Our Story
I’m Dianne Austin, cancer survivor, and entrepreneur. In 2011, I decided to stop relaxing my hair and I transitioned to my beautiful tightly coiled, kinky curly hair.
In 2015, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I also learned that the strong chemotherapy cocktail prescribed by my doctor would cause me to lose all of my hair, along with eyebrows and lashes…
It was important for me to keep some semblance of normalcy during a difficult time in my life. That meant finding a wig that looked like my natural hair. I was given a wig prescription and I tried to find a highly textured wig that I could purchase with my health insurance (reimbursement) but that was not as easy as it sounds. My sister Pamela Shaddock, who experienced another common form of hair loss for Black women, traction alopecia, and I decided to end this healthcare disparity.
Coils to Locs, which launched in the winter of 2019, is a wig resource for women of color searching for coily, curly wig styles at cancer center hospitals and medical hair loss salons. We’ll be selling our wigs direct to consumers online in 2022.
If you have experienced medical hair loss, or you are faced with non-medical related alopecia, Coils to Locs wigs are for you
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Dianne Austin, CEO and Co-Founder
Dianne is a cancer survivor and serial entrepreneur with expertise as a natural hair and black culture blogger. Dianne also has expertise in HR including diversity and inclusion, leadership development, and employee management. Education: BS in Mass Communications, Emerson College. Administrative Fellow, Harvard University, The Partnership Leadership Development Program Fellow.
Pamela Shaddock, COO and Co-Founder
Pamela is a former administrative professional with Pallotta Teamworks, a privately owned company that produced Avon Breast Cancer Walks and other health related events. Pamela has expertise as a natural hair and black culture blogger. She is also a Los Angeles based actress who works in television, film, and on stage. Education: BFA, Theatre Arts, Adelphi University. Personal Development education includes courses, workshops, and lectures, with such notables as; Jack Canfield, Rev. Michael Beckwith, Lisa Nichols, Marianne Williamson, and Iyanla Vanzant to name a few.
Go to the Community / Provisions Tab within the Hawthorne Website or go directly to the Coils to Locs website.