Quote · The Rest Is Politics: US
The Secret To Asking For A Pay Raise (Mika Brzezinski)
Where this was said
The Long Runway: Mika's Final Message
At 47:10 · chapter starts 46:25
Asked for her single most important piece of advice, Mika pauses before offering what she calls the biggest thing she has ever learned — and something she only figured out in recent years, when she thought she already knew everything. [1] — Mika Brzezinski "The single most important thing Mika has learned is that women have a long runway — decades to dream, pivot, reinvent, and start over. For …" 46:25 It is the concept of the long runway. Women, she says, have a lifetime to achieve their dreams, to pivot, to reinvent, to find the relationship or the family or the career pivot they always wanted. She and Katty grew up with an alarm clock ticking — a constant sense of urgency that kept them from being present or savouring either the pain or the joy of their experiences. That clock, she insists, no longer exists. In her own generation, life beyond 50 was white space: it looked scary, it looked empty. Now it is so full there isn't time for everything, and that is a sea change for the generations coming behind them. Her closing message is not to rush but to slow down, take the off-ramp, enjoy the ride — because the runway has been paved by the women who came before.
The single most important thing Mika has learned is that women have a long runway — decades to dream, pivot, reinvent, and start over. For her generation, life after 50 looked like empty white space. Today it's overflowing with possibility. Slow down, stop racing the clock, and enjoy the ride.
Mika Brzezinski's biggest insight is that women can dream, pivot, and reinvent well beyond 50, 60, 70 — a sea change from previous generations who saw over-50 as 'white space'.
Being sidelined after maternity leave is common, but Mika's advice is to walk back in and proactively claim your space — thank people for their sensitivity, reassure them you're ready, and immediately ask how you can be involved in the next project. Don't wait to be invited back in.
