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Pioneers and Rivals - Annie Turnbo Malone and Madam C.J. Walker | Roots of Success | 1
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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 the fall of 1904. In a small apartment building in St. Louis, Missouri. 27 year old Annie Pope brushes down her coat and tidies a stray curl of hair away from her face as she waits for someone to answer the door. This is a primarily African American neighborhood not far from the Mississippi River. As a black woman herself, Annie lives just one street over and she spent all day selling her homemade hair care formula to her neighbors door to door. She started this morning with a heavy bag full of product, but now she's almost out. One more sale and she'll be done. Finally, the door to the apartment opens and a tired looking woman, only a few years older than Annie peers out cautiously. She's dressed in worn clothes and has a cloth wrapped around her head. Annie puts on her best smile. Good afternoon, madam. My name's Annie Pope and I'm here to show you my new line of hair care products. The woman begins to close the door. Oh, no, no thank you. It'll only take a moment and I promise you it'll be worth your while. No, no, I'm just a washerwoman. I really don't have any money. Every cent goes to putting food on the table, right? Yeah, well, we don't always have the extra cash to spend on ourselves, do we? Lord, I know that. But we deserve a little slice of happiness too, don't you think? With a practice flourish, Annie reaches into her bag and pulls out the last tin of her homemade hair tonic. This is my wonderful hair grower. It's been formulated specifically for women like us. It treats the scalp, it nourishes, it makes the hair grow strong and healthy. The woman in the apartment touches the cloth wrapped around her head. She suddenly seems shy. No, I'm sorry, I'm not interested. It's really not expensive and you could be my last customer today. I'm sure I could make you a deal. No, it's not that. Again. The woman's hand drifts to her scalp. It's an almost involuntary movement, but it makes Annie realize why the woman must be covering her head. She's going bald. Oh, I see. Oh, honey. It started falling out a few months back and I don't know what could have caused it. I've seen it plenty of times before. The heat, the moisture, all those soaps you're using every day. That's deadly for your hair. Well, it makes me feel like such a freak. Yeah, I can understand. Look, why don't we go inside? I'll show you what this formula can do for free, no obligation, and you can decide for yourself. But I'm telling you, you don't have to live like this. The woman thinks for a moment, then steps back and gestures for Annie to enter. Okay, but I don't have long. I've still got a whole basket of washing to finish. I'll be as quick as I can. What's your name? Sarah. Sarah Davis. Well, Sarah, it's a pleasure to meet you. Let's. Let's go on in and change your life. Annie Pope was right. Their talk would change Sarah Davis's life, but it would change Annie's too. She would get far more than just a new customer when she knocked on Sarah's door. In the months to come, Sarah would go from Annie's customer to her employee. Then she would go from her employee to her competition Business Movers is sponsored by ShipStation. I think my 2025 is going to have to start in February because January, which should have been a month of planning and preparation, has instead been four weeks of unexpected chaos. And for you business owners, you know that even a little chaos can spell big trouble. But for those of you in charge of order fulfillment for an E commerce business, there's ShipStation. 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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.combusinessmovers to learn more from Wondere. I'm Lindsey Graham and this is Business Movers. The global market in hair care products is worth around US$100 billion every year. Giant multinational companies like L'Oreal, Unilever and Procter and Gamble compete alongside smaller boutique firms for customers dollars and new products and brands are always emerging. And one of the fastest growing segments of this beauty industry is black hair care. In 2023, global sales topped $3 billion, and forecasts suggest that that figure could almost double within a decade. In recent years, brands such as sheamoisture and Carol's Daughter have led the way in developing products specifically for black hair. And this growing industry has attracted millions of dollars in investment, with even a list celebrities like Beyonce and Rihanna getting in on the actual but these modern success stories stand on the shoulders of business pioneers from the past. More than 100 years ago, two women were the first big names in black hair care. Annie Pope and Sarah Davis. Both came from humble beginnings, but they spotted a gap in the market and created million dollar businesses by responding to the unmet needs of black consumers. Annie and Sarah went on to become the wealthiest black women in America, but they didn't hoard their wealth. Their philanthropy was rooted in their own life experiences. They were determined that those who came after them would not have to face the same barriers as they did the institutional racism of Jim Crow America and the sexism of communities, black and white. But long before they could think of helping others to the top, they had to get there themselves. Their dueling hair care empires began with Annie Pope, then known as Annie Turnbow. Annie was born around 1877, just 12 years after the end of the American Civil War. Her mother died when she was only 10 and her father when she was 16. Annie was a teenage orphan, dependent on her older siblings for support. But despite all the setbacks of her early years, she was determined to follow an unconventional path for a woman from her background. She didn't want to become a washerwoman or a seamstress. Annie wanted to go into business. This is the first episode in our four part series on the pioneers of black hair care. The Roots of success it's 1900 in Peoria, Illinois. Four years before Annie Pope meets Sarah Davis. In her cramped kitchen, 23 year old Annie stirs a pot of liquid that's heating on the stove. It's the latest concoction of the hair growing Tonic. Annie is developing and she must keep a close eye on it. She doesn't want the mixture to boil over, so she's only half looking when she leans across to grab a glass bottle standing on the counter. The bottle teeters over and she stretches out to grab it before it rolls off the edge. Hearing the glass shatter, the kitchen door opens and Annie turns to see her older sister Ada scowling in the doorway. Annie scrambles to clean up the mess. Oh, I'm sorry. It was an accident. Annie grabs the broom from the corner and starts sweeping up the glass, but Ada just shakes her head. As if it's not enough that you take over the kitchen for hours, now you're breaking my stuff too? I'm not made of money. I said I'm sorry, okay? Ada gestures at the bubbling pot that's about to boil over, you know. Oh, damn it. Annie leaves the shattered glass and grabs her wooden spoon, giving the bubbling liquid on the stove a big stir behind her. Ada takes up the broom and begins sweeping. Annie feels bad. Oh, you don't need to do that. I'll do it. I know I don't, but I don't want anyone cutting their feet while you're distracted. You still think you're going to make a million dollars with this stuff? Well, this might be my best formula yet, because my offer still stands. You know. I have plenty of dressmaking work. I can always use an extra pair of hands. Well, I appreciate that, but I believe in this. If it doesn't work out, then I'll take up a needle and thread. With pleasure. Ada stops sweeping and glances over the rim of the pot of the stove. Well, so what's different about this one? Not so much. The usual elements are the same, but I've added a secret ingredient. And what's that? It wouldn't be secret if I told you. Oh no. If you're going to be boiling up some witch's brew in our kitchen, I want to know what's in it. Okay. Well, it's coconut oil. I bought it down at the market. Cost me a pretty penny, though. But I think it's going to be worth it. Smell. Ada leans over the bubbling pot and breathes in. Well, that's wonderful. Yeah, isn't it? Maybe that's what I'll call it. Annie Turnbow's Wonderful Hair Grower. And you're sure it'll work? My recipe already works. This coconut oil, that's the cherry on the top. It'll make hair look and smell good too. Well, if it does, do all that you can count me in for the first treatment. I'm not paying you, though. You may think you're the next John D. Rockefeller. But I expect free product for the rest of my life. All the payback for all the time you spent in the kitchen breaking things. I think I can agree to that. I'll never forget my family. Even when you're a millionaire? Annie smiles. Even then. Job opportunities for African American women at the start of the 20th century were limited. But Annie Turnbow didn't want to follow her sister into the dressmaking industry. Instead, she was propelled by her passion for hair care and her entrepreneurial spirit to challenge the barriers society had put around her. Her wonderful hair grower was the result of years of experimentation, and now that Annie thought she had perfected it, she wanted to share it with the world. In 1900, there were almost 9 million black people living in America, making up 11% of the total population. At that time, 35 years had passed since the end of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. But true racial equality was still a distant dream. Many black Americans were effectively barred from voting. They were prohibited from holding certain jobs, and they couldn't attend certain schools. Black Americans lived in communities