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SETBACKS FROM THE START<o:p></o:p>I was born Sarah Breedlove on 23 December 1867. My parents had been slaves. I was the first in my family to be born free. But there was still plenty of racism and unfairness.&nbsp;&nbsp;My mother and father died of yellow fever when I was only seven years old.&nbsp;&nbsp;In 1882, at the age of 14, I got married. I was very young, but I didn’t have many options at that time. My husband died in 1887, and I moved to St Louis with our baby daughter A'Lelia.&nbsp;<div><img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2F01ed0d13f61142e483d88c562b820122" alt="" style="color: rgb(21, 20, 20); width: 206.602px; height: 330.562px;"></div> <o:p></o:p>I worked as a washerwoman, earning about $1.50 a day. With the money I earned, I was able to send A’Lelia to school. I wanted her to get an education.&nbsp;<div>FINDING SOLUTIONS</div>I sang in the church choir and was looked after by teachers and members of the National Association of Colored Women. It gave me a chance to meet others who had similar lives, concerns and problems as me.Around that time, my hair started falling out. I found a product from Annie Malone that worked It made me want to help other women. I became a sales agent for Annie Malone’s products. I also worked as a cook for a pharmacist, who taught me the basic chemistry that allowed me to perfect my own hair-care product – a healing ointment.In 1906, I married Charles J Walker. He encouraged me to grow my business. A career was unusual for a Black woman at that time, particularly the daughter of parents who had been slaves. Sadly we parted a few years later but the business was a decision that changed my life and fortune.&nbsp;<div>NO LOOKING BACK</div>I changed my business name and began selling my hair-care product called ‘Madam Walker's Wonderful Hair Grower’.<div><img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2F653854ae941f4b93bbbb69dbc50eeab0" alt="" style="color: rgb(21, 20, 20); width: 219.125px; height: 219.125px;"></div><o:p></o:p>In 1906, A'Lelia graduated from college and came to work managing the mail order side of the business. This freed me up to sell my products door-to-door.&nbsp;We visited the south and southeast, where emancipated Black people lived. They wanted to look and feel good. I understood – we all had come from similar backgrounds.In 1908, I started my own college in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was called Lelia College, after my daughter. I had soon trained thousands of salespeople, who I called my ‘Walker Agents’. They became well known in Black communities across the southern and eastern parts of the country. They promoted my thinking of ‘cleanliness and loveliness’ as a means of advancing the status of African Americans.&nbsp;<div>GIVING BACK</div>In 1916, A’Lelia persuaded me to set up an office and beauty salon in Harlem, New York. Although business was booming, there were troubles in the world. So many people were living in poor conditions, and I decided to become more active in politics, fighting for justice and equality.I set up clubs for my employees and encouraged them to give back to their communities – and I rewarded them with bonuses when they did. At a time when jobs for Black women were fairly limited, I promoted female talent. I cared deeply about women having opportunities. I also donated generously to educational causes and Black charities.<div><img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2Feae523874e434b1eb9a0d9ec74c11c6b" alt="" style="color: rgb(21, 20, 20); width: 249.041px; height: 366.938px;"></div><o:p></o:p>Just when things were going so well, my doctors told me I had a serious illness called hypertension. I was 51, and I didn’t have long left.I got my start by giving myself a start. That was my approach and I encouraged others to do likewise. In the process, I became a millionaire - but it is what you do with the money that is important. I felt the best way for me to celebrate my success was to share it with others and give them the opportunity to also achieve great things. GLOSSARY<o:p></o:p>Yellow fever – an often-fatal tropical virus disease affecting the liver and kidneys, causing fever and jaundice. It is transmitted by mosquitoes.Emancipated – free from legal, social or political restrictions.Hypertension – high blood pressure, which can lead to severe health complications and increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, and sometimes death.LEGACY AND RECOGNITION<ul><li>Madam CJ Walker is in the Guinness Book of Records for being America’s first self-made female millionaire. Her achievements are even more impressive in the face of the racial challenges of 20th century America.</li><li>Madam CJ Walker supported many charities and became known as a leader for both women’s rights and equal rights for all citizens.</li><li>In the course of her work, Madam CJ Walker trained nearly 23,000 sales agents and workers, serving customers in the United States, Central America, and the Caribbean.&nbsp;</li><li>Sundial Brands, which also manufactures Shea Moisture and Nubian Heritage, added Madam CJ Walker Beauty Culture to its family of hair care products in 2013. A'Lelia Bundles (Walker's great-great-granddaughter) is the brand historian for the line.</li><li>Richelieu Dennis, the founding CEO of Sundial, created a foundation which now owns Villa Lewaro, Madam Walker's estate in Irvington, New York.</li><li>The former headquarters and manufacturing plant of Madam CJ Walker Hair Care and Beauty Products in Indianapolis has been transformed into the Madam Walker Legacy Center. It provides cultural education, promotes social justice, supports entrepreneurship, and empowers youth to become leaders.</li><li>Her story has been made into a movie Self-Made: Inspired by the life of Madam CJ Walker, starring Octavia Spencer.</li></ul>IMAGE CAPTIONS AND CREDITSMadam CJ Walker’s daughter, A’Lelia, Madam Walker Family Archives, with thanks to A’Lelia Bundles for permission to use the image from this collection<o:p></o:p>Wonderful Hair Grower product, Madam Walker Family Archives<o:p></o:p>Portrait of Madam CJ Walker&nbsp;(c 1914), Scurlock Studio (Washington, D.C.) (photographers), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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