Thumbs Up, Oprah!

She was raped when she was nine, gave birth to a stillborn child at 14 and was so poor that she once used potato sacks as clothes.

Born into poverty in rural Mississippi to a teenage single mother and later raised in an inner-city Milwaukee neighborhood. Oprah Winfrey, experienced considerable hardship during her childhood, claiming to be raped at age nine and becoming pregnant at 14. She was not deterred. She went on to become a globally acclaimed television host, actress, producer, and philanthropist, best known for her self-titled, multi-award winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011. She has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century, the greatest black philanthropist in American history, and was for a time the world's only black billionaire.She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world(courtesy: Wikepedia)

Her story demonstrates, it does not really matter where we are coming from but where we are going to. Do not let your failures, mistakes or hurts of the past affect you. Look ahead, focus on the bright future, be your best and the sun would shine for you.

She gave out cars as a surprise gift to an entire audience of 276 people in one of her shows in September, 2004. Her influence opens doors and financial floodgate for writers, movie stars, musicians ad business owners when she hosts or mentions them in her show or when her book club commends the works of the writers. She turns no names into brand names. This her influence has been dubbed as the "Oprah effect." The endorsement power of the "Oprah effect" has seen 55million books sold after promotion by her two-million-member Oprah Book Club.

Oprah Winfrey's Leadership Academy for Girls located in South Africa aims to give girls from deprived backgrounds a quality education in a country where schools are struggling to overcome the legacy of apartheid.

Oprah has touched many lives by her style of anchoring her show and her giving; she is fondly loved by many. Her contributions to the society cuts across many spheres of human endeavour. As she wrapped up her popular TV show last week, one could feel the impact she made. She is a testimony of determination, focus, persistence and consistency. Oprah, was on top of her game and it would not be a surprise if she records tremendous success as she focuses on her TV channel/media platform, Oprah Winfrey Network(OWN). Thumbs up to the woman of substance.

Picture, Courtesy: Reuters