{"id":32809,"date":"2019-05-03T12:51:48","date_gmt":"2019-05-03T10:51:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.faithful-to-nature.co.za\/blog\/?p=32809"},"modified":"2020-08-18T13:30:30","modified_gmt":"2020-08-18T11:30:30","slug":"losing-my-hair-was-the-best-thing-that-happened-to-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.faithful-to-nature.co.za\/blog\/losing-my-hair-was-the-best-thing-that-happened-to-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Losing My Hair Was The Best Thing That Happened To Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

My name is Katrien and I am the new CEO of Faithful to Nature. My team have encouraged me to share my story with you, in the hope that its uplifts and inspires those that are feeling challenged in anyway.<\/p>\n

Growing up in an Afrikaans, conservative society it was impressed upon me from a very early age that getting married and having children was of the utmost importance. It appeared this was only achievable as a girl if you were Barbie pretty and<\/p>\n

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very thin. Like many girls I grew up with body, food and self-esteem issues. I was always competitive, trying my whole life to be a better version of myself and to be the best. It’s exhausting. You never really reach a stage of contentment. Once you achieve one goal you just reach further.<\/p>\n

After many years of working on this, at the age of 34 I reached I point where finally I felt pretty<\/em><\/strong>. I had Botox, fillers and hair extensions, and I was very hungry.<\/p>\n

What I didn\u2019t realise, even though I always tried to be a good person at heart and kind to those around me, is that I was testing myself badly.<\/p>\n

I never measured myself by the standards I had for others. I measured myself against a different crazy set of standards whereby only my appearance, performance and my great career counted. My heart and my mind were left undervalued and uncared for – especially after years of working 12-14 hours days. It was hectic, working 14 hours a day and squeezing lash fills and gym in between.<\/p>\n

When It All Fell Out<\/strong><\/em><\/h1>\n

At the age of 38, I was working in London as head of brand for Vodafone UK. I was very proud of what I had achieved, but moving to a new country all alone and having to perform at your max and look your best was becoming incredibly stressful. At the end of my time at Vodafone I started getting very tired, I used to always wake up early, like 5am, pray, run and then work a 12-hour day. I couldn\u2019t do it anymore. I was exhausted all the time.<\/p>\n

My hair started thinning, I had lesions(sores) on my head and in my ears. But I could still hide it, so I carried on. In the space of 6 months, it all finally caught up with me – all my hair had fallen out and I was covered in sores from my scalp down to mid-waist. I looked sick, tired and disgusting<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\t\t