Nearly 90% of new businesses opening every day are started by women of color, according to the latest U.S. census data.

One of them, an Oakland small business owner, is now paying it forward, empowering others in marginalized communities to get ahead.

Vee Vargas is in the business of helping people look and feel good at her Be Here Salon in Oakland. So, she thought, why not use her skills to help people live their best life?

"I had this idea of 'What if I could do that? While at the same time teach folks how to create amazing magic behind the chair?" Vargas said.

In 2022, she launched the nonprofit Be Infinite. The two-year cosmetology apprenticeship program gives people a fresh outlook, like she had after her own troubles as a teenager.

"I ran away from home, although I didn't experience a lot of the things folks have experienced because thankfully I had my family, my Mom's prayers, always," she told CBS News Bay Area.

Vargas created Be Infinite to give others new hope, whether they were incarcerated in foster care or surviving some other brush with trauma.

"It always takes just one person to really see the light in someone," Vargas said. "So it's important for me to be the light for someone."

She partners with a cosmetology school so apprentices can get licensed in three months. Vargas also gives lessons in financial literacy, offers mental health resources, and trains apprentices to create a safe space that's sensitive to traumatic experiences of the guests they serve.

"We have people that sit in our chairs that - we're the first ones they tell - they might've just gotten diagnosed with cancer or one of their family members passed away," she said.

One of Be Infinite's apprentices, Kayla Gregory, already has her cosmetology license but needs more hands-on practice. Gregory had been earning more than $9 an hour doing odd jobs at her aunt's foster care home.

But Vargas is giving her tools to wash away fears about her future.

Gregory said, "How am I going to afford to live? How am I going to afford to maybe purchase a home on my own? How cam I going to afford to have children? Vee is giving me the opportunity to be able to do something like that for myself."

Apprenticeship fees are offset by donations.

Be Infinite's fiscal sponsor is City Embrace Counseling and Resource Center. Right now, Be Infinite has two apprentices and an intern; applicants are often referred by other nonprofits and social service agencies.

Going green is also part of the program.

Vargas packs separate bags of hair clippings, foil and chemicals and sends them to a waste management company for recycling and proper disposal.

As a certified sustainable salon, more than 95% of its waste gets diverted from landfills.

"I always remind guests when they come in that they're not just getting a haircut, but they're also impacting the world," Vargas said.

For empowering underserved people with infinite possibilities in the salon industry this week's CBS News Bay Area ICON Award goes to Vee Vargas.