Watch
June
'08 ISSUE
'08 ISSUE
MAGAZINE FEATURE
Oprah Means Business
CEO of the BE 100s Company of the Year discusses her motivations, life after The Oprah Winfrey Show, and learning from her mistakes
Black Enterprise: Black Enterprise first featured you in 1986 in a cover story about Hollywood insider Reuben Cannon. How has the woman on this cover changed?Oprah Winfrey: I can't say I've changed. I can say I've evolved. I'm very much the same person--I have just become more of who I am. So, I look at that photograph, and the essence of who I am has remained the same. I'm wearing better clothes--hair isn't as big--but the essence of me has remained the same, and it's fantastic to be able to say that.
I've kept journals since I was about 15 [years old], [and] it's fascinating for even me to look at my evolvement and how the core has remained the same.
My dream was to lead a meaningful life. When I was 25, my journals were filled with frustration about not achieving a life of meaning, frustration because I was an anchorwoman and--from the outside looking in--I had what everyone else wanted. I was the face of the evening news with my co-anchors. This was the job everyone would think you [would] want to have. And I was immensely unhappy because it didn't hold meaning for me. Initially it was valuable to me because I was always breaking new ground. That's rewarding at first, but then what do you do with that? What does that really mean? How do you continue to give value to yourself, your surroundings, and your work?
Because you are such an integral part of your business, is there life after The Oprah Winfrey Show--for your mission?
There's no life for the Oprah show, because there is no Oprah show without me; but there is, certainly, for the brand--absolutely. That is why I wanted to create OWN [Oprah Winfrey Network]. And OWN was a vision that I had in 1992. Wrote in my journal...One day I'm going to create my own network. And I think it should be called OWN. Those initials just work out: O-W-N.
So when the Oxygen team came along, I literally thought, "Gee, I thought it was supposed to be called OWN.' And I am very much connected to my spiritual self, so I said "Jesus, I thought it was supposed to be called OWN. Am I getting my OX's and my OW's confused?' And I went along with the Oxygen plan, because my lawyer at the time and lots of other people around me said, "How are you going to let there be a woman's network and you not be part of it? How are you going to do that?'
It was an ego decision and not a spirit decision, which is how I make all of my decisions. The only decisions that get me into trouble are ego decisions.
"I did what everybody has done in their life: This is how you know it's the wrong decision: when you have to ask anybody other than yourself. That's how you know it's the wrong decision. So I started asking: What do you think, and what do you think? And that is true whether you decide to go into business, be a partner in a network, or buy a pair of shoes. The principle is the same. You always know the truth for yourself. If you get still, you know whether the shoes look good on your feet or not. You don't have to ask the salesclerk [or] the woman who's sitting next to you with her husband. You don't have to ask your girlfriend; you don't have to ask anybody. When you get still, you know. Anytime you go around asking, it means you are trying to get somebody else to convince you. That was the big Oxygen lesson, and it takes nothing away from Oxygen; it just wasn't the right decision for me.
You were still able to grow even though you made certain business mistakes. How? Such missteps might have bankrupted other companies.
We continued to grow because there was a power intention behind the show. Now I am labeled as a "brand'--everybody talks about the "Oprah brand'. The intention was not to be a brand. I didn't even understand the concept of the word 10, 15 years ago. I was just making the best decisions that I knew in any given moment, based upon what was right for me. And I always go back to what is the truth for me. How do I allow the truth of me to be expressed through this work, through this show, whether it's standing before an audience, or it's the essence of what's going to come through in this company? Just tell the truth.
-- Sonia Alleyne
BE 100s Home Page
