Oprah Winfrey

Think like a queen. A queen if not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.

Born 29. January 1954 in Kosciusko in Mississippi

"Talkshow host, television producer, media executive, actress and philantroprist"

Personality traits: passionate, intimate, loud, brassy, excited, lovable, grounded.

Fame: Ranked as the most influential woman in the world.

Why Oprah?

Most women are constantly struggling with the feeling of not being good enough, smart enough, or pretty enough, Then Oprah came along, and said “we are”. Oprah Winfrey fought a hard battle to be able to believe this about herself, and she has stuck to her guns, talking about things that were not talked about before she did, and doing so with bold empathy. In adding her voice to the moral authority of African-American women, she made this autority valid and universal to all women.

Oprah didn’t just talk. She built a media empire. She built girl schools in Africa. She’s an actress and an producer and a mentor, and she’s one of the few women in history who doesn’t need a last name. She has shown that adversity can be an opportunity, and that typically “female” qualities like intimacy and compassion can be building blocks to an empire, founded on the simple idea that women can own their own histories and identities and perceptions of themselves, no matter how different or varied, and that there’s dignity and self-respect in the very fact of being female. Oprah is a champion of growth and confidence, and I particularly admire her choice of literature as a vehicle for development and agency. By immersing ourselves in the fates and stories of others, she seems to suggest, we can grow and florish ourselves.