Hair affair: I make and sell wigs for cancer patients abroad

Three years ago, tired of buying expensive wigs, wearing them and finding that they did not fit well, or simply didn’t sit nicely on her head, Caroline Wamuyu decided to start making her own.

That was in May 2018. Today, Caroline is the owner of Wigs by Carol, and is a renowned custom  wig maker. She has become so popular that her wigs are serving cancer patients in Australia.

The wigs industry has been booming for the last couple of years and Caroline, who confesses to being a wig fanatic since she cut her dreadlocks in 2016, says she prefers wigs to weaves.

Her journey was fueled by a personal experience. As a businesswoman selling aquariums in 2016, she often got frustrated when shopping for wigs.
“I found someone to custom-make my wigs a long time ago because I found store-bought wigs either too big or too small for my head,” says Wamuyu.

“But then even the ones I ordered from the wig maker were not satisfactory. I found myself altering certain aspects and sometimes redoing them completely. That’s how I started handcrafting my own hairpieces.

Caroline says every time she donned her wigs, people would stop her to ask where she had bought them.

Her close friends, upon learning that she was making them herself, wanted some, and within six months, she was getting referrals.

“Whenever I posted a picture of myself on social media wearing my wigs, people would ask where I’d bought them. By then I was making them using my hands and I thoroughly enjoyed doing it. I felt I had found my true calling, and I dropped everything I was doing to focus on wig-making”.

One-and-a-half years into the trade, after realising that a machine was faster and did a neater job, she got a wig sewing machine. 

She says that what makes her wigs different is that she styles and colours them according to the owner's preference. “Those who come to me are usually looking for that personal touch, so I’m very attentive to detail.”

“I never make decisions for my clients. I make what they want, otherwise they could easily go and pick a factory-made wig from a shop.” 

Using social media and referrals as her marketing engine allows her to keep her prices pocket friendly. 

“You can get a wig made for as low as Sh10,000 depending on style, and the turnaround time is usually 48 hours.”

She also re-vamps, repairs and reconstructs old wigs or worn out closures, offers wig laundry and styling services, installation and styling, as well as ghost wig making which involves making wigs on behalf of other wig makers and hair vendors.
She is making plans to get a business space “for convenience’s sake” because currently, clients either have to come to her house or she has to meet them at a place of their convenience.

“Still, 70 per cent of my customers have never met me. I have clients from as far as Italy, Germany, the US, Dubai, Qatar and the East African countries. Most of them are Kenyans living abroad. I have been getting orders from a Kenyan oncology nurse in Australia for cancer patients there,” she says. As a wig creator, Caroline says the role she plays in donning cancer patients with her wigs is one of the things that makes her most proud. 

“Although I’ve never met them, I always pray that my wigs put a smile on the cancer patients’ faces. There’s a very special satisfaction that comes from knowing that I have created a brand that is transforming lives across the planet, more so for patients suffering hair loss.”

She gets style inspiration from celebrities, while most times she experiments with the various styles she has come up with on her own head. “I can always tell whether a style will be a good sell depending on how often I get compliments while wearing it. I often use myself as a model,” she giggles.

Painful experience
She sources for hair and other materials necessary for the wigs from China, Vietnam and Malaysia, but getting reliable suppliers has not been a walk in the park.
In her three years of being in business, she has undergone some of the most painful shopping experiences trying to get the quality hair pieces she requires for a good, long lasting wig.

She says, “Starting out, I had a couple of missteps while sourcing for hair pieces abroad. I had no idea who to trust and the prices were varying wildly. But with time I learnt that before I can buy anything in bulk, the supplier must first send samples.”
In 2019 Caroline started training those interested in learning the craft of wig-making at a fee, following enquiries from potential students.