Towanda Braxton is embracing her alopecia.
The actress and producer, 50, tells PEOPLE at The Braxtons premiere at the West Cultural Arts Center on Thursday, Aug. 8 that she is not shying away from her alopecia diagnosis, even will be sharing her journey with the condition on her new show.
“I have alopecia, and I’m just wearing it loud and proud,” Towanda says. “Being bald is amazing.”
Alopecia is a disease that causes hair loss, according to the American Academy of Dermatology Association (AADA). It can often cause patchy hair loss anywhere on the body and though people may regrow their hair, sometimes it will fall out again. This cycle of hair regrowth and loss can “occur throughout a person’s life,” the AADA noted.
Towanda says she initially had an idea that she had alopecia “by definition,” but it only became “real” when she finally “got the diagnosis from the doctor.”
“I felt relieved,” the singer recalls. “Because I was like, ‘Okay, I hate being right about that, but I was right about that,’ you know?”
The Envision actress goes on to discuss the biggest misconceptions that she’s learned from her alopecia diagnosis — including the fact that “it’s not hereditary” even though “it can be hereditary.”
“And then there are so many different types of alopecia,” she adds. “And it’s important for you to find out which one you have. So just in case you have children, they’ll know how to treat it.”
Ultimately, she’s hopeful her story will inspire others with alopecia. “For everyone else who’s going through the same journey, [I want to tell them] that it’s okay, and your hair does not define who you are,” she says.
Towanda previously shared on the Black America Web show in June that she shaved her head bald in honor of her late sister Traciand because she “didn’t want everybody to know” she had alopecia.
“I always knew that my hair was different. I always knew that it was something. I had a whole bunch of cowlicks growing up my hairline,” she said at the time. “My hairline was like here… and then it would grow back.”
She added that one of the women who she had been working with to launch her skincare line encouraged her to share that she had alopecia, which gave her the courage to tell her husband Sean Hall about the diagnosis.
Now, she’s happily standing as an inspiration for others. “For me, it’s like it’s letting everybody know you can walk long and strong and walk in your greatness not having hair and that’s okay. And if you want hair you can buy hair,” she said.
The Braxtons premieres on Aug. 9 (9:30 p.m.) on We TV.
