The Gro Diaries Podcast

Episode 6: Gro Client Ryan - hair loss and hair transplant experience (twice)

• Gro Clinics

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You have to listen to Ryan's experience. From suffering both physically and mentally with hair loss, Ryan was desperate for a solution and found Gro but it wasn't all plain sailing.
After finally taking action and going ahead with a hair transplant, Ryan's outlook on life changed almost immediately. The results spoke for themselves and Ryan was back to feeling like his old, confident self again. The hats were gone (and when we say hats, we mean enough hats to start his own hat store).
Fast forward 12 months and Ryan was back in for Hair Transplant no.2 with Gro. Nothing to do with fixing any issues with the previous procedure, this time it was to add hairs and density to another area of his scalp.
Listen to Ryan's story now or even check out his own hair transplant journey from the start on Instagram @gro.diary.ryan.

Start your hair growth journey with Gro today - https://groclinics.com.au/

Check us out on Instragram - @groclinics

OUR HAIR TRANSPLANT CLINICS:

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Phone: 03 9081 5868

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Phone: 08 9289 6825

NEW ZEALAND:
Gro - Auckland Clinic
Address: Level 1/96B Carlton Gore Road, Newmarket, Auckland 1050, NZ
Phone: +64 9 870 1760

Opening Remarks

Hello everybody and welcome to the Gro Diary podcast where we will take you on a journey breaking down stigmas, myths and misconceptions of all things hair loss. We'll have some discussions with people in the industry as well as clients and we'll share their experiences and journeys of hair loss, leading you to the ultimate

destination of hair regrowth.

Introduction to Gro Client - Ryan

Hello everybody and welcome to the Gro Diaries podcast. We're here with the same as ever, Marc Kinvig, our Community Manager and Hair Growth Specialist manager and hair growth specialist and we're here today with Ryan who's a double hair transplant client and it's good to have you with us Ryan. Good morning, how are you? Yeah good thanks for joining us yeah we're just gonna have a another candid chat today around hair transplants, men's health, mental health, how it affects us, frustration and all that kind of things but do you want to introduce Ryan Marc cos I guess you kind of knew each other first and had that first interaction - what was that like? Yeah so I was probably maybe like a week post hair transplant maybe a couple weeks. So three years ago probably to the day really I was on Facebook and you know I started my Instagram diary and there was this young fella just gone ballistic on a Gro Facebook post about you know there was a competition running back then and he didn't win and he was kicking off and basically gave him a virtual hug in his in his inbox is pretty much how I'm right Yeah, did make a little bit of a post target at ya I didn't realise it was actually you

so

You know we had a chat, and I think it's probably a good place to start because back then you know you were combing over. How old are you now? Yeah, I'm 28 now, so I would have been about 25, 26. 25, 26 and your hair loss was pretty dramatic. Yeah, I was a Norwood 6. A Norwood 6. How old were you when you started losing your hair? Yeah, I would have been about 20 that I started noticing, like sending out stuff, jumping in the water and I could see my scalp. Yeah, so we were probably the same, like I obviously lost my hair early too. We went down probably slightly different paths given that I was shaving it and keeping it short through that whole time. What was it about you that made you want to try and cling on to what you had at Nortwood 6? Yeah, one year I could sort of hide it. So if I used plenty of hair fibres, put on top and just different sort of waxes and stuff and hairsprays, it would hide it. Yeah. But I would obviously avoid everywhere I had to go with water. So I would try to avoid swimming, try to avoid going out on the boat, all that sort of stuff, just because obviously I don't want to get my head wet.

Why My Hat Was My Best Friend

And I would cover it up with a hat. Yeah.

So my hat was my best friend. How long would you spend a day back then? 20 minutes. 20 minutes in the morning just for the fibres and stuff just to make it sit alright. Otherwise if I don't do it properly it just looks really messy and dirty. Yeah and like mentally back then sort of what were you going through? It did cut me up pretty bad, it obviously played a lot on my confidence and everything else. It did play a massive, massive factor in my life obviously, especially with mates and stuff like I'd take a joke about it, but to me it wasn't really a joke. It was sort of like a serious thing. Yeah, that actually would get to me and down Just see I remember one time Australia day when we went on the boat and I jumped off the boat And then you know soon as I go back on like oh look we you can see your scalp blah blah blah Which obviously you know the bit of a kick in the guts saying so like I've been trying to hide it and obviously I know That it's there. They know it's there But just obviously bringing it up all the time this sort of got to me That's when I just sort of pulled the string with it and realised I needed to do something about it. And then obviously shaving, it wasn't an option for me. And never wanted to just shave it? Nah, when I was younger I had a full head, so I used to love styling my hair, getting my hair done, putting all products and stuff in it, trying different styles, which I enjoyed a lot. And then obviously when I got a bit older that sort of went away, which was the hard

part.

