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Afro Sheen: How I Revolutionized an Industry with the Golden Rule, from Soul Train to Wall Street
The inspiring and resilient story of George E. Johnson, creator of the iconic Afro Sheen and the first Black-owned company to be traded on Wall Street
You might already be familiar with Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen, but have you heard of the man behind the company that produced these products? In Afro Sheen, George Ellis Johnson, the acclaimed self-made businessman, reveals his inspiring and captivating rise from humble beginnings to the top of the haircare industry.
At just twenty-seven years old, Johnson created the Johnson Products Company. JPC was the first Black-owned company to trade on a major stock exchange, became the financial sponsor of Soul Train, and was once considered the largest Black-owned manufacturing company in the world. At the height of its success, JPC was worth $37 million (over $225 million today).
In this coming-of-age story, Johnson uses the life skills and strong character built from working odd jobs as a teenager and practicing the Golden Rule to create a business that both nurtures and advances the Black community. Without a formal education, he filled a gap in the Black haircare industry and created a high-quality formula for straightening hair and the iconic Ultra Sheen and Afro Sheen products that supported Black people in expressing their authentic beauty. For decades, Johnson has been an inspiration to Black entrepreneurs, setting an example of Black wealth and providing a safe space for Black people to work.
Afro Sheen is a timely, impassioned look at both an industry and cultural moment. Johnson’s impact is finally on full display, as he brilliantly highlights how having perseverance and a daring vision can create both change and a lasting legacy.
You might already be familiar with Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen, but have you heard of the man behind the company that produced these products? In Afro Sheen, George Ellis Johnson, the acclaimed self-made businessman, reveals his inspiring and captivating rise from humble beginnings to the top of the haircare industry.
At just twenty-seven years old, Johnson created the Johnson Products Company. JPC was the first Black-owned company to trade on a major stock exchange, became the financial sponsor of Soul Train, and was once considered the largest Black-owned manufacturing company in the world. At the height of its success, JPC was worth $37 million (over $225 million today).
In this coming-of-age story, Johnson uses the life skills and strong character built from working odd jobs as a teenager and practicing the Golden Rule to create a business that both nurtures and advances the Black community. Without a formal education, he filled a gap in the Black haircare industry and created a high-quality formula for straightening hair and the iconic Ultra Sheen and Afro Sheen products that supported Black people in expressing their authentic beauty. For decades, Johnson has been an inspiration to Black entrepreneurs, setting an example of Black wealth and providing a safe space for Black people to work.
Afro Sheen is a timely, impassioned look at both an industry and cultural moment. Johnson’s impact is finally on full display, as he brilliantly highlights how having perseverance and a daring vision can create both change and a lasting legacy.
309 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 4, 2025
17 people are currently reading
325 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 5, 2025
I learned about this book from his granddaughter on Instagram and I was NOT disappointed! I loved the Black history in addition to the behind the scenes info of how business and industry works. I appreciated the golden nuggets she dropped throughout the book related to running a business and walking in faith.
June 30, 2025
Book Review
Afro Sheen
5/5 stars
"An impressive, humble, and flawed man"
*******
Of the book:
-13 chapters, 292 pages. (22.4 pps/chapter)
-No index
-No citations
-No photos. Not a single one.
-≈5 hours of reading time
This is a fabulously easy to read book, and quite interesting. (Men of Action like our author, George Johnson, can say a lot with few words; Bill Clinton's autobiography was over three times as long as this and felt like it said much of nothing.)
Wow, was GJ involved with a lot of projects. Independence Bank. Soul Train. Essence.
GJ is a product of the Great Migration, but also some of his schooling was private and Catholic--although he did not finish High school.
A lot of take away messages:
1. There were people who had the idea to use the tried and true formula of economic power to accomplish things, but either they were insufficient in number..... Or the movement was co-opted by professional revolutionaries.
Jesse Jackson shows up on page 17 of the book, and it is well known ("Shakedown," by Kenneth Timmerman) the Jackson has been trying to extort businesses with discrimination lawsuits for DECADES at this point, while not actually building any businesses at which black people can work.
(We also hear the story about Jackson wearing the "blood-stained shirt," which has been known to be a hoax since at least 23 years ago.)
2. GJ made money by going to work-- both in the sense of receiving a salary for his services, as well as being in an environment where he could SEE and LEARN from the production process of getting ideas from soup to nuts. So, he started out as a salesman--and learning about routes and markets. Then he actually became a chemist to see about learning how to produce things. And he worked at odd jobs so that he could learn the value of money.
