December 23, 2024 • 46 mins
Dr. Elyssa Green is a retired Army veteran, entrepreneur, and advocate dedicated to empowering communities and creatives. She founded Teen Expressions, and I Am Style Agency to support aspiring arts, fashion, and culinary talent. After being diagnosed with Alopecia in 2022, she embraced the "Beauty of Baldness" and established Bald Bozz Beauty to advocate for Alopecia awareness and support the Bald Community.
Dr. Elyssa’s journey has been defined by resilience, reinvention, and a commitment to helping others thrive. She continues inspiring and uplifting creatives and individuals navigating life’s challenges through her work.
Connect with Dr. Elyssa:
Website: www.bthree.org
Instagram: @baldbozzbeauty
Facebook: @DrElyssaGreen
TikTok: Bald Bozz Beauty
Dr. Elyssa’s journey has been defined by resilience, reinvention, and a commitment to helping others thrive. She continues inspiring and uplifting creatives and individuals navigating life’s challenges through her work.
Connect with Dr. Elyssa:
Website: www.bthree.org
Instagram: @baldbozzbeauty
Facebook: @DrElyssaGreen
TikTok: Bald Bozz Beauty
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Are you a transitioning military or veteran woman looking for support, guidance,
and inspiration. You've come to the right place. Welcome to
Living Unapologetically Beyond the Uniform with your host, Renee Jones Hudson.
Renee brings powerful stories, practical advice, and expert insights to
help you redefine, rediscover, and reaffirm your life after military service,
(00:29):
whether navigating a career change, seeking personal growth, or focusing
on your well being. We're here to empower you every
step of the way. So welcome the host of Living
Unapologetically Beyond the Uniform, Renee Jones Hudson. Let's embark on
this journey together.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Hi everyone, and welcome to Living Unapologetically Beyond the Uniform.
I'm your host, Renee Jones Hussan, and I am so
glad you're here with me today. This podcast is about
empowering veterans, especially women, as they navigate life after the military.
We're here to share inspiring stories, practical advice, and the
(01:11):
lessons we've learned so that we can help you redefine
your life, rediscover your purpose, and thrive in this next chapter.
So today, I'm super excited to introduce my guests Doctor
Elisa Green. Doctor Lisa An is a retired Army veteran,
an entrepreneur, an advocate who has truly turned her challenges
(01:36):
into triumphs. She founded Teen Expressions, I Am Style Agency,
and Bald Bass Beauty, all of which highlights her passion
for creativity, community and advocacy. Her journey from military service
to becoming a community leader and business innovator is really inspiring.
(02:01):
On top of all of that, she's also an advocate
for alopecia awareness, sharing her journey of embracing the beauty
of baldness and empowering others to do the same. And y'all,
she is gorgeous, So I can't wait for you to
hear her story and learn about her amazing work. So
(02:23):
doctor Lisa, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
It's true. I so appreciate you from one point to another,
from one entrepreneur, business superhero. If you wish, thank you.
I'm super excited to be here and just being able
to share with your audience my journey, where I'm at,
(02:51):
where I started from, where I'm at now, and where
I'm going, you know, moving forward, because I always say
we gotta, we gotta make sure or we have our
our forward thinking had on all the time, and we
focused forward with our I love that.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
I love that, and thank you. I appreciate you coming
here to share your story honestly. So first I'm going
to ask you, you know, what was your military journey, like,
what was that path for you? How was that prith
for you?
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Well, you know when I first joined the military a
few years back, you know, well I joined actually I
joined in eighty eight, and it was a total different
military than what it is now. The service was totally different.
I was extremely motivated and ambitions. I wanted to serve
(03:49):
my country, and I wanted my father had served, and
my uncles had served. My sister, my baby sister. Actually,
funny story, my baby sister had went into the military
before I did. Wow. And when she had got out
(04:11):
after four years, she had she had hung her hat up.
But me, I continued on, it would have fabulous, you know,
hindsight of we would have been able to join together.
My my At the time, I felt my my path
was a little different than hers because I was going
(04:32):
to be this fortune five hundred ceo. You know, that
was that was my thinking. And and joined the military though,
and uh, you know you're so gun ho when you
get out of the basic and going to a I
t and the first thing I said, Hey, I want
to go airborne. Yeah. I was ready to jump out
(04:53):
of airplanes. You know, I was young back then and
just so full of because I truly wanted to serve
and so I I didn't get to jump out of airplanes,
but as I uh, I wanted to actually go into
the medical field initially, but I ended up going into
(05:15):
the logistics area. So I was master okay. And with
that journey, I had a lot of ups and downs
because I came in as a private and I started
from the ground up, from the ground to work my
way up, and I did. I was on a fast track.
(05:36):
And I didn't end up jumping into airplanes as I said,
but I did. I went aerosolt, so I I'm certified.
I repel a lot of helicopters, which is really awesome
if you've never done it, something like this, Yeah, it
really is the fast rope.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
I did air salt too fast. I was scared at first,
but I.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Did.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
I loved it. Oh wow, be afraid of heights, yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
I didn't have a choice. We didn't know when I
went through, so you don't. I mean, if that's what
you're gonna do. And when you go through those trainings,
they tell you, hey, these are these are the requirement and.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
See that this.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
If they don't they have blinders on. They don't care
if you're male, female, whatever, If this is the path
you're going to take, this is what you're gonna do.
And I'm gonna tell you renee that twelve mile rope
march with that the most energetic first start with me
and they were like give oh no, if I can finish,
(06:49):
and they were giving me a little bit of water
and they really stuck by me and I and I
really appreciated them doing that because that's what pushed me
over the line. And and like in life, you need
those people, those coaches to be there for you when
you feel that you can't do those things on your own.
You do need a fabulous support structure. And I know
(07:11):
people say that a lot. It's almost become somewhat taboo
because people say it so much, but it's really sincerely
the truth really is it really is. So you know,
went there and my I did see a couple of conflicts.
Went to Somalia, Bosnia, you know. I was therefore Saudi.
(07:35):
I I served under Daddy Bush, if you yes, and
in Germany. And the crazy thing is, I was on
my way to Saudi with my unit. I was. I
was a pete person.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
I was.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
I demand all of my soldiers. They had to be
physically fit, they had to make sure that they we
were in the fast fruit. Yes, all those yes, all
of that, and I loved it. You know. I truly
was a soldier through and through, and I truly wanted
to serve my country. And so I found out I
(08:18):
had passed out during pet running. I was in the
fast route and I was I was expecting, so I
didn't even know I wasn't able to go to Saudi.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah your testimony, you weren't supposed to be there.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Yeah, I wasn't supposed to be there. I had my
first child, my son, my oldest, and then right after
that they just kept coming and seems like five kids.
I have five and I did. So you don't even
look like that, you know, all adults and I I
(09:00):
just love each and every one of them. And so
they are army kids, army brats as people how you
want to categorize that. But you know I was stationed
at several places as far as went to Germany. A
couple of tours in Germany, and actually, the truth be told,
(09:22):
I loved Germany. They forced me to come back to
the United States and I did not want to, but
the breg thing. My last tour there in Germany was
in Mannheim and I met my husband, my second husband.
I met I'm there in Germany and that was in
(09:47):
ninety seven. No, no, no, I'm sorry ninety five and
we've been together ever since. So I was one of
the great things, you know about going to German in
Germany and being in the military. Yeah, I my husband
and so he got out and then I had got
(10:09):
out in two thousand, came here to Atlanta and it
was really different. It was such it was such a
transition for me.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yes, and oh my god, I want to talk about
So don't get too far into it.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
So okay, okay, because.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
That's what this is about. That's what this is for.
