Oprah talks 'Belief' series and triumphing over challenges at OWN
Oprah Winfrey opens up about her early challenges with launching a network and her compelling stance on failure...
Oprah Winfrey was joined by several of her famous friends Wednesday night for the New York City premiere of Belief.
Barbara Walters, Gayle King, Common, Ava DuVernay, Phylicia Rashad, India Arie, Evelyn Lozada and more joined Oprah to celebrate the groundbreaking seven-night OWN series that explores the beliefs of people all around the globe.
In an interview with theGrio, Oprah opened up about her early challenges with launching a network and her compelling stance on “failure.”
“I did a graduation speech at Wellesley in 1997, saying that there’s no such thing as failure,” Oprah recalled. “I believe that all defeat is a red flag trying to move you in a different directions. I had some challenging moments in the beginning with building a network, trying to find the audience and where the audience wanted to be. My friend Tyler Perry came in and helped me.”
“As I was going through those challenges I asked myself, ‘What do I really want to say to the world? What is the real reason I created a network? Why don’t I do that?’ Because that will fuel my heart’s desire… my passion.. and also create some momentum. When you do what you really love, momentum comes from that. This idea started in the midst of that challenge.”
When asked about her take on the current Democratic and Republic Presidential frontrunners, Hillary Clinton and Donald Tump, Oprah said she’s still waiting to decide who will get her vote.
“I’m not ready to talk about what I believe in terms of politics because it’s too early,” Oprah said. “I don’t know enough. I haven’t studied the policies… That’s what I’ll say about that. I’m not ready to talk about it yet. ”
The seven-night series Belief kicks off this Sunday at 8/7c on OWN.
Follow theGrio.com’s Entertainment Editor Chris Witherspoon on Twitter @WitherspoonC.
