Ralph Lauren, Part 1: Celebrating 50 Years of Design

I'm Oprah Winfrey. Welcome to Super Soul Conversations, the podcast. I believe that one of the most valuable gifts you can give yourself is time, taking time to be more fully present. Your journey to become more inspired and connected to the deeper world around us starts right now. Jeff Lauren, welcome to Super Soul Conversations podcast in Omega's New Year of Big Questions. Now, the last time we had a conversation like this was in 2011 and we were at the double RL and I told you the story about driving past and counting the miles to your fence, seven and a half miles and how aspirational that had been. And now I think of you when I go to Colorado. Do you think of me? And I think there's always still looking at the fence. Yes, I am. So it's been a while. It's been a while. But today we're at your iconic restaurant. You know, this is my favorite restaurant in the world. Isn't that nice? That's great. Yeah. This one and Chicago because Chicago actually started before this one. Right. Yes. And I remember telling you that when RL's opened in Chicago, it was a cold winter's night that was so deep. It was like a blizzard. And I remember saying, said, we've got to go, we've got to go. And we walked across the street because RL's was right across the street from the water tower. But I'm happy to be celebrating with the rest of the world your 50th anniversary. Well, it's very wonderful that I'm going to celebrate with you. Yeah. Because I'm very, very little in love with you. Thank you. Well, you know that you're an international fixture. You're an innovator and a true legend. And when you hear that, all of the accolades and all the accolades to come, as we're all celebrating, what it means to be who you are for 50 years, what does that mean to you? Does it register? It doesn't register. I've been asked that question before and you know, life is very quick and time is quick. So I see things moving very fast. And I love what I do. I never start to say what year it is and how many years I've done it every once in a while. You have an anniversary. But 50 years is interesting to look at somebody else. I still think that I'm 22, 32, 42. And I really feel that way. So I don't feel, I don't know where the time has gone really in terms of how do I feel about it. I'm happy that I'm well and that I have a good family and I'm enjoying my work. And it's exciting and I think I'm in the best place I've ever been. Well, you know, I love the beautiful coffee table book, The Wrath Lorne Book. Are you writing a horse on the front? And I actually loved reading it as much as seeing all of the pictures. When you opened by saying when I was very young growing up in the Bronx, I saw the world through a glass window, not the one that looked out on the schoolyard where we played, bass basketball, but the one that looked out on my dreams. And like most young people, I didn't know if I would ever achieve those dreams because when you're not born with money and you have to go out and work to buy a shirt or pair pants, you take nothing for granted. Take your time. That's the question. I was saying, how did you know to dream big enough to become Wrath Lorne? And what is your message, actually, to someone of any age on how to fulfill their dreams? Because you're just, I love the fact that you have the pictures of you as a kid. And we see this picture as a kid who became Wrath Lorne. And that's just because you had big ideas for yourself. Well, I didn't know what the ideas were. You know, I felt special, but I didn't know if I was special. And at that time, my world was very small. My friends, I lived on a cross-speed from the park and my friends were singing rock and roll songs. I was just happy to have friends and I never thought about where I was going. I never knew what a designer was. I had no concept that I would be that. I have two brothers and I wore some of the hand-me-downs and I thought it was cool. And it was cool because I felt like, hey, it looks like I went to college and I don't know. And nowadays, we call those hand-me-downs vintage. Vintage, yes. And so vintage has a big word now. In fact, my show that I'm just doing right now has a lot of that spirit. And you say, I always love the girl that's convertible with her hair blowing in the wind. When I started to design clothes for women, they were for that natural girl. I didn't like the girl out of makeup and the high heels. I like the girls in jeans and a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves. And you're still designing for that girl. My wife is that girl, but that's still what I'm attracted to when I pick models that are walking in. It's always the natural girl that gets to me. It's always the natural sensibility that I feel is what works for me. And through the years now and designing, it's all about my life, really, and it's about the clothes that I want