Women We Love: Andrea D. Copeland

Andrea D. Copeland, founder and president of Positive Channels, will probably turn her head if she hears someone call out “Andi” or “Drea.” Drea was her childhood nickname; Andi her adult nickname. No matter what you call her though, you have to admit she is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.

Positive Channels, which Copeland started in September 2009, is a television production company that uses the power of the media for good. Positive Channels produces three regular programs for CPA-TV and TV10: Speaking with Andrea; Inside Nonprofits with Andrea Copeland; and Breaking the Chains. Days are spent brainstorming and networking with others in the community for ideas and guests for her shows. Inside Nonprofits tapes “on location” of the nonprofit, which is “really exciting.”

Her biggest business challenge right now is trying to meet the requests from all the nonprofits to be featured on her show. “This show is such a benefit to the nonprofit community and the exposure each organization receives is amazing. Right now, we’re only able to feature one a month, but my team and I are trying to come up with creative ways to feature more nonprofits in a month; at least one more. The guys at TV10 have been great since this show began airing on this station. We all acknowledge the need for the show and wish we could do a show every week. Due to limited staffing, this just isn’t an option right now.”

Through Positive Channels, Copeland has experienced her most rewarding professional event: interviewing the Haitian Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Raymond Joseph, when he visited Charlottesville in January 2010. “Of the all the media outlets in our area, I was granted the only sit-down half hour interview. Although it was tragedy and crisis that brought him to our area, I still considered it an honor to be chosen for this,” Copeland said. “I couldn’t believe that I was interviewing the same gentleman that was being interviewed by major media outlets. I was so humbled by the experience.  As a result, Ambassador Joseph and his wife invited me to Washington, D.C., for a gala to help raise funds for Haiti. It was at this event was I granted an opportunity to interview Sean Penn, the actor they were honoring for his humanitarian efforts for Haiti.”

Copeland, who was born and raised in Charlottesville, faced a personal tragedy this year when her mother Charlene passed away. Her father, Andrew Copeland, sister Shannon Copeland, and nephews, DeAndre Kobe and Elijah Copeland, make up her “close-knit family.” As does her cat, Curly. “He’s my child.”

Balance, for Copeland, means disconnecting from the world for some time, or connecting through her church, Casa del Padre. “Keeping my spiritual life, familial and friend ties strong are also what help to keep me balanced. Having lost my mother suddenly in June, I realize that a lot of these things that I think can’t wait, actually can.”

The Queen of Daytime talk, Oprah Winfrey, has been an inspiration for Copeland. “I wrote an essay my senior year in high school about how Oprah, as a woman of color, inspired me to be what I want and that nothing can be a barrier if I don’t allow it to be,” she said. “Bo Barredo, the president of Advancing Native Missions, encouraged me to go in to broadcasting after hearing me speak at church event in 2002. A year later, after much encouragement from Mr. Barredo, I was hosting my first show at CPA-TV. It all came full circle: high school article in 1990, first show in 2003, Positive Channels in 2009.”

Having studied how Oprah interacts with guests, Copeland has learned she has a similar gift. “I have the ability to connect and relate to people from all walks of life,” she said. “Differences aside, I respect and connect. I had a fellow producer tell me the reason why I’m so good at hosting is because I can connect with my guests and so many others for that matter where they are.”

Harkening back to Oprah, Copeland’s advice for any woman thinking about this career path is: “Please don’t think you have to be stick thing with bleached teeth and perfect hair to do television.”

“I guess this is why I can relate so much to Oprah. Look at her and look at me and we look nothing like most of the women you see on TV,” Copeland said. “In fact, this has helped me to be confident in who I am what I look like on camera. Extra pounds and all.”

Also, she said anyone wanting to pursue this path should “learn from the best. If you want to be the best, learn from the best and be content with what around you. I went up north in 2005 hoping to pursue a broadcasting career in a bigger market only to find that it was brutal; cutthroat. That’s not who I am or what I wanted to be like to get ahead in this field. I came back to Virginia thinking I had failed only to realize I had my family and friends at the TV station there to welcome me back with open arms. It was then did I realize how much I appreciate Charlottesville and the people. Who says you can’t go home again? I did.”

Her best advice? “Take that thing you have a passion for and find a way to make money at it,” Copeland said. It was Grant Tate, president and CEO of the bridge, LTD. “Hence, Positive Channels. When he said this at Chamber luncheon after being honored for being the small business person of the year, it was like a light went off.

8 Things You Might Not Know About Andrea Copeland…

1. Who is your favorite author and why? I don’t know that I have a favorite, but I enjoy those books written by Bill Cosby. Cosby is just real. He pulls no punches and inserts a bit of humor in his writings. I just finished reading his book “Fatherhood.” Yes, it was written back in the mid 80’s but it’s so relevant today. And funny!

2.  Favorite thing about Charlottesville? It provides a lot for people to do without the bigness of metropolitan areas. We have our traffic issues, yes, but it’s nothing like the big cities. I like that I can go across town in about 15 and not 45. Everything is fairly close to everything else, if this makes sense, without it being a day trip.
3.  What is your favorite hobby/pastime? Watching old shows from the 70s and 80s, even some from the 50s and 60s. TV was much cleaner then. It was something my mom got me hooked into doing. “Perry Mason” was way before my time but it’s because of her I watch it now. I also enjoy playing tennis. I usually play with my sister. It’s fun and I’m getting exercise at the same time. Yay!!

4.  What is one of your hidden talents/skills? I write backwards in cursive and print. Very neatly and legibly. Some people use shorthand because it’s easier. I write backwards because it’s easier, believe it or not. I taught myself to do this in 6th grade when we were studying Leonardo da Vinci in Social Studies class. He, too, wrote backwards. My friends were and still are amazed that I can do this. When people first realize I’m doing this, they freak out but then they ask me to teach them. As a left handed person, like Leonardo, it’s easier to do.

5.  What is your guilty pleasure? A cappuccino from Exxon’s Market on Emmet and Hydraulic. I usually treat myself about twice a month. I haven’t found anyone else that makes it as good as theirs. Not even good ole Starbucks.

6.  What is your favorite movie and why? “To Kill A Mockingbird” is at the top of the list. I admire how Atticus Finch stood for what was right in spite of being pressured to do otherwise. It also shows how children are always watching us, to see if we’ll cave in to the pressure or if we’ll stand for what’s right even if it means standing alone with a whole town against you. This movie’s message is powerful.

7.  Where did you grow up? In Charlottesville. I’m one of the few natives around.

8.  What is the greatest invention of your lifetime and why? I’m sure it’s been said by many other women but the Internet is the greatest invention of my lifetime. While we can easily have information overload now, the fact that it allows us to be able to help others in need with the click of a button is great. Email helps to make communicating with others so much easier and faster. Getting information, sending information, promoting your business, growing your business is all possible thanks to the Internet. But like so many other great inventions, it can be perverted for evil. Regardless, this doesn’t take away all the good that comes from us having the World Wide Web.