that were, on average, poorer, dirtier, and less healthy than white communities, and they faced the near constant danger of racially motivated violence. Young Annie Turnbo knew she couldn't change America's institutional racism alone, but she did feel that she could help solve one problem that plagued many black women. Although slavery had long since been abolished, many African Americans still worked on farms, and their work didn't stop, no matter what the weather. Over the course of a year, farm laborers were exposed to hot sun, biting wind, driving rain, and even snow. Those who worked indoors weren't much better off either. Washerwomen had to cope with humid laundries and harsh chemicals, while cooks spent all their days in steamy kitchens. Anyone working in these kinds of environments would struggle to maintain their hair, but for black Americans, it was especially problematic. Their scalps tended to have larger and more densely packed hair follicles. But these poor working conditions stripped away the protective natural oils that kept follicles healthy. The result was thin and brittle hair. The skin on the scalp flaked, resulting in dandruff and psoriasis. And in more extreme cases, whole clumps of hair fell out entirely, leaving bald patches behind. Men suffered less because they could crop their hair short, but for women, the expectation was that they would have a full head of hair. And if they didn't, the Humiliating results were visible for all to see. Despite this being a well known problem, there were few specialist products available to cure it. Basic shampoos and conditioners were widely available in stores. But these were mostly designed for and targeted at white people who tended to have thinner and straighter hair. So instead of store bought cures, black women had to rely on homemade remedies passed down through generations. And it was these concoctions that had given Annie Turnbow her first experience in hair care. Growing up in Illinois, Annie had been surrounded by older relatives who lived on plantations in the South. There, they'd learned to make medicine and cosmetics from what they could gather for free from their local environment. Natural remedies included using pokeberries to treat rheumatism or goose grease and tallow poultice to break a fever. Colds were treated with tea made from old bitter apples. And dry, worn hair was washed with herbs and egg white to revive it. As a child, Annie had often accompanied her older relatives when they went gathering herbs and plants. And she learned to brew the homemade remedies and used them to treat coughs and colds. But Annie had a special interest in hair. She loved fashioning elaborate plaits and braids for her sisters and school friends. And as she got older, she began offering them hair care products that she mixed with the help of her relatives. But she didn't just use the old recipes. She began experimenting to see if she could improve them. Annie suspected that the animal fat, oil, soaps and grease that many of the traditional remedies included actually did more harm than good. And through a patient process of trial and error, Annie came up with a hair care system that she claimed was superior to all others. First, she washed hair with a gentle herbal shampoo. Then she doused the scalp in a medicated conditioner that she called her wonderful hair grower. Finally, Annie used a hot comb to pull the hair, allowing air to circulate around the follicles and preventing them from becoming blocked and infected. Annie's first clients were her sisters. Her older sister Ada, was a dressmaker, and she had once expected Annie to follow into the same line of work. But she came to realize that Annie had a natural talent for hair care. Her own increasingly healthy head of hair was visible proof of that. So when Annie announced that she wanted to start selling her hair care products full time, Ada and her siblings met and agreed to front Annie the money she needed. Annie was going into business. She had a product, and now she needed to find some customers. So Annie packed samples of her wonderful Hair Grower into a bag and hit the streets of Peoria. She approached numerous stores, beauty salons and hairdressers. She offered them samples of her hair grower and asked them if they would be interested in stocking it. But they all rejected her. Annie quickly realized the problem. No one thought there was a demand for her Wonderful Hair Grower. White storekeepers quickly dismissed her because they didn't have black customers and they didn't want any either. But black storekeepers were no more enthusiastic. They seemed to doubt that black women would spend spend money on hair care products. Even hairdressers showed little interest. They'd used their own treatments on customers hair for years, so they saw no need to buy Annie's product no matter how wonderful she declared it to be. So after weeks of disappointing sales, Annie had to admit that her initial strategy