Yeah, and while not even older you were still barely out of your teenage years. Yeah, that was the hardest part because I was still so young. Yeah. And I'm like okay why is this happening to me? I've had good hair my whole life. Have I done something wrong to make this sort of happen or have I taken something that has made this come on a lot faster? But then it just came down to genetics. Yeah, and your dad's bald?

Yeah, he's still got hair but he's definitely on the line of bald.

Modelling Hair Growth Goals on Dad & Brothers

Yeah, not as young as you. That wasn't, like, you didn't expect that to happen. Because, like, for me, you know, we've chatted about it before, was that I had that expectation of, like, looking at my dad and his dad and his four brothers that, you know, from a young age, I just had a level of acceptance that I was going to go bald, right? That wasn't like that for you? You didn't expect that? No, I didn't expect it. It came out of nowhere. So me and my two other brothers, we all had thick hair, full head of hairs. The whole time we were growing up, my dad still had a lot of hair. His dad has a lot of hair as well. Just now he's about 60, so he's obviously starting to lose it now, but he still has a full head of hair. So it wasn't expected at all. And then obviously, it was just weird because I was on the youngest - I'm the youngest of all my brothers, and I was the first one to get really bad. I was the same, my dad's bald, my uncle's bald, my brother was going bald and I don't know if it was just me being naive and I just never looked and thought, oh that's where I'm heading, until I started to see my own scalp and my crown thinning and it just got progressively worse. For you, you own your own business and you're successful in that and family man, you're a dad, did it affect personal life? You couldn't concentrate on those kind of things because you were too busy worrying about your hair? Well, yeah, it was a big factor. It was always playing in the back of my mind. I can't go do this, can't go do that because obviously I'm going to feel uncomfortable because I have to take my hat off. Just even for a small example, I didn't go to a couple of friends' weddings because obviously strictly no hats.

So that was a big part of me.

I'm like, well, no, I'm not going because I want to wear my hat. Yeah, you just didn't go. I just didn't go. So I missed out on a few good friends' weddings and stuff and I did explain it to them, this is why I'm not going, which is obviously, they'll just get over it, but obviously to me it wasn't as simple as saying, okay, I'm just going to not wear a hat and just feel uncomfortable the whole time. There has been a few sort of occasions and stuff that I've obviously sort of had to wreck it just because I can't physically take my hat off. Where just like leaving little events like going on holidays and stuff as well, where I'm sitting inside a restaurant I'm wearing a hat. Like we went to a, I remember we went overseas one time, went to a casino and the main rule is there's no hat. So I practically had to lie to them and say, oh, I've had head surgery, I have to wear it, just so they'll let me in with a hat. So once I figured out little tricks like that, I was like a bit easier because I know I could get away and go to some places while wearing a hat so I could feel comfortable being in the environment that I was in. So that was just a big thing then obviously, after my hair transplant, I realised I don't have to do that no more. I actually chucked, I'm pretty sure I had over 50

and something hats.

I remember that, I remember the post, the post that I could see it, and I'll try and find it later, maybe we'll post it again, but I can see it, I remember you threw them all on the bed or something like that, and you had so many hats. I had over 50 hats, to this day I only got one hat. So I only keep one hat in the car, and that's just in case I'm going out in the sun all day, obviously don't want my head fully exposed all day in the sun, but it's very rare you'll see me in a hat now. Knowing how you felt, right, and for me as well, having a hat, right, it became like putting socks on, right, it's just part of your life, you didn't even know you were doing it, right, you get to a point where you put them on so much. Do you see, like people out and about, men in shopping centres or in restaurants wearing a hat and think, does that fella feel like I felt? 100%. Yeah, I know exactly how they feel and I can see who's hiding it because you can sort of tell. Like, who else wears a hat at like 10 o'clock at night? Yeah. Inside a restaurant or something or, you know, like, I was bad, like, hat would come off pretty much just before I go to bed. And then first thing I'd wake up, as soon as I'd get up and have a quick shower, hat is on straight away. Yeah. As soon as I'd leave at the door, I would never leave without a hat. Like, I would physically turn around if I forgot my hat to go make sure, to go pick up my hat to make sure I got it. So that was a big factor, obviously, with the hat, which I knew would make, it was making it worse, obviously, wearing the hat, so I was smothering my hair, which obviously made it come a lot faster. That's why I sort of sum it up to my brothers that I lost mine a lot quicker than they did, obviously, because I was the one constantly wearing a hat and they weren't.

