In 2018, after Debra Lee retired from Black Entertainment Television (BET), she was swept onto a victory tour of sorts, during which she was widely celebrated, and for good reason.
After 32 years at the cable network, including more than a decade as CEO, she and the brand were like Siamese twins: they had grown up together and been impossible to pull apart. So, despite the applause, the awards and accolades, and her board work with Marriott and AT&T, Lee, 57, admits the transition was initially tough.
After going full‐tilt for decades, taking the company public and then private again, adapting to Viacom's oversight after BET's 2001 sale, then leading the network through its most ambitious and challenging years, winding down did not come naturally.
For Lee, who reluctantly became a lawyer despite an early passion for fashion, being named to the Burberry board in 2019 helped. Already a director at AT&T and Marriott, she was elected to Procter and Gamble's board in August 2020. Later that month, tragedy struck, and her beloved 31‐year‐old son, Quinn Coleman, died.
Leaning into her faith, her daughter Ava, and her close circle of sister‐friends, Lee has since poured herself into growing the Leading Women Defined brand she launched at BET. She also began to see her continuing popularity among board recruiters ...
