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Business Movers
Pioneers and Rivals - Annie Turnbo Malone and Madam C.J. Walker | Crowning Achievements | 4
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- [00:00]
Lindsey Graham
Want to get more from business movers? Subscribe to Wondery for early access to new episodes, ad free listening and exclusive content you can't find anywhere else. Join Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. It's July 2, 1917, in East St. Louis, Illinois. A black woman in her 30s peers out anxiously from the doorway of her hair salon at the far end of the street. A crowd of white men are tearing up the neighborhood. She hurriedly pulls back her head before closing the door and then bolting it. Then she draws a curtain to cross the windows, make sure all the lights are off, and prays that the mob will just pass her by. For the past few weeks, tensions have been rising in East St. Louis. White workers have accused black newcomers of undercutting wages and have spread stories about them fraternizing with white women. Yesterday, shots were fired in a black neighborhood, and today an angry white mob has descended on this portion of the city. The salon owner moves toward the stairs, but a frantic knock at the door stops her. Help. Help. Let me in. Please. They'll kill me. The salon owner pauses for a moment. She's worried that this could be some sort of trick. Please. I'm trapped. Mobs at both ends of the street. There's nowhere I can go. The salon owner moves cautiously to the window beside the door and peels back the curtains just an inch. She locks eyes with a young black man, barely out of his teens. He looks terrified. The woman quickly unbolts the door, pulls him inside before locking the door again. Oh, thank you, ma'am. Thank you. It's crazy out there. I know. Where are the police? You're kidding, right? You didn't hear the gunfight yesterday? It was two cops that were shot. The police want revenge just as much as this mob. The salon owner and the man retreat to the back of the room and go quiet. As the crowd comes closer, a rock comes crashing through the window. The salon owner grabs the man by his sleeve. Quickly. Upstairs. Upstairs. The woman races upstairs with the young man following close behind. There's a small storeroom above the salon, its shelves lined with poro hair products. But there's nowhere for them to hide. Then they hear movement downstairs. Someone has smashed through the window. There are footsteps on the broken glass and then the sound of water splashing on the floor. The salon owner looks at the young man beside her. What are they doing? But then she smells it. It's the pungent and unmistakable smell of gasoline. The young man suddenly grips her hand and whispers in terror. They're gonna burn us Alive. The East St. Louis massacre resulted in the deaths of at least 100 African Americans and more than 6,000 others lost their homes to fire. This deadly racial violence took place in the same streets where a business revolution had recently occurred. Just over a decade earlier, two entrepreneurs had begun selling their hair care products to local black women. Both Annie Malone and Sarah Walker had become rich through their businesses. And now the devastation in their old stomping grounds only made the two women more determined to put their fortunes to good use and make their country a better place. Business Movers is sponsored by Attentive. Imagine for a moment if you got a message from your favorite brand, and it's so specific and personalized, it feels like it was created just for you. Well, chances are if you got such a message, they're using Attentive, the SMS and email marketing platform designed to help brands build and connect with their ideal audience. Attentive helps marketers create unique messages for every subscriber, transforming the consumer shopping experience and maximizing marketing performance. It works like this. Attentive's AI learns what subscribers actually want based on their real time interactions with your brand. And that means it customizes the content, tone and even timing of every message so they always resonate. If you're ready to take your customers on a journey created just for them, visit attentive.com businessmovers to learn more.
