About Rhoda

Rhoda Wilson was born in Lagos, Nigeria to a family steeped in tradition and achievement. Her father was a strict man whose focus for his daughter was education, success and religious obedience. Her father expected high results from Rhoda and wanted nothing less than exceptional goals in all areas of her life.

One advice given by Rhoda’s father that she will never forget was “that women would change the world and that her career was more important than a man’s career, she used this idea to motivate herself throughout her career”.

Rhoda was sent to England at 17 to attend one of the top boarding schools in the country, Hurtwood House after Rhoda’s mother died when she was 13. Towards the end of her time at college Rhoda wanted to attend an Ivy League university in the USA so she took the SAT. She passed however her father’s focus had changed; having re-married so she remained in the UK to complete her university studies. In 1997 Rhoda graduated from Polytechnic of Central London (now Westminster University) with a BA in Business Studies and in 1999, from Middlesex University, with MSc in Financial Management.

Rhoda worked for a number of firms and was at the top of her career in a highly esteemed organisation when her position was made redundant. Her confidence took a hit but she had a great circle of friends and was organising summer balls for charities such as Marie Curie Cancer Care, in memory of her mother who had died from cancer whilst she looked for another job. She eventually found a new role however 11 months into the job, her position was made redundant again.

Rhoda knew that she had to change direction in her life. It was at this point in her life that she decided to embark on one of her pastimes as a music promoter. In 2003 Rhoda started Cosmo Music and Cosmo’s first concert was a two night’s event at the London’s 2000-seat Shepherds Bush Empire in May 2004. It featured the New York based, million-selling band Alabina (who have played sell-out shows everywhere from Los Angeles to Moscow) and was a huge success.

Rhoda found herself working alone most of the time because she wanted to keep costs down doing everything from technical support to contracts and PR. The success of the first concert gave Rhoda a lot of confidence but the next few concerts did not do as well. She was at her lowest but she refused to give up. Uncertain of which road to take or how to get there Rhoda Wilson knew deep down that she wanted to make a difference and this is what kept her going. One day whilst at a meeting with a businessman, regarding the sponsorship of a new concert, he was to give Rhoda a valuable advice to see herself as a brand. He told Rhoda that she could make more of a difference on the small screen.

This meeting motivated Rhoda to explore this idea but she did not account for the huge costs that were attached to broadcasting a show on a non-mainstream channel. Initially she remained positive, however by the end of her first year in developing her programme plan she soon realised that finding sponsorship was almost impossible particularly in the Afro-Caribbean community. She invested what she could in the show and borrowed £675.00 from a friend on making the first production of The Rhoda Wilson Show, which was broadcast on the 4th of December 2005 on OBE TV. She could not afford a director or producer so she learnt everything from the pre-development, to production and post production. She was joyous and thought that that would be the start of something great because she had something to show advertisers and sponsors to believe in the show.

However by December 2006 things were not looking good for Rhoda. There were no sponsors, no advertisers but she continued to make progress mentally and kept her show on OBE TV going as often as she could. In the meantime, she was putting pen to paper and writing and calling any TV stations, and separately emailing companies for sponsorship. Her confidence took another dip, no work, no sponsors and no advertisers.

In 2007 with the help of a former boss Rhoda found work and used the money she earned to invest again in her show.

Rhoda’s travels to the United Arab Emirates, Europe and the United State of America gave her some time to really evaluate her business, allowing her to formulate a plan of where she wanted to be and how to get there. Rhoda drew a lot of guidance from inspirational books and exercising her faith. She never stopped believing in herself and to remind herself that real success takes years. She no longer believes that you can do everything yourself regardless of costs. If you want to be successful you need to be able to ask for help and she found a great public relations lady, Ronke Lawal who she feels is the best thing that ever happened to her since her business started. She promotes my show, researches sponsorship avenues and has a group called the Rhoda Wilson Experience on Facebook to keep in touch with her fan base.

By getting the right help through asking Rhoda Wilson is definitely reaching new heights. People have started to label her the “British Oprah Winfrey”, and though this is flattering Rhoda wants to create her own unique and individual brand. She had a genuine passion for her show and for her production company.

“Rhoda believes she can make a difference because there is a need in the market and she has an incredible passion and is committed to making this happen” (inspired by Sheri Poe)

The Rhoda Wilson Show on air on SKY Channel 184 - BEN TV with audience of around 1,300,000 and Rhoda was recently voted as Best TV Presenter, BEFFTA 2009.

Rhoda is constantly working on more series and is now getting interest from other networks who have expressed an interest in commissioning the show. Rhoda was recently contacted by an American Channel who is looking to acquire the contents of The Rhoda Wilson Show. Rhoda is also working on a number of documentaries and short films for festivals around the world.

Her women’s Charity ACWAL is doing well and looking forward to successfully make this continue. Rhoda would like her production company to produce amazing life changing productions, touching people profoundly either by watching the show or working with her. With so much to look forward to in the future Rhoda Wilson is set to achieve great things.