Supply: Monica Schipper / Getty
Congratulations are to ensure that the esteemed radio business veteran, Chesley Maddox-Dorsey. In January, the CEO of A Surprise Media Firm was named certainly one of the U.S. Black Chambers Energy 50 Girls of Affect for 2025. The celebrated recognition honors influential Black ladies who’ve made important contributions throughout varied fields, with a particular concentrate on enterprise, innovation, entrepreneurship, and management. Now, she’s sharing her ideas for fulfillment in honor of Girls’s Historical past Month.
Maddox-Dorsey’s exceptional achievements have earned her a spot on the record, largely as a result of her impactful management at A Surprise Media Firm, which boasts over 8,000 radio associates via its two key divisions: American City Radio Networks (AURN) and Superadio. Since buying AURN and Superadio in 2018, Maddox-Dorsey has grown the corporate right into a powerhouse in Black radio, syndicating among the hottest exhibits within the business together with Ebro in The Morning, Yung Joc & The Streetz Morning Takeover, Alice Cooper’s Alice’s Attic, Nessa On Air, Viewpoints Radio, and Cafe Mocha Radio, together with inspirational packages like The Marvin Sapp Radio Present, The Come Up with Tye Tribbett, and The Hezekiah Walker Gospel Countdown.
With over 40 million weekly listeners, the radio powerhouse’s management continues to form the way forward for Black radio.
Authenticity and a powerful crew will take you far, based on Maddox-Dorsey.
Supply: Monica Schipper / Getty
A graduate of Oberlin Faculty, Maddox-Dorsey’s radio profession started unexpectedly—via banking. Her experience in finance performed an important function within the profitable acquisition of KJOI-FM in Los Angeles within the ‘80s. Alongside the best way, she additionally grew to become enthusiastic about empowering aspiring Black and feminine broadcasters. Inspired by her mentor, John E. Oxendine, Maddox-Dorsey took a major step in her profession, changing into a shareholder in Blackstar Communications. The partnership led to the acquisition of tv stations alongside Dwelling Buying Community and, later, Fox Broadcasting.
Maddox-Dorsey’s work in banking allowed her to assist media corporations, together with a number of minority-owned broadcasters, securing financing that helped them thrive. Nonetheless, her transition into media herself got here when Sydney Small recruited her in 2000 to guide Unity Broadcasting Firm’s transformation. The massive alternative finally led her to develop into President and CEO of Access1, an organization that owned 23 radio and tv stations, Superadio, and a minority stake in AURN. Pushed by a imaginative and prescient to create one thing uniquely her personal, Maddox-Dorsey went on to ascertain A Surprise Media Firm, solidifying her legacy as a trailblazer within the broadcasting business.
Providing recommendation and perception to ladies striving for greatness, Maddox-Dorsey harassed the significance of taking dangers and remaining steadfast in a single’s imaginative and prescient.
“The prospect to guide a buyout of two well-known however uncared for B2B manufacturers was irresistible. I liked the potential of infusing new concepts and expertise into AURN, which had develop into a shadow of its former self. I knew that between Superadio, a top-ranked syndicator, and the distribution community of AURN, we had a base to construct upon,” the printed big stated, based on a press launch. “You have to be the producer of your profession and life, and to try this, you have to be certain that your values and objectives are authentically aligned.”
For girls in senior administration, climbing the ladder to success, Maddox-Dorsey stated you have to “be a collector of expertise as you construct your crew and village.” The radio maven added, “You’re liable for the end result of people that give you the results you want, so be severe and intentional.”
The U.S. Black Chambers will have a good time all of its Energy 50 Girls of Affect honorees on March 27.
SEE ALSO:
The Nationwide Museum Of African American Historical past And Tradition To Maintain Girls’s Historical past Month At Candy Dwelling Café Honoring Girls Chef
How Harriet Tubman Turned A Spy For The US Military
