How I Got There; Eight prominent women give first-person accounts of turning points in their personal lives and careers. What these leaders all display is a continuing passion for their work.(Cover Story)

OPRAH WINFREY Media Entrepreneur I grew up with the American public, and everybody knows I worked hard for my success. When I started, my goal was just to have a job. I was 19 and I couldn't believe I was on TV. My first job paid $10,000 a year. I wanted to "make my age," and when I was 22, I was making $22,000. I remember being in the bathroom at the television station in Baltimore and my friend Gayle and I were jumping up and down and going, "Oh, my God, can you imagine if you're 40 and you're making $40,000?" But after I had my own show in Chicago, I understood that I had a power base that could be a force for something good. I decided that I was going to try to operate from the center of myself and do good in the world, which gives a response in kind.

I think that the show's been successful because I'm always aiming for the truth. I relate to the core of everyone's pain and promise because I've known pain and promise. I understand that the common denominator in the human experience, from the thousands of people that I've talked to, is that everybody just wants to be heard. Having that understanding and that connection has really given me wings to fly because I know that I can talk about anything to anybody with a sense of respect and integrity.

I'm very conscious and cautious about what I do in my personal life and what I put out into the universe through the airwaves because I realize I'm speaking to millions of people in 118 countries who all have their varying ways of interpreting what I have said. Where I am on the show is always where I am personally, and where I am right now is in a space where I realize that I have less time remaining on earth than I have had--unless there's going to be some miracle that's going to give me another 50 years. The realization of that is exciting and constantly stimulating.

Success is a magnifying glass on your personality. Who you are just becomes more intense. The real beauty of having material wealth is that you don't have to worry about paying the bills and you have more energy to be concerned about the things that matter: How do I accelerate my humanity? How do I use who I am on earth for a purpose that's bigger than myself? How do I align the energy of my soul with my personality and use my personality to serve my soul? My answer always comes back to self. There is no moving up and out into the world unless you are fully acquainted with who you are. You cannot move freely, speak freely, act freely, be free unless you are comfortable with yourself.

All the women leaders I have met led with a greater sense of intuition than men. I am almost completely intuitive. The only time I've made a bad business decision is when I didn't follow my instinct. My favorite phrase is: "Let me pray on it." Sometimes I literally do pray, but sometimes I just wait to see if I wake up and feel the same way in the morning. For me, doubt normally means don't. Doubt means do nothing until you know what to do. And I'm really, really, really attuned to that.

I tell women all the time that you have to fill up yourself so that you have enough to give to other people. Running on empty does not serve you or your family or your work. If I go too long without a break, I start to feel it. It's like an engine running out of gas. I just physically don't have what it takes to be as up, clear and connected with the audience. So I have to give myself rejuvenation time. For me, that's walking through the woods with my dogs. That is sitting under the oaks reading or doing absolutely nothing. I have to replenish my well; it's essential for me.

Right now, I'm incredibly excited about my work in South Africa. I'm going to change the future for thousands and thousands of girls because I'm going to give them an education. I'm going to go out into the villages, into the rural areas, the forgotten places, and find the girls who have the potential to excel and be leaders in the world. I'm going to create a leadership academy. I believe that the future of Africa depends upon the future of its girls and women. That's the only thing that's going to turn that continent around.