November 20, 2023 • 11 mins
This week on "Money Moves," we're thrilled to feature Sheila Eldridge, a trailblazing broadcasting media entrepreneur who has left an indelible mark on the landscape of media and representation. As the visionary force behind Miles Ahead Entertainment & Broadcasting, Café Mocha Radio & TV, and the groundbreaking Mocha Podcasts Network, Sheila shares her incredible journey and insights. In this episode, Sheila reveals her long-held aspiration to be an entrepreneur, tracing her path from a transformative internship experience to her prominent role in media and broadcasting. Join us as she unravels the stories that shaped her career and the valuable lessons she learned along the way.
Host IG:@itstanyatime
Guest IG: @wearemilesahead
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I guess I'll always like I said, always knew. My
mother used to tell me, you know you're not the
nine to five girl, okay, because I was always thinking
about ideas and how to bring ideas to fruition, and
she really fostered and cultivated that in me.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
You're listening to Money Moves powered by Greenwood, a finance
podcast dedicated to dropping all the knowledge and gems from
the world's leading celebrities, entrepreneurs and experts, and tech, business
and more. I'm your host, angel investor, technology enthusiast, and
media personality Tanya Sam. Each week, we talk with guests
who are making significant strides in their fields and learn
(00:38):
how they are making their money move. If you're someone
who's looking to make your money move, you're in the
right place. So open up your notes app and lock
us in because this podcast will give you the keys
to the kingdom of financial stability, wealth and abundance you
so rightly deserve. Before we start the episode, I'd like
to remind you to check us out at gogreenwood dot
com and follow up on social media at Greenwood and
(01:02):
me on all things social at It's Tanya Time to
stay locked in to new episode.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Hey, Money Movers, welcome back. I'm your host Tanya Sam
and this week on Money News, we're honored to introduce
to you a visionary entrepreneur has made a lasting impact
on the world of media and representation. She's the driving
force behind Miles Ahead entertainment and broadcasting, Kathy Moca Radio
and TV, and the game changing Mocha podcast network. Money
(01:31):
Movers Please welcome Shila Elbridge.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
Hi, Sheila, Hello thea.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
How are you welcome to the podcast and so please
to have you here today.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Thank you, thank you, excited, appreciate you inviting me.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Well, I'm excited to have you here to share your
journey and story with the Moneymovers audience. And I always
start off by asking everyone before you get into introducing
us to your incredible journey through media and entertainment, I
want to take it all the way back to Little Shila.
Tell us a little about how Little Sheila grew up
and how within your family you guys thought about money.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Let's see, Well, my mother worked in the government and
she was in an accountant, and so we were always
conscious of and we came from pretty humble beginnings, so
we were always very conscious of following the dollar and
learning how to get the most out of what you have.
(02:28):
And that's really kind of where it started for me.
My first you know, I'm from Washington, d C. So
in Washington, d C. The gold as an intern is
always as a high school student is to get a internship.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
In the government.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Of course.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
So I got an internship in the government and it
was for the military, and that internship was about money management,
and so that's really was my first introduction to money
management and business. Guys knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
That was always you know.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
See that's so interesting, you know, and I love asking
people those questions because you were seeped in like how
to think about money, especially growing up with you know,
parents that were accountants. They loved to think about money.
When you look back at it, did they teach you
the lessons of like how to save and how to
(03:24):
open savings accounts as a kid or was that something
that really came to you after maybe after college or No, I.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Had a savings account I was in high school. My
mother took us and yeah, early on, I mean, I'm
telling you she we were bred as a part of
our upcoming to be mindful of money and what you
could do with it, how it works for you, how
it can work against you, and budgeting.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
My father was a policeman.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
So he was very you know, rigid in his approach
and with her being moderning on the other side, you know,
it was you know, that's how my brother and I
really came up. But no, I remember having starting my
savings account when I was in high school, and I
did the same thing with my son because I have
who's grown now, so you know, it's like generational, that
(04:17):
whole approach, and he had account when he was in
high school.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
I love that. What a great, great foundation.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
So if you could now share with us a little
bit about your journey, I want to know right off
the back, did you get that coveted internship in government
or the White House.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
That I did two years?
Speaker 1 (04:35):
And believe it or not, they helped they put their
money together my second year of my internship there to
help me get funding to go to Howard because Howard
University graduated and they helped me get funding to go
to Howard. I guess I always, like I said, always knew.