wasn't working. She wasn't about to give up though. If Peoria wasn't ready for her hair care revolution, then she'd just have to move somewhere. That was in the fall of 1900. Annie Turnbow boarded a steamboat and headed 150 miles down the Illinois River. Her destination was the small town of Lovejoy, close to the state border with Missouri. On paper, Lovejoy was an odd place to start a new business. Whereas Peoria was home to around 50,000 people, Lovejoy had barely a thousand. But there was another key difference between these two places. Peoria was predominantly white. Lovejoy was almost exclusively black. When she arrived in town, Annie boarded with the family of a schoolteacher at the cost of $5 a month. After a few weeks, she was joined by her newly married younger sister, Laura Roberts. And every day the two met up in Annie's room, pushed the bed to one side and formulated batches of Wonderful Hair Grower. Then they sold it, charging 25 cents a bottle. They began with the members of the family that Annie boarded with. Those first customers were impressed and they recommended Annie and Laura's Hair Grower to their friends. Thanks to Lovejoy's tight knit community, Annie and Laura's hair grower was the talk of the town. Customers were soon knocking on Annie's door to request a tin. And it wasn't long before word spread even further. On the opposite side of the Mississippi river to Lovejoy was the city of St. Louis. And when customers started paying the rail fare from St. Louis to Lovejoy just so they could buy Wonderful Hair Grower, Annie realized she'd been right all along. There was demand for hair care products aimed at Black women. So two years after arriving in Lovejoy in the spring of 1902, Annie decided it was time to move again. She wouldn't be going far, just across the river to St. Louis, where she rented a two room apartment in the black neighborhood of Chestnut Valley and set up a small salon there to treat clients with her homemade products. Once again, her sister Laura was by her side. But Annie was 25 by now. She didn't just want the company of her siblings anymore, and the big city gave her opportunities to meet people. And only two months after moving to St. Louis, Annie married a laborer named Nelson Pope. But there would be no time for a honeymoon. Annie was still entirely focused on making her business a success, and a once in a generation opportunity would soon present itself. The eyes of the world were about to turn to St. Louis, and Annie wanted to make sure that she was in the limelight when they did. 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It's the opening day of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, a fair to celebrate the centenary of President Thomas Jefferson's acquisition of territory from France. Like everyone else in St. Louis, Annie is eager to visit the exhibition halls hosting displays from all around the world. But business comes first. St. Louis is expecting hundreds of thousands of visitors to the fair. Annie hopes some of them will become new customers. Annie spots one black woman walking arm in arm with her husband, so she thrusts out a flyer. Excuse me. Can I interest you in Roberts and Pope's wonderful hair grower? We're offering free samples at our salon on Market Street. The woman takes a flyer with a smile and continues walking. Annie soon spots another potential customer, but before she can reach her, a hand roughly grabs her elbow. Annie turns to see a white security guard glaring. Ma'am, you can't do that here. I'm sorry. What's. What's the problem? Your flyers. I'll have to take those. You can't hand them out here. But local businesses can advertise their products on exposition grounds. I checked the regulations. Ah. Give me the flyers. Sir, isn't the point of the exposition to bring customers to the city and boost the local economy? Guard takes a step closer to Annie. Excuse me. Do we have a problem? Am I going to have to call in some backup to deal with you? Annie isn't a tall woman and the guard towers over her. She looks down. No, sir. How about this? I'll put the flyers in my bag and I won't hand them out on exposition grounds. No, you just give them to me. They'll just be in my bag. Hand them over. Annie has spent hard earned cash on printing the flyers and she doesn't want to see the money wasted. But it's clear she has no choice. Annie holds out the flyers. The guard looks at them derisively and tears a bundle in half and drops him at her feet. Look, if I find you here again, girl, there'll be trouble. You understand me? Yes, sir. The guard kicks his boot through the pile of torn paper. Put this nonsense in the trash before it blows away. Guard marches off and Annie drops to the ground. Ground, picking up the torn flyers as quickly as she can. Her face is flustered. She's determined not to cry. As she gathers up the last pieces of paper, though, she sees the same guard sauntering through the crowd and near him, there's another woman handing out flyers, but she's a white woman, and the guard simply smiles and walks right by. Annie stands up, the paper crumpling in her hands as rage courses through her. Okay, okay. She walks over to the nearest trash can and shoves in the torn flyers. That's how it is, huh? That's how it is. After weeks of preparation and all the money she'd spent on flyers, Annie Pope was left disappointed. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition gave her little chance to promote her new business. And although nearly 20 million people would visit the exposition during its eight month run, and he would soon find out that it was a wasted opportunity, the entire world was welcomed to the fair except black Americans. In the months leading up to the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis hummed with anticipation. Thousands of laborers were hard at work erecting exhibition halls in Forest park, and even though they were only ever intended to be temporary, the buildings were exquisitely designed with grand neoclassical facades. And beyond the park itself, the city's hotels and business owners eagerly prepared for an influx of visitors and their money. Among those hoping for a boost was Annie Pope. Hundreds of thousands of black Americans were expected to make the journey to St. Louis for the exposition, and Annie was determined to take advantage. As well as printing flyers, she set up billboards outside her small home salon and planned to offer free samples of her wonderful hair grower to passersby. But the Louisiana Purchase Exposition did not have the impact Annie had hoped for. The organizers had promised that black visitors would be treated equally, but their actions didn't match their words. African American fairgoers were restricted to staying in black only lodgings in neighborhoods like Chestnut Valley. They couldn't access some areas of the exposition, they were refused service in restaurants, and they were told to use separate drinking fountains to white visitors. Word soon got around that black people were not welcome at the fair, and that was before they heard about the contents of the exhibits themselves. Several halls included so called living museums that featured the different races from around the globe. These displays include representatives from 51 Native American tribes and the indigenous people of the Philippines. All of them were labeled as primitives, but even they were regarded as more advanced than the four dark skinned Mbuti men who'd been shipped to St. Louis from the Congo. One of the Mobuti had teeth that had been sharpened to points in infancy, and to the local press this was proof that the man was a savage and a cannibal. Such an exciting and dangerous seeming display attracted huge crowds, and for their part, the Mbuti men Suddenly soon learned that Americans were more likely to pay for photographs with them if they indulged the visitors preconceptions. So they carried around bows and arrows and wore little more than ragged loincloths. The white fairgoers loved it. But many black Americans were deeply unhappy. They wrote letters of complaint to newspapers and held public protests against the racist attitudes on display. In response, the exposition organizers offered to celebrate August 1st as Negro Day, a special occasion to mark black American achievements. But that was not enough to satisfy the critics. Prominent black leader Booker T. Washington refused an offer to speak at the event. And the national association of Colored Women canceled an arranged day trip to the exposition in favor of a community meeting at a local church. Annie was not a member of the national association of Colored Women, so she wasn't present at this meeting. But on the agenda was the then controversial topic of hair straightening. Annie's Wonderful Hair Grower wasn't designed to straighten or color hair. Instead it was developed to promote the regrowth of damaged hair. Annie did recommend that her customers use a hot comb as part of her hair care system. But the hot comb could also be used to straighten and lengthen hair. And that made Annie's product a target for the national association of Colored Women. For years, hair had been used by so called experts in anthropology, anthropology and biology as evidence that the white race was superior to the black race. According to their pseudoscience, the thick curly hair of a black person was similar to sheep's wool or the fur of a primate. They used this as proof that black people were closer in evolutionary terms to animals. White people by comparison were more likely to have shiny straight hair that was clearly different from animals and therefore more advanced. In the early years of the 20th century, this racist view of white superiority was reflected in fashion. The accepted standard of female beauty at the time was the Gibson Girl, an image of womanhood captured in drawings of artist Charles D. Gibson. His illustrations generally