# Community Uplift: Crystal's innovative wig donation and recycling program, which helps women in need.

An episode of [Money Making Conversations Master Class](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1264705641), 17 Aug 2026, 24 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/b1db7263-d1a3-4d00-8976-af62012aab44/9d8b7686-600d-4bab-8796-b4b20160e7b0/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=35a10561-3e1b-4d05-a529-af62012aab6a

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Crystal Hughes. Shared her journey as a licensed cosmetologist, entrepreneur, and founder of the Wig Capital Foundation. The conversation focused on her innovative wig donation and recycling program, which supports individuals experiencing medical hair loss while also promoting environmental sustainability through hair and wig recycling. Drawing from more than two decades in the beauty industry, Hughes explained how a childhood dream evolved into a mission-driven organization that restores confidence to people facing hair loss and creates opportunities for education, community involvement, and environmental impact. Purpose of the Interview The interview was designed to: • Raise awareness about the Wig Capital Foundation. • Educate the public about wig donation and recycling programs. • Encourage salons, barber shops, cosmetology schools, and community organizations to participate. • Support individuals experiencing hair loss due to medical conditions. • Highlight the environmental benefits of recycling wigs and hair products. • Inspire listeners through Crystal's entrepreneurial and philanthropic journey. Key Takeaways 1. Wigs Can Be Recycled and Repurposed Many people are unaware that wigs can have a second life. Crystal's organization collects: • Human-hair wigs • Synthetic wigs • Hair extensions • Donated hair products Usable wigs are refurbished and redistributed, while damaged wigs are recycled into materials used for environmental cleanup and research. 2. Medical Hair Loss Impacts Quality of Life A major focus of the foundation is supporting individuals experiencing hair loss due to: • Cancer treatments • Medical conditions • Health-related challenges By providing donated wigs, the organization helps restore confidence, dignity, and self-esteem. 3. Community Partnerships Drive Impact Crystal built her program through partnerships with: • Cosmetology schools • Hospitals • Cancer organizations • Beauty supply stores • Community volunteers These partnerships allow the foundation to process, repair, and distribute large volumes of donated wigs. 4. Education Creates Opportunity Cosmetology students participate in refurbishing wigs as part of their training. The program provides students with: • Hands-on experience • Community service hours • Technical training • Exposure to real-world client needs This creates a win-win situation for both students and recipients. 5. Sustainability Is Part of the Mission One of the interview's most unique themes was environmental stewardship. Unused or damaged wigs are broken down and recycled into products that can assist with: • Environmental cleanup • Oil-spill recovery efforts • Sustainability research Crystal sees beauty and environmental responsibility as connected causes. 6. Small Ideas Can Become Large Movements What began as a personal vision expanded into a network that attracted support from multiple states and organizations. The foundation received donated wigs from: • Individual donors • Beauty supply stores • Community members • Organizations across the country The response demonstrated the widespread demand for programs that combine social impact and sustainability. 7. Entrepreneurship Begins with Passion Crystal traced her inspiration back to childhood visits to beauty supply stores with her grandmother. What started as an eight-year-old girl's…

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Welcome to the show. I'm Rashawn McDonald, the host of
[0:03] Speaker 1: Money Making Conversations Masterclass, where we encourage people to stop
[0:06] Speaker 1: reading other people's success stories and start planning their own. Now,
[0:11] Speaker 1: you don't want to miss an episode of Money Making
[0:13] Speaker 1: Conversations Masterclass. So right now, follow or subscribe to Money
[0:17] Speaker 1: Making Conversations. It's free and you can find it on
[0:20] Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get
[0:25] Speaker 1: your podcast.
[0:26] Speaker 2: Now, sit back and listen.
[0:28] Speaker 1: As we unlock the secrets to their success on Money
[0:31] Speaker 1: Making Conversations Masterclass. My guest is a licensed cosmetologist in Alabama, Florida, Washington, D.C., Maryland,
[0:40] Speaker 1: and Virginia. She has spent more than two decades in
[0:43] Speaker 1: the beauty industry. She is the founder of Wig Capital Foundation,
[0:48] Speaker 1: leading hair replacement and wig donation programs since 2009. 2012
[0:53] Speaker 1: to support individuals experiencing medical hair loss. Please welcome to
[0:58] Speaker 1: Money Making Conversation Masterclass, Crystal Hughes. How you doing, Crystal?
[1:04] Speaker 3: Hey, Rashawn. Hi. Thanks for having me on. Good. Great.
[1:07] Speaker 2: And you're based where, Crystal?
