The white-trimmed, classic brick of the Salamander Resort & Spa in Middleburg, Va., sits on 340 picturesque country acres known for verdant hills, elegant equestrian events, and vineyards. But when entrepreneur Sheila Johnson laid eyes on it years ago, the area 50 miles west of Washington, D.C., was boarded up and nearly bankrupt, save a few thriving shops, she said.
“One was a gun shop with a Confederate flag in it,” said Johnson, speaking to Fortune’s Diane Brady during an on-stage interview at the Fortune COO Summit conference in Middleburg on Monday. Johnson couldn’t stand the thought, so she bought the building and transformed it into Market Salamander, a high-end café and market.
Johnson is founder and CEO of luxury hospitality company Salamander Collection, which boasts upscale resorts in Palm Harbor, Fla.; Charleston, S.C.; and the Half Moon in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Johnson also happens to be the first Black woman to own stakes in three professional sports teams: the NHL’s Washington Capitals, the NBA’s Washington Wizards, and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics. And Johnson did all that after selling Black Entertainment Television (BET) for $3 billion in 2001 to mass media company Viacom with her former husband Robert Johnson. It was at that point Johnson realized victory wasn’t enough. “I needed another act in my life,” she told Brady.
“I was at a healing point in my life where I just needed to figure out who I was again and to get my voice heard in the world,” explained Johnson. “And more than anything, I just wanted to re-create something that was going to touch not only a community, but many people.”
After Johnson transformed the gun shop, a broker approached her and brought her to the 340 acres now home to the 168-room, five-star Middleburg resort, restaurants, spa, and lounges with outdoor seating to showcase the views.
“When I came up here, the light bulb went off,” recalled Johnson. “I said, ‘I need to build an economic engine that’s going to support this town.’” And with that, Johnson embarked on building the luxury retreat. But it wasn’t without struggle. Middleburg is “south of the Mason-Dixon Line,” noted Johnson, referring to the historical and cultural boundary that separated the Northern and Southern states, which were generally part of the Confederacy during the American Civil War.
“All hell broke loose,” said Johnson. “They thought that I was just going to totally destroy this town.”
Fast-forward to the present, and the area is now one of the wealthiest historic towns in the Commonwealth of Virginia, said Johnson. The entrepreneur also tackled issues of a lack of diversity in the arts and culinary worlds by bringing in a film festival and launching an epicurean event for top chefs in collaboration with Food & Wine. On top of that, Johnson bought stakes in three sports teams. And why?
“Because women don’t get that opportunity,” Johnson said.
She reviewed the financials of the Washington Mystics as part of her due diligence in exploring a purchase of the team. It was losing money, Johnson said. She turned to Ted Leonsis, fellow sports mogul and founder of Monumental Sports & Entertainment. Johnson invested and became part owner of the Wizards, Capitals, and Mystics. In doing so, Johnson broke one of the biggest barriers for women and Black executives in sports ownership.
“What has happened is that has opened the door for other women to step forward and become owners, especially the WNBA,” Johnson said. “Now look at soccer. Look at what’s happening.”
Oct. 9, 2024—This article has been updated to reflect the recollections of Sheila Johnson.