NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Over 500,000 new businesses start up each month in the United States, and African-American women represent the fasting-growing group of entrepreneurs. But how do these women know if they have a great concept for a business, and if they have the skills to be a C.E.O.? CENTRIC answers this question on Saturday, January 14 at 10:00 PM ET, in its first business competition-reality series “Queen Boss.”
Hosted by television personality and business woman Tracey Edmonds, “Queen Boss” is a new 8-episode series that strives to find the best and brightest African-American female entrepreneurs and have them compete for the business opportunity of a lifetime. Each week, 3 new female entrepreneurs will step into the “Queen Boss Conference Room” where they’ll pitch their products to a panel of esteemed celebrity judges including Vanessa Simmons, Lauren Lake, Kandi Burruss, Carla Hall, Mikki Taylor, Lisa Price, Rakia Reynolds, Angela Benton and Robin Wilson. The entrepreneurs are all impressive women, but the judges put them to the test to see who has the Product, Passion, and Potential to win the competition.
Here’s how it works. Each episode of “Queen Boss” features two distinct rounds of competition. In the first round, three of the competing entrepreneurs pitch their individual products to the judges who then deliberate with the host and eliminate one of the three entrepreneurs from the competition. In round two, the remaining two entrepreneurs are put to the ultimate test by competing against each other in a business challenge. The business challenges – which range from executing the perfect elevator pitch, out-trading the local professionals in the SoHo flea market scene, and creating a viral marketing on social media, -- take the ladies out of the boardroom and into the streets of New York City to see if they can show the judges they have the passion, creativity, and brains to win. The 6 winners return for a semi-final and final round episodes, as the judges narrow the field and ultimately select one woman to win the grand prize $25,000 “Queen Boss Start-Up Fund” to get her business off the ground and the title of “Queen Boss!”
“Queen Boss” is produced by Ora TV, with Jon Housman the Executive Producer and Blake Levin the Showrunner and Executive Producer of the series. SWSI Media co-produced, with Heidi Lehmann, Marci Weisler, and Suzette Cabildo serving as Co-Executive Producers. Leonard Burnett, Jamie Schutz, and Lindsay Roth also produced.
ABOUT CENTRIC
Centric is the only multi-platform lifestyle brand designed to boldly celebrate the diverse and beautiful world of Black women. A 24-hour music and entertainment channel, Centric has its finger on the pulse of an ever-changing beat and delivers compelling content that reflects, inspires and addresses the unique perspectives of Black women.
ABOUT BET NETWORKS:
BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIA.B), is the nation’s leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks - BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.
ABOUT ORA TV:
Ora TV is an on-demand digital entertainment network and production company founded by broadcasting legend Larry King & Mexican business mogul Carlos Slim. Since its launch in 2012, Ora TV has created and distributed award-winning original talk, news, lifestyle, variety, documentary, and scripted programming for a variety of platforms, including digital and linear television. Current and past programming includes: multi-Emmy® nominated Larry King Now (entering its fifth season), PoliticKING with Larry King, Off the Grid with Jesse Ventura, Catching Hell, Brown Bag Wine Tasting with William Shatner, Real Girl’s Kitchen with Haylie Duff and Beer Geeks. Ora TV has been featured in Variety, Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, Bloomberg, TubeFilter, Forbes, and more. Each month, Ora TV-produced content generates 120 million impressions and reaches 40 million unique visitors across our premiere destination site, partnerships & syndication network.
ABOUT SWSI MEDIA:
SWSI Media - Smart Women. Smart Ideas. provides a platform for women entrepreneurs and women in business to grow their businesses and careers, taking a unique approach to powering brands so they can get known and go big. SWSI develops original content, ranging from entertaining series, including Queen Bee and Fashion Geeks, to branded content to social media, and distributes cross-channels, from digital to TV to OTT platforms. Additionally, SWSI provides digital expertise, growth strategies, partner development and more so they can grow their companies. content around female entrepreneurs is launching the next big brands. SWSI takes a unique approach to powering new brands so they can get known, get funded and go big. SWSI founders Heidi E. Lehmann, Marci Weisler and Suzette Cabildo have spent their careers building entrepreneurial ventures, startups and media brands. For more information visit www.SWSImedia.com.
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