Pioneering Haircare Entrepreneur Joe Louis Dudley Sr., 86, Dies; Leaves Legacy Of Success And Inspiration

Dudley built an empire from his and his family kitchen, eventually founding schools that trained generations of cosmetologists.

Joe Louis Dudley Sr., 86, a pioneer in the haircare industry, died Feb. 8.

As the New York Times reported, Dudley built an empire from his and his wife’s kitchen, eventually founding schools that trained generations of cosmetologists. Dudley’s business began as a family affair, he stirred the formulas in a steel drum with a large spatula while his wife, Eunice, created the labels. Their children screwed the tops on the bottles after the mixtures had cooled and set by the next morning.

From those humble beginnings, the Dudleys took over S.B. Fuller’s business in Chicago. They had sold the company’s products while attending North Carolina A&T. The coupled moved the business to Greensboro and built a plant, which also sold Fuller products.

Dudley, like Fuller, was described as a sales evangelist and was also a man of deep Christian faith, often employing those who had been incarcerated or experienced drug problems.

Dudley required his employees to open savings accounts and usually opened his sales meetings with repurposed popular songs or jingles. In 2009, while filming his documentary Good Hair, comedian Chris Rock journeyed to the Kernersville Dudley factory, where he learned about relaxer, a strong hair straightener.

The economics of the chemicals shocked Rock, who learned that a 7,000-pound vat of relaxer was worth around $18,000. Meanwhile, the camera panned to show the Dudley family mansion.

Dudley, named after the Black boxing legend Joe Louis, was born on May 9, 1937, in Aurora, NC, the fifth of 11 children. He stuttered as a child, which led to him being held back in the first grade; teachers called him “mentally retarded.”

His mother, Clara, encouraged her son to “prove them wrong, Joe. Prove them wrong,” a moment that drove Dudley throughout his life.

Lafayette Jones, the chairman emeritus of the American Health and Beauty Aids Institute, an association of Black manufacturers, told the Times that Dudley was “a leader among Black hair care royalty.”

In 1995, Dudley won the Horatio Alger Award, given to “leaders who have triumphed over adversity,” according to the organization. The other honorees that year were two legends in their field: music producer Quincy Jones and football coach Don Shula.

Ahead of the recession, in 2007, a section of the Dudley haircare factory that manufactured 90% of its products, suffered a fire. Dudley’s daughter, Ursula Dudley Oglesby, a Harvard-educated attorney, helped the family reorganize the company. She became the president and chief executive of what was now called Dudley Beauty Corp.

At the time of his death from Parkinson’s disease, Dudley was still working. Eunice has no plans to stop working either. Dudley and Eunice divorced in 2000 on amicable terms and remained business partners.