of the box.
Q: Tell me about one of your big accomplishments during your grade school years.
A: Winning 1st runner up in Ms Teenage Black America in my home town Stuttgart, Arkansas. I taught myself how to play the guitar and sang Roberta Flack’s song, ‘Killing Me Softly’. I already played Alto Saxophone and sang in the choir but I did not have a piano player so I had to accompany myself while singing and I did it!
Q: Tell me about a few of your accomplishments after you grade school years.
A: Being chosen to Girls State in my school. It was a great honor and led me to be offered the chance to go to West Point Academy the first year it became Co-ed. I turned it down because I wanted my music but it was a great honor. Another exciting thing was to play the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar and to sing with a girls group called the Shades Of Love that put out a few hits that are now classics.
Q: What gave you the idea to develop The Urban Broadcasting Company (UBC-TV Network)? Also, tell me about the network.
A: I was tired of seeing the same old stereotypes on television and in media. I knew that there was so much more to us as a people. I wanted to see more people who looked like me in front of the camera and knew for that to happen we would have also be behind the camera. So I set out to do that.
UBC-TV has evolved as it has become into being. It’s a broadcast multi-media company that creates original urban lifestyle programming that is distributed over multiple platforms including streaming, live streaming, mobile, Over The Top, wireless and other platforms. Its about creating relevant and contemporary programming that reflects who we are today.
Q: Where do you hope to see it in the next year or so?
A: I see it as a global brand that will have several spin offs.
Q: How do you give back to the community? Are you affiliated with any community organizations? If so, please explain. What would you like to see change in the African American Community?
A: I am a part of the Harlem community. UBC’s goal is to give urban communities across the USA and abroad a voice. That is a part of our mission. I have served on the Community Board in Harlem, chaired the Arts and Culture committee, I have been a part of numerous arts organizations. It’s a bit difficult these days to attend community meetings but I do my best to stay up to date on what is going on in the community.
What I would like to see change in the African American Community? The list is long for me but basically I would like to see us take care of business, know our worth and buying power. Know our history and be much kinder to one another. Take better care of our Elders and protect our youth. We are such a great race of people but we have lost a lot of our edge. There is too much of I and not enough of US. I would like to see that change.
Q: What advice would you give those upcoming entrepreneurs who are seeking success?
A: Have a plan, map it out, get mentors in the business you are going into. Stay focused and as one of my mentors told me years ago, ‘Never give up on your dreams and be prepared to work hard.’
Q: What is one of your favorite quotes or scriptures? Please explain why.
A: Psalms 23, the Lord’s Prayer. It’s a wonderful song to sing and it tells of how GOD leads you, protects you, restores you even in the face of adversity. It is a mantra for me. It lets me know that GOD is always with me through everything and knowing that helps me to continue to do the work He put me here to do.
Peggy Dodson Interview (continued...)
A special recognition goes to Mr. Donald Layne, Ms. Peggy Dodson's photographer.