Oprah Winfrey Gave Sheinelle Jones 3 Words of Advice

This week marks a new era as Sheinelle Jones and Jenna Bush Hager debut the new fourth hour: TODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle.

Though it’s only just begun, a steady stream of well-wishers and guests have already dropped by Studio 1A to congratulate the new duo, including Kathie Lee Gifford, Hoda Kotb and legendary talk show host, Oprah Winfrey.

Winfrey joined Jenna and Sheinelle to talk about “Enough: Your Health, Your Weight and What It’s Like to Be Free,” a new book co-written with Ania M. Jastreboff, MD, about the science and myths behind obesity.

Before getting underway, however, Winfrey first gave Sheinelle a congratulatory hug saying, “Love, love, love” before sitting in on the morning chat.

In addition to those encouraging words, Winfrey tells TODAY.com that she has another affirmation to pass along to Sheinelle as she embarks on the latest chapter of her life.

“Live the dream. You have to allow yourself to move, to lean into living the dream,” the OWN founder said in a one-on-one interview with TODAY.com. “My affirmation is, ‘Live the dream.”

And does Winfrey think that’s what Sheinelle is doing?

“That’s exactly what she’s doing.”

The sit-down was full circle for Sheinelle who told TODAY.com ahead of Winfrey’s appearance that the aptly dubbed “Queen of All Media” has long been on the “Mount Rushmore” of journalists she deeply admires.

“On my Mount Rushmore of Oprah and Maria Shriver, there are names that you may not know. Allison Payne, Carole Simpson, who was the first one woman of color I ever saw on television,” Sheinelle said.

When told that she’s now on the “Mount Rushmore” of other aspiring journalists, Sheinelle said that the idea “blows her mind.”

“I haven’t pictured myself on a Mount Rushmore. I feel that is earned,” she said. And while she may not necessarily be ready to join the ranks of her heroes, she does feel that with everything she’s been through, she’s earned her “stripes.”

“When you think of a veteran or someone in the military, and they come in a room and they have their stripes, there’s an aura to them, there’s a wisdom to some of them, especially some of the great generals. And the stripes that they have, you can’t take that away from them. You can’t take their journey away from them,” Sheinelle said.

“What I will give myself now is with everything I’ve been through and everything I’ve done to earn this spot in my career, I do believe that I have stripes. You can’t see them, but I know they can’t be taken away.”

While some of those stripes have been earned along her career path, they’ve also come from tremendous personal loss.

In May of this past year, Sheinelle’s husband of 18 years, Uche Ojeh, died from an aggressive form of brain cancer, followed by the passing of her beloved “Grandmama,” Josephine Vonceal Pace Brown in December.

“I’m not a general in the military, but I am a general in life at this point,” she said of what she’s been through.

Even so, she’s also ready to embrace this pivotal moment in her career. A moment Sheinelle said she’s been pursuing since elementary school and cites one of her favorite quotes, which, unsurprisingly, comes from Winfrey.

“God has bigger dreams for you than you can dream for yourself,” said Sheinelle. “Well, I’ve hit that mark now where I feel like the dream for me if bigger than I dream for myself.”

As for what lies ahead, Sheinelle said for perhaps the first time in her life, she’s not entirely sure.

“I don’t think think it’s by accident that this is happening to me right now. I really don’t. It makes me a little anxious and I still don’t know why things happen the way they do,” Sheinelle said.

“But I feel so clear in this moment that this is where I need to be right here, right now.”