Annie Turnbo Malone

A businesswoman and inventor, all while being an African-American woman. Within the first three decades of the 1900s, she created a large commercial and educational enterprise, specifically for African American women.
Annie Turnbo Malone was born in Metropolis, Illinois. Both of her parents are victims of slavery: Robert and Isabella Turnbo. Her father went to the Union during the Civil War, and Isabella escaped with their children to Kentucky. Malone was born after they found refuge in Illinois and was one of 11 kids. She became an orphan early in life and attended high school, but due to an incessant illness, she had to withdraw. 
Turnbo spent her new free time learning more about hair and practicing styling her sister’s hair. With her experience in chemistry, she managed to develop her hair brand, as most women at the time only used heavy oils or soap to straighten their curls. Her brand is named Wonderful Hair Grower, is mainly focused on African-American women, and creates hair growth oils and safe hair straighteners. She went door-to-door giving free samples of her product in the hope that it would build popularity for her. She then succeeded, held a major advertising campaign and conferences, and went through multiple southern states promoting her product. She had a selling agent named Sarah Davis, who left the company, stole the formula as her own, and created her brand. Turnbo had to copyright her products under Poro to prevent any more fraud or counterfeit recreations. In 1910, she moved to a bigger facility because of the company’s significant growth.
She created Poro College in 1918, a cosmetology school that included a retail store for Poro products, offices, an auditorium, a bakery, and a chapel. Its purpose was to give African Americans a community for social functions. It gave people so many jobs and thrived, but unfortunately came to a halt about 9 years later when her husband filed for divorce. He was the company’s president, she gave him a settlement of $200,000, as she had the support of popular figures when he tried to get half of her earnings. She then became the sole owner of Wonderful Hair Grower. 
She’s already become a multi-millionaire from the 1920s and served on the board of directors for the St. Louis Colored Orphans Home for 24 years. She suffered a stroke on May 10th, 1957, and her fortunes followed her nieces and nephews.