- [04:22]
Jorge Gaviria
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- [04:56]
Lindsey Graham
From Wondere I'm Lindsey Graham and this is Business Movers. For much of the 20th century, racial discrimination and violence were a part of daily life for African Americans in the United States. White and black people mostly lived separately. The law allowed businesses to segregate their services and facilities by color and race. Riots and lynchings like the East St. Louis massacre were all too common. But in this hostile environment, two black women beat the odds. They pioneered a new industry in a segment of the market that had gone overlooked by the wider business world. And it had made them rich. By 1917, both Annie Turnbull Malone and Sarah Walker were running thriving companies, each with their own network of sales agents selling hair products to black women all across America. They had both overcome betrayals and hardship on their way to success. Annie had seen the formula of her most popular product stolen by Sarah, and Sarah had seen her ex husband try to steal her entire business. But both had come through the hard times. And now that they were wealthy women, Annie and Sarah were determined to do more than simply expand their fortunes. They had become two of the best known black women in America and they wanted to harness that influence. Because as far as Annie and Sarah were concerned, their success came with responsibility to raise up their community and ensure that although they were among the first black women millionaires in America, they would not be the last. This is the fourth episode in our four part series on the pioneers of black hair care. Crowning achievements It's February 20, 1915 in Indianapolis, Indiana, two years before the East St. Louis massacre. 47 year old Sarah Walker stands in line outside the Isis Theater as the sun dips low in the sky and the city's new electric streetlights flicker to life. Sarah is looking forward to a happy evening with friends where she can watch a movie and forget the pressures of running her business. Sarah waits for the last of the theater's white patrons to go inside first. Then it's time for her and the other black customers to enter. Sarah approaches the attendant at the box office and places a dime on the counter. One ticket please. That'll be 25 cents. Sarah looks puzzled. It's usually 10. Not anymore. 25. Are you telling me the price has gone up by 150%? Listen, I don't set prices. I just take the money. Do you want to see the show or not? Sarah spots a list of prices over the attendant's shoulder. Oh look, it even says so behind you. 10 cents for admission. The attendant swivels to look at the sign. Must not have been updated yet. But none of your other customers have pointed out the error. You have been charging other customers 25 cents, haven't you? The new policy is that black customers pay a quarter. Sarah feels her blood beginning to boil. And what do white customers pay? What does it matter? They still pay a dime, don't they? You can't do that. The attendant just shrugs. Like I say, I don't make the rules. No, the state government does. And in Indiana this is illegal. I'd like to see the manager. Well, he's inside. Very well, I'll go and find him. The attendant tries to hide his smirk. Well, you'll have to pay 25 cents first. Sarah looks around a few White customers have arrived while she's been arguing with the attendant, and they're glaring at her for holding up the line. Sarah pushes her dime forward. Are you going to take my money and let me in, or are you going to stand by your Manager's illegal pricing, lady? 25 cents. Take it or leave it. Sarah picks up the dime and places it in her purse. I'll leave it. Sarah steps away from the counter, but before she goes, she turns and calls over her shoulder, but please pass on a message to your manager. My name is Madam C.J. walker. Tell him to expect a message from my attorney. Shortly after her spoiled evening, Sarah Walker sued the owners of the Isis Theater in Indianapolis, demanding $100 in damages for illegal discrimination. Sarah didn't need the money, but she'd encountered similar acts of prejudice countless times before, and Sarah's patience was running out. So soon she would leave her factory in Indianapolis to make one more final move across the country. In February 1916, Sarah Walker locked up her Indianapolis home for the last time, then boarded a train bound for New York. Business would continue in Indianapolis with her company's main factory and its 65 employees still located there, but Sarah herself had had enough. But she wouldn't be starting from scratch in the Big Apple. Sarah's daughter, Lelia, had moved to New York three years earlier and established a hair salon in Harlem. Harlem was a diverse neighborhood favored by immigrants, with thousands of Irish Catholics, German Protestants, and Eastern European Jews, but its largest demographic was middle class African Americans. There were doctors, lawyers, businessmen, people who could afford to rent an apartment and escape the squalor of inner city New York. When Lelia settled there in 1913, Sarah had bought her two adjoining townhouses and hired contractors to join the properties together. The enlarged townhouse wasn't just Lelia's home, though. It included a hair salon, a training college, and a manufacturing facility in the basement. But it was a worthwhile investment. By the time Sarah joined her daughter in New York three years later, Lelia's salon had become the Walker Company's top earner, with revenues of $2,000 a month, about $60,000 today. But even the enlarged Harlem townhouse was now too small. Sarah wanted a space of her own, so she bought an expensive plot of land north of the city on the banks of the Hudson river, and had