More Than Just The CEO’s Daughter
I Ascend: Please share with us a bit about who Mrs. Rhonda Jackson-Sams is?

Rhonda: Rhonda Jackson-Sams is a wife, mother, and auntie. I am an entrepreneur, business executive, and I dabble a little as a film producer. In this stage of my career, I am really stepping back into my calling of creating events and bringing people together of like mind.

I Ascend: Tell us about your journey and the evolution in your career?

Rhonda: I work as the Syndication Distribution Manager for Central City Productions, and we produce The Stellar Gospel Music Awards. We just finished our 37th annual awards show and working on finalizing our 2023 program. That is what Central City Productions does. We are a black owned television production company. My dad started the company over 50 years ago, in Chicago, Illinois. We started with local television shows and then expanded through offering programming that is seen all over the country. My father, Don Jackson, is the founder and CEO of Central City Productions. You can actually learn more about the company by visiting CCPTV.com.

I received my degree in Journalism from Syracuse University several years ago. What I wanted to do at that time, was to start a magazine, believe it or not. I wanted to connect people so, I created a magazine on campus. The name of my publication was called “The Happenings”. I was a Midwesterner coming to the east coast wanting to connect with classmates, I realized quickly that I was not the only one. People wanted to know what was happening on campus. I started with a small group of really close friends to share the names of various speakers that were coming to campus. In addition to lectures, parties, and events in our magazine. We published “The Happenings” every two weeks. That was my first introduction to having a sense of responsibility because it gained popularity fast. The magazine was not large it was more like a newsletter but at the time, it was big for us, it was about ten pages.
I loved connecting people, which is something that is just me, it is a God given gift. I like to be a connector and a bridge. I want to share positive information and I want the Good News spread. When I graduated from college, I thought I wanted to go into publishing, so I started working for Emerge Magazine and loved that. I was in sales at the time but I really wanted to do editorial work. I had a mentor who suggested I try television distribution. I said, what in the world is that? He said, well, it’s similar, the only difference is you work with producers. I left Emerge Magazine and went to work for Warner Brothers & Warner Brothers Domestic Syndication. I did that for several years, I was on the road, and I enjoyed it tremendously. I just liked being behind the scenes, but also in the know of new television shows that were coming down the pipe. Being able to gain clearance for a program, it was powerful. I loved knowing that when I turned on that NBC station, that various television shows were there because I sold it in. I was asked several times, “Do you want to be on air”? I said no, this is a sweet spot, I liked distribution, and it fed my soul. I now was trying to find a way to see this in consumers. I wanted to have a say in the programs that were being produced. I started an events business on the side, it was my side hustle. My day to day paycheck was being paid by Warner Brothers. I went to work for Central City productions, which is my family’s business. We started a joint venture with Black Enterprise Magazine. I kept that job, but I also did events on the side. That was my first exposure to the event side, and it was extremely powerful. I loved attending women’s conferences, the Essence Music Festival, and various Expositions, when they happened. I decided to lean into that a little more. I finally had an opportunity to do a women’s retreat for about seven years. That experience was life changing and as life would have it, as I was moving in the direction of events. I met my husband, and my life partner. We had our daughter, and life moved me to Chicago so that I could be around family.

I Ascend: What has the process of “Becoming” on this journey been like for you?

Rhonda: I think that when you are blessed to live long enough every decade you are becoming. God is calling you to become something more refined. He is refining those gifts and sometimes that is uncomfortable. When I had to relocate, I had one of those Lot’s wife moments, where I really wanted to look back. However, life was calling me to something new. This becoming meant I had to let go of a place that I called home and move into the next. The process of becoming can be very uncomfortable, but I think often that is exactly what it is supposed to be. This ensures that we continue to depend totally on God as we continue to become.

I Ascend: What hardships have you faced in Ascending to where you are?

Rhonda: If you live to be over forty you will have some highs and lows, which comes with the journey. Loss has been a huge hardship. As a global body, we have all had to deal with COVID. The experience of loss has been difficult for so many of us. I lost my mom to cancer four years ago and that rocked my world. Two months later, I lost my grandmother and then COVID hit, and I lost a dear aunt. The grieving process is real, you know I believe that too, is orchestrated. We may not see the blessing at the moment, but it helps us become crystal clear that we are here for a purpose. God has a calling on our lives and we cannot take that for granted. There is something that we are all called to do. When your anchors in the human sense, begin to disappear, it causes you to really grow spiritually. You start to lean on that supernatural strength. Your prayer life becomes far more intentional and transparent with God. Even when you are mad, and you are hurting. I went through that period, it is important to, show all of that to our father because he knows exactly what we need, he is the orchestrator of it all. I would say that having the success but then losing family that is a hard area to juxtapose. People only see how blessed you are, but have no idea of how you are hurting. When you have lost enough, there is some loneliness. There is an emptiness that only God can fill.

