Nekeyta Brunson Founder of Uncovered

Tell me about yourself

 I’m a mother of four, and I’ve been married for thirteen years. I enjoy hosting friends and family. I also like to host dinner parties. I have a dream of making a beauty studio where everyone feels comfortable. I would also like to build a community house. It would be a multi-family home where people share household responsibilities like gardening. We would support local farmers and trade vegetables for meat. 

What was your favorite job? I’ve liked all my jobs. Working at the front desk of the hotel was very nice because they have great discounts. 

What’s your favorite part of your daily routine? Morning devotions with my husband or one of my kids— I alternate between them.

What is one thing you’ve learned from motherhood? As parents we forget our kids are still learning. We think they know what we know. We ask them ‘why did you do that?’ But they haven’t learned what we’re learned. I’ve learned to forgive them for their mistakes. 

What is one thing few people know about you? That I went to school for Culinary Arts in Flint. I was going to go to a big culinary institute but I met my husband. 

If you could have one day repeat it self what would it be? A vacation day on the beach. 

What’s your favorite place to visit? Jamaica.

What’s your faith story? I grew up with my mom who didn’t go to church often. My mom was homeless. The lady that worked at the homeless shelter took us under her wing. She brought me to her home sometimes. She treated me as her child and I went to church with her. Fast forward to when I was eighteen— I moved out of my mom’s house. I had my daughter, my own job, and my own apartment. I met my future husband. His friend had recently gotten shot and killed. He started going to church because of it. I wasn’t interested in going but he would bring boys from the church to my townhome to visit. They started inviting me to church and I eventually accepted. When I went to the church,the youth pastor—who did a lot in the community— asked me to get involved. 

Five years later we moved to Lansing. We didn’t have our church or family support, but we had three kids. My husband worked forty minutes away and I questioned what a relationship with God would look like. I wondered how to find where to fit in when the church was not there. I started going to different churches and I joined MOPS at Trinity. The moms shared their testimonies and how they had overcome things with scripture. I started devotions, reading scripture, and connected with other moms.

What have you learned from marriage? It’s important to find someone who is connected to you. You can’t just go off emotions. Our marriage was an agreement and we were determined to make it.We trust in God to make our marriage work for his purpose.

Can you tell me how you lost your hair? I have Alopecia. When I was in first grade all my hair came out. I went through school,was bullied,called names, and teased. As I got older I got good at hiding my condition. It wasn’t until 2015 when my daughter saw another woman without hair and said ‘look mom she’s like you’ that I realized I had a problem. I had never told the kids about my disease. I felt like Paul with a thorn in his side. I knew God can take out the thorn. I prayed for God to give me hair but he showed me I’d been hiding instead of helping other women. So,I started a nonprofit to support women with hair loss called Uncovered. I would like to open a beauty studio someday where women can feel comfortable whether they have hair or not.