But you touched on so many points. Honestly, I feel
like you're our career is kind of paralleled each other,
like with the airstolt. Because I actually did not volunteer
to go to airsoft school. I was volunteered because I
was a pet stud as well, and they needed a
(10:54):
female to go to to be you know, to represent
the unit. We had a lot of mess but he
just my commander wanted wanted, just wanted me to go.
So I went reluctantly, and it was it was a
struggle because I didn't want to be there. But at
the same time, I just can't accept not performing. Like
(11:15):
I'm okay, I'm mad about it, but what I'm not
gonna do is fail that.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Part.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
I I'm going to be mad and do it at
the same time. So you know, so that part we
have in common too. The one thing you said though,
like that was really pivotal. I remember I think I
was an E six. I came in as a private
as well. Kind of followed this your same track, honestly
a group just high speed load drag, you know, load drag. Yeah.
(11:49):
But I remember there was when I think I was
an East six and I was stationed at Fort Stewart,
and you said something that you know, the army was
different in you know, eighty eight. When I came in
was ninety five, right, I came in in ninety five,
and I remember Sergeant Major when I got to my
duty station. He was like, the army is not the same.
(12:11):
And remember when I was getting ready to retire, or
just in my when I made E seven, I remember
how the shift. So you you know, the army it
evolves too, you know the way we do things, and
you have but it has to because society is evolving.
Technology all these things is evolving, so we have to
(12:31):
move with it. But you know, you see older soldiers
and you become the old soldiers. So it's like you're saying, like,
oh man, this is not the same army that I drove,
you know, So thank you for sharing that. And I
do want to talk about the transition because you've made
several transitions within your transition, right, But here's what I
(12:53):
want to ask, like, so we know transitioning from the
military to civilian life can feel so isolating for so
many of us. How did you you talked about this
a little bit, the support system? How did you build
a support system that helped you to thrive? And what
can others do to find or even create that community
(13:13):
for themselves.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Sure, so for me, I I was somewhat lucky because
I had my my spouse. He had got out before
I did as I told you, we were stationed. Our
last duty station was Fort Hood, Texas. Yeah, and if
anyone has ever been to Fort Hood, Texas, that's like
(13:39):
a jail in itself. Oh my god, Oh my god.
It has a good points. And because totally experienced. So
I do I do tell all this all my socials.
You haven't been in the military and been there. Yes,
But he got out at Fort Hood and he here
(14:00):
to Atlanta, and so I followed him here to Atlanta.
And so he kind of he kind of built a
right like like he built he built a foundation somewhat
he had resources because he already established a couple of
(14:23):
friends here and friends here. And so when I came,
I traveled at the time, I had four children by myself,
traveled through the airport with four small kids. And so
we came here to to to Atlanta. And what I
(14:43):
had found was that it was really isolated. I was
very it was isolating. I was very isolated. Everything was
so spread out, and we tried to find different organizations
with the military. And at the time, that's when Fort
Gillham was still still active, right, and that's what was
(15:06):
close to me. So I would go on to Fort
Gillham because that's what I was familiar with. I was
familiar with that environment and people there at Fort Gillham,
and I slowly I met a community of women who
were army wives. My husband then had joined the reserves,
(15:30):
so that helped me to still be connected in the community,
the military community, and they, with their assistance, they helped
me to be able to transition a little more. Because
here in this in the Atlanta area or the greater
Atlanta metroland, however you want to categorize it, everything is
(15:53):
so spread out, really, it really is. And coming from
Fort Hood, everything was so compact. It was right there,
and everything was so spread out, and I was like, oh,
I remember myself breaking down and telling my husband, I
have to get the hell out of here. There's no
way I can survive here with my children. I'm unable
(16:15):
to provide.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
You know, Worhood Land wise was bigger than here, yes, said,
everything everything was in reach here, like traffic alone will
make things an hour twenty minute, you know, direction into
an hour hour and it's very discouraging. So that's another
(16:40):
you know, those are kind of the some of the
barriers that keep especially veterans from getting out because it's
such a hassle, such a hassle to deal with commuting,
you know, in the area, and just to find those
groups too, you know, like you have to really get
out to find the groups. They're not going to come
(17:02):
to you. And it's so many and it's so much
to say to that though, you know, because we're battling
things internally as well, you know, like we lost connection,
the connection and the camaraderie. And you know, just like
I said, I think the military I use the word
(17:22):
spoiled because when I got out, I was like, where's
my mama, where's my daddy?
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Where you all at?
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Because right to do with myself?
Speaker 3 (17:34):
I don't know what?
Speaker 2 (17:35):
And it really I joke about it, but it was
really challenging.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
It was really challenging.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
I was depressed, like I was because I was like,
I got out as a captain, so I was like,
this is not happening to me, this is not I
had no sense of direction. I didn't know where to turn.
So it's you know, that's a lot of things that
I think. You know, if you weren't military, you can't
(18:03):
really understand unless you're like a spouse or you know,
have family members in the military, and sometimes they don't
even get it right. They don't get it. So I'm
glad you spoke about the isolation, you know, the challenges
that we do face with that. It's not that people
we don't want to do anything, it's just we're used
to everything being within reach, arms.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Be absolutely And I'm glad you clarify that because ford
Hood is really bit is huge, Yes, but the convenience
is everything is right, it's right there where you can
be able, all your resources are somewhat together and coming
here and then not having a not being a two
(18:48):
car family, children having to catch the marta and learning
how to do all of those things. I say civilian
that the military person is different, but as a civilian
it was an extreme. It was extreme for me. It
(19:10):
was a true impact. That transition was so difficult. Depression
does set in, and that's why we have to be
careful because that depression does set in, and then you
start to have regrets of getting out of this service.
What are you going to do with the rest of
your life? Those kind of things, How are you going
to be able to survive? And I feel that too
(19:33):
contributes to a lot of and if I can touch
on this just just a second. A lot of homelessness,
the veteran homelessness here, especially in the Atlanta area. We
have so many homeless veterans, which is absurd to me.
And it's that depression that gets set in because there
isn't enough support.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Yes, exactly A.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
We moved from my husband and we moved from Virginia
four years ago and I went to Atlanta. I actually
got lost in Atlanta and lost downtown. I forgot the area,
but it's where a lot of homeless veterans, or where
homeless people were, because I didn't know there were veterans
(20:18):
at first. But it's like a it used to be
a tent city, like a place where they remember. So
I remember. I went back home. I went, I came
back home, and I told my cousin, hey, we I
came in here. I got some stuff out, I got
some my husband's clothes, I made my we made food,
(20:38):
and we drove back to Atlanta fat that it was
almost like when we when I popped the trunk to
my to my vehicle, they I don't even know where
they showed up from. It's almost like they smelled the food.
They just came swarmed around the vehicle. We had about
fifty containers of food. I went home, I some spaghetti.
(21:01):
We got bred and we tried to feed them right.
But what broke my heart was when I ran out
of food and the guy, a couple guys were running
after the car. I didn't have any more, and it
felt so helpless, like because I was like, but this
is when I realized this is a big problem. I'm
(21:23):
just a not even the fraction of you know, the
support that you know, this is a it's just really
a big what is that? A pandemic? Endemic? What is
It's a really big problem. And no one person, no
one organization can really fix that. You know, It's gonna
(21:44):
take us coming together and really trying to get that.
And it's not even someone that we can fix it.
We just got to try to control it, manage it,
you know, that's right, get them to support they need
as many of them as we can. Yeah, And that
and that is why, you know, I'm so grateful for
yourself and just bringing awareness to to such a issues,
(22:09):
you know, within the veteran community, and knowing that we
did serve our country and knowing that we went out
there and put our lives on our line, and not
only the soldiers who are active, but their families, their
family sacrifice as well. No soldiers should be out there
and should be homeless, or should should be not have care.
