The cards were stacked against Sarah Breedlove from the start. Born in 1867 to formerly enslaved parents and growing up along the cotton fields of the deep south during the Reconstruction Era. She was orphaned at 7, married at 14 and widowed at 20, leaving her utterly alone in the world with a small child to raise.
But Sarah had learned from an early age to be her own advocate and her own savior. Dragging herself up from the dredges of poverty to become one of the wealthiest business owners in America. In turn she would set out to use her wealth and influence to better the lives of black citizens, specifically black women and girls across the nation.