[1:10] Speaker 3: I am in Maryland right now, and I also have
[1:13] Speaker 3: a place in Alabama.
[1:15] Speaker 1: Okay, cool. Now, you're saying you're based in Maryland, but
[1:18] Speaker 1: you also have what in Alabama? Because your phone broke up.
[1:22] Speaker 3: I'm working on a facility in Alabama.
[1:26] Speaker 1: Okay, cool.
[1:26] Speaker 3: Utah, Alabama. Okay.
[1:29] Speaker 1: Are you on the cell phone? Because it's breaking up
[1:31] Speaker 1: really bad. Crystal, I don't want to ruin this interview.
[1:34] Speaker 1: If you're walking around, I want to get you stable
[1:36] Speaker 1: so we can get this work.
[1:38] Speaker 3: No, I'm sitting in one place. Can you hear me now?
[1:44] Speaker 2: You sound a lot better.
[1:45] Speaker 1: Let's see if we can ride this or not, because
[1:47] Speaker 1: I definitely want to get this interview in. Now, you
[1:49] Speaker 1: say you have property in Alabama. Tell us about the
[1:51] Speaker 1: property you have in Alabama, and what are you going
[1:53] Speaker 1: to be doing with that property in Alabama? Crystal, before
[1:56] Speaker 1: we get into the wig donation campaign, the reason I
[1:59] Speaker 1: brought you on the show, because I think it's significant
[2:01] Speaker 1: what you're doing with people who are dealing with hair
[2:04] Speaker 1: loss and not having a place to go for wigs.
[2:10] Speaker 3: Yes. So basically we'll be doing a hair and wig
[2:14] Speaker 3: recycling manufacturer on the property.
[2:16] Speaker 1: Okay.
[2:17] Speaker 3: And it'll be our campus. Our campus for our recycling property,
[2:20] Speaker 3: providing jobs and recycling hair and helping the environment.
[2:25] Speaker 1: Now, when you say, now you, you got to slow
[2:27] Speaker 1: it down for me, Crystal. What exactly is recycling hair? Okay.
[2:32] Speaker 1: You know, I'm just educating me. I'm talking to a
[2:34] Speaker 1: bald headed man, but I did have six sisters. Okay.
[2:37] Speaker 1: And I do know where the wig is. How do
[2:40] Speaker 1: you recycle a wig?
[2:43] Speaker 3: OK, well, we we are recycled through collections. So when
[2:47] Speaker 3: someone is done wearing their wigs or probably bought a
[2:51] Speaker 3: wig and got home and really didn't like it, sometimes
[2:55] Speaker 3: you can't you can't return your wig. So you just
[2:57] Speaker 3: end up being stuck with a brand new wig that
[3:00] Speaker 3: you don't like. And you end up giving it away
[3:02] Speaker 3: or just leaving it in your storage bin or somewhere.
[3:06] Speaker 3: So what we do is we have a collection bins
[3:08] Speaker 3: that we place throughout the DMV area. And we're looking
[3:11] Speaker 3: to expand our locations where people can actually donate their
[3:15] Speaker 3: wigs and our hair recycling bins. And we take those
[3:18] Speaker 3: wigs and refurbish them. And then the wigs are not
[3:22] Speaker 3: able to be refurbished. Then we take those wigs to
[3:26] Speaker 3: be disposed. taken apart throughout for-profit Circle of Life Solutions.
[3:33] Speaker 3: And then we get those ready to be recycled, to
[3:36] Speaker 3: be turned into hair mats to help clean up the
[3:39] Speaker 3: environment from oil spills and to help environment research.
[3:44] Speaker 2: What exactly is a wig made of?
[3:47] Speaker 1: You know, because, you know, you hear about hair extensions,
[3:51] Speaker 1: you hear about Indian hair, Brazilian hair.
[3:54] Speaker 2: Is wigs actual hair or is.
[3:58] Speaker 1: Or synthetics?
[4:01] Speaker 3: Well, we'll be collecting human and synthetic hair. And this
[4:04] Speaker 3: depends on the type of hair. So, you know, hair
[4:08] Speaker 3: is made from ox hair, animal hair, human hair. So
[4:12] Speaker 3: you just have different mixtures of hair. So yeah, it comes.
[4:16] Speaker 1: From animals too. Now let's talk about how we can
[4:19] Speaker 1: get in touch with you, because I always like to
[4:21] Speaker 1: get that out early in my interview so people can hear.
[4:24] Speaker 1: And I'm going to bring it up several times later
[4:26] Speaker 1: to get in this process of of donating wigs.
[4:29] Speaker 2: You're right now, like you said, Alabama in the Maryland area.