for myself and for my wife and for my kids. And so my work has never been, it's never been another world, it's never been in the fashion world. I've been in the world that I created. And how I did it from the Bronx, I don't know. I think I went to work. I went to work in a store called Alexander's when I was 16 years old when I was going to high school and I hung up returns with a blue uniform on. And I never thought of any of those things. And then I went on, I worked at a job in one of the buying offices, but it was always very personal to me. It wasn't about ever being a design. It was about. When you first created it, because it all started with the ties, the big ties. I want to be Frank Sinatra. You wanted to be Frank Sinatra. I wanted to be. Didn't you want to be Joe DiMaggio, too? I wanted to Joe DiMaggio Mickey Mantle. And Carrie Grant and some of those people I got to know. So I think what's been wonderful for me is really too late to anybody in that growing up and having a plan, my scrapbook said, "I'm one of the high school books when they hand you, would you sign this for me, Ralph?" And I said, "What do you want to be?" It said, "Millionaire." And everyone holds that and says, "You said it. You knew where you were going." Yes. I didn't know what a millionaire was, but it sounded like a good thing to be, yeah. I loved what I did, and it was really not to design for the world, but to, I guess, at a young age, movies were very important to me. Books were very important to me. And I dreamed through the books, I dreamed through all of it. And someone once said, "You write through your designs." And I think that's what comes out of me is, you know, what's been wonderful for me is I never had any formal training. I never went to fashion school, and I got in there and I got a job making selling ties for a Thai company. And then. You had the idea of making ties? I saw. I had the tie. I saw the making ties and I said, "Look, I think we should do these white ties." And I asked my boss, he said, "The world is not ready for Ralph Lauren." And so I knew that I had. I liked the company I was with, but I knew I had to express myself. And so I spoke to some other one, and I got this job designing ties. I created a company and called it Polo. And I never played polo, and most of the people when I saw them, they'd look at me and say, "What is Polo? Is that Marco Polo?" And reality, the world of polo was very glamorous to me. It was very stylish, it was very international. And for some reason, maybe through the movies, the exposure to the world of wealth and the world of privilege was desirable, and it is to many people. So you had seen, had you even seen a polo game? I had never seen a polo game till now. I've been to. Yes, of course. I've seen a few now. Yes. But, you know, I did it. I named it Polo because of that reason. He named it Polo because it was aspirational. It felt like something. It was a rich and there's an international flavor to it, and the women and men that went to polo matches all look stylish, and there was an Europeanness to it as opposed to American ness. Even though I do a lot of American, what people call me American designer, you know, really is not about America, it's about what I love. And I did, as I grew, and as the ties started to sell and as consumers started to buy my things, I started to develop the idea of doing more things. What about this moment, Ralph? I love this moment when you have gotten blinning bills to look at the ties. They want the ties, and then they say, "Yes, we want your ties. We like the ties. We're going to put our name on them." And there was something about your young self even then that you knew, "I'm going to keep these ties. I'm going to give my own label or create my own brand." How did you know that then? Because what are you like 24? I think there was a story I've said to many people that sort of works for me. I don't know why. What I was about 12 or 14 in the Bronx. We had a fight with the kids across the parkway and I got on my head, we had sleds and we had a snowball fight. And all during this snowball fight, it wasn't a serious one, but it was semi-series. The kids on the other side that we throw in snowballs too said, "We want Ralph." We want Ralph. And for some reason, I was incensed by their demand to sacrifice me. It all came out. I got on my sleds and I went down the hill and I said to the guys, "All right, come and get me." And they all ran away. And I don't know why they came out that way. The guy was always looking for a fight or anything like that. But it gave me a sense of just watching these kids all of a sudden run away. Now I'm at 6'4". I was little as a kid. And all of a sudden, they all ran away and it was a sense of power of being able to handle something yourself. And I saw stars. I knew that I had to do what I had to do. But I didn't know what the consequence was going to