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DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU HEAR! Welcome Back to Urban Trendsetters News Magazine!

Print is dead! Everyone is reading online! You’re wasting money; you should go digital!

I’ve never been the type to follow the lead or pack. I’ve always danced to the beat of my own drum,” so why then did I listen to the advice of others when it came to something so significant as shutting down Urban Trendsetters News Magazine? My answer, and ultimately my lesson, I let the opinion of others dictate what I was going to do. Big lesson… HUGE MISTAKE!

One of my favorite sayings is, “once God has spoken; I need no additional endorsements. I don’t need surveys, questionnaires, or polls to do what I know God has put in my heart. tto do!

I was given a vision for Urban Trendsetters, and without consulting with my Co-Creator, I shut it down. Now, this is not to say that I have been sitting around twiddling my fingers, as; as a matter of fact, I have been busier than ever before! The paper was only the publishing arm of the brand. Now my sights were set on TV! But did this mean that I had to let go of one to pursue the other?

It has been four years since the last edition of Urban Trendsetters News Magazine was in circulation. To say that time flies would be an understatement. The decision to cease printing in 2018 after 15 years was a hard one hard to make. In the absence of print, we continued our digital marketing and sending Trend E-Blasts our email marketing service and began to focus our efforts on brand expansion through other media outlets. After partnering with a local television channel WCSN Channel 32, in Columbus, we launched Urban Trendsetters Television on the 32.10 sub-digital channel. In addition to TV, we launched Urban Trendsetters Radio, Urban Trendsetters CityView Indoor Digital Billboards, B.A.M.! (Branding. Advertising and Marketing) Studios, and Best B.A.M.! Videos , a new online video production software. All of this was a way of what I felt was, at the time, evolving to become a 360° integrated media house. Our stance was that if you wanted to access information or advertise to the urban market in Central Ohio, we have got you covered. Or did we?

In a twist of fate, WCSN was purchased by an organization based in Louisville. I had a nontraditional business arrangement with the current owner, and I was confident that the new owners would have other plans in mind that would not include UTS TV. To my surprise, however, not only did they keep us on-air, but they expanded our reach to include five additional markets (Louisville, Nashville, Baton Rouge, Houston, TX, and New Orleans, LA), making us a national broadcast network overnight.

In February 2020, we became the 1st national Black-Owned and Operated broadcast (digital antenna) television network in the country, and in March 2020, we were shut down to COVID. As you can imagine, I was devasted.

Sharon S. Gordon, Publisher / CEO

Time to pivot!

I must admit my first reaction to COVID was to shut down everything completely. I had become a term I initially had only heard about… depressed. Yes, MS. MOTIVATOR HERSELF could not find the strength to motivate me. I had put everything I had into the launch of UTS TV. All my eggs were in this one basket. Although I have weathered many storms, I did not think that I had it in me to move beyond that situation mentally, physically, or financially. The fact of the matter is I had run out of money, time, and patience with myself. I was burnt out and over it! Besides, who did I think I was anyway? The audacity to believe that I could start a TV network in the first place was insane, to be able to do it with virtually NO MONEY DOWN was unheard of, and, if the big boy networks, with all of their money and resources, we’re suffering, like the big magazines who had shut down prior, why on earth would I believe or think that I was going to make it through this? And then, I had a But GOD moment… I saw a zoom interview. And just like that, (well maybe not just) we were back in business. It hit me at that moment what God was doing through COVID was leveling the playing field.

COVID presented an opportunity to sit back, reflect, regroup, and recharge. I realized that there are times when God will remove some things for you to see other things (I’ll let you decide what that means for you). But the key in my eyes to surviving my storm is knowing that if you can shake off the debris (depression) and hold firmly to your faith, it too shall pass.

To make a 2-year long story short, I am happy to report that we are still LIVE and on-air. With the combination of hours of online learning from mentors, utilizing resources I did not know I had, including our OTT (Over the Top) ROKU, Firestick channels, and our Live Stream (airing 24-7 online), the network survived. But something was missing.

During the pandemic, Black Americans and especially Black Women were opening businesses om droves. One of the main reasons for the launch of Urban Trendsetters initially was to give small business owners a chance to advertise their business, products. Now with the addition of television, although we can now “Put Your Business in the Streets” through commercials, the challenge, most small businesses do not have a video spot. I realized that I had lost the advantage of truly working with any budget, which is a reputation I had developed with UTS print. Now, everyone could NOT advertise with me because my business expenses were more than ever due to industry and licensing fees, content acquisition, distribution, and production costs. What we have to charge now, are our rates with little to no wiggle room. I had become the reason I launched UTS, expensive advertising. In addition to that, I had shut down my advertising source. I now had to rely on other newspapers to advertise UTS!

“I know you do TV now, but what happened to the paper?”, “When are you going to bring back the paper” “, I am ready to advertise; do you still have the paper?” these are just a tiny sample of the questions I have been asked and asked often about UTS print. I never really imagined that it would be missed. Advertising for some seemed expensive in print until they tried television.

Print is Trusted and Tangible

I never realized that Urban Trendsetters meant so much to our readers and the community. When we ceased printing, there was no announcement or press releases; I honestly didn’t think anyone would notice; besides, we still had the website for news, resources, and information. However, I was wrong once again.

What I soon learned is (thanks to constructive feedback), in a nutshell, downloading an article featuring your grandson from a digital website doesn’t present the same warm and fuzzy feeling and appeal as seeing the report from a newspaper hanging onin your living room wall. I also realized, as did many of our reader,s that no other publication in the city covered the urban community and small black-owned businesses quite like Urban Trendsetters News Magazine did and, does. But what had me SMH at myself was we had all these amazing things going on, new content and programs were being added to the network, new market launches, and praise God we can go back outside, but now because I decided to listen to others, I like my clients didn’t have the advantage of being able to spread the word about what we were doing because I had shut down the source.

We needed to get back to print.

Well, we asked for it and, we got it! I say we because I, too have missed Urban Trendsetters News Magazine. I am excited to jump back in the swing of things with this special Juneteenth edition.

We will follow our original bi-weekly print and circulation schedule and look forward to giving you the best of Black Excellence in our community as we always have – No negative news allowed, as always. As before, we are also a digital interactive publication with hyper-links to our valued advertisers’ webpages, social media, audio, and now videos commercials. Check out this edition’s digital version here.

I have learned a lot in the past 4 years. I cherish every lesson regardless of how painful, and I have no regrets. I am so thankful to have made it through my storm and we are tickled pink to be back in print!

The lessons I leave with you. If you are unsure of the messenger be unsure of the message. And lastly, don’t believe everything you hear in the media. The “word on the streets” does not necessarily apply to you. You must stay on the path and purpose of what you were called and created to do. This is how the Trendsetter in you is developed. NOBODY can do what you do like you do!

See you in two!

City of Columbus Launch the Go Lunch! Summer Food Program

Summer can be one of the most challenging months for children who rely on meals served at school throughout the academic year. This week I visited Dodge Community Center, one of several sites for our Go Lunch! summer food program, which is hosted by the Recreation and Parks Department and provides free, nutritionally balanced meals at Columbus community centers and other convenient locations across our neighborhoods.

Additionally, we know that families are struggling to find healthy fruits and vegetables at affordable prices. Thankfully, our Recreation and Parks Department also offers a free mobile produce market throughout the year. Simply drive up to the mobile market, and our volunteers will load up your vehicle with fresh produce.