HOW SHE DID IT: OPRAHS SUCCESS FACTORSWhat I know for sure is that if you want to have success, you cant make success your goal, says Oprah Winfrey. The key is not to worry about being successful, but to instead work toward being significant and the success will naturally follow.

Oprahs success has not come easily, but rather as the result of a number of crucial factors:

A Goal-Oriented Focus: You become what you believe, says Oprah. You are where you are today in your life based on everything you have believed. Oprahs unwavering belief in her abilities is what drove her to focus all of her lifes energy on reaching her objectives. Focused on a career in broadcasting, Oprah ignored all other diversions until she had achieved her goals. Once a successful talk show host, she continued to diversify in areas within broadcasting. Oprahs single-minded focus allowed her to concentrate all of her time and energy into achieving the life of her dreams.

The Ability to Overcome Diversity: Having experienced much abuse and adversity as a young child, Oprah developed the survival instinct at an early age. She learned the lesson that if you wanted to not only stay alive but also make something of yourself you had to fight. This would well prepare her for the obstacles she would later face in the worlds of broadcasting and business.

The Ability to Recognize and Seize the Opportunity: I dont believe in coincidences, says Oprah. From hosting a talk show, to acting, to utilizing the Internet to bring her company online, Oprah has listened to her inner voice and grabbed every opportunity she believed was necessary to achieve her goals. She was not afraid to venture into the unknown or reinvent herself through various media. Her success also lies in the opportunities she has turned down, such as thousands of dollars worth of brand endorsements, which might have put her company in jeopardy. Listening to her gut instinct has allowed Oprah to take advantage of numerous opportunities, which otherwise might have gone unnoticed.

A Sense of Responsibility to Others: Early on in her career, Oprah asked, How can I be of service? How can I use television as a service? Oprah has since demonstrated that social consciousness can make good business sense. Her dedication to the causes in which she believes and the passion with which she appeals to her audience for support has set her apart from other television personalities. Her desire to give back not only to her own community, but also to communities around the world, has endeared Oprah in the eyes of the public.

The Courage to follow her Passion: I was called to talk, to use my voice in some way, says Oprah. From the very moment that Oprah discovered her natural flair and passion for broadcasting, she directed all her energy toward feeding that passion. It was her passion for what she was doing that drew people in and made her so appealing to audiences worldwide. Oprahs passion conveys authenticity, which allows people to get an inside glimpse into her true self and garners a sense of trust between her and her audience. Equipped with this love of communicating with people and a staunch belief in her true calling, Oprah was propelled to new heights.

I dont think of myself as a businesswoman, she says, but Oprahs success proves otherwise. While these factors for success may not be unique to Oprah, their combination and the manner in which they were embraced enabled her to reach to new heights.

OPRAH WINFREY BIOGRAPHY

The biography of Oprah Winfrey is of the stuff that movies are made. Born January 29, 1954, in Kosciusko, Mississippi, Oprah Winfrey was raised by her religious grand-mother who inspired the young girls broadcasting career by encouraging her to read aloud at their church. Since then, there has been no turning back for her.

When she was six years old, Oprah Winfrey moved to Milwaukee to live with her mother. Here, she continued fostering her love of talking and performing in front of an audience. However, it would not be a smooth and straight path to success for her; after all, what life story would be complete without trials and tribulations that had to be overcome?

For this television host, those trials came in the form of abuse and molestation at the hands of relatives. She ran away when she was 13 years old, and after a brief stint in a juvenile detention centre, was sent to Nashville to live with her barber and entrepreneur father, Vernon Winfrey. A strict man, he forced Oprah to read and write a report on a different book each week. This would be the point in time that marked the turning point. She began to realize her potential that arose from hard work. From here on out, she had no doubt that the world would soon be taking notice of the name Oprah Winfrey.

She subsequently enrolled in Tennessee State University, studying and working part-time in radio and television broadcasting. In 1976, she moved to Baltimore to take a job as host of the television show People Are Talking. The show was such a success that Oprah stayed on for eight years, after which time she was recruited to Chicago to host her own morning show, AM Chicago. It was then that the Oprah Winfrey biography would come to be a matter of public knowledge.

Competing against Phil Donahues time slot, Oprahs warm style won her a loyal following and propelled her to the top of the ratings. In 1986, AM Chicago was renamed the Oprah Winfrey Show and extended to a full hour. As her life story goes, that was the end of the beginning for Oprah, with the rest, as they say, becoming history. Over the next two decades, Oprah would shoot to unprecedented fame and success; people were definitely talking.

As life stories go, Oprahs is one rife with hardship and challenges, but also enormous passion, determination, and success. She has become the richest African-American of the 20th century and is now using her wealth to not only run the Oprah Winfrey Show and the other pursuits of her Harpo Productions, but also to fund philanthropic activities around the world, including girls schooling in South Africa.