They were just dealing with it

and obviously just living with it the way that they sort of do with things and yeah mine was obviously just a hide it with a hat. Yeah it's pretty wild. Yeah so it's been how long has it been now since your first, is it about two years? Yeah two years now. It's 2020 I had my first hair transplant. Yeah so how just looking back and thinking about everything that we just spoke about that how would you say things have progressed, things have changed - I remember the week following you coming in the clinic and your mentality just totally being changed almost like instantly. Oh 100%. As soon as I knew I had a full head of hair like my confidence, everything about my lifestyle just like completely changed. I felt like a whole new person. I felt like I wasn't hiding anymore. Yeah. Like obviously giving up the hats was a massive thing for me and just to feel comfortable in my own body again, just to feel sort of semi sort of normal just because I didn't feel normal at my age. I was six ago, my mates, you know, they all got full heads of hair and here I am being like the sort of bald guy hiding it. And as I said, I used to beat people to make a joke about myself before they did, obviously just so then it's like, ah, we can't. Just going along with it. Yeah, just going along with it. You punished yourself so they couldn't do it for you. Yeah, pretty much, just so obviously I didn't feel bad about myself and I did it so they couldn't do it. Are you still mates with them all? Not really anymore no. Yeah have any of them gone bald? I've noticed, I still follow them on social media and stuff and I do see some of them they like start to thin out and it's like laugh, no, like I must pay back. But at the end of the day I still don't wish upon them to feel the way that I felt because obviously it did play a lot with my mental health and everything else like it was a big self-conscious thing and I didn't feel comfortable with myself. And now as I said missing out on a lot of things. I don't know if we've ever spoke about it but I think that you know I've talked before about how you know my hair transplant came at the right time in my life like from a maturity point of view and not so much for like my hair like I could have got a hair transplant at any point but then being able to like emotionally connect with people in that diary space, you know, and I know you did a diary too, but I think that your conversation, our initial conversations were the ones that like sparked my kind of fire to want to help people. Like I remember, you know, the conversations that we had and they were pretty deep back then and I felt like, you know, I really wanted to sort of help get you on that journey and that was a long, long time before. You know, I was obviously working for Gro. So, you know, in a lot of ways you taught me a lot about myself and what I wanted to do in those conversations, you know. Well, I've had the same feeling obviously you would have got with me, where obviously you helped someone who's obviously been hiding it in the same sort of position. I remember one guy that I had, he would have been most probably the exact same as me towards you. He was really in depth with it. He was hiding it a lot, didn't want to show it, didn't want anyone to know, even asking questions as, oh, how long can I go back to work and how can I hide it straight away because I don't want my friends and family to see it. That's when I'm like, well, this guy just sounds like me. I mean, I'd give him all the time of my day to answer all his questions. He even came to my house and had a couple of beers with me and spoke about it before he did his procedure just to make sure to let him know what he was obviously in for, how it's going to plan out and pretty much the best ways to get the best result. Yeah. So obviously I run him through all the meds, everything else, what he's got to change in his lifestyle and to this day he's got a full head of hair. So good. So obviously the feeling that you gave me for changing my life I obviously did that return for him as well and it was just it was a good feeling so. Yeah. That's a good thing I like about the page. A lot of people obviously inboxing me every day and obviously asking about the procedure how it works what meds should I take and obviously the result. As I did mention in one of my videos I was a very I was practically bald so my results not going to be like you know someone who's just sort of losing hair or just slightly balding. Mine's pretty much practically you can't come back from it and I just as I said I've shown proven example that you

can you can still have a decent amount

Expectations After Hair Transplant

of hair and a good hair transplant from being practically bald. Yeah so we talk about hair transplants now I guess your first hair transplant you had a two-day procedure and we did I think you had a nine and a half thousand hair. Yeah. And so at that point you did you expect that you would need another one? What was your expectation after your hair transplant originally? I knew from day one that I'd need two, just because of all the research and obviously talking with everyone, obviously seeing the position that I was in, obviously with my hair loss, that I knew that I'd have to have two. I knew I could get away with one if I wanted to be, if I was happy that I could still see my scalp a little bit, knowing that obviously the crown wasn't targeted, it was mainly my hairline that was targeted and obviously Dr. Ruk did explain that I would have to have a second one just on the crown specifically if I wanted to thicken it up. So I did know that was part of the procedure of mine and as I said that's why I've just done my second one. I was actually pretty lucky to get a lot more donor hairs than expected so we didn't just focus on my crown too, we also did the front hairline again as well and just thickened it up a bit. Yeah, yeah it looks incredible. Yeah, it feels good. So the two or so years post your first hair transplant up until I guess now, knowing that you planned on having a second hair transplant, do you still, do you feel still fulfilled in those two years? Like what is that like? Obviously now it looks incredible and you know one of the reasons why Ryan had a second hair transplant is because there's physically only so much you can do in two days. Back then we used slightly different techniques and tools and our ability to get more hair now is bigger over two days than what it was. But really, I guess for people who perhaps need that second hair transplant down the line, you still feel good in those two years? 100%. It changed my whole life. I had a full head of hair. Like I said, I don't regret anything that I've done with it. It was honestly the best thing that I've done in my life. As I said, every cent was worth it. It completely changed everything. Like I said, I had a pretty traumatic experience that happened obviously during my hair transplant, but I felt good about myself because I knew that I wasn't stuck anymore. I knew that obviously I have my hair, which obviously meant a lot to me. It was a massive part of my life. It was pretty much almost, mostly around 95% of everything that I did every day that was in the back of my head, obviously that I just don't feel good about myself because obviously my hair. So I sort of compared it to, some people don't feel good about themselves because they're a bit self-conscious about their weight. I was the exact same thing with my hair. Yeah, and there's no stigma around anybody joining a gym and getting a personalized trainer and doing that kind of stuff, but for some reason, you go bald and people are kind of at you or making a joke about it. It's almost like bald shamings, fat shamings. Yeah. It's not looked on kindly it's the same with people go bald there was a story a few when probably about twelve months ago now there was a guy in the UK his boss said something and it was basically harassment at work yeh and it's a big thing like it shouldn't be taken as you know as as lightly as people do and I know there's that banter kind of thing with guys throwing it around but as long as people understand deep down that there is that self-consciousness, anxiety and the mental health side of it then I think it's moving forward now, I hope it is, I feel like things are changing where guys are a little bit more open and and that's why you know those It's so it's so much better to be able to speak to somebody Like you spoke to Marc like other guys have spoken to you like what the guys have spoken to me And I know the other guys that I've had a hair transplant if someone can actually speak to them start that conversation off and and make them you know at least look at their future and look forward, like you said, not feel trapped anymore and know that you've got a way out. Yeah. Well, I'd say the best part was obviously having someone else in the same boat that I was in. Yeah. Has felt the feelings that I felt and experienced, obviously, what it feels like.

