Episode Details

The Tom's Talks Podcast is a place where we speak to a vast array of people from different walks of life and find out what makes them them. We will speak about their unique journey and delve into the highs and the lows which ultimately define them. 

This episode discusses suicide. If you're struggling, Samaritans are available 24/7 on 116 123.

Tom Walker was told he couldn't have a hair transplant. He walked out of that consultation feeling like he had no hope and no options - and then his first hair system left him feeling worse than the hair loss ever had.

So he learned to do it himself, in a shed at the bottom of his garden.

Tom is the founder of Hair Repair. Before that, he served in the Army, where his tour meant uncovering IEDs, and then worked shifts as an engineer at Rolls-Royce, fitting hair systems in the evenings. What started with a mate as his first client grew from the dining room to the garden shed to a brick building, and now to eleven locations including Dubai, with more than 500 specialists trained.

But this conversation is less about hair than it is about confidence. We talk about the stigma that stops people admitting they're struggling at all, the children with alopecia and cancer who come through his door, and what it actually does to someone to finally feel like themselves again.

What we get into:

• Being refused a hair transplant, and why his first hair system made him feel worse, not better

• The mate who became his first client, and why nobody noticing was the whole point

• Running a business from the garden shed around Rolls-Royce shifts, and the day the police turned up

• How hair systems actually work: real human hair, why the greys are synthetic, how often they need refitting, and why it can cost about the same as regular haircuts

• The stigma: why he didn't admit to wearing one himself for two and a half years, and what changed when he did

• Mental health, confidence and the pressure to look perfect in the age of social media

• The children who stayed with him: the boy who wouldn't take his hat off at school, and a four-year-old girl who reminded him of his own daughter

• His tour in the Army, and how he struggled after leaving

• The lockdown launch that brought in over £10,000 in three minutes

• Growing from Newcastle and London to Dubai, and the side venture that taught him a hard lesson about focus

• Whether he sees himself restoring hair, or restoring confidence

Tom also opens up about his own hair transplant, the time in his life when he wanted to take his own life, and the letter-writing exercise that helped him come to terms with losing his brother Liam to suicide. He explains why he thinks it could help anyone who's always chasing the next goal.

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