Mika Brzezinski, Co-Host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and Founder of "Know Your Value."

Today’s guest post is from Judith Bowman’s Fabulous Woman series, which profiles top tier, women business leaders who share their personal stores and advice. In this installment, she talks with Mika Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and founder of the “Know Your Value” movement for women, who was recently in town as part of her speaking series on empowering women in the workplace.

Brzezinski is self-described as “a woman who has had a lot of privilege. I came from a prestigious family, and despite the difficulty I gave my parents, somehow they got me educated, cultured and socialized … and it was still hard for me … there were still bumps along the way.”

The Morning Joe co-host starts her days at 3:30 a.m. daily, writes best selling motivational books, goes on fast-paced, full-scheduled national motivational tours, has a husband and two daughters, and a team of people virtually perched over her every move.

 

What motivates you?

“I have been given an incredible platform to reach women and access my message, and finally do have something to say: ‘thank you.’ I see these women just completely explode, their eyes and mouths wide open and they’re like, ‘Yes, I can do this!’ and it is just so exhilarating.”

“I had always liked being in the television business and never knew how much I loved it until I lost my job and wasn’t working for a year. So when Morning Joe came along, it was a real surprise and a blessing. This was the first real branded platform I had, being the most watched political show and all the frenzy of politics, and it is fun.”

Ms. Brzezinski was fired from her job as an anchor at CBS without warning, but she was soon back on top with MSNBC. And after four unsuccessful attempts at salary negotiations, she finally got it right and declares, ”This is a universal problem … women need to understand their value in the workplace and communicate it effectively, in order to get value back.”

 

This is a condensed version of Bowman’s interview with Mika Brzezinski. To read the entire interview, click here.

 

Judith Bowman is president and founder of Judith Bowman Enterprises, author, speaker, business protocol coach. Email her at Judith@protocolconsultants.com.

Guest Post: Fabulous Women – Mika Brzezinski

by Malea Ritz time to read: 2 min
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