Media & Collaborations
Yomarie “YoMo” Castellano
Founder of Hair Loss Bonita · Model
Advocate for Representation
Yomarie “YoMo” Castellano is the founder of Hair Loss Bonita, a platform and practice centered on the emotional and identity impact of hair loss in women. She is also a model and advocate working with brands and media to expand representation of women with thinning hair, visible hair loss, and alternative hair.
Living with androgenic alopecia for over 12 years, YoMo brings lived experience, cultural insight, and emotional clarity to conversations about beauty, visibility, and self-expression. Her work challenges the idea that hair determines worth and advocates for representation that reflects how women actually live.
The perspective behind Hair Loss Bonita
Hair loss affects millions of women across age, profession, and background, yet it remains one of the least honestly discussed experiences in beauty, wellness, and media.
For many women, hair loss doesn’t arrive as a single moment. It shows up in daily decisions, how you enter a room, how you think about photos, and how much effort it takes to feel comfortable being seen.
Most conversations still frame hair loss as a cosmetic issue to fix or move past. What’s missing is language for the experience underneath it: the mental strain, the self-monitoring, the identity questions that persist even when a solution “works.”
Hair Loss Bonita exists to name that reality and change how it’s represented.
What I Bring to Campaigns & Collaborations
I work with brands and media that want to reflect how women actually live with hair loss, not how it’s usually simplified or dramatized.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
Lived context, not symbolism. I don’t speak about hair loss as a concept. I speak from daily experience navigating meetings, cameras, events, intimacy, and public visibility while living with thinning hair and alternative hair. I understand the decisions women are making because I’m making them too.
Choice without moral framing. I don’t position wigs, toppers, natural hair, or baldness as confidence milestones or emotional breakthroughs. They are practical, personal choices. In my work, they are shown as normal parts of everyday beauty and self-expression, not something to justify or explain.
Stories that match real life. I don’t participate in exaggerated confidence arcs or “before and after” narratives. The work I do reflects how confidence actually shows up unevenly, situationally, and alongside uncertainty. That’s what most women recognize as true.
Recognition over performance. I focus on helping women see themselves in the work, not disappear inside it. The goal is not reassurance through invisibility or a polished version of being “fixed,” but representation that feels familiar, human, and believable.
Selected Campaign & Media Work
JVN Hair
Participated in a JVN Hair campaign for a new product, invited by Jonathan Van Ness. I was the only model representing hair thinning and hair loss, contributing to broader inclusion in mainstream beauty imagery.
Oprah Daily (via Ricki Lake feature)
Hair Loss Bonita received a public shoutout connected to Ricki Lake’s candid conversation about hair loss, highlighting the need for honest dialogue and community.
Radio Milwaukee — Uniquely Milwaukee
Guest on “Men and Women Navigate Beauty Standards, from Hair to Height,” discussing how appearance norms shape confidence, credibility, and identity and how hair loss quietly affects how people move through the world.
CBS 58 — Alopecia Awareness
Featured during Alopecia Awareness coverage, focusing on emotional impact, visibility, and advocacy.
Telemundo Wisconsin
Interviewed in Spanish about supporting women living with hair loss, visibility, and self-expression.
Modeling & Representation Work
I work as a model to help brands represent women with hair loss accurately and credibly.
Most beauty and lifestyle imagery relies on simplified narratives: full hair as the default, baldness as the exception, or highly stylized moments of “acceptance.” These approaches miss a large group of women who live in the in-between: thinning hair, visible loss, and regular use of wigs or toppers while continuing their everyday lives.
That gap creates distance between brands and consumers.
My work addresses that gap by offering representation that feels familiar rather than symbolic. I model with thinning hair, visible hair loss, wigs, toppers, and protective styles in ways that integrate naturally into beauty, fashion, and lifestyle storytelling.
What this allows brands and media to show:
women with thinning hair in everyday, aspirational-but-real contexts
alternative hair presented as a styling choice, not a concealment strategy
visibility without relying on “before and after” or transformation framing
confidence portrayed as situational and lived-in, not performative
This approach builds trust because it reflects how women actually make
decisions about their appearance. When audiences recognize themselves
in the imagery, the work feels credible rather than instructional or inspirational.
I’m available for editorial shoots, beauty and lifestyle campaigns, and long-term
brand storytelling that prioritizes realism, nuance, and audience connection over
one-off representation moments.
Writing & Contributor Perspective
I write about hair loss in ways that help brands and media connect with women without flattening their experience.
Most coverage either avoids hair loss altogether or treats it as a moment of transformation. That approach misses how women actually live with it and often creates distance instead of trust.
My work focuses on the internal realities that shape behavior and decision-making, including:
the constant self-monitoring and mental effort women expend to feel comfortable
how confidence becomes situational, not fixed
how hair loss influences choices around work, dating, visibility, and social presence
why wigs and alternative hair are often practical decisions, not emotional hiding
This perspective helps brands speak to women in ways that feel accurate rather than aspirational. When audiences recognize their real experience in the language and imagery, they are more likely to trust the brand telling the story.
I don’t write to reassure or dramatize. I write to create clarity so brands can engage the topic with credibility, nuance, and long-term relevance.
Topics I Speak & Write On
My work sits at the intersection of hair loss, identity, and visibility. I focus on lived experiences that shape how women move through their daily lives.
I speak and write on topics including:
female hair loss and thinning hair, including androgenic alopecia
the emotional and psychological impact of hair loss over time
confidence, identity, and self-trust when appearance changes
wigs, toppers, and alternative hair as self-expression and personal choice
hair loss advocacy and representation in beauty, media, and culture
mental health, visibility, and the experience of being seen
how beauty standards influence credibility, professionalism, and belonging
These conversations are grounded in real behavior, real decisions, and real emotional labor.
Credentials & Background
I bring both lived experience and professional training to this work.
Founder of Hair Loss Bonita, a platform and practice centered on the emotional and identity impact of hair loss in women
Model/actress and advocate for representation of thinning hair, visible hair loss, and alternative hair
Certified Life Coach
Master’s degree in Counseling (non-clinical or liscensed)
Lived experience with androgenic alopecia for over 12 years
Host of Hair Loss Bonita Meet-Ups, creating in-person and community-based conversations around hair loss and self-trust; hosted them in Chicago, Orlando, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Toronto, and more.
Speaker on the emotional and identity impact of hair loss, visibility, self-trust, and representation in beauty, media, mental health, and professional spaces.
My work is informed by years of listening closely to women’s experiences in sessions, community spaces, media conversations, and everyday life.
Brand, Media & Speaking Inquiries
I collaborate with brands, media, and organizations interested in thoughtful, grounded conversations around representation, identity, and visibility. I’m available for:
brand campaigns and long-term partnerships
editorial shoots and media features
interviews and podcast appearances
panel discussions, keynotes, and live events
writing and contributor opportunities
For inquiries, please contact:
hairlossbonita@gmail.com
Female hair loss support that helps women feel like themselves again while continuing to live their lives.
Hair Loss Bonita exists to make space for women to live with hair loss as it actually is whether they wear alternative hair, rock their thinning hair or bald head. The work centers the emotional and identity impact of hair loss, while advocating for representation that reflects real choices, real bodies, and real lives.
This work supports women in staying connected to who they are as they navigate visibility, confidence, and self-trust in relationships, at work, in public, and in their own bodies.