look like her is just priceless.”
-Jen Vukelich-Seltz, Minnesota