In this episode of Behind The Hustle, host Zach (with Brad) tells the story of Martha Matilda Harper, a 19th‑century Canadian‑born entrepreneur who built a chain of over 500 hair‑salon franchises long before modern franchising icons like Ray Kroc. Starting as a house servant, Harper learned hair‑follicle science from a physician, received a hair tonic, and used her own striking chestnut hair as a marketing tool. She opened her first salon in Rochester, New York, and invented many salon fixtures still common today—reclining shampoo chairs and neck‑hole sinks—though she failed to patent them due to gender barriers. Harper recruited and empowered other women, many from modest backgrounds, to run franchise locations, creating a pioneering model of women‑led franchising. Historian Jane Plitt rediscovered Harper’s contributions in the late 1990s‑early 2000s, bringing her story back into public awareness. The conversation highlights Harper’s innovative business practices, her use of personal branding, and her lasting impact on the salon industry.
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She had, she was about 5 feet tall. Her hair was down to the ground. She had this like majestic chestnut hair that was just—
Hey Zach, welcome back.
Hey Brad.
So this week you have a really interesting piece about a female entrepreneur who's one of the pioneers of the franchising business model. Not many people have heard about her. How did you find out about her?
So her name is Martha Matilda Harper, and she was kind of— she created this phenomenal business, and long before Ray Kroc, McDonald's, and the whole franchising model took off, she was kind of one of the early pioneers in the space in the late 19th century. And her story was kind of forgotten, and it's for many years it was a footnote in history until this woman, Jane Plitt, a historian, resurfaced her story in the late '90s and early 2000s and really made a push to get her more into the spotlight. But even now today, I think relatively few younger people know about her, and she's just got kind of a very interesting story.
So tell us a little bit about her business and how she found her niche.
Yeah, so she started out her life in the mid-1800s in Canada and she was kind of born into a lower-class family. At the age of 7, she was sent away to be a house servant by her family and for 25 years she was a house servant and eventually she served at the house of a physician who studied hair follicle science and kind of some of the early science of hair treatments. And he bestowed upon her this hair tonic and she took that with her to Rochester, New York and eventually found her way into certain circles, saved a little bit of money, and launched a successful franchise of hair salons at a time when it was very difficult to even launch a single business as a female entrepreneur. She ended up growing this into a chain of 500 stores and was, was an inspira— and inspired many other women to follow in her path. A lot of the franchise owners she hired were other women who didn't come from upper-class backgrounds. She empowered a lot of people with similar backgrounds to her and gave them some freedom to run their own franchises.
She sounds like a really inspiring story. Anything you want to share, just any fun details about the business and in the hair salon industry that she was was created with?
Yeah, so she, um, she actually invented a number of things like the reclining shampoo chair, a sink with a little hole cut out for the neck, just little things you see in salons today that you don't really give much thought to. But unfortunately, she didn't secure the patents to a lot of these inventions, so it was very difficult for, for women at the time to get their name on a patent. But the other funny detail is, if you look at— there's one old kind of iconic photograph of her that exists. She had— she was about 5 feet tall. Her hair was down to the ground. She had this like majestic chestnut hair that was just like a flowing mane, like nothing you've ever seen. And that was actually her greatest marketing asset. Is that she'd serve for these high-class women as a house servant. They would always ask her about how her hair was so nice. It was like this incredible head of hair she had, and she used that to sell her tonic, to start her business. And that was kind of one of her chief marketing lessons, is use what you have. To your advantage, and she certainly did that.
Well, there's a lot more to this story. You guys are going to love this one. Please, please make sure you open your emails on Sunday, and thanks again for joining us, Zach.
