Former QVC Host Jennifer Coffey Explains Why She Relates to Hoda Kotb’s ‘Today’ Show Exit
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00:00It's kind of surreal and bizarre and dreamlike because, you know, the schedule at QVC in my
00:07position, it's not predictable. It isn't regular. It's very varied. So it isn't like you go from a
00:14job where you work 9 to 5 and then you don't work 9 to 5 anymore. But at the same time, there are a
00:21lot of things that you do in that life that you don't necessarily do in this life, i.e., this
00:26full face of makeup, right, that, you know, is no longer a 5, 6, 7-day-a-week kind of thing. It's
00:32just like, oh, yeah, I might, you know, I might throw on a face today. And so it's become a little
00:37bit more of a luxury than it is, you know, part of your job necessity. And really getting back
00:45into, like, this is going to sound really weird, but getting back into face-to-face interactions
00:51more with people. You live in a little bit of a bubble in a TV studio. I think that's
00:57true for just about anybody in television production. And when you leave that, I think
01:02of Hoda Kotb a lot and her departure. And I'm thinking she's probably going through a similar
01:07thing where it's like she has her network of people, her family there that she had seen every
01:12single day. But for the most part, it was the camera, right? And so her connection to, in her
01:18case, millions of people happened digitally, virtually. And now I find myself engaging in more
01:26like, how's your day conversations with people that I didn't see on a regular basis outside of
01:32KVC. So it's been a social, I don't want to call it like a shock because, like, you move to another
01:41place, that's culture shock, right? This isn't shock. It's more like, wow, it's a different
01:45experience. And that part I am really looking forward to because the next phase of my life will
01:51be much more, I hope, face-to-face and very personal interactions with folks so that I can
01:58affect change on a much more intimate level with people. I think of a specific moment, and I forget
02:04which talk show she was on as she was doing the farewell rounds, but she was on an evening talk
02:10show. And the host said, I'm so blown away that you're, and he was saying in a very, you know,
02:18like, I'm admiring of this, but like, I'm so blown away that you're leaving at essentially the top of
02:24your game. And she kind of nodded. And then the host said, we'll see how you feel in a month.
02:30And everybody laughed. And this wasn't long ago. So I was like, wait, no, I can tell you how it's
02:35going to feel in a month, right? And I can tell you that it feels amazing. And at the same time,
02:41you have these pangs of things that you miss, right? But, you know, I think of us a little bit
02:49as kindred spirits in the sense that our journey has been very similar. And as an aside, I remember
02:55as an adolescent and teen watching Hoda as an anchor in New Orleans because I grew up in New
03:01Orleans and she was Hoda Kotb on the evening news. And just to watch her rise has been amazing, but
03:09I imagine she's probably doing the same thing I am, which is like living her best life and
03:14embracing all these moments. And, you know, she's taken her kids to school and the little things
03:19that, you know, many folks take for granted, maybe they don't take it for granted, but it's a daily
03:24activity. She is doing and savoring those moments, just like I'm savoring, you know,
03:32Sunday evenings when I'm not coming home at one in the morning after being on the air and just
03:37kind of kissing my husband goodnight. Now I'm like, let's have a glass of wine at eight o'clock
03:41on a Sunday, you know, go figure, you know. So I do see those journeys very much the same. And I'm
03:47glad that more people, it seems, and women in particular, are making those choices of big leaps
03:58at times that maybe aren't predictable, right? You don't have to wait until you're retiring
04:06to make a change. And you don't have to wait until a job feels bad to leave it. And
04:15it seems crazy when you say it, because like, why would you leave if you love it?
04:19But if you feel that pull in your heart, and if we all dial into it, we know what that feeling
04:25feels like. That pull, I believe, is there for a reason. And it's uncomfortable to make that leap.
04:32But then when you do, you facepalm because you're like, gosh, you know, why didn't I do it sooner?