Tag Archives: Entrepreneurs

22Mar/20

“Self Made” is a Colorful and Entertaining Look at Madam CJ Walker’s Life

MADAM CJ WALKER

Netflix’s “Self-Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker” is an introduction to one of the most celebrated Black female business owners in history, Sarah Breedlove. This project is directed by Kasi Lemmons (Harriet) and Demane Davis (Queen Sugar). NBA Superstar, LeBron James, and businessman, Maverick Carter, have joined the project as Executive Producers. Taji Mag was able to check out the series before its release on March 20th and here’s the review. 

Visuals

Once again Kasi Lemmons has provided the audience with the vision of a powerful Black woman taking on a form that transcends reality. In this instance, whenever Sarah has a vision of or is faced with adversity, the audience is presented with colorful dance routines, mocking female logos, and even a boxing match with her adversary, Addie Monroe (I assume this character is based off of Annie Malone). I really found the boxing scenes with Addie to be quite enjoyable. I also found myself waiting to see Sarah give Addie a one-hitter quitter for her trifling ways. 

Octavia Spencer as Madam C.J. Walker and Carmen Ejogo as Addie Monroe

*Spoilers Ahead*

The Walker girl logo that mocked Sarah (and was created by Sarah’s husband, C.J. Walker) was also an interesting concept. It paid off in the end when we learned that the Walker girl was not only designed by C.J. but it was also his ideal woman. This is discovered towards the end of the series when C.J. cheats on Sarah with Dore Larrie.

Performances

Octavia Spencer does an amazing job of portraying one of the most celebrated Black entrepreneurs. She was able to capture the excitement in her facial expressions whenever an idea manifested. Spencer also was convincing when her character was met with doubt or fear, a prime example is whenever she was haunted by her past self with “bad hair”. 

Tiffany Haddish also did pretty well as Leila, the daughter of Sarah. I found it very interesting how the character’s liberal lifestyle was introduced to the audience. It made me want to research Leila’s entrepreneurial success with her business, The Dark Tower, in New York.

Kevin Carroll as Ransom was a standout to me in the series. His performance as Madam C.J. Walker’s legal advisor had very compelling moments. I wasn’t really familiar with his work but, after viewing the series, a thorough Youtube and Google search went underway. I just had to see his other accomplishments.

Another notable character was Ransom’s cousin, Sweetness, played by Bill Bellamy. This role was well written and was a great example of “don’t judge a book by its cover.” Sweetness can be seen as a smart conman who always sought out a quick buck, but in reality he was a man of integrity who only wanted to make it in the world legally. We learn this at the end of the series when Ramson explains his demise. 

Gender Roles

Before recalling what I’d already known about C.J. Walker, I was feeling the support he was giving his wife: uprooting his life with Sarah and moving to a whole different city to help support her haircare business. I bet it was seen as very impractical at the time, but nonetheless he did and they were successful. Toxic masculinity and society’s infatuation with the lighter complexion existed heavily during the 1900s. I’m sure this greatly influenced his decision to cheat on Sarah; however, it doesn’t give him a pass to do so. Blair Underwood did a great job of portraying C.J., then again he always does a great job of portraying the conniving, cheating husband (i.e. Madea’s Family Reunion).

Unity Over Racism 

Blair Underwood as CJ Walker, Octavia Spencer as Madam CJ Walker and Kevin Carroll as Ransom.

This series explores racism, colorism, and gender discrimination in a thought-provoking manner. I kept thinking to myself, what if I was trying to build a business for haircare in the world Madam C.J. Walker lived in? Not only was racism still a major issue at the time, but to fight within my own race about my gender and skin color? Talk about hurdling obstacles! The series really provided some in-depth perspective on how difficult it was to achieve what Madam C.J. Walker did. Seeing the pain she had to go through was quite an eye-opening experience. 

The death of Sweetness (played by Bill Bellamy) gave a sense of closure for Sarah and her rival, Addie Monroe. It made the characters reflect on their biggest threat: racism and gender discrimination, not each other. Sweetness’ lynching was touching, to say the least, as the Director gave the audience first perspective scenes that can only be described as heart-wrenching. 

Conclusion

“Self Made: Inspired By The Life of Madam C.J. Walker” is a beautifully told story. The creatives in charge did a great job of pacing the story and supplying just enough conflict to make the viewer want to binge-watch the whole series on a Sunday night. I am glad I was able to speak with Kasi Lemmons about this project and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the series. I highly recommend giving it a watch. Of course it’s not completely accurate; however, it’s still very entertaining. While we celebrate women’s month at this time when self-distancing is in place, this Madam C.J. Walker series will allow the viewer four hours to escape the current troubles of the world. 

