There are countless reasons to celebrate Black History Month.
In fact, Black History Month could fill a year-round celebration of achievements for African Americans, and a time to acknowledge our central role in U.S. history.
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In honor of Black History Month, I’m excited to discuss two African American business women who have made a big impact in the lives of many. We all can learn from them.
First, I would like to start out with Madam C.J. Walker — the first African American female entrepreneur.
Madame C.J. Walker, born Sarah Breedlove, is an original “self-made woman entrepreneur.” As a daughter of former slaves — and orphaned at the age of seven — Walker quite literally built her empire out of nothing.
Although she’s not with us anymore, she paved the way for numerous African American women entrepreneurs.
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Lesson 1: Gain knowledge and knowledge first. Then make it your own – but better.
Her story of becoming the first African American self-made millionaire within the U.S. may be a prime lesson on the steps required to become a successful entrepreneur.
In 1904, she sold hair products for Annie Turnbo Malone, an African American hair care entrepreneur. She used every minute of her time with Malone to eventually develop her own line.
Lesson 2: Build a team you’ll trust to make the dream work.
By 1906, she was married to Charles Walker, who eventually became her business partner and helped her market her brand. The dynamic duo would travel around the Southern and Eastern United States, while her daughter stayed in Denver to assist with the mail orders.
Lesson 3: Await signs it’s time to grow your staff and relocate your business.
By 1910, Madam C.J. Walker was on a path to success, and moved her business to Indianapolis, where she launched the headquarters for the Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company. The new building was amazing; it had a house, factory, laboratory, and later a beauty school to train her sales agents. With business thriving, she was ready to hire both management and sales teams.
Lesson 4: Make your business mission not just about the merchandise.
Madam C.J. Walker created a movement to empower women.
Lesson 5: Know your product and your audience.
Her success is actually because of her ability to acknowledge as a whole, gain the knowledge, and put together a dream team. But what made her business skyrocket in such a quick amount of time were her sales skills.
Secondly, I would like to finish with Oprah Winfrey.
Going from an impoverished and violent childhood to an incredibly successful female entrepreneur, actress, producer and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey has become one of the foremost influential and role models within the world.
Oprah has certainly changed lives for people across the globe. But, she’s also inadvertently influenced women entrepreneurs, like myself.
Lesson 1: Always be authentic, be yourself everyone else is taken.
“I had no idea being your authentic self could make me as rich as I’ve become. If I had, I’d have done it much earlier.” -Oprah Winfrey
There’s only one Oprah Winfrey. She never imitated anyone else – regardless of what anyone told her early on in her career. She found her own voice that resonated with audiences and ultimately, it caused her to become one of the foremost successful women of all-time.
People will support you and your business, but if you’re not authentic they’re going to smell BS from a mile away.
Lesson 2: Be willing to take risks when others won’t.
“I believe that one of life’s greatest risks is daring not to risk.” Oprah didn’t find success by playing it safe.
Lesson 3: Thrive on challenges, they will make you stronger.
There will always be obstacles to overcome as a business owner and female entrepreneur. Rather than resisting these challenges, you’ve got to be flexible and find out how to adapt. If you don’t, how do you expect to survive when the market changes?
Lesson 4: Do your very best always no matter what.
No matter what your situation is in life, Oprah has always encouraged her audience to be their best, you should too.
Lesson 5: Remember when you share your story, it will make a difference.
Books were the passport to Oprah’s personal freedom. If you’re an Oprah fan, then you’re very aware of the personal struggles she’s experienced throughout her life — specifically that she was sexually abused at the age of nine. I can personally relate because I was also sexually abused at a young age.
Sharing these types of personal stories can help you build a relationship with your audience because other people can relate to you. It shows that you’re very transparent. That’s why so many women entrepreneurs like myself have been so open about failures because we understand how important it is for others.
It is my hope that these lessons will inspire you.
To learn more about implementing these success strategies and lessons join Wealthy Women Inner Circle Free Facebook www.facebook.com/wealthywomeninnercircle.
Charlotte Howard is the Founder of the Hair Artist Association with over 4000 members, CEO of Heart Centered Women Publishing, Founder of Wealthy Women Inner Circle and Co-Founder of Wealthy Women Entrepreneurs.
She’s written and published thousands of best selling books. She’s one of the most-highly paid board certified book writing prosperity life coaches, women’s book publishing consultants and influential women’s book publishing expert trainers in the world.
Charlotte has been called by the Information Marketing Journal an “Information Marketing Genius”. Amazon and the Yearbook of Experts named her one of the most influential women in the world of beauty, business and women’s transformational book publishing industries.
She is also in the Top 1% Most Followed Transformational Public Figures In Beauty, Women’s Business and Women Book Publishing on LinkedIn, with over 100,000+ fans across her pages.
Charlotte is a proud homeschooling mom of 4 beautiful kids. She loves the beach, reading, writing and traveling with family and friends. She is an avid Netflix and Amazon Prime lover. Since leaving corporate america she’s finally been able to enjoy a freedom based lifestyle and believes everyone should be able to do the same.
