dude.
Lauren, my friend, former Harpo colleague, and forever found family from the trenches, texted at 7:47a on Sunday morning.
i replied, omg, i’m so tired. how did ur night end?
i’m exhausted, she said. i stayed until they kicked us out.
as women in our early 40’s, we were both recovering from the sensory overload of joy from the massive Harpo Studios reunion the night before at Art Smith’s – Oprah’s former private chef – restaurant, appropriately called Reunion on Navy Pier in Chicago.
we were having a digital post mortem over text. our thumbs were flying as we recounted the night’s wildest events, pointed out familiar faces, and traded epic, nostalgic stories. ugh, why is so and so from x department is still SO hot.
as i exhaustedly stumbled out of bed to make coffee – and for the record, i only had two glasses of wine – i was now actively engaged in seven text threads with Harpo family. being in the silence of the morning away from the noise of Navy Pier brought up a swell of emotions that had been impossible to access during the actual chaos of the event. i just kept thinking, i can’t believe we got to be a part of something like this.
Kevin walked into the family room in his pajamas, and we cozied up into our normal positions across from each other on the couch, hot coffee cradled in our hands.
i can’t believe I was at the Harpo reunion with you last night, he said, laughing softly as he took a sip. you’ve talked about how special the culture was for so long, and last night was evidence of how real it was. i mean, i can’t believe Tyrone, the garage guy, organized the whole thing.
Tyrone Owens, 63, the man who used to manage the Harpo Studios parking garage, was the one who pulled off an epic event that brought an entire legacy back to life.
i know, i said, getting emotional, it’s so special.
and almost as if we had spoken his name into existence, my phone vibrated again. it was my former boss, mentor, and surrogate work mom texting me back about what she had found most profound about the night: the Tyrone story—that he is not well and wanted everyone to be together, moves me beyond.
Tyrone, also known to all of us as Big Ty, didn’t just organize a party, he brought the family together at a time we all needed it most, reminding us exactly who we were to each other.
we’ll make room
the texts started flying last week with the same question: are you coming to the reunion?
i’d heard about it a few weeks prior. i wasn’t sure how legit it actually was. it was being organized in a facebook group and since i can’t remember my password, i was asking other people for details who had access.
i wanted to go. but i also wasn’t sure if i wanted to go. the idea of seeing so many people from the past felt overwhelming and angsty. i had stayed in touch with a core crew that had transitioned from working on The Oprah Show in Chicago to working at the Oprah Winfrey Network in Los Angeles. but it had been more than 15 years since the original daytime crew had been back together after the show ended its historic run in 2011.
i first walked through Harpo’s iconic doors back in 2007. i started as a 21-year-old intern. in a very real way, i had grown up inside that building among the greatest team in the history of television. i’ve never felt more alive, inspired, and a part of something so special in my entire life. but i’d also grown up. i’m just not that same person anymore. i’m different. i’ve gained weight, been married, divorced, and had a new lifetime of experiences. i’m perimenopausal and my edges are thinning.
the thought of the reunion brought up all of these insecure feelings: will people remember me? will I recognize them? what will i say when people ask me what i’m up to? and after all this time, was the magic we felt back then even real, or did we just manufacture it in our heads? but how could I not go. it was rumored that over 200 people were coming, people flying in from all over the country – New York, LA, Nashville, Georgia – to be part of it. and it was probably the last time we’d all be in the same place like this again.
Is everyone putting up money? can I bring a friend or a plus-one? what time does it actually start? i asked to different people with knowledge. the guidance was consistent. you gotta call Ty. here’s his number. coordinate with him since he’s the one organizing it.
so on Saturday morning, the day of the reunion, i called.
whose Minnesota area code number is this, Ty answered shortly without saying hi or hello.