[4:32] Speaker 1: Okay. We're in Atlanta. Before we talk about trying to
[4:37] Speaker 1: motivate individuals to participate, how do they get in touch
[4:39] Speaker 1: with you right now, Crystal? Okay.
[4:42] Speaker 3: So you can go to my website, which is beacons.ai
[4:48] Speaker 3: backslash Crystal Hughes Ministry. You can Google Crystal Hughes You
[4:53] Speaker 3: can go on our website, look under programs, and you'll
[4:57] Speaker 3: find our various variety of programs, and you'll find the
[5:00] Speaker 3: wig and hair recycling program. So just look for the
[5:04] Speaker 3: breast cancer recycling sample.
[5:06] Speaker 1: Cool. Now let's talk about it. 2012, that's when you
[5:09] Speaker 1: started this. What inspired you to start this program?
[5:16] Speaker 3: Well, I always wanted to have my own beauty supply
[5:20] Speaker 3: store when I was like eight years old. So I
[5:23] Speaker 3: just like.
[5:23] Speaker 1: Let's stop right there before you.
[5:25] Speaker 3: What?
[5:25] Speaker 1: OK.
[5:26] Speaker 2: Eight years old.
[5:26] Speaker 1: Was your was your was your mom involved in beauty, hairstyling?
[5:32] Speaker 1: What what what what what sparked that inspiration for you
[5:35] Speaker 1: to want to get into this type of business?
[5:39] Speaker 3: Well, it was like a family vacation trip. I lived
[5:43] Speaker 3: in Greene County, Alabama and Clinton. And like my grandmother
[5:46] Speaker 3: would take us like to the beauty supply store like
[5:48] Speaker 3: once a week. It was like a special day. So
[5:52] Speaker 3: when I went, I just always like was so happy
[5:54] Speaker 3: to see, you know, all the beautiful things. I said,
[5:56] Speaker 3: when I get older, I want to own one of these.
[5:58] Speaker 3: I want to be able to have a beauty land.
[6:00] Speaker 3: So that's what I did.
[6:02] Speaker 2: Please don't go anywhere.
[6:04] Speaker 1: We'll be right back with more Money Making Conversations Masterclass.
[6:07] Speaker 1: Now I need for you to do me a favor.
[6:10] Speaker 1: Right now, to follow or subscribe to Money Making Conversations,
[6:13] Speaker 1: it's free. And you can find it on the iHeartRadio app, Spotify,
[6:18] Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
[6:21] Speaker 2: Please do me a favor.
[6:23] Speaker 1: Follow or subscribe Money Making Conversations. Welcome back to Money
[6:30] Speaker 1: Making Conversations Masterclass with me, Rashawn McDonald.
[6:34] Speaker 2: It was that simple.
[6:36] Speaker 3: No, it was not that simple.
[6:38] Speaker 1: Well, I'm going to tell you something. You're a quick talker,
[6:41] Speaker 1: and then you just lay out the information, and then
[6:43] Speaker 1: you just stop.
[6:44] Speaker 2: Like, ta-da!
[6:46] Speaker 1: Because every journey that we did, when I bring individuals
[6:50] Speaker 1: on the show, I really try to get down to
[6:53] Speaker 1: the good and sometimes bad of a conversation because every
[6:57] Speaker 1: journey is not a good journey. But we do have
[7:00] Speaker 1: a powerful success story here. We do have an individual
[7:03] Speaker 1: who I'm talking to That is changing lives. And this
[7:07] Speaker 1: WIG donation program that you started in 2012. Now, you'd
[7:12] Speaker 1: like to bring that program to the city of Atlanta, correct?
[7:16] Speaker 3: Yes, absolutely. And I'm excited about it and can't wait.
[7:21] Speaker 1: So what are the procedures if someone's listening to get involved?
[7:27] Speaker 1: All right.
[7:27] Speaker 3: So you have to go to the website and you
[7:29] Speaker 3: can go to our programs show all the way down
[7:33] Speaker 3: and you can see how you can register or go
[7:37] Speaker 3: to our donate or support page. And you'll just see
[7:40] Speaker 3: how you can get a bin. So if you want
[7:42] Speaker 3: to get a bin, you can go to the shop
[7:44] Speaker 3: link on there and you'll see different options on what
[7:47] Speaker 3: bins you can get, how you can become a member.
[7:50] Speaker 3: Because we have memberships where people actually help keep the
[7:53] Speaker 3: wigs refurbished because that's a big part of it. Like
[7:56] Speaker 3: getting the wigs clean and keeping them clean, especially when
[7:59] Speaker 3: they come in at such a huge number. Like the
[8:02] Speaker 3: first time we did it, we got like 5,000 in
[8:05] Speaker 3: the first year.
