With a 45-year track record of success, a net worth of $2.5 billion, and unmatched king-making power, you’d think there is pretty much no TV gig Oprah Winfrey wouldn’t nail.

But according to a revealing new Hollywood Reporter interview, things actually didn’t go so well when the TV icon tried to take her emotional brand of journalism to 60 Minutes.

“It was an interesting experience for me. I enjoyed working with the teams,” Winfrey says diplomatically in the interview, “but it was not the best format for me.”

What made her a less-than-perfect fit for the storied news program? Apparently, an excess of emotion.

“Never a good thing when I have to practice saying my name and have to be told that I have too much emotion in my name,” she continues.

“I think I did seven takes on just my name because it was ‘too emotional.’ I go, ‘Is the too much emotion in the ‘Oprah’ part or the ‘Winfrey’ part?’… They would say, ‘All right, you need to flatten out your voice, there’s too much emotion in your voice.’

So I was working on pulling myself down and flattening out my personality — which, for me, is actually not such a good thing.”

Seeing the mismatch between her true self and the culture and demands of the job, she walked away. It’s courageous (and Oprah clearly isn’t short of other options), but it’s a lesson more professionals would probably benefit from learning.

Follow us to see more useful information, as well as to give us more motivation to update more useful information for you.