When Tabatha Berget-Barnaby’s hair began falling out during chemotherapy, she kept cutting it shorter. Then one Sunday at home in New Glarus, she asked her husband, Marc, to shave off what remained. Only months later, she said, did he tell her how difficult that moment had been for him, too.

Berget-Barnaby, owner of Julia Grace Salon in Madison, had spent her career helping people feel comfortable with their hair. Cancer suddenly put her on the other side of the chair. She chose not to wear a wig herself, but the experience eventually led her to a new part of her profession: helping women navigate hair loss from chemotherapy, alopecia, thyroid conditions and other causes.

“People need this service. We’re here for them,” Berget-Barnaby said. Her salon now offers wig consultations and customization, toppers and other hair-loss options, along with free transitional haircuts for people actively losing their hair.

The work carries particular meaning during October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For Berget-Barnaby, the pink ribbons and awareness campaigns are tied to a diagnosis that changed her body, her family and the direction of a business she has spent more than two decades building.