Dr. Vonnya Pettigrew is the CEO of Root Branch Media Group (RBMG). She recently achieved a historic milestone in her career, buying an entire block in Baltimore to house her media hub in one building, according to The Baltimore Times.
The RBMG Building [renamed The RBMG Building Canton Harbor] is headquartered in Canton Harbor, along Baltimore’s waterfront. The purchase makes her the first African-American woman in Maryland to own a waterfront block.
The Times noted that the block houses her media production company, a coffee brand, a property management company, and a nonprofit that supports education and training programs.
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“I bought the old Barcoding, Inc. building, a commercial property that is 14,400 square feet. It’s 2220 Boston Street [Baltimore, Maryland]. The building is the length of the entire block, so I have all four sides,” she explained.
Dr. Pettigrew, who made the official purchase last year, added, “In doing that, it became noted that I was the first African American woman in Maryland to a block actually on Baltimore’s waterfront.”
She made the historic purchase without any investors, grants, or programs, but she financed it through the Reinvestment Fund, which is known for investing in social impact. Dr. Pettigrew said her next move is to acquire properties in other parts of the city.
“[I] would continue to acquire properties and continue to build a media arts hub, maybe in other parts of Baltimore but certainly in other urban communities,” she said.
Before establishing her business, she worked many years at the Discovery Channel and also produced content for TV One. The entrepreneur branched into communications and its related fields after obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from the University of Maryland College Park. From there, she began growing her media and production firms.
Before becoming a media mogul, Dr. Pettigrew wanted to be a speech writer and she even had her internship at the White House in the speech writing department under President Clinton.
But before she completed university, she worked on a television show that inspired her love for a career in film and television. “It was a political show that was produced on Capitol Hill and filmed out of Reuters newswire, and so I fell in love with television and film.”
