#334 Oprah

Key takeaways

Oprah's journey showcases the importance of ownership in achieving lasting success.
Authenticity and self-belief are crucial for personal growth and success.
Visualization and intuition play significant roles in decision-making and career paths.
Resilience and a strong work ethic are essential in overcoming challenges and adversity.
Building meaningful relationships can amplify personal and professional opportunities.

Summary

Oprah's Journey to Success

The episode begins with Oprah's transformation from a local talk show host to a media mogul. In 1984, she fired her agent, Jeffrey Jacobs, whom she nicknamed 'Piranha'. This pivotal decision set her on the path to owning her show and controlling her syndication rights, propelling her into the Forbes 400 list with earnings exceeding $70 million annually. The importance of ownership and the various factors contributing to her show's financial success are emphasized.

Authenticity and Self-Belief

Oprah's authenticity and powerful self-belief are core themes. She describes how her early experiences, including public speaking from a young age and the influence of her grandmother, instilled in her confidence. Despite early failures and comparing herself to famous personalities like Barbara Walters, Oprah learned to embrace her imperfections and relied on her instincts, which guided her throughout her career.

Visualizing Success and Intuition

The discussion shifts to the significance of visualization, drawing examples from Oprah’s life and others like Estee Lauder and Steve Jobs. Oprah's belief that 'everything begins with thoughts' underpins her approach to success. Quotes from Josh Kushner and Stephen King highlight the idea of wanting something deeply and the power of intuition in decision-making, which Oprah emphasizes has been crucial in her life.

Challenges and Resilience

Oprah recounts her challenging upbringing, including childhood trauma and financial struggles. These experiences shaped her drive and work ethic. She discusses the importance of hard work, stating that a 14-hour day feels normal for her, attributing her relentless pursuit of success to her past. Oprah stresses the concept that often, opportunities arise from difficulties.

Building Relationships and Community

The episode concludes with a focus on the importance of relationships in personal and professional growth. The narrator highlights his initiative to create the Founders Only conference, aiming to facilitate in-person connections among founders. The conversation emphasizes that relationships lead to non-linear returns, as showcased by the successes of figures like Oprah, Charlie Munger, and Sam Zell.

Show notes

What I learned from reading the transcripts of Young Oprah on Her Life and Career and Oprah on Career, Life and Leadership.
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(1:00) Oprah fired her agent and replaced him with a Chicago lawyer named Jeffrey Jacobs. "I heard Jeff is a piranha. I like that. Piranha is good."
(3:00) I will just create. And if it works, it works. And if it doesn’t, I’ll create something else. I don’t have any limitations on what I think I could do or be.
(4:30) Dr. Julie Gurner’s Ultra Successful newsletter
Dr Julie Gurner's Website
(7:00) Imitation precedes creation. — Stephen King On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King. (Founders #210)
(9:00) On getting demoted from anchor to talk show host: I was embarrassed by the whole thing because I had never failed before. It was that “failure” that led to the talk show. (Opportunity is a strange beast. It frequently appears after a loss.)
(9:00) The talk show immediately felt right to her: This is what I should have been doing because it was like breathing to me. It was like breathing. I knew it was the right thing to do.
(10:00) Oprah has an intense, powerful belief in herself. And she has had that since she was 4.
(11:00) I truly believe that thoughts are the greatest vehicle to change power and success in the world. Everything begins with thoughts.
(12:00) If you actually have to choose between the most experienced person, or the most educated person, or the person who actually wants it the most, you always pick the person who wants it the most. — Josh Kushner on the Invest Like the Best podcast
(14:00) Visualize.
If in your mind's eye you see a successful venture, a deal made, a profit accomplished, it has a superb chance of actually happening. Projecting your mind into a successful situation is the most powerful means to achieve goals.
If you spend time with pictures of failure in your mind, you will orchestrate failure.
Countless times, before the event, I have pictured a heroic sale to a large department store every step of the way and the picture in my mind became a reality. I've visualized success, then created the reality from the image.
Great athletes, business people, inventors, and achievers from all walks of life seem to know this secret.
— Estée Lauder: A Success Story by Estée Lauder. (Founders #217)
(17:00) I am going to have what I deserve.
(19:00) I was watching my grandmother boiling clothes (they had no indoor plumbing) and I was four years old and I remember thinking: My life won’t be like this. My life won’t be like this. It will be better.
(22:00) I thank whatever God there is for my unconquerable soul.
(22:00) And whatever you do, if you do a lot of it, you get good at it. And that is how this broadcasting career started for me. I’ve been an orator for a long time. I’ve been an orator all of my life.
(27:00) I feel that my show is a ministry.
(27:00) I loved books so much as a child. They were my outlet to the world.
(29:00) I had a very strict father. I remember my father saying you can not bring C’s in this house because you are not a C student. You’re an A student. It was just so matter of fact.
(31:00) Paul Graham on how to make yourself a big target for luck:
“When you read biographies of people who've done great work, it's remarkable how much luck is involved.They discover what to work on as a result of a chance meeting, or by reading a book they happen to pick up.So you need to make yourself a big target for luck, and the way to do that is to be curious.Try lots of things, meet lots of people, read lots of books, ask lots of questions.”
— How To Do Great Work by Paul Graham. (Founders #314)
(33:00) Her schedule in college was intense: I’d do all my classes from 8am to 1pm. Then I worked at the tv station from 2pm to 10pm. Then I’d study until 1am and then do the routine all over again the next day.
(34:00) I demand only the best for myself.
(35:00) Oprah on the parasocial relationship with her audience: It’s not like other celebrities. I see people react to other people and it’s not like it is to me.
(37:00) Asking for help is a superpower no one uses.
(39:00) The ability to read at an early age saved my life. I knew there was a better way. I knew there was a way out because I had read about it.
(41:00) I sign every check. It is tedious. It gets to be a lot. I have piles of checks. The idea of having money and not being responsible and knowing how much money you have and keeping control of it is not something that I personally can accept. I watch it very carefully.
(42:00) Henry Singleton pays all the bills and signs all the checks, calling it "a form of discipline. Through doing the signing it's amazing how much you learn about the business. There's a reminder of each event or action behind each check. — Distant Force: A Memoir of the Teledyne Corporation and the Man Who Created It by Dr. George Roberts. (Founders #110)
(42:00) How do you learn to be a founder? You do it the same way you do anything else: 14, 15 hour days. I feel most comfortable working.
(43:00) For me, work just meant discovery and fun. If I heard somebody complaining, “Oh, I work so hard, I put in ten- and twelve-hour days,” I would crucify him. “What the fuck are you talking about when the day is twenty-four hours? What else did you do?” —Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Founders #141)
(43:00) It doesn’t feel like work.
(46:00) Intuition is a very powerful thing. More powerful than intellect in my opinion. That’s had a big impact on my work. — Steve Jobs
(48:00) I am only a little dress-maker, trying to make women young and pretty. These other designers that do the pretty little sketches, the boys, they don't understand women, they don't know how they live. Their idea is to make them weird, freaks. — Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life by Justine Picardie. (Founders #199)
(51:00) I live from the inside out.
(54:00) Acquired’s podcast episode on Oprah and Harpo
(54:00)
Self belief
Ownership
Do the same thing for 25 years
Stay within your circle of competence
(55:00) Find what feeds your passion. Your real job is to find out why you are really here and then get about the business of doing that.
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Get access to the World’s Most Valuable Notebook for Founders by investing in a subscription to Founders Notes
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Come and build in-person relationships at the Founders Only conference
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“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested, so my poor wallet suffers.” — Gareth
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“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — Gareth
Be like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast