One Day My Soul Just Opened Up: 40 Days and 40 Nights Towards Spiritual Strength and Personal Growth »

With more than 8 million books in print, Iyanla Vanzant has truly established a dedicated fan base.

Iyanla's path to success took her through a multitude of life-changing experiences that shaped the profound insights she eagerly shares with others. A neglected, overweight, sexually abused child who was shuttled from one family to another, she became a teenage mother on welfare living in the projects of a major urban city. Vanzant took control of her life when she walked out of her second abusive marriage and entered Medgar Evers College in New York and then the City University of New York Law School. She moved to Philadelphia with her children and became a public defender for three years. Then she eventually became an ordained minister, who was committed to a message based on the principles of divine power and self-determination.

Iyanla combined her professional skills with her life's lessons and embarked on a writing and speaking career. Her mass appeal is evident in her overwhelming success as an author. In the Meantime was a #1 New York Times bestseller, where it spent 20 weeks on the list, and she has had numerous other major bestsellers. As a nationally recognized speaker she has sold out such prestigious venues as New York's Jacob Javits Convention Center, Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, Atlanta's Civic Center, and the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles. Vanzant is also familiar to the daytime TV audience from her role as a regular contributor on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

Acclaimed journalist and producer Barbara Walters recognized Vanzant's extraordinary appeal, seeing in her a "breakaway talent" with the potential for huge success in daytimetelevision. With Walters and partner Bill Geddie on board to executive produce, Buena Vista Productions to develop the show, and Buena Vista Television as distributor, the road to Iyanla was forged.

Vanzant has received numerous accolades for her work. In 1992 Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley named October 21st "Tapping the Power Within Day" in honor of a workshop she presented in that city for African-American women. In 1994, the National Association of Equal Opportunity in Education, an organization comprised of the presidents and administrators of the 117 predominantly Black colleges in the United States named her Alumni of the Year. She also was awarded an "Oni" by the International Congress of Black Women as one of the nation's unsung heroes, and she served as the national spokesperson for Literacy Volunteers of America in 1998.

In 1999 she was listed among the 100 Most Influential African-Americans by Ebony magazine. Later that year, she was awarded the 31st NAACP Image Award for "Outstanding Literary Work, Non-Fiction" for Yesterday I Cried. She also earned her first Honorary Doctorate degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, from the City University of New York, Medgar Evars College. In 2000, she earned her second honorary degree, Doctor of Divinity, from the Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, Ebony has named her one of their "55 Most Intriguing People," Vibe magazine tabbed her one of "100 Leaders of the New Millennium" and Newsweek recently included her as one of the "Women of the New Century."

The mother of three and grandmother of four, Vanzant lives in Silver Spring, Maryland with her husband Adeyemi and Mr. Coco, their cat.

To learn how Iyanla can help you get started on your journey toward spiritual

enlightenment, visit Inner Visions Worldwide, Inc., at www.innervisionsworldwide.com.

We all know what it's like to be in a "valley"a deep, cold dark place in life where we may feel hopelessly trapped. On this two-tape set, Iyanla Vanzant, bestselling author of One Day My Soul Just Opened Up: 40 Days and 40 Nights Towards Spiritual Growth, In The Meantime: Finding Yourself and the Love You Want and The Value in the Valley: A Black Woman's Guide Through Life's Dilemmas, reminds us that "a valley is a low point between two mountains" and that each kind of valley holds its own treasures for teaching and strengthening us.

In her discussion with Justine Toms of New Dimensions Radio, Vanzant points out that there is more to life than fleeting moments of pleasure, and she shows the way to that state of permanent internal well-being called joy. "If you don't like what's going on, you're the producer rewrite the script," she tells us.
Topics explored in this dialogue include:

How to hear the "still, small voice" that turns your life around

The value of pain in helping you focus on problems

Expressing the beauty and power of the Creator in your life

How to honor what you feel when you feel it
And much more!

Library Journal

Vanzant is a motivational speaker, spiritual counselor, ordained minister, and Yoruba priestess (minister of the ancient Nigerian religion). A frequent guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show, this prolific author also makes regular appearances on best sellers lists. Yesterday, I Cried is chiefly an autobiographical account of how Vanzant triumphed over her troubled past to achieve success. Losing her mother at age three, she was a childhood victim of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. A single mother at 16, Vanzant rushed into an abusive marriage at 19 and was soon raising three children alone on welfare. Despite this, she earned both undergraduate and law degrees and now counsels others on overcoming difficult circumstances to achieve happiness and spiritual fulfillment. In One Day My Soul Just Opened Up, Vanzant speaks of pursuing spiritual and personal growth. Unfortunately, her advice is often redundant and sprinkled with vague platitudes, e.g., "You can only have what is for you to have" and "Love will heal anything that is not an expression of love." Though Vanzant's rich, sonorous voice is certainly an asset to these abridged productions, it cannot compensate for their meager content. Her many fans will probably expect to find these at public libraries, but purchase only to cover demand.--Beth Farrell, Portage Cty. Dist. Lib., OH Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.