Madam C.J. Walker also known as Sarah Breedlove (1867-1919) was the first black millionaire in America, she made her fortune by creating homemade hair care products marketed specifically for black women. Madam C.J. Walker was a talented entrepreneur who used her knowledge and self-acquired skills to promote her business. Madam C.J. Walker first started selling her product to family members and friends she knew would support her new and uncharted business, as her business grew she recruited “beauty culturalists” who would go door to door selling products that became an empire known as the “walker system”. Madam C.J. Walker however did not grow up with riches, both of her parents Owen and Minerva, were Louisiana sharecroppers who had been born into slavery. Madam C.J. Walker’s early life was marked by hardship; she was orphaned at seven, married at 14 (to Moses McWilliams, with whom she had a daughter, A’Lelia, in 1885), and became a widow at 20. Madam C.J. Walker used her fortune to fund scholarships for women at the Tuskegee Institute and donated large parts of her wealth to the NAACP, the Black YMCA, and other charities. Although Madam C.J. Walker was the first in her family to be born free of slavery she used the opportunity she was granted and made a life for herself beyond her wildest imagination, like Madam C.J. Walker we should all make the most of any situation we are dealt with in life and create a positive outcome. For more information, check out the Madam C.J. Walker movie “Self Made” on Netflix.
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/madame-c-j-walker#madam-c-j-walker-s-early-life
