Jump and Find Joy

Hoda Kotb, a veteran broadcast journalist and former coanchor of NBC's Today show, structures this memoir and self-help book around a single metaphor: jumping. Each section uses a variation on leaping to trace her lifelong relationship with change, from childhood relocations to career pivots to adoption to her departure from NBC at age 60. Woven between chapters of personal narrative are "Jumpstart" profiles, brief conversations with public figures who have embraced transformation, and "Helpful Tips and Tools" sections offering practical advice on meditation, journaling, and wellness practices.

Kotb opens with a childhood memory of jumping into a pool with her sister, Hala, and contrasts it with the reluctance most adults feel about making changes. Her decades as a journalist gave her access to artists, innovators, and thinkers who modeled courage, convincing her that change is both exciting and essential. After adopting her two daughters, Haley and Hope, motherhood reordered her sense of purpose and set the stage for the biggest leap of her career.

The first section, "A Jumping-Off Point," encourages readers to take honest stock of their lives. Kotb traces her comfort with upheaval to her parents, Sameha and Abdel Kotb, who met at a law firm in Cairo, married among the pyramids, and immigrated to the United States for Abdel's PhD at the University of Oklahoma. Her mother's Egyptian law degree was invalid in the US, so Sameha pursued a master's in library science. Years later, as chair of the Department of Petroleum Engineering at West Virginia University, Abdel requested a raise to match peers with lesser credentials. The university refused, and rather than accept the limit, he moved the family to Alexandria, Virginia. Kotb and her siblings discovered the rejected letter only after their father died suddenly at 52. His example taught her a lasting mantra: onward.

Kotb recounts her 1987 job hunt after college. Armed with a 27-minute VHS résumé tape from a year at a CBS news station in Egypt, she drove across the southeastern United States, collecting 27 rejections. Finally, while lost in Mississippi, she spotted a billboard for WXVT in Greenville. A newly promoted news director named Stan Sandroni watched her entire tape and hired her as the Greenwood bureau chief, where she served as her own reporter, photographer, and makeup department. From Greenwood she moved to stations in Moline, Illinois, and New Orleans, gaining confidence with each step.

In "Leap of Faith," Kotb explores the pivotal jumps that reshaped her identity. She narrates her first on-air anchoring attempt at WXVT, where she opened the evening news by saying "Good morning, I'm Anne Martin," botching both the greeting and her own name. Stan gave her a second chance the next night, and she succeeded. Years later, while anchoring in New Orleans, Elena Nachmanoff, a vice president at NBC News, invited her to audition for Dateline, the network's prime-time newsmagazine. After a tryout assignment and an agonizing wait, she got the job. One of the biggest factors in her decision was her refusal to live with regret.

This section also addresses her 2007 breast cancer diagnosis at age 43. Her sister Hala moved in and attended every appointment. Surviving the illness transformed Kotb's mindset: She decided to stop waiting for recognition, rode the elevator to the 52nd floor of 30 Rockefeller Center, NBC's New York headquarters, and pitched herself for the new fourth hour of Today to Jeff Zucker, then CEO of NBC Universal. She cried during the meeting but asked directly for what she wanted and got it. Later, a stranger on a plane encouraged her not to "hog" her cancer journey (83), and during a live Today segment, she broke down on air sharing her story. The viewer response was overwhelming, with people writing to schedule mammograms and to thank her.

Kotb addresses her romantic life with candor. She describes her early relationships as additions to a career that consumed her focus. A long relationship led to a marriage she slipped into rather than chose, and it ended in divorce. In 2013, she met Joel Schiffman at a book-signing event, and their relationship deepened until she told him about a dream she had carried silently: She wanted to adopt a child. She asked him not to respond immediately, but Joel replied without hesitation that the answer was yes. In 2017, she received a text from the adoption agency reading "Call me"; the agency told her, "She's here" (103). Kotb and Joel flew to Texas and brought their daughter Haley home.

"Hop, Skip, and a Jump" highlights the cumulative power of small changes. Kotb recounts letting seven-year-old Haley walk to the drugstore alone for the first time. When Haley returned, she whispered, "This was the biggest" (121). Kotb also describes a breathwork class recommended by her Today cohost Jenna Bush Hager, during which a simple breathing pattern caused her to burst into sobs, releasing stress she did not know she was carrying. The experience sparked her curiosity about accessible wellness practices.

In "Jump In with Both Feet," Kotb describes the transformation of the fourth hour of Today. The show initially launched in 2007 with a group of anchors, but the chemistry fell flat. At a restaurant, Kotb's producer spotted Kathie Lee Gifford, a veteran television personality, and invited her to guest-host. Gifford's irreverent energy electrified the hour, and she told the network she would only return if Kotb was her partner. Over 11 years, their freewheeling chemistry redefined the show, though the leap required Kotb to abandon her identity as a serious journalist.

This section also details a six-day retreat at the Hoffman Institute in California, recommended by journalist and author Maria Shriver. Kotb confessed before the group that she was "a total phony" in her relationships (182), a moment she calls one of the best decisions of her life. During two days alone in San Francisco afterward, the retreat's effects became clear: She watched a boy fishing by himself on a pier catch a huge fish and recognized that before the retreat she would have missed the scene entirely. The experience also revealed a shift in her relationship with Joel: They were growing apart. They ended their engagement during the pandemic, remaining committed coparents and friends.

"Jump for Joy" chronicles the events leading to Kotb's departure from NBC. In summer 2024, she moved with her daughters to a suburban town where the girls each had their own bedroom for the first time. Neighbors welcomed them with pies and barbecue invitations. Her 60th birthday celebration on the Today plaza, featuring surprise performances and reunions with families she had covered, brought a rush of clarity: She was at the crest of her professional wave and could not surpass it. Days later, her daughter Hope climbed a tree and called down, asking what she would do at the top. When Kotb asked her plan, Hope replied, "I guess I'll find another tree" (241).

On September 23, 2024, Kotb told her colleagues she would not renew her contract. Her Today cohost Savannah Guthrie marveled at the courage of leaving something "like gold in your hands" (249). Jenna and colleague Al Roker reacted with shock and tears. Kotb traces her post-NBC path to the breathwork class Jenna had recommended years earlier. She announces Joy 101, a venture to connect people with affordable wellness tools. Its first event, a retreat at Miraval Austin Resort and Spa in October 2024, drew 150 women for breathwork, meditation, and guest speakers.

In the conclusion, Kotb reflects on her first months after NBC. She walks her daughters to school each morning, exercises regularly, and embraces a new keyword: "unhurried." She acknowledges missteps and the challenge of replacing the daily human connections that came automatically at work, but she reports feeling calmer and more present. She closes by urging readers to listen to their inner whispers about change before they fade, ending with Mary Oliver's question: "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" (275).