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Meet Chelsea Kunde of Building Blocks Family in Central Phoenix and Arcadia

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Kunde.

Chelsea, before we jump into specific questions about the organization, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Wigged Out Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, which is dedicated to assisting residents of the Phoenix metropolitan area and surrounding regions who require a wig, hairpiece, hair accessories, etc. due to the effects of a documented medical condition.

Here is how our story began. Chelsea (one of the founders) was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in January 2011, only three months before her wedding. As if a bride doesn’t have enough to worry about – now she had to add losing her hair to the list. As bridesmaids and friends, we (Katie, Becca and Lindsey) came together to do some of the preliminary shopping for our overwhelmed bride. We quickly learned that it was an emotionally and financially taxing experience for someone already going through so much – we wanted to do more – and Wigged Out Inc was born!

Here is Chelsea’s Story: My name is Chelsea. I am a daughter, a sister, a wife, a therapist, a friend, and someone who had cancer. I am a survivor. I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in January 2011. At the time, I was twenty-six years old and getting married in less than three months. After you hear you have cancer, you go numb. When you come back to what is now your “reality” a million questions start to arise, and with these questions come emotions, one being fear.

I remember flying to a wedding at the end of October and the plane having bad turbulence. As I braced myself, I put my hand over my chest and heart and felt a lump on the left side of my neck above my collarbone. Immediately, it did not feel right but I chalked the lump up to allergies and moved on. A few months later the lump was still there, so I went to my doctor. It turned out to be cancer and my entire world flipped upside down.

I remember thinking, why me? How can this be happening? After the immediate shock subsided, I thought of my hair. How can I get married if I lose my hair? How can I face my world and be myself without my hair? Fighting cancer and going through treatments are challenging, but losing your hair adds another level of stress. When you are sick, you know you are sick, but sometimes you can hide it, maybe even fake it. When you start to lose your hair, it is difficult to hide the fact that you are sick. You have a daily reminder every time you look in the mirror. That was one of the hardest parts for me.

I remember wishing I was “stronger” and did not care about my hair loss. That is much easier said than done. Your hair is part of you and I was not ready to part with it. I could not even drag myself to the wig shop. That is where my amazing girlfriends came into play. They went to a local wig shop, picked out an incredible wig & did the research on blonde wigs that I so perfectly was avoiding.

My friends also started thinking of a way to raise money to help fund my wig and other hair accessories (as these items tend to be pricey), and so became Wigged Out, Inc. What started as a kind gesture of helping a friend sick with cancer and grieving her hair loss has evolved into something much greater. Focusing on helping others to be able to feel like themselves at least when they look in the mirror.

Wigged Out, Inc is a simple concept. We help people who have lost their hair find perfect wigs and hair accessories. Our goal is to help others as my friends helped me. Our goal is to take away some of the overwhelming stress that comes with hair loss. Our goal is to make a part of this process easy, simple, and maybe even fun. We hope to “wig-out” as many as we can and empower people to fight the good fight while feeling a little bit more like themselves.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
We have been very lucky. The amount of support we have gotten from the start has been incredible. People care, can relate to my story, and want to help. We have helped over 800 applicants to date. We now have a partnership with PCH and hand deliver care packages called courage bags to children inpatient and outpatient getting cancer treatments each month.

I would say our biggest struggle at first was being able to spread the word. It was hard at first to get our applications to people going through treatment. Hospitals have strict rules and we were considered solicitation in a sense. This makes total sense to all of us but we still wanted to find a way to let those in treatment know of our service. We want to make this process easy and not overwhelming for them. So, we needed help to spread the word and get our applications out there and in the hands of people who needed our help.

We started meeting with patient navigators at hospitals and local wig boutiques. We have been lucky to work with some wonderful wig boutiques in town such as Classy Sisters and Arizona Wig Boutique who help pass our name along. We also have great patient navigators at Ironwood, Mayo Clinic, and MD Anderson who also help tell people about who we are and how we can help. These types of collaborations have been amazing in getting our name out there and applications to people who need the help.

Word of mouth is a large aspect of what we do. We love being able to help and give back.

Please tell us about your organization.
Our mission is to: return a sense of self and confidence to individuals who have experienced hair loss due to a medical condition by providing wigs, hairpieces, and hair accessories.

We assist those with: Cancer, Alopecia, Crohn’s Disease, Lupus, Trichotillomania, Bariatric, Eating Disorders, Work related injuries

We can help provide: Wigs, Scarves, Halos, Hats, Headbands, Wig styling and maintenance.

We not only provide finical assistance to our applicants to purchase a wig and/or hair accessories but we also provide 20 “courage” bags to children at PCH each month who are going through chemo treatment and experiencing hair loss. In the bag, we provide a branded hat, chapstick, hand sanitizer, tote bag to color, and a courage lion.

We have never had to turn down an applicant thus far. We can help and support people who apply for help. We are incredibly proud of this.

We are proud that we have started a nonprofit that has grown organically and turned into a successful company. We continue to help applicants each month and grow each year. We are excited to tap into the children’s world more with our partnership with PCH. We have recently grown and hired an Administrative Director. We are unique that we help all medically related hair loss including alopecia.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
This may sound cheesy but I don’t think we would have done anything differently. We started this nonprofit from the idea of helping a friend. We wanted to help more than just 1. We wanted to work together and give back. We wanted to help our community and support those who need it. We have been able to do that and we continue to grow. We feel so lucky in this process and we are thrilled with the continued growth and support. Every year we have been doing this has helped us to get better. we learn every year what needs to change and we have been able to put into practice was to grow and be successful. We are who we are because of this journey and it has been a great one!

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Image Credit:
Kevin Brost

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