 |
| Reconcilation moments of hope and prosperity betwen Oprah & Inyala |
IN ALL MY days of interviewing people, sharing and
receiving advice, listening to expects offer counsel and creating shows so
they’d have a place to give it, I must say: I’ve never experienced anything
like the new TV show Iyanla Vazant is now doing for the Oprah Winfrey Network.
When Iyanla first walked onto the Oprah set in 1998, I
could see she had a gift for connecting people. After a year and a half, she
decided that she wanted to have her own show. We were not ready to produce one,
so she went in her own direction. We didn’t talk for more than a decade, then
we reconciled in front of millions of people (which was very uncomfortable for
me – I felt like a guest on my own show).
You know the saying “God works in mysterious ways”? It’s
the perfect description of evolution of our relationship. Since day one of OWN,
Iyanla has been my biggest supporter. She told me, “ I am going to do what I
can to help you birth this baby. I am here to help you push!” And Iyanla, Fix
My Life is, hands down, the best thing we’ve produced on OWN. The most
entertaining, authentic, hopeful, raw, emotional, humorous, entertaining,
hopeful and healing hour of its kind I’ve ever seen. Ever!
The best advice touches the part of you that knows it’s
true. That is for sure the kind of advice inyala gives. She has a gift for
hitting exactly the right nerve. She helps people discover and recover the
truth for themselves. When I showed the first edited tapes to Gayle – who
watches everything that’s made to be watched; sees every comedy, drama; goes to
every movie, and is a true student of pop culture – her response was, “ I’ve
never seen anything like this on TV.” She was laughing out loud and talking
back to the screen.
Recently, when I was shooting in the New Orleans with the
photographer Keith walker, who had just finished filming a segment with Inyala,
he told me, “I am a better man having witnessed what she’s doing. I’ve started
applying what I’ve seen to my own family.” And that is my dream for everybody
who watches: Know good advice when you hear it. And use it! In 2011, when I was
completing the final season of the The
Oprah Winfrey Show, Lorne Michaels, the producer and creator of Saturday Night Live, gave me a great
advice.
He said, “The network is not going to work until you get there, and
even then you’re going to be on huge learning curve. You’ve got to have the
heart and the determination to stick with it, because I don’t think you have any
idea how enormous this is!”
Who knew Lorne Michaels was a sage and a prophet?
Here’s
what I know for sure: To be able to create the kind of
programming that helps other people do their work and realize their potential
is the reason I said yes to the network.
Inyala, Fix My Life is
everything I know great can be. This baby is ready.
You can catch Oprah’s Next
Chapter on local screens. The popular new show is on TLC (DStv channel 172 or
TopTV channel 453). For more information, visit oprahmag.co.za/o-world/news