The Makings of a Business Tycoon: Oprah's Early Years
The Makings of a Business Tycoon: Oprah's Early Years
Oprah Gail Winfrey’s beginnings were modest. Born on a small farm in Kosciusko, Mississippi to a housemaid mother and a coal-miner father, Oprah’s early years were filled with much adversity. Living her first six years with her religious grandmother Haitee Mae Lee, it was here where Oprah first learned to read and write and where she developed her lifelong love of literature. Her grandmother has said that ever since Oprah could talk, she was ‘on stage’. She began reciting Bible verses at their local church, displaying the first signs of the future broadcaster that the world would soon know all too well.
When she was six, Oprah would embark on one of the more traumatic phases of her life. After moving to Milwaukee to live with her less supportive mother, Oprah was raped and sexually assaulted by members of her own family. With no system of support, she turned to a life of rebellion and drugs, winding up in numerous juvenile detention centres. After delivering a stillborn baby, Oprah finally escaped the horror by moving in with her father in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 14.
Imposing strict rules, Oprah’s father attempted to regain control of his unruly daughter’s life by making education a priority. He forced Oprah to submit a weekly book report to him, and the effort would eventually pay off. Oprah became an honours student and received a full scholarship to Tennessee State University, where she majored in Speech Communications and Performing Arts. At a time when few African American women even attended high school, Oprah’s accomplishment was significant. At the age of 18, she also went on to win the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant.
While Oprah had begun her media career working at her high school radio show, it was in her freshman year when she got her first true opportunity to work in local media. She become both the youngest news anchor and the first black female news anchor at Nashville’s WTVF-TV. In 1976, Oprah relocated to Baltimore to co-anchor WJZ-TV’s local evening news. Her popularity led to her being recruited as co-host of WJZ’s local talk show, People are Talking.
Oprah’s warmth and big smile were quickly gaining appeal across a wider audience. In 1984, she relocated to her current home of Chicago, Illinois to host WLS-TV’s AM Chicago. Following a massive jump in ratings with Oprah’s takeover, the show was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show and extended to a full hour. With her powerful screen presence and friendly demeanor, the show went national just two years later. It became the highest-rated talk show in television history and would retain its leading position for the next twenty years, with an estimated 30 millions viewers in the United States alone, and a larger following in the 109 countries around the world in which it is seen.
The Makings of a Business Tycoon Oprahs Early Years
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On January 29, 1954, the woman that would make a meteoric rise to become not only the richest female in America, but also the first ever African-American billionaire was born.
Oprah Gail Winfrey’s beginnings were modest. Born on a small farm in Kosciusko, Mississippi to a housemaid mother and a coal-miner father, Oprah’s early years were filled with much adversity. Living her first six years with her religious grandmother Haitee Mae Lee, it was here where Oprah first learned to read and write and where she developed her lifelong love of literature. Her grandmother has said that ever since Oprah could talk, she was ‘on stage’. She began reciting Bible verses at their local church, displaying the first signs of the future broadcaster that the world would soon know all too well.
When she was six, Oprah would embark on one of the more traumatic phases of her life. After moving to Milwaukee to live with her less supportive mother, Oprah was raped and sexually assaulted by members of her own family. With no system of support, she turned to a life of rebellion and drugs, winding up in numerous juvenile detention centres. After delivering a stillborn baby, Oprah finally escaped the horror by moving in with her father in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 14.
Imposing strict rules, Oprah’s father attempted to regain control of his unruly daughter’s life by making education a priority. He forced Oprah to submit a weekly book report to him, and the effort would eventually pay off. Oprah became an honours student and received a full scholarship to Tennessee State University, where she majored in Speech Communications and Performing Arts. At a time when few African American women even attended high school, Oprah’s accomplishment was significant. At the age of 18, she also went on to win the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant.
While Oprah had begun her media career working at her high school radio show, it was in her freshman year when she got her first true opportunity to work in local media. She become both the youngest news anchor and the first black female news anchor at Nashville’s WTVF-TV. In 1976, Oprah relocated to Baltimore to co-anchor WJZ-TV’s local evening news. Her popularity led to her being recruited as co-host of WJZ’s local talk show, People are Talking.
Oprah’s warmth and big smile were quickly gaining appeal across a wider audience. In 1984, she relocated to her current home of Chicago, Illinois to host WLS-TV’s AM Chicago. Following a massive jump in ratings with Oprah’s takeover, the show was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show and extended to a full hour. With her powerful screen presence and friendly demeanor, the show went national just two years later. It became the highest-rated talk show in television history and would retain its leading position for the next twenty years, with an estimated 30 millions viewers in the United States alone, and a larger following in the 109 countries around the world in which it is seen.
The Makings of a Business Tycoon Oprahs Early Years
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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