My mother used to tell me, you know, you're not
(04:57):
the nine to five girl.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
Okay, because I.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Always thinking about ideas and how to bring ideas to
fruition and she really fostered and cultivated that in me,
and so I you know, I learned how to sew.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
I wasn't equestrian. I was always selling things.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
So that whole approach and was and the approach of
I think learning how to be an entrepreneur thinking outside
the box was very.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
Important for me and how I grew.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
So when I went to college and even though I
was in broadcasts, I always knew I wanted to move
into ownership. So that's kind of how I moved into
I think more broadcast and entrepreneurship.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
You know what's so incredibles to me. I've interviewed Sony
entrepreneurs on this podcast, and there's something really special about
Howard University, the DC area, and the medium nvins that
came out of here, Like there is something really interesting,
And I think from beet to all these folks that
you know were like at Howard, So did you know
(06:06):
that you wanted to go into media and entertainment and
broadcasting at this time? Like was that sort of your
niche and specialty?
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Well, you know a lot of times I think when
you're in college, you want to do something, but you're
not really sure what that is.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
So I thought I wanted to do speech pathology.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Once I got there and I started working at the
radio station, and at that time we didn't have a
TV station. Actually, my mentor was Kathy Hughes, and is
Kathy Hughes.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Kathy Hughes, y'all tell people who Kathy Hughes is because we've.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Got a wide range.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
The Moneymoons audience spans a lot of decades. But Ka,
Kathy Hughes and yourself are like, oh geez yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Yeah, we're definitely oh geez yeah. Kathy Hughes was number one,
one of the first African American women to take her company,
you know, on the stock market. She started with one
radio station, which was an AM state w L which
we grew up on in Washington, DC, and she over
(07:05):
the years built a empire and broadcast company that now
owns sixty four radio stations, a TV station which is
TV one and CLEO, so two channels, and she will
soon soon she will own a casino.
Speaker 4 (07:24):
Wow, WHOA yes.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
So she has been When I was in college, I
was a sophomore and she was running w H R
which was Howard, which is Howard University's radio station. She
was the general manager, so we all kind of came
up under her.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
And I can remember her when she bought that first station.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
How she raised the money, you know, because that's the
other thing you have to be able to understand the
process of being of raising money.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
You know.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
I watched her for at least three years raise money
to by one AM station. At that time, it was
unheard of for an African American woman to own a
radio station. Yeah, because it wasn't that many and it
definitely was not an African American woman.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
So I've had I've been blessed in that I had
someone that I could look up to, someone that I
could get advice, and someone who invested in me. One
of the things I did when I graduated from Howard
moved to California. I've been in business about fifteen years,
because I've been in business now thirty two years. And
(08:36):
I said to Kathy, I said, I want to buy
a radio station, you know, you know, I want to
buy one, and You're like, you laid at the blueprint.
I want to follow it, but I'm a follower. And
she said to me she said, you're not ready, and
I was like, what.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
Oh, oh, okay. I said, I've been in business fifteen years.
I can run a company, I know. And she said,
it's different.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
You know, there's something that you have to remember when
you have your own business. You have to know the
business of business, but you have to know the business
of whatever your business is. So I'd never owned a
radio station. I knew about radio and been in radio
on the other side, but I'd never had to do
(09:18):
it from point a, purchasing FCC, raising money everything for that.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
And she said, but this is what I'll do.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
I'll put you through this program that the National Association
of Broadcasters has for minorities, and it's for you know,
they want more minority ownership. So they started this diversity program,
she says, And it's a year and it's pretty costly.
And she said, I'll put you through the program. If
in fact you want to buy a radio station when
(09:48):
you come out, then I'll help you.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
I love that. What's interesting about it is sometimes the
answers you get from your mentors are not what you
want to hear, right, And that probably was like the wait,
are you giving me a no? Well, I'm going to
do it.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
But she didn't give you a note.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
She just said, let me help you, and like you
probably mean, here we are today, So let's see how
the rest of the story turned out. But that's a
really great story. And and I came out, yeah, yep.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
And I came out a year later, no, two years later,
raise the money and bought five radio stations from her
in Augusta, Georgia.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Thanks for listening to today's episode. If we helped you
make your money move, please share it with your community,
Subscribe and leave us a review on iHeartRadio and Apple podcasts.
Follow us on social media at Greenwood and visit us
at Gogreenwood dot com for more financial tips and remember,
money movers, If this were easy, everyone would do it.