[8:05] Speaker 2: It was crazy.
[8:06] Speaker 3: 5,000 wigs? Yes. Yes, 5,000 weeks.
[8:12] Speaker 1: Okay, I'm just talking now. How big is your operation? Well.
[8:18] Speaker 3: The great thing about it, God, it's so good. It
[8:21] Speaker 3: was just me, but I partnered with various public schools
[8:26] Speaker 3: and private schools. So the cosmetology department was excited about
[8:30] Speaker 3: the program. And so the students participated. And so because
[8:34] Speaker 3: they have to do a portion about wigs, they have
[8:36] Speaker 3: to learn about wigs. And it's a very small session.
[8:39] Speaker 3: It's not like really up to date like now. Like
[8:41] Speaker 3: people wear wigs a lot, but it's very small. They
[8:44] Speaker 3: haven't really advanced much. the wig section and cosmetology where
[8:48] Speaker 3: you can have my hands on. So I come in
[8:50] Speaker 3: and I bring wigs. They get hands on experience.
[8:52] Speaker 1: I love it. I love it.
[8:56] Speaker 3: And it's a win win for both of us. And
[8:57] Speaker 3: I give them community service hours, too, for participating.
[9:01] Speaker 1: Wow. So this is this. So you're saying let's let's
[9:05] Speaker 1: talk about let's break this down because you're a fast talker, Chris.
[9:07] Speaker 1: I got it. You know, you pass vital information because
[9:11] Speaker 1: it's just normal to you. Okay, so your first time
[9:15] Speaker 1: you did 5,000 wigs, various schools allow you to come
[9:21] Speaker 1: in there, and through their training, they're able to repair
[9:25] Speaker 1: the wigs until this wig is not available to be repaired,
[9:29] Speaker 1: and then you take it someplace else for it to
[9:32] Speaker 1: be refurbished into materials. mats or sponges for recycling opportunities. Now,
[9:41] Speaker 1: when you started this program, what amazed you the.
[9:46] Speaker 2: Most about it?
[9:47] Speaker 1: And then how do you feel is the big upside
[9:53] Speaker 1: as you want to expand into Atlanta, which means that
[9:56] Speaker 1: you want to expand into Houston, you want to expand
[9:58] Speaker 1: into New York? Talk about the growth of this brand
[10:01] Speaker 1: and the big picture of what this brand could be
[10:04] Speaker 1: and how it is changing people's lives.
[10:08] Speaker 3: Well, it's just exciting to see because when I started it,
[10:12] Speaker 3: people started to reach out to want to be members
[10:15] Speaker 3: as well as start chapters in their states. And so
[10:18] Speaker 3: we was getting wigs through the mail from Mississippi, Alabama, Atlanta, Tuscaloosa.
[10:23] Speaker 3: I mean, all over the world. It was really cool.
[10:26] Speaker 3: Even New York. And one of my biggest donors actually
[10:28] Speaker 3: was in New York. And she used to donate a
[10:31] Speaker 3: lot of wigs. And she even started to.
[10:34] Speaker 1: do it at work.
[10:35] Speaker 3: So it was like pretty cool. So, so I, it was,
[10:37] Speaker 3: it was great to see people really wanting to like
[10:40] Speaker 3: get involved in the wigs that was coming in. And
[10:43] Speaker 3: so even the beauty supply stores, like, because, you know,
[10:47] Speaker 3: the culture of it all, like, you know, we have
[10:49] Speaker 3: different culture backgrounds and just intermingling with them and, you know,
[10:53] Speaker 3: them being able to give them an option to give
[10:55] Speaker 3: back and taking the wigs that they wasn't selling or
[10:58] Speaker 3: got old or out of style and that they were donating.
[11:01] Speaker 3: So I had like Beauty For You, Beauty Island, and
[11:03] Speaker 3: all those kind of beauty supply stores in the area
[11:06] Speaker 3: that was donating wigs as well. And then the partnerships
[11:09] Speaker 3: with the hospitals and the cancer organizations. And once we
[11:12] Speaker 3: refurbished the week and the most exciting part, too, was
[11:15] Speaker 3: having a fashion show at Pentagon City Mall. So Todd, Todd,
[11:20] Speaker 3: the manager of Pentagon City Mall, gave me that opportunity.
