As President of The Style Network, Salaam Coleman Smith is charged with leading cable television’s fastest-growing cable network. Under Coleman Smith’s leadership, The Style Network has grown into a leading cable destination for young, diverse, and affluent female audiences. With 75 million homes in the U.S., new Style channels worldwide, including UK and Australia, and the online site MyStyle.com, The Style Network is a leading multi-media destination for women across the globe.
The Style Network has experienced dynamic evolution and growth under Coleman Smith’s leadership. As the home of transformations — from fashion to beauty to home to community – The Style Network provides inspiration, expert advice, and engaging content for women who aspire to look fabulous, live well, be daring, and celebrate life in progress. Since her appointment to run The Style Network, Coleman Smith has led the network to achieve significant ratings gains. Style enjoyed a record-breaking 2011 as its most-watched year in network history, with double-digit year-over-year growth across all key demographics. The Style Network is among the top 50 cable networks nationwide, and has become the fastest growing cable network.
On the programming front, Coleman Smith is responsible for The Style Network’s highly popular series “Tia &Tamera,” “Big Rich Texas,” “Giuliana & Bill,” “Jerseylicious,” “Clean House New York,” and “How Do I Look?” Over the last three years, The Style Network has received 11 Daytime Emmy Award nominations for outstanding talent and programming. In 2010, Style won the network’s first-ever Daytime Emmy award for “Clean House: Messiest Home in the Country” in the category of Outstanding Special Class Special.
Under Coleman Smith’s guidance, The Style Network continues to leverage the power of its brand to promote charity and non-profit organizations, including a multi-faceted partnership the network forged with the international non-profit organization “Dress for Success,” which promotes economic independence for disadvantaged women. Style has also launched a year-round skin cancer awareness initiative and campaign against obesity under the network’s “Fight with Style” banner. Additionally, Style has enjoyed many partnerships with other leading brands in the fashion and women’s lifestyle space, including The Knot, Glamour, Marie Claire, and Allure magazines. In 2008, Style received a NAMIC (National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Cable) Award for a network special of “How Do I Look?” that focused on teachers in New Orleans affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Coleman Smith joined E! Networks in 2003 as Senior Vice President, Programming and quickly led E! to record-breaking growth and performance. She was promoted to run The Style Network as its lead Executive Vice President in 2006 and was named President of The Style Network in 2008. Prior to joining E! Networks, Coleman Smith spent nearly 10 years with MTV Networks. As Vice President of Programming for Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, she oversaw the successful programming shift and re-branding for Nick at Nite. Additionally, Coleman Smith played an integral role in MTV and Nickelodeon’ global expansion, managing programming and brand localization activities for the launch of 12 international Nickelodeon networks in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Prior to joining MTV Networks, Coleman Smith worked in management consulting at Andersen Consulting.
Coleman Smith currently serves on the national board of Women In Cable Telecommunications and the worldwide board of Dress For Success. She is a previous Walter Kaitz Foundation Fellow and Betsy Magness Leadership Institute Class XV Fellow. In 2009, Coleman Smith was bestowed a LEA “Lifetime Achievement Award” by Women In Cable Telecommunication’s for her achievements and active mentorship of the next generation of diverse leaders and was one of the youngest recipients ever for this honor.
In 2011, Coleman Smith was named one of 11 “Women to Watch in 2012” by The Hollywood Reporter, and was dually honored by CableFAX magazine as one of the “Most Powerful Women in Cable” and as one of the “Most Influential Minorities in Cable”. Coleman Smith has also been named one of “8 to Watch” by Fortune Magazine in Fortune Magazine’s “40 under 40” issue and as one of the “Top 50 Black Hollywood Powerbrokers” in Black Enterprise Magazine. Additionally, Coleman Smith was named one of the “Top 40 Executives Under 40” in 2006 by Multichannel News and one of the “Top 35 Executives Under 35” in 2003 by The Hollywood Reporter.
Coleman Smith graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering. She resides in Los Angeles with her husband, Dr. Christopher Smith, a Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California, and their 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter.