The Amazing Life of One of America’s Earliest Black Female Entrepreneurs

Though not everyone may know her name, Madam C.J. Walker helped invent what have become staples of our modern country and economy: national sales forces, corporate social responsibility, and, yes, even basic haircare. Orphaned at age 8, married at 14, and widowed at 20 with a daughter to raise, Walker went on to become a millionaire entrepreneur in the Deep South at the turn of the century, against all odds. Harvard Business School professor Nancy Koehn describes Walker’s inspiring real life story of making good on her own unique American dream. Koehn is the author of the case study, “Madam C.J. Walker: Entrepreneur, Leader, and Philanthropist.”