architects draw plans for a luxury mansion in the mostly white district of Irvington. She would have affluent neighbors that included the richest man in the world, oil baron John D. Rockefeller. But although Sarah now moved in exclusive circles, she was all Too aware that she was an exception. More than half a century after the end of slavery in the United States, the average black American was still poorer than their white counterparts. They were more likely to have low paying jobs and live in substandard accommodation. In some states, black Americans were denied voting rights, forced to use inferior public facilities, were barred from certain businesses altogether. And over the previous decade, almost 500 black Americans had been murdered by white mobs. A national civil rights movement was developing to fight these injustices. And as a successful black entrepreneur, Sarah Walker saw it as her responsibility to help. So almost as soon as she moved to New York, she wrote a check for $100 and mailed it to the recently formed national association for the Advancement of Colored People. But that was just the beginning of a new phase in Sarah's life. Like many Americans, Sarah was horrified by the July 1917 race massacre in East St. Louis. Sarah had lived nearby, on the opposite side of the Mississippi river for 18 years. She had friends who still lived in the area, and they wrote to Sarah describing how they'd gone to the aid of East St. Louis inhabitants as they fled across the bridges from rampaging white mobs. Sarah knew that had her life gone differently, she could very easily have been among the people killed in East St. Louis. So shortly after the massacre, Sarah joined a committee of prominent black residents in New York. Determined to make a stand rallying the community, they organized the Silent Parade, a protest march in downtown Manhattan. Around 8,000 black New Yorkers walked through the streets with their heads bowed as a muffled drum sounded out a mournful beat. They carried banners and handed out flyers protesting the federal government's inability or unwillingness to tackle racial violence in America. Keeping up the campaign, Sarah then joined a delegation of black New Yorkers that traveled to Washington D.C. in August of 1917. There they asked to speak to the President himself, Woodrow Wilson. The group wanted to point out a contradiction in his government's policy. America had recently entered World War I claiming to be fighting for freedom and democracy in the trenches of Europe. But back home, there was no freedom or democracy for many of America's black citizens. Sarah and her delegation demanded change, but President Wilson refused to even meet with them. Sarah returned to New York disappointed but undeterred. She soon realized that through her business, she was in a unique position position to help black women especially. Sarah had over 10,000 Madam CJ Walker agents all across America. And she believed the network she built could do far more than sell hair care products. So in late summer 1917, Sarah founded the National Beauty Culturists and Benevolent association of Madam C.J. walker Agents. Sarah wanted this new organization to empower her sales agents, giving them the knowledge and skills they needed to succeed not just in business, but in life as well. Association conferences would cover the latest developments in hair care and discuss best practices for running a salon. But they would also become a platform for speakers from charitable organizations and civil rights groups, lecturers who would address political and social issues of the day. Sarah hoped that her agents would take what they learned at these events back home and then apply them in their communities and beyond. This new organization. Sarah also became a proactive member of the national association of Colored women. And in 1919, making another donation to the NAACP. The $5,000 she gave to the group's anti lynching campaign was the largest single donation the NAACP had ever received at that point in its history. But Sarah did not attend the NAACP conference where her donation was unveiled. Instead, she was at home in her mansion 20 miles north of Manhattan. A few months earlier, Sarah had become aware that her health was failing. Years of high blood pressure had taken its toll, and Sarah had been diagnosed as suffering from kidney failure. She tried to keep working through her illness, and knowing that time was slipping away from her, she made one final flurry of donations to charity. Sarah matched the amount of her gift to the NAACP, giving $5,000 to a school for black Americans in Florida and another $1,000 to a school in North Carolina. But less than three weeks after her name was applauded at the NAACP conference, Sarah slipped into a coma. She died at home in Irvington, New York, on May 25, 1919. She was 51 years old. Sarah left behind an estate valued at $600,000. But her death robbed the Madam C.J. walker company of its most powerful asset. Although her daughter Lelia succeeded Sarah as president, Lelia soon delegated most of the responsibility for running the business to others. Madam C.J. walker hair products would remain in production for decades to come. But without Sarah at the helm, the Walker Company's relentless growth would finally come to an end. So on May 30, 1919, when thousands of mourners gathered in New York for Sarah Walker's funeral, they weren't just mourning the loss of Sarah, but the end of her remarkable life's journey from washerwoman to businesswoman to philanthropist. One of the two pioneers of the black hair care industry was dead. But the woman who'd given Sarah her first opportunity was still alive. Annie Malone would live for another 38 years. And her battles in business and at home were far from over.
