Linda Johnson Rice is a former magazine owner who was born of John and Eunice Johnson. Linda's father in 1942, founded Johnson Publishing Company, which published Ebony and Jet magazines. And as a result, was the largest black-owned magazine publisher in the United States. In 1982, Johnson became the first African-American to appear on the Forbes 400.

 

Linda wanted to be an integral part of her father’s and mother’s business. She began training in the fashion department at age seven, and took notes during business meetings and reviewing her parents' incoming and outgoing mail.

 

Linda attended the University of Southern California and graduated with a BA in journalism from the Annenberg School for Communication. She received an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management in 1987. Immediately after graduation, Linda became President and COO of Johnson Publishing until her promotion to CEO in 2002, becoming the first African-American female among the 100 largest black-owned companies in the United States.

 

In our conversation, Linda passionately talks about what’s it like growing up in a huge publishing company, and the legacy of Ebony and Jet.

 

We also talked about:

 

• The purpose of Johnson’s Publishing Company
• The Leadership style of her parents
• How she stays grounded even with a wealthy background
• The importance of self-care as a leader
• The difficulty of letting people go inside the company

 

Quotes:

“You gotta make time for yourself. Whatever your passion is, whatever you enjoy. But at least at the end of the day, you can say you did something for yourself.” - Linda Johnson Rice  - Linda Johnson-RIce

 

“You can’t keep looking backward, that’s not helpful. You put that in its proper places and you gotta keep moving forward.” - Linda Johnson-RIce

“It’s best to make decisions for yourself rather than having someone else make them for you.” - Linda Johnson-RIce