Yeah.

What It Means To Be A Man

That's real masculine power, I think, to be able to talk to another man about how you feel about how they feel and to help lift them up out of a place that they're in without any hesitation or without worrying about how you look or how that feels, I think that that's, you know, special, right?

A hundred percent.

A hundred percent.

That's what we should all be doing.

That's manning up. That's when people say, I hate it, you know, when people are man up, but that's manning, that is the opposite, you know, the opposite of what people say, well, just accept it, man up. Manning up is talking to another man about it. 100%, you're 100% right. It's going, you know what, I'm not happy. I can see you're not happy. Let's figure this out. This is the journey that I went on, this is how I felt.

That's powerful.

Yeah.

And it's a beautiful thing. And I think that having conversations like this and you know obviously through the Gro Diaries but just making it more aware, more socially acceptable I think that hopefully you know in five years, ten years people won't have to even think twice about their hair or fixing it or having to worry about what people say to them. It's a very judgmental thing though. I've noticed everyone in this world is really worried about being judged. And even though someone's not going to judge you on it, it still triggers in their mind that,

okay, someone's going to judge me on it because I've got no hair.

Yeah. So that's just the way the society is these days. You think that, where does that come from? A vanity perspective? What do you think that is?

Well, I think just because I was in that boat, and then I just thought, are they looking at me because I'm like, don't put your hat on for example, are they looking at me because I'm bald or are they staring at me? And you see it all the time. And they're like, how old are you? I'm like, oh, I'm bald. And it's like, oh, I already know that, thanks. I know you'd always brush it off.

Yeah, you'd never say to someone, how much do you eat?

You're really fat.

Yeah, exactly right.

The Reality of Bald Shaming

But anyone can just come up to you and just be like, oh, you're going bald. Like, it's verbally like bullying pretty much. It is, for sure. Like if you know that someone's balding you don't need to, you don't need to mention it to them, they know. Yeah. Like I'd always get the thing, oh just shave your head, get over it, you'll be right. That is the most common, does my head in, you know, because some people, right, fine, if you want to shave your head, if you're happy, like, yeah, I was an acceptor for a long time. I shaved my head until I didn't want to anymore by chance You know I had the right conversation with someone three years ago and that kind of changed the way I felt about it, but I would never say to someone Oh just shave your head you'll be right crack on with your life. I'll just eat another burger you fat f#ck it You know Right if it's about what makes people happy, but someone else shouldn't decide that someone else shouldn't say to you Ryan Shave your head and crack on with your life Well, it did you come into consideration? I'll say I did follow one page on Instagram and so a guy who just specialises in People shaving the head just coming out of the fear of doing it and shaving it And I was watching his watching all these videos for some time and then I actually followed him So he followed me back and he sent me an inbox and he's like, you know, just reaching out, asking if there's a, is it, do I have an issue with my hair? It's like, do I want to, is this something that I want to do? And I said, I physically can't shave it. And then, you know, perfect example, he's like, you need to man up and shave it. Just get it done and you'll be happy with your life. And obviously to me, that would sort of, was a big wake up. I was like, well, no, like, I'm not going to be happy shaving my head and you told me to do that otherwise I'm not going to be happy. And that's what made me realise that obviously I need to do something about it. Because obviously it's playing a big factor. I'm even having someone who has a page dedicated to shaving their heads telling me to pretty much get over it and shave it. So really what he thought was empowerment was actually kind of bullying? 100%. Yeah. 100% yeah, and then I see like even his videos today I see that like the people like that do videos for him, and it's the same sort of thing It's pretty much like he's telling him if they don't shave it. They're not going to be comfortable and feel good about themselves Yeah, and they might feel good well like cameras on but the second that it comes off they feel completely different. 100% as I said if I was shaving my head for a video I'd be like oh happy Larry like wow that was such a good relief. But once that video stops, you can sit there

and look at yourself and be like, oh.

