The Douglas Stewart Company is committed to celebrating Black history and the Black community. Get to know different Black activists throughout American history and learn how their entrepreneurship shapes American business.
Annie Malone
Annie Malone was born in Metropolis, Illinois, and moved to Brooklyn, Illinois, where she developed and manufactured her own line of non-damaging hair products for Black women. She later moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where she sold her hair care products door-to-door and gave away free hair treatments to attract more customers. She opened her first shop in 1902 where she launched a large advertising campaign, held news conferences, and recruited women whom she trained to sell her products. She later founded the Poro College of Cosmetology and assisted in purchasing a home for orphans in St. Louis
Daniel “Dapper Dan” Day
Now a high-end fashion designer with celebrity clientele, Dapper Dan began by selling clothes from the trunk of his car. He opened his first boutique clothing store in 1982 which was open 24 hours a day for seven days a week. Dan rose to fame by creating and styling clothes for celebrities and local icons of New York City. Today, Dan had some of his work featured on in the Museum of the City of New York Fashion as well as several collaborations with the luxury brand Gucci.
Rihanna
Rihanna was already a household name in the U.S. with her fresh music and beautiful singing voice and later became one of the biggest names in the beauty industry with her revolutionary line of makeup products under the Fenty Beauty brand. Fenty Beauty addressed the lack of diversity in makeup products that had long plagued consumers with brown or darker skin tones. Rihanna’s makeup line became a smash hit almost instantaneously, earning over $100 million in just a month and subsequently being named one of the 25 Inventions of the Year by Time Magazine.
Daymond John
Daymond John grew up in Queens, New York City with parents who instilled a strong sense of hard work. While working as a waiter at Red Lobster, Daymond was inspired by hip-hop artists to start his own clothing company: FUBU. “For Us By Us” grew larger and larger each year as Daymond’s company expanded across the U.S. and soon the world. Daymond later became a Shark on ABC’s “Shark Tank” and was even appointed as President Obama’s Ambassador of Global Entrepreneurship!
Sources
- https://kubschool.medium.com/black-history-month-leaders-in-business-and-entrepreneurship-15c56c613e4f
- https://guides.loc.gov/african-americans-in-business/businesses-industries/entrepreneurs-brands
- https://www.vogue.co.uk/beauty/article/rihanna-fenty-beauty-diversity
- https://money.cnn.com/interactive/economy/my-american-success-story-daymond-john/index.html
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