Winfrey, Oprah

Independence in Business and Performance

Transcript

• Okay, this is my first time making number one on this list – first, maybe my last. It’s, as I said, you know – you work just as hard, no matter where you are on the list, and you don’t work in order to be number one on the list, but I’m going to enjoy it just for this one day, just for this one day. It means that all the hours and time and energy and stuff that you go through to express your work in a way that’s meaningful to people – it means that somebody noticed that, and so that means a lot, it means a lot.
• What does it take to be a powerful woman in this business?
• I don’t know. I don’t really know. Really, I was thinking about this as I was in the make-up chair this morning, saying: I don’t know what I did. I just am doing the same thing I’ve been doing for the past twenty-something years. What I would say is that nobody can be powerful unless you are also authentic. You cannot be powerful unless you are also real, and I have made a living out of it – a really good one as a matter of fact – out of being myself. And so there’s a wonderful line from a friend of mine, Gary Zukav’s book, where he says, ‘When you align your personality with your soul, or when you align your personality with your purpose, you then become the most authentically powerful person you can be.’ So, it’s about taking – using your personality to serve a greater purpose for yourself. And for me, it’s always been about the greater purpose, you know. And for me, that purpose is, using your life to inspire other people. What can you do to encourage, to uplift, to inspire, as well as entertain, because we are in an entertainment business? So, that’s what it’s all about. So, I say to anybody who wants to be powerful: find out a way to be more of yourself, because that’s how you are going to be the most powerful.

In 1986, Winfrey established Harpo Productions, and her show became nationally syndicated as The Oprah Winfrey Show. The same year, she started dating her current partner, Stedman Graham. In the early seasons of the show, Winfrey followed Phil Donahue's footsteps in dealing with sensational social issues. Soon, her show became more popular than Donahue. One reason for this success was Winfrey's popularity among the female and African American audiences in a field dominated by white males. Another reason was her affective performances. As opposed to the journalistic toughness of other talk show hosts, Winfrey displayed an emotional character. She would combine emotional displays with confessional performances, such as telling her experiences of childhood sexual abuse on live broadcast. Through these performances, Winfrey showed that she could empathize with the audience and their problems, and in turn, the audience empathized with her, leading to immense success.

...