How Lara woman learned to ‘feel beautiful’ again

Having recently moved to Lara from Uganda, Ms Tryan struggled to afford the costly price of a wig and without any alternatives, she decided to make her own.

With only the help of YouTube tutorials, Ms Tryan taught herself how to construct a wig with used hair extensions she purchased from Gumtree.

After an overwhelmingly positive reception to the new wig at her church, Ms Tryan decided to turn her new skills into a business venture – The Wig Chic.

“It was a nightmare … the loss of hair just makes you feel not beautiful anymore,” Ms Tryan said, of developing alopecia.

Now, her wig-making business is on the rise thanks to a government initiative helping migrant women grow their small businesses.

Made by Many Minds, a new e-commerce platform developed by the state government, is connecting migrant women to a range of services for running their small business, such as bookkeeping and social media advertising.

Ms Tryan said the service uplifted many migrant women by providing them with the resources to grow successful businesses.

“Just because (migrant women) come from disadvantaged backgrounds doesn’t mean they don’t have the ability to perform … they just need a hand,” Ms Tryan said.

Earlier this month, Ms Tryan was one of nearly 50 micro business owners to receive a $500 voucher, which can be spent on any service provided by Made by Many Minds.

Ms Tryan said she intends on using the voucher to pay for marketing services to expand her business’s reach.

“Professional services can be expensive so having this voucher … is a huge discount and big incentive to invest in something my business needs,” Ms Tryan said.

Her long-term goal for The Wig Chic is to open a Geelong shop front, which she hopes will one day grow into multiple stores in Melbourne and even internationally.

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