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America at 250: James Forten - America’s First Black Millionaire · The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson

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Three, two, one, zero.
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Ignition.
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Lift off.
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Ending small business failure.
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Welcome to the Small Biz Chat podcast with the number one small business expert, Melinda
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Emerson.
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Melinda's goal is to end small business failure, and she'll give you the information
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you need to succeed and live the life you dream of.
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Now here's your host, the small biz chat lady herself, Melinda Emerson.
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you subscribed to the small biz chat podcast?
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Well, it's time.
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Every Wednesday, we offer listeners bite sized actionable tips to start and grow a successful
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Hi, everybody, and welcome back to our special Small Biz Chat podcast series, America at two
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fifty, entrepreneurs who built America.
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I'm your host, Melinda Emerson, small biz lady, America's number one small business expert.
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And throughout this series, we're gonna be celebrating entrepreneurs whose vision,
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courage, and innovation help shape our nation.
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Now these business leaders created opportunities, strengthened their communities,
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and left a legacy that still inspires us today.
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Now you guys know if you've been following me a long time that I am based in Philadelphia, and
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America started here.
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And so I am a a history buff, as well as an entrepreneurship expert, and I just thought it
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would be really interesting for the month of July for me to acknowledge five entrepreneurs
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who helped shape early colonial America.
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And I'm so excited to talk about the subject of today's podcast.
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Last time, we focused on Benjamin Franklin.
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And today, I wanna introduce you all to someone whose story is just as extraordinary but far
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less well known, and his name is James Fortin.
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If you haven't heard of him, you're not alone.
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Many historians consider James Fortin one of the most successful entrepreneurs in early
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America.
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He was a revolutionary war veteran.
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He was an inventor, a manufacturer, a philanthropist, and an abolitionist.
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And by the early eighteen hundreds, he was the wealthiest black man in America.
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In fact, he was by today's standards, he would have been America's first black millionaire.
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James Fortin's success was built through innovation, craftsmanship, discipline,
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leadership, and an unwavering belief that freedom and opportunity should belong to
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anyone.
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His story reminds us that entrepreneurship has always been one of the most powerful pathways
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to independence, and not just financial independence, but the freedom to shape one's
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own future and create opportunities for others.
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So let's begin where every great entrepreneurial story starts with a young
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person who refuses to let his circumstances define his future.
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James Fortin was born in Philadelphia in 1766.
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Unlike many African Americans of his generation, James was born free.
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That distinction mattered, but life was still filled with enormous barriers.
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Opportunities for free black citizens were very limited at that time.
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Education was scarce, and discrimination was widespread.
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Economic mobility was almost unheard of.
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James' father worked as a sailmaker producing the massive canvas sails that powered merchant
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ships and naval vessels throughout the colonies.
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When James was still a child, his father died suddenly and the family's financial security
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disappeared.
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Like many young people growing up in a difficult circumstance, James had to mature
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quickly.
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He worked to help support his family while continuing to learn everything he could.
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Then history intervened.
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The American Revolution had begun.
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At just 14 years old, James joined the crew of a private ship fighting on behalf of the
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American colonies.
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Imagine that at such a young age, James Fortin was risking his life for the promise of
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American independence.
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During one voyage, the British captured his ship.
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James became a prisoner of war aboard a British prison ship.
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The conditions were brutal.
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Disease spread quickly, many prisoners never returned home.
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A British officer reportedly offered James the opportunity to secure his freedom by joining
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the British Navy.
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For many young men, it would have been an understandable decision, but James refused.
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He believed in the promise of America, and he knew he had to provide for his mother and his
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siblings back home.
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Eventually, he was released in a prisoner exchange in New York and then walked 90 miles
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back to Philadelphia to return home to his family.
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That experience would shape the rest of his life.
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He understood that freedom is precious and that the opportunity and that opportunity is never
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guaranteed.
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After returning home from the war, James chose to master a craft.
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He had mastered the art of sailmaking, but he wanted to approve or improve the industry.
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And that's really a hallmark of green entrepreneurs.
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Right?
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We don't just simply accept the way things are.
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We always ask how can this be better.
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At the time, every sailing vessel depended on durable, precisely crafted sails.
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International trade, fishing, transportation, even the national defense relied on skilled
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sailmakers.
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It was one of the most important industries in America.
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As Fortin worked at the sail loft where his father once worked, he noticed the opportunity
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to improve the manufacturing process.
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He developed an innovation that made sail handling a lot easier to manage and rig to
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large sails.
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While the invention itself wasn't glamorous, it made the production process more efficient and
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improved the quality of finished products.
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This is an important lesson.
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Innovation isn't always about inventing something completely new.
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Sometimes it's about making an existing process faster, better, safer, more efficient.
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Customers will always pay for solutions that save time, reduce costs, and improve quality.
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Fortin's invention earned him the respect of his employer, Robert Bridges.
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Now this is where the story takes an extraordinary turn.
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When Robert Bridges decided to retire, he had several options.
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He could have sold his business to another established merchant.
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He could have closed his company altogether, but instead he chose to sell it to James
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Fortin.
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Think about what this meant in the late eighteenth century that a respected white
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business owner entrusted his entire company to a young black entrepreneur because he
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recognized his character, his talent, and his leadership, and that decision sparked speaks
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volumes about the reputation that James Fortin built.
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People invest in leaders they trust.
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They partner with people they respect.
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They recommend people who consistently deliver excellence.
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Fortin purchased the Sale Loft and became its owner, and what he did first was he expanded
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the business.
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He invested in better equipment.
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He hired and trained skilled craftsmen, and he instilled an exceptional quality in all of the
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sails that were made.
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He earned the confidence of ship owners throughout Philadelphia.
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And really, at that time, it was one of the biggest busiest ports in early America.
