Tampa cancer survivor readjusts her 'crown of glory' by creating natural hair care product

TAMPA, Fla. - A Bay Area woman is turning hardships into hair care. 

Monica Smith created a leave-in conditioning cream after experiencing hair loss during her chemotherapy treatment for colon cancer.

"How I felt when I lost my hair, it was so devastating. Once I completed the chemotherapy, I cut my hair short and I said, I want to try to grow it back naturally," she shared.

She calls her creation Sober Roots. 

Monica Smith suffered hair loss while undergoing chemotherapy.

"Sober Roots is a natural hair care that has essential oils, hyaluronic acid, avocado, oil," Smith explained. "Finding products that didn't have alcohol, all these chemicals, that was the challenge. I started doing research on essential oils and how that can help with my recovery from my hair growing back healthier."

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She collaborated with a manufacturing company and the University of Tampa's incubator program to help grow her business.

Smith named her product Sober Roots because it is alcohol-free and represents her overcoming alcohol addiction. 

She decided to name her product Sober Roots, not just because it's alcohol-free, but it also represents overcoming her struggles with substance abuse.

"It took a village to help me get through feeling so low…at the end of my addiction to bring me back to life and feel like, you know, I can do something with myself and so I wanted to take that same mindset and create a brand around others supporting each other through this trauma," stated Smith.

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She describes Sober Roots as confidence in a bottle

Monica Smith wanted to grow her hair back naturally after losing it during cancer treatment. 

She hopes it's a step in turning around bad days for those who may be going through an illness that affects their hair and bad hair days in general.

"It's our crown of glory, right? And that's where the brand is going to come in and kind of help support. It's just hope I think," said Smith.

Click here for more information about Sober Roots.