Vered’s Blog

Ask any person in the western hemisphere, and even beyond, to give you a list of the 5 most influential women of today and one name will always appear there – Oprah Winfrey. Oprah has become a second name for successful woman.

In September 2006 I conducted a survey with the Dutch women’s magazine Sante which was “What is Success for you?� (“Hoe succesvol ben jij�) in it we were trying to find out what were the criteria that women were looking for in success. We also checked who were the role models for success. We gave a few names from different areas in life names both from Holland and USA. The result was overwhelming; Oprah got more than 65% of the votes of the women. She was without any doubt the best model for women for what success and power is.

What is it that makes Oprah such a strong model for successful life?. No doubt it has to do with the fact that she walks her talk. Oprah Winfrey is a living proof for what she herself says: “It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from. The ability to triumph begins with you. Always!�

Oprah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 in a farm in Kosciusko, Mississippi. She was supposed to be Orpah, from the Bible, but for some unknown reason, she has been known as Oprah almost from birth. Her parents, Vernon Winfrey and Vernita Lee, separated soon after she was born, leaving her to be raised by her maternal grandmother.

By the time she was six, Winfrey had moved to Milwaukee to live with her mother. During this time, she was sexually abused by a teenage cousin and then by other male relatives and friends. She was, then, sent to Nashville to live under her father’s strict discipline. Vernon Winfrey saw to it that his daughter met a midnight curfew, and he required her to read a book and write a book report each week. Oprah says that her father saved her life because he demanded her to be the best that she could be. Maybe he hasn’t done it in the best way, but no matter what, he wanted her to be the best. That changed her course in life.

From this harsh beginnings Oprah paved her way to success in all arenas of media, television, movies and book publications. However, for me she is a true role model for powerful and successful woman not just because of her own accomplishments and successes, but for her contribution to her community and to the world.

Oprah is a role model for what empowering people is all about. Oprah has never stopped showing people how big they can be. All her programs are about empowering people and about seeing life from a bigger picture. She teaches people how huge their own potential is and how great they can become, by taking the steps and moving ahead with their own lives. In that sense she is a true leader, she is a great example of how Feminine Leadership works. She is a role model for what servant leadership is all about.

One of the main qualities that set Oprah apart from other people is her ability to get people to open up. And the reason people open up so much to her is because she also opens up to them. She is the person who wants everybody on her show, even if she disagrees with them, to leave the show with a sense of dignity, to maintain their own self-respect.

Another Oprah’s distinctive quality is her being a truth-seeker. This quality boils down from her belief that one must seek truth in one’s life to succeed. She said in an interview, “You have to be honest with yourself. Honesty comes from your natural instinct telling you when you are doing something, whether or not this feels right. You feel a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment and worthiness to the world, in such a way that you know that you are doing the right thing. You don’t have to ask anybody.â€?

Her big philanthropic heart also made her such an impressive and leading woman. She cultivated a reputation for championing causes in her programs and ventures that other leading media and entertainment companies ignore. She is most interested in productions that no one else will do because the topics are not controversial enough. One of the most influential projects she has ventured on is literacy. She founded “Oprah’s Book Club� and “Oprah’s Angel Network� to fund college scholarships for students with financial needs and other philanthropic endeavors.

Her latest project is the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls—South Africa, which opens in January 2007. The Leadership Academy is a state-of-the-art independent school that will engender high standards of academic achievement and service leadership for girls. Her vision is that the Leadership Academy will help develop the future women leaders of South Africa.

January 29 is this great woman birthday and I just wish her all the best and may her light shine on all of us on this day and show us the way how we can all become greater than what we think we are.

Happy Birthday Oprah and have a great day!