Part 4 of 5 · The Founder Story

I Built This Because
No One Told Me.

Three hair transplants. Over twenty years of the wrong medication. A company built in Newport Beach because no 18-year-old should have to figure this out alone.

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01 — It Started At 18

I Was 18 When
Someone Pointed It Out.

Not my hairline. My crown. If you know anything about androgenetic alopecia, you know that early crown thinning is a sign of aggressive genetic loss. I didn't know that at 18. I just knew something was happening — and I had no idea what to do about it.

So I did what most guys do. I went online, found finasteride, and started taking 1mg every day. Added topical Rogaine. Tried laser combs. Tried dermarolling for about two weeks before I realized it was pointless. Tried supplements. I was a teenager throwing everything at a problem I didn't fully understand — because no one was giving me a straight answer. And I kept losing ground.

Age 18
Crown Thinning First Noticed
Starts 1mg finasteride + topical Rogaine. Also tries laser combs, dermarolling, supplements. Keeps losing ground.
2019
First Hair Transplant
Switches to topical finasteride + oral minoxidil post-procedure. Starts doing deep research into the pharmacology of hair loss.
2021
Second Hair Transplant
Discovers dutasteride. Finally switches to oral dutasteride + oral minoxidil. Understands for the first time why finasteride wasn't enough.
2023
Third Hair Transplant
Targets the crown specifically — the area that started thinning at 18. Finally on the right protocol. Continues to monitor and titrate.
June 2024
Mane & Steel — Built In Newport Beach
Founds the company while practicing as a physical therapist. Dutasteride-only protocols from day one. Built for the guy who was him at 18.
Now
4th Transplant In The Works
Still taking action. Still moving forward. Crown still showing — but on the right medication, with the right surgeon, and no intention of stopping.
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02 — Three Transplants

The First One
Completely Failed.

In 2019 I had my first hair transplant — FUE technique, targeting the frontal region. I was quoted approximately 3,000 grafts. When other doctors later examined my donor area, they estimated only 1,500 to 1,800 grafts were actually pulled. Of those, roughly 500 survived. As you can see in the photos, the result was essentially nothing. A complete failure. Money spent, recovery endured, and ground still lost.

In 2021 I went to Dr. Meshkin — 2,500 grafts via FUT. I finally started getting some real coverage back. In 2023, Dr. Blake Bloxham specifically targeted my crown — the area that had been thinning since I was 18 — with 2,400 FUT grafts. That gave me more coverage, though I still have ground left to cover.

I have nothing to hide: I still don't have a great head of hair. I still have another transplant in the works. But the point isn't perfection. The point is that I keep taking action. I keep moving forward. And I'm in a fundamentally better position than I would have been if I'd done nothing — or stayed on the wrong medication.

Hair transplant — failed FUE 2019 Dr. Meshkin 2021 — FUT 2500 grafts Dr. Bloxham 2023 — crown FUT 2400 grafts Crown coverage result Donor region
Hair transplant journey Hair transplant journey Hair transplant journey Hair transplant journey Hair transplant journey
The real journey — three transplants, one failed, two more to repair lost ground. A 4th in the works.

"Had I started dutasteride at 18, I may have never needed hair transplants."

~500
grafts survived from the first FUE — out of ~1,800 pulled, ~3,000 quoted
3+
transplants completed — a 4th in the works. Still taking action. Still moving forward.
18
the age I should have started dutasteride — before any of this was necessary
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03 — The Research

After My First Transplant,
I Went Deep.

I read everything I could find on DHT, on 5-alpha reductase, on the difference between Type I and Type II enzymes. As a physical therapist, pharmacology is part of how we think about the patients we treat — wound care, tissue healing, medication interactions. I understood the clinical framework. What I didn't have was anyone connecting that framework to hair loss specifically.

When I finally understood the mechanism — that dutasteride blocks both enzymes while finasteride only blocks one — everything clicked. Not just the pharmacology. The business. I realized the information gap was the real problem. Not the medication. The medication existed. The data existed. Men just weren't being told.

I built Mane & Steel in June 2024, still working as a physical therapist in Newport Beach, because I believed one thing: if someone had built this company when I was 18, I might have made different decisions. So I built it for the guy who is 18 right now. And for the guy who is 35 and just found out what dutasteride is for the first time. Both of them deserved better information. Both of them still do.

"The medication existed. The data existed. Men just weren't being told."

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04 — Wherever You Are

It's Okay.
There Are Options.

I still don't have a great head of hair. My crown is still showing. I still have another transplant in the works. I'm not going to pretend otherwise — that's not what this company is about, and it's not who I am.

What I have is this: I took action. I got on the right medication. I worked with good surgeons. I kept going. And I keep going. The combination of doing something — of refusing to just watch it happen — changed how I feel about myself in a way I didn't expect. Not because I have a perfect result. Because I'm in the fight.

Wherever you are with your hair loss right now, it is okay. If you're 18 and you just noticed something. If you're 28 and you've been on finasteride for years and still losing ground. If you're 35 and you're looking at surgical options. It's okay. There are options at every stage. Even getting a little bit back goes a long way — and I mean that from direct personal experience, not from a brochure.

I built this company because I care about this — not as a business exercise, but because I lived it. I'm still living it. And I want every man who finds us to feel what I eventually felt: that taking action is enough. That you don't have to have all the answers. You just have to start.

It doesn't matter what you do for a living. It doesn't matter where you are on the spectrum. Every man has the right to a great head of hair. And every man deserves the information to fight for it.

"I still don't have a perfect head of hair. I still have another transplant in the works. But I'm in the fight. And that changed everything."

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