do. But I was willing to go down and do it. Maybe that came from the movies, maybe it came from my parents, maybe it came from something that I don't know what's unconscious. So, when I went to Bloomingdale's years later and showed them the ties that I had developed, the store management, the buyers looked at the ties and said, "Well, I love the ties, but they're too wide. Could you make them narrow?" And would you put the Sutton East label, which is our Bloomingdale's private label? And we really would love it. We got great ties. And I said to them, I said, "Look, my heart's in my mouth. I can't do it. I can't sell you. I'd love to sell you. I'm dying to sell Bloomingdale's, but I can't do it." "Can't do it if I got a chance." And they said, "I'm closing my bag." And I left. "Wow." And six months later, they called back and said, "We can't find your ties anywhere." And they put it in a whole case in my ties and store. And that was the beginning of a. With your name on it, with your label. My name. Polo. And it was. Can you imagine how you had given them the right to use their name? You might not have been here. So the idea that I didn't have a business, the idea that I was a young guy, just starting out, I used to deliver the ties and label the ties and ship them myself. And occasionally my wife would help, and occasionally my father would help. And so could you imagine Thanksgiving when I'm packing these gifts to send out? And I remember sending these ties to a few of the stores in Beverly Hills, and one guy calls me back and says, "Hey, Steve McQueen, you just bought 17 of your ties." So I've seen excitement in my life that was very, very pure. It wasn't about anything. I bet in the beginning it was just thrilling. Now celebrities really close all the time. So it's quite a different kind of world. But I think. Well, I was just being unknown with stores, you know, when you're feeling it, you're coming up with something. And someone is liking your things. Yes, wow. Wow. So you hadn't even thought about being a decent. So you went from ties immediately to women's clothing? My goal was really to have the opportunity to do what I wanted to do and to make a living for my family. I had no grand thoughts. Wow. I had no thoughts except I felt like I could do certain things. And I was available to make it happen. I pushed it. I went forward. I was all alone. I had a little draw in the Empire State Building. So, Ralph, when did this idea to become a designer? I think I went with the time. It just came. It started I made the ties. I made the shirts. I made suits. All of a sudden people were coming to buy it. And the store said, "What else can you do?" And all of a sudden I was a name. And at that time, the names were coming from Europe. There was hearty amies and a piercord Dan and all European fashion designers in women's, not men's. I guess I had a head start because when that happened, I had Bloomingdale's Loving My Things. And other stores were Neiman Marcus in Dallas, Texas. They all started to go and say, "We want Polo and one." And I added Ralph Lauren to it when they talked about designing names. And it wasn't a brand. They wanted the name. So, that's how I added Polo and I added Ralph Lauren to the name. And you describe your designs as I've heard you describe them as having integrity. And you know it's interesting because that's exactly how people describe not just you. It's the word that's most often used, I would say, when people talk about you, they talk about your brand, your company, about how you live your life. The word integrity comes up more often than anything else. How do you define that for yourself? What does that mean? It was an honesty. I love what I do. I think I've had a very good life as a child. I never knew where I was going to go. My parents didn't have a lot of money. My father was an artist. I had a loving family. No matter, I didn't have a bike as a kid. And I was able to never, never think that my parents didn't give it to me, but always sort of loved them because I felt the warmth. And as I grew up-- You didn't have a bike because they couldn't afford it. Yes. And as I grew up, I work with lots of young people and having a team work together and support me and feel the camaraderie that's so important is with the integrity. It's because it's not the clothes. It's the spirit behind it for me. How has your integrity actually been tested over the years because I would imagine that you would have challenges that would test your integrity, the integrity of your work, integrity of the company? Well, companies go up and down. And I've lived through good times. And I've lived through some tough times. I've also lived through a brain tumor. Life doesn't go one way. And those days, they challenge you tremendously. And you live that life, and you're going through it. And you don't stop and think about it. You just go through it. But there is a foundation that I think I have. I've had success. I've enjoyed that success. And I like when I work with people that have success with me. It's no fun having the success alone. And, you know, from everything I've read about you in previous conversations, that your central goal was always something bigger than the design or the name for the design. You know, your central goal, the reason why we all relate to your design is because it comes from the sense of living and family. