Watch our interview with Chrystal Hines, President and CEO of the Inner Beauty Program Inc.
The following is a transcript of our Q&A:
Chrystal: Good morning, I’m Chrystal Hines. I am the President, CEO of the Inner Beauty Program Inc.
Isaac: Could you first just tell me a little bit about the background of your organization? Things like why, when, and where the organization began its work?
Chrystal: We began in 2002 and in 2002 it was actually just to build the self-esteem of a few young ladies in a small cohort and from there we started our Inner Beauty Pageant, and our Inner Beauty Pageant is still a staple today. We are in our 18th year of the pageant and what we like to do is build their self-esteem and their character, their poise, their personality. We do this through a character-building curriculum and, we make sure that we focus on lots of things that the young ladies need and that would be things that they need to know for home, for the community, for school and for life in general. So, we really hit those life skills hard, really hit social skills hard and anything that we can think of that a young lady might need is what we want to, provide for them, and so we’re like a full-service salon for young ladies in the community and we service young ladies ages 6 through 18. And then we also have an aftercare program too, so that after they age out of the program, they can either stay and become what we call daughters of IB, which is to stay connected so that they can basically grow along with us, and they can become mentors or tutors with the agency. They can also just be a part of the agency so that they can still be connected to their life coaches and mentors and things like that.
Isaac: You touched on some of the services that you provide. Could you tell me a little bit more about the inner beauty pageant? You said it’s been 18 years of that and that it’s one of your staple things that you do.
Chrystal: It is, the Inner Beauty Pageant is focused on the inner attributes of a young lady. It’s the glamorous part too, it’s just like what you see on TV, a pageant where they walk in their gowns, and they do talent, and they do a group dance to show unity, but it’s also based off of what they’ve learned throughout the program. So, while they’re prepping for the pageant, it’s not just about stage presence, and it’s not just about how talented they are. They also have to go through, these character-building activities and team building activities. And then they take a personal interview before the pageant, and actually 80% of their score is based off their personal interview and they ask some really in-depth questions about, you know… I don’t want to give up what they’re asking, but they’re asking about life and they’re asking about character and they’re making sure that these young ladies are developed. In a way that they are putting who they are on the inside, forward, before anything and that it doesn’t matter if they’re size 2, size 32, it doesn’t matter what skin tone they are, that they really bridal who they are on the inside and then they allowed that to pretty much radiate before anything else.
Isaac: Thank you for explaining that and so again you talked about the population that you serve. Could you tell me a little bit about where it is you serve? Are you just in certain cities or across the whole state of Indiana?
Chrystal: We primarily service Marion County in Indiana, but we also will go around to the donut counties we’ve been as far as Illinois and right now we’re partnered with our coalition called the Indy Mentor Network, and so our stretch is even wider, virtually, we’re now nationwide on a virtual village platform. So, in person we’re just right here in the city, but our reach goes much further, all the way from coast to coast because of Zoom with these new capabilities that we have that we hadn’t had before.
Isaac: Could you share a couple of examples of how your organization is having a positive impact?
Chrystal: Well, I would say that there’s lots of different facets to what we do. We mentor, we tutor, we do life coaching. We have a reporting program for young ladies who get kicked out of school or kicked out of the community ‘per say’ for their behavior. We have home-based casework, we work with the parents, we do parent education. So, all the different types of services that you can imagine is what we’re trying to wrap around these families. Again, we’re a full-service salon just so that they have like a one stop shop, they’re familiar with the staff, and they are familiar with the mentors and we’re really trying to instill all types of values that people are going to need to get along with in life in general.
Chrystal: I think the biggest thing that people may not know is that the reason that we are able to reach the young ladies the way that we do and the parents and the families that we work with is because we were those young ladies. Our mentors come from a lot of different diverse backgrounds, but the thing that makes us connected is that we’ve all suffered some form of trauma. I know that everyone in general has, but the same types of traumatic events and experiences that our girls go through, are the same types of things that we have overcome. So, it is easier for us to reach them, for us to connect with them, because we know where they came from. We know what it’s like to be in all those different scenarios and still be able to come out of that strong. I think that makes us really unique and it just it really puts us in a position where our clients can be successful because they know our back story and they know that we’ve become successful from that.
Isaac: What inspired you to become a provider in the first place.
Chrystal: I went to school to be a teacher and that’s what I always thought I would be. But, once I started Inner Beauty and it started to kind of catch in the community and Choices asked early on “hey, could you allow some of our girls to be a part of your program?” And I was thinking “yeah, no problem, anybody could be a part of the program,” and they were like “no, we’ve got some really serious cases, and do you think you’re going to be capable?” And I’m always willing to try anything with the young ladies to help them get to the next level. So, I was like “sure!” In 2007 and became a provider officially by contract in 2010, and so we’ve helped so, so, so, many girls throughout the years, and what keeps us pumped is those success stories and the girls coming back and reproducing themselves and wanting to help the next group of girls. And, just seeing that we’re actually making a difference. Everything isn’t going to be huge and humongous where you’ve got a story that goes, to Oprah or Ellen or something like that. But if they just hit the next milestone and they do well and they can build a life that’s better than what it would have been had we not been available to service them, then I think that we made a good impact and so it just keeps me going, just those intrinsic rewards or just knowing that wow, somebody has grown a little. Somebody has made it, a young lady calls and says “hey, remember that time we made those eggs and bacon? I just made there for my mom for Mother’s Day.” Things like that, it really warms my heart to know that they are sustained in an apartment, and they have a nice job or they’re graduating from high school or college because we’ve got college grads already through the program and so those things keep us motivated. They keep us going. And just makes it very beneficial to be a provider.
Isaac: I feel like you might have already just answered this right there, but what would you say is the best part of being a provider?
Chrystal: I think that the best part of being a provider with Choices is that we’re kind of like a family. We always have been, and so with the care coordinator and the teams that they put together, we’re always really close and work really well together, and so it makes it worthwhile because we know that there’s other people that we can call on to help to build a successful family. So, I think that’s the best thing about the provider network with Choices is just knowing that everybody at Choices, no matter if they’re a new coordinator, old coordinator, whoever it is. It is much like a family atmosphere and we work really well together.
Isaac: How do you feel about the work that you’ve done since 2002, the last 18-19 years?
Chrystal: Well, I think that the longer that I’ve gotten to do this, the more passionate I’ve become. It’s not just on the surface, I really just want to help people to be successful. I really just want people to thrive in the world. I really want to see people who are considered, and I hate to use this term because it shouldn’t exist anymore, but “at risk” families, I really like to see them persevere, and really beat all the odds. And so, I just know that over this time we’ve been given lots more tools and lots more information. Not being just trauma informed anymore, but really, being trauma responsive and going out, and seeking what’s best for every family that we work with, and so the education that we’ve been able to get, and just the connections and the networking we’ve been able to make so that we could really wrap these families tight and help move them to the next level is just it’s gosh… I just can’t… I can’t put into words the great feeling and I see myself doing this for 20 and 40 more years. Just building other people up under me so that they can do it the same way with the same fire that we’ve had. I have a great team. My husband is Kareem Hines, he does the new boy program, and so, we connect our program so they mirror each other, and I just think that if I didn’t have him to come home too and to talk about the same things that it could be a much harder job, but we like to bounce ideas off of each other. And again, we work on these teams together and it makes things you know really great for families and really successful.
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