(22:31):
It just doesn't it doesn't make sense to me at all.
And you know, I I but I can see how
that can happen because you know, going back to my
my journey just transitioning.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
You know, we had one car, we have four families.
I didn't have a job when I got out, so
I had to go find a job, you know it,
and just everything was so spread out, childcare, all of
those things how up on and so you have to
have what you have to have that intestinal fortitude. There
(23:05):
were a lot of times I had to sit back
and I had to say, Okay, Lisa, you gotta soldier up.
You gotta put your bootstraps up. You gotta go out here.
I don't care what you look like right now. You
gotta you gotta put your put your fatigues on, if
you have to a T shirt. You gotta take care
of what needs to be done. And so you know
(23:27):
that's what I did. I got on at JB. Hunt
when JB. Hunt was here, No longer. Do they have
a hub here for over the road drivers. Because I
was logistics, you know, I went into transportation and logistics,
and thank goodness, you know, because I was a veteran,
they gave me preference, preference and and and that is
(23:49):
one of the things, you know, veterans have to look
at these different organizations that do give you preference and
utilize those skills because the militi here, it gives you
a lot of skill, so many, so many skills that
you can utilize here in the civilians sector, even more
(24:10):
so than some of these civilians. Because you are you
are being you are a true problem solver y you know,
and yeah, you are a problem solver on the floor
then you and for you you know, yeah, everything.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Which and so to some degree, like I think, it's
not that we know everything. We just know how to
find the resource to get whatever it needs to done.
So if I say to you, yeah I can, I can.
I don't know how to do it, but I know
somebody can that can. We know how to tap into
our resources, our network.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
You know.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
One of the things I wanted to to highlight. I
think the thought left me, you know, you know how
I oh, you know, this is what I wanted to say.
You know, as far as like you said, I always
I have this thing where I say, any one of
us are always a situation from a situation, you know,
(25:07):
because like you said it, what if you didn't have
that intestinal fortitude to say, you know what you got,
let's let's put this be to us on and let's
get let's get cracking, you know. And there's so many
of our you know, our fellow veterans that they need
that push. The other thing that you touched on that
I really wanted to to. You know, even when we
(25:29):
transition out the military, we go through that Transition Assistance
program and like I've said this before, for me, it
was an overwhelming process. It was just so much information
being forced. I feel I just felt force fed.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
So you know.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
What, I what I like that we do. You know,
we're in the we're like in the community, and I
like that, you know, we're shown my space especially. I
want to guide people through that process because yes, we
transition out, but it's not a full transition, and you're
constantly transitioning, which leads me to you like, because you've
(26:11):
transitioned several times.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
With your transition, right so I want to talk.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
I want you to tell the story, Lisa, about when
you finally decided you is just gonna be you, you know,
with your hair and everything. You painted that picture. I
felt like I was watching a movie when you were talking. Seriously,
I was like, oh my gosh, I can literally see
this happening. I was, I was there with you. I
(26:43):
can feel it. So you gotta tell it the same way, okay, And.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
I hope I can deliver it to you, you know,
in same manner. But I have transitioned a couple of
times once I kind of got my footing, you know,
just being transitioning from being a soldier. And I don't
think I'll ever stop soldiering, but being an active duty, yes,
(27:12):
being an active duty soldier to a civilian. I I
had to think about what I was going to do.
So I did transition from you know, wanting to really
explore my creativity in in in different areas, and and
thus came about I wanted to give back to the
youth expressions in in a creative space. And then also
(27:40):
I am style agency, yes, uh, the modeling agency, and
that creative space working with independent artists and and models
and actors and actresses, because that's what I strive to
do too, And so these spaces I wanted to not
(28:01):
only impact other people's lives, but my life as well,
because it brought meaning and purpose to who I was,
and so it formed my character and what I wanted
to give back to the community. And so when I
was officially diagnosed with alopecia, initially it was a heartbreaking
(28:22):
thing for me because you know, we as women, our
hair is everything. And I remember myself being in the
military when I first start wearing braids and I used
to braid my own hair. I got lazy as my
as I got older with my kids, I was like,
I am not braiding another head. But I used to
(28:46):
have this, all of this, all of this hair in
One thing I told myself I would never wear was
braids or weave or anything like that to puotension on
my hair. But being in the military and going to
the field and having to be ready to so I
started to wear those protective styles and so I got
diagnosed with alopecia due to all of the I thought
(29:08):
I had traction alopecia at first, but as I spoke
to the dermatologists and we went through my story. I
noticed I had a bald spot that would continuously come
back throughout my life since I was like twenty five,
on the top of my head. And at first I
chalked it up to stress, and it wasn't. It wasn't
(29:32):
the stress. And then and then she said, well, it
might be genetic. And these are all the things that
women with alopecia we go through with the dermatologists because
they have to rule out all of these things. And
so I was diagnosed with alopecia areata. And alopecia has
(29:54):
different forms. There are several forms of alopecia areata totalis
and so you get diagnosed with this, and a lot
of women just do not know what to do with
the diagnosis. And we know it's not life threatening ego bruising.
(30:15):
I say, ego bruisy, And some people might say, well,
you know, no, ego has nothing to do with it,
but in actuality it does, especially if your hair is
your glory. So you have to sit back and accept that,
and you have to you have to say, Okay, what
am I going to do with this information? Am I
(30:36):
going to just sit back and wallow in my and
pity or am I going to go out and use
my voice to help others and lift others up? And
that's what I chose to do. But didn't happen overnight,
I know, and so I thought it as hard as
I possibly could. And when I finally made the decision
(31:00):
to do so, a young lady had came over here
I worked with. She was the independent artist. I told her.
I said, I'm ready. I'm just gonna go ahead and
shave my head because I used to wear scarfs and
wear wigs and I just got tired of doing that.
I used to go to bed and if my scarf
(31:21):
would fall off when I was sleeping right, I would
put it on so quickly, like I hardly got sleep
because I didn't want my husband to see me without
my scarf. I was, yeah, yes, it really was, and
I didn't even though we had been married for years,
the opinion of who I was and who I am
(31:44):
still kind of. I'm still his wife, and how he
used me, you know, it matters. And women say, oh,
it doesn't matter, it does matter. That's your husband, yes,
And so you know, he encouraged me to just go
ahead and just cut it off. I don't care about
just cut your head off. But I did. I cared,
and I'm like, oh my gosh, what am I going
(32:06):
to do? So the young lady came over and she
shaved my head and I'll never forget when she shaved
my head, I just sat there in the tears just
coming down my face, and I'm like, I can do this,
this is nothing, you can be able, and so I
was really trying to boost my sofa and she was like,
(32:30):
you look, you know, she was encouraging me, you look
so fabulous and those kind of things, but I just
could not see it at the time. And so I
had I am style agency, I had models, I had
I had a team of models actually, and we go
to we used to go to New York Fashion Week
every year, so we were we were headed to New
(32:53):
York Fashion Week the September show. And still at that time,
I even when I got my head shaped, I had
not walked out the door balllled yet I still cover on.
I still hadn't built up that confidence to do that.
And I got prepared to go to New York Fashion
(33:14):
Week and hear, you know, the teams get on the
plane and I still had on a wig, and so
get into New York. You know, the teams go their
different ways. And I told the ladies, hey, you guys,
go in and go in New York, because you know,
we got to get to business. These next couple of
days are going to be very intense. They're going to
(33:35):
be busy, and I don't play that when we go
to New York. It's time is money, Money is time,
because that's how these shows are. And so everybody went
out and they did their thing, and I said, well,
let me just go ahead and step out in New York.