- [17:05]
Unknown
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- [19:10]
Lindsey Graham
It's February 1925 at Poro College in St. Louis, Missouri. Six years after the death of Sarah Walker, 47 year old Annie Malone stands with her arms folded as she watches a laborer change the lock in a door. Eight years ago, Annie Malone spent $350,000 on the construction of Poro College. It was a significant expenditure, but it was more than just a company headquarters and manufacturing facility. It was also a residence for trainee hairdressers, a hotel for visitors to St. Louis, and a permanent home for Annie and her husband, Aaron. Today, though, Annie is changing the locks to keep her husband out. The old lock mechanism falls to the floor and the laborer picks up a new lock and begins screwing it into place. Now what's going on here? Annie turns to see her husband, Aaron, striding down the hallway. He points indignantly at the door. What are you doing in my room? Well, it's my room, actually. I own this place and I'm changing the locks. But my stuff's in there. I suggest you take it out. Then it's time for you to find your own place, Aaron. Aaron glances at the laborer. He doesn't want to have this private conversation in front of him. Look, Annie, can we talk about this somewhere else? No, because there's nothing to talk about. I thought we agreed we each needed our own space. It was your idea to move out of our rooms. I never wanted you to leave. You said it was only temporary. But now I realize that you have no intention of working on our marriage. You just want to live like a bachelor at my expense. Oh, I'm not costing you a dime. That's not true. I could have used this room for something else. Someone else. Someone more deserving. Where am I supposed to go? You can't do this. This is my business, my building. So yes, of course I can. And the 11 years I spent working here to make Pora what it is, that counts for nothing, does it? The laborer tests the door lock before handing Annie the new key. Then he packs up his things in a hurry and retreats down the hallway with his tools. Aaron watches him go and hisses at Annie. Oh, give me the key, Annie. I will not. Give me the damn key. No. You have an hour to pack your things. Then it's time for you to go. After their marriage in 1914, husband and wife, Aaron and Annie Malone, had slowly drifted apart. They had begun attending different social events. Then it was different vacations. Eventually they were sleeping in different rooms and barely talking. The relationship was clearly over. But by forcing her husband out of Poro College, Annie had finally ended the limbo they were stuck in. But the relief she felt was only temporary. Soon Aaron would fight back and begin a drawn out court battle that would threaten the future of the Poro company and everything Annie had built in St. Louis. The first few years of Annie and Erin Malone's marriage had been happy ones. Annie's hair care business, Poro, was expanding rapidly and revenues were increasing. Just like the Madam C.J. walker Company. Annie trained hairdressers in how to use her products and then had them sign exclusive agreements to use her brand. Soon there were poor Poro Salon selling Annie shampoo and conditioner all across the country. But Annie had a nagging doubt at the Back of her mind, she worried what would happen to the company if anything happened to her. Annie's fears stemmed from a personal loss. In 1909, Annie's sister and business partner, Laura Roberts, had died, leaving Annie to run Poro by herself. Now there were thousands of employees and agents who depended on Poro for their income, and Annie didn't want them to be suddenly cast adrift if she followed her sister to an early grave. So after her marriage, Annie decided that Aaron was her natural successor. And she used the official incorporation of Poirot in December 1914 to formalize Aaron's role in the company. According to the paperwork filed in St. Louis, Poirot had four stockholders. Annie and Aaron had the bulk of the shares, while smaller stakes were granted to their nephew into Annie's long serving secretary. Annie was named Poirot's treasurer and Aaron company president. But despite Aaron's lofty title, he did not play a major role at Poirot. It was Annie who still made all the decisions. It was Annie who was the face of the company. And it was Annie's strong, cautious leadership that led her company to experience slow but steady growth. So that by 1917, Annie's bank account was healthy enough that she was able to open the poro College in St. Louis. This large building covered almost an entire city block. It was a manufacturing and training facility, an