Katty Kay has launched her new podcast, Doing It Anyway, with an honest and thought provoking first episode that explores why confidence continues to hold so many women back at work and in everyday life.
The journalist and author begins the series by explaining that she has spent years studying confidence after realising how much a lack of it affected her own career and personal life.
Introducing the podcast, Katty says confidence is about “taking a risk, getting outside of your comfort zone, acknowledging your fears and doing it anyway”, promising conversations with psychologists, business leaders and inspiring women who have learned to overcome self doubt.
Her first guest is broadcaster and Morning Joe presenter Mika Brzezinski, a longtime friend whose bestselling book Know Your Value has encouraged women around the world to negotiate more confidently and recognise their worth.
Reflecting on their work over the past two decades, Mika jokes: “You were screaming confidence and I was screaming know your value and stop apologising. And we’re still at it some twenty years later.”
The pair agree that despite years of progress, many of the same issues remain, with Mika suggesting some recent social and political changes have left many women feeling less confident than they did only a few years ago.
One of the episode’s most revealing moments comes as Mika recalls signing her original Morning Joe contract after spending a year out of work.
Although the programme was becoming a success, she accepted a salary that was significantly lower than her colleagues because she was simply grateful to have been offered the job.
Looking back, she says: “I didn’t know my moment to take it. I think a lot of women underestimate themselves. They feel so lucky to be there. They sign at the first piece of paper that’s handed to them because they just want that stability.”
Rather than blaming her employer, Mika admits she had failed to advocate for herself, explaining that organisations rarely volunteer to pay people more money.
She tells Katty that employees have to keep track of the value they bring, be able to explain it clearly and develop the confidence to negotiate, even when it feels uncomfortable.
The conversation moves beyond careers into family life, relationships and parenting, with Mika arguing that knowing your value affects every part of life, not just your salary.
She explains that she spent years trying to make everyone around her happy instead of communicating what she actually needed, adding that people cannot meet your expectations if you never tell them what they are.
The podcast also explores how childhood experiences shape confidence.
Mika reflects on growing up in an exceptionally academic family where she often compared herself to her brothers and became the peacemaker during family debates because she never believed she could compete intellectually.
Instead of seeing that as a weakness, Katty points out that those qualities eventually became strengths that helped Mika build a successful broadcasting career.
Practical advice runs throughout the episode as the pair discuss asking for pay rises, negotiating promotions, handling maternity leave and responding when colleagues take credit for your ideas.
Mika is particularly honest about the mistakes she made early in her career, admitting she once apologised before asking for a pay rise and even tried copying the aggressive negotiating style of male colleagues, neither of which worked.
Instead, she encourages listeners to prepare evidence of their achievements, communicate calmly and accept that negotiation is a skill that improves with practice.
One of the most memorable discussions centres on failure, with both women agreeing that setbacks are unavoidable and should be treated as opportunities to grow rather than reasons to give up.
They also answer listeners’ questions about confidence at work, offering practical suggestions for dealing with difficult managers, returning after maternity leave and setting healthy professional boundaries.
The episode ends on an optimistic note as Mika shares what she believes is the biggest lesson she has learned.
She encourages listeners to remember they have “a long runway”, arguing that women no longer need to believe life’s biggest opportunities have an expiry date.
Instead, she says careers can be reinvented, relationships can change and new ambitions can be pursued at any age.
Doing It Anyway begins as an engaging and reassuring listen that feels more like an open conversation between two experienced friends than a traditional interview.
The episode is available from today, 10 July, with new episodes release each Friday.