So I did. I still had on my wig, and
(33:56):
I went out in New York and I went over
to Times Square. And I love New York. Everybody who
knows me, no, if you know, you know, I love
New York. So I want that. I went out on
Times Square in New York and I just I was
just looking at all the fabulous people in New York
and I just stood there, Renee, and I was like, Alisa,
(34:19):
you gotta let this go, you know. So at the
right in the middle of Times Square, I just took
my wig off and threw it up in the air
like Mary Tyler Moore. And I'm gonna tell I'm gonna
tell you New York. The people around me in New
York just starts yeah, laughing and screaming, and I was
(34:44):
overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude. And I'm gonna tell you,
I just I loved it, and I forever loved New
York for that fact, because I feel as though they
hoped me, just fueled on on my confidence, and they
(35:05):
accepted me for who I who I was, like.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
You know, more than anybody else. But that is like
the epitome of living unapologetically right, just as man. When
you first told that story, I was like, oh my gosh, I.
Speaker 3 (35:22):
Feel like it was beautiful.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Even now I'm like tearing up because it's just it's
such It's so much power in that, in freeing yourself, right,
because we put ourselves besides our own prison sometimes right,
and then we just have to open the door. We
just have to break the chains. We just have to
really say, you know what, I'm gonna be me, this
(35:48):
is me right, this is me, and I'm going to
live in my space, in this space, free to be
who I want to be, free and just accepting. So
I love that story. Was this conference the first time
you told that, because I just had that thing in
my head like it's a movie that I watched.
Speaker 3 (36:09):
I've told it a few times with my journey. I've
written about it, you know, just to try just to
encourage and attempt to try to attempt to however, encourage
other people because it's really, it's really a challenge. And
now we have so many beautiful women who who do
(36:30):
have alopecia and who are walking in their unapologetic truth,
and and that is something that we use a lot.
I'm gonna walk unapologetically and I'm gonna be It's the
one thing I encourage everyone when you do do that,
Don't don't put yourself in this barrel with a lot
of crabs trying to be the first to do this
(36:52):
and the first to be be this person or or
the one who's on top of the bald community. Help
other people always, and that's what I will always do.
I will always use my voice and the power that
I have to service others who are still suffering in
(37:13):
silence and underneath a unit. Not because they want to, right, no,
not because they need to because they want to, because
they're not confident enough to walk in their own truth
at the time.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
And you know, sometimes the journey, the path that we're
taken on, because we can always plan the direction we
want to go. But I say, he has a sense
of human and I love him for it. He always
takes us a different way. And we have to understand
that those paths, as much as we're the ones taking
the journey, there for us to empower, to strengthen, to encourage,
(37:55):
to lift up other people, because we got chosen for
that path for a reason, right because if he knew
we wouldn't make it, we wouldn't be here today, you know,
sharing so that we can inspire others. So you know,
I could talk to you all day, you.
Speaker 3 (38:13):
Must. I love talking to you. I just love just
and I feel this is such a healing thing, you know,
being able to get from the military to civilian. Then
you know, dealing with unforeseens that then come after that,
you know, such as being diagnosed with whatever the situation
(38:35):
may be. You have to deal with those with those
situations and everyone is different, everybody's challenge is different. But no,
there's someone out there that you can connect with and
to have that somebody that you can connect with and
that can help you be able to deal with those challenges.
(38:58):
It's priceless, it's invaluable, and it might just be one
or two people. You don't need a gang of people
around you. You really don't. Just those one or two
people that you can be able to confide in and
be able to share your stories with, that have similar
stories or that have been through a situation such as
(39:19):
yours really helps. It helps so much. I still speak
to to my one or two people that I have,
my circle that I have on a continuous basis because
I want to let you know, you never get over
the challenge of being and you just never get over it,
(39:40):
that challenge of saying that security, that confidence that you
have and the lack of Yeah, I love that because
that's one of the reasons I wanted to to showcase.
Speaker 2 (39:54):
The show is called Living Unapologetic, but it's also taking
those steps to those strends, the various transitions that you
may be going through to get to that point right
And like you said, it may not happen today or tomorrow,
but as long as you stand on that journey, surround
yourself with the right people with positive influences and put
(40:15):
yourself out there, because that's our tendency is to to
to sit back, you know, to isolate. That is the
biggest things because we we it's not it's not what's
the word, it's not, I'll say, it's not what we're
used to because we're so used to having everything at
(40:36):
our fingertips with the military, the community, the resources. You know,
it's so right now we feel out of, out of,
out of sorts because we don't have that convenience anymore.
So I'm so thankful that you're here to share. I
got one more question for you, and and you kind
of you kind of touched on it a little bit, like,
(40:56):
what's one thing you wish more people understood about the
transition process for veterans, especially women, and how can society
better support veterans in their journeys.
Speaker 3 (41:09):
I feel as though women in women who are transitioning
out of the military. I tell others be be mindful
of the experiences women have encounter as being in the military,
(41:33):
because I think sometimes as a female coming out of
the military, people think that you are this hard, tough
you you should be able to overcome all of these things.
I had one of my neighbors say, oh, you were
a assault you could do this. You don't have that
and you have to say, well, you don't know what
my experience was in the military. So I tell everybody
(41:55):
to take each each female's journey in the military area
with a grain of salt, take them for face value,
they are currently who they were in the military, and.
Speaker 2 (42:09):
Share that with you. Don't assume that, right, and I've
gotten you know, it puts you on guard, like, what
do you mean, I'm human?
Speaker 3 (42:19):
Like right, right? Right?
Speaker 2 (42:22):
No, So I I agree with that. I agree with that.
Speaker 3 (42:25):
Yeah, So that's one that's the one thing I I
I share it with everyone, you know, your audience. Just
just take that that female for who they are currently
and their face value, as you said, and and get
to know them who they are now because they have
transition and they're still transitioning. Right, where you can find
(42:49):
where you can be able to if that's where you're
going to, where you can be able to connect, don't
take don't assume anything, Yeah, based on and what what
they have done in the military. Yeah, like jumping Mike
repelling out a helicopter.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
Right, because I'm not doing that on a daily I'm
not doing that, surely not, Doctor Lisa. This is such,
this is so good. So where can our my audience
find you? Where can where can people find you? How
can they get in contact with you?
Speaker 3 (43:27):
Sure? So I am. You can find me on Instagram
at bald b A L D Balls b o z
Z Beauty so that's Bald Boss Beauty. And on Facebook
it's definitely my name, Alisa Green. And on LinkedIn is
(43:48):
doctor Alisa Green.
Speaker 2 (43:51):
Awesome, well, doctor Lisa, thank you for joining me today
and sharing your It was such a joy talking.
Speaker 3 (43:59):
To you you as well. I love you.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
Likewise resiliens and the incredible work you're doing. It's really
an inspiration. I know our listeners will take so much
from what you've shared today. Anyone listen who wants to
connect with doctor Lisa? She shared her She shared her
her handles, her contact information. Oh what about your website
(44:29):
B three dot.
Speaker 3 (44:31):
Yes, oh thank you for that. Okay, B the word
three th h R E E dot org And you
can go to my website there and see all of
the famous and fabulous things we have done in the community,
the Bald community, and see the amazing all Bald Fashion
(44:53):
show that occurred this year. And stay tuned. We're planning
something for our community coming up here real soon. So
that's where you'll find all the information about the All
Bald Fact and Show b three elegants. I'm excited about that.
I'm trying to keep it all under wraps, but real
excited about that one coming also awesome.
Speaker 2 (45:15):
And to all of you tuning in, thank you for
being here. If you've enjoyed today's episode, please like, share,
and subscribe so we can keep bringing these stories to
you and you know, all the veterans to more people.