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And experiencing life. And I think that carried through. And as I've had more success, I was able to somehow feel almost like a teacher. I want to be a teacher when I was a young kid. As a did I. Yes. I wanted to work with people. And I had a teacher who had tweaked jacket and crepes of shoes and smoked a pipe at that time. And it was a very interesting role model. Because there was a sense of when I was talking about teaching, I never thought about money when I was working. I didn't have a lot of money. But it was about doing what I'd love to do. And I also once I started to have some form of success, I worked with people. And I love that they were part of it. And what you learn when you work for company is you don't wait for them to say we have to give you a raise. You want to give. And I worked my company. People work hard. But at the same time, I want them to feel my success with them. Because each season, or some seasons, easier than others. I mean, after 50 years, is it hard to come up with what is the thing? It's always, I have it every, every six months. I'm working on so many things at once. And it's always the beginning for me. It's always, oh my god, what am I going to do now? I don't know. What am I going to do? What's, I'm feel it now. Really already. I remember walking down the runway of my first show and and people stood up and applauded. And on the way back, I said, oh my god, what am I going to do next? I didn't even give myself five minutes to enjoy that pleasure. Yeah, the trip down the runway. And 50 years did not change that. 50 years. I have maybe a little more expertise in areas I didn't have. But basically, the level of what I'm doing and the passion for it and the working with other teams and working together is very good. And I find that that's one of the good things in life. And I'm not a poet and I'm not going to talk to you about how great I am as a human. I'm, I'm a good person. I want to be a good person. But, you know, we all make mistakes. Life is, uh, God lets ups and downs. But I think. What's the speaking of that? Is the lesson is taking you the longest to learn? Well, I, I think for some reason, believe it or not, it was always very similar to kid. I was always sensitive. I was always very thoughtful, uh, even when I was 12 years old. I wasn't, I, I was a regular guy. I played ball in school yards. I was a kid. I went roller skating, but I think my parents gave me something special. It gave me a good sense of honesty and excitement. Do you think it's because your parents were immigrants and that experience shaped your life being new in America for them? Well, I saw them struggle. I saw them worry. I experienced that, but I had sensitivity to it because they were kind people. So getting to love something or what did I learn over the years, one year goes by after another and you work your way. And if you work hard, you're living your life. And you have some days when it's hard and you have some days and you're so elated, you can't believe that this is happening to you. And sometimes I would feel-- I remember someone was coming over to do a story on me and I was up in Bedford, New York. And I was all dressed up and I felt like, oh my god, I really was looking at me. And I was sort of thinking after myself. And I said, why do I have all this? Why am I getting all this and other people don't have it? Why is so much coming my way? And I felt that to be overwhelming. And I'm much happier sometimes when the day is just easy and I'm watching TV. Really? I work hard. I love what I do. I'm a competitor. I love work. I like to do best I can. I like to learn. Are you still even competitive? Because now you are Ralph Lauren, 50 years. I mean, the New York Times says this about you. No one else has conveyed a design vision as broad, as consistent, and as successful as Ralph Lauren. So in a world and an industry that's constantly changing and fickle for you to be proclaimed as this stable of integrity and design and in life. Those are the good stories. You haven't heard the bad stories. If you had read some of my reviews, you say, oh my god. You live through everything and you work. And you think you work hard. And you think, well, when I get there, I'm going to really be amazing. And then I realize today is, where is there? Where am I getting to? Where is there? Aren't you there? If you're not there, I