Coils to Locs co-founders Dianne Austin and Pamela Shaddock in work mode.

When Dianne Austin was diagnosed with breast cancer, she never imagined having a hard time securing natural and textured wigs for herself for her medical hair loss in cancer center boutiques. Out of this difficult lived experience, she and her sister, Pamela Shaddock, decided to disrupt this health care disparity and become the co-founders of Coils to Locs.

They sell culturally sensitive, coily, curly and kinky wigs for natural hair, so that other Black women and women of color won’t have to deal with the same issue when they are going through their own medical hair loss journeys.

Austin shared how it was her oncologist who opened up this medical wig world to her, which she was unaware of before her diagnosis of breast cancer and receipt treatment.

“I wasn’t aware it existed — wigs for medical hair loss, also known as either a hair prosthesis or a cranial prosthesis. He asked me if I would be interested in a wig. I told him, absolutely I would be. He wrote an actual wig prescription and told me I could take that to any cancer center boutique or medical salon to get a wig, but I would need that prescription if my health insurance either covered the cost, either through reimbursement or direct purchase of a wig. My health insurance did cover the cost of a wig for up to $350,” she said.

Shaddock shared some of the difficulty she faced navigating the medical hair loss spaces.

“I was treated here in Boston, and I went to, of course, first the hospital where I was being treated, and we only had straight haired wigs, and I had two weeks to find a wig before I would lose my hair. It took two weeks from this particular chemotherapy treatment before you started losing your hair. So I was really, to be honest with you, desperate to find a wig. The place where I was being treated did not have these wigs. I went to other hospitals in the area that had spaces set up, called cancer center boutiques, where they sold wigs along with other products, and they also (sold) straight haired wigs. And that was pretty frustrating for me. I didn’t want a straight-haired wig because I didn’t want anyone to know that I was going through this. I wanted to fly under the radar. For me, that meant looking as much like myself as possible,” she said.

This is when she enlisted the help of her sister, Shaddock, who began helping her to search for wigs across the country to no avail.

“It wasn’t my intent to go outside of Boston. I was in the middle of treatment, but I was very curious as to whether other places sold these things, because, in that moment, I was thinking, ‘Oh, it’s because it’s Boston. That’s why they are not culturally sensitive,’ but what we learned was that this was a systemic issue across the country … when hospitals say, “Oh, we don’t have those types of wigs, but you can try this place. You can try that place, coast to coast, north and south.’ Nobody sold these in these medical hair loss spaces that were set up to support patients who were going through hair loss. And so that was very frustrating for me,” Austin said.

When Austin and Shaddock began connecting with vendors from the hospital medical hair loss boutiques, they were receiving feedback that they were looking for these natural / textured wigs and women were asking for them, but the wig distributors were not rising to the occasion.

“They would just say, we don’t have them. They weren’t looking to solve this problem. They were just like, we don’t have them. We don’t carry them. Sorry. You know, it’s that kind of thing, and so, you know, once again we felt, once again here, here it is. Black women are having a subpar experience simply because their hair is different,” Shaddock said.

Shaddock also shared that as they began to do their research for their business, they found out that the American Cancer Society reports that one in three Black women in the United States alone will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.

“That’s usually the type of cancer that causes hair thinning and hair loss that does not always come back. We discovered that nearly 50% of Black women in the U.S. are living with some form of medical or non-medical hair loss due to a whole slew of other things, like autoimmune diseases, lupus medications they take, and high blood pressure medication. Almost 65% of Black women are on high blood pressure medication in the U.S., and simply aging,” Shaddock said.

“So many factors, so many factors, geriatric surgery, COVID symptoms, there are so many reasons that people are losing their hair,” Austin said.

Austin said women going through medical hair loss cannot necessarily just go and get a wig at a local beauty supply store.

