How a Pair of Oprah's Shoes Changed One Woman's Life

Joni Jacques is one of those Oprah Show guests who, Oprah says, she will always remember. In 1997, Joni revealed how a pair of shoes she purchased during one of Oprah's charity sales changed her life. "I bought the shoes, and I really loved them, and I kept them in my bedroom," Joni told Oprah after a show. "And when I got really, really, depressed, and I couldn't find anybody to talk to, I took the shoes out and..."

"Stood in my shoes. She would stand in my shoes," Oprah said, through tears. "And now she says she doesn't have to stand in the shoes as much, because she's standing on her own. Isn't that the best story you ever heard?"

Now, almost two decades later, Joni says people still recognize her as the "shoe girl," and she still remembers how it felt the day she stood in Oprah's black pumps for the first time. "I was in the bed one night, and you know, you pray and everything, and it was just a voice. People might believe it or might not, and they just said, 'Stand in the shoes.' And I'll remember that until the day I die, 'Stand in the shoes.' ... And the weight of the world just dropped off," she says. "Life totally changed that day."

Joni says she gained the confidence to go back to school, and in 2009, she graduated from Indiana University. Watch as Joni shares more about her life today.

Joni Jacques' book Record Paradiseis now available online.