How do you interview the best known interviewer in the world? Editor-in-chief of British Vogue Edward Enninful found out when he sat down for a chat with his August cover star, Oprah.
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Oprahโwho looks snatched for the gawds in the magazineโs spreadโreprises the made-to-order, belted, green jacquard gown and jeweled shoes by Erdem she also sports in the shoot. โIโm the easiest interview youโre ever going to have,โ she promises Enninful, before dishing on her greatest luxury (having her own plane), and what itโs really like to be the brand that is Oprah.
โI just feel like I just have the most amazing life of anybody I know,โ she tells Enninful.
From the woman who made the phrase, โlive your best life,โ famous, weโd certainly hope so. But when it comes to exactly how aspirational her existence is, the mega-mogul even surprises herself. In fact she, confesses to recently Googling herself for the first time and discovering that she was the first African-American self-made billionaire (how did she not know that?), as well as the most charitable African American in the 20th century.
โI was like, โI am so impressed with myself!โโ she tells Enninful. โI am most proud that I have been able to live this incredible life, filled with beauty.โ
But Oprahโwho says sheโd be teaching in a classroom if she wanโt running a multimedia empireโis clear that her beautiful life wasnโt achieved without intention and effort, citing bestselling author Malcolm Gladwellโs 10,000 hour rule (which others have disputed). Itโs a fact she tells Enninful she wishes more young people understood:
โThey think that there isnโt a process to [success]; they think that theyโre supposed to come out of college and have their brand,โ she says. โHow I got to be a brand was every day making choices...โ
The now great and powerful O has been making strategic choices since she started in television at age 19, and suggests that the one most instrumental to her immense success was being her authentic self, both on- and off-camera.
โFrom, Iโd say, 32, 33 on, I figured out how to be myself completely on television. And all these years, I have made a fortune, really, being myself. So, Iโm never not me; Iโm never not the person that you see.โ
But if she could tell her younger self anything, it would be advice that we could likely all use:
โFirst of all, it would be โrelax.โ It would be โstop being afraid.โ And it would be, โeverythingโs going to be alright. No matter what, youโre going to be okay.โโ
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