Academy Award® winner, Octavia Spencer, stars as Madam C.J. Walker, the trailblazing African American haircare entrepreneur who was America’s first female self-made millionaire. Inspired by the book, On Her Own Ground, written by Walker’s great-great-granddaughter, A’Lelia Bundles, the Netflix original series “SELF MADE: INSPIRED BY THE LIFE OF MADAM C.J. WALKER”  brings the uplifting story of this cultural icon to the screen for the first time. Against all odds, Walker overcame post-slavery racial and gender biases, personal betrayals, and business rivalries to build a ground-breaking brand that revolutionized black haircare, as she simultaneously fought for social change.

02Feb/19

5 Do’s and Don’ts when Taking the Leap to Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is trendy right now. You may be feeling the need to “create multiple streams of income” and “become your own boss.” To many, that sounds like a dream come true. Entrepreneurship will show you who you are and challenge you in ways you’ve never imagined. However, many entrepreneurs become frustrated with a lack of quick success, and many customers become frustrated with a lack of quality products or service. The following five tips will help your transition into entrepreneurship, whether part-time or full-time, be as smooth as possible.

Do: Focus on the right product or service

This is particularly important if your business will rely solely on you, at least starting out. To make sure you are providing a quality product or service, you must focus on something for which you possess sufficient talent and that you enjoy. Think about it: if you absolutely love playing the piano, but the extent of your skills is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, then you should not become a piano teacher. Conversely, if you hate playing the piano but are an exceptional player, could you really be an effective teacher? Find something that you can do every day and do well.

Don’t: Reinvent the wheel

Once you figure out your product or service, focus on making sure the core of your business is exceptional. It may be tempting to want to make your business that takes a standard product and shares it in a way that the world has never seen before. Don’t. Yes, there may be twenty other cake designers in town, but you already have one thing that none of the others have–you! You will be different from everyone else. You have your own network. You have your own style. You have your own experiences. Lean on those, and your business will naturally stand out.

Do: Be consistent

Consistency is the key to achieving anything you want in life, including being a successful entrepreneur. If you want to grow, develop business, and make money, it is going to take more than a couple of hours per week in your spare time. You are going to have to commit to making the time to work on your business, and some things may have to take a backseat to your business. A few options for encouraging and tracking consistency are setting a schedule, writing a list of weekly goals, and having some progress benchmarks. Whatever you want to accomplish with your business, you will not get there without consistency.

Don’t: Get discouraged

You spend months doing market research, writing a business plan, developing your product, building a website, and finally launch your business. Then nothing. Or worse, someone buys your cake or hires you to decorate their home and are dissatisfied. You get a bad review. Maybe one of your clients can’t pay you. Maybe you miscalculated your expenses, and can’t pay your expenses for the month. Do not be discouraged! Every business, including yours, is going to face challenges. Instead of looking at challenges as setbacks, focus on how you can use those experiences to create systems to solve problems in the future. What can you learn? How can you move forward? The more challenges you face, the better you will get at bouncing back, and in the end, you’ll be a better entrepreneur because of it.

Do: Rely on your network for support

Your friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, and social media acquaintances will be essential to the success of your business. From the research stage to selling your product or service, make sure you keep them involved and aware. They will be your first customers. They will provide your first referrals. They will encourage you when you face challenges, and cheer you on when you succeed. Do not passively include your network in your business, be strategic and intentional. Know when and how to reach out to each person. Your parents may not receive information or have the same needs as your coworkers. Throughout your entrepreneurship journey, your network will grow as your business does.

Making the decision to become an entrepreneur is a major commitment. Whatever your product or service, whatever your goals, these five do’s and don’ts will start your business off right.

With the right network, success is always possible.

07Oct/17
NY to Paradise

NY to Paradise Podcast is Inspiring Entrepreneurs

Business owner, Coretta Ryan shares her podcast series titled, NY to Paradise: Creating Your Own Success. Launched August 31st, the monthly audio series highlights various entrepreneurs from around the world who haven’t been afraid to reshape their daily experiences by taking risks, staying true to their personal stories and living their lives intentionally.

NY to ParadiseThe show was created and co-produced by Coretta Ryan to be used as a tool to motivate aspiring and fellow entrepreneurs in their journey. The idea behind the concept is in finding out the “WHY”. The reasons behind why entrepreneurs may create businesses or the source of the passion they have for their work. Coretta says “I wanted to share the process, the thinking behind what shapes the ideas that develop into businesses.”

NY to Paradise can be found onlinePodbeanSoundcloudApple Podcasts and across social media at @crprllc with the hashtag #nytoparadise.