3 marketing secrets America's first self-made female millionaire used 100 years ago to build a beauty-product empire can still be used by entrepreneurs today
- Historians consider Madam CJ Walker to be America's first self-made female millionaire.
- In the late 1800s, Walker experienced hair loss from a scalp condition. She used this personal struggle as a catalyst to launch a line of hair products for black women.
- The historian A'Lelia Bundles, a descendant of Walker, shared with Business Insider the strategies that led the entrepreneur to amass a $2 million fortune (more than $30 million today after inflation).
- Bundles credits the entrepreneur's use of advertising, her ability to learn from strong leaders, and her perseverance as the main factors behind the successful business.
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Kylie Jenner may be widely considered the world's youngest self-made billionaire, but she's far from being the first beauty-industry trailblazer.
Nearly 100 years before the success of the Kardashian-Jenner clan, there was Madam CJ Walker. Most historians agree that Walker was America's first female millionaire, and she built her fortune through beauty products. Walker, who was the first child in her family to be born free, began her career as a washerwoman before finding her fortune in entrepreneurship. She eventually became the head of a $2 million empire, or more than $30 million in today's dollars.
In the 1890s, Walker lost most of her hair to a scalp condition. She then developed a secret formula for scalp ointments and shampoos to help her deal with the issue - and this inspired a line of haircare products for black women.
To gauge what made Walker so successful, Business Insider contacted her great-great-granddaughter, A'Lelia Bundles, a historian who wrote the biography "On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker." Bundles identified three key strategies that her famous ancestor used to solidify her success in the beauty industry and amass a fortune.
Here are the tips, which Bundles said could still work for any entrepreneur today.
Effectively market the product
Walker's third husband, Charles Joseph Walker, encouraged her to ditch her given name, Sarah Breedlove, and use something more recognizable. She took the title "Madam," which was a common name for businesswomen in her era, and adopted her husband's initials. After the name switch, she began printing her face on the containers of her special pomade, Madam CJ Walker's Wonderful Hair Grower. According to Bundles, having her name and likeness on the product fostered a personal connection with her ever-growing audience of black women.
"She would have been an Instagram girl," Bundles said. "She really did understand advertising."
In fact, studies show it is easier to recognize faces than names. Because of this, people are more likely to remember a brand with a human face. Going further, Walker promoted her lectures about issues affecting the black community in newspapers around the country. Bundles said Walker created a special presentation on the issues closest to her heart, which she shared with the masses (a PowerPoint deck decades before PowerPoint).
"She became more savvy about how to tell her story," Bundles said. "She was the attraction before the internet, before television, before many towns had movies."
Bundles said Walker's popular lectures were often held in African American churches. There, Walker would gather about 10 to 15 black women who were interested in becoming "agents," or sales representatives. Then, she taught them how to market the product.
"She was always attuned to the women who were asking the best questions and the women to whom others gravitated," Bundles said. Because of this, the person who stood out in the group was hired as her lead sales agent for that town.
Bundles said Walker repeated this hiring strategy throughout her US tours. By employing curious sales agents across America, Walker pushed her products further into the mainstream market.
Identify leaders you can learn from
Walker identified leaders on her board who were detail-oriented and had experience managing others and whom she could learn from. Bundles said Walker hired Alice Kelly, a former dean of girls at a boarding school in Kentucky, who later managed her manufacturing company. While on the road, Kelly tutored Walker on grammar.
As a leader who didn't have the benefits of a formal education, Walker leaned on employees who could help her develop her skills. She eventually surrounded herself with a savvy team who helped grow her workforce to 3,000 employees. In fact, experts agree that to improve management, bosses should hire employees who are smarter than them.
Another key leader was Walker's secretary, Violet Davis Reynolds, who was hired as a teenager. During their travels, Reynolds also wrote letters and flyers promoting the products. Because of this detailed paper trail, Walker's business left behind a rare trove of records that paint a picture of what black entrepreneurship was like at the start of the 20th century.
"Her attorney and her office people kept excellent records," Bundles said. "Through that careful record keeping, we are able to document her life, which is very unusual for any company founded in the early 1900s by women or people of color."
Push past rejection from investors
In the early 1900s, a friend introduced Walker to Booker T. Washington, a founder of the National Negro Business League. At the time, Washington was one of the most powerful black men in the country. Yet, he declined to offer Walker any investments. An excerpt of the rejection letter in "On Her Own Ground" says Washington's "time and attention" were "occupied" with building his institution.
"It shows how then as now, women and people of color often are underestimated in their pursuits to start businesses," Bundles said.
The leaders, however, did share the same values for self-promotion. Later, Washington invited her to speak at National Negro Business League conventions. The group eventually endorsed Walker as "the foremost businesswoman of our race." Because of this platform, Walker's network expanded.
Research has long touted the importance of people skills in any successful business plan. In fact, a 2016 Harvard University study used figures from 1918 that found 85% of job success comes from people skills, a set of behaviors that allow one to connect with other humans. Business Insider previously reported that asking for help encouraged empathy and could open up greater levels of trust.
While Walker won over Washington through their shared values, Bundles said the leader never financially invested in the business. Like Walker, female founders today still struggle to secure funding. In fact, Business Insider reported that startups founded by women accounted for 2.9% of total venture investments in the first half of 2019.
"Walker would be really glad to know that there are lots of women CEOs and more women millionaires in business," Bundles said. "But she would be really frustrated to see that the needle has not moved on people who have the resources, being willing to invest in companies."