Madam C. J.

Walker was born Sarah Breedlove to Owen and Minerva on the 23 rd

December 1867 near Delta, Louisiana. After she orphaned at 7, she went to live with
an elder sister Louvinia and her husband.
To escape her harsh living conditions, Madam C. J Walker married Moses McWilliams
with whom she had a daughter ALelia. Two years after the birth ALelia, Mr.
McWilliams died.
Madam Walkers entrepreneurial journey began when she started marketing and
selling The Great Wonderful Hair Grower of Annie Turnbo. Madam Walker married
C.J. Walker around 1906, a salesman created advertisement for the Turnbo hair
product.
Around the same 1906, Madam Walker started her own haircare line named
Madam Walkers Wonderful Hair Grower with an initial investment of $1.25. As the
hairline business grew, Madam Walker incorporated her business with a further
investment of $10,000 and thus the sole shareholder of the Company.
In 1913, following her divorce from Mr. C. J. Walker she insisted on using her exhusbands name as this had popularized her product. She tavelled widely from the
Latin Americas to the Caribbean to market and teach people how to use her
products.
Following her death in 1919 Madam Walkers estate valued her business at one
million dollars and a personal fortune of around $600,000 t0 $ 750,000. She is
widely recognized as first African-American millionaire.
It will be realized that Madam Walker was hardworking, entrepreneurial, risk taker,
quick learner and a good communicator/marketer to be that successful.
References
1. http://www.biography.com/people/madam-cj-walker-9522174#death-andlegacy
2. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/100amazing-facts/madam-walker-the-first-black-american-woman-to-be-a-selfmade-millionaire/
3. http://www.notablebiographies.com/Tu-We/Walker-Madame-C-J.html