Hoda Kotb wasn’t always the TODAY star she is now. She was rejected by 26 different news directors before getting her first job, before working her way up to her top spot on TODAY.
“It’s weird when everyone tells you you’re no good and when it happens over and over again you start believing it,” Kotb said in a Morning Joe Green Room video. “But I was so stubborn and dumb that I keep going!”
Kotb eventually got a job at a news station she literally stumbled upon while traveling for interviews. These days, she gets up at 4:15 a.m. (almost as early as the Morning Joe crew!) and “front-loads” her day–getting almost everything done before she goes on air and into American homes for her hour with Kathie Lee each day.
Her latest project tackles the journey she took–from adversity to success–following six people from major life events to where they are ten years later.
“It’s nice to see people who were on their knees in the fetal position and you thought, ‘there’s no way they’re getting up,’ and you read the book and you’re just ‘oh my god!’”
Check out the rest of the interview in our web exclusive.
Jane Timm