As history has shown, when women stand together, barriers are broken down. For example, the fantastic Savannah Guthrie suggested that her Today Show co-host Hoda Kotb be included in this year’s 50 Over 50 list. Together, Know Your Value and Forbes have compiled a list of the 50 most successful women in the world who all turned 50 after their peak years.
In a way, Hoda elevates the message of this crucial movement. She’s 58 years old, and in the last few years, she’s achieved her greatest levels of career and personal accomplishment.
Hoda joined TODAY as a co-anchor while she was already in her 50s, at the age of 53. In her 50s, she adopted two lovely kids, Haley and Hope. Hoda has finally reached the point in her life when she can say, “this is my best decade ever.”
She’s a symbol for any girl who’s ever worried she won’t find “the one,” will never be the center of attention, or whose hopes of starting a family were written off as pipe dreams.
Savannah’s Decision to Put Forward Her Coworker as A Nominee Was an Easy One
The fact that Hoda became a mother later in life, like Savannah, is just one of the many reasons she is “profoundly inspiring to women everywhere,” Savannah says.
Hoda Kotb is walking, talking proof that success is possible, and that it can be achieved on your own terms. She personifies the ideal of the contemporary woman for me. That woman has some serious muscle. What a stunning woman.
She possesses a generous nature. This woman is genuine. She is really committed to her loved ones. She takes care of her friendships and makes sure they thrive. Savannah gushed about Forbes, saying, “She is a fantastic professional and a brilliant journalist.”
Hoda and Savannah are fantastic illustrations of what can happen when women support each other. Plus, they represent the future.
Who would have thought that two powerful women in their fifties would be hosting TODAY twenty years ago? There was usually the old male anchor and the young girl anchor,” Hoda recalled to me. It’s like we were never here. But now we see them, and they’re changing the world.
In Today’s Seven Decades on The Air
Savannah and Hoda are the first women to co-anchor the show. Every day, they show us how the morning news is driven by their experience, empathy, and wisdom, and they pave the way for other women of all ages by being there for us every day.
Each Day They Show how Women Can Be Strong Allies for Each Other in Any Situation I feel lucky to be part of a firm that places such an emphasis on having strong female role models in executive positions and on the broadcast.
They include the likes of Hoda and Savannah, MSNBC president Rashida Jones, NBC News senior Washington correspondent Andrea Mitchell, NBC News top White House correspondent Kristen Welker, NBCUniversal chairperson of global advertising and partnerships Linda Yaccarino, and many more.
Thank you, Savannah and Hoda, for leading by example and working together to level the playing field. It’s a privilege to call you friends. In appreciation of Savannah’s nomination, here’s to Hoda. You deserve the praise, Hoda. You kept going even when it got tough, and it made you and everyone else stronger.