Madam C.J. Walker 

Madam C.J. Walker, the owner of Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company, was America’s first female self-made millionaire recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. She made her fortune through making and marketing black haircare and cosmetics.

Born in 1867 in Delta, Louisiana, she was the first child in her family born free after the Emancipation Proclamation. Despite being the first in her family to achieve freedom, there was still inequality for black Americans. With only a couple months worth of education, Walker worked a handful of jobs that included working as a domestic servant and a laundress. 

Walker’s interest in hair began with her skin condition that was likely caused by harsh products used to wash hair and clothes. Suffering from extreme dandruff and hair-loss, Walker sought information from her brothers, who worked as Barbers in St. Louis. After working as a marketer for the Poro Companies hair-care products, Walker branched off and created her own business, the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company. As a part of her marketing, she walked door-to-door to teach other black women how to style and care for their hair. 

The method of using shampoo, pomade, and an iron comb quickly became infamous and known as The Walker System. At the height of her success, Walker employed and trained over 20,000 women, mostly black women, as marketers for her products. In 1993, Walker was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame for not only her success, but her activism for black women’s rights.