[11:23] Speaker 3: And I was just so shocked. And so to have
[11:25] Speaker 3: the students to be able to participate in the fashion show,
[11:29] Speaker 3: show how they made one wig turn from short to
[11:31] Speaker 3: long fashion. Have breast cancer survivors in the fashion show
[11:34] Speaker 3: participating and giving out awards to the students. It was
[11:38] Speaker 3: just awesome. Like it was a great, great, great, great
[11:41] Speaker 3: moment in time. But expanding to answer your question, Sean, is,
[11:46] Speaker 3: you know, it's a huge output. But I think it'll
[11:49] Speaker 3: be great because everybody wants to get involved with WIGS.
[11:52] Speaker 3: WIGS is fun, right? Yeah.
[11:53] Speaker 1: Well, I think that, you know, again, you're talking to
[11:56] Speaker 1: a bald-headed dude, and I'm not going to wear a toupee.
[11:59] Speaker 1: And I would say this, you know, you're an inspiring
[12:03] Speaker 1: person because, first of all, you have a good heart.
[12:06] Speaker 1: And I think all good ideas start with a good heart.
[12:09] Speaker 1: And having you on my show is to spread, you know,
[12:12] Speaker 1: the word. Because I want you to be tired. I
[12:15] Speaker 1: want you to be happy. Rochelle, will you stop telling
[12:17] Speaker 1: people I got so many wigs?
[12:19] Speaker 3: I don't know what to do.
[12:20] Speaker 1: Because the number of wigs you have, that means you're
[12:22] Speaker 1: going to change people's lives. When we get back, I
[12:24] Speaker 1: want to talk about the process of how you distribute
[12:27] Speaker 1: these wigs and, you know, the reaction people get for
[12:30] Speaker 1: these when they receive these wigs, because you're doing great work,
[12:34] Speaker 1: my friend. And that's why you're on Money Making Conversations Masterclass.
[12:38] Speaker 1: Before we go to break, tell everybody about the website
[12:40] Speaker 1: and then we're going to go to break.
[12:42] Speaker 3: All right. Go to beacons.ai backslash Crystal Hughes Ministries. And
[12:47] Speaker 3: you can also Google Crystal Hughes Ministries. You can find
[12:50] Speaker 3: us on Facebook. We're Capital Foundation. If you want history,
[12:54] Speaker 3: check it out. And thank you so much, Rashawn, for
[12:56] Speaker 3: having me on the show. Money making conversations. Let's have them.
[12:59] Speaker 1: Hey, don't go nowhere. I got more time to talk
[13:02] Speaker 1: to you about that. We're signing off now. I sound
[13:05] Speaker 1: like you about to say bye.
[13:07] Speaker 2: I got another 15 minutes to.
[13:08] Speaker 1: Talk to you. We'll be right back with more information
[13:11] Speaker 1: with Crystal, my friend. Like I said, she's a licensed
[13:13] Speaker 1: cosmetologist in Alabama, Florida, Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.
[13:19] Speaker 2: And she's changing the world. She really is. With her
[13:21] Speaker 2: Wig Capital Foundation.
[13:23] Speaker 1: Leading hair replacement and wig donation program since 2012. To
[13:27] Speaker 1: support individuals experiencing medical hair loss.
[13:30] Speaker 2: Be right back.
[13:32] Speaker 1: Stay with us. More Money Making Conversation Masterclass coming up next.
[13:41] Speaker 1: Welcome back to Money Making Conversations Masterclass hosted by me,
[13:44] Speaker 1: Rashawn McDonald. Let's get back into it. Hi, this is
[13:47] Speaker 1: Rashawn McDonald. If you want to talk to us, call
[13:50] Speaker 1: us in, call in your salon, barbershop. Want to be
[13:54] Speaker 1: a part of this wig donation program? Call 404-880-9255. 404-880-9255.
[13:58] Speaker 1: You know, I'm going to just do this. I'm going
[14:04] Speaker 1: to get on my little soapbox right quick. You know,
[14:08] Speaker 1: everybody's complains about society. Everybody, some people, a lot of
[14:14] Speaker 1: people listening to my show go to church. There are
[14:16] Speaker 1: churches out there. You can do this. You can do this.
[14:18] Speaker 1: We're doing donation campaigns. You can be a part of this. Barber,
[14:23] Speaker 1: beauty salons, you can be a part of this, you know. And,
[14:27] Speaker 1: you know, when Crystal brought this idea to me, she said, Rishon,
[14:29] Speaker 1: I need you. I need you. I need you, Rishon.
