My hero: Oprah ‘transformed my life’
Lisa Yardley credits Oprah Winfrey with transforming her life.
The Christchurch woman might be the reason for the superstar’s first visit to New Zealand – and she will be there to witness it.
Yardley, 45, watched Winfrey’s eponymous talkshow religiously for two decades, from when she was a 19-year-old new mother until the show ended in 2011.
She is perhaps Winfrey’s biggest Kiwi fan. For years, Yardley taped missed episodes of the talkshow and watched them on weekends. She has the final episode of Winfrey’s show permanently saved on MySky.
Yardley describes Winfrey as her mentor, saying she gave her the courage to quit her job as an accountant and pursue a career in real estate. Last year, Yardley became one of New Zealand’s few female auctioneers.
Yardley has visited Winfrey’s studios in Chicago and wax impression in Washington DC, but it remained her lifelong dream to meet her mentor in the flesh.
On her 45th birthday, Yardley got her wish. ‘‘I always believed I’d meet her one day, I just never knew how,’’ she said.
Yardley had been planning a trip to Hawaii when she realised Winfrey would appear in Newark on her six-city ‘‘Live Your Life’’ tour during that time.
She purchased a $1000 VIP ticket to the two-day event, and informed her travel mates they’d be going to New York instead. On opening night, Yardley was in the fourth row of the 18,000-seat stadium, where Winfrey shared her famous rags-toriches story.
‘‘It was like being at a rock concert,’’ Yardley said.
‘‘Her message was, ‘you can change your life at any point, you aren’t a victim’.’’
When the show ended, VIP ticketholders were taken into a room where they queued to meet one of America’s most powerful women.
‘‘She was very humble, very much like what you see on TV,’’ Yardley said.
‘‘I just did lots of breathing and thought, you’ve got to remember this and be grounded in the moment, because it’s going to go really fast.’’
When her turn came, Yardley introduced herself and said she was from New Zealand.
‘‘Oprah goes, ‘From New Zealand? Oh, we must go there.’ ’’
Winfrey’s visit to Auckland in December makes her a woman of her word.
Naturally, Yardley’s computer mouse was at the ready when pre-sales tickets went on sale yesterday morning.
She estimated the first tier sold out in about four minutes.
Yardley was careful not to get her hopes too high, but with her brother Mike’s help, she secured five $190 tickets. ‘‘I thought, if it was meant
to be, it will be.’’