Catherine Hughes

Founder and Chair
Radio One

Catherine Hughes, 62, founded the company that would become Radio One in 1980 with the purchase of a Washington AM radio station. Today the Radio One network spans 53 stations in 16 markets, with revenue of $316 million in 2008. When Radio One went public in 1999, Hughes became the first African American woman to lead a public company.

"It took me seven years before I broke even. The textbook said three to five. About the sixth year, [investor Herb Wilkins] pulled me aside and said: 'You've got to stop doing negative PR on yourself. When people ask you how you're doing, you've got to say things are looking up. The first person who believes that is you.' You have to give [people] a certain comfort level. If they don't feel good about you, if they don't trust you, they're not going fund you. I was young, black, and a woman. I can't tell you how many investors and banks asked me questions like was I planning on having any more children. I would say to them: 'What does that have to do with my business?' I learned to smile and dance around the answer. I would say: 'Right now my company is my new baby.' You learn to say what is necessary to get people comfortable and at ease."