- Well today I'm so excited
because the lady sitting next to me here,
Elisabeth Hasselbeck,
is one of my favorite people on the planet.
So I'm so glad you're here.
- Right back at you, sister.
I'm glad to be here.
Thank you for just inviting me
and I'm so glad that we get some time to talk.
- I know, some conversation, yes.
So we've known each other a couple of years now.
I guess we officially met
when you were doing Fox and Friends.
- That's right.
- You were doing,
well first with Survivor
was like the first TV gig.
So how was that?
- That was terrible. - We're not gonna talk
about it a ton
but I want to know.
- It was hard.
I would not recommend that.
I'm glad I did it.
It was one of those things
that you, I think the benefit of choosing something
exciting, unknown, to try to figure out what I was made of
and figuring out in that time,
I'm not made of much,
need a lot of God, all of God, all the time,
and having myself in that situation,
that was a time that was refining on my heart
at just the right time.
And so that's what I think that did.
And who knew?
I really didn't want to be on television.
I came back and I was like,
I thought that would be more quiet.
And then the rest of life just kind of took a TV turn.
- Just kept going, uh.
Okay, so you were at The View for 10,
was it 10 years? - 10 years.
- 10 years.
- Mmm hmm, then I was fired.
- Okay.
- Then that happened.
That was hard.
- I didn't know that, Elisabeth.
Okay, let's talk about that.
- Then the whole nonrenewal of your contract.
- Is that what it was?
Cause it was a pretty abrupt thing.
- It felt that way for sure.
Yeah, I was personally hurt by that
cause you always are
when someone's like,
it's like a break up, you know?
You're just like what, what did I do?
- After a decade, yeah.
- I think it's a hard moment
cause two things happen.
One, I knew that Tim and I
were just trying to provide for our family
and that there was a duty there.
So that really put a fire at my back and just like,
okay, you better go get something quickly.
So into Fox News I ran
and just said, I'm suddenly available
and do you have a spot for me?
And here I am. I'm ready to work,
and went really fast to do that.
But I think there was a part of me
that just wanted to prove everyone
that had just let me go wrong.
And so that's what that was,
and God ended up showing up.
I think I probably jumped the gun
about a year early.
That was probably like driving 90
when I should have been driving 60
or even maybe pulled over for a second.
Like God, what do you want from me
and did I trust him enough in that moment?
I don't even think I gave myself time
to say that I trusted him.
I was just going.
And I was going to prove them wrong and provide.
And those were the two things
that were on this working mom's heart at that time
and I don't love the pride part of it,
and now ever since,
I think had to come to a place of like,
understanding and forgiveness
and that this happens
and also like the fruit of that.
The fruit of that is
it placed me somewhere else where God met me.
I learned a new skill.
I probably should've slept more.
- Right, cause you were sleeping like,
you were talking to me like three hours a night
or something, right, Elisabeth?
Like for two years, two and a half, three years?
- According to medical experts,
not a good idea.
- Not a full night's rest is three hours.
- No, I was mean. I was cranky. I was not myself.
I was like the worst version of myself
because I wasn't resting enough
and just kind of lost the desires that I used to have.
So eventually, I ended up leaving Fox,
and that was really hard to do
cause I loved the team there so much.
Here I was complaining
and being sad about being fired
and then I walk into this amazing career and job,
which had so much responsibility and respect
and to leave that felt wrong,
but I just knew something had to change
and that something was everything.
And the hard thing was,
I think it was, the understory was,
okay, work is getting the best of me,
kids are getting the rest of me.
I need to make a change,
but we were in a position where we could.
And so I knew that,
that's not always the case.
I grew up,
my mom still works.
She's an attorney. She's amazing.
I still have work that I do.
It just looks different now than it did before.
So I wasn't always a fan of the narrative that got out there
like she's leaving work to be with her children
because I think listen,
we're all working.
We're all full-time moms.
So no matter what it looks like,
you're gonna have different seasons
where your acceleration points
are either working from home,
you might be Zooming,
you might be taking travel trips for work.
That is all good.
I'm glad my daughter has seen me
work hard in something that I'm passionate about
or learn a new skill.
She needs to know that that is a beautiful thing
to use your gifts in the world.
And then if seasons allow you to be home
when it feels right,
then that's good too.
That's not a right or wrong situation.
