Growing up I was surrounded by women who taught me a lot about making a way out of no way. Naturally the female protagonists in my fiction have those same characteristics, women with brains who work hard and look good doing it.

Which brings me to a woman whose story I never get tired of reading -Madame C. J. Walker. She was born Sarah Breedlove in a little place called Delta, Louisiana, which doesn’t exist now. Madame Walker made a fortune giving Black women what they want – ways to look good so they could strut their stuff. She transformed herself from an uneducated farm laborer and laundress to the first woman to become a self-made millionaire. Yet she also gave Black women a chance to make their own money.  Her sales ladies were well trained, and given a chance to become businesswomen in their own right.  A little known fact – Madame Walker pioneered the sales technique of home cosmetic parties for customers. Her 1917 Madame C. J. Walker Hair Culturists Convention may have been one of the earliest gatherings of female entrepreneurs in this country, possibly the world.

You can’t help but admire a woman who starts out with the odds against her, and beats them in a spectacular way. But there are many women like that who are not famous historical figures, and I’ll bet you know them. Feel free to post about them here so we can all be inspired.

Beating the odds? Priceless.

Madame C.J. Walker Bio