So take the lessons you've learned from this episode and
(10:46):
apply it to your life. Money Moves is an iHeart
Radio podcast powered by Greenwood Executive produced by Sunwise Media, Inc.
For more podcasts on iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts from. Make sure to
tune in Monday, Wednesday and Friday and subscribe to the
Money Moose podcast powered by greenwood, so that you too
(11:09):
can have the keys to financial freedom you so rightly deserve.
Until next time,
I guess I'll always like I said, always knew. My
mother used to tell me, you know you're not the
nine to five girl, okay, because I was always thinking
about ideas and how to bring ideas to fruition, and
she really fostered and cultivated that in me.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
You're listening to Money Moves powered by Greenwood, a finance
podcast dedicated to dropping all the knowledge and gems from
the world's leading celebrities, entrepreneurs and experts, and tech, business
and more. I'm your host, angel investor, technology enthusiast, and
media personality Tanya Sam. Each week, we talk with guests
who are making significant strides in their fields and learn
(00:38):
how they are making their money move. If you're someone
who's looking to make your money move, you're in the
right place. So open up your notes app and lock
us in because this podcast will give you the keys
to the kingdom of financial stability, wealth and abundance you
so rightly deserve. Before we start the episode, I'd like
to remind you to check us out at gogreenwood dot
com and follow up on social media at Greenwood and
(01:02):
me on all things social at It's Tanya Time to
stay locked in to new episode.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Hey, Money Movers, welcome back. I'm your host Tanya Sam
and this week on Money News, we're honored to introduce
to you a visionary entrepreneur has made a lasting impact
on the world of media and representation. She's the driving
force behind Miles Ahead entertainment and broadcasting, Kathy Moca Radio
and TV, and the game changing Mocha podcast network. Money
(01:31):
Movers Please welcome Shila Elbridge.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
Hi, Sheila, Hello thea.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
How are you welcome to the podcast and so please
to have you here today.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Thank you, thank you, excited, appreciate you inviting me.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Well, I'm excited to have you here to share your
journey and story with the Moneymovers audience. And I always
start off by asking everyone before you get into introducing
us to your incredible journey through media and entertainment, I
want to take it all the way back to Little Shila.
Tell us a little about how Little Sheila grew up
and how within your family you guys thought about money.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Let's see, Well, my mother worked in the government and
she was in an accountant, and so we were always
conscious of and we came from pretty humble beginnings, so
we were always very conscious of following the dollar and
learning how to get the most out of what you have.
(02:28):
And that's really kind of where it started for me.
My first you know, I'm from Washington, d C. So
in Washington, d C. The gold as an intern is
always as a high school student is to get a internship.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
In the government.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Of course.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
So I got an internship in the government and it
was for the military, and that internship was about money management,
and so that's really was my first introduction to money
management and business. Guys knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
That was always you know.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
See that's so interesting, you know, and I love asking
people those questions because you were seeped in like how
to think about money, especially growing up with you know,
parents that were accountants. They loved to think about money.
When you look back at it, did they teach you
the lessons of like how to save and how to
(03:24):
open savings accounts as a kid or was that something
that really came to you after maybe after college or No, I.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Had a savings account I was in high school. My
mother took us and yeah, early on, I mean, I'm
telling you she we were bred as a part of
our upcoming to be mindful of money and what you
could do with it, how it works for you, how
it can work against you, and budgeting.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
My father was a policeman.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
So he was very you know, rigid in his approach
and with her being moderning on the other side, you know,
it was you know, that's how my brother and I
really came up. But no, I remember having starting my
savings account when I was in high school, and I
did the same thing with my son because I have
who's grown now, so you know, it's like generational, that
(04:17):
whole approach, and he had account when he was in
high school.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
I love that. What a great, great foundation.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
So if you could now share with us a little
bit about your journey, I want to know right off
the back, did you get that coveted internship in government
or the White House.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
That I did two years?
Speaker 1 (04:35):
And believe it or not, they helped they put their
money together my second year of my internship there to
help me get funding to go to Howard because Howard
University graduated and they helped me get funding to go
to Howard. I guess I always, like I said, always knew.
