Meet the Author - Part 2 of 2

Nice to meet you, and welcome to the second edition of The Curly Confidante Newsletter

My name is Hannah Bradley - a.k.a. The Curly Confidante

Through this bi-weekly newsletter I'll be sharing my expertise and experience as a Hair Coach, supporting clients with a holistic approach to our hair, image and relationship with ourselves.

But who am I? And how did I find myself on this path?

In the previous edition I began sharing my story; the relationship journey I've been on with myself, my hair, and how this led me to starting my business. If you haven't read it yet, be sure to go back and have a look as I'm going to be picking up where I left off!

We finished part one when I was at the lowest point in my life. My mental health had reached breaking point, and this is where the real journey with hair began. The last sentence of part one read: "By dedicating time to self-care, by letting my hair loose, I was able to become who I was born to be. Realising the full potential of my hair enabled me to realise the full potential of myself. Life took on new meaning, and I found my purpose."

So what does hair have to do with mental health?

Honestly? Everything.

When we were allowed to get our hair cut again during COVID, I went for a trim and the hairdresser asked how I would like my hair styled - would I like her to curl it. Now, I don't own curling irons (far too cack-handed for that!), and usually I would finish by getting my hair straightened, so this sounded like a lovely treat! This picture is me after I'd had my hair curled, and as you can tell from my smile, I loved it! And this would prove to be a turning point.

Before my next wash came around, which would wash the style out, I started looking at ways to recreate the look at home, but without the heat. I came across something called The Curly Girl Method (perhaps familiar to some readers, and not something I stick to now but it was where my journey began). Essentially this is a method of caring for naturally textured hair to bring out its best health and definition through using curl friendly products and styling techniques.

Being the avid learner that I am, I began studying everything there was to know about this method and putting it into practice.

Slowly but surely my hair began to go through a complete and utter transformation into something truly beautiful, something made just for me, something I never would have believed possible for me. As I got familiar with the techniques and found product combinations that worked for me, my hair grew along with my confidence!

For the first time in my life I felt like I'd found the hair that I was always meant to have, my authentic style, a look that brought me genuine joy and a self love so deep that it changed me as a person. I relished every wash day - the self care - which came at a time where my sense of worth could not have been much lower.

I absolutely credit my hair as having a major part in my healing journey.

As my mental health was elevated I became determined to get well and started seeking the help I needed. I became a more outgoing person, reaching out for new opportunities at work, and this soon led to me moving on to a new job, a new challenge.

Sadly, this new opportunity was not everything it was cracked up to be. I hated the role and my mental health began to suffer again. Once my physical health took a turn in the form of a total-body stress induced rash, I decided enough was enough. Nothing was worth sacrificing my health, so I left that job without another position to go to. A simultaneously scary and exciting place to be!

Suddenly I was in a position to create whatever life I wanted.

But what did I want?

I've always known I wanted to help people. From a young age, any job I ever mentioned what asked what I wanted to be when I grew up involved helping people. What I didn't know was in what capacity I wanted to do that. Up to now I had (unsurprisingly!) been in customer service, but that wasn't where I saw myself going this time.

It was a very relaxed conversation on the sofa with my mum that would deliver the answer I needed.

She asked whether I'd considered supporting people with their hair as a business. I'd seen first hand what a powerful impact it can have, and I was already giving out free advice to friends and family, so why not make a business out of it? At which point I'm thinking 'Is that even a thing? What would I do? Who would I help? How would it would?' and that was all the fuel I needed to get started! Nothing ventured, nothing gained I thought, so within 48 hours I had a business concept, I build my own website and all of my training materials, and started my social media platforms from the ground up.

Since then my business has evolved and grown into what it is today, which is quite different from what I thought I was going to be doing when I started! At the beginning I was helping people to transition to their natural hair, to learn how to love and style it. Whilst I enjoyed what I was doing, it wasn't quite right, I hadn't fully found my purpose.

I was blessed to meet several amazing coaches who have been influencial in my journey.

I started working with an incredible business coach Claire Hill as well as a soul coach, the beautiful Sophie Watson , and I can honestly say my life wouldn't be the same without them. They helped me to understand myself more than I ever had, on a soul level through to who I wanted to be as a CEO. I rejigged my business plan, and threw myself into my work with renewed vigour. Thank you ladies, I am truly grateful to you both and blessed to call you friends.

As part of this self-development I felt something important was missing from my business, and I felt a calling back to my roots.

My professional life actually began with a background in energy healing. From around the age of 15 I was introduced to this field by my beautiful mum and I loved everything I was hearing. I began studying a combination of techniques with mum as my trainer. I was soon the youngest person in the world at the time to be so highly qualified in these therapies.

I have since trained others, created new ways of using the techniques, and delivered talks at national conferences. I am a qualified Love & Relationship Consultant, EMO Master Practitioner & MET Professional, yet where were they in my business? A part of me was missing.

I had allowed myself to get lost in the typical 'career' world, as well as finding myself in a religion which I now see was, in fact, a cult. It gradually conditioned me into who they wanted me to be, as opposed to who I truly was. I allowed myself to be pulled away from my passion, but no more. I took the wisdom I received through my coaching to heart, and with it in mind I was able to find who I truly wanted to be, how I wanted to help, who I wanted to support, what I wanted my business to look like - who I wanted to be in the world.

And that, my friends, is how I came to be where I am today.

My business now, my mission, my why, my purpose in life, is to support people of all hair types, lengths, backgrounds and stories, with the practical and emotional aspects of our relationship with our hair/body/image. To raise awareness of the key role these things play in our experiences, choices, decisions and how much we allow ourselves to truly live and love life. To inspire, heal, empower and to truly change lives through the power of hair and image. I absolutely believe that everyone deserves to be, do and have everything they dream of, and that a healthy relationship with ourselves is an essential step on that journey.

So what exactly is a Hair Coach? Who do I support? How do I help people? What impact does hair coaching have? Is hair even that important?

All of these questions and more will be answered through this newsletter!

I hope that the first two editions have given you an insight into the author behind the words - how I came to start The Curly Confidante and why my business is so important to me.

I'm looking forward to taking you on a journey into my business and the field of hair coaching, whilst sharing my top tips and key lessons along the way!