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

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The Hair Care Pioneer: Madam C.J. Walker is Born

“I had to make my own living and my own opportunity. But I made it!” said Madam C.J. Walker. “Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.”

Turning Bald Into a Business: Walker Launches Her Beauty Line

“God answered my prayer, for one night I had a dream, and in that dream a big black man appeared to me and told me what to mix up for my hair,” said Walker. “Some of the remedy was grown in Africa, but I sent for it, mixed it, put it on my scalp, and in a few weeks my hair was coming in faster than it had ever fallen out. I tried it on my friends; it helped them. I made up my mind I would begin to sell it.”

Lesson #1: It Is Never To Late To Get Your Start

“When we began to make $10 a day, [my ex-husband] thought that was enough, thought I ought to be satisfied,” said Walker. “But I was convinced that my hair preparation would fill a long-felt want. And when we found it impossible to agree, due to his narrowness of vision, I embarked on business for myself.”

Lesson #2: Success is Built not Born

“I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South,” said Walker. “From there I was promoted to the washtub. From there I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations....I have built my own factory on my own ground.”

Lesson #3: Do Not Accept a Crisis, Act on It

“I got my start by giving myself a start,” said Walker.

Lesson #4: Make Your Market Your Manpower

Walker knew who her market was and she knew what she had to do to reach them. While marketing strategies of the past focused mostly on advertising, Walker knew that the majority of black women at the time were unable to read. Thus, she began a uniquely successful campaign of face to face network marketing. But what made Walker a success was not just the fact that she knew and understood her market; she was, after all, her own best customer. Walker was able to get the market on her side by using it as manpower.

Lesson #5: Make Perseverance Your Motto

“There is no royal flower-strewn path to success,” said Walker. “And if there is, I have not found it for if I have accomplished anything in life it is because I have been willing to work hard.”

From Menial Worker to Millionaire: How Walker Achieved Success

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?”

Madam C.J. Walker Quotes

Madam C.J. Walker Quotes

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