In 1985, Hollywood was all abuzz about an upcoming movie called The Color Purple.

Anything that Steven Spielberg touched was destined to be successful, and I was thrilled to see one of my favorite writers, Alice Walker, also affiliated with the project.

I was very interested in the movie’s cast, which included a host of well-known actors and actresses of color, in numbers that I couldn’t remember seeing since the movie Roots.

Whoopi Goldberg, whom I had seen do stand-up on Broadway, Danny Glover, whom I remembered from the movie, Places in the Heart, and Oprah Winfrey, whose name I recognized from A.M. Chicago, a show that I would periodically watch whenever I was in the Windy City on business.

 As I entered New York’s LaGuardia airport one Sunday afternoon, I quickly headed to the newsstand for some snacks and a few of my favorite magazines for the flight. I was Chicago-bound for a week and was praying Mother Nature would be kind to me during my stay.

 As I made my way through the crowd and headed to my gate, I gazed at my watch and realized that I had arrived much too early for my flight. At this point, all I wanted to do was find a seat in a corner where I could get comfy and wait to board the plane. Jackpot! I spotted one and began to pick up my pace so as not to lose it to someone else, equally anxious for this prime airport real estate.

 Just as I made the left turn to enter the sitting area, I looked up and into the eyes of a woman whom I recognized. It was none other than Oprah Winfrey. She was eating what looked like popcorn from a long, white paper bag. There was a man with her (no, it was not Stedman), and they were engaged in conversation. There was no entourage.

 I walked past her at a snail’s pace, as I wanted to be 100% certain that it was her. Yep, it was Ms. Winfrey. I smiled and then nodded. She smiled back, in between tossing popcorn in her mouth like a happy woman who had been enjoying her day.

Everyone else in the sitting area was engaged in conversation, sleeping, or just otherwise preoccupied. Surely, I wasn’t the only one to notice who this was. I get that it was New York, and her notoriety at the time was likely far from what it was in Chicago. However, all I kept hearing in my head was, “That’s Oprah Winfrey. She’s going to be in The Color Purple!” At first, I thought people were just trying to be respectful by not hounding her for an autograph. However, I got the sense that most, if not all of them, had no idea who she was.

 I sat in my coveted corner, and in between page flips of my magazine, I would look up and want to pinch myself. Clearly, I was about to board the same flight as freaking Oprah Winfrey!

Throughout the flight, I sat like an excited little girl, gazing in her direction, happy to be on the plane with a woman who even then, exuded superstar qualities.

When the plane landed at O’Hare. I walked behind her in the terminal for as long as I could until she and her companion went in one direction and me in another.

 It was at that point that it hit me.  I didn’t have an autograph or anything to commemorate this momentous occasion. No cell phones, then. I know, prehistoric, huh? 

The Day I Came Face to Face with Oprah Winfrey. 

While I sat in the airport in New York, I just didn’t feel it appropriate to interrupt her conversation with her friend to ask for an autograph. I had a brand new magazine that she could have written all over. Damn that Southern home training that my Mom subjected me to growing up!

 Years later, as her stardom exploded, I wanted to kick myself for not having something to show for this chance crossing of paths.

“I will probably never have that opportunity again,” I would often say.  Repeatedly.

Negativity. Glass half empty. Those were the characteristics of many of my limiting beliefs back then.

 Today because of mindset shifts that I have made, including an unshakeable belief in my purpose, and myself, I do believe that I will meet Madame O in person again. I will not just look her in the eye in passing, but I will have the opportunity to engage in conversation with her and ask some of the burning questions that most any entrepreneur would love to ask her.

 While I can’t definitively say when it will happen, I predict that this opportunity will occur in either Los Angeles, Chicago, or (gasp), possibly New York. #manifestation

 I began a transformational journey in 2014, which has resulted in a life that is simply unrecognizable. I got out of my own way and have allowed God’s master plan to unleash itself. The experience thus far has been amazing.

 To say that I am happy is an understatement. I have identified my passion, which has led to my undeniable purpose, and more than anything else, I am a Mom On a Mission who truly and unapologetically BELIEVES!

I encourage women with dreams to always remember the following:

1)      We don’t meet people by accident. They are meant to cross our paths for a reason.

2)       Never give up on your dreams.

3)       Believe. Believe. Believe. And raise your children to do the same