Building Your Own Grounds

The child of sharecroppers transformed her life from a farm laborer with no education to one of the twentieth centuries most successful self-made millionaires. The start of her hair product company was due to a scalp ailment that she had suffered, causing her to lose the majority of her hair. She searched for many at home remedies as that was her only choice, because of the limitations she had during the segregation era she lived in. Madame C.J. Walker experimented with hundreds of methods praying that she would eventually reach a consensus with her hair. Several sources say that she would pray daily regarding her hair, hoping and praying that it would grow back, a dream had occurred to her as she was sleeping. She stated that she was given the formula "in a dream." Her invention of a scalp conditioner healing formula kicked off the start to her title as an entrepreneur. In order to promote her hair products, she traveled the south and the southeast for about a year, knocking door to door demonstrating the formulas miracles. By early 1910, she settled herself in Indianapolis which was the nations largest manufacturing center, built a factory along with a hair salon, and became made several headlines in the black press. Known as one of the first self-made African American businesswomen, Mrs. C.J. Walker definitely made a legacy that is still remembered and honored till this day.