Company President Vows To Restore Madame C.J. Walker Beauty Brand Around The World

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Madame C.J. Walker was many things. She was an orphan at age 7, a laundress making $1.50 a day, a mother and an inventor. But proud businesswoman may describe her best. Walker overcame racism and sexism to build a hair-care empire at a time when women weren't allowed to vote and segregation based on race was still legal. When she died at the age of 51 in 1919, she was widely considered to be the first self-made black woman millionaire. And as the incorporation of her Indianapolis company -- Madame C.J. Walker Enterprises -- marks 100 years this month, the two women at its helm say they are turning the business model back to the way Walker did things.