Oprah’s big break came in 1985 when Quincy Jones, producer of the screen adaptation of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple offered her a role.

In 1986, Oprah formed Harpo (which is “Oprah” spelled backwards). In 1988, she bought a production studio in Chicago and took over “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” That made Oprah only the third woman in history to own and produce her own show as well as the first African American, male or female, to own her own entertainment production company.

During the 1990’s, the airwaves became flooded with talk shows, but Oprah’s ratings continued to soar despite increased competition. One part of her success is that she avoided the tabloid approach which many of her competitors adopted.

By the end of the 1990’s, Oprah $415 million talk empire had made her the wealthiest woman in show business and one of the most powerful figures on the television industry. Her recipe for success if simple: “Follow your instincts,” she says in a Ladies Home Journal article. That is where true wisdom manifests itself.