Micro Series: From Welts to Worldwide Impact: Oprah’s Foundation of Pain

Before she became one of the most influential women in the world, Oprah Winfrey was a lonely child beaten so severely she had bleeding welts on her back, then punished again for staining her dress with blood. Raised in extreme poverty and neglect, she could have easily become another statistic. Instead, she discovered something powerful at age three that changed everything: the validation that came from reciting Bible verses. In this episode, we trace how Oprah transformed her deepest wounds into her greatest strengths, using years of feeling unwanted to build the empathy that would connect her to millions. Learn why she credits living in poverty as the foundation of her success and how the very adversity that could have destroyed her became the bedrock of her empire.