C.J.: The president of Gayle King's fan club has been located, and her name is not Oprah

Producer and creative consultant Rachel Weintraub says she works only with people she loves.

And she loves Gayle King, "CBS This Morning" anchor, who is apparently as personable as portrayed in a recent New York Times Magazine profile.

Weintraub was in Edina working with Twin Cities lifestyle guru and "Seize Your Life" author Jasmine Brett Stringer. They met on Twitter in 2011 when Weintraub was co-executive producer of the short-lived "Gayle King Show," which was looking for people celebrating Kate and William's wedding. "And I was having a 'Royal Wedding Party,' " said Stringer. After King and Weintraub went to "CBS This Morning," where she was a senior producer, she gave Stringer a tour of the set.

Weintraub, who is currently working on a big TV project I'm not allowed to disclose, has a résumé that includes stops at "Rolonda," "The People's Court," Oxygen Network and "The View." Founder of the aptly named "Appropriately Selfish, " Weintraub describes her LTD like this: "I find people or people find me and they are already successful, already very good at what they do or they are excellent at what they do and they want to do more. I look at somebody doing well and try to imagine what else they could do. Jasmine has been doing segments on WCCO-TV, and they are great, but you know what, Jasmine manages to find brightness in a world that tends to be very dark right now. She finds happiness in little things that can change people's lives."

We start by talking about Gayle King, who holds esteemed status in Weintraub's life: "Like my late father, Stanley, she is in my 'Top 5 of Favorite People Ever.' "

Q: What did Gayle King teach you?

A: That you can ask anybody any question; it's all in the way you ask it. You can cheer on your competition and still want to win. She taught me how to be a very good person. She enhanced my love of life. I looked forward to growing up, getting older, because every year I would look at her celebrate a birthday and she was better and better. She taught me how to be a mom. I don't think she realizes how many things she taught me. She knows how much I adore her and respect her, but she is someone who keeps achieving. She really taught me how to be an excellent producer, because I think she is one of the best producers, probably the best producer I've ever known.

A: Seeing her at "CBS This Morning" now is where I always hoped she would be because she is a news junkie. She has Emmys for her work in news [when she was a local anchor]. She's an intellect but I love how she asks questions. Every hard-hitting news story she is front and center. She has got this level of relating to people. She just knows how [to ask a question] when something is not right or incorrect or there is something unjust. I've always admired that about her.

Q: Then you were at "The View" on ABC?

A: It was eight seasons. I started the week Elisabeth [Hasselbeck] started. I was done the week President Obama came; he was produced by Audrey Jones. I'll never forget it. A sitting president at a daytime talk show. Every job I've learned from extraordinary people, mostly women. The executive producer was Barbara [Walters] with Bill Geddie. It's like going to the greatest grad school on the planet.

Q: What did Whoopi Goldberg teach you?

A: She's one of those people I start to talk about and get emotional. When you are a segment producer people have to be able to trust you. You give them information so you have to get the element of awe out of you quickly. I watched Whoopi and she was someone who [deep sigh] ... what a talent, what a brilliant, amazing ... What did she teach me? Survival, reinvention, connection, nobody's immune from anything. Sometimes in this world people who have been knocked the hardest are the most compassionate. I have never walked anywhere with anyone who got so much love out in public.