With ‘Fix My Life,’ Iyanla Vanzant Opens Next Chapter by Helping Others

With ‘Fix My Life,’ Iyanla Vanzant Opens Next Chapter by Helping Others


As the Oprah Winfrey Network continues to churn out provocative celebrity interviews with Oprah Winfrey herself asking the tough questions, a familiar face will make her debut this weekend.On Saturday, author, Yoruba priestess, and life coach Iyanla Vanzant returns to television in Iyanla: Fix My Life, a show that aims the camera at those struggling with the everyday issues of life, surviving family strife, and managing love.

While this type of on-air entertainment may not chart new territory for the television audiences, Vanzant’s own life journey—filled with heartache, betrayal, and loss—effortlessly gives this tried-and-true theme a more authentic, polished, and updated look.

Vanzant, born Ronda Eva Harris, was already a beloved African-American writer when Winfrey invited her to be a guest on her talk show more than a decade ago. Her feisty, no-nonsense approach to the most mundane problems of life brought her countless fans, and she sold more than 8 million books. Titles such as In the Meantime and One Day My Soul Just Opened Up made the New York Times bestseller list and put Vanzant front and center as a foremost inspirational speaker and ordained New Thought spiritual leader.

“I’ve always wanted people to know who they are from the inside,” says Vanzant. “Then they can create the life they desire and deserve. I’ve always believed that my job was to facilitate the evolution of the human consciousness. If you don’t like your sister or don’t get along with your father, let’s find out if you like yourself. Let’s not sugarcoat anything about it.”

Sugarcoating was something Vanzant never had the opportunity to experience. Motherless at 3, raped at 9 years old, and a mother by age 16, Vanzant would also become the victim of domestic violence. She fought to survive with welfare checks and public housing until she one day figured out a way to turn her life around. She put herself through college, then law school, and eventually created the self-help empire that made her a household name.

Suddenly she was receiving million-dollar book-royalty checks and appearing regularly on the most popular talk show in the country. Vanzant says she was living a life so amazing, she had to pinch herself daily to be sure was real. It was real—and unfortunately short-lived.

“I wasn’t ready for fame and all that brings to your life,” remembers Vanzant. “It was an amazing experience, but so overwhelming, because no one can tell you beforehand when it will happen or how it will impact you. So no one can tell you how to handle it, being stopped everywhere you go because people saw you on Oprah. It took me over, and I wasn’t ready.”

After appearing on Winfrey’s show numerous times in one season, Vanzant seemed destined to walk the same path traveled by the likes of Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz.
“That’s not quite the way it turned out, of course, for me,” says Vanzant. “I wanted a show sooner than Oprah and Harpo [Productions] thought I was ready for. I went with another female powerhouse—Barbara Walters—in the business, and it didn’t work out. That’s life in many ways, and I knew that.”