(Photo by Worsom Robinson)
WASHINGTON—Many African Americans begin their career at Black businesses and move own to better-paying jobs in Corporate America. But Jackie Hampton, publisher of Mississippi Link newspaper in Jackson, took the reverse route—and she’s glad she did.
“I offered my services to help market the paper during Black History Month, and I was pleased when sales tripled. Before I knew it I began to like what I saw. I liked the way newspapers operate and the power they have to disseminate information, so I made a decision to come and work for the newspaper in the area of sales marketing. Before long I was promoted to sales manager, later I became the co-publisher, then the publisher, and today I am the co-owner.”
When she was studying at Spelman College in Atlanta and Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo., she thought her future would be in corporate America.
“I’m a product of corporate America. I worked for many years for the Xerox Corporation but I had always been a good writer,” she said. “I took classes in creative writing and literature throughout college, but my interest was in advertising, sales, and marketing. That’s s what I was really good at and where I always thought I would end up.”