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Permalink Reply by rj, Co-founder on December 13, 2008 at 1:50pm

Fishers girl shows how to be comfortable in your own skin

By Carrie Ritchie, IndyStar.com

Posted: December 4, 2008

Olivia Rusk lost her hair at age 2 after she contracted alopecia areata, a disease of the immune system.

By the time she entered third grade, she decided to live her life without wigs. The 11-year-old said she can't remember why she decided to take off her new, professionally styled brown hairpiece, but she's glad she did.

"I was like, you know what, I don't care what other people think," she said. "If my friends are my real friends, they'll like me either way."

Her friends support the Sand Creek Intermediate sixth-grader, and so does Indianapolis fashion designer Nikki Blaine, who asked Olivia to model.

Confidence comes easily to Olivia, so she has dedicated her time to helping others with alopecia discover their confidence. She brought the Fishers community into her latest endeavor.

She filmed a music video in Fishers using local celebrities and a song from a local artist. The video will appear on YouTube and possibly other Web sites related to alopecia, and Olivia hopes it shows others they can be successful despite challenges in their lives.

Sandy Rusk, Olivia's mom, plans to debut the video at a special viewing party in Fishers this month.

The idea for the music video came to her when she tried to think of ways to share Olivia's story and spread awareness about alopecia. She wrote the story line for the video, which is about a young girl who is bullied at school because of her illness but goes on to be an actor and model.

Though Olivia never has been bullied, Rusk has met women who have.

When she finished the story, she looked for a song. Sally Anthony, a local recording artist, received permission from Virgin Records to lend her song "I Could Be Great" to the project.

A group of students from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis filmed and edited the video for a class project at no cost to the Rusk family. Area businesses donated items and services, from pizza to a limousine, for filming. Lots of locations, including Fishers High School and Hamilton 16 IMAX theater, opened their doors to the crew.

Local celebrities Forrest Landis, from the "Cheaper by the Dozen" movies, and Morgan Wood, who appeared on the TV show "Kid Nation," made cameos. Blaine played herself and "discovered" Olivia during the video.

Sandy Rusk said she's overwhelmed by the generosity of those involved.

"I was doing this project with no budget at all, so I had to come up with creative ways to get things done," Rusk said. "It's amazing the community support that we received."

Blaine, who's worked with the Rusk family on past fundraisers, said she tries to get involved with charitable projects often. She also is inspired by Olivia's confidence and wanted to be a part of a video that encourages others to be proud of who they are.

"It's important to realize that you are just as important as those people on the cover of a magazine," Blaine said. "Whatever the situations or circumstances are, you can be empowered."

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Permalink Reply by Tracy on February 6, 2009 at 9:55am

Do you have the video up? I would like to post is on my group for Alopecia in facebook.

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Permalink Reply by Barbarra BBonney on May 5, 2022 at 12:43pm

I think this is really a great idea. But in 2022 it will be better to create a Twitch account and promote your videos about alopecia there. Can you please do this for me?

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