[14:32] Speaker 1: And I said, Curie, if you don't stop. But I
[14:36] Speaker 1: need her. I need people like her that are willing
[14:38] Speaker 1: to do things that I'm not capable of, nor do
[14:40] Speaker 1: I have the mindset or the vision to be able
[14:43] Speaker 1: to pull this off. And she's doing it. Like she said,
[14:46] Speaker 1: she started by herself. And then she was smart enough
[14:49] Speaker 1: to get these schools to be able to use part
[14:54] Speaker 1: of their curriculum training to be able to help her
[14:56] Speaker 1: grow this brain and change people's lives. Now, Crystal... We
[15:00] Speaker 1: got the donation part. We got the cleanup part. Now
[15:04] Speaker 1: let's talk about, when I say donation, I'm talking about
[15:06] Speaker 1: people donating the wig for your program, and then you're
[15:09] Speaker 1: cleaning it up, and you talked about the wigs you
[15:11] Speaker 1: can't clean up. What happens to them? Now let's talk
[15:14] Speaker 1: about how the wigs are distributed to people who need them.
[15:19] Speaker 3: Okay. Yes. So basically I partner with an organization called
[15:24] Speaker 3: the African Women's Cancer Awareness Association. So I've been working
[15:28] Speaker 3: with them for about 10 years now. So we provide
[15:31] Speaker 3: the wigs to them. And then through our for profit,
[15:34] Speaker 3: we sell our hat wigs that we make. So I
[15:37] Speaker 3: customize hat wigs. And so she purchases those to help
[15:41] Speaker 3: women as well. And then we work with Howard University.
[15:47] Speaker 3: which is Ms. Kim, Ms. Kimberly at the Howard University
[15:52] Speaker 3: Cancer Organization, and she helps distribute the wigs to the
[15:55] Speaker 3: women in need there. And so we just partnered with
[15:58] Speaker 3: various hospitals, and I drop the wigs off. I let
[16:01] Speaker 3: them know, hey, I have wigs. You guys need them?
[16:04] Speaker 3: They're like, yeah, we need them.
[16:05] Speaker 1: So Drop them off.
[16:09] Speaker 3: And that's what I was doing for a while. But
[16:11] Speaker 3: then it got so costly for me. And, you know,
[16:14] Speaker 3: I was so young at the time. I started at 21. And, like,
[16:18] Speaker 3: my first business at 21, I started a nonprofit. So
[16:21] Speaker 3: I was still in my 20s when I started that.
[16:24] Speaker 3: So I really didn't have much, you know, guidance or
[16:26] Speaker 3: whatever on that. So I used my own funding and everything. And,
[16:30] Speaker 3: you know, you're not supposed to really do that. But
[16:32] Speaker 3: you got to start somewhere. You know, you can't just,
[16:35] Speaker 3: like you say, you can't let circumstances and people and
[16:38] Speaker 3: places stop you from living your dream. You got to
[16:41] Speaker 3: go for it. So that's what I did.
[16:42] Speaker 1: Well, you know, I think that, first of all, thank
[16:46] Speaker 1: you for doing that. Because I would tell you at 21,
[16:49] Speaker 1: I was trying to find the best nightclub that I
[16:51] Speaker 1: could dance in.
[16:52] Speaker 2: I will be honest with you. You know, I was, uh,
[16:55] Speaker 2: I was struggling in college.
[16:56] Speaker 1: I had no idea of who Rashawn McDonald was, but
[17:01] Speaker 1: I always tell people ever since I was 18, I
[17:03] Speaker 1: was making a difference in people's lives. I was motivating people.
[17:06] Speaker 1: I was trying to figure out how they can be.
[17:09] Speaker 1: In fact, I was putting people's lives ahead of me,
[17:11] Speaker 1: of my own life. And I will tell you that's
[17:13] Speaker 1: a fact. And, um, But I do know this is
[17:16] Speaker 1: that a program like yours brings a lot of value
[17:21] Speaker 1: to people who are who can be, you know, because,
[17:24] Speaker 1: you know, you know, we are a very vain world. OK.
[17:30] Speaker 2: You know, if your teeth ain't right, you don't smile.
[17:32] Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying? If you have them right,
[17:34] Speaker 2: you put a cap on.
[17:35] Speaker 1: OK. And if you got to. If the wig can
[17:37] Speaker 1: make you look better, that can get you a job.
[17:40] Speaker 1: And they might want you to go out in public
[17:42] Speaker 1: a lot more. Now, you said like a hat wig.
[17:45] Speaker 2: What exactly? I hope I heard that right. What exactly
[17:48] Speaker 2: is a hat wig?
