Joe Louis Dudley

Entrepreneur and hair care company founder Joe Louis Dudley, Sr. was born on May 9, 1937 in Aurora, North Carolina to Clara and Gilmer Dudley. In 1962, he earned his B.S. degree in business administration from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical (A&M) State University in Greensboro, North Carolina.

While pursuing his degree, Dudley was hired by the Fuller Products Company as a hair care and beauty supply door-to-door salesman. In 1967, Dudley and his wife, Eunice Mosley Dudley, relocated from New York to Greensboro as independent distributors for Fuller Hair Products. Dudley purchased Rosebud Beauty Products and rebranded Rosebud Hair Pomade to Dudley’s Scalp Special in 1969. He opened the Dudley Products Company in 1975, and its earnings grew to approximately $1.5 million in annual sales that same year. After the Fuller Products Company filed for bankruptcy in 1970, Dudley operated both businesses simultaneously until consolidating them in 1980. In addition, he purchased the Fuller Products Company in 1985 and opened its first corporate office and manufacturing plant the following year. Between 1989 and 1995, the Dudley Products Company founded the Dudley Cosmetology University, several Dudley beauty schools, and cosmetology training programs in Zimbabwe and Brazil. In 2009, Dudley appeared in the documentary Good Hair, produced by comedian Chris Rock.

Dudley authored the book Walking by Faith: I Am, I Can & I Will in 1987. During his career, he also received numerous awards, including an award from the U.S. Commerce Department’s Minority Business Development Agency in 1988. In 1991, former President George H. W. Bush named Dudley the 467th Daily Point of Light for his significant contributions and service to the community. Dudley was also inducted into the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame and the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans in 1995.

Dudley had three children—Joe Dudley, Jr., Ursula Dudley Oglesby, and Genea Dudley—with his former wife, Eunice Mosley Dudley.

Dudley passed away on February 8, 2024.

He was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on April 21, 2023.