Hair Replacement Artist Richard Farrell at the American Hair Loss Council

At their annual show in Nashville, Tennessee, the American Hair Loss Council Board of Directors forged a pact with its Council members and the public to rebuild the hair loss industry by focusing on the needs of the individual hair loss sufferer.

More than 100 AHLC members and hair loss professionals attended the event, held in the heart of Nashville at the Gaylord Opryland Convention Center. The two-day affair began on Saturday with a presentation by Hair Replacement artist Richard Farrell of Los Angeles, who admonished the council membership and board against forging alliances with large hair replacement factories and companies. "The industry has made big profits by smothering you (salons) with cheap systems. It's time to reshape the industry and offer higher quality hair systems to hair loss sufferers."

Farrell's presentation, while controversial, set the tone for the remainder of the event that many attendees saw as the genesis of an organized and worthy campaign to wrest control of the hair loss industry away from the industry's suppliers. AHLC President Steve Luttrell, of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, affirmed the Board's position, saying that Farrell had voiced a plan of action that he and the Board of Directors had already been discussing; a plan that focuses energy, effort and education to better resolve the problems of the individual suffering from hair loss. "This is a revolt, the proverbial `shot heard around the world'," said Farrell. "These companies who victimize the hair loss sufferers with ridiculous-looking hairpieces should take notice."

At the Council's Annual Meeting the following day, the Board of Directors, which include Peggy Thornhill of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Susan Kettering of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Marsha Scott of Bethel, Connecticut, and Penny Bell of Parsons, Tennessee, rallied it's members to action, vowing a united front against the "old guard" of the industry and affirming their focus on "the end user" - the hair loss sufferer.

Taking advantage of the momentum and high emotions of the previous day, Board and Council Members delved into action, proposing a series of ambitious long and short range plans for the Council - a nonprofit organization - to achieve greater influence in the hair loss industry; plans which include more education and seminars for both hair loss sufferers and hair loss professionals, and an expanded role of the Council as a consumer education and industry regulating body.