Stretching her wealth into different entrepreneurial venues, Sheila Johnson has learned to surround herself with good leaders and credits that to her success. She is most widely known for being co-founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), as well as founder and CEO of Salamander Hotels & Resorts.
Johnson spoke on “Lessons from a Leader” on March 28 in John R. Emens auditorium. This was a part of the large lecture series for Excellence in Leadership.
“Basically, I’m a business woman,” Johnson said.
Besides working in the television industry, Johnson was involved in the film industry as well. She helped finance Lee Daniels' "The Butler" and was executive producer for four documentary films: "Kicking It," "A Powerful Noise," "She Is the Matador" and "The Other City." She also founded the Middleburg Film Festival in 2013.
As well as her entrepreneurial success, Johnson works largely with philanthropic organizations such as CARE, for which she is a global ambassador helping to empower women in poverty around the world. She is also a member of Accordia Global Health Foundation’s International Council.
“[The organizations] taught me lessons in life that I will never ever forget. Women were being beaten by their husbands everyday. There were young girls who would have to walk two miles to just get water from a nearby stream and half of them never came back because they were either raped or murdered. There are challenges that these women in third world countries have to live [through],” Johnson said.
She supports education and the arts through her continuous involvement on the Board of Governors of Parsons The New School for Design in New York and the Leadership Council at Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership.
“Music is really the foundation of my life. I think arts are extraordinarily important,” she said.
Johnson categorizes her life into three acts, like a play. Her first act was when she dreamed of being a concert violinist. She graduated from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor of Arts in music.
Johnson thought she would be performing and teaching music for the rest of her life. When she realized that she wasn’t able to continuously live off of the little money she earned, she looked elsewhere.
Her second act of life was jumping on the bandwagon of the "birth of cable." She co-founded BET in 1979.
Her then husband Robert Johnson was a lobbyist for the National Cable Television Association. He was working with someone who wanted a channel aimed at senior citizens. He couldn’t get the funding. He was so frustrated that he threw the proposal in the trash.
“I read over it. I crossed out senior citizen and wrote black in there. I thought, "Now what do I do?'” she said.
Her third act started when she left Robert. She realized that she wasn’t getting credit for everything that she has accomplished, like BET. Sheila encourages others to reach for their own goals and to not let anyone distract them from their path.
“You can’t reach your own dreams if you follow someone else,” Sheila told the audience.
Erin Buckley, a freshman pre-business major, enjoyed listening to Shelia speak.
"She is such an inspiration to anyone. [She inspired me] to just follow my own path and to be fearless in life," Buckley said.
Sheila's dreams were to build a hotel. When she found the land for the site in Middleburg, she was faced with a lot of racism from those in the surrounding area, who were hanging posters and directing racially charged comments toward her.
She didn't let the adversity stop her, though — a theme that she's carried throughout her life and career.
As the only African-American women to own three professional sports teams, Sheila has been breaking the boundaries for people like herself. She owns the NBA’s Washington Wizards, the NHL’s Washington Capitals and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics.
She wants to diversify organizations that typically consist of only white males, which is the reasoning behind her joining the Executive Committee of the United States Golf Association.
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