apartment building and a community center all rolled into one. It had meeting spaces that Annie offered to civil rights groups and charities. And it had dormitories and a gymnasium that Annie opened up for black soldiers returning from World War I. By 1924, Poro was making so much money that that Annie paid more federal income tax than anyone else in the state of Missouri. A bill of $38,000. But although the Poro business was thriving by this stage, Annie's private life was falling apart. After years of strife, Annie and Aaron finally separated in 1925. But Aaron felt humiliated after Annie changed the locks and threw them out of his home. And he was determined to keep what he saw as his fair share of the poro Company. In January 1927, two years after their separation, Aaron filed suit in St. Louis City Circuit Court. He had two requests. First, he wanted a divorce from Annie. Second, he wanted the judge to place Poirot into receivership so he could claim 50% of the company's assets. In his filing, Aaron claimed that he was the reason for Poirot's success, suggesting that Annie was little more than a figurehead. Or while he had made all the real decisions before being forced out by his bitter and jealous wife. But this fabrication was not just presented to the court. Aaron also went to the press with his story. The local reporters and their editors were nearly all men, and they were happy to take Aaron's tales at face value. To them, it made perfect sense that Aaron was the real genius behind the Poro Hair Company. The idea of a woman being independently successful seemed impossible. Of course, Annie was outraged by Erin's lies and was determined that her life's work would not be destroyed by them. She fought Erin in court and in the newspapers. And though she was known for her caution in business dealings, she was more bold in her fight with Erin. The court wanted her to turn over an $84,000 bond and the deeds to Poro College to her receiver while the case was being heard. Annie refused, risking a contempt of court charge. But Annie's legal team successfully argued that any such move would do irreparable harm to their client's business. This legal victory was soon followed by another, far more significant one. Annie's attorneys revealed in court that they had proof Aaron had been lying. His claim to half of Poirot's assets rested on papers used to incorporate the company back in 1914. Under those terms, Aaron and Annie had split the shares of the company between them and two other minor stockholders. What Aaron had failed to mention, however, was those terms had been altered four years later. Ever since 1918, the stocks and the assets of the Poro Company had been Annie's alone. With this revelation, the tide of the case turned decisively against Aaron, and his attorneys quietly urged him to settle. Aaron and Annie's divorce was finalized in May 1927. And as part of the decree, Erin received from Annie a lump sum of $25,000. An enormous amount, but still a far cry from the windfall Aaron had originally hoped for. Annie had emerged victorious over her ex husband. But the bitter divorce and court case had filled St. Louis newspaper columns for months, and the mostly negative press spurred Annie into a major decision. After 25 mostly happy years in St. Louis, Annie chose to leave Missouri and search for a fresh start. She moved 250 miles north to Chicago. The Windy City had a thriving black community in the late 1920s, and there Annie set about re establishing her company. She built a new Poro College on the south side of the city. And in February 1931, Annie reincorporated her business in Illinois. This time she split the stock between herself and eight others. These stockholders were all trusted Poro employees who'd been with her since the earliest days. They included her secretary, her nephew, her chauffeur, Poirot, College's matron, and the company's general manager. But Annie made sure that the majority of the stock remained in her name. After what her husband, Aaron did, Annie was not going to give anyone else the opportunity to take Poirot from her. The hair care company Annie had founded as a young woman was now approaching its 30th anniversary, and after the bitter legal battles of recent years, Annie hoped that Poro's future was finally secure. But a new crisis was already brewing. It began in Manhattan with the Wall street crash, when now the entire American economy was in free fall. For the first time in Poro's history, sales of its products would falter. But it wouldn't be the Great Depression that would ultimately destroy the Poro hair companies. Annie Malone's business would be undone by Annie herself.
