For so long, people have been conditioned to believe that beauty is everything. Society has put such great importance on perfection that the slightest flaw and blemish are considered to bring a person great shame. For the longest time, Nicolas Srut also felt compelled to conform and comply with these unrealistic standards until he learned the value of self-love.
The young social media influencer has an autoimmune condition called alopecia, which caused him to lose all his hair at the tender age of seven. Because of this, he was constantly teased and mocked by kids in school calling him names like “alien” and “cancer head.” He even suffered physical abuse when one kid nearly broke his hand simply because he was bald. These incidents have severely affected the boy’s confidence and self esteem.
For years, all his self-worth hinged on what other people think about him. For several years, he resorted to wearing a wig just to feel some semblance of a normal life. However, after bending over backwards just to fit in, he still felt self-conscious and unhappy. Only then did he realize that he should stop living for others and start putting himself first.
Learning to let go of the burden brought by society’s unrealistic beauty standards, he finally made the conscious decision to take off his wig and embrace his true self. Looking back, the young man felt that it was the greatest decision he made for himself and it boosted his confidence like no other.
Many years later, when TikTok started gaining popularity, he saw an opportunity to utilize the social media platform to share his story and inspire others. Using an unconventional approach of making jokes and sharing funny stories about his Alopecia, he was able to capture the interest and appreciation of a wide audience.
His goal was to highlight and showcase that everyone is beautiful, not despite, but because of their differences; he wants his audience to revel in the strength brought by diversity. This endeavor proved to be highly worthwhile as more and more people resonated with his message of hope and positivity. Within a span of one year, his TikTok account gained more than 5.3 million followers.
Following the immense success of his social media accounts, he decided to create his own organization The Naked Confidence Campaign. It is a program for mentoring individuals with the same autoimmune condition as Nicolas Srut. It focuses on helping people with alopecia embrace who they truly are, to ditch their wigs and their fake eyebrows. Most importantly, it aims to restore their self-worth by helping them realize the insignificance of aesthetics and external beauty, in the grander scheme of things. Currently, it helps over 500 people across the globe through weekly Zoom meetings.
In 2022, The Naked Confidence Campaign is slated to travel to schools, colleges, and many other venues all around the world to teach people about the importance of confidence and self-love. It aims to bring more people on board and spread its message that weaknesses don’t define a person’s worth and turning them into strengths is the key to achieve the best version of themselves.
In the meantime, you can learn more about Nicolas Srut and The Naked Confidence Campaign by visiting his website.
