Greg Wickherst is a single dad of a little girl, Izzy. One of his duties is to style her hair in the mornings, but he had no idea how to even tie a simple ponytail.
This was Greg a year ago. He had hoped that cropping Izzy’s bangs would make things easier. This is now one of his hair style no-nos.
He realized he had a choice: either keep Izzy’s hair short, or learn how to style hair. Knowing that his growing daughter will likely prefer not to have her daddy’s shaved head, he headed towards the cosmetology department at IntelliTech College, where he works in admissions.
The female students were both surprised and pleased to see him working with a mannequin. After a few hours learning the basic ponytail, braid and bun, he was ready to try his hand on Izzy.
To Izzy’s delight, it wasn’t long before Greg started experimenting with more advanced styles.
These eye-catching looks are still based on the basic three styles he learned during his first lesson.
Although it began as a project for Izzy, Greg has started to really enjoy trying out new styles. Doing her hair has become another fun shared activity for them to do before they head out to some of their favorite places. They love going to the children’s museum where they play children’s movies out under the stars, and romp at a park when the weather is nice.
Their story has garnered so much attention that other fathers have come out asking for help with hair styling. IntelliTech launched a “Daddy Daughter Hair Do Day” where local dads come in with their girls to learn how to style hair. They hope to hold these sessions every six weeks.
Greg has been approached repeatedly by single moms, dads and even married parents to be told that he has been an inspiration. He told SF Globe that his biggest advice for parents is to “get out of your comfort zone and learn what they want or need.” Surely, Greg never would have suspected that he would one day be a hair-style guru for dads.
Greg now has a regular following of people who like to see Izzy’s different looks while exchanging other ideas for hairstyles. He also plans to make tutorial videos for interested parents. He has gotten so much attention, he has started a separate Facebook page dedicated to hair styles called Greg Wickherst’s Dads Guide to Surviving Hair.
SF Globe was delighted by Greg’s devotion to Izzy. He didn’t accept the misconception that dad’s can’t do hair, or force his daughter to have a cropped look to suit his needs. Instead, he pushed forward to figure out how to provide as best he can for his daughter. At first he found the attention silly, since he didn’t feel he was doing anything out of the ordinary for a dedicated parent. Still, it’s great to publicly acknowledge a father that doesn’t fit the bumbling or absentee father stereotype.
What do you think of their story? What special thing did your dad do for you?
