8|24 #MambaMentality

Regarded as the first African-American woman to become a self-made millionaire, Madam C. J. Walker made her fortune on beauty products in the early 1900s, an era where millionaires were making their fortune through the monopoly of goods such as coal, lumber, and transportation.

After experimenting with products in her home and other items in the market, Walker developed a shampoo and ointment with sulfur that helped stimulate the scalp and made it healthier for hair growth.

With her new husband, Charles Joseph Walker, she developed and marketed a line of beauty and hair products for black women through Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company, the successful business she founded.

Madam C.J. Walker’s hair products were distributed and sold door to door throughout the United States.

In 1908, the couple settled in Pittsburgh and opened Lelia College, an institute ran by her daughter A’Lelia Walker, where they trained individuals in hair care and entrepreneurship.