3. Business is cutthroat. as GJ learned, there is no need to assume any debt of honesty from other people, just because they are black. Two words: ORVILLE NELSON. (p.65)
4. The author is a risk taker. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Idiots Like Jesse Jackson / Louis Farrakhan / Umar Johnson offer a lot of facile and risk-free solutions. That's obviously not the case.
5. Johnson did a lot of things, but he did require the expertise of other people. (A German, in this case.) There was no hand wringing about what was this guy's race - - only what he could bring to the table.
6. (p.174) Whether or not integration was a good thing depends on perspective; for black business owners that had a captive audience, it was not. Also, when given a choice.. a lot of Black customers did not choose to patronize black businesses.
7. (p. 173) Shopping malls put a lot of door to door sellers out of work, and especially black people.
8. Independence Bank was also started by GJ and two others. They sold it in 1997.
9. The purpose of Soul Train was actually to advertise Johnson's hair care products. (He was the one that financed it.)
10. Building a business is not something that is done only once; even people as bright as Johnson can make huge miscalculations, and very few of the best businesses will be with us a century later. Black businesses are no exception in this way.
11. Even if you do build a big business, there's no reason that it could not be bought out by a venture capitalist for a much wealthier firm.
Other factoids:
1. Pullman porters worked a mandatory 100 hours a month. Sometimes, they were expected to sing and dance.
2. The first black company to be publicly traded was Johnson products, in 1969.? (p.207).
3. More wealthy blacks have been created by the beauty industry than any other industry except entertainment. (p. 244).
Verdict:
Strongly recommended, and especially for black people of any age who treat "community investment" as a metaphysical / floating abstraction type of topic.
The subject of this book did do exactly that, and it may have been a bit of flatulence in a hurricane of the wreck that is Chicago.
*******
People and places:
S. B. Fuller
George Johnson
Annie Turnbo Malone
Bronzeville
Alvin Boutte
Cirilo McSween
William Morrow
Quote:
(253) We looked at the style, which required a lot of oils, creams, and sprays to maintain it. Curly perms also dripped, oozed, and stained shirt collars and pillowcases.
Afro Sheen
5/5 stars
"An impressive, humble, and flawed man"
*******
Of the book:
-13 chapters, 292 pages. (22.4 pps/chapter)
-No index
-No citations
-No photos. Not a single one.
-≈5 hours of reading time
This is a fabulously easy to read book, and quite interesting. (Men of Action like our author, George Johnson, can say a lot with few words; Bill Clinton's autobiography was over three times as long as this and felt like it said much of nothing.)
Wow, was GJ involved with a lot of projects. Independence Bank. Soul Train. Essence.
GJ is a product of the Great Migration, but also some of his schooling was private and Catholic--although he did not finish High school.
A lot of take away messages:
1. There were people who had the idea to use the tried and true formula of economic power to accomplish things, but either they were insufficient in number..... Or the movement was co-opted by professional revolutionaries.
Jesse Jackson shows up on page 17 of the book, and it is well known ("Shakedown," by Kenneth Timmerman) the Jackson has been trying to extort businesses with discrimination lawsuits for DECADES at this point, while not actually building any businesses at which black people can work.
(We also hear the story about Jackson wearing the "blood-stained shirt," which has been known to be a hoax since at least 23 years ago.)
2. GJ made money by going to work-- both in the sense of receiving a salary for his services, as well as being in an environment where he could SEE and LEARN from the production process of getting ideas from soup to nuts. So, he started out as a salesman--and learning about routes and markets. Then he actually became a chemist to see about learning how to produce things. And he worked at odd jobs so that he could learn the value of money.
3. Business is cutthroat. as GJ learned, there is no need to assume any debt of honesty from other people, just because they are black. Two words: ORVILLE NELSON. (p.65)
4. The author is a risk taker. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Idiots Like Jesse Jackson / Louis Farrakhan / Umar Johnson offer a lot of facile and risk-free solutions. That's obviously not the case.
5. Johnson did a lot of things, but he did require the expertise of other people. (A German, in this case.) There was no hand wringing about what was this guy's race - - only what he could bring to the table.
6. (p.174) Whether or not integration was a good thing depends on perspective; for black business owners that had a captive audience, it was not. Also, when given a choice.. a lot of Black customers did not choose to patronize black businesses.
7. (p. 173) Shopping malls put a lot of door to door sellers out of work, and especially black people.
8. Independence Bank was also started by GJ and two others. They sold it in 1997.
9. The purpose of Soul Train was actually to advertise Johnson's hair care products. (He was the one that financed it.)
10. Building a business is not something that is done only once; even people as bright as Johnson can make huge miscalculations, and very few of the best businesses will be with us a century later. Black businesses are no exception in this way.
