"Oprah played a big role in my understanding of what it meant to be a female and to really step into your own power. I wouldn't even call her a role model; she was literally a reference point. You have the dictionary, you have the Bible, and you have Oprah." - Lupita Nyong'o
We concur, Lupita.
Life, as we know it, changed this year thanks to Oprah and Adam Glassman choosing to put our Big O and Ossential Card Case into the Oprah's Favorite Things spotlight.
(Our sweet hubbies walked in the dOOr with this the morning the Oprah news was O-fficial!)
Beyond our giddiness and our pinching ourselves, we have been thinking about Oprah herself. What would it be like to be Oprah? To have the power to change people's lives by allowing them to shine in your reflected glow?
Let's be real: we've worked SO HARD over the past several years. Our company is the two of us, one of our moms, and some wOnderful part time helpers. We've worn our fingers to the bone as CEO, design, PR, sales, marketing, advertising, social media, human resources, accounting, shipping and receiving, housekeeping - everything. It's not always (ever) glamorous. We believe in our product and in what we're doing, so it's completely worth it. But it's plain hard work. And we've started from the bottom and worked our way up.
Oprah doesn't have to - not at all - but she chooses to keep her focus outside of herself. She chooses to reach out and change lives with her power and her influence. We believe that she remembers what it was like to be in our position, to be like us, because she chooses to remember. She chooses to stay in touch with the struggle, the plain hard work or everyday life. And then she finds ways to honor other people's effort.
And here's what we know for sure: there is no one else in the world like Oprah. Thank you, Oprah!! Thank you, Adam!! We will never get tired of looking at this!