Yeah. So I have the video of Alex, who had a hair transplant, and he'd got to that point where he was like, you know, I'm just gonna shave it, and he's like, yeah, you know, just shave it, and he did a whole, he's posted these videos and talked about it openly, and he's in the barbers and he's videoing it, and they just get the clippers and straight off drunk like and he says like immediately he regretted doing it and me you know and he did it because his you know friends you know encouraged him to he thought it was what he wanted but then once he'd done it it was like stopped filming he was like well I've you know this is not this is not what I want like this is not what I want to do and then he then he came and spoke to someone about getting a hair transplant with Gro and the rest is history. It's funny when you're talking about somebody else, you know, somebody else shouldn't make that decision for you. I was talking to my dad last night and he was telling me this story about he used to worked with in the 80s and 90s and this person was like a big TV personality but in those days it was like he used to go backstage and wasn't Jimmy Saville wasn't it? But it was, it was somewhere in that era, I'm not going to say who it was, there's nothing wrong with that, I'm not going to say who it was on there but I'll tell you off the record who it was but he's no longer with us so I don't want to. And he was very eccentric this guy, and you'll know who he is when I tell you, but he, um, yeah, he, my dad went back and he went to get paid off this guy and he went, before I give you this cheque, I want to shave your head, because he had, like, hair on the side and the back, but not on the top, and he was like, you look ridiculous. My dad was like, absolutely no cheque, my dad was on the nail, he didn't care, it didn't bother him that much, but he was like, absolutely no chance. Anyway, he got paid, but then he said no, he did the same to another guy, and the guy was like, I'll do it, I'll share, and he was like, don't, my dad was telling him, don't you dare, and he did it, and he was like, but, he used to do it, the same person paid for, he wanted him, he wanted to pay for my dad to have a hairpiece. He said, I know this guy in Leeds he'll do it for you I'll pay I don't want it I don't want it fair enough like we said if you don't want to do anything that's absolutely fine but he'd done it for somebody else he'd offered somebody else and they'd got it done and there's a whole different story around that but why yeah well I like you say why should somebody we wouldn't force somebody to have a hair we wouldn't force somebody to have it we'd never make someone feel bad about themselves "you need a hair transplant!"

your hair looks terrible.

You never do that because it just kills that person even more. It does and I think, I guess, we try and relate what we're saying about your story with the guy who shaves people's heads or encourages that, right? You said before about how, you know, post hair transplant you were talking to someone and they were worried about, you know, what am I going to look like after, when can I hide it, when I don't want people to know about it, right? When people shave their head, you assume that maybe some of those people you're talking about have regret, like Alex, right? Post hair transplant, even the day after when you're bloody and you're scabby and it doesn't look gorgeous, you don't feel like you did two days earlier. No, it's completely different. I didn't even care.

You don't care who sees you.

No.

And people don't believe that, right? We talked about this with Chris, right? People don't believe that when you're in that mess, you can think that this is the best thing in the world. Yeah, 100%. Even like, I just had my head transplant done on last Wednesday week today. Yeah, even when I was on the airplane Yeah, everyone's staring. I mean I'm walking like I don't care There was no cares given at all even after the first one of the said I was walking around the shops still had the bandage on my neck Yeah, and I'm walking around everyone standing like I just didn't care I didn't have to worry about a hat nothing I just I knew the result that I was going to get was going to be good. Yeah, but what is what is that? Do you think what is that emotional switch right like in that second when even when it's not like there's not air really there. I think it's more the excitement knowing that what's about to happen yeah like what what's gonna happen from this. It's like a rebirth. A hundred percent obviously like even though as I said it's all like swollen there's like little dots everywhere like blood oozing out and stuff as well and you just you have a hairline again. Yeah. I would spend hours looking in the mirror because I couldn't do nothing for seven days, because in my job, it's obviously heavy lifting and stuff, so I had to take it easy. Like every day I was just sitting there in the mirror, just looking at my hair, and I'm just going, wow, I can't wait to see this come through. And then obviously a week after, I was a bit hesitant with the scabs, like I wasn't rubbing it hard enough to get the scabs off. And I spoke to yourself and Dr. Ruk as well, and he's like, no, you need to get these scabs off. I think it was that day 11, I think it was. And I spent a good 20 minutes, got all the scabs off and I was just, I was shocked.

I had a full head of hair.

Yeah. It is common, surprisingly common is that people, they get to a point where it's like, be gentle and then you need to get rid of them. But then they just keep being gentle and like, no, get rid of them. You've got to get, you almost go too far the other way. That's right. But you just don't want to rub out your new hair, right?

Well, that's right.