Ty, it’s maya watson from harpo. i heard there’s a reunion tonight. i was calling to get the details.
you rsvp’ed too late and we’re at capacity, he replied sounding like an irritated uncle who was overwhelmed on the day of a big event.
oh no, i didn’t know there was a limit! i said disappointed.
hearing the sadness in my voice, he said warmly, no, no, no. c’mon. we’ll make room. we’ll figure it out.
Harpo Studios was a different kind of place
for the last five years, it’s been on Ty’s heart to get the gang back together. Ty started at Harpo in 1990. he was friends with Tom Stacker, Harpo’s head of security. he bought Tom a new bike and came to deliver it to the studio one day. as they struck up conversation as friends, Tom mentioned that he was looking for someone to paint the parking garage for $20,000. Ty’s ear perked up at the opportunity and he said, i’ll do it for $5000. Tom said deal. and after completing a couple more projects with other people on the maintenance crew, he landed a full time position in the garage.
Harpo was just a different kind of place, he said in a phone call with me on Monday. it just always felt like family. i was so blessed there. everyone cared about me. and Oprah spoiled me.
Ty lost his mom at six and his dad when he was twelve and became homeless around the age of sixteen. he understood the profound, visceral pain of not having a family you could depend on. so as a young boy who grew up without an anchor, Harpo Studios became his sanctuary and the home he never had.
the hardest part of my job was waking up! he said laughing.
he clocked in early. every morning, he had to beat Oprah to the studio, arriving by 7a to ensure he was there before her 7:15am arrival. he greeted her each day with a new name: Oprah, Miss O, Winfrey, Miss Oprah, OW, the boss. for over twenty years, Ty was the bookends of her day—the first face she saw arriving, and the last one she saw leaving. he witnessed it all: two decades of the highest highs and the lowest lows of leading the most powerful show in the world.
Ty approached his job with a relentless spirit of excellence. parking every car with care, shoveling snow during the bitter Chicago blizzards, and spending his day detailing vehicles. the studio garage was a sanctuary where the world’s most famous people would pull up away from the paparazzi. Ty became a vault of secrets, overhearing the most intimate, private conversations. as nervous guests arrived to share their deepest vulnerabilities on television, he was the first touch of the Harpo culture and the first line of comfort. when the cameras were done rolling, he was there to welcome them back, witnessing the flood of relief, joy and triumph on their faces.
by day, Ty became the producers and staff confidante. the garage was one of the few places on the property people could smoke, making it the ultimate corporate confessional. he offered a non-judgemental ear as they brought him everything – problems with spouses, parenting struggles and the day-to-day stress of working on the world’s biggest show.
people told me everything, he said. and they knew i wasn’t going to tell anyone.
beyond the day-to-day operations, Ty felt deep gratitude for the culture of hospitality Oprah created.
when I first started, i couldn’t believe that everything I needed was provided for, Ty reflects. breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks. it was all free. i started out homeless, you know? because of Harpo, i ended up with a beautiful wife, four kids, a nice home, and a nice car. i got to see the world with my family.
Oprah cared about the sacrifices her team made. the late nights. the early mornings. and grueling production schedules meant time away from their families and kids. to make sure everyone understood how grateful she was for that, she organized multiple all-expense-paid legendary vacations around the world for the team and their families over the course of the show. because of her, Ty was able to experience a luxury cruise to the Mediterranean and travel to Hawaii with his wife and kids.
it was everything. there’s nowhere else i wanted to work. i couldn’t work for another company. and i would’ve worked at Harpo for free, Ty said. we are a family. anytime anyone called for anything, day or night, i was coming.
it’s time to get the family back together
on February 5 of this year, Ty underwent open heart surgery. he claims he’s had a bad heart for a while. since the show days in the early 2000’s.
he had three surgeries in one day, his wife Jeanine shared. and when he woke up, one of the first things he said was ‘i need to get the Harpo family together.’ after years of attempts, he knew he wanted to make it happen. Jeanine said, ok, let’s do it.
