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Stanford GSB News

 

Sports and Entertainment Exec Sheila Johnson Shares Her Passions

February 2006

STANFORD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS—"Being successful pales in comparison to becoming successful—or more to the point, working toward success," Sheila Johnson, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television, told students at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

So Johnson didn't talk much in her speech about the first business venture that brought her success, BET, or about the challenges that success brings. Instead, she focused on the projects she's working hard at now: developing a luxury spa and resort, being part owner of three professional sports teams, and giving away money.

Johnson's Feb. 16 speech, part of the student-sponsored View from the Top speaker series, was co-sponsored by the Black Business Students Association and the Women in Management student group.

Johnson is part owner of three sports franchises: the Washington Mystics of the WNBA, the Washington Wizards of the NBA, and the Washington Capitals of the NHL. She is also chief executive officer of Salamander Hospitality LLC, which is working to open a luxury spa and resort in Middleburg, Va. And Johnson is a philanthropist.

She described in detail the persistence and flexibility it took for her to win approval for Salamander Resort and Spa, scheduled to open in 2008.

The people in the "horse country of Northern Virginia," which is near many famous Civil War battlegrounds, have "a level of passion for the land that is unlike what you'll find in any other part of the country," she told the student audience. Local opposition had previously stopped Disney from developing in the area and, she added, "my neighbors are not to be trifled with."

Johnson said she knew from the start that her plans would face intense scrutiny, and not just because of residents' passion for the land. She said that women—and especially African American women—still face biases in business. She received death threats and at one point had to hire security to protect herself and her family.

"I did whatever I had to do within the law to convince the local authorities that my interests and those of their community were one and the same," she said, describing a luxury resort and spa built on 340 acres of pastureland just a 35-minute drive from Dulles airport. Its wine bar will showcase Virginia's wineries; the 600-square-foot guest rooms will have televisions in the bathrooms. She described the tension leading up to the 4-3 vote giving her approval to build.

Then she turned to another big challenge she faces: selling the Women's National Basketball Association, and in particular the Mystics, to the public.

President and managing partner of the Mystics, she is also a partner in Lincoln Holdings, which owns the women's team and the National Hockey League Capitals, and is part owner of the Wizards of the National Basketball Association. One change she made soon after taking over the Mystics: She got the team its own dedicated staff instead of having it share personnel with the Wizards. The previous arrangement left the staff exhausted by the end of the NBA season and without a lot of energy to put into the WNBA.

She admires the teamwork displayed by the professional women athletes. "These women are extraordinary, both on the court and off the court." One goal, she said, is to get more men interested in following the WNBA.

A third passion for Johnson, who with her former husband, Robert Johnson, sold BET for a reported $3 billion, is giving her money away. She said giving back should be part of any business. "I give because giving is not about transactions, it's about transformation," Johnson said. "Don't sit here and think you'll start giving when you make your first million."

Johnson has set up a mentoring program at the State University of New York at Morrisville. She also has given money to Parsons–The New School for Design and to the United Negro College Fund, among other groups.

In Johnson's closing challenge to the students, she said they would face a wall of "hatred, ignorance, and greed" when they graduated. "Your teachers will have armed you with a hammer and a chisel," she said. Students should "take that hammer and chisel and spend the rest of your life chopping away at that wall." She spoke of her pride that her recently opened Market Salamander gourmet grocery in Virginia replaced a gun shop—one that had flown a large Confederate flag in its window.

"I've been pounding away at that wall for years," she said.

Related Links

Video File,(53:33 minutes, RealPlayer® format)

Other View from the Top speakers