Women Investing in Women in 1910

I am always looking for articles, book, podcasts, videos etc. that provide focus on the challenges and hurdles of starting and growing a business – yesterday in this hunkered down world I found an extraordinary source in the Netflix series – Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker

It is based on a true story about an African American washerwoman who rises from poverty to build a beauty empire and become the first female self-made millionaire –. Her parents were former slaves who were freed shortly before her birth in 1867.

Madam founded her company in 1910 and its extraordinary to me that she went through the same struggles of solving a real problem with a compelling product for her customers to buy as entrepreneurs do today but she of course had many other barriers to her success; a business woman in 1910 was almost a dirty word and a woman of color was a whole other level of hardship. However, she believed so strongly in herself, and in her products and what they could do for her customers and the community at large, she just kept fighting to make it happen.

As you can imagine raising money was the largest hurdle of all and when the men laughed at her, harassed her and nearly raped her, their wives stepped up to fund her company. That’s right women investing in women in 1910.

The entrepreneurial lessons in this series are exceptional and the life lessons are priceless.