don't know who is. I'm there. I'm there physically. But I have that there is a morning piece. Honestly, as you do get older and you realize that life is not forever and as things change, you realize that you don't want it to change. You see some wonderful connections. It's thought to see life a little clearer because time has gone by and you're getting older. And so as much as I love what I do and I love dreaming and I love, I feel good about life and I enjoy beauty and I enjoy all the things that the world has to offer, I really love having my family and my wife. And the last time we spoke, you had two children who were engaged and now you have four grandchildren. Yes. How has that changed you? That hasn't changed me. They walk right by me. I can see what you've got to see. What's it like to see the offspring of the offspring? I don't know. You can have to ask them soon. But I see my children changing. What is interesting is I see how they're handling their children and you see another dimension of your children instead of yours. I mean, you're seeing them grow and you see them talking to their children and you see the struggle they're having and you see the anxieties. And-- The same ones you had when they were-- The same ones I had. Some of them, they have more anxiety than I had. I think on some levels, I had less but-- Why, because the world's so different now? I think you realize that it's not so easy doing all these things. It's not so easy working. It's not so easy to get express yourself and to take care of your family and be an individual. And also, as some of them could say, Dad, we're not easy being your son. And I said, what are you talking about? You have everything. You can do anything you want. No, Dad, it's not the same. They want to make it on their own. How do you find yourself in that? Yes. They want to make their own statement. And sometimes, that's added to not only am I living my life. I'm living their life to understand and want them to be happy and realize that time does go fleeting. And they have to learn to feel good. Ideally, would you have wanted all of the children to be a part of the business? No. No. You wanted them to find their own way. I want them all to do what they want to do. And they're very creative. And they all have different talents. I find that it's a struggle for them on some levels. I had no choice when I was growing up. I had to get a job. I had to go to work. I remember sitting and trying to calling an agency up and saying, I want to get this job. And they offered me-- there was a job offer to me. It's tax-free revenue. And this employment agency said, we're thinking we'll get that job. And I said, I'll take nothing. Can you give me that job? I'll show you how good I was. I don't need to-- let me-- I'll show you. And your kids don't have to do that. They don't have to do that. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I think it's just a different offer. As you comfort, it offers you the sense that you don't have to worry about certain things. But it doesn't offer you a fulfillment of doing something that's coming out of you that's successful. And the joy that I have found is loving what I do. And working. And when I work on a show sometimes, in the beginning, it's a mess because you don't know where you're going. You sort of find your way. And then all of a sudden, you hit their stride, and you said, my god. And that excitement is very inner. It's very exciting for yourself. To catch that moment where you feel like you've done a job and you've done it really, you hit it, you hit a home run. Do you feel that way every season? Every season. I find-- and every season, I come back to the same spot where I do the shows. And I say, oh, my god, another opening, another show. And I go through it. It's sort of you inside yourself in a ways. Everyone's working and everything's going on. And you're inside, it's always like, oh, my god. I'm going to go through this again. Because creating a show, especially in women's, is very complicated. And women's clothes change, so often. Yes. The shapes change, and the length change. And I don't worry about that, except I just wait for the spot where I said, I got it. Got it. Do you have a favorite design, a favorite or iconic look that you created, or was that like asking, you know, do you have a favorite child? You know, I grew up loving Army Navy surplus. I love rustic things. I look so sorry. I like things that are romantic and rugged at the same time. I don't like fashion. I don't like fashion because I don't want things to go in and out. What you're wearing is beautiful, but it's timeless. There was no age. I've always believed in that. And I've been able to take a timeless sensibility and make it a dream. And when I saw you walk in today, you look great. Well, thank you. And I think this is like four seasons old or something. Yeah. Never going to go out of town. Never