Mika on ‘Earn It!’ co-author: I was inspired by her journey as a DREAMer

“I was inspired by her.”

That’s what “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski said about Know Your Value millennial contributor Daniela Pierre-Bravo, whose journey to success helped inspired a new book they wrote together: “Earn It! Know Your Value and Grow Your Career, In Your 20s and Beyond.” (Order your copy here.)

The book, released May 7, is a guide for the younger members of the workforce: road-tested advice for landing a job, nailing the interview, navigating the new world of work, establishing a personal brand, and getting the recognition and salary they deserve.

“Earn It!” also includes interviews with designer Tory Burch, lifestyle guru Martha Stewart, industry leader Dia Simms, actress Sarah Jessica Parker, The Skimm’s Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin, as well as HR employees, recruiters and more.

.@morningmika shares how a @Morning_Joe staffer’s “don’t give up path” to success inspired her to write a book with her to reach other women who may be going through the same thing. https://t.co/1091s9Fn2d pic.twitter.com/RFhWhUL59I

— The View (@TheView) May 7, 2019

“Morning Joe” co-hosts Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, along with Pierre-Bravo appeared on ABC’s “The View” on Tuesday to discuss politics, the lessons in “Earn It!” and how the book came to fruition.

“I’ve read your earlier books, and you’ve written a lot about your own career,” said “The View” co-host Abby Huntsman, referencing Brzezinski’s earlier titles like “Know Your Value,” first released in 2011. “And this one’s really for the next generation coming up.”

“Exactly,” Brzezinski said. “There’s so many messages coming in; there’s so many different ways you get messages. I think a lot of them are very confusing for young women starting out. You’re trying to be so many things at once.”

Brzezinski had already been thinking about launching a Know Your Value book series when Pierre-Bravo, who is also a “Morning Joe” booking producer, approached her. Pierre-Bravo was known for her fast and excellent work — “her nickname was ‘Adderall,’” Brzezinski said — but the co-host didn’t know much about her personal story.

That changed when the two took a flight together. On the plane Pierre-Bravo shared her experience as a DREAMer: As a young girl she was an undocumented South American immigrant, and she had to work hard to get to her current role as “Morning Joe” producer.

Pierre-Bravo’s story, which serves as the first chapter of the book, includes her childhood growing up in Lima, Ohio, with four siblings. She desperately wanted to get to New York City, and she applied to thousands of jobs. She included a New York address on her resume out of fear her Ohio residence would make potential employers pass her over.

“So she got called in for a job at P. Diddy’s entertainment [company], and they said ‘Can you be here tomorrow?’” Brzezinski said. “She got on buses through the night, cleaned up at Port Authority, went to the interview, nailed it.”

“Wow, you really wanted to get out of Lima!” joked “The View” co-host Joy Behar to Pierre-Bravo, who was in the show’s audience.

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“I thought, ‘This is the path,’” Brzezinski said of Pierre-Bravo’s journey. “This is that scrappy, don’t give up path. And so we decided to take this project on together. I was inspired by her.”

Huntsman asked Pierre-Bravo what advice she would have given her younger self when she first met Brzezinski.

“It’s a tough time when anybody’s starting out,” Pierre-Bravo said. “And what I found is, no matter how many no’s you get, or closed doors, if you continue to work hard and you continue to put yourself out there, in some shape or form a yes will always follow.”

Behar said she “love[s] the title. Because it’s my story too. You have to keep pushing and you have to be desperate in a certain way for something.”

Brzezinski and Pierre-Bravo have been promoting the book all week, with Brzezinski discussing the importance of investing in young women during her hosting of the 2019 Matrix Awards on May 6.

Beyond the discussion of “Earn It!,” the co-hosts on the “The View” also discussed politics with Brzezinski and Scarborough, including the slate of 2020 Democrat candidates, strategies for anyone looking to take on Trump and the aftermath of the Mueller report.

After Tuesday’s show Brzezinski discussed Mother’s Day with Huntsman, who is expecting twins. She asked about Huntsman’s reaction to finding out there are two babies.

“Well, my husband fainted,” Huntsman said. “I started crying, because you’re just so overwhelmed with emotion. But now that I have a one-year-old, I’m so excited because I know the joy that a baby brings … so I’m really excited. I’m nervous about labor, though!”