[17:50] Speaker 3: So a hat wig is something I customized. I was
[17:55] Speaker 3: when I was in hospital with my baby trying to
[17:56] Speaker 3: figure out, you know, how to keep myself up but
[17:59] Speaker 3: not having to leave her. So I was like, I
[18:01] Speaker 3: want to make me a hat wig. So I I
[18:03] Speaker 3: did that, and I was like, oh, maybe other women
[18:05] Speaker 3: might need a hat wig. And then I realized there
[18:07] Speaker 3: was a market for it. And so I started making those.
[18:11] Speaker 1: You just be sitting around with ideas.
[18:13] Speaker 2: Just be dreaming up stuff and just putting it into action.
[18:16] Speaker 1: I love that.
[18:17] Speaker 2: So basically, it's a hat that has hair attached to it.
[18:22] Speaker 3: Yes.
[18:24] Speaker 1: That's slick. That's slick.
[18:25] Speaker 3: I like that.
[18:26] Speaker 1: I like that.
[18:27] Speaker 3: So I had braid hair. I had ponytail. Like I
[18:29] Speaker 3: just made my first ponytail one other day. It's really cool.
[18:32] Speaker 3: And so it is a cool way to like if
[18:36] Speaker 3: you're having a bad hair day or like I do
[18:38] Speaker 3: speaking engagements at cosmetology schools and I promote to students
[18:42] Speaker 3: like the way to get their clients to come back
[18:43] Speaker 3: in between styles. I'm like, make a hat wig. You
[18:46] Speaker 3: know what I'm saying? Get them to come back. You know,
[18:48] Speaker 3: you say, hey, between styles, put this wig on until
[18:50] Speaker 3: you about to come back. You know what I'm saying?
[18:52] Speaker 1: Don't go nowhere. I love it. Now, one thing about
[18:56] Speaker 1: Crystal that I always appreciated about her, first of all,
[18:59] Speaker 1: you sit down, she got five ideas coming at you.
[19:01] Speaker 1: So you better have a catcher's mitt because she got
[19:03] Speaker 1: ideas coming at you. You better be ready to catch them.
[19:06] Speaker 1: But when I was looking at your bio, it was
[19:08] Speaker 1: talking about a medical cannabis certification center. Are you still
[19:12] Speaker 1: involved in that?
[19:13] Speaker 3: Man, I would love to get that back open. You know,
[19:16] Speaker 3: I had the first one on the East Coast, man.
[19:18] Speaker 1: I had a computer.
[19:19] Speaker 3: I had like five computers. We had Dr. Coates. It
[19:22] Speaker 3: was really nice. And we had like inspections and stuff,
[19:25] Speaker 3: coffee centers.
[19:25] Speaker 1: I see why you said that. I need you. I
[19:27] Speaker 1: need you because you got all these ideas. Somebody needs
[19:30] Speaker 1: to slow you down and put them on a computer
[19:31] Speaker 1: and make it happen. But, you know, I don't want
[19:35] Speaker 1: to get over there too much because I want to
[19:36] Speaker 1: stay focused on this.
[19:37] Speaker 2: Like I said with my first guest, you know.
[19:41] Speaker 1: We look at the community and you are representing the
[19:44] Speaker 1: community and we look at the issues that we have
[19:47] Speaker 1: and the cost of trying. to, you know, I got
[19:52] Speaker 1: a friend of mine, Allison Vaughn. She's in Detroit. Detroit.
[19:55] Speaker 2: And she gets jackets.
[19:57] Speaker 1: You know, I think I love to connect you and
[20:00] Speaker 1: her together because, you know, her jackets are helping people
[20:05] Speaker 1: get jobs. I think that the same people who are
[20:08] Speaker 1: needing jackets, some of the women may need wigs.
[20:12] Speaker 3: Yes. Absolutely.
[20:14] Speaker 1: Absolutely, Rashawn.
[20:15] Speaker 3: I think that's an amazing connection.
[20:18] Speaker 2: Because that's what, you know, and I got another friend
[20:21] Speaker 2: of mine, she does shoes.
[20:22] Speaker 1: I'm being real now. You got all these different organizations
[20:26] Speaker 1: who are specializing shoes.
[20:28] Speaker 2: You got the wigs. She got the jackets.
[20:31] Speaker 1: And all these things can be networked out. And so,
[20:35] Speaker 1: you know, she basically, she just stays in Detroit. She
[20:39] Speaker 1: gives away over 40,000 jackets and she's tied into... to
[20:42] Speaker 1: government contracts and all that stuff because she's got it
[20:45] Speaker 1: going on up there. Now, you up there, you're licensed.