The Oprah Winfrey biography is the story of the American dream. She overcame abuse and poverty to become one of the most influential, admired and successful people of our time. And, she isnt finished yet.

FACTS ABOUT OPRAH WINFREY

She may be one of the most recognized faces in all of the United States, if not the world, but there are many facts about Oprah Winfrey that might not be so well known. From asking fashion designer Ralph Lauren to design cashmere jackets for her dogs to being voted most popular in her high school, it is the little known details about this diva that continue to delight and appease her curious fans.

What is the most amazing thing about this daytime talk show queen? Could it be that she was the first African-American billionaire in American history? Or perhaps it is that she is said to have the Midas touch since sales of products she mentions liking on her show rise at times by as much as 500 percent? What about the most astonishing facts of her life? Was it the baby boy she gave birth to when she was just 14 years old? Or the fact that she could read by the age of two and was skipped to third grade when she was just six years old?

Owing to all of her success, her widespread popularity, and her much-loved character, there is a voracious appetite by the media and public alike to continue uncovering the stars past. For instance, her net worth is estimated to be $1.3 billion, while she is currently rewarding $100,000 to every person who turns in a declared sex offender. She also recently gave a donation of 10 million to help build the lives of Hurricane Katrina victims.

It is the uncovering of these personal facts about Oprah Winfrey that sustain outside interest in her life. How many people know that she was approached by Tom Cruise and John Travolta, both devout scientologists, to convert, but she responded by saying that she wasnt interested? Or that she is an Aquarius who measures 56.5 in height and that To Kill a Mockingbird is her favourite book?

There are also a number of record-breaking achievements in this divas life, such as the recent publishing deal she signed for an exercise and diet book the largest non-fiction publishing deal in history. She was also the first woman in history to both own and produce her own talk show.

Why do people remain fascinated by her life? Perhaps its because she recently spent $40 million creating the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa to fund the education of girls from low-income families, whom she hand-picked. Then theres also the passage of the Oprah Bill aimed at stopping child abuse, which was signed into law by President Clinton in the early 1990s; or the fact that in 2006, Oprah gave away free cars to everyone in her studio audience.

An increasing number of facts about Oprah Winfrey continue to surface, and as they do, her loyal fans and the ever-curious public will continue to devour them. In the meantime, they can keep watching the Oprah Winfrey Show in over 117 countries around the world, from Australia to Zimbabwe.

OPRAH WINFREY SHOW

As the longest running daytime television talk show in America, and the highest rated talk show in all of television history, the Oprah Winfrey Show has become a staple of popular culture since its debut on September 8, 1986. Now in its 21st season, the Oprah Winfrey Shows popularity is such that it has been renewed to run until 2011, which will put it on the air for a quarter of a century.

The Chicago-based series has become a highly influential medium for change. With topics that cover everything from fitness and health to more serious social problems affecting the nation and the world, host Oprah Winfrey has tried over the years to differentiate her show from the other more sensationalistic talk shows on TV.

In the beginning, the broadcast was just like the rest adultery, paternity tests, dieting and the like were a large extent of its programs. Today, the show generally takes a more positive and uplifting strategy, encouraging the personal and spiritual growth of its viewers, both male and female. While still controversial at times, the show has made it its purpose to tackle more difficult and pressing issues.

The hour-long Oprah Winfrey Show is thus divided into a number of different segments, which include a book club series, celebrity interviews, segments on self-improvement featuring everyone from doctors to therapists to athletes, and more philanthropic attempts to bring into focus important events occurring around the world. As a result of its coverage on such a wide range of topics that affect everyone, the Oprah Winfrey Show and its host have both won numerous Emmy Awards. The success of the Oprah Winfrey Show has also consistently landed Oprah on the Forbes list of the Worlds Richest People, and has made her the United States first African-American billionaire.

In recent years, television has become just one component of the program. In addition to her book club, Oprah has launched the charitable Angel network and Oprah Winfrey Foundation, a new radio channel, and her own O Magazine, all of which are under the control of Harpo Productions, the company she founded early on in her career.

The show also now has a formidable presence on the Internet, with its own website at Oprah.com. Here, in addition to providing recaps of the show, visitors can find everything from cooking and home decorating tips to expert advice and inspirational stories. Similar to the series, the website is interactive and allows for much visitor participation through the likes of online workbooks, message boards and photo albums. Videos of the series, as well as its special Oprah After the Show segment that airs on Oxygen Network, can both be found on its website.

The Oprah Winfrey Show is taped in front of a live studio audience. Free tickets to attend a taping, as well as transcripts and tapes of the show are available for purchase from its website.