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Speaker 1: So, I kind of have a fun little announcement to make. On September 29 at 1 a.m. East Coast time and it will be live, I'm going on HSN (Home Shopping Network) to do an Ask Suze Anything show, not going to be there talking about a product or whatever. I'm going to be there to answer your questions. So, if you would like to talk to me live on the air that night, here's what I want you to do. I want you to now send in an email to AskSuzePodcast@gmail.com, and in the header, just put HSN and I will read them. And if chosen, then I'll send you back the phone number and the time that you should call in so we can talk live. Don't you think that's fun? Now, why am I telling you this? Because this is going to be advertised everywhere. And I just thought, you know, maybe my Women and Money podcast ladies, and the men smart enough to listen, it would be great if we had a little jumpstart on everybody. So again, that will be September 29th at 1 a.m. East Coast time. Adjust that for wherever you are. Send in your questions, and again, if chosen, I'm going to get to talk to you live on the air. On this Ask Suze Anything podcast, I want to do something a little bit different. Only because I was so confused, I was so confused as to why all of a sudden, why is my phone ringing off the hook? Am I getting all of these invites to speak here, to do this, to write this column, to have this interview, let's do this feature, all these things. And then it dawned on me that this happened right at the exact same time that Beverly Hills 90210, I think those are the numbers for it, anyway, who cares, I never watched it, but that's beside the point. That they had this little segment, part of it, where one woman was talking to another woman and she says, oh, something about Suze Orman and her jackets. I don't even know because I didn’t hear, but I sure got a lot of emails about it. Right after that, I started to get all these requests, it was almost as if, oh, I'm cool enough to be on 90210, maybe I'm just cool enough to want to be everywhere again. It was just kind of fascinating to me. But, what am I getting at here? So, one of the people who got in touch with me and interviewed me asked me a question and I thought it was a fascinating question.So rather than me answering today the questions that you wrote in about, I'd like you to hear the answer that I gave to this reporter as to the question they asked me. And they asked me, Suze, how did you become Suze Orman? What did you do that made it so different that out of everybody else out there, there's only one Suze Orman that rose to the ranks that you rose to. How did you do that? And before I answer that question, the reason that I found that interesting is that many of you write in and you ask me for help. Suze, you must know somebody. There must be somebody out there that you can connect me with. I do this, I do that, what do you think of my website? Can you just give me a help? Give me money, give me this, help me, help me, Suze, I need help. And then it really came to a head just the other day when a woman, an abused woman that I've been working with, finally made it through all four years of college. She somehow was able to raise two kids, well she's still raising them, they're 7 and 14 now, make it in New York just against all odds as to what has happened to this woman. She's finally gotten a job, $15 an hour, and she says, Suze, I can't make it here on $15 per hour. Please, you must know somebody that can help me, you have to help me. And I'm like, I don't know anybody like that, I only know people in the financial realm. I don't know somebody that can do this or that, that's not who I know. I can't help you, but you can do it yourself. And she said, no, I need help, I'll never make it on my own. You listen to me now. Nobody helped me, nobody helped me become the Suze Orman that you see today. And the reason that I'm the Suze Orman that you see today is because nobody helped me. What's so funny, and I want you all to think about this when you know somebody and you ask them for a favor. Help my child get into school. (That got a whole lot of people in trouble, didn't it?) But help my child get into school, help my child get a job, help me get a job, please tell them you're my friend and you know me and blah, blah, blah. Have you ever had one of those people ever truly get you a job and get you in? You know, when I had The Suze Orman Show, so many people came to me and said, please can my daughter, can my brother, can my sister, can my son apprentice for you? And the problem when you ask somebody who is in a position where you're working and you want your kid and they are in a position that you think they can help you, the reason that they never really do help you is because they want to help their own kids. They want to help their own relatives. They can't keep going back and back and back and asking everybody, please help this person, help that person. So, their heart is never in it. So even if they give the name of the person to somebody as a recommendation, it never goes anywhere because of the energy behind it. Have you ever noticed that? And so, when I was thinking about this, I was thinking and answering this person's question, how did Suze Orman become Suze Orman and how can you become who you need to become? Who you want to become? It was because I lived by my motto: People first, then money, then things. I never, ever did anything just to make money. I always did everything because it was the right thing to do, not the easy thing to do. And so, when I was answering that question for this reporter, he says to me, well, give me an example like, so how did you get on The Oprah Winfrey Show? Because that really, if you think about it, was the true turning point of my career. And it all started because I had written a book called The Nine Steps to Financial Freedom, Practical and Spiritual Steps So You