And so I think the powerful thing for women
is whether realizing that you're all full-time moms
working on something that's quite important
and really has a purpose by God's design
and that you just need to partner in that.
And so almost like you're tag-teaming, like you would.
Consider your whole space
your office of life,
and you're gonna need different kinds of moms
with different schedules to make it all work.
And so I think that's the one thing
that as women we could do maybe a little better
is like kind of linking arms with that mom
who might have a different schedule than you
and name it good
and really help each other out.
- Yes cause it is.
I'm like whatever your life looks like as a mom,
whether you are full time working, part time working,
or home, whatever it is.
Number one, the role doesn't change.
Mom is still number one.
You can have multiple titles,
multiple different labels at work,
but that's still the core.
- Yeah, you're still a full-time mama.
- Yeah always, 24/7.
And so that's still there
but man, that's such a good point though
of reaching out
cause I have always said,
neither is right or wrong.
It's just different.
It's whatever season you're in, the story you're in.
- [Elisabeth] It's all good.
- But linking arms together
and being proactive with those friendships
because you can learn so much from each other.
The moms that stay home full time with their kids,
they teach me so much about what to do.
And so I think that that's a beautiful thing
and then the seasonal thing.
We've talked about this a lot recently but like
that's been a huge word in my life right now,
and I'm like it is,
life is so seasonal.
So unpack that a little bit.
- I do think it's okay to name your season
and name the fact that you might not know
how long it will last.
If you think about biblically,
you look at Saul's story into Paul.
He was over here Saul-ing, had a new name, now Paul-ing.
It's all good.
There is a journey that God's gonna take you on
and if you're in a season
where you're like in one job or a new job
or a new set of hours,
it's okay to name that.
Like, this is my new season
and I'm right here
and God's gonna give it purpose
and I'm gonna pray for the peace that comes with it
so that my passions can match his
for exactly where he has me placed.
And so I think God wants to do a new thing
in your heart all the time.
Like it's never finished, right?
He's always gonna find an area
and he will use hard circumstances, I think,
to kind of blind you to your old ways,
sit you still for a little bit
and then set you forth with a new name
and a new path and a new song and a new mission.
And this same great God is gonna show up there
and give you the energy that you need to do that.
And I think for women sometimes,
I would say don't be afraid
to try something new.
I've had eight different jobs
and I wasn't qualified for any of them,
learned them on the go.
I'm a good student.
If you're a good student
and you want to learn something new,
don't shortchange yourself.
Don't listen to the enemy that's like,
"You're not really qualified for that.
"You've never done that before. You shouldn't try.
"I think you're too old.
"No, you should just stay where you are."
Like it's okay— - The amount of lies though
that women, well all people in general,
but I can speak for women,
but yeah those lies
and not listening to those
and really, really honing in
and figuring out okay,
what is best in this season for me?
And that being the peace, right?
Do you feel like that's so true?
When you start to enter that season that God's calling you,
did you feel peace through those two years?
- I did.
I felt a peace,
I felt an assurance
that I was exactly where I needed to be,
and I had felt that before in other places.
I do think that it took me a little longer to get there.
And then as I get a little older,
I spend more time in the word.
I feel like the peace comes more easily
cause I know the sound of it.
I know the sound of when something's trying to disqualify me
where that's coming from.
I can identify that
and then disinvite it to the party.
Cause there's enough doubt in the day
to take you down and make you make poor decisions.
So I think those fears are real.
Those doubts are real.
I think one of the things as a working woman,
you're like, but if I don't do this, who will?
But if I don't take care of this,
and I think sometimes I have to say,
do I trust God?
Do I trust him with my children?
Do I trust him with our three who are growing?
And the answer is, I need to trust him completely.
He loves them more than we ever could.
He's got their futures ahead of them.
Like, we're trying to hold them,
and what comforts me is knowing
that we have this God
who's holding us holding them,
that he cares for them
infinitely more than we ever could dream of.
And you know how much you love your child, right?
- Right, absolutely.
- And sometimes, here's the other thing,
you're doing your job and your work
because you have this skill and God wants you to use it.
You might be there
because God needs you there for somebody else,
or he knows you might need the person next to you
when you walk through a time of trial,
and it might not be about the actual work at all.
It just might be about two people
that he's placing specifically together.
- Where you are in proximity, yes, that's so good.