7 Days After 2nd Hair Transplant

Well, I'm day seven now and as I said, I've got my scabs pretty much gone. Yeah, it's gone. And it looks so clean. Yeah, so last night I gave it a good session. So I spent about 10, 15 minutes just rubbing them off. Obviously not too much pressure, just using all the shampoo and just water and just washing them off. Yeah, and you've had SMP too? Yeah, I've had SMP too. I do reckon it did help a bit. Obviously just filled in the gaps. You had it post your first hair transplant or before you had a hair transplant? So I had it post. So I had it about a year ago obviously just because I knew that once again I'm like I need to do the second hair transplant but obviously just with the business and stuff as well just been so busy it was sort of hard to have that sort of downtime. Yeah. So it was a fact I'm like oh well this tattooing might help for a little bit until obviously I can free up some more time to go do my second transplant. Yeah. And as you mentioned as well it's a lot faster now from when I did it two years ago. Obviously just with the new tools, obviously they're using to extract more hairs. I was even shocked when it got to 12 o'clock. He's like, I've already got 5,000 hairs. I was like, already? I was like, wow. That's what they pretty much accomplished in one day two years ago. So technically it was pretty much what he accomplished in one was unbelievable. Yeah, and your experience over, because you went in two Gro Clinics I guess, you know, not many people would go to Gro on the Gold Coast and then Gro to Sydney. How was your experience in both of those clinics? Both of my experiences were good. I felt welcomed, all the staff were really lovely and nice. To be honest with you, they just go above and beyond to make sure that I feel comfortable, obviously before the procedure and stuff as well. As I said they're pretty explanatory, they run through everything what's going to happen, obviously give you the procedure of what's going to go down. So yeah I'd recommend every Gro clinic I've been to, it's been a really good experience. Yeah and we'll make sure we caught that bit and send it to the clinic so that they know as well. And we've got another coach getting a hair transplant today at another clinic. That's my brother he's in Melbourne right now. Yeah. As we speak. Yeah he's under the knife as we speak. Yeah getting his done right now. So. And did he get it done because you got yours? Yeah. What do you think? He's seen my transform so two years ago about maybe six months after my hair transplant he obviously saw my result. He was like wow and it's always been obviously a big factor for him wanting to get that done but it was just came down to the sort of the money sort of things. He's got a newborn kid, he's sort of living off one wage so it obviously wasn't in his category. It wasn't the right timing for him to do that. And he's a bit different from you. He doesn't try and hide. Is he more accepting of his hair? More accepting. On the weekends he's wearing hats. For work, once again, he can't wear a hat. So he's had no choice but to sort of accept it and I said I've known it's played a big factor in his life as well He's just more of a person that hides it. Yeah. Yeah, he just he hides it really well Like I've spoken to my mum about it before as well And she said it gets to him and he just he doesn't want to pretty much expose himself to anyone because he doesn't want him to know that how much it actually affects him Yeah So I did speak to his wife as well one time and she said obviously it does play a big part of his life and obviously once again he was holding off getting married because obviously his hair. Yeah. So he actually went to the stages of shaving and getting a hairpiece done. So he got a hairpiece just to get married just so he could feel comfortable in his own body. So that was obviously something I did alongside him as well. So you know I went with him to all the appointments to get a hairpiece as the design, everything as well just to make sure what was suitable for himi at that sort of stage. Yeah. And then after it he's just like I really want to get a hair transplant done so he started saving and here he is today under the needle. Do you think that hair loss has brought you two closer together or have you always had a good connection? Me and my brother have always like, we just sort of distance off sometimes and then we come back together. But yeah it definitely does bring us closer as I said like just even the phone calls every day, just checking in to see how I'm going, or how's my hair, asking questions about it, my experiences and stuff. So yeah, it definitely has brought us closer.

Yeah.

That's good.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Talking Openly About Hair Transplants

I'm just enjoying the conversation. Yeah. It's just good to have these chats. And just one, there was one question I didn't get to, but when you said the day after you had your hair transplant And you were on the plane back up to the Gold Coast and you like obviously didn't have a care in the world Why anybody with it did anybody ask you yeah? Yeah? I'm like she's like have you got cancer And I'm like no no no no I've just had a hair transplant Yeah, and she's like oh wow cuz obviously it was bleeding every day And I'm sitting here with a spray bottle in the airport every 30 minutes Just saline spraying my head. She saw me doing it, so I was sitting down there having something to eat. She came and questioned, are you okay? I'm fine, I'm good. Now, a few people were looking at me in the plane, so I'm sitting there, I'm like, it's time to spray, you know, 30 minutes is up. Just checking my bag to see who's behind me. So I don't know, I'm here, have a quick spray and I realise the lady behind me, she's like, oh, what are you doing? Oh, sorry, I'll go to the bathroom. So I went to the bathroom, every 30 minutes, right in my hair and on the plane. Then as soon as I got home, I was just on my legs.

I was just like, I'm gonna relax now.