be out of town, yeah. So that's what I love. I love the ability to-- when I did a show last year, I did a show with cars that I've collected and clothes. And I wanted to show how the cars have a timelessness as well as the clothes. This is not about fashion. It's about forever. And I think there's something about the clothes that becomes identity as to who you are. If you had to show new clothes all the time, it's not the same as being someone has their own clothes and has her fashion, and they make a statement about themselves. At the Academy Awards, sometimes when you see people coming up to talk about master Soma's would say, what are you wearing? Who are you wearing? Who are you? - Yeah. - I hate that. Sometimes squirming my seats here, oh my God. If I had to go through one of those runways and have someone ask question me, who are you wearing? - Who are you wearing? - Yes. It's become the thing now, you know? - It's over. - It's over. - It's over. - I hope it's over. - I hope it's over. - I hope it's over. After five decades you're still creating runways shows, hit runways shows, and releasing innovative collections. Where does the inspiration come from? Is it come from? You can just be some place and you get an idea. Where does it actually come from? You sit with your team, do you talk about what's in it? - Sometimes it's something you see, I see someone more, it really comes from anywhere. That painting, I bought that painting like Sotheby's years ago, and I loved the way they looked in the park, and I loved the way it looked, and all of a sudden, I said, The horses are eating a heart? Yes. They're riding through Central Park. Whatever it is, I'm leading through it. What I'm seeing here is a beautiful lifestyle that is sort of a little old world, but it has a romance to it. And I guess I am somewhat romantic. I love movies. I guess I always wanted to do a movie if I could, but I realized this time went by that you got to earn your way. So my inspiration comes from so many different places. It comes from people. It comes from someone walking by. You'll see something, you'll see a fabric, or see it. And I'll never know why. It's not sometimes it comes with the most unexpected things. And the idea to come, I think that was a gift given to me, honestly. But I say, how did I do this? I finish a show, and it's over, and people are standing and applauding. And they're coming up to me and saying, I like this. When you looked at the W.W.D.'s 50 years of Ralph Lauren, and all of the various designs and stories about those designs over the years, were you a little bit in awe yourself? I'd like to look at the guys' handsome at that time. I see the changes. I think when you've seen your body of work, when I finished this book, both these books. But this one, particularly my 50 years, my-- The coffee game world. --one of the young people that I was with, who helped me with the book, said, well, Ralph, how do you feel about the book now? And I burst out crying. Sounds terrible, but it's a draining, because it's like your whole life is in that book. Ralph, I'm looking through 50 years of Ralph Lauren. Beautiful coffee table book, by the way. I hope people get it. And this is your life. I would cry too if I was looking at this. I would be in awe of my own life, as I am. And I am in awe of my own-- I don't know who this is. You don't know who this is in the pages of the book. The difference is, I think we all-- we earn our way. We know who we are. We're working. But we look into all of a sudden. I'm looking at that guy, and I said, who is he? You know what? Yeah. I'm looking at the car. I like him, but I-- Does this feel like your life, doesn't it? It does. Yes, it does. It does. It's a dream. It's the life that I always wanted. And it's the life that I've gotten. I love, though, that you, Ralph Lauren, can say, even to yourself now that you look at your life sometimes and say, how did this all come to me, how did it go? Well, I do that, and I've died for years. But you keep going-- You've done a lot of right things that are like that happen. Well, you mentioned earlier about a brain tumor, and something that nobody can prepare for. How did that inform the way you lived? Well, it's a major nightmare. That's a major interruption. So the balance of this guy goes down-- who's walking down the runway, who's getting a sanding ovation. And this other guy, who's Dr. Says Ralph, we saw something, and we'd like to have an X-ray. Did you feel something first before they saw something? No, no. My ears were ringing. So if anyone has ringing ears, forget it. It's called tinnitus. It's not the same thing. I don't know if I yelled at my kids one night. I don't remember. I woke up, and my ears were ringing. And I was somewhere, kind of, they said this. It doesn't stop what this is. So I went to a few doctors, and one doctor said, let's take a CAT scan. They took a CAT