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During the month of May with Karen Vaughn we will celebrate women who inspire and influence with daily spotlights on ladies who rule! #WomenWhoInspire

Cathy Hughes

Source: Press / Urban One

Why We Love Her: Today we are honoring Media Maven Ms. Cathy Hughes a radio and television personality and business executive. Hughes founded the media company Radio One (now known as Urban One). In the 1970s, Hughes created the urban radio format called “The Quiet Storm” on Howard University’s radio station WHUR

Stats: Cathy Hughes was born to Helen Jones Woods, a trombonist with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, and William Alfred Woods, who was the first African-American to earn an accounting degree from Creighton University.

Ladies First: In 1980, Hughes founded Radio One, and with then-husband Dewey Hughes, bought AM radio station WOL 1450 in Washington, D.C. Hughes served as the stations Morning Show Host for 11 years. WOL is still the most listened to talk radio station in the nation’s capital. In 1999, Cathy Hughes became the first African-American woman to head a publicly traded corporation.

Impact:  In January 2004, Radio One launched TV One, a national cable and satellite television network which bills itself as the “lifestyle and entertainment network for African-American adults.” Hughes interviews prominent personalities, usually in the entertainment industry, for the network’s talk program TV One on One.