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Staff post about: Madam C.J. Walker Become an Author

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In 1917, Walker commissioned a 34-room mansion to be built for her on the Hudson River. It was her dream house, something she had worked for years to be able to afford. But when area residents found out who their new neighbour was going to be, they were less than happy. “One of the race,” wrote one newspaper, “is invading the domains of New York’s aristocracy.” The New York Times even wrote, “No woman of her race could own such a place. Does she really intend to live there?”

Walker did intend to live there, and she did so until her death. Despite her success, she never fully overcame the discrimination that had plagued her since she was a little girl. So, how did this poor girl from the cotton fields become the country’s first self-made woman millionaire?

Ambition: Walker was 39 years old when she started her business. It was her first business, and thanks to its success, her last. But when she first started up, even her husband was against her plans for expansion. She acknowledged her lack of experience, but overcame that with her unstoppable ambition.
Hard Work: “I am not ashamed of my past,” said Walker. “I am not ashamed of my humble beginning.” Despite not being ashamed of her beginnings, Walker knew she had to work hard to overcome her disadvantages in life. She learned wherever and whenever she could to make up for her lack of schooling, and made sure her daughter had the quality formal education she never did.
Determination: When Walker started losing her hair, she was no stranger to crisis. From losing her parents and her first husband, to being abused by her brother in law, Walker learned what devastation was. Quickly, however, she also learned how to change her response to crisis and turn it into an opportunity.

Market: Walker Agents was the name given to Walker’s 20,000 strong sales force. They were distinct in their white uniforms and black beauty supplies case. But they also had something else in common: they were Walker’s best customers. Walker understood both who her target market was and how she could use them to help promote her products to their own individual networks.

Perseverance: Walker was discouraged from proceeding with her business activities by the very people she thought would be her closest supporters – her husband and leaders in the black community. Walker, however, ignored their criticism and continued on her quest.

When Walker died on May 25, 1919, W.E.B. Du Bois wrote an obituary for the pioneering entrepreneur. It read: “It is given to few persons to transform a people in a generation. Yet this was done by the late Madam C. J. Walker.”

The Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company remained operational and in the family until 1985, when the name was sold to an American businessman. Its legacy, however, remains as strong as it was in the company’s – and Madam Walker’s – groundbreaking days.

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