The story of 16-year old Lauren Williams, known affectionately as Lulu, has touched the hearts of those around the country.
The young girl’s story has gone viral after a video of her being bullied at school by a male student, in which he rips her wig from her head and runs down the school hallway. After the video was shared via Snapchat, Lulu and her family took to social media to expose the foul play.
Lulu had recently begun to wear a wig after struggling with eczema and psoriasis for most of her life, which significantly affected her scalp and her hair growth. Their story quickly went viral, sparking both an anti-bullying campaign and also serving as a reminder to not let anyone break your confidence.
Of those who saw the story and decided to do something was Stephanie Nolan, CEO of XOXO Virgin Hair Company. After seeing Lulu and her family’s message on social media, Stephanie decided to donate a wig she had just crafted to Lulu to replace the one ripped from her head.
“I felt like it was just meant for me to give her that wig. I had recently made it for myself, but decided to put it up for sale on my site. After a few days, something just told me to take it down from the site and put it aside,” Nolan says.
Stephanie said that after coming come across a tweet from Lulu’s sister about the incident that she knew she had to take action.
“I was scrolling my timeline and saw the story. I was heartbroken and couldn’t believe it. When I looked up from my phone and over at my desk I saw the wig I had just taken off the site,” Nolan recalls. “I thought to myself ‘that’s HER wig.”
Stephanie said she could relate to being bullied in school and felt that the wig would help to once again restore confidence on to Lulu. She then reached out to the family offering to send over the luxury hair, free of charge to the family. Stephanie shares that their exchange was pleasant and the family was more than grateful for the gesture.
“I DM’d them immediately and got all of their info and was just so glad I could help in some way,” she says.
Stephanie wasn’t the only one who saw the story and reached out to the family. Tyra Banks also posted a heartfelt message to the young teen on Instagram, telling her that you are strong and you are FIERCE and I want you to continue to be courageously LOUD!”
It’s amazing to see such outpouring of support and girl power rallying behind Lulu!