Can Stop Worrying. Now, the book on its own in 1997 when it first came out did extraordinarily well for a hardback book. It sold 300k copies all on its own. No television, no support really, on its own. Now, if you don't know, a hardback author if they sell 25k copies of a book, oh, that is a lot in most cases. But here I am and I was sitting in the office actually of my first publisher who published You've Earned It, Don't Lose It. And I was just visiting her, and I'm there and her phone rings and it's Katy Davis, our producer from The Oprah Winfrey Show, saying we are looking for Suze Orman, do you know how to get in touch with her? And she says, well, she happens to be sitting right here in front of me. Now, this, I have to tell you, is an author's dream to get on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Are you kidding me? But we tried and we tried to get on The Oprah Winfrey Show, we tried with You've Earned It, Don't Lose It, they didn't take the book. We tried with The Nine Steps to Financial Freedom and never heard back from them at all. I tried every connection that I thought I had, nothing happened, nobody was able to help me. And now I am just sitting, visiting Esther Margolis, my first publisher, and I have a producer from The Oprah Winfrey Show on the air wanting me? And she says to me, Suze, we want you to come on The Oprah Winfrey Show and talk about the spiritual side of divorce. Now, obviously, she thought that because the subtitle to my second book was Practical and Spiritual Steps So You Can Stop Worrying. The Nine Steps to Financial Freedom, Practical and Spiritual Steps So You Can Stop Worrying. And I say to her, Katy, I'm so sorry, but there is no spiritual side to divorce. When you get married, you take vows, and if you break those vows, there is nothing spiritual about it. I am not your right person for this, I don't know about divorce, I know about personal finance. So, it would be doing such a disservice to Oprah Winfrey, who deserves the best of the best, for Suze Orman to come on. Now, the publisher, Esther Margolis of the first book is sitting across from me listening to me say this, and she's like shaking her head, she’s going, you got to go on The Oprah Winfrey Show, what is wrong with you, no, no, no, no, no? She's writing me notes, Suze, don't do this, don't do this.And I stick by it. And Katy says, I'm asking you to come on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and I say, Katy, I know that you're asking me that, you have to find somebody else. I'm so sorry, if ever you look for somebody as an expert in personal finance, I'm your girl. In the meantime, I give her my personal contact, and I think that's that. Two weeks later, I get another email now from Katy Davis and then a phone call and she says, Suze, we can't find anybody else, we want you. And I say to Katy, what don't you understand about what I said to you? And now she's talking to me and talking to me, and she finally convinces me that she will look for one more month, and if she can't find somebody in one month, will I come on? And I say yes, knowing perfectly well that she'll find somebody in another month. One month later, my phone rings again and it's Katy Davis. She said, well, we haven't found somebody, we want you. And I'm like, oh, God. I said, OK. Now, this was during the time that Oprah was in Amarillo, Texas with that lawsuit, which is how she met Dr. Phil. What a blessing that was? And so, the show is in Amarillo, Texas. So, I get on a plane, I go to Amarillo, and I'm sitting in the back of some theater. And everything is going wrong that day, the air conditioning isn't working, you know, it's like their first or second show in this theater and I'm sitting in the back all by myself, really not wanting to go on at all. And now they are running an hour and a half overtime, and I am so happy because I'm like, there is no way that they are going to get to me. And all of a sudden Katy Davis comes from behind the screens and says, all right, we're ready for you, we have a minute and a half. Like what? Because, honest, I'm not lying you guys, we should get Katy Davis on, she can tell you this story. Anyway, I say really, really, Katy, there's no time left. She says, come on Suze. And I come out and I'm standing there, and there is Oprah Winfrey in front of me with Lorna Wendt, already sitting in a chair with the chair right across from her where Oprah will sit. They then bring up a chair for me to sit in between them. And Oprah looks at me and then she does this double-take, and she motions for me to come towards her. Now I am shaking and I am sweating and I cannot believe that I am in front of Oprah Winfrey and that I am going to be doing this. That wasn't what this was all about, I had simply written books, you know, to help all of you. I was still a financial advisor, I still had my own firm, and it wasn't about this for me. But anyway, Oprah sees how nervous I am, or at least I think she does, and she grabs my hand and she holds my hand and I'm shaking and sweating in Oprah Winfrey's hand. Now can you even imagine that? So, I didn’t want to sweat on Oprah, so I pull my hand out from her hand and she grabs my hand and holds it again. Now we sit down and before the cameras start rolling again, Lorna looks at the book. It was Lorna Wendt, she was in a divorce with her husband, Gary Wendt, which was one of the most high-profile divorces at the time. But she wanted more money as a corporate wife, and I think she actually deserved it, but that really wasn't the point. But Oprah looks at Lorna, Lorna’s looking at the book, The Nine Steps to Financial Freedom that's on the table. And Oprah says, have you read this book? And Lorna said, yeah, actually, I have.  