Roslyn C. Chapman

Marketing executive Roslyn C. Chapman was born on March 10, 1956 in Richmond, Virginia to Bertha and Howard Chapman. She received her B.A. degree in psychology from Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia in 1978.

Chapman moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 1978, where she worked in purchasing at Federated Department Stores, Inc., the parent company for both Goldsmith’s and Bloomingdale’s. She then joined Johnson Products Company in Chicago, Illinois in 1979 as its national accounts manager. In 1985, Chapman became a sales and marketing executive at Alberto-Culver, in Chicago, Illinois, which grew to become a Fortune 500 company in 1987. She remained there for fifteen years until 2000 when she founded The Chapman Edge, LLC, a sales management consulting company. Her clients include industry leaders like Revlon. Chapman has also written for trade publications like Mass Market Retailers, Chain Drug Review, and Drug Store News. In 2016, she contributed to the article Experts: Cultivate Diversity in Beauty, in Mass Market Retailers.

During her career, Chapman has been active in several organizations including serving as a a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. in Hampton, Virginia; joining the Boys & Girls Club of Chicago in 2000 and serving on the Black Creativity Advisory Board of Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. In 2015, she became a founding board member of the Global Beauty Alliance and she served on that board until 2022. In 2018, Chapman also helped to found the WE Foundation, which empowers young women in health and wellness.

In 1996 and 1998, Chapman was included in the Gale Group’s Who’s Who Among African Americans.

She resides in Chicago, Illinois.

Roslyn C. Chapman was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on April 5, 2023.