After leaving a job as a television news producer in 1990, Sheila D. Brooks started her own company producing news stories and documentaries. She converted a bedroom into an office at the house where she lived in New Carrollton, drummed up three small contracts, hired an assistant and persuaded a bank to give her a loan.
An entrepreneur weathers economic storms, finds rainbow and the gold
“I applied to four banks and three turned me down,” Brooks recalled. “The fourth bank wanted me to hand over everything except my firstborn child for collateral.” She agreed to the terms, took the five-year loan, and paid it off in two-and-a-half years.
“Eventually, I was able to get a line of credit,” she said.
Two years after starting the business, Brooks was doing well enough to lease office space on K Street in downtown DC, just a few blocks from the White House. Clients included utility companies, government