I was just like, I almost, we went out like a couple of days after and I almost wanted people to ask me, I wanted people to notice it and ask what was going on, what it was and stuff so I could explain. Is that because you wanna, do you think that you were hoping like bald people or people losing their hair or just anyone you're just happy for some attention? Well just anyone because it could yeah just anyone because someone might it might someone might know it could have been it could have been a woman and whose husband might have been going they just need they just wanted something for me so it could have been anyone. You just Just wanted to know have someone give you some love. Like a little puppy out for the first time. I don't know if it's just you, but I get heaps of females that message my Gro page, obviously asking on behalf of their boyfriends and stuff and their partners. Oh, I thought you were going to say they're chasing you. It's a side effect of a hair transplant. Heaps of females in your DMs. But no, they're like reaching out to me on behalf of them. Yeah. And obviously asking about my experiences and stuff and as I said, I give them all the info and tell them to go for it. Yeah. Yeah, we get a lot of enquiries from females, whether it's about their sons or their husbands or their partners. Yeah. Oh, I think, yeah, I think that people are kind of more in tuned with emotions of how they perceive people now than they would have done before, right? And I think that one of the big things is probably, you know, in the last two years with COVID and people working, like people would see themselves more in the last two years than they would have looked at themselves. That's it, being at home all the time. Yeah, or Zooming, you know, FaceTiming, you're constantly looking at yourself, right? If you're looking at yourself for five or six hours a day on a Zoom, the little things of hair loss or the way that you feel about yourself is going to be amplified, right? So you can't hide yourself from that. So I think that maybe people are more happy to talk about it now because they've come to that realisation maybe.

I'm not sure.

A bit more aware. I think more people in Australia are becoming more aware of was the hair transplants. So I tell some people when they see it, like you've had a hair transplant and then they ask, where? Where'd you get this done at? Obviously you can tell they're interested. Yeah. And they didn't even know it really was a thing. I ran into someone actually, not yesterday, the day before actually, and I was asking about what happened to my head because obviously it was still a bit like really scabby and stuff. I told him what obviously I've gone through and what I've done and he was just, he was shocked. He didn't even know that was actually a thing - that it was impossible. And I jumped on my Gro page, showed him a photo, obviously just before they shaved my head last week, and he was just, he couldn't believe it. And I showed him the video, scrolled all the way down, and I was like, even a flashback for me too, I scrolled all the way down, looked at the video before, the first time I shaved my head, of how bad I was, and he was just, yeah, he just couldn't believe it, and I sort of sat there, and I'm like, I felt good about myself. I was like, I can't, like, that's not even normal for me anymore. I looked and I'm like, was that actually me? I'm like, no, no, no, it can't be me. So I look at it and I'm like, no, this is me. Yeah. So it was just a big thing for me like that. It was just like a, it was a good memory of obviously how far I did come. Obviously I was thinking, why don't I need a second hair transplant? I thought of, you know, did not work for me. And then I actually scrolled down, I'm like, wow, like, it's so different. I look like 10 years younger. Yeah. So that was a good thing for me, just obviously brought back obviously to show exactly how far I really have come and obviously after two years of how much it has changed my life, I sat down and sort of reflected on like how, yeah, just how much it changed everything. Yeah. And for you, I know we can cut this bit out if you don't want to talk about it, but shortly after your hair transplant, you went through a breakup. Do you think having hair helped you get back?

100%.

To where you wanted to be?

