 | ||||||
Judith Bowman Enterprises
Fabulous Woman
Tel: 617-592-2101 E-mail: Judith Bowman
1
Mika Brzezinski
Mika Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" and founder of the “Know Your Value” movement for women, is the mother of two teen girls, Emili, 19, and Carlie, 17. She 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.”
I feel like this is the message for the moment for women.”
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."
The daughter of Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security director under former President Jimmy Carter and brother of Mark Brzezinski, Ambassador to Sweden, was in Boston as part of her speaking series on empowering women in the workplace. I sat down with Ms. Brzezinski just before Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh declared it “know your Value Day.”
Attitude: “Have a great attitude, a solid sense of your value, know what you bring to the table… then, communicate this effectively. Learn to develop a thick skin and let things roll off, but know when to zero in and call people out … having a confident attitude and a commanding presence breeds respect.”
Appearance: “You need to relate to your audience and appearance is a major facet of your message. Some women have grown their style, look and brand and it works. So for those women, this does not apply. For the rest of us, appearance is cause for concern and “what to wear” and how to wear it is just constant turmoil. … I want to take the veil off of how you think you’re supposed to look and get down to basics.”
“I myself, have had a couple style evolutions … there was a whole phase where I tried too hard to match the beauty queens in my business with the tight, bright dresses, cinched waits and extra eye-lashes, and if I worked really hard, … if I killed myself, I could do it, but that isn’t me.” Ms. Brzezinski has a clean, classic style and doesn’t like to spend a lot of time or money on clothes but says, “you can’t spend nothing, you have to invest in today’s clothes.” Ms. Brzezinski is launching a new clothing line with Milly.com whose collection takes classic silhouettes and epitomizes bold, advanced contemporary fashion with a feminine edge and a sense of individuality to include her standout signature scarves.
The “Know Your Value” tour continues in Orlando on Nov. 20. Go to msnbc.com/knowyourvalue for more details.
