Joe Dudley grew up in rural North Carolina, living in a small house with his ten siblings. His pronounced speech impediment prompted Joe’s first grade teacher to label him mentally retarded, and he was held back. It would be the last time anyone would hold Joe back. Within 20 years he had founded one of the most successful minority-owned businesses in America. My friend Joe Dudley passed away on February 8. He was 86 years old.
I first met Joe back in 2006 when he was a guest on Triad Today. He made a number of subsequent appearances on my show, as did his wife Eunice and daughter Ursula. Eunice helped start Dudley Beauty Products and today, Ursula runs the company, which has customers all over the world.
In 1998, Joe penned a book, which can best be described as a combination autobiography and self-help primer for entrepreneurs. “I am, I Can, I Will: Walking By Faith” should be on the bedside table of every aspiring business person. Joe dedicated the book to his mentor S.B. Fuller, a self-made African American business owner whose biography accurately describes Fuller as a “Pioneer in Black Economic Development.”
Joe credits his success to Mr. Fuller and writes about him in “Walking By Faith.”
“Mr. Fuller believed that through hard work any obstacle could be overcome. It reinforced my notion that I could overcome the characterizations that plagued my childhood. I didn’t have to be mentally retarded. I didn’t have to be slow. I didn’t have to let a speech impediment stop me from speaking in public. The world had no limit as long as I worked hard. Mr. Fuller was good at giving hope and encouragement.”
Both Joe and Eunice began by opening a Fuller distributorship, then when inventory was in short supply, the power couple started selling their own products under the Dudley name, and the rest is history.
Upon learning of Joe’s passing, I went back and watched some of the Triad Today segments we did together, and one of my favorite episodes is from April of 2007. It was vintage Joe Dudley as he offered his take on the importance of saving money.
Jim: This is financial literacy month and I’m reminded that more and more local school systems are working with folks like Consumer Credit Counseling and area banks to offer financial literacy instruction to students. I know you agree that we need to give kids practical experience early on, right?
Joe: Absolutely. I think that’s very important. I started saving money early. I used to put pennies and dimes in a little can, where I couldn’t take it out, and that was the beginning of what we do in our business. We insist that everybody should save some money every week, every pay period. Because if you save money, it gives you self-control and confidence in that you have more than you did last year, last month, last week.
Jim: Do you come across kids who need to know and want to know about things like how to save?
Joe: Absolutely and they need to start saving now. So many people get themselves messed up because they don’t know how to balance a checkbook. They don’t know how to use credit properly, don’t know how to get a car loan or home loan, and they need to know these things as early as they possibly can.
Jim: Recent studies show that the average household owes about $12,000 dollars in credit card debt. Why is this happening?
Joe: Well, people to some degree don’t know how to manage their money and they spend more than they make. I tell people, “You’re alright if you spend less than you make.” Nobody makes you spend more than you make. You have to have some discipline and you have to work on it. One young woman said to another, “I don’t want to work for Dudley,” and the other lady said, “WHY?” and she said, “because he makes you save money” (laughs).
Jim: How much money did you have when you started out?
Joe: I started out with $10, and now we’ve built a business all over the world. I just got back from Malaysia and Japan and we built it all on $10. But it was something more than that. I saved money in spite of everything, I don’t care what it was. I don’t care how much it was. I went into the bank once and just put 50 cents in my account. People look at me and say, “there’s something wrong with that guy”, but I knew one thing. I was forming a habit of saving.
Jim: If I give you $10 right now, can you make millions for me?
Joe: (laughs) I wish I could (laughs).
Jim: Oh, so now you’re backing up! I offered to give you $10, and now Mr. Philosophy is backing out on me.
Joe: Well, I can show you how to put that $10 into something else.
Jim: I’m not disciplined enough for that. You’re going to have to leave now.
Joe: (laughs)
Joe Dudley did help others learn to save money and learn self-assurance. He helped jump start careers and made it possible for some folks who worked for him to start their own business. And so, what he inscribed in my copy of his book is, to say the least, ironic. He wrote, “To Jim. Thank you for all the good you do.” It’s an inscription that we all should have written to Joe.
