A beauty shop owner turned entrepreneur who became one of the nation’s first Black women millionaires
Sara Spencer Washington became one of the first Black women millionaires of the 20th Century by filling a gaping consumer need – beauty and cosmetic products for Black women.
After moving to Atlantic City in 1913, Sara Washington opened her own beauty shop.
She developed her own products and a specific beauty system for using them. She worked in her shop by day, sold the products door-to-door at night and soon opened a beauty school where she taught her system to others.
The beauty school would expand across the U.S. and around the world and each year more than 25,000 graduates became entrepreneurs themselves by selling Sara Washington’s products door-to-door.
Madam Washington as she became popularly known, made Atlantic City the site for her world headquarters and laboratory where more than 75 different products were developed and manufactured.
When she died in 1953, Sara Washington's enterprise was worth millions of dollars and employed about 500 full-time employees plus 45,000 door-to-door sales people.
