Oprah Winfrey Biography and Entrepreneur Impact

Introduction

In the minority entrepreneur profile, the person discussed is the media mogul Oprah Gail Winfrey. She is an actress, writer, talk show host, philanthropist, and philosopher. Her estimated net worth is $2.9 billion. Oprah Winfrey had a difficult childhood as she was often moved from one house to another. She had a great educational background, thanks to her father, which enabled her to be successful in her TV careers. Oprah Winfrey managed to found a myriad of business and charity work that helped the less fortunate. In America and the entire world, Oprah Winfrey has created a lasting impact on people's lives. The profile talks about her background life, her experiences and the way they influenced their entrepreneurship, service she has implemented, businesses she has founded, and the impact she has on the society.

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Background

She was born on 29th January 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi (Oprah Winfrey Biography). She was born to Vernita Lee and Vernon Winfrey. Her parents intended to name her Orpa from the Bible, but because people had a difficult time with spelling and pronunciations, they called her Oprah all her life. After birth, her parent separated and Oprah was raised by her maternal grandmother. In her childhood, Oprah was playful as she often entertained herself by playacting in front of farm animals. Her grandmother was strict with reading to the extent Oprah knew how to read at two and half years old. At two years old, she read to the church about the resurrection of Jesus on Easter. When she entered kindergarten, she wrote a note to her teacher saying that she belongs to the first grade and her teacher skipped her through kindergarten. After first grade, she was skipped in third grade. She had a difficult childhood because at six years old, she was sent to live with her mother in a poor neighborhood. When she turned twelve years, she went to live with her father in Nashville. During that period, she gained her self-esteem and began giving speeches at social gatherings and was once paid $5 for a speech. At that point, she knew that she wanted to get paid for speeches. After a while, she was sent back to her mother where she experienced repeated sexual abuse from family friends because her mother had little time for supervision. She was again sent to her father who helped her in her education.

Education and Career Experience

Educational Experience: Oprah went to high school in Nashville East High School. In her high school, she participated in drama, debate, and also became a student council member (Oprah Winfrey Education, n.d). Later, she joined Tennessee State University through a scholarship in Elks club speaking contest in 1971. During her freshman year, she became Miss Black Nashville and Miss Tennessee. She graduated with a degree in Speech communication and performing arts in 1973.

Career Experience: Oprah Winfrey Education (n.d) indicates that at 19, she got a job with CBS becoming the first African-American female co-anchor in the evening news on WTVF-TV. Also, she worked with Good Morning America reading news cuts. In 1984, she moved to Chicago and worked as the head anchor for A.M Chicago. In the show, she began talking about traditional women issues and other matters that spurred debates and controversies. The show gained wide coverage and in 1985, ratings increased and it was renamed the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Her previous educational and career experience impacted her entrepreneurship in a way that they made her become diligent, strong, and hard working. Definitely, it was a positive factor, which contributed to her entrepreneurial success.

Innovation

Allen (2018) asserts that Oprah created the Oprah Winfrey Foundation in 1998 to support the empowerment of women, children, and families in America and globally. The foundation has given millions of dollars to organizations to improve their healthcare and education. Also, another organization she founded was the Oprah's Angel Network for inspiration purpose and make people to be better in life. Today, the network has raised over $80 million from donations and celebrity contributions. In 1994, President Bill Clinton signed a bill called Oprah Bill to help abused children.

Businesses Founded

Dodds (n.d) affirms that in 1988, she established Harpo Production - Harpo production is her name Oprah spelled backward. It branched out to include Harpo Print, Films, and Radio. The company managed the Oprah Winfrey Show. The production had a breakthrough in mainstream media spending $20 million on a 100000 square foot production facility. Harpo production has almost $150 million in annual revenues and up to 200 employees.

In 1999, she co-founded Oxygen Media, which helped to produce cable and internet for women (Dodds, nd). It has achieved success because it has assisted thousands of women to get cable. Its annual revenue is $6 million.

In 2000 she formed the Oprah Magazine, which was an instant success (Dodds, n.d). It had tens of millions of viewers. The magazine has estimated annual revenue of $1.9 million.

In 2003, she formed the Oprah book club, which became the largest in the world (Dodds, n.d). It has re-written the best sellers list. Its estimated annual revenue is $5 million.

In 2011, she formed the Oprah Winfrey Network. In the beginning, it did not achieve success as it only had 505000 viewers (Dodds, n.d). After Oprah took charge as both CEO and chief creative officer, the channel gained $330 million by May 2012. Its estimated annual revenue is $26 million.

Entrepreneur Impact

Oprah Winfrey has made an impact on the lives of many people. She is one of the most influential people in America. Her impact on America was honored in an exhibit in Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Keyes (2018) affirms that in one of the exhibits, a journalist wrote in the guest book that watching Oprah every day is the reason he loves himself. Her impact is most noticeable in her field as a television personality. Even so, due to her immense influence, there is a phenomenon called the Oprah effect. The phenomenon refers to the effect that an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show or any endorsement by her could have on a business. Dr. Phil, for example, affirmed that it was Oprah who made him have the desire to join television (Disis, 2018). As the author explains, Dr. Phil indicated that when a person gets into Oprah's orbit, it does not affect their carrier, rather defines it. One important lesson that I or other potential entrepreneurs can acquire from their life is the importance of self-confidence, hard work, and determination to be successful in life. Besides, her success story can enable most entrepreneurs to be open-minded.

References

Disis, J. (2018). The Oprah effect: The many careers she helped launch. CNN. Retrieved from

https://money.cnn.com/2018/01/15/media/oprah-effect-careers/index.html

Dodds, C. (n.d). Oprah Winfrey: Success Story. Investopedia. Retrieved from

https://www.investopedia.com/university/oprah-winfrey-biography/oprah-winfrey-success-story.asp

Keyes, A. (2018). Oprah's Undeniable Influence on American History Recognized in New

Smithsonian Exhibition. Smithsonian.com. retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/oprahs-undeniable-influence-american-history-recognized-new-smithsonian-exhibition-180969267/

Oprah Winfrey Education. (n.d). Retrieved from

https://www.eduinreview.com/blog/2011/02/oprah-winfreys-education-background/

Oprah Winfrey Biography. (n.d). Retrieved from https://www.notablebiographies.com/WeZ/Winfrey-Oprah.html