On this path of ascension, there are places where there are plateaus and there are valleys. We have to continue to hold on through all of that and anchor ourselves in the Word of God during these points. When I lived in Colorado, I will never forget a mentor of mine said, “We are one mile above sea level, so you can also say, one mile closer to Heaven”, I thought that was so profound. When you are around bodies of water and mountains every day you realize that you’re tiny in comparison to what God has created. It humbles you but it also leaves you in complete awe of what God can do.

I Ascend: Who served as your Cushion and Support System during those times?

Rhonda: Definitely family, I am really blessed to have a father who has been a great role model for me in addition to being an anchor. To watch my dad, continue to move in his calling, and his purpose, has definitely been a staple in my life. I have always said this, and it is true, my mom was my superhero. She was my Angela Bassett, my Queen in “Black Panther,” she was just fierce. Rosemary Jackson was one of the most loving people you could ever know. My mom was nurturing, she was brilliant and super talented.

I am a proud Christian Feminist and I asked God, especially after losing my mom to show me women of faith that I could find encouragement from. There have been quite a few in my path, Dr. Renita Weems, has been a great influence for me. Multiple Artists like Tamela Mann, even Pastor Shirley Caesar for her fortitude and perseverance has been inspirational for me. Dr. Teresa Hairston is a powerhouse, and the list goes on for powerful women who minister the gospel. Dr. Jada Jackson is a psychologist that specializes in working with Christians to remember that when you’re grieving, it’s okay to ask for help to get through it. Dr. Jackson played a major role in my life when I lost my mom. It is wonderful to see the Kingdom represented not just through the music we love, but through other professions like publishers, filmmakers, psychologists and, lawyers. I can find inspiration through all of them.

I Ascend: How do you juggle your time with home life while pursuing your career?

Rhonda: That is still a work in progress, I am part of that sandwich generation. That is when you take care of the children and take care of a family. We are an intergenerational home, so balancing and finding time, is something I am still figuring out. I am asking God for a drip of his grace every day to continue in the midst of it all. Women juggle so much, and we are good at it. That is just the way we are built. There is a sweet sound I have it in my memory of my mom saying, “Okay, now some of this you don’t have to juggle. There’s some you do and some you just put up healthier boundaries.” She was a woman who knew when to hold them and when to fold them! (Light chuckle)

I Ascend: Congratulations on Ascending and Standing in your Truth and Pursuing Destiny. What do you want people to remember most about you?

Rhonda: I want people to remember that I stayed true to my purpose of being a connector. God calls some to be on the stage but others to orchestrate behind the stage and that is okay too. You have to move in your own purpose. I have been blessed through my parents to be exposed to a lot of movers and shakers. I am grateful I started my business which changed my life. I grew up in a community of entrepreneurs, a summit at every turn. Chicago was full of the very first haircare companies from Luster products, to John H. Johnson, who started Ebony and Jet magazine, and Burrell Advertising was founded there. Chicago was rich, it was fertile ground for people who had vision. From the 50s, 60s and the 70s, people were moving from the south, they were migrating. This is during that great migration, whether it was Chicago or Detroit or further east, these were the people that wanted new possibilities for their life. I stand on the shoulders of those pioneers who paved the way like Madam CJ Walker to say, we can do more for our community. It is important to me that my life reflects that I knew where I came from. To be remembered as a woman that continued to climb and then became a shoulder for the next generation to stand. That is very, very important to me.

I Ascend: What word of advice would you give to our readers to have them to continue to Ascend in pursuit of their dream, no matter where they are currently?

Rhonda: Understand that ascending is not always smooth. There will be turbulence, and it is usually unexpected turbulence. Sometimes you might have to detour because, the airplane has to stop to refuel. You may have to change planes. With God, it is when you really surrender your life and commit to following your purpose that he puts you back on the path to ascension. There will be a certain grace that you’ll have, because you’ve already experienced turbulence. Your neighbor to the left or the right, they might be holding on tight. You know who the pilot is, so you can sit back and relax and ride through the turbulence. I would say to every reader, spend some time trusting that term of ascension. Trust it and know that what is deemed a delay does not mean it is a denial. I love flying, I just loved to fly, and I always have. I remember a dear friend said to me “Be careful not to get so hooked on flying, and the euphoria around it. While you are ascending, make sure you are paying attention to what is around you.” There is a lesson in that statement. You cannot afford to keep your head in the clouds ascending. You must also pay attention to what is around you, who is flying with you, and who chose not to. There is this whole pathway of ascending that is rich to me, because if that is our life’s journey, then there is some living here to do. If we are lucky, for those of us who are Christian, our final ascension is heaven. We must do all that we can, while we are here. Do not miss that.

I Ascend: Please share some of the projects that you’re currently working on. How can our readers continue to follow and stay abreast of all of the things that you’re doing?

Rhonda: We are preparing for the launch of Stellar TV coming in 2023. Visit: StellarTV.com for more information. We want you to stay connected, visit our website: TheStellarAwards.com on social media at: TheStellars and for more about our various programs visit: CCPTV.com
We hope to see you at the next annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards. Be sure to visit the website we will announce the date soon.

Photography Credits: Ven Sherrod and Earl Gibson