portrayed white women with long silky hair artfully piled on top of their heads. Cosmetic and hair care companies promised countless products that claimed to straighten hair so women could adopt the Gibson Girl look. But the delegates of the national association of Colored Women sought to push back against this white centric portrayal of beauty. They wanted to foster more diversity and to celebrate darker skin tones and fuller curlier hair. So they suggested that black women boycott products that were used to straighten hair. Listed among them was Annie's Wonderful Hair Grower. Upon finding out that her premier product was the target of a boycott from her own community, Annie realized she had to do something. If her wonderful hair grower became associated with the hair straighteners and colonizers that were the real target of the campaign, then her business would be ruined. She had to make sure that her customers understood that her product was about improving black hair health, not replicating white hair. So while previously Annie had waited for customers to come to her, relying on word of mouth to attract customers with this boycott hanging over her, Annie embarked on a door to door selling campaign in the predominantly black neighborhoods of St. Louis. She loaded up her bag with product and persuaded women to give them a try. Soon, Annie had a well practiced sales pattern talking about the importance of hair and scalp health. She persuaded St. Louis black women that there was no shame in spending a little of their income to look good and she encouraged them to visit her Market street salon for ongoing treatments and to purchase their own products to apply at home. Annie's direct selling campaign paid off. Despite the national association of Colored Women's boycott efforts, the response Annie received from the Black Women of St. Louis was overwhelmingly positive and sales increased. So although the Louisiana Purchase Exposition had not delivered the boost Annie had hoped for, she had now weathered a potential crisis and come out stronger on the other side. Her business was doing so well, in fact, that Annie would soon face a new problem. She and her sister could no longer handle sales, promotion, production and finances all on her own. Annie would need to hire more employees, but in doing so, she divulged the secrets of her success and unknowingly give a start to her greatest competitor. When is the right time to sell a stock? How do you protect against inflation? Financial decisions can be tricky and often your own cognitive and emotional biases can lead you astray. Financial Decoder, an original podcast from Charles Schwab, can help. Join host Mark Reap as he offers practical solutions to help overcome the cognitive and emotional biases that may affect your investing decisions. Listen@schwab.com financialdecoder. This message comes from Greenlight. 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We've only got a dozen tins of hair grower left. No, Annie, look at the time. We can't make another batch now. I need to get home. William's expecting dinner. Well, I'm going out selling tomorrow. You've got clients coming in for treatments. We can't do either if we don't have the product. So don't go selling. Make the formula tomorrow instead. Or you treat the clients and I'll make it just no more work. Well, that's hardly the way to grow a business, is it? Laura slumps in a chair. Oh, Annie, you keep saying that. We're going to get bigger, take on more customers, sell more products. More, more and more. When will it ever stop? What do you mean? I don't understand. We built a good thing here. We have our own salon. We make enough money. Half the women I know wash pots for a living. Why can't you be happy with what we got? Be happy with what I've got? Was Andrew Carnegie happy with one steel mill? Was Cornelius Vanderbilt happy with one railroad? Oh, come on, Annie Carnegie Vanderbilt? They're rich white men. And how did they get rich, Laura? Well, not by selling shampoo. They didn't stop. That's what I'm saying. They kept going. They kept growing. But Annie, I'm tired and I need to go home. I want to live, not just work. Annie looks down. So you think all we do is work? Sure feels that way sometimes. There's a long silence and finally Annie speaks. Well, maybe we've reached the limit of what we can do. You mean I can go home? Yeah, you can go home. Laura straightens up. She hadn't expected her sister to cave in this easily. So it's agreed. We'll prepare the formula tomorrow. Nope. I'll do it tonight. And tomorrow I'm going to find us some new staff. What? Andy, that's not what I meant. You're right, though. We have reached our limit of what we can do together. But what about all those washer women and servants we know? What if they worked for us instead? Give us a hand mixing formula, treating clients, selling door to door. Just think of the potential. But we'd have to pay them. Yeah, we'd have to pay