11. Even if you do build a big business, there's no reason that it could not be bought out by a venture capitalist for a much wealthier firm.
Other factoids:
1. Pullman porters worked a mandatory 100 hours a month. Sometimes, they were expected to sing and dance.
2. The first black company to be publicly traded was Johnson products, in 1969.? (p.207).
3. More wealthy blacks have been created by the beauty industry than any other industry except entertainment. (p. 244).
Verdict:
Strongly recommended, and especially for black people of any age who treat "community investment" as a metaphysical / floating abstraction type of topic.
The subject of this book did do exactly that, and it may have been a bit of flatulence in a hurricane of the wreck that is Chicago.
*******
People and places:
S. B. Fuller
George Johnson
Annie Turnbo Malone
Bronzeville
Alvin Boutte
Cirilo McSween
William Morrow
Quote:
(253) We looked at the style, which required a lot of oils, creams, and sprays to maintain it. Curly perms also dripped, oozed, and stained shirt collars and pillowcases.
Want to read
January 8, 2026As heard on Planet Money - How Black hair care grew Black power
The Afro is one of the most iconic hairstyles of the last century. And one of its main ingredients was a hair product – Afro Sheen. But Afro Sheen did so much more than make Black afros shine. It was the money behind the television show Soul Train, it helped fuel the civil rights movement – all because of an entrepreneur named George Johnson.
For decades, Joan and George Johnson owned and ran Johnson Products Company, a Black hair care company out of Chicago. Their intimate understanding of what Black people wanted and needed – for their hair and for their lives – helped grow the Black middle class and became an engine for Black culture and power. They helped turn the Black haircare industry into what is now a multi-billion-dollar industry. But although they helped create this industry, they no longer have a part in it.
Today on the show – the story of the rise and fall of Johnson Products. We’re gonna tell you this story in three hairstyles. The conk, the afro… and the jheri curl.
Related episodes:
This Ad’s For You
'Soul Train' and the business of Black joy
Fashion Fair's makeover
Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift . / Subscribe to Planet Money+
Listen free: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.
Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter .
This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Sonari Glinton and Erika Beras. It was produced by James Sneed, edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
https://www.npr.org/2026/01/07/nx-s1-...
The Afro is one of the most iconic hairstyles of the last century. And one of its main ingredients was a hair product – Afro Sheen. But Afro Sheen did so much more than make Black afros shine. It was the money behind the television show Soul Train, it helped fuel the civil rights movement – all because of an entrepreneur named George Johnson.
For decades, Joan and George Johnson owned and ran Johnson Products Company, a Black hair care company out of Chicago. Their intimate understanding of what Black people wanted and needed – for their hair and for their lives – helped grow the Black middle class and became an engine for Black culture and power. They helped turn the Black haircare industry into what is now a multi-billion-dollar industry. But although they helped create this industry, they no longer have a part in it.
Today on the show – the story of the rise and fall of Johnson Products. We’re gonna tell you this story in three hairstyles. The conk, the afro… and the jheri curl.
Related episodes:
This Ad’s For You
'Soul Train' and the business of Black joy
Fashion Fair's makeover
Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift . / Subscribe to Planet Money+
Listen free: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.
Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter .
This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Sonari Glinton and Erika Beras. It was produced by James Sneed, edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
https://www.npr.org/2026/01/07/nx-s1-...
March 19, 2025
Really enjoyed this audible and I love the narrator's voice so much that I ended up googling him (Wintley Phipps) and learned that he is an amazing vocalist. Afro Sheen is a great recap of determination, community and spirituality. Against many odds, George Johnson created a corporation that not only supported the needs of the the black community but also took care of the black community in a manner that no white corporation was doing. In spite of obstacles that others would have considered insurmountable, George Johnson kept building an iconic culture.
The only part that was a bit strange was Chapter 16 "I gave Joan the business". The book was a wonderful summary of what he built and then the last chapter was a bit of a bashing of Joan. I'm not sure it was necessary chapter in the book of how George Johnson revolutionized the Industry. Maybe that would have been better in a separate book dealing with himself as a person and how he strayed from his spiritual side. But who am I to judge how he wrote the book!
The only part that was a bit strange was Chapter 16 "I gave Joan the business". The book was a wonderful summary of what he built and then the last chapter was a bit of a bashing of Joan. I'm not sure it was necessary chapter in the book of how George Johnson revolutionized the Industry. Maybe that would have been better in a separate book dealing with himself as a person and how he strayed from his spiritual side. But who am I to judge how he wrote the book!
