Madam C.J. Walker Builds a Business by Rebel Girls

Author:Rebel Girls
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Timbuktu Labs
Published: 2019-08-20T08:20:55+00:00

“Growing hair is like growing collard greens.” Sarah placed a towel around the shoulders of a volunteer. “You know how we turn the soil before planting?”

The women nodded.

“Who can tell me why we do that?”

A woman’s hand shot up. “I do, Madam Walker! We loosen the soil so that all the good nutrients can get down to the roots.”

“That’s exactly it.” Sarah parted the volunteer’s hair with a skinny comb. “See this here? That’s dead skin.” She pointed to the white flakes on the volunteer’s scalp. “Hair can’t grow if dandruff is blocking all those nutrients from getting in.”

Sarah worked through the hair, gently parting the strands and removing the dead skin as she went. Then she had her students divide into pairs and practice on each other. She taught them her secret methods for shampooing and combing hair. She taught them how to style the hair in a way that would protect it. She taught them techniques to help hair grow. By the time Sarah finished, every woman in the room was a certified Walker Agent.

“Welcome to the Walker family,” Sarah announced, as she handed out paper certificates stamped with her official seal of approval.

Sarah loved listening to the murmur of voices and click-clack of feet leaving her workshop. She imagined each woman marching herself home and starting her own salon. Each agent could make up to fifteen dollars a day instead of a dollar as a washerwoman. Armed with their new knowledge, anything was possible.

“Madam C. J. Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower is a Miracle!” read the headline of a local newspaper. “Ladies are showing each other how to depend on themselves!”

~

Unfortunately for Annie Turnbo, Sarah was much better at selling herself and her products. Even though their products were similar, black women were drawn to Madam C. J. Walker and the stories she told.

Sarah wasn’t shy. She told everyone who she was and where she came from. “I was a washerwoman, and look at me now!” she always said.

Absolutely everybody was talking about Madam C. J. Walker. Her newspaper ads, presentations, workshops, and word-of-mouth advertising worked wonders for her business. But they worked a little too well. Charles and Lelia couldn’t get the orders out fast enough!

“Good morning, Mama,” Lelia yawned, coming down late to breakfast one morning.

“Aw, baby. You look like you were up half the night!” Sarah clucked her tongue in sympathy as she passed her daughter a plate of biscuits and bacon.

“I was up half the night,” Lelia grumbled.

“We’re two hundred orders behind,” Charles called from his desk in the next room, flipping through a tall stack of papers. “We’ve got plenty of business, but we might start losing it soon if we can’t deliver. See this here? The West Coast orders are taking too long to ship from the East Coast. People are starting to complain.”

“Don’t worry.” Sarah stood behind her husband and squeezed his shoulder. She pointed to a very big number. “Look! We’ve got the money to keep our distribution center in the east and open our very own factory, beauty college, and salon.

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