- [28:34]
Jorge Gaviria
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- [29:58]
Lindsey Graham
It's 1946 at Poro College in Chicago, 15 years after Annie Malone reincorporated her company in Illinois. Growing restless waiting in the lobby of Poro College, a department store buyer quickly gets up from his seat and smooths out his suit as he spots a 68 year old woman approaching him. Although her hair is turning gray. The buyer inside instantly recognizes her face from the ads that he's seen in newspapers ever since he was a boy. It's Annie Malone, founder and president of Poro and the woman he's here to meet today. This buyer has been trying to get Poro products into his stores for years, But Annie has turned down every request to meet until finally today, he got a chance to make his case in person. Trying to make a good impression, the buyer stands up straight, looks Andy straight in the eye and extends his hand. Annie gives him hers. Welcome. You must be from Block and Cool. I am, ma'am, yes. And I'm so pleased you agree to meet with me today. Well, you've written me so many letters, I thought it was only polite. Please follow me. Annie leads the buyer across the lobby and into a comfortable office with broad windows. The pair sits, and then the buyer opens his briefcase, taking out a brochure, which he slides across the desk to Annie. This here is all the information you'd ever want to know about Block and Cool. We have around a dozen stores across Illinois. Now, you'll be familiar with the Chicago branches, I'm sure, but our flagship store is actually in Peoria. Used to be known as Shipper and Block, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, that's right. I grew up in Peoria. I sold my first hair conditioner there. Well, then. So Block and Cool and Poro were both born in Peoria. Well, it's clearly a match made in heaven, right? I'm excited about this partnership. Poro is such an iconic brand, and we couldn't be more thrilled to have the chance to share it with our customers. But I'm not selling Poro through your stores. Not yet. I understand. No, not ever. I'm not interested in Poro being sold in any stores. I don't mean to lead you on, but after you sent me so many letters, I wanted to meet you and explain my reasons face to face. But you're one of Illinois's best known brands. We're one of the state's busiest retailers. It makes a lot of sense. Annie shakes her head. We have sales agents on the ground in almost every town and city across America. We have agreements to sell our products through them and only through them. Oh, I'm sure our lawyers could work that out. What can't be denied is that the world of retail is changing, Mrs. Malone. Customers want convenience now. They want everything all under one roof. One stop shopping, they call it. And I'm convinced that Poro would sell more through our stores than you do through your agents. Well, I know Block and Cool have their way of doing business, but I have mine. I'm the president of Poro, and I have more than 10,000 agents under my care. I'm not prepared to abandon them. The buyer sighs, realizing he's not going to get Poro products into his stores. Well, I respect where you're coming from, Mrs. Malone, but you realize you're. You're leaving cash on the table. I probably am. But Poro has always been about more than just profit. In the aftermath of World War II, retail was evolving. Large department stores were beginning to dominate downtown America, selling clothes, furniture, sports equipment, toys and cosmetics, including hair care products. But Annie Malone would refuse to move with the times, and her company and all her employees would eventually pay the price. Like many other businesses in America, the Poro Hair Company had been hit hard by the Great Depression. The decade long economic slump sparked high unemployment, poverty and even famine across the United States. With less disposable income to spend, many Americans began to cut back on non essentials and women's specialist hair care products were often among the first things cut from the shopping list. Poro sales flatlined and then began to fall, with business soon slipping into the red. Poirot's old head office in St. Louis, Missouri was even repossessed by the bank after Annie failed to make mortgage payments. World War II eventually jump started the wider economy, but Poirot missed out on this recovery. It continued to struggle and revenues continued to fall. Selling her products in department stores may have offered Annie Malone a way out, but when the retailers came calling, Annie turned down all their offers. Supplying department