So don't forget to join me live every Friday at
(45:35):
eleven am for more inspiring conversations. Until next time, Keep
living unapologetically. Bye, y'all.
Speaker 3 (45:46):
All right, let me stop.
Speaker 1 (45:53):
This has been living Unapologetically Beyond the Uniform with your host,
Renee Jones Hutson. We hope you found inspiration and valuable
insights in today's episode. Remember your journey of redefining, rediscovering,
and reaffirming your life post military is unique and powerful.
Stay connected with us for more stories, advice and support.
(46:17):
Until next time, Stay strong and stay empowered. Listen Friday's
eleven am Eastern
Are you a transitioning military or veteran woman looking for support, guidance,
and inspiration. You've come to the right place. Welcome to
Living Unapologetically Beyond the Uniform with your host, Renee Jones Hudson.
Renee brings powerful stories, practical advice, and expert insights to
help you redefine, rediscover, and reaffirm your life after military service,
(00:29):
whether navigating a career change, seeking personal growth, or focusing
on your well being. We're here to empower you every
step of the way. So welcome the host of Living
Unapologetically Beyond the Uniform, Renee Jones Hudson. Let's embark on
this journey together.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Hi everyone, and welcome to Living Unapologetically Beyond the Uniform.
I'm your host, Renee Jones Hussan, and I am so
glad you're here with me today. This podcast is about
empowering veterans, especially women, as they navigate life after the military.
We're here to share inspiring stories, practical advice, and the
(01:11):
lessons we've learned so that we can help you redefine
your life, rediscover your purpose, and thrive in this next chapter.
So today, I'm super excited to introduce my guests Doctor
Elisa Green. Doctor Lisa An is a retired Army veteran,
an entrepreneur, an advocate who has truly turned her challenges
(01:36):
into triumphs. She founded Teen Expressions, I Am Style Agency,
and Bald Bass Beauty, all of which highlights her passion
for creativity, community and advocacy. Her journey from military service
to becoming a community leader and business innovator is really inspiring.
(02:01):
On top of all of that, she's also an advocate
for alopecia awareness, sharing her journey of embracing the beauty
of baldness and empowering others to do the same. And y'all,
she is gorgeous, So I can't wait for you to
hear her story and learn about her amazing work. So
(02:23):
doctor Lisa, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
It's true. I so appreciate you from one point to another,
from one entrepreneur, business superhero. If you wish, thank you.
I'm super excited to be here and just being able
to share with your audience my journey, where I'm at,
(02:51):
where I started from, where I'm at now, and where
I'm going, you know, moving forward, because I always say
we gotta, we gotta make sure or we have our
our forward thinking had on all the time, and we
focused forward with our I love that.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
I love that, and thank you. I appreciate you coming
here to share your story honestly. So first I'm going
to ask you, you know, what was your military journey, like,
what was that path for you? How was that prith
for you?
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Well, you know when I first joined the military a
few years back, you know, well I joined actually I
joined in eighty eight, and it was a total different
military than what it is now. The service was totally different.
I was extremely motivated and ambitions. I wanted to serve
(03:49):
my country, and I wanted my father had served, and
my uncles had served. My sister, my baby sister. Actually,
funny story, my baby sister had went into the military
before I did. Wow. And when she had got out
(04:11):
after four years, she had she had hung her hat up.
But me, I continued on, it would have fabulous, you know,
hindsight of we would have been able to join together.
My my At the time, I felt my my path
was a little different than hers because I was going
(04:32):
to be this fortune five hundred ceo. You know, that
was that was my thinking. And and joined the military though,
and uh, you know you're so gun ho when you
get out of the basic and going to a I
t and the first thing I said, Hey, I want
to go airborne. Yeah. I was ready to jump out
(04:53):
of airplanes. You know, I was young back then and
just so full of because I truly wanted to serve
and so I I didn't get to jump out of airplanes,
but as I uh, I wanted to actually go into
the medical field initially, but I ended up going into
(05:15):
the logistics area. So I was master okay. And with
that journey, I had a lot of ups and downs
because I came in as a private and I started
from the ground up, from the ground to work my
way up, and I did. I was on a fast track.
(05:36):
And I didn't end up jumping into airplanes as I said,
but I did. I went aerosolt, so I I'm certified.
I repel a lot of helicopters, which is really awesome
if you've never done it, something like this, Yeah, it
really is the fast rope.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
I did air salt too fast. I was scared at first,
but I.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Did.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
I loved it. Oh wow, be afraid of heights, yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
I didn't have a choice. We didn't know when I
went through, so you don't. I mean, if that's what
you're gonna do. And when you go through those trainings,
they tell you, hey, these are these are the requirement and.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
See that this.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
If they don't they have blinders on. They don't care
if you're male, female, whatever, If this is the path
you're going to take, this is what you're gonna do.
And I'm gonna tell you renee that twelve mile rope
march with that the most energetic first start with me
and they were like give oh no, if I can finish,
(06:49):
and they were giving me a little bit of water
and they really stuck by me and I and I
really appreciated them doing that because that's what pushed me
over the line. And and like in life, you need
those people, those coaches to be there for you when
you feel that you can't do those things on your own.
You do need a fabulous support structure. And I know
(07:11):
people say that a lot. It's almost become somewhat taboo
because people say it so much, but it's really sincerely
the truth really is it really is. So you know,
went there and my I did see a couple of conflicts.
Went to Somalia, Bosnia, you know. I was therefore Saudi.
(07:35):
I I served under Daddy Bush, if you yes, and
in Germany. And the crazy thing is, I was on
my way to Saudi with my unit. I was. I
was a pete person.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
I was.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
I demand all of my soldiers. They had to be
physically fit, they had to make sure that they we
were in the fast fruit. Yes, all those yes, all
of that, and I loved it. You know. I truly
was a soldier through and through, and I truly wanted
to serve my country. And so I found out I
(08:18):
had passed out during pet running. I was in the
fast route and I was I was expecting, so I
didn't even know I wasn't able to go to Saudi.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah your testimony, you weren't supposed to be there.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Yeah, I wasn't supposed to be there. I had my
first child, my son, my oldest, and then right after
that they just kept coming and seems like five kids.
I have five and I did. So you don't even
look like that, you know, all adults and I I
(09:00):
just love each and every one of them. And so
they are army kids, army brats as people how you
want to categorize that. But you know I was stationed
at several places as far as went to Germany. A
couple of tours in Germany, and actually, the truth be told,
(09:22):
I loved Germany. They forced me to come back to
the United States and I did not want to, but
the breg thing. My last tour there in Germany was
in Mannheim and I met my husband, my second husband.
I met I'm there in Germany and that was in
(09:47):
ninety seven. No, no, no, I'm sorry ninety five and
we've been together ever since. So I was one of
the great things, you know about going to German in
Germany and being in the military. Yeah, I my husband
and so he got out and then I had got
(10:09):
out in two thousand, came here to Atlanta and it
was really different. It was such it was such a
transition for me.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yes, and oh my god, I want to talk about
So don't get too far into it.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
So okay, okay, because.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
That's what this is about. That's what this is for.
But you touched on so many points. Honestly, I feel
like you're our career is kind of paralleled each other,
like with the airstolt. Because I actually did not volunteer
to go to airsoft school. I was volunteered because I
was a pet stud as well, and they needed a
(10:54):
female to go to to be you know, to represent
the unit. We had a lot of mess but he
just my commander wanted wanted, just wanted me to go.
So I went reluctantly, and it was it was a
struggle because I didn't want to be there. But at
the same time, I just can't accept not performing. Like
(11:15):
I'm okay, I'm mad about it, but what I'm not
gonna do is fail that.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Part.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
I I'm going to be mad and do it at
the same time. So you know, so that part we
have in common too. The one thing you said though,
like that was really pivotal. I remember I think I
was an E six. I came in as a private
as well. Kind of followed this your same track, honestly
a group just high speed load drag, you know, load drag. Yeah.
