Growing up in Atlanta as the daughter of Bill Lucas, VP of player personnel for Major League Baseball’s Atlanta Braves, one wouldn’t have blinked an eye if Wonya Lucas took a career swing at the sports business.
But it was television that made an impression and would eventually guide her to success in leading a number of prestigious entertainment brands, from The Weather Channel to TV One to Hallmark Media, where she serves as CEO.
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“I never really left the South growing up because my dad was in baseball, but television helped me really move beyond those boundaries,” she said. “It was the Hallmark Hall of Fame movies that really resonated with me. It was there that I first saw Black life treated respectfully.”
Still, Lucas considered a career in sports following in the footsteps of her father — who was the first African-American executive to run a Major League Baseball team — as well as her uncle, baseball great Hank Aaron, when she enrolled at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. It was there, though, that her focus shifted to media.
Finding a Career With Meaning
“When I went to business school I wanted to be a sports agent, but I ultimately wanted to be in the entertainment business,” she said. “It seemed like more fun. I wanted to be in a business that, like sports, really mattered in people’s lives, and that mattered in my life.”
Her father’s influence remained as she sought to be a general manager and run a business like her dad. After graduating and working as a brand manager at Clorox and Coca-Cola, in 1994 she joined Turner Broadcasting System, which owned the Braves and where her mom, Rubye, worked. She would remain there through 2002, ascending to VP of business operations and network development for TNT and TBS and senior VP of strategic marketing for CNN.
I wanted to be in a business that, like sports, really mattered in people’s lives, and that mattered in my life.”
— Wonya Lucas
“I was so proud and so happy at Turner and about the potential for my life and career, but I knew I wanted to be a general manager and run a network,” she said.
Lucas would realize her dream in 2002, becoming executive VP and general manager of The Weather Channel. “The other through line in my career is trying to work on brands that had a sense of purpose, and The Weather Channel was all about making a difference in people’s lives,” she said.
Lucas continued to seek opportunities to work on brands that focused on teaching, entertaining and influencing people through stints at Discovery, as chief marketing officer; as president and CEO of African-American targeted cable network TV One; and president and CEO of Public Broadcasting Atlanta.
“Wonya is one of the most talented leaders in the business. She has incredible people skills, business acumen and her marketing prowess is pure genius,” TV One and Cleo TV president Michelle Rice said. “She is a strong advocate for women and has been a necessary disruptor in our industry for decades.”
Full Circle at Hallmark
In 2020 Lucas would take the reins of Hallmark Channel, part of the entertainment brand that initially influenced her as a child. “The Hallmark Channel did mean something to me from an emotional perspective, but I also saw the opportunity from a brand perspective to reach people,” she said.
One of Lucas’s major initiatives at Hallmark was last year’s extension of the Mahogany card brand into original movies that tell authentic stories from a Black perspective. “When I saw Mahogany within our portfolio, as well as DaySpring [greeting cards] which targets the Christian community, I felt like there was a substantial opportunity to build on well-established intellectual property and brands that existed under the umbrella of Hallmark,” she said.
Growing up, Lucas said, she could have never imagined all the accolades that her career path would garner, including induction into the B+C Hall of Fame. “I knew I loved this business and how it changed my life as a child and as a person throughout my life, and it’s such a great honor to be recognized in this way.”
