London — MS Diagnosis Spurred Wig Brand Worn by Campbell, Williams

A multiple sclerosis diagnosis that doctors said would put her in a wheelchair within a year pushed Antonia Okonma Shittu to turn a childhood hobby into A-List Lace Hair, the wig brand now worn by Naomi Campbell, Serena Williams and Niecey Nash, according to the BBC.

What happened to Antonia Okonma Shittu?

Shittu, now 44, was told she had MS when she was 26 and working between acting jobs and a call-centre job, the BBC reports. She called the diagnosis a "massive turning point" and said it made her reconsider "what you want to do in life." She has since also been diagnosed with Graves' disease, an autoimmune condition, and heart failure, according to the outlet.

Why did she start selling wigs?

Shittu, who grew up on a council estate in west London, bought two wigs and sold them from the boot of her car, the BBC reports. She had spotted a gap while working in television and film, including on the ITV series Bad Girls two decades ago, where she found available wigs "terrible." "Women wanted natural-looking wigs and they just weren't available. They looked like helmets!" she told the BBC. She built the business without outside investors, starting with a Facebook page and Gumtree ads, per the report.

How did a bone marrow transplant shape the business?

Shittu lost her own hair during chemotherapy following a bone marrow transplant, the BBC reports, and says that experience of being "completely bald" deepened her understanding of customers' loss of control.

"I didn't feel like myself, but being able to put on a wig that looks something close to how your hair was, or the look you used to have, it's as though you can feel like yourself again," Shittu told the BBC.

Timeline

• MS diagnosis at age 26; doctors warn she could need a wheelchair within a year, per the BBC.
• She buys two wigs and begins selling from the boot of her car, building the business with no outside investors.
• A-List Lace Hair grows into a multi-million-pound brand with salons in London and New York, the BBC reports.
• Shittu wins a Black British Business Award, according to the outlet.

How big is A-List Lace Hair now?

The company has become a multi-million-pound brand with salons in London and New York, the BBC reports, and counts Williams, Campbell and Nash among its clients. Shittu told the outlet watching a woman put on a wig and seeing her "whole face" light up is "very, very rewarding."

How does she run the company while managing MS?

Shittu still deals with fatigue from MS and uses a wheelchair, the BBC reports, but says the condition has changed rather than stopped her approach to the business. She told the outlet she used to believe good entrepreneurship meant doing as much as possible herself, a mindset she has had to adjust around hospital appointments.

What does she want other women to take from her story?

Shittu told the BBC she hopes her experience running the company alongside ongoing health treatment can show other women facing illness or hair loss that building a business and managing a diagnosis are not mutually exclusive. "When we feel good about ourselves ... we're more confident, we can achieve more," she said. "I felt like I was changing the world, one person at a time."