OPRAH WINFREY

"When the darkest night surround you , only then you see the moon and the stars"

As far as modern day icons go, you don’t get much more inspirational than Oprah Winfrey. She is a Television host, philanthropist, actress, producer and, according to some, the most influential woman in the world. I in a way adore her struggle and adore her personality.

Oprah Winfrey has had many ’firsts’ to her name. These include being the first woman in history to own and produce her own talk show and also the first African-American woman in American history to become a billionaire.

By her own remarkable life story to date, Oprah has shown others that they too have the potential to turnaround their lives no matter what their circumstances.

"I don’t think of myself as a poor deprived ghetto girl who made good. I think of myself as somebody who from an early age knew I was responsible for myself, and I had to make good"

Born on 29 January 1954 in Mississippi to a teenage single mother, Oprah was to be brought up in rural poverty on her grandmother’s farm while her mother looked for work in the north. Despite her surroundings, Oprah received loving support from her grandmother who taught her to read from an early age.All this changed when she was 6 years old and sent to live with her mother. While her mother was out working Oprah was sexually abused by male relatives and another visitor from the ages of 9 to 13. She became pregnant at 14 but unfortunately her son died in infancy.

Oprah used the tragedy and the hardship she endured as a young girl to realize that she had a second chance at life, that she could turn her wounds into wisdom.

Shortly after this traumatic period in her life she went to live with her father in Tennessee. Her father was a disciplinarian and it was here that she got back on track, focused on what she was good at and did well at school.

"The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams"

And Oprah Winfrey knew all about dreams.

She landed a job in radio when she was still at High School and co-anchored on a local evening news show at the age of 19. From here she eventually landed a job on a daytime talk show, went on to launch her own production company and became internationally syndicated. The rest as they say is history.

I was raised to believe that excellence is the best deterrent to racism or sexism. And that’s how I operate my life.

There is no doubt that life was not a bed of roses for Oprah and she worked hard to create the life she wanted. She was ambitious and determined and even though there were failures along the way, Oprah just got back up and carried on.

At the time Oprah was making her mark in the media world, there were no African American women who hosted their own television shows and so Winfrey was to pave the way for others.

I like this quote because it is applicable to many of the challenges we face in life and the best deterrent to those who put you down is to be the best person you can be. Your excellence and success is the best answer to other people’s criticism and bigotry.

I have a lot of things to prove to myself. One is that I can live my life fearlessly.

Oprah created a more confessional type of chat show, people entrusted her with their deepest problems and her style and approach was to revolutionize other talk shows in this genre.

At first Oprah focused on women’s issues but soon went on to cover a diverse range of topics such as equal rights, gender issues and racism. Not one to be afraid of change and trying out on new things, Oprah’s show was later reinvented with a focus on self-improvement, spirituality and literature. Oprah is also credited with inspiring pro-social behaviour because the topics her show covered were uplifting and inspirational which can encourage viewers to act more altruistically.

Oprah is a good example of someone who continues to live her life fearlessly.

“Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you”