Well you've been through
obviously massive changes in your life.
You've done it so well.
- Not always.
- You have so much wisdom, though, Elisabeth.
- I cried my way through transitions, though.
I do cry.
Listen, you gotta grieve where you were or else like,
I do cry at every transition point.
- I don't do good with sadness, Elisabeth,
so I need to like embrace that a little bit more.
- Do you cry?
- I have recently more and more.
(laughing)
Being a mom though,
being a mom has opened up a whole new section
of like the cries.
Your heart is just, it's just overflow. It really is.
So through this season for you,
you wrote a book, which was wonderful.
Talk to me about that book.
How was that process for you
and the content in it
and all the stories?
How was that writing it?
- Well I think overall
I really just wanted something
for our kids to be able to read.
And you probably shouldn't say this to a publisher,
but I'm like if only four people buy it
and they're in my house, I'm okay with that.
I just knew I was called to do it,
put something down in writing
and really like proclaim God's goodness
and the ways that he's just been so good
and also I think after spending almost 15 years
trying to line up
and get someone's point of view in an interview,
how are you seeing this subject,
how do you see this topic,
how do you see your role in this movie?
I was always trying to line up
behind someone's point of view on something.
I thought, well what am I lining up behind?
What point of view do I want to line up behind now?
I'm not doing these interviews anymore
but I have this skill
and ultimately I think
until I line it behind the lens of the gospel
and the grace and the mercy that we all need
and how God wants us to see things through that lens,
I'm not really seeing clearly.
We're not ever gonna be able to see things how God sees.
He's infinite, we're not, we're limited.
But I think his lens of the gospel and his truth,
if you're lining behind that,
what you will see and how you will go through your days,
for me has been so much more clear and peaceful,
and it's not so much about,
I spent 10 years on The View.
I was like trained at being right.
I was like a rightaholic.
Like, let's see how right I can be
and how very, very wrong you are,
and I write a lot about the experience of The View
and I think my point of view there
was like only mine.
I was so hyperfocused in a debate scenario
of being so, so right,
and I think the key is like being wrong enough
to give space to move around
and see things from someone else's lens and perspective.
Like Whoopi and I are a great example of this.
We don't see eye to eye on things all the time
but we have such a loving relationship and friendship
because we will take a look behind the other's lens.
Literally I'll call her and I'm like
tell me what you're seeing about this?
- What a beautiful thing.
And I think obviously as just a bystander,
I'm like the fact that you can just call Whoopi Goldberg,
like that's pretty cool.
I'm like, Sister Act is like one of my favorites movies ever.
- I'm just like good morning, Whoop.
She's like, hey baby.
- I know which is so awesome.
Yeah, so beautiful.
- But our conversation will be like this:
Tell me what you're seeing.
"Tell me what you're feeling."
And it's like just getting behind someone's lens.
And so that's why point of view,
I really felt
like God gave me those quiet two years to like,
I'd spent 10 years only seeing through mine.
And so I was just thankful
to be able to like look back
and see what he's done
and pray into what he's gonna do next.
But I just think seeing things more clearly
for me has only happened
when I look at it through that lens
of like his word and his truth.
- Yes, well and it takes so much humility to do that.
I quote this all the time
because I just like love it,
but it was Rick Warren that said it.
He said, "Humility is not thinking less of yourself.
"It's thinking of yourself less."
And so in those processes,
just like you're saying,
you don't have to be right all the time.
Just step back and just say,
"Hey, I want to know what's going on.
"I'm thinking about you in this situation more than me."
And doing that takes humility, but man,
the world and the perspective that happens
when you just open your mind,
open your conversations
to people that are not like you,
they don't look like you,
they don't worship they way you,
I mean all of it.
It's just amazing what you find.
So I love that.
And your book is just such a beautiful picture
of your story
and doing it so, so well.
- You're so kind.
I love talking to you.
I'm just gonna hang out.
Can we have a sleepover?
- We'll be here tomorrow
if you guys want to tune in.
Okay, well you can find Elisabeth's book
anywhere books are sold,
and she'll be speaking at Christy Wright's
Business Boutique.
So you can get tickets there at christywright.com.
Elisabeth, thank you.
Thanks for being here.
- You're the best.
- [Rachel] I so appreciate you, I really do.
Thank you. - Anytime.
(upbeat music)