How Hair Transplant Helped Ryan Get Over A Breakup

It was, as I said, I was with my ex-partner for nine years, obviously. She had a kid together and everything as well. It was a massive factor in my life too. She would always tell me, it's fine, blah, blah, blah, I love you for who you are, blah, blah, blah, your hair's fine, I don't care. But to me, it was. And then obviously after the little breakup and everything happens, like, you know, people say stuff to get to you, and she did say a few things that obviously got to me and sort of broke me down as a man, obviously, because of, you know, just the things that you think that they wouldn't say. But once I realised, I'm like, I've got a head full of hair, like, I'm looking good. I feel good about myself. And I was like, you know, I need to get back out there and obviously find someone that's right for me mm-hmm and they just like as bad as they all came pouring in. Like my DMs started filling up and I felt good about myself and I was like if I was bald like the way I was I would not have this confidence I wouldn't be approaching people wouldn't be talking to people I wouldn't be going out wouldn't be going out like meeting all these nice people new people yeah I wouldn't be doing that sort of stuff yeah I mean breakups are difficult and I don't want to allude to the fact I don't want to say you know having hair makes the breakup easier but in your case do you think it did? 100% because the way you felt before. 100% yeah I felt like because obviously she knew me before I lost all my hair yeah so you know that's what played a massive factor in like how am I how even I had these conversations with my mum as well and you as well like who's gonna want me if I don't have hair at my age. I think I was like 26 or whatever. Who's going to have a 26-year-old that's pretty much bald? I'm looking at everyone else around my age, they've all got a full heads of hair, they've got good partners and everything else, and then it played a massive factor. And then obviously, me knowing that I'm not in that position, I was like, I've got hair. I feel good about myself. I'm not in that category anymore. And that was a big part for me. I didn't feel like I was going to be alone. And that was the hard part because I was like, obviously moving on from that sort of factor, that was the hardest part obviously, like to feel good about, am I going to feel good about myself? And I did. Like I never felt better. Obviously once I found who I was again, obviously took some time obviously, just a big adaption, sorry adapting a lot from being with someone for nine years, just to being by yourself again It made me learn a lot about myself too and just heaps things I was insecure about and then I need to work on with Myself as well. Yeah, so but obviously having the hair like yeah, I felt I felt a million bucks. I was ready to put my shoes on and get out And I did it was a to be honest. It was one of a even it was the best thing that ever happened to me Yeah, the power of hair. I say that people don't believe me. I've got four kids How can it be the best thing that ever happened to you having hair? right and I say It is because I'm a better version of me And then that means that they get a better version of who I am because I'm happy that's exactly right It made me the best version of myself that I possibly could be yeah, I even saw a partner today like from past experiences I'm the best person I can be now and The majority was because my confidence. I'm so confident again I didn't have that confidence, obviously, when I had no hair, because obviously, I felt down about myself. I didn't feel comfortable. As I said, it was always things I wanted to avoid, which played a massive part of my life. Like, as I said, even missing out on weddings and stuff, like, oh, just come, just come, no. What do you say, we'll wrap that up pretty soon, but do you have a message that you wanna share with people out there who are listening, who are sort of on the fence? I know we've covered off quite a lot today, but what's the kind of one thing that you want people to really take away from everything that you've been through? Pretty much just to reach out. There's always a way. Like if people think, oh, there's no way that I can get this done or they can't afford it or in sort of category, there's always a way. If you really want something, you'll make it happen. And obviously this was something that I really wanted. My friends and family knew that it was something that I really wanted, especially my mum, like she would be my go-to person obviously because she knew how much it affected. I tried all the serums, I tried all the tablets, I don't really want to bad mouth them but it was Ashley Martins, I signed up to them, they got me on some $3,000 plan for just Finisteride tablets and Minoxidil, which you can just go buy over the counter. From Gro Online. Yeah, it didn't really work for me. I think it just sort of stopped. Obviously, the hair falling out, but they guaranteed that I'm going to get this sort of result, and then it was just obviously the big lets downs. I find my experience that I have with Gro was the best thing I've ever done in my life, and that's why I'm back here again, doing it again for the second time, knowing obviously that what it's done to me is just unbelievable. It's only one that's in the sort of same category as me. I recommend them to go speak to you guys. Chat about it, speak to your mates about it, look into it. Jump on Google, type in the sort of hair transplant and read up about it. Like I said, me and you, we've done hours of research before obviously we proceeded with it to know that it's obviously the best thing that we can possibly do without minimal scarring, all that sort of stuff. So I recommend to all my friends and family to do it, hence why my brother's here today. I've got my oldest brother, he's going to be doing it as well. I have three coaches in my life. I don't know I need another holiday before I meet the other brother. I just recommend to everyone not to obviously hide it, speak about it. As I said, you can make the change, you can make it happen. It'll be the best thing that anyone could do. If you're uncomfortable about it, do it. Yeah.

Talking To Your Mates About Hair Loss Insecurities

I think the biggest takeaway, you know, from what you've said today, I think that people, if people have mates who give them stick about their hair, be vulnerable with them. Be honest and say, hey, this is actually how I feel about it. And make them know that it's not okay. You know, if you're vulnerable with your mate and you say, hey, you know, this is actually how I feel about what you're saying If they're real mate, that's it. I've gotten to that stage where I've said my hey, can you can you stop doing this? Yeah, cuz I was say like I Tell him like do you not notice that I make the joke before you make it? Yeah I can like yeah, yeah, we just got I thought you just going along with it I was like I'm making it big making the joke before you do it So I I don't feel so bad about myself like you're picking on me I mean, I meant to my mate you're saying this sort of stuff about me, you might not notice it but it actually does get to me. I might seem fine in front of you, but obviously when I go home late I'm like, oh, I'll sit down and look at myself in the mirror and I'm like, damn. Well my final thought is that you're a good looking rooster with a great head of hair and a very hairy positive future. Yeah, and an even better head of hair in a few months time. I'm excited to see it. And your diary page is at gro.daily.ryan. Yeah, that's it yeah and chat that out but I'm going to slide into his DMs no you can't make sure it's not your missus eh? He's taken man. I'm tied down. Missus won't like that.

Final Remarks

Any of our Gro Diaries generally if you're out there and you just feel like having a chat just DM them you know I think you know me and Andy are the only Gro Diaries that actually work for Grow now and you know I didn't before and always happy to give advice but everyone else is independent and their journey is unique to them so go give them a follow and listen to their journey. Thanks for joining us Ryan, really appreciate your time. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Gro Diaries podcast brought to you by Gro Prescription Hair Care. If you would like any more information on hair loss or anything discussed in this podcast, please like any more information on hair loss or anything discussed in this podcast, please visit groclinics.com.au for all your hair regrowth needs.