(11:49):
But I remember there was when I think I was
an East six and I was stationed at Fort Stewart,
and you said something that you know, the army was
different in you know, eighty eight. When I came in
was ninety five, right, I came in in ninety five,
and I remember Sergeant Major when I got to my
duty station. He was like, the army is not the same.
(12:11):
And remember when I was getting ready to retire, or
just in my when I made E seven, I remember
how the shift. So you you know, the army it
evolves too, you know the way we do things, and
you have but it has to because society is evolving.
Technology all these things is evolving, so we have to
(12:31):
move with it. But you know, you see older soldiers
and you become the old soldiers. So it's like you're saying, like,
oh man, this is not the same army that I drove,
you know, So thank you for sharing that. And I
do want to talk about the transition because you've made
several transitions within your transition, right, But here's what I
(12:53):
want to ask, like, so we know transitioning from the
military to civilian life can feel so isolating for so
many of us. How did you you talked about this
a little bit, the support system? How did you build
a support system that helped you to thrive? And what
can others do to find or even create that community
(13:13):
for themselves.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Sure, so for me, I I was somewhat lucky because
I had my my spouse. He had got out before
I did as I told you, we were stationed. Our
last duty station was Fort Hood, Texas. Yeah, and if
anyone has ever been to Fort Hood, Texas, that's like
(13:39):
a jail in itself. Oh my god, Oh my god.
It has a good points. And because totally experienced. So
I do I do tell all this all my socials.
You haven't been in the military and been there. Yes,
But he got out at Fort Hood and he here
(14:00):
to Atlanta, and so I followed him here to Atlanta.
And so he kind of he kind of built a
right like like he built he built a foundation somewhat
he had resources because he already established a couple of
(14:23):
friends here and friends here. And so when I came,
I traveled at the time, I had four children by myself,
traveled through the airport with four small kids. And so
we came here to to to Atlanta. And what I
(14:43):
had found was that it was really isolated. I was
very it was isolating. I was very isolated. Everything was
so spread out, and we tried to find different organizations
with the military. And at the time, that's when Fort
Gillham was still still active, right, and that's what was
(15:06):
close to me. So I would go on to Fort
Gillham because that's what I was familiar with. I was
familiar with that environment and people there at Fort Gillham,
and I slowly I met a community of women who
were army wives. My husband then had joined the reserves,
(15:30):
so that helped me to still be connected in the community,
the military community, and they, with their assistance, they helped
me to be able to transition a little more. Because
here in this in the Atlanta area or the greater
Atlanta metroland, however you want to categorize it, everything is
(15:53):
so spread out, really, it really is. And coming from
Fort Hood, everything was so compact. It was right there,
and everything was so spread out, and I was like, oh,
I remember myself breaking down and telling my husband, I
have to get the hell out of here. There's no
way I can survive here with my children. I'm unable
(16:15):
to provide.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
You know, Worhood Land wise was bigger than here, yes, said,
everything everything was in reach here, like traffic alone will
make things an hour twenty minute, you know, direction into
an hour hour and it's very discouraging. So that's another
(16:40):
you know, those are kind of the some of the
barriers that keep especially veterans from getting out because it's
such a hassle, such a hassle to deal with commuting,
you know, in the area, and just to find those
groups too, you know, like you have to really get
out to find the groups. They're not going to come
(17:02):
to you. And it's so many and it's so much
to say to that though, you know, because we're battling
things internally as well, you know, like we lost connection,
the connection and the camaraderie. And you know, just like
I said, I think the military I use the word
(17:22):
spoiled because when I got out, I was like, where's
my mama, where's my daddy?
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Where you all at?
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Because right to do with myself?
Speaker 3 (17:34):
I don't know what?
Speaker 2 (17:35):
And it really I joke about it, but it was
really challenging.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
It was really challenging.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
I was depressed, like I was because I was like,
I got out as a captain, so I was like,
this is not happening to me, this is not I
had no sense of direction. I didn't know where to turn.
So it's you know, that's a lot of things that
I think. You know, if you weren't military, you can't
(18:03):
really understand unless you're like a spouse or you know,
have family members in the military, and sometimes they don't
even get it right. They don't get it. So I'm
glad you spoke about the isolation, you know, the challenges
that we do face with that. It's not that people
we don't want to do anything, it's just we're used
to everything being within reach, arms.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Be absolutely And I'm glad you clarify that because ford
Hood is really bit is huge, Yes, but the convenience
is everything is right, it's right there where you can
be able, all your resources are somewhat together and coming
here and then not having a not being a two
(18:48):
car family, children having to catch the marta and learning
how to do all of those things. I say civilian
that the military person is different, but as a civilian
it was an extreme. It was extreme for me. It
(19:10):
was a true impact. That transition was so difficult. Depression
does set in, and that's why we have to be
careful because that depression does set in, and then you
start to have regrets of getting out of this service.
What are you going to do with the rest of
your life? Those kind of things, How are you going
to be able to survive? And I feel that too
(19:33):
contributes to a lot of and if I can touch
on this just just a second. A lot of homelessness,
the veteran homelessness here, especially in the Atlanta area. We
have so many homeless veterans, which is absurd to me.
And it's that depression that gets set in because there
isn't enough support.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Yes, exactly A.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
We moved from my husband and we moved from Virginia
four years ago and I went to Atlanta. I actually
got lost in Atlanta and lost downtown. I forgot the area,
but it's where a lot of homeless veterans, or where
homeless people were, because I didn't know there were veterans
(20:18):
at first. But it's like a it used to be
a tent city, like a place where they remember. So
I remember. I went back home. I went, I came
back home, and I told my cousin, hey, we I
came in here. I got some stuff out, I got
some my husband's clothes, I made my we made food,
(20:38):
and we drove back to Atlanta fat that it was
almost like when we when I popped the trunk to
my to my vehicle, they I don't even know where
they showed up from. It's almost like they smelled the food.
They just came swarmed around the vehicle. We had about
fifty containers of food. I went home, I some spaghetti.
(21:01):
We got bred and we tried to feed them right.
But what broke my heart was when I ran out
of food and the guy, a couple guys were running
after the car. I didn't have any more, and it
felt so helpless, like because I was like, but this
is when I realized this is a big problem. I'm
(21:23):
just a not even the fraction of you know, the
support that you know, this is a it's just really
a big what is that? A pandemic? Endemic? What is
It's a really big problem. And no one person, no
one organization can really fix that. You know, It's gonna
(21:44):
take us coming together and really trying to get that.
And it's not even someone that we can fix it.
We just got to try to control it, manage it,
you know, that's right, get them to support they need
as many of them as we can. Yeah, And that
and that is why, you know, I'm so grateful for
yourself and just bringing awareness to to such a issues,
(22:09):
you know, within the veteran community, and knowing that we
did serve our country and knowing that we went out
there and put our lives on our line, and not
only the soldiers who are active, but their families, their
family sacrifice as well. No soldiers should be out there
and should be homeless, or should should be not have care.
(22:31):
It just doesn't it doesn't make sense to me at all.
And you know, I I but I can see how
that can happen because you know, going back to my
my journey just transitioning.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
You know, we had one car, we have four families.
I didn't have a job when I got out, so
I had to go find a job, you know it,
and just everything was so spread out, childcare, all of
those things how up on and so you have to
have what you have to have that intestinal fortitude. There
(23:05):
were a lot of times I had to sit back
and I had to say, Okay, Lisa, you gotta soldier up.
You gotta put your bootstraps up. You gotta go out here.
