11. She Created a Convention for Female Entrepreneurs
In 1917, Madam C. J. Walker organized a training and development conference for her saleswomen called the National Beauty Culturists and Benevolent Association of Madam C. J. Walker Agents. While it was for her agents specifically and not women as a whole, it is still believed to be the first professional development conference exclusively for women. The meeting took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The event had over 200 attendees and trained them on entrepreneurial skills as well as sales and products. During the convention, Walker gave prizes to the women who had sold the most products as well as those who recruited the most sales agents, just as in modern sales conferences. As part of her commitment to philanthropy, Walker also gave out awards to the sales agents who had donated the most money to charitable causes in their communities.
Later instances of the conference occurred under the new name of the Madam C. J. Walker Beauty Culturists Union of America. In addition to her meeting, she also addressed the National Negro Business League to highlight her experience as a female entrepreneur, sharing the inspirational words “I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South. From there I was promoted to the washtub. From there, I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there, I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations. I have built my own factory on my own ground.”