And Oprah said, is it a good book? And Lorna says, yeah, it's a great book. I'm like, oh, here we go.And so now the cameras start rolling. Minute and a half left and Oprah looks at me and she says to me. So, Suze Orman, what is the key to life? My head now is spinning and I'm like, what? What did she just say to me, we're on TV now? What did she say to me? Well, you’ve got to say something, Suze. And out of my mouth comes these words: When you can be as happy in your sadness as you are in your happiness, then you know the key to life. And with that, Oprah says great, and wraps up the show, looks at me while we're still having cameras rolling and says, and you, we’re going to have to do an entire hour show with just on you. And she says, bye-bye, everybody, see you later, and walks off the stage. With that, Katy Davis comes walking on the stage with the biggest smirk that I've ever seen on her face, I'm still friends with her to this day. And she said, see, I told you, Suze, I knew if Oprah just saw you, if she just heard your words, your words of honesty, that she would want you back.So now we're back again just a month or two later and the show is all about The Nine Steps to Financial Freedom, and it's a fabulous show. And all of a sudden there's a PBS special on it, all these things are ticking at once. And now the book in one month is selling so many it's not even funny. The Nine Steps to Financial Freedom was number one on The New York Times bestseller list and every other list for almost a year. In 1998, according to Publishers Weekly, The Nine Steps to Financial Freedom was the number one selling hardback nonfiction book of all books. It sold to the tune of the same amount as Stephen King's novel sold. Oprah would always tease me and say I was coming out of a hotel, Suze, and walking down the steps and they're saying, Oprah, I'm on step four, I'm on step four. And so, a little bit after that, Oprah has me back. I get calls from different producers now besides Katy. They're like 400 of them, remember? And they say Oprah wants you back. And I go, no, no, no, there's a mistake here. I was just on The Oprah Winfrey Show a month or two ago, nobody comes back on that quickly, I think there's a mistake. They go, Suze, there's not a mistake, we want you back. I said, listen, you ask Oprah and if Oprah says she wants me back and it's really coming from Oprah, you tell me and then I'll come back.And sure enough, I got a call and I came back. And it was during that show that I was only supposed to be on for 10 minutes, that was my segment at most 10 minutes, and I was sitting in the audience waiting. And it was all these kids that had like $250k dollars of credit card debt. And Oprah comes out and she says, today I'm going to turn the show over to Suze, and she walks off the stage, tells me to stand up, hands me the microphone, sits in my chair and says, take it away, Suze. And that was my introduction to being a host on a television show, like a live audition on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Now, I can go on and on. That led to 29 appearances, one-hour appearances on The Oprah Show. Obviously, let’s say that was really a key factor, a serious key factor in me becoming who I became. However, there came a point now where I thought I was who I was because of Oprah and it was a few years later that all of a sudden it was like, nope, not going to be on the show anymore. Sorry, Suze, we have another person. We're going with this one we're going with that one. And now I wasn't on The Oprah Winfrey Show. So, if Oprah couldn't help me to become who I was supposed to become, what was I going to do? Oh, my God, I'm nothing right without Oprah? Wrong, I'm Suze Orman. And Oprah saw something in me that I did not see in myself. So, the key to becoming what you want to be and who you want to be is seeing how others see you. Others see your greatness, but maybe you just can't see it yourself. And it was then that I started to be on CNBC, and it was then that I got my own CNBC show, The Suze Orman Show, that went on to be on the air for over 13 years.But it was because of me, I did that, I did that. And I'm proud that I did that, and there's nothing wrong with saying I did that. Sure, there was help by having publicity and things, but I had all of that because of what they saw in me. Now, I am not saying this to you, bragging about who I am. I know who I am and I'm still that person to this day. The question is, that you have to answer on this Ask Suze Anything show is, who are you? Who are you? Who do you show this world you are? Who? And when you could answer that question and you know who you are and you like who you are and you love who you are, do you not think that other people are going to see that and feel that and that is what they're going to purchase? That's what they're going to sign up for? They're not going to sign up for a resumé, they're not going to sign up by a referral of somebody that doesn't really know you, they're going to sign up with you because of you, because of how you feel about yourself. Got that? And that's how you become a strong, smart and secure woman. OK, now that’s Ask Suze Anything for today. In providing answers neither Suze Orman Media nor Suze Orman is acting as a Certified Financial Planner, advisor, a Certified Financial Analyst, an economist, CPA, accountant, or lawyer. Neither Suze Orman Media nor Suze Orman makes any recommendations as to any specific securities or investments. All content is for informational and general purposes only and does not constitute financial, accounting or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, legal and financial advisors regarding your particular situation. Neither Suze Orman Media nor Suze Orman accepts any responsibility for any loss, which may arise from accessing or reliance on the information in this podcast and to the fullest extent permitted by law, we exclude all liability for loss or damages, direct or indirect, arising from use of the information. To find the right Credit Union for you, visit https://www.mycreditunion.gov/. Interested in Suze's Must Have Documents? Go to https://shop.suzeorman.com/checkout/cart/index/.