My mother used to tell me, you know, you're not
(04:57):
the nine to five girl.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
Okay, because I.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Always thinking about ideas and how to bring ideas to
fruition and she really fostered and cultivated that in me,
and so I you know, I learned how to sew.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
I wasn't equestrian. I was always selling things.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
So that whole approach and was and the approach of
I think learning how to be an entrepreneur thinking outside
the box was very.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
Important for me and how I grew.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
So when I went to college and even though I
was in broadcasts, I always knew I wanted to move
into ownership. So that's kind of how I moved into
I think more broadcast and entrepreneurship.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
You know what's so incredibles to me. I've interviewed Sony
entrepreneurs on this podcast, and there's something really special about
Howard University, the DC area, and the medium nvins that
came out of here, Like there is something really interesting,
And I think from beet to all these folks that
you know were like at Howard, So did you know
(06:06):
that you wanted to go into media and entertainment and
broadcasting at this time? Like was that sort of your
niche and specialty?
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Well, you know a lot of times I think when
you're in college, you want to do something, but you're
not really sure what that is.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
So I thought I wanted to do speech pathology.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Once I got there and I started working at the
radio station, and at that time we didn't have a
TV station. Actually, my mentor was Kathy Hughes, and is
Kathy Hughes.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Kathy Hughes, y'all tell people who Kathy Hughes is because we've.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Got a wide range.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
The Moneymoons audience spans a lot of decades. But Ka,
Kathy Hughes and yourself are like, oh geez yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Yeah, we're definitely oh geez yeah. Kathy Hughes was number one,
one of the first African American women to take her company,
you know, on the stock market. She started with one
radio station, which was an AM state w L which
we grew up on in Washington, DC, and she over
(07:05):
the years built a empire and broadcast company that now
owns sixty four radio stations, a TV station which is
TV one and CLEO, so two channels, and she will
soon soon she will own a casino.
Speaker 4 (07:24):
Wow, WHOA yes.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
So she has been When I was in college, I
was a sophomore and she was running w H R
which was Howard, which is Howard University's radio station. She
was the general manager, so we all kind of came
up under her.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
And I can remember her when she bought that first station.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
How she raised the money, you know, because that's the
other thing you have to be able to understand the
process of being of raising money.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
You know.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
I watched her for at least three years raise money
to by one AM station. At that time, it was
unheard of for an African American woman to own a
radio station. Yeah, because it wasn't that many and it
definitely was not an African American woman.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
So I've had I've been blessed in that I had
someone that I could look up to, someone that I
could get advice, and someone who invested in me. One
of the things I did when I graduated from Howard
moved to California. I've been in business about fifteen years,
because I've been in business now thirty two years. And
(08:36):
I said to Kathy, I said, I want to buy
a radio station, you know, you know, I want to
buy one, and You're like, you laid at the blueprint.
I want to follow it, but I'm a follower. And
she said to me she said, you're not ready, and
I was like, what.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
Oh, oh, okay. I said, I've been in business fifteen years.
I can run a company, I know. And she said,
it's different.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
You know, there's something that you have to remember when
you have your own business. You have to know the
business of business, but you have to know the business
of whatever your business is. So I'd never owned a
radio station. I knew about radio and been in radio
on the other side, but I'd never had to do
(09:18):
it from point a, purchasing FCC, raising money everything for that.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
And she said, but this is what I'll do.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
I'll put you through this program that the National Association
of Broadcasters has for minorities, and it's for you know,
they want more minority ownership. So they started this diversity program,
she says, And it's a year and it's pretty costly.
And she said, I'll put you through the program. If
in fact you want to buy a radio station when
(09:48):
you come out, then I'll help you.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
I love that. What's interesting about it is sometimes the
answers you get from your mentors are not what you
want to hear, right, And that probably was like the wait,
are you giving me a no? Well, I'm going to
do it.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
But she didn't give you a note.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
She just said, let me help you, and like you
probably mean, here we are today, So let's see how
the rest of the story turned out. But that's a
really great story. And and I came out, yeah, yep.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
And I came out a year later, no, two years later,
raise the money and bought five radio stations from her
in Augusta, Georgia.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Thanks for listening to today's episode. If we helped you
make your money move, please share it with your community,
Subscribe and leave us a review on iHeartRadio and Apple podcasts.
Follow us on social media at Greenwood and visit us
at Gogreenwood dot com for more financial tips and remember,
money movers, If this were easy, everyone would do it.
So take the lessons you've learned from this episode and
(10:46):
apply it to your life. Money Moves is an iHeart
Radio podcast powered by Greenwood Executive produced by Sunwise Media, Inc.
For more podcasts on iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts from. Make sure to
tune in Monday, Wednesday and Friday and subscribe to the
Money Moose podcast powered by greenwood, so that you too
(11:09):
can have the keys to financial freedom you so rightly deserve.
Until next time,
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