Mika Brzezinski
On 'Morning Joe' I can say what I think, be my sometimes unorthodox self, have fun, yet be serious as well.Collection: Morning
I try my best to be extremely disciplined about my diet.Collection: Diet
I was fired at the pinnacle of my career, on my 39th birthday. And in the year that followed, I learned that there are many psychological phases of being 'let go.'Collection: Birthday
I realize that of all people, I am no expert on parenting or marriage.Collection: Parenting
I always start my day with a red-eye misto - two shots, extra hot, extra foam - from Starbucks.
There's always more money to be made.
Being unemployed has so many real and palpable ramifications but there are also psychological side effects which you can only understand if you've truly lived through it.
I consider my girls the greatest gift from God in life. And I also love the career that I have built, lost and rebuilt. But the highs and lows of my career would not have been as exciting or manageable to me if I didn't have children and a partner for life with whom to share it all.
I am up at 3:30, reading the op-ed pages and getting ready to be on the air by 6 A.M. on the set of 'Morning Joe,' and after three hours of TV and two hours on the radio, it is only 12 noon.
I've worked with Ed Bradley, Dan Rather and lots of different local news anchors.
My family was always active, and our thing was family walks. Not walks around the block, but more like eight-mile hikes up mountains.
These days, I am the most boring, methodical runner. I always do the same three- to five-mile loop near my home every evening. I hardly ever miss a day. On the weekends, I might go longer or add in weights.
A fundamental lesson on being fired: Never lie about it. People will know what you're saying is a cover-up for how you really feel - embarrassed, discouraged, and afraid.
My salary situation at 'Morning Joe' wasn't right. I made five attempts to fix it, then realized I'd made the same mistake every time: I apologised for asking.
Don't push away that chance if you're one of the lucky ones who find that partner. And remember, you can always change a job. I hear it's much harder to switch out a husband.
I'd been fired by CBS News in a semipublic way, and as the months went by, there was a perception that I was damaged goods.
After being let go from CBS and looking for a year for work, I will never catch myself complaining about being too busy.
Women play into each other's weaknesses.
My parents found me very difficult to educate.
I remember an interview so terrible with CNN's Jon Klein, I nearly blurted out, 'Forget it, I am a loser!' But I didn't need to say it. My face and posture did.
I was terrible at interviews, lost in my own loss of identity and struggling at home as a wife and mother. It was a household that preferred me working, which threw me off completely.
I am a marathon worker and marathon mother. I'll spend three or four days completely swallowed up by work. And if I make it home in time to say good night, I may have one good hour with the girls, maybe a brief family dinner or a family walk with the dog, and then it is back on the computer to prepare for tomorrow's shows.
I desperately miss my girls when I am working, and I often feel guilty, but also feel the journey I am on is for them too. When I am on my 16th hour of a day and can barely keep my eyes open, they drive me forward.
For many women, going back to work a few months after having a baby is overwhelming and unmanageable. As strange as it may seem, things get even more difficult for a working mom after the second and third baby arrive. By that time, the romance of being a modern 'superwoman' wears off and reality sets in.
I suffered from a mild case of postpartum depression after my second child and the physical challenge of maintaining an overnight shift at CBS, a marriage, and two in diapers made the symptoms worse and everyone in the house paid the price.
The needs of babies and toddlers were constant and drained the life out my sense of self and my family's relationship with each other.
For me, having it all doesn't mean having the corner office at work and a penthouse at home if there aren't kids running around as I'm trying to cook my husband something special.
Women face enough pressures and challenges in a workplace that is still depressingly biased against a female's success. Add to that, the fact that the very thing many women I know find most rewarding (having kids) is now frowned upon.
I am not afraid to say my relationship with my man is important, even vital, to who I am as a person.
Finding a job is hard enough, but have you ever considered the odds and the challenges of finding a good man?
The odds are definitely better on getting the right job than getting a good partner for life. Someone who will grow with you. Someone to develop memories with. Someone who was there in the beginning. Someone who will be there at the end.
Don't make your journey through life harder by placing rules on yourself like, 'I can't get married till I get promoted to your dream job.'
I have mugs of hot water every morning because the studio is cold, and also because it makes my throat sound clearer.
I love tomatoes, and they're so good for you.
I did something a lot of people will have to do in this economy if they want to eventually land their dream job. I turned down an offer to take a high-paying position in another field because it wouldn't fulfill me.
A bad boyfriend is someone you give everything to - you live with him, cook for him, sleep with him - thinking he is going to marry you and then he doesn't. When you are giving your all to a job and not getting credit, your job is a bad boyfriend.
Despite my professional experience, the fifteen-hour workdays, and a successful new show that I had helped build, MSNBC was still refusing to pay me what I was worth.
I don't want to impose rules on people, but you have only a short window, and you're sorely mistaken if you think you can put off having a family. It's very hard to find a good man, and it's never a 'good time' to have a baby if you have a career.
In high school, my two older brothers ran track. They'd come home sweaty and mud-covered, and I could tell they enjoyed it. So I started running - I ran a mile down the road and back again - and I haven't stopped since.
Often I feel like I can run forever. If someone told me I had to run for 10 hours, I probably could.
Everyday I find myself reminding women around me to know their value. I also have to remind myself.
I think women have a hard time not apologizing their way into negotiations. We tend to back in to these conversations in a self-deprecating and ultimately self-defeating way.
At almost forty years old, I assumed my career on camera was over. And I was certainly given that message by all the TV managers and news directors who passed on me when I was trying to get a job back in the business.
We have to unclutter our brains from worries that maybe people don't like us. Women tend to worry about popularity; it doesn't matter if they like you. They need to respect you. They need to show that respect for you in your pay check. And that needs to be okay.
Don't apologize for asking for what you deserve.Collection: Simple
I absolutely tore George W. Bush to shreds, despite the fact I knew the guy personally and I actually campaigned for him in 2000. It's our job to just call it like we see it whether these people are our friends or not.Collection: Jobs
When the President of the United States attacks a movie star it is undignified and it casts a poor light on the United States of America. When the President of the United States attacks a sitting judge and questions his legitimacy, that actually can lead to a Constitutional crisis.Collection: Stars
We have an almost desperate need for more women to run for office and for more women to really gut it out after they have kids and stay in their jobs and get to high positions in companies. We need women at the top more than ever. We need women's voices there because they are very different than men's voices and they bring a very valuable and necessary point of view to the table.Collection: Running
If we can't quantify and communicate our value with confidence, the achievements of the tremendous women before us will have all been for nothing.Collection: Achievement
I personally know Donald Trump, and I know a lot of amazing really kind acts that he's done one-on-one with people. And the candidate that I see is not the person I know.Collection: People