The Apprentice: Meet the Teesside hair transplant expert rooting for £250k investment
A hair transplant consultant from Middlesbrough is among the crop of contestants set to star on this year's series of The Apprentice.
Carlo Brancati will join 17 other business brains vying to impress Sir Alan Sugar and his aides on series 19 of the popular BBC show. Carlo, from Acklam, is a hair transplant consultant and joined the show with the aim of growing and expanding his own business.
Having had a hair transplant of his own after losing his crowning glory when he was just 25, Carlo is well-placed to advise people on the procedure. Known on social media as The Hair Transplant Specialist, he has amassed 30 million views and 30k followers.
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With a master’s degree in psychology, along with sales experience and self-acquired digital marketing skills under his belt, he has since made a career out of building people’s self-esteem by offering hair loss consultations and advice. He told the BBC his biggest business success to date was establishing himself as a trusted hair transplant consultant, "gaining the confidence of hair loss sufferers, leading hair transplant surgeons worldwide, and leading hair loss product companies."
He added: "With over 30 million views and nearly 30k followers on social media, I’ve built a strong personal brand that resonates with people and industry professionals alike. I’ve worked 15-hour days over the past several years... no one works harder than me!"
Carlo previously told how his confidence was left in tatters when he started losing his hair at a young age. He felt paranoid and unable to speak to women as his hair continued to thin over the years, leaving him emotionally 'shattered'.
His brother who lives in Sydney, was shocked when he saw Carlo's drastic change in looks on a chat over FaceTime. Carlo said: "This is what done it for me. He seen me on FaceTime and he genuinely just started laughing, like he couldn't catch his breath," he said.
"I thought you know what, sod this, I have had enough. The week after I decided to take the plunge and went to Turkey."
A conversation with his barber about his thinning hair had led him to consider the hair transplant, which moves hair follicles to fill an area with thin or no hair. Carlo said he had previously believed it was only accessible to "footballers or really rich people" but his barber said this wasn't the case and suggested Turkey.
He began researching places that offered the surgery and was determined to go through with it. Finally in June of 2019, he travelled to Turkey and paid €3,000 to have 3,000 hair grafts implanted into the front of his head..
Carlo said it changed his life. "It's done wonders for my confidence," he said. "I can't tell you how confident I am, I'll approach girls if I'm out in a club now - it's just made a massive difference."
Carlo's business plan for Sir Alan is to develop a user-friendly online platform that connects patients with the reputable hair transplant clinics worldwide. He said: "The platform will solve the challenge of navigating a crowded market, where many clinics claim to be the best, by providing a trusted, easy-to-use resource for comparing clinics, accessing expert advice, and making well-informed decisions about hair restoration."
The Apprentice series 19 premieres 9pm on Thursday, January 30, on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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