ETI salutes Joan Johnson, co-founder of Afro Sheen empire

In order to be a legend you have to learn from and study the legends.

A legend today is known for their noted celebrity and larger-than-life accomplishments, whose fame is well-known.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j1K7Y8gqQ8

Joan Johnson, who co-founded the legendary Johnson Products Company – the maker of iconic hair care products such as Ultra Sheen, Afro Sheen and Gentle Treatment — died on September 9, 2019 at the age of 89 in Chicago after a long illness.

In 1954, Johnson and her husband, George E. Johnson, started the Johnson Products Company in Chicago, taking a $250 vacation loan and turning it into a multi-million-dollar company.

The business became the first black-owned company traded on the stock exchange in 1971.

“When I think about pioneers, the real pioneers are the people who are able to make a path where none exists,” Eric G. Johnson, her son, told CNN. “Johnson Products in many ways was that company. She and my father had no provided path. They created a path where there was none.”

Joan Johnson, co-founder of Johnson Products Company, has died at age 89.
Joan Johnson, co-founder of Johnson Products Company, has died at age 89.

JPC, as it is commonly referred to, developed a line of haircare, cosmetics and fragrances and, within 25 years, controlled 30% to 40% of the black haircare market, according to Black Enterprise.

In the early 1970s, Johnson Products became a major sponsor of the Don Cornelius-created, dance-based TV series “Soul Train,” which became the longest running, first run, nationally syndicated program in television history.

The company was bought by Procter & Gamble in 2004 and its products were marketed as part of the P&G portfolio. In March 2009, a consortium of African-American investment firms bought the Los Angeles-based company from the consumer goods corporate giant.

An annual scholarship will be named in her honor at Atlanta’s Spelman College, which she was a trustee of.

ETI

You can check out the latest casting calls and Entertainment News by clicking: Click Here

Click the logo below to go to the Home Page of the Website

Enter Button

Click the logo below to follow ETInside on Twitter

Click the logo below to follow ETInside on Facebook

Click the logo below to follow ETInside on Instagram

Click the logo below to follow ETInside on Pinterest

pinterest

Click the logo below to follow ETInside on Medium

Medium