The public's appetite for all things Oprah Winfrey has waned little
since her Chicago TV debut in 1983. Known as a self-help guru and the
Queen of All Media, Oprah (it's almost impossible not to refer to her by
her globally recognized first name) has been shining light on social
issues and encouraging fans to live your best life for more than 30
years, revolutionizing her corner of the entertainment industry in the
process. Winfrey's unprecedented influence and celebrity often
overshadow her indisputable entrepreneurial prowess and business acumen.
Even though Oprah has stated that she wouldn't consider herself a
businesswoman, her ever-expanding media empire and record-breaking
multibillion-dollar fortune say otherwise.
Own It: Oprah Winfrey In Her Own Words provides a unique look into the
wisdom and thought processes of one of the most adored, respected, and
powerful women in the world. This book collects her most insightful
quotations, centered around her media career, life lessons,
entrepreneurship, and remarkable personal story.
Fortune has called O: The Oprah Magazine, now in its 16th year of
publication, the most successful startup ever in the industry. In its
infancy, the magazine became a highly profitable addition to the Hearst
portfolio, amassing ever-increasing ad sales and a paid circulation
larger than industry giants such as Vogue and Martha Stewart Living.
Over the last several years, her media holdings and interests have also
included an award-winning movie production studio, a satellite radio
channel, the cable-TV company Oxygen Media, and the burgeoning OWN: The
Oprah Winfrey Network.
Few entrepreneurs have been savvy enough to leverage their resources
with the foresight Oprah has demonstrated in her decades-long career.
Oprah's key asset, developed over the course of decades, is herself: a
brand she controls by shrewdly choosing partnerships and endorsement
deals and not kowtowing to convention. At the outset of her career,
Oprah decided to start a company rather than take the conventional
talent-for-hire path. She, along with a few close executives, took her
initial TV success and grew it into a multibillion-dollar media
conglomerate, with one woman at the helm. Her influence in the
marketplace is unprecedented. Just look at the long-term impact her
recommendations and endorsements have had in the fields of consumer
products and book publishing, among others.
Oprah's next venture is unknown, but its success, like her other
triumphs, depends on Oprah--and the self-reliance, values, and vision on
which she has built her empire.
