During Oprah's Harvard commencement speech today, Oprah shared her journey as a television icon leading up to the creation of her own network, OWN.

"In 1986, I launched my own television show with a relentless determination to succeed," said Oprah to the graduating class of 2013.

"At first, I was nervous about the competition, and then I became my own competition, raising the bar every year, pushing, pushing, pushing myself as hard I [could]."

"Sound familiar?" she asked the graduates.

But her 25-year-success as a daytime talk show host eventually led her to "recalculate" and "find new territory."

Enter OWN, a monumental venture that was both risky and time-consuming for the 59-year-old.

"After launching OWN, nearly every media outlet had proclaimed that my new venture was a flop," said Oprah.

"Not just a flop, but a 'big, bold flop', they called it."

The businesswoman talked about being "stressed, "frustrated," and "embarrassed" by the ordeal.

"I thought to myself, 'I'm going to turn this thing around and be better for it'," Oprah decided.

"And when I do, I'm going to go to Harvard, and I'm going to speak the truth of it. And I'm here to tell you, I have turned that network around!"

According to USA Today, Oprah used the moment, and her experience, to motivate the Harvard graduates to look beyond failures.

In March 2011, OWN went through major retooling amidst low rating and uncertain advertisers, reported The Huffington Post, only two months after the channel debuted.

As a result, the channel decreased in original programming and increased in reality shows. In addition, the popularity "Oprah's Next Chapter" saw the billionaire back in familiar territory, interviewing celebrities like Lance Armstrong to produce some of the OWN's highest ratings to date.

With an estimated loss of $330 million as of May last year, the channel is expected to break even late this year, reported The New York Times.

All this fueled Oprah's Harvard speech to urge graduates to strive to be "the highest, most truthful expression of yourself as a human being.

"You want to max out your humanity. Lean in to use your voice, lean in to make change where it needs to be made, and lean in to invest your heart and your soul in ideas and people."

Watch the entire speech below: