Support Tobi Holland in Her Fight for Life

Friends, this is Andrea Maki. There are times in life we get news that shakes us to our core. After we absorb it, we regain our footing and step up to help. That said, I am creating this GoFundMe campaign to rally support for the one and only Tobi Holland, Hair + Makeup, and so much more. She is loved dearly by everyone she has worked with and established countless friendships over her many years in the fashion business. This photo I am sharing has always been one of my favorites with Tobi from an LLBean job we were on in Sun Valley in 2001.

For everyone in the business touched by Tobi's bright light, we all carry with us great stories and memories. Tobi has always brought much more than just hair and makeup to every job. Her talents, creativity, ideas, and energy have shaped many a shoot, whether for a job or a test to feature in a photographer's portfolio or promo card. We have all benefitted from the magic and truth that is Tobi Holland, and now she needs our support.

I was lucky enough to first meet Tobi when I was just a kid. She and her brother Clay were models of my mom, Dee Maki when she ran Seattle's Models Guild. I thought Tobi was so beautiful and so cool. And I was right! As fate would have it, a decade later, I stepped on an RV in the early morning hours and there was Tobi Holland, hair and makeup. I couldn't contain my excitement... and the adventures started there. For years to follow, everyone always thought we were up to something... and most of the time we were.

Fast forward to today, Tobi is a single mom to a now 19-year-old daughter and for years, she was also a caregiver to her mother, in addition to her continued work in the business. Tobi is in a battle for her life, which brings us to the reason for this GoFundMe. Last August, Tobi visited the ER with severe symptoms. Shortly thereafter, she and her daughter learned she had Stage Four Squamous Cell Carcinoma. It had already spread. After two sessions of chemo, the tumors shrunk and her treatment shifted to immunotherapy. After three sessions of this and a compromised immune system, she contracted pneumonia and COVID-19, which took her back to the ER last November and extended hospitalization. Combined, she spent over two months in the hospital and was fighting for her life. Thankfully, she survived and was discharged in early February. Presently, she is enduring more rounds of chemo and the resulting effects. There is a great deal of damage to her body, but she is slowly regaining her strength. The challenges are steep.

Tobi Holland is one tough cookie! She's a fighter! Her medical prognosis is as serious as it gets. Her daughter is her sole caregiver and she is doing a tremendous job helping and caring for her mom in every way - she needs our support as well. All of us who are self-employed and freelancers know the weight of carrying the total financial responsibility for ourselves and our families. It's a lot of pressure under normal circumstances to make ends meet, but when something like this hits, lives turn upside down on a dime. You enter a new phase of 24/7 survival and care and doctors and appointments and challenges to meet the simplest needs for you and your family. Medical expenses, living expenses, care expenses, insurance, and all that insurance does not cover when you need it most. It's a lot, and these stresses are antithetical to the healing process.

This GoFundMe campaign is designed to help Tobi and her 19-year-old daughter on multiple fronts they are facing daily. We are all Tobi's family. We are all each other's family. And family rallies when we are needed. I am asking all of you to please consider helping in the ways you can. As well, please share with others in the business who have been touched and benefitted from Tobi's presence and being. Her prognosis is not long enough, but we can have a positive impact on that. In addition to rallying together to help with expenses, we can focus our energy on Tobi's healing. Visualize Tobi as healthy, radiant, and vibrant - just as you have always known her to be. Focus on that twinkle in her eye and coy little side smile and send her all your positive healing energy and love. The mind is a powerful thing. I have personally witnessed extraordinary comebacks with my mom and other family members, defying every odd thrown at them by doctors over and over again. Now it's Tobi's time. Together, we can help ease some of the stresses of this journey. Together, we can make a difference by supporting Tobi and her daughter during this challenging time. Love rules! Simple.

In addition to this GoFundMe, here is the Linktree page her daughter has created, click here @tobishealth - she has outlined numerous goods that Tobi needs for her at-home care. By accessing this site you can purchase requested goods and them sent directly to Tobi and her daughter. It's quite helpful and purposeful.

In closing, a special thank you for taking the time to read and share this story. We love Tobi very much, all of us. It's amazing what we can do when we join forces and support one another. After all, we are all in this life together, and spreading love always wins.

Warmly, Andrea xox