CHARLOTTE, N.C. —  A hair salon is helping women with hair loss feel more confident.

Yolanda Sanders makes clients, including LaToya Wingate, feel at ease on her salon chair. 

“I want them to feel welcome, safe,” Sanders said. 

Wingate has alopecia, an autoimmune disorder causing hair loss. 

“Hair is really not going to make you. It’s the person who is going to make the hair,” Wingate said. 

At Designer Beauty Clinic, 25% of clients have alopecia along with co-owner Claricea Mundo. 

“We want them to have a treatment plan and get their scalps treated on a regular basis and coincide with whatever their doctor tells them they need to do,” Sanders said. 

Sanders worked in women’s health before opening the salon and noticed many women had the condition, which prompted her to help. 

“I love to see a smile on a face and they say, ‘Oh my hair looks like I have a head full,’” Sanders said. 

A dermatologist is treating Wingate’s alopecia, which is hereditary. At Designer Beauty Clinic, Sanders washes Wingate’s hair with a special shampoo and makes her hair look fuller. 

Wingate said these steps and the positive environment are a game-changer. 

“When I come in I don’t feel ashamed of my condition, so it’s a level of comfort,” Wingate said. 

She didn’t always feel comfortable going to other salons. 

“People would stop and stare and kind of notice. I don’t think they understood the condition of what it was,” Wingate said. 

Wingate said hairdressers can do one little thing to make people with alopecia feel more welcome. 

“When others are looking, you can inform them of the situation, as long as the client is comfortable, educate them on the matter. If they don’t know, they don’t understand,” Wingate said.

However, after her appointment at Designer Beauty Clinic she leaves with a boost of confidence. 

"It makes all the difference on who you are and how you feel as a woman, a Black woman,” Wingate said. 

Sanders has the goal of partnering with a dermatologist she can refer clients to.