
The Creative Entrepreneur - Sarah Breedlove - February 2025
Feb, 1 2025
It’s not often that a person reaches a monumental achievement in life and gathers up riches in the process. This month’s ‘Creative Entrepreneur’ has done the impossible. Sarah Breedlove had a series of titles under her belt –
- America Entrepreneur
- Philanthropist
- Political and social activist.
But it was her creative investment that made her become the first female self – made millionaire in America which placed her in pole position in the Guinness Book of World Records. How did she do it? Please watch this 4 minute 37 second film to learn more –
Two things that were apparent in that film her perseverance and her name change that helped to promote her lucrative business. The name change was later adopted following her marriage to Charles Joseph Walker in 1906. After she got married she began marketing herself as ‘Madam C.J. Walker’. Despite a divorce and death of spouse Sarah kept with the name as it further branded the cosmetics appropriately.
During her marriage to Charles he acted as business partner and gave her good advice on advertising and promotion. Her entrepreneur skills were further demonstrated when she went from door to door striving to sell her products, teaching other black women how to groom and style their hair.
As time passed her relationship with Charles helped to grow and develop the business as they extended it to the opening of their very own beauty parlor in Pittsburgh – Pennsylvania collaborating with Lelia College to train ‘hair culturists’. The adopted name continued into the trend of ‘Walker System’. Training programmes designed to enable black women a role in life.
Later, Walker taught black women how to budget and build strong businesses and encouraged them to become financially independent. By 1917, inspired by the model of the National Association of Colored Women, Walker began organizing her sales agents into state and local clubs. The result was the establishment of the National Beauty Culturists and Benevolent Association of Madam C. J. Walker Agents (predecessor to the Madam C. J. Walker Beauty Culturists Union of America).
As documented in the film her death was a sad loss yet following her passing in 1919 at just 51 she had reached a net worth of half a million and a million dollars. Walker was the wealthiest African- American woman in America.
Rights to her riches was handed down to her daughter – A’Lelia Walker who became the president of the Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company.
In 2006, playwright and director Regina Taylor had a vision and a story that needed to be told about a moving tale of a woman who went from nothing to something quite extraordinary. ‘The Dreams of Sarah Breedlove’ recounted her struggles and success. The play was premiered at the Goodman Theatre – Chicago with actress L.Scott Caldwell taking on the role of Walker.
Just over a century since she died she is still fondly remembered by a lot of Americans. She is an example of an individual who saw the potential in something, grabbed it with both hands and made it into something great. Her fortunes rested on the dream she had and the determination to never give up on her dreams knowing that that dream finally became a reality for all the world to see.
^Alex Ashworth CCG UK Blogger