Aretha Franklin and Annie Lennox sang 'Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves' way back in the '80s, and this piece of pop wisdom is holding true for ladies in the new millenium.
The Huffington Post just released a list of the Top Ten CEOs who came up from nothing to make it into the realms of the über-rich -- and the extremely powerful. And, it is quite an achievement that two of the ten featured are African American women.
Oprah Winfrey and the relatively new CEO of Xerox,
Ursula Burns, are prominent members of the club of "rags-to-riches" CEOs:
1. Lloyd Blankfein, CEO And Chairman, Goldman Sachs
2. Larry Ellison, Oracle Co-Founder and CEO
3. Ursula Burns, Xerox CEO
4. John Paul Dejoria, Co-founder and CEO of John Paul Mitchell
5. Oprah Winfrey, Media Mogul
6. Sheldon Adelson, CEO and Chairman of the Las Vegas Sands Corp
7. Howard Schultz, Starbucks Chairman and CEO
8. Guy Laliberte, Cirque Du Soleil Founder and CEO
9. Roman Abramovich, Oil Tycoon and Owner of Chelsea FC
10. Li Ka- Shing, Chairman of Hutchison Whampoa Limited and Cheung Kong Holdings
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Oprah Winfrey Fashion Transformation
Twenty Years of Beautiful at Any Size
Consistently ranked as one of the richest and most powerful women in the world -- even credited with giving President-elect Obama over one million votes -- Oprah Winfrey has indeed risen to heights heretofore thought unimaginable. As with all of humanity, though, Oprah has had one very persistent and public struggle, and that is with her weight, which has fluctuated through the years, unlike her meteoric star. As we chronicle her looks over a 20-year period, you'll see that Winfrey remains smart about choosing styles that compliment her figure at any size. There should be NO shame in her game!
Text by Hayat Mohamed, Photo editor, Denyse Clarke
AP, Getty Images
WireImage.com
BlackVoices.com
Oprah Winfrey Fashion Transformation
Twenty Years of Beautiful at Any Size
Consistently ranked as one of the richest and most powerful women in the world -- even credited with giving President-elect Obama over one million votes -- Oprah Winfrey has indeed risen to heights heretofore thought unimaginable. As with all of humanity, though, Oprah has had one very persistent and public struggle, and that is with her weight, which has fluctuated through the years, unlike her meteoric star. As we chronicle her looks over a 20-year period, you'll see that Winfrey remains smart about choosing styles that compliment her figure at any size. There should be NO shame in her game!
Text by Hayat Mohamed, Photo editor, Denyse Clarke
Oprah Winfrey Fashion Transformation
November 1988
In 1988, two years after the debut of her highly successful talk show, Oprah was at her lowest weight ever, dropping an astounding 68 pounds. Who could forget the day she unveiled her new figure on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' along with a wagon carrying 68-pounds of fat?
Oprah Winfrey Fashion Transformation
January 1991
Three years after her amazing weight loss, Oprah fell off track and packed on some extra pounds. Her petite figure was history at in 1991 at the Daytime Emmy Awards, of which the undisputed talk show queen has won many.
Oprah Winfrey Fashion Transformation
May 1994
"Three" seems to be the magic word for Oprah -- or maybe "corsets"... At the 1994 Emmy Awards, the media mogul showed off a tiny waist and sculpted arms in a form-fitting dress.
Oprah Winfrey Fashion Transformation
May 1995
A failed diet regimen or a poorly-cut dress? Whatever the reason, it appeared that Ms. Winfrey's Emmy count wasn't the only thing climbing that year. When she received her award at the Daytime Emmy Awards her hips appear to have widened noticeably from the year before. She still stands triumphant.
Oprah Winfrey Fashion Transformation
February 1996
Ms. O's waistline was looking rather slim at the 68th Academy Awards in a navy blue fitted satin gown in 1996. Eleven years prior, Winfrey was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Sophia in 'The Color Purple.' Since then, she has starred in and produced several films.
Oprah Winfrey Fashion Transformation
September 2003
Oprah arrived to the 54th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in 2002 in a mellow yellow dress and her constant companion Stedman Graham, her man since 1986. Despite the added weight she was simply radiant on the red carpet. There goes that corset again!
Oprah Winfrey Fashion Transformation
January 2003
In 2003, Oprah managed to stabilize her weight. Maybe it's the slimming choice of black but she looked as if she had dropped a few pounds when she was spotted attending the American Auction at the Metropolitan in NYC.
Oprah Winfrey Fashion Transformation
February 2003
A month later, Ms. Winfrey was looking pretty fierce on the red carpet of the Association of American Publishers Honors Awards in a clingy red dress. By the looks of it, O was definitely hitting the gym.
Oprah Winfrey Fashion Transformation
August 2004
The year 2004 rang in a new do and a new waist for Oprah. She had no problem strutting her stuff at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Gala. Forget the color black, we give props to Oprah's diet and fitness plan.
Oprah Winfrey Fashion Transformation
We all know about Oprah's numerous career and charity achievements as a media maven. This latest recognition of her prowess comes as Winfrey grows close to launching her
OWN television network in a unique business partnership with the Discovery channel. This latest business move will make the billion-dollar brand of Oprah more powerful than ever.
Ursula Burns, being relatively new to the CEO scene, you might know less about. Burns is not only the first African American woman to lead a major U.S. corporation -- Burns is also the first woman to succeed another woman as CEO. After being named CEO of the Xerox corporation in July of 2009, Ursula was also made the company's chairman in May of 2010.
The personal stories of the CEOs listed above are truly amazing, and certainly an inspiration to anyone seeking to live their dream of becoming an entrepreneur. From overcoming poverty like Oprah, rough New York City streets like Ursula, or homelessness -- twice! -- as did the founder of John Paul Mitchell hair products, these business leaders show that it is possible to survive and thrive despite dire economic circumstances.
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