Life with Alopecia

08/31/21 • 43 min

My Guest and beautiful friend Houda Echouafni describes herself as a human, mother, actor and everything in between. Born to a Moroccan mother and an Egyptian father who died when she was young, she moved to England when she was eleven years old and had to learn English to cope in a London secondary school.

She then discovered drama and a love for Shakespeare and decided to train as an actor.

Houda started out as a presenter with MBC and worked in film, TV and was in a production with the Royal Shakespeare company until the outbreak of the Covid virus brought a lot of stress and change. Not long after, Houda discovered she was losing hair very quickly and is now learning to live with Alopecia as she continues to raise and homeschool her four children.

This episode will discuss :

Houda's childhood memories of her life in Morocco where she was raised by her grandmother (1:10)

The challenges of moving to England (age 11), managing in an Inner city secondary school in London without speaking English (3:30)

Finding expression outside of language in drama class was a revelation (10:20)

Drama school adventures (13:00)

Discovering hair loss and learning about the autoimmune disease Alopecia (17:00)

Wigs and an empowering moment (28:00)

How finding a tribe and community for support and solutions was vital (29:00)

Questions about choice, hair and hijab (35:00)

Connect with Houda:

https://www.instagram.com/houdaechouafni/

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1445342/

https://www.facebook.com/houdaechouafniactresss/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/houda-echouafni-37074622

Let’s connect!

Resources mentioned:

Brit school: https://www.brit.croydon.sch.uk

Microblading

https://www.diniwigs.com/coping-with-hair-loss/

Magnetic eyelashes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She then discovered drama and a love for Shakespeare and decided to train as an actor.

This episode will discuss :

Houda's childhood memories of her life in Morocco where she was raised by her grandmother (1:10)

The challenges of moving to England (age 11), managing in an Inner city secondary school in London without speaking English (3:30)

Finding expression outside of language in drama class was a revelation (10:20)

Drama school adventures (13:00)

Discovering hair loss and learning about the autoimmune disease Alopecia (17:00)

Wigs and an empowering moment (28:00)

How finding a tribe and community for support and solutions was vital (29:00)

Questions about choice, hair and hijab (35:00)

Connect with Houda:

https://www.instagram.com/houdaechouafni/

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1445342/

https://www.facebook.com/houdaechouafniactresss/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/houda-echouafni-37074622

Let’s connect!

Resources mentioned:

Brit school: https://www.brit.croydon.sch.uk

Microblading

https://www.diniwigs.com/coping-with-hair-loss/

Magnetic eyelashes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Identity

My guest Tala Khalaf is a vibrant, positive soul with big dreams who happens to be the manager of my favorite cafe in Jordan and is struggling to break free from more than one challenge in her life. This episode discusses how Identity ( citizenship and gender ) has restricted Tala from achieving her lifelong dream of becoming a commercial pilot .

This episode discusses:

The struggle to travel as a Palestinian (01:40)

How Tala discovers her passion of becoming a pilot (04:15)

Depression and change of career (07:00)

Tala starts working at sixteen in pottery which leads her to an opportunity in aviation (10:00)

A health issue complicates future plans (14:45)

Bullying, harassment and gender identity discrimination (19:00)

The difference between gender identity and sexual preference (24:00)

Finding answers (26:00)

Let’s connect!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

Bullying

In today's episode about bullying, I talk to Lisa Hunter who was born and raised in South Africa and moved to the UK in 2001. Lisa struggled with bullying herself from the age of 16 at a new school.

It was the support of her family and a very special biology teacher, which helped her cope with some of the darkest of times when she contemplated taking her own life. She then went on to experience bullying again as an adult in the workplace. Robert was a very close friend of Lisa's in Johannesburg who died of suicide after coming out as a gay man to his parents but was rejected and bullied by the whole community. Robert was unable to find support at the time and Lisa founded Robert’s Wish in 2015 so that no-one else need go through the loneliness that Robert felt. She works extensively supporting the LGBTQ community, youth and parents navigate their way through various challenges related to bullying and strives to make a difference where possible.

WARNING: Suicide is discussed in this episode

Points discussed in this episode:

How Lisa begun to be bullied at the age of 16 when she moved from Johannesburg to a new school in the UK and then in the workplace as an adult (1:20)
What helped Lisa cope at school (4:46)
Getting an apology years later (7:52)
What thought stopped Lisa from taking her own life, when she felt all hope was lost (8:26)
Cyber bullying (9:28)
The power of listening (10:30)
Simple ways you can feel less alone and vulnerable (12:45)
The reason behind founding Robert's Wish (17:37)
Why bullies bully (21:45)

Connect with Lisa:

https://robertswish.com

https://www.instagram.com/robertswishapp/

https://www.facebook.com/RobertsWishApp/

Let’s connect!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.