That was the beauty industry's advice to Black women in the 1800s. Annie Turnbo Malone took on the industry singlehandedly — 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐚 $𝟏𝟎𝟎𝐌 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟒 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘: 𝟐𝟖 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫. Born in 1869 to formerly enslaved parents in Metropolis, Illinois, Annie was orphaned young and raised by an older sister. She never finished high school — but she was obsessed with chemistry and hair care, studying on her own. At the time, the only products available for Black women's hair were lye-based straighteners that burned scalps and broke hair off at the root. Annie didn't see a better way - so she created it. She developed her own line of hair care products — called "Wonderful Hair Grower" — and started selling door to door in Lovejoy, Illinois. She didn't chase "everyone." She solved one painful problem for one overlooked market. And it worked. Women saw results. Word spread. She relocated to St. Louis in 1902, and demand exploded. Then she made the move most experts never do: She stopped thinking like a salesperson and started thinking like a school. Annie founded Poro College in 1918 — a full campus in St. Louis that included classrooms, a manufacturing facility, an auditorium, a bakery, a restaurant, and a chapel. It wasn't just a beauty school. It was an economic engine for the Black community. She built a system: → A curriculum on hair science, sales, and professionalism → Thousands of trained Poro agents selling in their own communities across the country → A brand that lived in people, not just in products She didn't just sell jars. She built sellers. At its peak, Poro College had trained over 75,000 agents. By the 1920s, her company was worth millions — over $100 million in today's dollars — and she was one of the wealthiest Black women in America. And like the other women we've studied, Annie didn't just build for herself. She donated massive amounts to Black colleges, orphanages, and the YMCA. In a world that locked Black women out of opportunity, she built her own doors and handed other women keys.

In 1861, one Black woman dressed both of their First Ladies. Same hands. Same needle. Same thread. She made gowns for Varina Davis — wife of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy. She made gowns for Mary Todd Lincoln — wife of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States. Their husbands were at war. Their sons were dying on opposite sides of the battlefield. And they both wanted Elizabeth Keckley. Let that sink in. Elizabeth was born enslaved. She couldn’t legally keep a single dollar she earned. She spent years generating income for people who owned her — sewing dresses for their friends, building a reputation she couldn’t cash in on. When she asked to buy her freedom, they said $1,200. That’s $45,000 today. She didn’t have it. But her clients did. She had become so essential that the women she served pooled their money and handed it to her. Her skill created income for others. Her relationships created freedom for herself. Once free, she moved to Washington, D.C., opened her own shop, hired 20 seamstresses, and became the most sought-after dressmaker in the capital. She didn’t just serve powerful women. She became powerful. Here’s what I want you to steal from Elizabeth: Be so valuable that ideology becomes irrelevant to you moving your business forward. Then invest in justice for what you believe. Varina Davis didn’t care that Elizabeth was Black. Mary Todd Lincoln didn’t care that Elizabeth once served the Confederacy. They cared that nobody could make them look and feel the way Elizabeth could. Your excellence is your access. Elizabeth couldn’t post this on LinkedIn. She couldn’t share what she learned. She couldn’t teach other Black women how to turn relationships into freedom. When she died in 1907, we missed out on decades of stories and wisdom - thank God she was at least able to write a book! But I’m not letting that happen again. That’s why I’m teaching sales secrets from Black women who built empires under impossible circumstances at Black Women Sell Live 2026.

Elizabeth Keckley did it, then went on to build a million-dollar clothing empire. Born enslaved in 1818, Elizabeth watched her enslaver force her mother to work as a seamstress to support his entire household. When she was old enough, Elizabeth asked to take on the work herself — to spare her mother. Her enslaver agreed, but not out of kindness. He sent her to work in a dress shop where she served clients, built a reputation, and generated enough income to support a 17-person household — but legally, every cent belonged to the people who owned her. She had clients. She had skill. She had a business — but couldn't keep a single dollar she earned. When she asked to buy freedom for herself and her son, they named an impossible price: $1,200 — around $45,000 in today's money. But what he didn't expect was this: Keckley was so good at what she did that her clients loaned her the money to buy her freedom. Her needle created INCOME for others. Her relationships created FREEDOM for her. Once free, she moved to Washington, D.C., built a luxury dressmaking business, hired around 20 seamstresses, and dressed Mary Todd Lincoln and the political elite on both sides of the Civil War. She paid back the loan, but it took years. She exemplifies how UNSTOPPABLE Black women really are. Here's the framework I want you to steal from Elizabeth: The Keckley Leverage Method™ 1️⃣ Be great in any state. Your environment can be unjust, but your performance standard is about you. 2️⃣ Relationships are currency. Elizabeth's clients became her "investors" — the bridge between no legal wages and a $1,200 freedom loan. 3️⃣ Don't build a one-woman factory. Once she was free, she hired ~20 seamstresses and scaled. If you're the most skilled and still doing everything, you're capping your revenue at your energy. 4️⃣ Market your proximity to power. Elizabeth didn't stay a secret. She intentionally served high-profile women; their visibility became her marketing. If your clients are heavy hitters but no one knows, you're hiding your best proof.

