The Golden Rule of Afro Sheen

Famed entrepreneur George E. Johnson, best known for being the founder of Johnson Products Company (JPC) in 1954, which manufactured premium Black hair care and cosmetic products including Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen, did not want to write a book about his life—until he had an epiphany.

JPC products became a staple in many Black barbershops, beauty shops, and households all over the country for generations. JPC-produced shampoo, conditioners, hair relaxers, and blowout kits were designed to create Black hairstyles.

For decades, JPC operated at a facility near 87th St. and the Dan Ryan Expressway. JPC employed many Black folks while teaching the immediate community—mainly hairdressers and barbers—to go into business for themselves. Along with being the first Black-owned company to trade on a major stock exchange, Johnson maintains that the “Golden Rule” has always applied.

Johnson details his experiences and more in the book, Afro Sheen: How I Revolutionized an Industry with the Golden Rule, from Soul Train to Wall Street, along with Hilary Beard, coauthor of the book, Promises Kept: Raising Black Boys in School and In Life.  

Outside of the instances of Black Chicago history and the name-dropping of prominent Black Chicagoans—some notable people who’ve called Bronzeville home include journalist Ida B.Wells, musician Quincy Jones, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks, and historian Margaret Burroughs—the book offers sage, sometimes brutally honest advice regarding entrepreneurship in the Black community. 

Johnson openly discussed his experiences juggling his place as an upwardly mobile Black businessman and participating in the uplift of the broader Black community—a predicament many in his position continue to reckon with. For instance, as JPC grew in stature and profit, Johnson moved from Chatham on the South Side to Glencoe, a north suburban predominately white enclave. 

Johnson’s most influential contribution to the uplift is his company’s sponsorship of Soul Train, an iconic TV dance series based in Chicago that launched the careers of many Black artists. 

“In the community, every worthy organization that ever asked Johnson Products Company for money got it,” Johnson said. 

JPC’s contributions to American history have not gone unnoticed as one of their blowout kits is displayed in the National Museum of American History.

With the Trump Administration targeting companies and corporations’ diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, many in the Black community are rethinking their consumer support by reupping engagement of businesses that have historically respected their buying power, making Johnson’s book more relevant than ever.

Johnson, ninety-seven, sat down with Weekly to discuss his upbringing, kick starting his dreams, his faith, the power of the Black dollar, and wisdom he’d like to share with the current generation of Black entrepreneurs. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Tell me about the journey of writing a book like this, and why you decided to do it at this point in time, in juncture and in our community.

People asked me when I was gonna write my book, and I always told them I had no intention to write a book because I don’t like to talk about myself. When I have tried to tell my grandkids how the company got started, I think about all the lessons that the Lord bestowed upon me that took me into the business. It makes me so grateful to God, it just makes me cry—and I cry a lot. So for that reason, I didn’t really want to write a book after I retired. But on November 21, 2021, Sunday morning, I was watching TV, and all of a sudden I couldn’t see the television. The room was cloudy. I tried to get up to see what was going on, and I couldn’t get up. And at one point I heard five words. I clearly heard five words: you must tell your story. And when I heard those words, it scared me to death. I thought it was the Lord asking me to write, to tell my story. And I believe that. So I made a 180-degree turn in my attitude and immediately started looking for a professional writer who could do the book with me.

Why was it important to seek out a Black author to tell your story? 

I wanted someone who had an understanding of our community and of Black people—somebody Black themselves. And the most important thing was that [the person] was spiritual; they could understand why some could be sympathetic in my attitudes. 

Let’s say that someone is reading your book, and they already have the interest in starting their own business or being an entrepreneur as you are. What advice would you give them?

The best thing you can do [is] when you got something that never has been made before, and remedied a lot of drawbacks for a product, and did the job you wanted to do. [We did that with our] product, which we call Ultra Wave Hair Culture (a hair relaxer for men). I mean, it just about sells itself to barbers who’ve been using other products that were not emulsified. So it wasn’t that difficult for me to get the business going, but my advice to an entrepreneur: you got to have something that people need, that people want, and that is it’s superior to the competition. If you don’t do that, you just got a “me-too” product, and that’s going to be very hard to sell unless you got a lot of money to advertise, especially on television. But you got to have something that is worthy of the market and worthy of people, and you got to have a burning desire to succeed and be willing to work your butt off. You got to be honest. You got to love people, and you got to put their interest ahead of yours. And if you serve people and serve them well, they will make you successful. So treat them like you love them, and do as I did, follow the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have others do unto you. The Golden Rule is an edict from Jesus Christ, as well as he said: Love your neighbor as yourself. It’s the same. Do unto others as you have others do unto you. That was what I did throughout my career, and we were very successful.

Can you explain what it’s like being a Black businessman and making money and doing all these different things while finding ways to participate in the uplift of Black communities?

I’ve always been concerned about other people… I was starting school at a Catholic school and that kind of gave me a grounding in that area. My attitude about businesses is that when you help people, you help yourself. And that was my focus on helping people help me. That’s the golden rule, and that’s what I did throughout my career; try to help find ways to help people. You help yourself more than you help other people. Plus, they build your reputation. When you’ve done something good for another person, and when your name comes up in a conversation, they only have something positive to say about you. So when the people they’re talking to hear positive remarks about you, that gives them a positive attitude towards you and they never met you. 

When someone is in a bookstore or they’re looking online, they see your book, they pick it up and buy it, take it home and read it. What do you think they’ll get out of it?

I hope they’ll be inspired. I hope [the book] will uplift them—that’s what I hope. And if they have children, I hope if they read it, they give it to the children and have them read it.

Afro Sheen: How I Revolutionized an Industry with the Golden Rule, from Soul Train to Wall Street. George E. Johnson with Hilary Beard. 320 pages. Little, Brown and Company, 2025. $30 Hardcover.

Evan F. Moore is an award-winning writer, author, and DePaul University journalism adjunct instructor. Evan is a third-generation South Shore homeowner.