(Photo by Camila Escobar)
To a woman, hair is everything. Martin “Leigh Shannon” Fugate, entertainer and owner of Ritzy Rags & More, knows this and understands that something as materialistic as a wig can be a small light at the end of the tunnel for cancer patients.
Fugate’s journey to bring a sense of confidence and normalcy to cancer patients started with his mother, who passed away due to breast cancer when he was just 24 years old.
“She was a beautiful woman, very sexy, and she had beautiful hair. The sad part is that when we went to get a wig for her, there were just old lady wigs. She got one of those, but she never felt good in it. So now I feel like I give a woman a nice hairdo every day,” says Fugate.
Cancer is a rigorous journey that impacts individuals not only mentally and physically but also financially.
For the past 12 years, Fugate has donated wigs every October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month in hopes of helping women feel good about themselves every day.
“It started years ago when I happened to be talking with my company about doing it because there are a lot of people who cannot afford a good wig. Healthcare is part of wigs, and unfortunately, the insurance companies have started dropping the coverage for wigs. While the major companies still do, some don’t. With the high cost of cancer already, it puts the patient in a more bad shape,” says Fugate.
Fugate partners with Adreans Hair Goods, which donates 12 to 15 wigs and about 20 turbans to be given away every October.
To qualify, all patients need to do is email Fugate at RitzyRagsEmail@aol.com, explaining the challenges they are facing, including a picture and the reason they cannot afford a wig.
Human hair wigs are no longer recommended, so as an extra treat this year, Fugate is offering 25% off medical-grade synthetic wigs to anyone.
For those who do not qualify for a donated wig, they are still encouraged to come by the store and find that perfect wig match.
The process from the moment a client walks through the door to when they leave starts with Fugate using a little psychiatry and his “superpower.”
“Not to toot my own horn, but I can look at a woman when she comes in and already have a wig in my mind. But I have to do a little psychiatry; I have to see what mood they’re in because some women are not ready at all,” says Fugate.
Fugate strongly believes that strong customer service is what has kept his business going all these years. A mix of simply lending an ear to his clients and a genuinely caring persona goes a long way in his line of work.
That positive attitude shines through both in person and over the phone. One client, Monika Koleva, a breast cancer survivor, was profoundly uplifted by her experience receiving a donated wig.
“I walked in, and Leigh saw me, hugged me, and it was just like being old friends. I cried; I cried, and there was no judgment—nothing. They were so sweet, so helpful,” said Koleva.
The moment Koleva found her ideal wig that matched her old hair, she felt immense relief, a sense of normalcy, beauty, and newfound confidence.
“Because, you know, yes, I felt really bad internally because of the chemo meds, and I felt bad because I had just had a double mastectomy, so I lost my breast. But, you know, at least externally, I kind of looked the same. So it was definitely a confidence thing,” said Koleva.
While Fugate has been in this business for 38 years, he is looking to sell in the next two or three years.
In hopes of keeping his creative vision alive, he is waiting to sell to someone in the LGBTQ+ community.
“I would like an entertainer, a person in the LGBTQ+ community, to buy it because I’d like my legacy to live on and the service, of course, because we provide for ballet dancers with their hairpieces and makeup. As well as mainstream women, we have all kinds of people who shop here. I’d like to keep it that way,” says Fugate.