I don't care what you look like right now. You
gotta you gotta put your put your fatigues on, if
you have to a T shirt. You gotta take care
of what needs to be done. And so you know
(23:27):
that's what I did. I got on at JB. Hunt
when JB. Hunt was here, No longer. Do they have
a hub here for over the road drivers. Because I
was logistics, you know, I went into transportation and logistics,
and thank goodness, you know, because I was a veteran,
they gave me preference, preference and and and that is
(23:49):
one of the things, you know, veterans have to look
at these different organizations that do give you preference and
utilize those skills because the militi here, it gives you
a lot of skill, so many, so many skills that
you can utilize here in the civilians sector, even more
(24:10):
so than some of these civilians. Because you are you
are being you are a true problem solver y you know,
and yeah, you are a problem solver on the floor
then you and for you you know, yeah, everything.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Which and so to some degree, like I think, it's
not that we know everything. We just know how to
find the resource to get whatever it needs to done.
So if I say to you, yeah I can, I can.
I don't know how to do it, but I know
somebody can that can. We know how to tap into
our resources, our network.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
You know.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
One of the things I wanted to to highlight. I
think the thought left me, you know, you know how
I oh, you know, this is what I wanted to say.
You know, as far as like you said, I always
I have this thing where I say, any one of
us are always a situation from a situation, you know,
(25:07):
because like you said it, what if you didn't have
that intestinal fortitude to say, you know what you got,
let's let's put this be to us on and let's
get let's get cracking, you know. And there's so many
of our you know, our fellow veterans that they need
that push. The other thing that you touched on that
I really wanted to to. You know, even when we
(25:29):
transition out the military, we go through that Transition Assistance
program and like I've said this before, for me, it
was an overwhelming process. It was just so much information
being forced. I feel I just felt force fed.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
So you know.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
What, I what I like that we do. You know,
we're in the we're like in the community, and I
like that, you know, we're shown my space especially. I
want to guide people through that process because yes, we
transition out, but it's not a full transition, and you're
constantly transitioning, which leads me to you like, because you've
(26:11):
transitioned several times.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
With your transition, right so I want to talk.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
I want you to tell the story, Lisa, about when
you finally decided you is just gonna be you, you know,
with your hair and everything. You painted that picture. I
felt like I was watching a movie when you were talking. Seriously,
I was like, oh my gosh, I can literally see
this happening. I was, I was there with you. I
(26:43):
can feel it. So you gotta tell it the same way, okay, And.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
I hope I can deliver it to you, you know,
in same manner. But I have transitioned a couple of
times once I kind of got my footing, you know,
just being transitioning from being a soldier. And I don't
think I'll ever stop soldiering, but being an active duty, yes,
(27:12):
being an active duty soldier to a civilian. I I
had to think about what I was going to do.
So I did transition from you know, wanting to really
explore my creativity in in in different areas, and and
thus came about I wanted to give back to the
youth expressions in in a creative space. And then also
(27:40):
I am style agency, yes, uh, the modeling agency, and
that creative space working with independent artists and and models
and actors and actresses, because that's what I strive to
do too, And so these spaces I wanted to not
(28:01):
only impact other people's lives, but my life as well,
because it brought meaning and purpose to who I was,
and so it formed my character and what I wanted
to give back to the community. And so when I
was officially diagnosed with alopecia, initially it was a heartbreaking
(28:22):
thing for me because you know, we as women, our
hair is everything. And I remember myself being in the
military when I first start wearing braids and I used
to braid my own hair. I got lazy as my
as I got older with my kids, I was like,
I am not braiding another head. But I used to
(28:46):
have this, all of this, all of this hair in
One thing I told myself I would never wear was
braids or weave or anything like that to puotension on
my hair. But being in the military and going to
the field and having to be ready to so I
started to wear those protective styles and so I got
diagnosed with alopecia due to all of the I thought
(29:08):
I had traction alopecia at first, but as I spoke
to the dermatologists and we went through my story. I
noticed I had a bald spot that would continuously come
back throughout my life since I was like twenty five,
on the top of my head. And at first I
chalked it up to stress, and it wasn't. It wasn't
(29:32):
the stress. And then and then she said, well, it
might be genetic. And these are all the things that
women with alopecia we go through with the dermatologists because
they have to rule out all of these things. And
so I was diagnosed with alopecia areata. And alopecia has
(29:54):
different forms. There are several forms of alopecia areata totalis
and so you get diagnosed with this, and a lot
of women just do not know what to do with
the diagnosis. And we know it's not life threatening ego bruising.
(30:15):
I say, ego bruisy, And some people might say, well,
you know, no, ego has nothing to do with it,
but in actuality it does, especially if your hair is
your glory. So you have to sit back and accept that,
and you have to you have to say, Okay, what
am I going to do with this information? Am I
(30:36):
going to just sit back and wallow in my and
pity or am I going to go out and use
my voice to help others and lift others up? And
that's what I chose to do. But didn't happen overnight,
I know, and so I thought it as hard as
I possibly could. And when I finally made the decision
(31:00):
to do so, a young lady had came over here
I worked with. She was the independent artist. I told her.
I said, I'm ready. I'm just gonna go ahead and
shave my head because I used to wear scarfs and
wear wigs and I just got tired of doing that.
I used to go to bed and if my scarf
(31:21):
would fall off when I was sleeping right, I would
put it on so quickly, like I hardly got sleep
because I didn't want my husband to see me without
my scarf. I was, yeah, yes, it really was, and
I didn't even though we had been married for years,
the opinion of who I was and who I am
(31:44):
still kind of. I'm still his wife, and how he
used me, you know, it matters. And women say, oh,
it doesn't matter, it does matter. That's your husband, yes,
And so you know, he encouraged me to just go
ahead and just cut it off. I don't care about
just cut your head off. But I did. I cared,
and I'm like, oh my gosh, what am I going
(32:06):
to do? So the young lady came over and she
shaved my head and I'll never forget when she shaved
my head, I just sat there in the tears just
coming down my face, and I'm like, I can do this,
this is nothing, you can be able, and so I
was really trying to boost my sofa and she was like,
(32:30):
you look, you know, she was encouraging me, you look
so fabulous and those kind of things, but I just
could not see it at the time. And so I
had I am style agency, I had models, I had
I had a team of models actually, and we go
to we used to go to New York Fashion Week
every year, so we were we were headed to New
(32:53):
York Fashion Week the September show. And still at that time,
I even when I got my head shaped, I had
not walked out the door balllled yet I still cover on.
I still hadn't built up that confidence to do that.
And I got prepared to go to New York Fashion
(33:14):
Week and hear, you know, the teams get on the
plane and I still had on a wig, and so
get into New York. You know, the teams go their
different ways. And I told the ladies, hey, you guys,
go in and go in New York, because you know,
we got to get to business. These next couple of
days are going to be very intense. They're going to
(33:35):
be busy, and I don't play that when we go
to New York. It's time is money, Money is time,
because that's how these shows are. And so everybody went
out and they did their thing, and I said, well,
let me just go ahead and step out in New York.
So I did. I still had on my wig, and
(33:56):
I went out in New York and I went over
to Times Square. And I love New York. Everybody who
knows me, no, if you know, you know, I love
New York. So I want that. I went out on
Times Square in New York and I just I was
just looking at all the fabulous people in New York
and I just stood there, Renee, and I was like, Alisa,
(34:19):
you gotta let this go, you know. So at the
right in the middle of Times Square, I just took
my wig off and threw it up in the air
like Mary Tyler Moore. And I'm gonna tell I'm gonna
tell you New York. The people around me in New
York just starts yeah, laughing and screaming, and I was
(34:44):
overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude. And I'm gonna tell you,
I just I loved it, and I forever loved New
York for that fact, because I feel as though they
hoped me, just fueled on on my confidence, and they
(35:05):
accepted me for who I who I was, like.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
You know, more than anybody else. But that is like
the epitome of living unapologetically right, just as man. When
you first told that story, I was like, oh my gosh, I.