February 14, 2025
Love this book and I’m glad his daughter talked him into telling his story. Johnson telling the story of his childhood and the struggles of starting his own company. Living by “the golden rule” helped him in every aspect of his life. He even talked about his slip up in his private life with his kids and wife. I definitely recommend this one.
January 22, 2026
A wonderful book about a very spiritual man who was kind and generous to all he encounter as he became very successful ...this is a story of leadership and innovation in the hair care industry . Afro Sheen is a must read and especially if one is thinking of starting a business....it's tried and true...I meet him in person and it was a delight to hear him add addition information....
February 16, 2025
I loved this true story. How George not only started and managed the first public traded Black-owned business is inspiring. It’s fascinating how his story is weaved into so many historical Black moments. Must read!
November 22, 2025
Great case study for entrepreneurs to learn from.
December 31, 2025
LOVED THIS BOOK! I love books on black history. Black business history. I love that he shared to good and bad. This book was inspiring.
September 1, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed Afro Sheen. George E. Johnson shared his successes & failures in building his business. He touched many lives, and his story is a great read and example of starting a business with all of the challenges one might face.
August 28, 2025
In today’s political and economic climate, we need more books like this. Books that give us hope. With all that is going on in this country this book couldn’t be more important. It’s not just about hair products, it’s about ownership, legacy, and knowing our worth. Afro Sheen is part history, part game plan. If you’re Black and thinking about starting a business, or currently own a business, this should be at the top of your reading list. It proves that even in the face of racism, we can build empires. This book is a gem. It isn’t just the story of a haircare brand, it’s a powerful lesson on pushing through when the odds are stacked against you. George E. Johnson, Sr. built something historic, and the way he tells his story will have you walking away inspired and fired up.
Mr. Johnson (who by the way, is currently 98 years of age) took Afro Sheen from barbershops to Soul Train, and eventually to Wall Street, making it the first Black-owned company traded on the stock exchange. That’s huge.
He invested in the culture, hired from the community, and used his platform to uplift us. I found his partnerships with Essence magazine and Soul Train, genius. He made sure Black people saw themselves, their hair, and their beauty celebrated on national TV and in print!
Ohhh but wait…there’s more! At the end of the book Mr. Johnson opens up about his turbulent marriage, and I have to be honest, what he shared made didn’t make me happy at all! After reading about all his accomplishments and how much he talked about integrity and doing right by people, it was disappointing to hear how he treated his wife, who stood by him during the early grind. The way he handled certain things in their relationship felt extremely selfish. I didn’t like it at all. Yet, it reminds me that even our heroes have flaws, and we never know what goes on behind closed doors.
Mr. Johnson (who by the way, is currently 98 years of age) took Afro Sheen from barbershops to Soul Train, and eventually to Wall Street, making it the first Black-owned company traded on the stock exchange. That’s huge.
He invested in the culture, hired from the community, and used his platform to uplift us. I found his partnerships with Essence magazine and Soul Train, genius. He made sure Black people saw themselves, their hair, and their beauty celebrated on national TV and in print!
Ohhh but wait…there’s more! At the end of the book Mr. Johnson opens up about his turbulent marriage, and I have to be honest, what he shared made didn’t make me happy at all! After reading about all his accomplishments and how much he talked about integrity and doing right by people, it was disappointing to hear how he treated his wife, who stood by him during the early grind. The way he handled certain things in their relationship felt extremely selfish. I didn’t like it at all. Yet, it reminds me that even our heroes have flaws, and we never know what goes on behind closed doors.
August 5, 2025
Inspirational story about a well-known Black business. I wish I understood the history and significance of Johnson Products Company during my teenage & young 20s. I may have insisted on using their products.
June 3, 2025
This book opened my mind about the hair industry. It let me know about the business as an industry. and much about the life of George Ellis Johnson. His early life was talked about with indebtedness and the products discovered through out time. There are some new products in the market today. Johnson talks about how he relates to what he describes as the "black" hair movement without/without the Afro/Ultra Sheen name. With todays market place, it has many suitors but there are no others like the first businessmen. The book is lengthy on how he worked and met prestigious people while working as a chemist at a black owned company on Chicago's Southside.
He was also in the news recently.
He was also in the news recently.
May 24, 2025
A great historical read about an industry not known by many. The manifestation of a person’s dream from concept to fruition filled with pitfalls, deceit and industry espionage weaves an intriguing tale with effects of trends and personal preferences ever changing. The rags to riches story is interesting in the fact that chemistry, discrimination and trends made a large aspect in this tale of perseverance. An interesting sideline with Don Cornelius and “Soul Train” just added the historical value into superb read.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews