The Lasting Legacy of Madam C.J. Walker, Beauty Visionary
There are plenty of role models to be found in the world of beauty entrepreneurs. But Madam C.J. Walker — the daughter of sharecroppers who was orphaned at age 7 and later turned a scalp ailment into a successful beauty business, becoming the first self-made millionaire woman in the country — is in a league of her own.
It’s why Madam C.J. Walker Beauty Culture, the beautifully bottled hair-care line for all hair types, sold at Sephora and built on the entrepreneur’s legacy, has just launched an online campaign, “I Can Because She Did.” It seeks to both raise awareness of Walker’s contributions and to inspire women around the world to aim just as high.
“Madam C.J. Walker has been widely celebrated as a source of pride and inspiration in black history for almost a century, but the truth is that she is an American icon and an inspiration for every woman,” said Richelieu Dennis, founder and CEO of Sundial Brands — parent company of Madam C.J. Walker Beauty Culture, as well as Shea Moisture and Nubian Heritage — in a press release. “Like so many women aspiring and working to create the life they desire, Madam Walker lived with a vision that was beyond her time — a vision for the way that things could be, not the way they were. She accomplished what no woman had done before, and with #ICanSheDid, we are inspiring women today to do the same.”
The campaign includes an online meme generator that invites women to share their own successes as well as honor those who have personally inspired them. There’s also a collection of 20 short films about modern-day influencers — such as media personality Tai Beauchamp, wellness entrepreneur Latham Thomas, Heart & Soul editor in chief Anita Kopacz, and recording artist Renee Neufville.
Walker’s great-great-granddaughter and official historian, A’Lelia Bundles, tells Yahoo Beauty that her great-great-grandmother would approve.
“From the beginning, Madam C. J. Walker’s message was as much about hair and beauty as it was about empowering other women. She knew that confidence and self-assurance are key ingredients to success, and that true beauty comes from within,” Bundles says about Walker, born Sarah Breedlove in Louisiana. Walker learned tricks of the trade through her four brothers, who were barbers in St. Louis. There she earned about $1.50 a day but supported her daughter and made sure she received an education, expanded her own world view by meeting women in the National Association of Colored Women, and eventually set off on a tour of the South, selling her homemade scalp remedies.
“Her own experiences as an underpaid, overworked single mother helped her understand the challenges women faced in the early 20th century,” Bundles continues. “At a time when women were barred from career and educational opportunities — and even the right to vote — she offered financial independence to her sales agents, who bought real estate, educated their children, and made philanthropic contributions to schools, churches, political causes, and civic organizations.”
By 1910, Walker had settled in Indianapolis, where she built a factory, salon, and training school. She later traveled to Central America and the Caribbean to expand her business, moved with her daughter to a Harlem townhouse, and became an NAACP activist and philanthropist. “We hope #ICanSheDid will remind girls and women of the ‘sheroes’ in their lives. We all draw inspiration from women whose names make the headlines and whose stories are in the history books, but often our greatest inspiration comes from our mothers, grandmothers, aunts, teachers, and friends,” Bundles says. “#ICanSheDid turns Madam Walker’s personal story of transformation from washerwoman to millionaire entrepreneur into a launching pad for others to consider their own aspirations and to celebrate the women who support, encourage, and inspire them.”
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