Imagine making $4 a month. You can’t vote - and, if you’re married, you can’t have a bank account, can’t own land independently, and can’t legally control your wages or sign contracts like a man. Now imagine deciding you’re going to build wealth anyway. 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟏 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 — 𝟐𝟖 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭. Today’s feature is Mary Ellen Pleasant — one of the first Black women millionaires (some argue the first Black millionaire, period). She listed her occupation as “capitalist” on the 1890 census. She moved from domestic labor (making $4-8 a month) into a Nantucket store as a clerk, learned pricing, credit, and customer psychology, then later ran boardinghouses, laundries, and kitchens for wealthy White men in San Francisco—using those rooms as intelligence centers to track her White clients investmnets into stocks, mines, railroads, banks, and land. Then she invested. Quietly. Often through her White business partner, Thomas Bell, whose name was used on legal documents and investments to bypass racist gatekeeping that barred Black women from owning property, accessing credit, or entering major financial deals in her own name. By the 1870s, she controlled roughly $30 million — about $860 million today. But she left us a lesson: have your paperwork in order. When her business partner Bell died, his wife contested Pleasant’s claims to property and business interests, and won. But before all that, Pleasant helped fund the abolitionist movement! So yes—we should learn from her brilliance. And we should learn from her losses too. Here are the lessons: 1) Treat every room like a lab. Pull the transcripts from your last 10 sales calls. Use their objections and worries as this week’s content topics. Keep names/details anonymous. Then rewrite your sales page using the exact words they used. Speak to the heart of your customers. 2) Use strategic partnerships, but keep your name on the paper. In corporate, we had sponsors, but who is your sponsor in entrepreneurship?Reach out to directors and C-suite leaders from your old jobs. Tell them what you do now and ask for 1–2 warm introductions. Say you loved working there and can support them (or similar companies) as a consultant—and you’ll reciprocate with your network.

“Is this anti-white… or just pro-Black?” That was the real question hiding inside an email I got from a white woman asking if she was “allowed” to come to Black Women Sell Live. Every other year, we host Black Women Sell Live — a sales and leadership event built for Black women experts who are ready to sell from inheritance, not insecurity. And we named the event intentionally — to call in the women who’ve been unnamed, overlooked, and edited out of every “mainstream” business narrative for generations. It’s a celebration of us not an indictment of anyone else, but science explains why some are confused by this… Research shows that when institutions highlight racial equity or diversity, many start to feel their own group is being devalued or “left out.” In one national survey, about 3 in 10 white Americans said discrimination against white people has increased “a lot” in recent years. Which is wild considering the overt attack on diversity. 🙄 Psychologists call this a zero-sum mindset: If someone else is centered, I must be pushed out. So when you put “Black” in the title — Black Women Sell Live, Black founders, Black history — some folks don’t see “pro-Black.” Their brain reads “anti-white.” Let me show you why that math doesn’t add up. → 76% of U.S. journalists are white. → Over 80% of newsroom leaders are white — deciding which stories get told and who gets framed as the default face of success. → Turn on business TV. Scan most bestseller lists. Look at who gets quoted as the “expert.” Images of white success are not scarce. They are saturated. So no — Black Women Sell Live is not an attack on white people. It’s an interruption of erasure. Here’s what the research actually says happens when we interrupt that erasure: → Entrepreneurs who see someone “like them” succeed are 48% more likely to take high-risk, high-reward business moves — the exact moves that SCALE businesses. → People who learn their family’s economic history are 24% more likely to build wealth and report 34% higher confidence.