scan. And had nothing to do with the ringing of the ears, but he said, we see a little, a little, small, benign, and engeoma, they call it. And I said, why? I mean, so if you want, that's the real person who said, look, I've gotten all this. Why did God give me all this? Yes. And then this guy is saying to me, you have a brain tumor out. I'm in the top of the world, and I have a brain tumor at the same time. That's about the most extreme thing that you could live with. The nightmare of your life. It's more than the nightmare. Because then you start immediately going, I mean, listen, I had a swollen, salivary gland a couple of months ago, and I was like, oh my god, what does this mean? Before I could get to the doctor. You start playing the story in your mind of everything. Right, exactly. You're going to have to alter your life. Very quickly, it just goes right through you. So I had that-- I went through it, but I remember having it and saying, what am I going to do? What do I-- what doctor should I see? Who's going to help me? And it was very frightening. But I met the surgeon and he said, we can take care of this. Is it nothing? And leave it or not. I went running in the park the next day. And I did get-- I was operated on, unfortunately. I think I came back with a vengeance because after it was over, after I was recuperating, I really think I got stronger than I ever was. Did it scare you, though? It's a nightmare of your life. I mean, there's very few things that you ever want to be told. Because I remember walking past a friend of mine on Fifth Avenue when I was told that it was going to have to have an operation. And I saw him. And he had a tumor, some sorts. And he's right leg was paralyzed. And I said, oh, my god, what happened? How did he get this? And is this going to happen to me? And you realize the world is-- things are open to you. Anything can happen. And you just got to go and live through it and then hope some people don't make it. And some people don't. Did it make you appreciate all of the stuff, the things, the life, certainly the family? You know, I appreciate things, but it doesn't last long enough. We tend to forget. And maybe that's how we're made. Because forgetting helps you live. Because if you sat there and just thought about the brain tumor and wallow in your pain, you go nowhere. So after that was over. Fortunately, I was lucky. I'm still very handsome. And I was able to go through it and rise. And rise. And I actually, when anyone, I started this breast cancer clinic for a woman who was in Washington, who was an editor in a fashion business, Nina Hyde. Yes. And I saw her after I got out of the hospital. And I saw her. And she didn't-- she didn't smile back. I said, Nina, you're out. She said, oh, you know, what's the matter, you know? She said, well, I have breast cancer. Breast cancer. And she said, you know, I met a good doctor and I wanted to get the fashion industry involved. And I wanted to ask him, you know, and she said, they didn't really pay much attention. She said, would you, you know, she-- So you created a new clinic? So I said, Nina, I said, I'm going to help you. Who did? I didn't help her enough, but I didn't start the Nina Hyde foundation and then-- The people on it. --and then gone into people. And then to-- Did your own experience with the brain tumor actually impact your sense of service to all of your other organizations? Because once you've had the tumor, you understand-- I understood what you don't realize is when you get sick, you're in a different world. You're out of the world. All of a sudden, you're stepping out of the world, you're in. And you're not that same person. It's an out-of-body experience. And when you live through it, I live through the nightmare of someone opening up my head. And that's a very, very tough thing to live through. And I wonder if you're going to walk and see getting bandages all over there. Will you have memory? Will you know who you are? I know who you're family. And I think I was, as I said before, I think I was very, very lucky. And it absolutely made me very sensitive. Every time I would meet somebody that might have had that, and they would tell me that they had, I would choke up a little bit. It took a long time to get past it. Yeah. Did it give you more empathy for anybody going through anything? Absolutely. Absolutely. Because I felt like I want to take care of it. I knew what they were going through, and I felt. And it was a very sensitive time. Our conversation will continue in the next episode. You can listen by downloading part two. I'm Oprah Winfrey, and you've been listening to Super Soul Conversations, the podcast. You can follow Super Soul on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If you haven't yet, go to Apple Podcasts and subscribe, rate, and review this podcast. Join me next week for another Super Soul Conversation. Thank you for listening.