Speaker 3 (35:22):
Feel like it was beautiful.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Even now I'm like tearing up because it's just it's
such It's so much power in that, in freeing yourself, right,
because we put ourselves besides our own prison sometimes right,
and then we just have to open the door. We
just have to break the chains. We just have to
really say, you know what, I'm gonna be me, this
(35:48):
is me right, this is me, and I'm going to
live in my space, in this space, free to be
who I want to be, free and just accepting. So
I love that story. Was this conference the first time
you told that, because I just had that thing in
my head like it's a movie that I watched.
Speaker 3 (36:09):
I've told it a few times with my journey. I've
written about it, you know, just to try just to
encourage and attempt to try to attempt to however, encourage
other people because it's really, it's really a challenge. And
now we have so many beautiful women who who do
(36:30):
have alopecia and who are walking in their unapologetic truth,
and and that is something that we use a lot.
I'm gonna walk unapologetically and I'm gonna be It's the
one thing I encourage everyone when you do do that,
Don't don't put yourself in this barrel with a lot
of crabs trying to be the first to do this
(36:52):
and the first to be be this person or or
the one who's on top of the bald community. Help
other people always, and that's what I will always do.
I will always use my voice and the power that
I have to service others who are still suffering in
(37:13):
silence and underneath a unit. Not because they want to, right, no,
not because they need to because they want to, because
they're not confident enough to walk in their own truth
at the time.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
And you know, sometimes the journey, the path that we're
taken on, because we can always plan the direction we
want to go. But I say, he has a sense
of human and I love him for it. He always
takes us a different way. And we have to understand
that those paths, as much as we're the ones taking
the journey, there for us to empower, to strengthen, to encourage,
(37:55):
to lift up other people, because we got chosen for
that path for a reason, right because if he knew
we wouldn't make it, we wouldn't be here today, you know,
sharing so that we can inspire others. So you know,
I could talk to you all day, you.
Speaker 3 (38:13):
Must. I love talking to you. I just love just
and I feel this is such a healing thing, you know,
being able to get from the military to civilian. Then
you know, dealing with unforeseens that then come after that,
you know, such as being diagnosed with whatever the situation
(38:35):
may be. You have to deal with those with those
situations and everyone is different, everybody's challenge is different. But no,
there's someone out there that you can connect with and
to have that somebody that you can connect with and
that can help you be able to deal with those challenges.
(38:58):
It's priceless, it's invaluable, and it might just be one
or two people. You don't need a gang of people
around you. You really don't. Just those one or two
people that you can be able to confide in and
be able to share your stories with, that have similar
stories or that have been through a situation such as
(39:19):
yours really helps. It helps so much. I still speak
to to my one or two people that I have,
my circle that I have on a continuous basis because
I want to let you know, you never get over
the challenge of being and you just never get over it,
(39:40):
that challenge of saying that security, that confidence that you
have and the lack of Yeah, I love that because
that's one of the reasons I wanted to to showcase.
Speaker 2 (39:54):
The show is called Living Unapologetic, but it's also taking
those steps to those strends, the various transitions that you
may be going through to get to that point right
And like you said, it may not happen today or tomorrow,
but as long as you stand on that journey, surround
yourself with the right people with positive influences and put
(40:15):
yourself out there, because that's our tendency is to to
to sit back, you know, to isolate. That is the
biggest things because we we it's not it's not what's
the word, it's not, I'll say, it's not what we're
used to because we're so used to having everything at
(40:36):
our fingertips with the military, the community, the resources. You know,
it's so right now we feel out of, out of,
out of sorts because we don't have that convenience anymore.
So I'm so thankful that you're here to share. I
got one more question for you, and and you kind
of you kind of touched on it a little bit, like,
(40:56):
what's one thing you wish more people understood about the
transition process for veterans, especially women, and how can society
better support veterans in their journeys.
Speaker 3 (41:09):
I feel as though women in women who are transitioning
out of the military. I tell others be be mindful
of the experiences women have encounter as being in the military,
(41:33):
because I think sometimes as a female coming out of
the military, people think that you are this hard, tough
you you should be able to overcome all of these things.
I had one of my neighbors say, oh, you were
a assault you could do this. You don't have that
and you have to say, well, you don't know what
my experience was in the military. So I tell everybody
(41:55):
to take each each female's journey in the military area
with a grain of salt, take them for face value,
they are currently who they were in the military, and.
Speaker 2 (42:09):
Share that with you. Don't assume that, right, and I've
gotten you know, it puts you on guard, like, what
do you mean, I'm human?
Speaker 3 (42:19):
Like right, right? Right?
Speaker 2 (42:22):
No, So I I agree with that. I agree with that.
Speaker 3 (42:25):
Yeah, So that's one that's the one thing I I
I share it with everyone, you know, your audience. Just
just take that that female for who they are currently
and their face value, as you said, and and get
to know them who they are now because they have
transition and they're still transitioning. Right, where you can find
(42:49):
where you can be able to if that's where you're
going to, where you can be able to connect, don't
take don't assume anything, Yeah, based on and what what
they have done in the military. Yeah, like jumping Mike
repelling out a helicopter.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
Right, because I'm not doing that on a daily I'm
not doing that, surely not, Doctor Lisa. This is such,
this is so good. So where can our my audience
find you? Where can where can people find you? How
can they get in contact with you?
Speaker 3 (43:27):
Sure? So I am. You can find me on Instagram
at bald b A L D Balls b o z
Z Beauty so that's Bald Boss Beauty. And on Facebook
it's definitely my name, Alisa Green. And on LinkedIn is
(43:48):
doctor Alisa Green.
Speaker 2 (43:51):
Awesome, well, doctor Lisa, thank you for joining me today
and sharing your It was such a joy talking.
Speaker 3 (43:59):
To you you as well. I love you.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
Likewise resiliens and the incredible work you're doing. It's really
an inspiration. I know our listeners will take so much
from what you've shared today. Anyone listen who wants to
connect with doctor Lisa? She shared her She shared her
her handles, her contact information. Oh what about your website
(44:29):
B three dot.
Speaker 3 (44:31):
Yes, oh thank you for that. Okay, B the word
three th h R E E dot org And you
can go to my website there and see all of
the famous and fabulous things we have done in the community,
the Bald community, and see the amazing all Bald Fashion
(44:53):
show that occurred this year. And stay tuned. We're planning
something for our community coming up here real soon. So
that's where you'll find all the information about the All
Bald Fact and Show b three elegants. I'm excited about that.
I'm trying to keep it all under wraps, but real
excited about that one coming also awesome.
Speaker 2 (45:15):
And to all of you tuning in, thank you for
being here. If you've enjoyed today's episode, please like, share,
and subscribe so we can keep bringing these stories to
you and you know, all the veterans to more people.
So don't forget to join me live every Friday at
(45:35):
eleven am for more inspiring conversations. Until next time, Keep
living unapologetically. Bye, y'all.
Speaker 3 (45:46):
All right, let me stop.
Speaker 1 (45:53):
This has been living Unapologetically Beyond the Uniform with your host,
Renee Jones Hutson. We hope you found inspiration and valuable
insights in today's episode. Remember your journey of redefining, rediscovering,
and reaffirming your life post military is unique and powerful.
Stay connected with us for more stories, advice and support.
(46:17):
Until next time, Stay strong and stay empowered. Listen Friday's
eleven am Eastern
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