In this segment from The Big Something Radio Programme, we bring you a conversation recorded by StoryCorps in Colorado Springs, featuring Greg Wickherst and Jason Belcher. Greg Wickherst is a single father of a three-year-old daughter named Izzy. While working as an admissions rep at IntelliTec college in Pueblo, he began taking cosmetology classes to learn how to do his daughter’s hair, and posted pictures of the hairstyles he was learning on Facebook. The media got wind of his story, and he and his daughter went viral, leading to appearances everywhere from the local news to the Huffington Post to the Rachel Ray Show. Jason Belcher also lives in Pueblo. He’s the father of 5 girls—including four step daughters, and one biological daughter. His biological daughter, Makenzy, has a rare syndrome known as Glut1. Wickherst and Belcher met at a Valentines Day father-daughter hair styling class that Wickherst helped organize in February of this year. In this conversation, they discuss what it means to be a father to young girls.
Jason Belcher is the southern Colorado ambassador for the organization Ainsley’s Angels, which works to help people with disabilities participate in endurance events like marathons and 5k races. He also runs a Facebook page called Prayers for Makenzy Jolee Belcher.
Greg Wickherst runs the site Dad’s Guide to Surviving Hair, where he regularly posts video tutorials for kids hairstyles.
This interview was recorded by StoryCorps, a nonprofit organization dedicated to recording and preserving the stories of people from all walks of life, around the country. You can hear more installments from StoryCorps every Friday morning on Morning Edition.
