Cathy Hughes
Founder & Chairperson, Urban One. On 1 show, 3 appearances. The Shows tab opens the full record on each.
founderexecutivehostentertainerWikipedia ↗
Hughes founded Radio One (now Urban One) in 1980, becoming the first African American woman to head a publicly traded corporation when the company completed its IPO in 1999. Earlier at Howard University’s WHUR-FM, she pioneered the nationally influential “Quiet Storm” radio format, and later co-founded the television network TV One.
1shows
3appearances
45statements
15resolved
6supported
2contradicted
40%fully supported
3said about them ↓ Everything Cathy Hughes said on any show that made the record, most notable first. Each card names its show and opens the statement there.
Hughes: The NFL's diversity apology is illegitimate while Kaepernick remains blackballed
“How dare the NFL commissioner talk about how they support diversity, and they, Literally blackball Colin Kaepernick. All right, until he gets a job, their apology is not legitimate in a lot of black folks' mind, including mine.”
Hughes: Jay-Z should not have accepted his NFL partnership deal
“They gave Jay-Z a contract to do the entertainment, which Jay-Z should not have taken, which is not going to be a popular opinion, ok, but we should have stood strong behind Colin Kaepernick, and he's one of the greatest quarterbacks alive today, still, ok?”
Hughes: Only white people can solve institutional racism
“Only white people can solve the problem of institutional racism.”
Banks readily finance flashy cars for Black entrepreneurs but deny working capital.
“So often it's been easier for an entrepreneur to buy a new flashy car than it's been For them to meet payroll, which is a tragedy of us not having as many lending institutions in our community as we need and want.”
Founders should avoid discussing early business struggles with close loved ones
“When you're starting off in business, you have to be so very careful about who You discuss your hard times with, because those who love you and care for you the most, like your mother, like your best friend, they'll give you the worst damn advice in the world.”
Hughes: The NFL's $250M 10-year social justice fund is negligible
“Plus, two hundred and fifty million dollars spent over a 10 year period is equivalent to the celebrations that they finance when they win the Super Bowl. That's no money for the NFL.”
Hughes: Corporate consolidation and big-box retailers drove the 30-year decline in entrepreneurship
“Because of consolidation, because of the big boxes. Because of these major corporations buying out everybody and putting them all under one umbrella. It has been an incredible decline.”
Hughes: 480,000 Black-owned businesses closed permanently between February and April 2020
“We've lost almost a half a million black businesses between February and April. It's like 480,000 black businesses have closed forever. 90 days we're talking about.”
Hughes: Urban One reaches 92% of Black America weekly
“We touch on a weekly basis. 92% of all of Black America interacts with one branch of my company in one form or fashion.”
Cathy Hughes warns founders that loved ones give the worst business advice.
“When you're starting off in business, you have to be so very careful about who You discuss your hard times with, because those who love you and care for you the most, like your mother, like your best friend, they'll give you the worst damn advice in the world.”
WHUR's "The Quiet Storm" initially found a predominantly gay audience
“Interestingly enough, my first audience was gay, predominantly gay. I put the first openly gay air personality on the air at Howard and almost lost the top of my head because of it. So the gay community absolutely loved The Quiet Storm, and then the black comm…”
Entrepreneurs find consumer car loans easier to secure than business payroll
“So often it's been easier for an entrepreneur to buy a new flashy car than it's been for them to meet payroll, which is a tragedy of us not having as many lending institutions as In our community as we need and want.”
Hughes: George Floyd's murder made racism a corporate deal-breaker
“If you had any level, like I said, you may not have been a racist, but the issue of racism was not a deal-breaker for you. It wasn't a deal-breaker with the company that you worked for, or owned, It wasn't a deal breaker for you in terms of the neighborhood or…”
Hughes: COVID-19 pandemic primed public empathy for 2020 racial justice protests
“And I think that started with COVID 19. COVID 19 was an equal opportunity killer. Does not care about anything other than taking you out of this life. And when you're faced with this whole issue of death, you start becoming sensitized, I think. And then with t…”
Hughes: Black business closures were driven by non-essential sector classifications
“One of the problems I think with you know, a significant decrease In black businesses, so many of us are in businesses that are classified as non-essential.”
Hughes: Entrepreneurs should stop work based on task completion, not the clock
“I have been reared to believe, which again, so critical for entrepreneurs, that you don't stop based on what the clock says, you stop based on the accomplishment of the task.”
Cathy Hughes faced severe backlash for airing Howard's first openly gay host.
“I put the first openly gay air personality on the air at Howard and almost lost the top of my head because of it.”
Thirty-two lending institutions rejected Cathy Hughes before she secured station financing.
“Said no. 32 lending institutions.”
Stop working when tasks are completed, not when the clock strikes
“I have been reared to believe, which again, so critical for entrepreneurs, that you don't stop based on what the clock says, you stop based on the accomplishment of the task.”
Muhammad Ali and Senator Edward Brooke bid on a D.C. station
“Senator Edward Brooke had just left the United States Senate the first time since, you know, Reconstruction days. That's right. He was a bidder. Muhammad Ali was bidding for it.”
32 lending institutions rejected Hughes's first radio station loan application
“Said no. 32 lending institutions.”
News-talk is the most expensive radio format to operate
“As you well know here at NPR, it's the most expensive format that you can do.”
Lenders invest in the individual operator, not the business idea
“Lenders don't invest in ideas. Everybody's got ideas. They invest in you. People loan money to the person, not to the business, not to the idea. They have to feel good about you.”
The other half of the tape: Cathy Hughes's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 3 times in 1 episode across the shows. every mention, with the transcript →
Who brings them up most Guy Raz 2Morgan DeBaun 1
Every mention by year
tap a year for its mentions
How I Built This 3
2020 3 mentions in 1 episode
One line per show, most statements first. The link opens Cathy's full record on that show: the calibration, argument clarity, speaking style and every statement made there.
| Show | Role there | Eps | Statements | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOW I BUILT THISLEDGER | Founder & Chairperson, Urban One | 3 | 45 | 40% 6/15 | full record on How I Built This → |