Oprah Winfrey on the importance of connecting with the people you’re serving

The reason why the show worked is because I understood that that audience, my viewers, the people who watched us every day and would come and just like you all did get tickets and they would come with their phone. You all just came across campus, but that's good, too. But people would come from all over the world just to be there with their aunts and, and their mothers, and they'd come with their cousins, and there'd be a few men in there going, what the hell? Or saying, well, I went to Oprah with you. I went to Oprah, said, oh, at least get me clear for three or four weeks. I went to Oprah with you. I had such regard for that. And I just had a conversation with John Mackey, who runs Whole Foods and has written this fabulous book, you should get it, called Conscious Capitalism. And he was talking about how the investment in the stakeholders, the people who you are serving, that connection between the people who you're trying to serve and sell to is equally as important as the people who you're buying from, equally as important as the people who are supporting you financially, as your stockholders, if you are a public company. So I always understood that there really was no difference between me and the audience. At times I might have had better shoes. But at the core, the core of what really matters, that we are the same. And you know how I know that? Because all of us are seeking the same thing. You're here at this fabulous school, and we'll go out into the world and each pursue based upon what you believe your talents are, what your skills are, maybe your gifts are, but you're seeking the same thing. Everybody wants to fulfill the highest, truest expression of yourself as a human being. That's what you're looking for, the highest, truest expression of yourself as a human being. And because I understand that, I understand that if you're working in a bakery and that's where you want to be, and that may be the. That may be what you've always wanted to do is to bake pies for people or bake cakes for people or to offer your gift, then. Then that's. That's for you. And there's no difference between you and me, except that's how. That's your platform, that's your show every day. So my understanding of that has allowed me to, you know, to reach everyone. And now I have a network and I can articulate what it is I'm trying to do. I'm trying to bring little pieces of light into people's lives. Because what is My job. My job is not to be an interviewer. My job is not to be a talk show host or just to own a network. I am here to raise the level of consciousness, to connect people to ideas and stories so that they can see themselves and live better lives.