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Soon, the Cell Loft became one of the largest and most respected businesses in America.
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And really, it helped James Fortin build a thriving manufacturing company that generated
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extraordinary wealth.
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Some historians estimate that adjusted for today's economy, his personal wealth would
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would have equated several millions of dollars.
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But think about a black man born in 1766 became the first black millionaire in America.
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Another remarkable aspect of Fortune's story was how he built his workforce.
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He employed both black and white workers.
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He built a workplace based on competence, professionalism, and mutual respect, values
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that remain the foundations of successful organizations today.
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And here's another lesson.
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You know, he focused on becoming the best.
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He didn't just build a remarkable business by cutting corners.
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He built it by delivering exceptional quality, earning trust, and creating products that
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customers could depend on.
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Excellence became his competitive advantage, and he used his success to create opportunities
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for others.
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When he returned to the sales lab where he had apprenticed before the war, he immersed himself
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in learning every aspect of the business.
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He wasn't just learning how to sew canvases.
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He was learning manufacturing, quality control, customer service operations, and coming up with
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innovative ideas.
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Everything you need to build a successful company.
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When he had the opportunity to take over the business, he used it to change the entire
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industry.
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And this is where I think the story becomes even more inspiring because people know
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nothing.
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People know about James Fortin's business success, but what they don't know is what he
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did with his wealth, and that's what separated him from many successful entrepreneurs of his
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time.
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James Fortin believed in the true measure of success was not how much money you accumulated,
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but what you did with it.
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And once his business was thriving, he became one of the most influential philanthropists and
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abolitionists of his generation.
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He understood that his great wealth created a great responsibility.
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And long before the term social entrepreneurship was a thing, James Fortin
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lived it.
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He invested his profits in causes that expanded opportunities for others.
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He financed schools for black children.
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He supported churches and community organizations and strengthened Philadelphia's
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growing free black community.
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He donated generously to organizations that worked to end slavery throughout The United
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States.
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He helped finance newspapers to give a voice to the abolitionist movement, and he opened his
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home to national leaders who were organizing the Underground Railroad.
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James Fort never separated his business from his purpose.
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And one of the most remarkable aspects of his leadership was also the way he invested in his
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own family.
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James and his wife, Charlotte, raised a family committed to education, entrepreneurship, and
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public service.
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Their daughters became nationally recognized abolitionists, educators, writers, and
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advocates for equal rights.
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His granddaughter, Charlotte Fortin Gimmicky, became one of the first black women hired to
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teach formerly enslaved people during the Civil War and later emerged as an important writer
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and activist.
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James Fortin didn't simply create generational wealth.
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He created a generation of a legacy of leadership.
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He used his business as the foundation, but it allowed him to create future generations of his
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family that would become educators, advocates, and leaders.
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Jane Fortin reminds us that businesses have the power to transform families and strengthen
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communities and change the course of history.
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And that's a much bigger vision than just simply increasing quarterly profits.
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So as we think about what kind of leadership America has always needed, it's the exact kind
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of leadership we still need today.
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So when we think about the five entrepreneurial lessons from James Fortin, I want you to think
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about it like this.
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Number one, your circumstances do not determine your future.
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James Fortin lost his father as a child.
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He was discriminated against.
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He survived being a prisoner of the revolutionary war.
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He returned to a country that denied many of his basic rights, yet he refused to let his
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circumstance define his destiny.
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Every entrepreneur faces obstacles.
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The question isn't whether challenges will come.
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The question is whether you'll allow them to stop you.
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Lesson two, master your craft before you lead others.
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Before James Fortin became the business owner, he became an exceptional sale maker himself.
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He learned every aspect of the business.
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And that's what is required for great companies are built by leaders who understand their
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business from the ground up.
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Excellence begins with mastery.
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I would say lesson three is let excellence become your competitive advantage.
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James Fortin became successful because he produced outstanding work.
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His reputation for quality earned the trust of customers, business partners, even owners who
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chose to sell even the owner who chose to sell him the company.
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In today's marketplace, your reputation is still your most valuable asset, especially if
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you deliver excellence every time.
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Lesson four.
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Use your success to create opportunities for others.
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James Fortin understood that entrepreneurship is about more than building wealth.
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He invested in education, supported abolitionists, mentored future leaders, and
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strengthened his community.
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And his the greatest entrepreneurs don't simply change their own lives.
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They change and create opportunities and create success for others.
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And lesson five, I would say, is build a legacy, not a business.
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James Fortin's greatest accomplishment was not becoming one of the wealthiest black
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entrepreneurs in America.
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It was certainly creating a legacy that lived on through his family, his community, and the
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generations he inspired.
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Businesses may change, markets may evolve, but the values you build in your business can
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influence generations of people for decades, even centuries.
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As America celebrates its two hundred and fiftieth anniversary, James Fortin reminds us
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that the American dream has always belonged to those willing to work hard, pursue excellence,
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and use their success to lift others.
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His life proves that entrepreneurship is one of the most powerful tools for creating freedom,
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opportunity, and lasting change.
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Thank you all so much for listening to this special edition of the Small Bitch Chat
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podcast.
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I'm Melinda Emerson, your host.
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And if you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe to the Small Bitch Chat podcast.
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Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast, and please
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share this episode with other entrepreneurs.
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We want everyone to know about James Fortin's inspiring story.
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Until next time, I'll leave you with this.
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You never lose in business.
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Either you win or you learn.
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Success is a process, not an event.
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God bless everybody.
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Thanks for listening to the small biz chat podcast with Melinda Emerson.
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Subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen to podcasts, and join us next Wednesday for
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more fantastic information and interviews.
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You can find more sources and small business success strategies by visiting Melinda's
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website, succeedasyourownboss.com.
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Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you next week.