he first created the design for the flyer and helped locked down the location with Art Smith. then the private Facebook group became the source of truth. within weeks, rsvp’s started flooding in. one by one, the word was traveling from Harponian to Harponian that Ty was getting the gang back together.
most of us have deeply missed the feeling and experience we had there and have either been chasing it in other places or quietly grieving that we may never get to experience it again. we were part of this rare alchemy of purposeful, intentional, ambitious work with a group of people who were great and loved what they did, that also had an impact and made waves around the world and had a blast while we did it. it is the workplace equivalent of heaven on earth. and with the current state of the world and the current culture of work, the time felt right this time and we all desperately needed a touch.
on Friday the day before, people from all parts of the company, from research to booking to finance, were sharing photos that they were on their way.
organizing it was a lot, Ty shared. but i woke up on saturday and thought, ‘it’s showtime.’
the day of, Ty’s phone was ringing like crazy with last minute confirmations, like me, saying they were pulling up. he arrived at the restaurant at 4:30p, 30 minutes before the event was meant to start and it was empty. he had the pre-event jitters of wondering if people would actually show. but he laid out the Harpo Studios reunion t-shirts, bags and lanyards he had ordered at the front entrance with a crew of people who were helping him get set up.
by 5:30p the patio was full and nearly at capacity.
the sound of the event was a combination of deep felt, it’s soooo good to see you, and high pitched shrieks of ahhhhh, omgggg, it’s soo good see youuuuu!!!
everyone, including Ty, admitted to feeling a bit overwhelmed and overstimulated by the experience. it was surreal and felt like we were time traveling back in time to the most special time in our lives. when you saw people, some names slipped our minds. but it didn’t matter because you hugged everyone, knowing there was unconditional love as family. by 7pm, the atmosphere was electric with people walking on the street wondering what in the world was going on because the joy, jubilation and celebration permeating the air was palatable.
as the night lingered on, we fell back into our groove as a crew like no time had passed. and at 8p, someone came up to Ty and said Oprah’s here.
i didn’t believe it, he said.
that same person pulled up their phone and showed him a picture of her from the other side of the patio and as Ty looked up, Oprah was standing there, flanked by her best friend Gayle and long-time partner Stedman.
Ty got choked up and couldn’t hold back the tears.
i can’t believe you’re here, he said to her.
she had flown back early after a trip to South Africa to surprise everybody and personally come hug her Tyrone. on a perfect summertime Chi night under the stars, with the breeze from Lake Michigan, he stood up from his scooter, still weak from the surgery with help from Jeanine and one of his sons and posed for a picture with Oprah amidst the rest of his 300+ family, completely surrounded by love.
she whispered in his ear, job well done, Ty. job well done.
on Sunday as we slowly regained our energy, Lauren and I continued in our text reflections from the night:
me: there is no workplace where people would get on the plane and use their own money to reunite with their team.
Lauren: no, and it wasn’t to get a chance to see Oprah.
me: right, no promise of Oprah. we showed up because of Ty. that is just amazing. think about that!
Lauren: truly amazing. a family people felt a part of. an opportunity of a lifetime to do meaningful work. and only those who are a part of it will understand it.
me: idk, it makes me emotional. that is what work is supposed to feel like. i wish this for everyone. that they get to feel a part of something so special with people you love.
Lauren: you spend over half your “life” with these people too. your other family. not everyone is that lucky.
me: 70% of our lives are spent at work. we got the best family.
Lauren: totally.
Ty, we are so, so grateful for your big, beautiful heart.
sending u so much love,
m
p.s. Oprah posted a recap of the reunion on her Instagram.
more essays about the culture of work from Follow the Leader:
I don’t know why this article resonated so deeply with me. It brought tears to my eyes. It may have been because after recently quitting a job that I had hoped to love I am reminded that some workplaces aren’t toxic and people actually care about the work and each other. I also believe the tears are because I loved the O show and it’s good to know she created a work culture that people actually enjoyed! Thanks for sharing!🤎
what a beautiful love letter to wake up to. 🥰