Iyanla Vanzant

Iyanla Vanzant was an American author, motivational speaker, and TV personality born in Brooklyn, New York. Born Rhonda Eva Harris in the back of a taxi to an alcoholic mother, Vanzant had a difficult early life. Her mother died when Vanzant was two years old, and she was sent to live with an uncle, who raped her when she was nine. She had her first child, Damon, when she was 16 with her first husband. Vanzant married her second husband, Charles Vanzant, in 1973, with whom she had two children, Gemmia and Nisa. Charles was abusive, however, and Iyanla divorced him in 1979, taking her children with her. Vanzant graduated from Medgar Evers College in 1983, and the same year, she was initiated and ordained in the Yoruba tradition. She was given the name Iyanla, which means "great mother." Vanzant then attended Queens College, earning a law degree in 1986 and working at a Philadelphia law firm before publishing her first book, Tapping the Power Within: A Path to Self Empowerment for Black Women. The rest of her career was essentially based on spiritual leadership and helping others overcome difficulties. Vanzant married her third husband, Adeyemi Bandele, in 1997. The next year, she began a run of 20 appearances on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" (Syndication, 1986-2011) throughout 1998 and 1999. Vanzant hosted a short-lived talk show, "Iyanla" (2011-02) before her daughter Gemmia died at age 30 in 2003. She served as a life coach on the reality series "Starting Over" (Syndication, 2004-06), which was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Special Class Series each year from 2005 to 2007, winning in 2005. Vanzant made a brief acting appearance in "The Last Stand" (2006), which featured an up-and-coming Kevin Hart. Vanzant and Bandele divorced in 2007. Vanzant returned to collaborating with Winfrey in 2011, serving as a life class teacher on "Oprah's Lifeclass" (Oprah Winfrey Network, 2011-14). She then hosted her own reality series, "Iyanla: Fix My Life" (Oprah Winfrey Network, 2012-), in which she helps people overcome difficult events in their lives. Vanzant appeared as herself in the film "Girls Trip" (2017) and on the TV series "Jane the Virgin" (The CW, 2014-) and "Greenleaf" (Oprah Winfrey Network, 2016-).