stores would destroy the livelihoods of Poirot's existing sales agents and Annie was not prepared to abandon them after years of service. But since Annie refused to allow Poro shampoos and conditioners onto store shelves, her regular customers now faced a choice. They could either continue traveling to a licensed salon or sales agent to buy Poro's wonderful hair grower, or they could choose an alternative brand. While they did their everyday shopping, more and more people were visiting department stores and all making the same choice. Convenience triumphed over loyalty. Annie's reluctance to supply department stores may have come from a well intentioned desire to protect her agents jobs, but it would soon leave her entire workforce unemployed. At the dawn of the 1950s, Annie's accountants revealed that Poirot no longer had enough money in the bank to pay its taxes. And in November 1952, the 75 year old Annie threw in the town. She dissolved her company and after 50 years of work in the industry, retired to Chicago. Despite the business struggles of her latter years, though, when Annie eventually died, she still left behind an estate worth $100,000 at the time. Still, it was a fraction of what she'd once been worth. At the height of Poirot's success, Annie had been one of the richest women in America. And the same could be said for Annie's former employee turned rival, Sarah Walker, who had died 38 years earlier. But Annie and Sarah's true legacy cannot be measured in the property or riches they left behind. These two women were born in an America that had only just banned slavery. They ran their businesses at the height of cruel Jim Crow segregation laws. But Annie Malone and Sarah Walker overcame the odds stacked against them. They challenged the social norms and expectations of their day and refused to be dismissed simply because they were women or because they were black. They were pioneers who identified a gap in the market and built a whole new industry to serve it. They laid a path for others to follow so that though there is still more to be done, Black women are today the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs in the United States. The examples of Annie Malone and Sarah Walter Walker continue to inspire as America's first self made Black women millionaires. They showed that there was nowhere they didn't belong and nothing they couldn't do. From Wondery this is episode four Pioneers and Rivals for Business Movers on the next episode I speak with Sarah Walker's great great granddaughter A'Lelia Bundles to discuss her ancestors role as a pioneer of the Black hair care industry. If you like business movers you can unlock exclusive episodes found nowhere else on Wondery and access new episodes early and ad free. Join Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a survey@wondery.com survey if you'd like to learn more about Annie Malone and Sarah Walker, we recommend On Her Own the Life and times of Madam C.J. walker by A'Lelia Bundles, a friend to all mankind, Mrs. Annie Turnbow Malone and Poro College by John H. Whitfield and Notable Black American Women Edited by Jessie Carney Smith this episode contains reenactments and dramatized details. And while in most cases we can't know exactly what happened, all our dramatizations are based on historical research. Business Movers is hosted, edited and executive produced by me, Lindsey Graham for Airship Audio editing by Mohammed Shahzib Sound design by Molly Bach. Our supervising sound designer is Matthew Filler. Music by Lindsey Graham. This episode is written and researched by Scott Reeves. Executive producers are William Simpson for airship and Aaron O'Flaherty, Jenny Lauer Beckman and Marshall Louie for Wondery.
- [38:15]
Monica Lewinsky
At 24, I lost my narrative. Or rather, it was stolen from me, and the Monica Lewinsky that my friends and family knew was usurped by false narratives, callous jokes, and politics. I would define Reclaiming as to take back what was yours. Something you possess is lost or stolen, and ultimately you triumph in finding it again. So I think listeners can expect me to be chatting with folks both recognizable and unrecognizable names about the way that people have navigated roads to triumph. My hope is that people will finish an episode of Reclaiming and feel like they filled their tank up, they connected with the people that I'm talking to, and leave with maybe some nuggets that help them feel a little more hopeful. Follow Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Reclaiming early and ad free right now by joining Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.