February 13, 2024 @ 5:52 pm
Remembering Joe Dudley
Joe Dudley grew up in rural North Carolina, living in a small house with his ten siblings. His pronounced speech impediment prompted Joe’s first grade teacher to label him mentally retarded, and he was held back. It would be the last time anyone would hold Joe back. Within 20 years he had founded one of the most successful minority-owned businesses in America. My friend Joe Dudley passed away on February 8. He was 86 years old.
I first met Joe back in 2006 when he was a guest on Triad Today. He made a number of subsequent appearances on my show, as did his wife Eunice and daughter Ursula. Eunice helped start Dudley Beauty Products and today, Ursula runs the company, which has customers all over the world.
In 1998, Joe penned a book, which can best be described as a combination autobiography and self-help primer for entrepreneurs. “I am, I Can, I Will: Walking By Faith” should be on the bedside table of every aspiring business person. Joe dedicated the book to his mentor S.B. Fuller, a self-made African American business owner whose biography accurately describes Fuller as a “Pioneer in Black Economic Development.”
Joe credits his success to Mr. Fuller and writes about him in “Walking By Faith.”
“Mr. Fuller believed that through hard work any obstacle could be overcome. It reinforced my notion that I could overcome the characterizations that plagued my childhood. I didn’t have to be mentally retarded. I didn’t have to be slow. I didn’t have to let a speech impediment stop me from speaking in public. The world had no limit as long as I worked hard. Mr. Fuller was good at giving hope and encouragement.”
Both Joe and Eunice began by opening a Fuller distributorship, then when inventory was in short supply, the power couple started selling their own products under the Dudley name, and the rest is history.
Upon learning of Joe’s passing, I went back and watched some of the Triad Today segments we did together, and one of my favorite episodes is from April of 2007. It was vintage Joe Dudley as he offered his take on the importance of saving money.
Jim: This is financial literacy month and I’m reminded that more and more local school systems are working with folks like Consumer Credit Counseling and area banks to offer financial literacy instruction to students. I know you agree that we need to give kids practical experience early on, right?
Joe: Absolutely. I think that’s very important. I started saving money early. I used to put pennies and dimes in a little can, where I couldn’t take it out, and that was the beginning of what we do in our business. We insist that everybody should save some money every week, every pay period. Because if you save money, it gives you self-control and confidence in that you have more than you did last year, last month, last week.
Jim: Do you come across kids who need to know and want to know about things like how to save?
Joe: Absolutely and they need to start saving now. So many people get themselves messed up because they don’t know how to balance a checkbook. They don’t know how to use credit properly, don’t know how to get a car loan or home loan, and they need to know these things as early as they possibly can.
Jim: Recent studies show that the average household owes about $12,000 dollars in credit card debt. Why is this happening?
Joe: Well, people to some degree don’t know how to manage their money and they spend more than they make. I tell people, “You’re alright if you spend less than you make.” Nobody makes you spend more than you make. You have to have some discipline and you have to work on it. One young woman said to another, “I don’t want to work for Dudley,” and the other lady said, “WHY?” and she said, “because he makes you save money” (laughs).
Jim: How much money did you have when you started out?
Joe: I started out with $10, and now we’ve built a business all over the world. I just got back from Malaysia and Japan and we built it all on $10. But it was something more than that. I saved money in spite of everything, I don’t care what it was. I don’t care how much it was. I went into the bank once and just put 50 cents in my account. People look at me and say, “there’s something wrong with that guy”, but I knew one thing. I was forming a habit of saving.
Jim: If I give you $10 right now, can you make millions for me?
Joe: (laughs) I wish I could (laughs).
Jim: Oh, so now you’re backing up! I offered to give you $10, and now Mr. Philosophy is backing out on me.
Joe: Well, I can show you how to put that $10 into something else.
Jim: I’m not disciplined enough for that. You’re going to have to leave now.
Joe: (laughs)
Joe Dudley did help others learn to save money and learn self-assurance. He helped jump start careers and made it possible for some folks who worked for him to start their own business. And so, what he inscribed in my copy of his book is, to say the least, ironic. He wrote, “To Jim. Thank you for all the good you do.” It’s an inscription that we all should have written to Joe.