Oprah Winfrey Revealed Great Life Lesson She Learned While Working for 50 Cents per Hour

Oprah Winfrey is a billionaire with a sprawling media empire and tons of investments, but one of the life lessons that shaped her to who she is today was learned while Winfrey was babysitting for 50 cents per hour.

In her new book, “The Path Made Clear,” Winfrey traces the winding path that led to her calling, including some stops on the way that, though had nothing to do with her ultimate purpose, left her with several nuggets of wisdom.

One of such stops was her first-ever job at the age of 15. The talk show host took on a job to babysit at 50 cents per hour.

'It doesn't matter how many yellow brick roads you encounter—it has always been right there'

Not only was the job paying little, but Winfrey recalled that her boss at the time would leave out piles of clothes for her to tidy up without compensation.

While a young Winfrey realized that her boss did not value her efforts, she determined not to let that become a yardstick to measure her worth.

"I decided that no matter how much or how little money I made, I would never let that define my worth," she wrote, according to “O, The Oprah Magazine.”

Winfrey chose to believe instead in the teachings of the late Maya Angelou: that your worth is in the lives you’ve touched.

The famous talk show host did not let her babysitting experience define her and went on to find her passion.

Even that did not come so easily since Winfrey started her TV career as a news anchor, but once she took up a co-hosting gig for a show, she knew she had found her calling.

Today, Winfrey has made history as the world’s first black woman to become a billionaire, and even though her award-winning “Oprah Winfrey Show” wrapped up in 2011, she still makes it to any list of financial giants.

Said Winfrey:

"You have the power to discover your purpose and live your greatest truth. It doesn't matter how many yellow brick roads you encounter—it has always been right there, at home, in your heart."

The 65-year-old recently opened up in her magazine about the last days she spent with her mom, Vernita Lee before she passed away last Thanksgiving.