them. But let's try. Let's try for a little bit at least. Let's not leave all business to rich white men. Laura takes a deep breath. Okay, fine. I'll fire up the stove. No, you don't have to stay. Oh, I do. Because I make it better than you. Annie smiles. Well, I'll get some clean tins and our husbands can fix their own dinners tonight. Annie Pope's business was growing quickly, but rather than sit back and enjoy the profits she was making from a small market, Annie decided she would gamble on expanding the business further. But she wasn't prepared to hire just anyone. She wanted employees who understood what she was trying to achieve, who cared about the mission. But above all, she wanted people she could trust. By late 1904, Annie Pope had transformed her business from a kitchen sink operation to a thriving salon with a best selling hair conditioner. Now it was time to take the next step. To find new employees, she turned to her friends and acquaintances. Her first hires were the daughters of the schoolteacher she'd once boarded with back in Lovejoy, Illinois. These young women were now 18 and 17, and Annie took them on as general assistants alongside another teenager, a 16 year old friend of the girls. Annie's new three assistants did whatever she needed them to do. Sometimes they treated clients in the salon, sometimes they sold product door to door, and eventually they were trusted enough to follow Annie's secret recipes and make up new batches of her hair care products. With the girl's help, Annie and her sister found the day to day running of the business much more manageable and they were able to be home in time for dinner far more often. But Annie still had her eye on growth, so she decided to take on another employee to focus exclusively, exclusively on sales. She would hire someone she knew, Sarah Davis, one of annie's customers in St. Louis. They had met earlier in 1904 during one of Annie's first direct sales campaigns. At the time, Sarah had been a washerwoman and working in a humid environment surrounded by caustic soap and detergent, had played havoc with Sarah's skin and her hair started to fall out. But once she started using Annie's hair products, Sarah noticed Annie an immediate improvement. Now Sarah was a walking advertisement for Annie's wonderful hair grower. Friends who noticed the change in her asked Sarah what made her hair look so good, and Sarah was always happy to refer them to Annie's salon. So Annie realized that Sarah was effectively already her saleswoman all she needed to do is formalize the relationship. Sarah was delighted to accept the job offer, and soon Annie was training her in the sale secrets of the hair care system and products. But unlike her three teenage assistants, Annie wouldn't pay Sarah a set wage. Instead, it was agreed that Sarah would be an agent, paid on commission, earning a proportion of every sale she made or client she treated. Essentially, Sarah would become an independent businesswoman, responsible for her own clients, her own income and her own expenditures. That meant that Annie wouldn't be on the hook if Sarah failed to make any money, making it seem like a risk free way to expand the business. And if Sarah did as well as she hoped, Annie planned to recruit other women to join the company on similar terms. So as 1905 approached, the future of Annie's business appeared bright. Few other people had thought there was any money to be made selling hair care products to black women, but Annie had proved them wrong. She'd seen the gap in the market and seized it. Annie still had only a single single location in St. Louis, but that was enough to make her one of the most successful Black businesswomen in America. She was about to have some competition, however. Annie's latest hire, Sarah Davis, would soon break their agreement and strike out on her own, becoming Annie Pope's greatest rival. From Wondery this is episode one of Pioneers and Rivals for Business Movers. On the next Next Episode, Annie Pope's new employee sets up her own hair care business, sparking years of hostility with her former boss. 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 Turnbo, Pope 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. This is 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 was said, 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 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 Beckham and Marshall Louie for Wondering what's up everybody? It's Jason Kelce and I'm here with my slightly famous little brother Travis, AKA Big Yeti Kelsey. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we're here to bring you a next level entertainment experience with our show New Heights where the lumbaby reigns supreme. We're covered covering all the hardest hitting topics in order of importance. UFO sightings, the ideal PB&J combo, and Trav becoming a big time acting star. Big time is a big stretch. 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