Iyanla Vanzant

Rev. Dr. Iyanla Vanzant is a spiritual teacher, life coach, minister and author. Her site describes her as a six-time New York Times #1 bestselling author with seventeen books translated into twenty-three languages and more than 10 million copies sold. She is also a four-time NAACP Image Award recipient and a three-time Gracie Award winner. She trained as an attorney, and Wikipedia lists a Juris Doctor from the City University of New York School of Law and a master's degree in spiritual psychology from the University of Santa Monica.

She is best known for hosting and executive producing "Iyanla: Fix My Life" on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, where she applies spiritual principles to help people find inner peace and healing by learning to "do the work." The show ran from 2012 to 2021. Earlier television work includes teaching on Oprah's Lifeclass and hosting her own talk show. Many of her more than 3 million social media followers call her "auntie."

Asked how she would describe herself, she names minister, prayer warrior, servant, cultural custodian and student of life. On stage she uses humor and straight talk to carry a message of love, forgiveness and living your best life. She is the founder of Inner Visions World Wide, where she leads retreats at the Inner Visions Institute for Spiritual Development, along with personal development courses and ongoing training for spiritual life coaches, leaders and ministers.

Her recent work, Spiritual Hygiene, grew out of the loss of her youngest daughter, Nisa, in 2023. It is the consistent practice of cleansing, aligning and tending to the energetic, emotional, mental and soul-based parts of life, so that healing is protected and not lost again.