The Harlem Businesswoman

New York City has the largest concentration of women-owned businesses in the country. And Harlem is no exception. Let’s take a look at the history and future of the Harlem businesswoman.

New York City has the largest concentration of women-owned businesses in the country. And Harlem is no exception. Let’s take a look at the history and future of the Harlem businesswoman.

History of the Harlem Businesswoman

Harlem has a rich and diverse history, and the history of the Harlem businesswoman is just as interesting.

One of the most famous Black businesswomen to ever call Harlem home is Madam C.J. Walker, America’s first female self-made millionaire. While she wasn’t born in Harlem, Walker and her daughter A’Lelia partnered in 1913 to establish an office and beauty salon in Harlem that provided revolutionary hair care products for Black patrons.

In her own right, A’Lelia Walker carried on with her mother’s entrepreneurial spirit, becoming a patron of the arts in Harlem and a key voice during the Harlem Renaissance who provided “an intellectual forum for the Black literati of New York City during the 1920s.” She regularly entertained the likes of Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, James Weldon Johnson, and other great literary voices of the Harlem Renaissance. A staunch activist, A’Lelia was known to segregate her parties – serving bathtub gin to the whites, while her Black guests dined on caviar and champagne.

We’ve previously mentioned Stephanie St. Clair, Harlem’s “numbers queen,” and while her lottery business endeavors were actually illegal, she was quite the success – she was a gangster, civil rights advocate, fashionista, and one of Harlem’s first businesswomen. Far from shy, she took out newspaper ads to publicly lambast her adversaries, everyone from crime bosses to police officers to would-be suitors she was annoyed with. She built a gambling empire, making hundreds of thousands of dollars in the 1930s.

When a white crime boss named Dutch Shultz ordered all Black and Latino numbers bosses (often called policy operators) to either pay him a percentage or get out of the numbers game altogether, St. Clair fought back, violently confronting white business owners who were collecting for Schultz. She survived multiple intimidation and death attempts, all ordered by Schultz. And when Schultz was gunned down in 1935, she had to have the last word, a telegram. And it read “As ye sow, so shall you reap,” and it was signed “Madame Queen of Policy.” You can read more about her life and legacy, including her championing of the “buy Black” cause – similar to today’s efforts to encourage people to shop at Black-owned small businesses – here.

Today’s Harlem Businesswomen

Because of the grit and determination of previous Harlem businesswomen, today’s female Black business owners have a place at the table. Today, Black women majority-owned businesses are the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in the country. Here are some of the most notable contemporary personifications of the Harlem businesswoman.

Princess Jenkins is the founder, chief visionary, speaker, and marketing strategist for Harlem’s Crown Jewel: The Brownstone. The Brownstone is a fashion and lifestyle boutique that dresses women for the “most important moments of their lives.” Jenkins also works with Women in the Black, an organization that was reorganized in early 2021 to achieve its main goal to “raise monies to fund and grow African-American women-owned businesses” by providing loans for expansion and growth of their businesses.

Teri Johnson is a hustler. She’s the founder of the Harlem Candle Company, as well as a travel and lifestyle expert. Her company is a luxury home fragrance brand specializing in scented candles that are inspired by the richness of Harlem itself. Johnson now designs fragrances alongside award-winning perfumers and her candles and fragrance gift boxes are often featured on lists of the best gifts for (insert any upcoming holiday), including articles on Insider, PopSugar, Elle Décor, Cosmopolitan, Country Living, and more!