“This is another layer of the disparity that comes in this space, because if you’re getting your wigs at a cancer center hospital or medical hair loss salon, you’re brought to a private room. You’re paired with a licensed cosmetologist or wig fitter. You can try on wigs to your heart content,” she said, adding, “They may also have scars and other things. You can try on [the wigs]. Nobody has to see that you’re losing your hair, and you can pick the right wig for you. In a beauty supply store, there is no place where you can try out wigs. The wigs are oftentimes of lesser quality, and you can’t use your health insurance reimbursement if you purchase a wig at a beauty supply store.”

As Austin was going through her journey, she did go to a few beauty supply stores where she asked if she could try on the wigs and most of the time, she was told no.

“There were a couple of people who were feeling, you know, I guess, sensitive to my situation, and said, ‘Well, you can use our staff bathroom, or you can use our stockroom,’ neither of which I did. So, there’s a secondhand experience for women if you want to try on the wig. You may be fine with purchasing a wig from a beauty supply store, but even then, you have to buy the wig and take it home. It’s nonrefundable, and you’re not going to be able to try it on, and you’re not going to be able to return it. So there are some women who are getting a premium experience, a special process or treatment. You know, that’s in many ways unintentional, but it’s an unconscious bias that if you have straight hair, you can take this path where you’re going to be pampered and treated with dignity and respect. But if you want a wig, and your hair is highly textured, you’re not going to be able to go through that experience,” she said.

Since Coils to Locs has been in business, it is clear that these natural/textured wigs are in demand, as they are receiving positive feedback from patients and medical vendors.

Currently, their wigs are in 26 hospitals to date.

Patient Priscilla B., who is receiving chemotherapy treatments from the Waterford Place Cancer Resource Center in Aurora, Illinois, was gifted with a wig from Coils to Locs.

“I am currently receiving chemo treatments and was gifted one of your wigs from The Waterford Place Cancer Resource Center in Aurora. I love your wigs. Thanks for all you do!” she said.

Patient Pat H. said that when she received her Coils to Locs wig, she received positive comments complementing her wig from people she did not know.

“I received my Jasmine (Onyx) wig today and promptly put it on to go shopping. To my surprise I received favorable comments and compliments from a few strangers; a real boost to my spirits,” she said.

Natalie Strickland, mastectomy boutique coordinator at Piedmont Athens Regional, said that her boutique is thrilled to bring Coils to Locs in as a vendor.

“Since we opened, we have struggled to find high-quality, natural wigs for our patients. Many wigs were either poorly constructed or not quite correct textures, and we struggled to serve an entire population of our patients. We are so happy to be able to expand our offerings to better serve our clients,” she said.

E. Balzer is an oncology social worker at Baptist Health Paducah. She is happy to have Coils to Locs wigs available to her patients.

“I’m happy we have wigs available that we did not in the past and to be able to better serve more of our community members,” she said.

Lastly, Austin and Shaddock share the reason why Coils to Locs is an important business for Black women and women of color experiencing medical hair loss.

“I do want to preface this by saying we understand that not every woman wants to wear a wig. Not everyone wants to wear a wig, but for those who do, they should have choices. There should be inclusivity in the selections that are being offered, and not an assumption that there’s a one size fits all [and] that every woman that walks into these spaces wants a straight-haired wig. We know as Black women that that’s not the case,” Austin said.

There may be some Black women who want straight haired wigs, but there are many who don’t. Wigs are not a vanity product. When you are faced with hair loss, it’s a way to maintain your sense of control over your circumstances, your dignity during a very difficult time in your life. It’s a way of just normalizing things and … as Black women, hair is representative of our personality. … Women want to feel seen, heard, and understood, we recognize all those things,” Austin added.

“It’s so important to be able to have to feel, look and feel like yourself, and have options, like Dianne said, and not have to jump through hoops,” Shaddock added.

Austin and Shaddock are currently in talks with some of the Boston hospitals about potential partnerships with Coils to Locs; however, they both said that they appreciate the support that Dana-Farber and Boston Medical have provided when it comes to moving their mission forward.

If you want to support Coils to Locs, you can contribute to their equity crowdfunding campaign on Wefunder.