The story of Annie Malone and Madam C. J. Walker’s rise to millionaire status is not talked about enough.
Through immense adversity, Walker and Malone were among the first female self-made millionaires in the US during a time when sexism and racism were even more oppressive.
Walker is listed as the US’s first female self-made millionaire in the Guinness Book of World Records. However, historians argue that Malone is the true winner of this title. Either way, both made tremendous strides in the entrepreneurial space.
Annie Malone’s achievements were critical to Walker’s success. Malone walked so Walker could run, you could say!
Overcoming adversity
Walker was born in 1867 on a plantation in Delta, Louisiana. Malone was born shortly after in 1869 in Metropolis, Illinois.
Both had large families. Walker was 1 of 6 where Malone had 10 siblings.
From a very early age, Walker endured significant hardship from working long straining days on crops and cotton fields to losing her parents and later her first husband.
Sadly, Malone also lost her parents as a child. After becoming orphans, Walker and Malone both moved in with their older sisters.
Walker worked and married at 14 to escape her abusive brother-in-law while Malone struggled to finish school due to illness.
Although she didn’t finish her education, Malone was driven by creativity and ingenuity.
She had a fascination with hair and a knack for chemistry. In the 19th Century, black women often used harsh ingredients like butter, bacon grease and heavy oils to straighten their hair.
Realizing how damaging this was, Malone began experimenting with products that improved scalp hygiene.
Breakthroughs
With time and effort, she opened a shop on Market Street in St. Louis just in time for the 1904 World Fair. She capitalized on the influx of tourists and received a very positive response.
Meanwhile, Walker was doing her best to provide for herself and her two-year-old daughter after divorcing her second husband.
She moved to St. Louis, Missouri to be closer to four of her brothers and work as a laundress.
Years of hard physical labour, financial strain and painful losses started to take a toll on Walker.
Dandruff and psoriasis of the scalp, then known as “tetter”, caused hair loss – a stressful experience in itself but one that sent her life in an incredible direction.
Seeking help, Walker stepped into Malone’s store. At this point, their paths forged together forever.
Friction & fortitude
Malone’s business was thriving and she needed support. Black women were not welcome in traditional corporate sales workspaces.
She hired sales agents to promote her products door to door sales and pursued other sales strategies that were less conventional yet highly professional.
Walker experienced the product’s benefits firsthand. Her hair soon grew from above her ears to past her shoulders. She was fully converted and went from being a client to a sales agent, making double what she was as a washer.
In 1905, Walker moved to Denver and took Malone’s product formulas with her.
This is where lines start to blur a bit. Walker rebranded the Wonderful Hair Grower with her face on the packaging and made it her own.
When Malone found out, she was understandably furious and launched an ad in the Colorado Statesman warning people to “beware of imitations”.
There is a lot of contention surrounding who created the pressing comb first. Walker is often credited for this. However, records show that Malone was the first member of the black community to patent the product in the US.
Profound impacts
Both women went on to experience incredible success and uplifting others in similar pursuits.
Malone changed the name of her business to the Poro Company after a West African word meaning devotional society.
She was committed to community enrichment and granting others prosperous opportunities.
In 1918, she built Poro College in St, Louis which served as an invaluable gathering place for the local black community.
The campus included her company’s office, manufacturing operations, a training center and facilities for civic, religious, and social events.
In addition, the complex has classrooms, barber shops, dining areas, a theatre, gym, chap and even a roof garden! Poro College branched off into campuses in 15 other states.
Malone was very caring and generous toward her employees, ensuring fair pay and room for advancement. She also made large donations to the St. Louis Colored Orphans Home, which was renamed after her due to her support.
A lasting legacy
Similarly, Walker was a strong advocate of black women’s economic independence. She relocated once again to Indianapolis in 1910 and built a factory to produce her beauty products.
She too launched training programs in the “Walker System” for her national network of licensed sales agents who earned abundant commissions.
Overall, Walker employed 40,000 African American women and men in the US, Central America, and the Caribbean. In 1917, she also founded the National Negro Cosmetics Manufacturers Association in 1917.
She donated significant amounts to the YMCA, covered tuition for six African American students at Tuskegee Institute, and was heavily involved in the anti-lynching movement.
Prior to passing away, Walker revised her will to dedicate two-thirds of future net profits to charity, as well as thousands of dollars to various individuals and schools.
While some friction and historical inaccuracies are part of Malone and Walker’s past, the point is that both women created truly incredible change.
Just as the beauty products were similar, so were the women’s goals in creating a stronger, freer and more empowered community around them.
We are fortunate to remember them and the profound legacies they created.