[20:48] Speaker 1: You're not just somebody out there just doing hair. You're
[20:51] Speaker 1: a licensed cosmetologist in several states. And so that means
[20:56] Speaker 1: that you are certified to be able to do what
[20:58] Speaker 1: you do and say what you do. And then you've
[21:00] Speaker 1: been doing this since 2012. And it's a foundation you've
[21:05] Speaker 1: called Wig Capital Foundation. Now, what state did it all
[21:09] Speaker 1: start for your dreams? Like when you say you're eight
[21:12] Speaker 1: years old, And you went into these beauty salons. I'm
[21:15] Speaker 1: still trying to get that dream together because I've been
[21:18] Speaker 1: in beauty salon stores. I don't know what you saw
[21:20] Speaker 1: that inspired you. I'm not trying to wrap my head
[21:23] Speaker 1: around it, but whatever it did, it left an impression
[21:27] Speaker 1: on you.
[21:28] Speaker 2: Now, your daughter, is she into beauty or hairstyling as well?
[21:34] Speaker 3: Yes. Yes. So it was a small town called Aliceville, Alabama. Aliceville, Alabama.
[21:40] Speaker 3: That's where we had the beauty supply store at. You know,
[21:43] Speaker 3: we didn't have them in our town at that time.
[21:45] Speaker 3: So we had to drive far. But my daughter is
[21:47] Speaker 3: a celebrity hairstylist. She actually is an influencer. I raised
[21:51] Speaker 3: her in the hair salon, had her doing hair in
[21:54] Speaker 3: the shop when she was about eight, wetting people up.
[21:57] Speaker 1: That's awesome.
[21:58] Speaker 2: That's awesome.
[22:00] Speaker 1: Awesome.
[22:00] Speaker 3: Awesome. Yeah, so she's doing her thing out there in Atlanta. Yep.
[22:05] Speaker 3: Shout out to my baby girl, Tay, my new grandson.
[22:07] Speaker 3: I'm excited.
[22:09] Speaker 1: Now, as we wrap up this interview, again, the ultimate
[22:13] Speaker 1: goal here, you'll be interviewing Atlanta. It's also being streamed nationwide.
[22:18] Speaker 1: Your goal in coming on the show is to do what?
[22:22] Speaker 3: To let people know about the hair and wig recycling initiative.
[22:27] Speaker 3: So people can put hair, hairstylist, barbers, schools, colleges to participate.
[22:34] Speaker 3: Get a wig recycling bin at your location. Donate. Host
[22:38] Speaker 3: wig drives. Just get involved. Spread the word. Let people
[22:43] Speaker 3: know that we collect and donate wigs. And you got
[22:45] Speaker 3: somewhere that you can win. You take your braids out.
[22:48] Speaker 3: Don't throw away your hair. Donate the hair to us,
[22:51] Speaker 3: human and synthetic. You know, we don't take them all
[22:54] Speaker 3: the way out. We cut them, you know, where our
[22:56] Speaker 3: hair stops. You can keep them whole. So don't mess
[22:59] Speaker 3: with them. Just send it to them as is. Cut
[23:01] Speaker 3: them off. Send them to us. Again, you can go
[23:03] Speaker 3: to our website to learn more about how you can
[23:06] Speaker 3: do that at beacons.ai, Crystal Hughes Ministry. Google us, Crystal
[23:10] Speaker 3: Hughes Ministry. Check out our programs. Go to Wig Recycling
[23:14] Speaker 3: and go from there.
[23:15] Speaker 2: She's the one and only, Crystal Hughes.
[23:17] Speaker 1: Thank you again. Licensed cosmetologist in Alabama, Florida, Washington, D.C., Maryland,
[23:22] Speaker 1: and Virginia. We'll talk soon. We'll talk soon. Because I
[23:25] Speaker 1: know that programs like this, it's not about one time.
[23:28] Speaker 1: It's many times. You have to spread the word. You
[23:30] Speaker 1: have to be consistent. And I appreciate you allowing me
[23:32] Speaker 1: to share your story. And you're an amazing person.
[23:35] Speaker 2: You know why?
[23:35] Speaker 1: Because you're changing people's lives and you care about people.
[23:38] Speaker 1: Don't go nowhere, Crystal. Thank you for coming on Money
[23:40] Speaker 1: Making Conversations Masterclass. Thanks for having me. Thank you for
[23:45] Speaker 1: listening to this episode. Now I need for you to
[23:47] Speaker 1: do me a favor right now to follow or subscribe
[23:51] Speaker 1: to Money Making Conversations. It's free and you can find
[23:54] Speaker 1: it on the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
[23:59] Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. Please do me that favor. Follow
[24:02] Speaker 1: or subscribe Money Making Conversations.
[24:05] Speaker 2: Keep winning.

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.