CJ Walker- made a career out of her hobby

Madame CJ Walker, idea of opening a hair care salon was a smash hit among the people in the early 20 century.

Early Years

Madame CJ Walker was born in 1867 in poverty-stricken rural Louisiana. Her parents were farmer slaves, and she was orphaned at the age of seven. She and her elder sister worked in the cotton fields at Mississippi. Madame CJ Walker married at the age of 14 and had a daughter. Her husband also died after two years, and then she had no choice except joining her brothers at St.Louis who were working as barbers. Working as a laundrywoman, she managed to save enough money to educate her daughter, and became involved in activities with the National Association of Colored Women.

Necessity is mother of invention

In 1890 she started losing hair on head, causing embarrassment to Sarah. Then she started experimenting with home remedies, in the process emerged another black woman as an entrepreneur. In 1905, Sarah became a sales agent for Malone and moved to Denver, where she married Charles Joseph Walker

Sarah became Madame CJ Walker, and began selling her own product Madam Walker's Wonderful Hair Grower, a scalp conditioning and healing formula. Doing aggressive marketing she saw the success and opened a college in Pittsburgh to train her ‘Hair Culturists.’ She appointed 3000 people under her! Madame Walker’s aggressive marketing strategy combined with relentless ambition led her to be labeled as the first known African-American woman to become a self-made millionaire. Madame CJ Walker, died at the age 52, amassing wealth. Marjorie Joyner, an employee of Madame CJ Walker, invented a permanent wave machine to the advantage of lock lovers. This device could keep the curls for a longer time. Fashionable women flocked to her salon!