Mika enlists Kelly Clarkson's help to surprise two female business owners
2025-03-21
       The "Morning Joe" co-host and Know Your Value founder joined fellow guests singer-songwriter Niall Horan and actress Kim Williams-Paisley on "The Kelly Clarkson Show" Wednesday to talk about her unique upbringing, supporting women in their later years and celebrating Know Your Value's highly anticipated 30/50 Summit in Abu Dhabi on International Women's Day in partnership with Forbes magazine.
       In the spirit of philanthropy, Brzezinski unexpectedly invited two of the show's contestants, Vontelle luxury business owners Nancy Harris and Tracy Green, to the summit. The summit will bring together generations of women from the Forbes 30 Under 30 and 50 Over 50 lists to connect, collaborate, and innovate as leaders.
       Harris and Green, both mothers in their 50s, founded the company to meet the demand for more comfortable and stylish eyewear. Their products are designed with traditional colors and patterns that reflect African, Caribbean and Latin American heritage.
       “We realized that glasses weren’t designed for multiple functions,” Harris told Clarkson on set. “I saw a huge business opportunity.” Their eureka moment came after visiting a major eyewear exhibition in Paris.
       Although the duo struck a deal with Paramount and Nickelodeon to develop a line of children's glasses, they had trouble finding a way to grow their brand.
       “We’re proud of what we’ve done, but it’s been a real uphill battle and it’s been tough getting into the right spaces, meeting the right people and getting the funding that our business needed,” Harris said. “We were starting from scratch and we needed to find the right people to take the business to the next level.”
       Then Brzezinski offered to do just that. “I would be delighted to invite you both — I will give you tickets to be my guests at the 30/50 summit in Abu Dhabi,” Brzezinski said. “So you can join me to network, to network, to share ideas, and to help improve the status of women around the world.”
       To top it all off, The Kelly Clarkson Show and Forbes teamed up to pay for their airfare and accommodations for the life-changing event.
       The 30/50 Summit, now in its second year, will take place in Abu Dhabi from March 7 to 10, International Women’s Day. Hosted by Brzezinski, Harris, Greene, and other attendees will hear from and interact with a host of women’s rights leaders and business pioneers, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska, tennis legend Billie Jean King, actress and businesswoman Jessica Alba, education activist Malala Yousafzai, journalist and activist Gloria Steinem, pioneering ballerina Misty Copeland, businesswoman Ayesha Curry, actress Catherine O’Hara, and many others.
       This year's summit will focus on building intergenerational alliances, providing guidance and ideas to women at every stage of their careers, and offering diverse perspectives and deep cultural immersion.
       However, in his show, Brzezinski emphasized that it all started with a mission to encourage women of all ages to stand up for their rights and celebrate their achievements.
       “I started the Know Your Worth campaign about 12 years ago, doing events all over the country to teach women how to know their worth, how to verbalize their worth, which is something women have a hard time doing, they tend to apologize and laugh at themselves,” she said. “We teach them how to collect their own data, and also techniques — eye contact, posture, delivery, clothing — all the things that can make your message coherent and effectively communicate your value.”
       Clarkson admits to often resorting to self-deprecation. “We’re trained, especially coming from the South, to just do nothing,” she said. “It’s innate, you don’t even realize you’re doing it.” Paisley added that she wishes she’d known better how to deal with stress as a child, including “how to deal with it and know your worth.”
       Finding solutions to these problems led Brzezinska to collaborate with Forbes to create the original 50 Over 50 list. The annual list features women who have achieved success in adulthood and defied age and gender norms.
       “But this is actually an important message to young women — I would say to myself, we still have a long way to go,” Brzezinski said. “When we were putting together this list of women over 50, we found that … many women are still incredibly powerful and making a lot of money well into their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.”
       She added: "My message to young women is that you have a long way to go - we have paved the way for you - so relax, enjoy the moment, take your time. Try to do the right thing, make mistakes, gain experience so you can learn from each other."
       In the spirit of philanthropy, Brzezinski unexpectedly invited two of the show's contestants, Vontelle luxury business owners Nancy Harris and Tracy Green, to the summit. The summit will bring together generations of women from the Forbes 30 Under 30 and 50 Over 50 lists to connect, collaborate, and innovate as leaders.
       Harris and Green, both mothers in their 50s, founded the company to meet the demand for more comfortable and stylish eyewear. Their products are designed with traditional colors and patterns that reflect African, Caribbean and Latin American heritage.
       “We realized that glasses weren’t designed for multiple functions,” Harris told Clarkson on set. “I saw a huge business opportunity.” Their eureka moment came after visiting a major eyewear exhibition in Paris.
       Although the duo struck a deal with Paramount and Nickelodeon to develop a line of children's glasses, they had trouble finding a way to grow their brand.
       “We’re proud of what we’ve done, but it’s been a real uphill battle and it’s been tough getting into the right spaces, meeting the right people and getting the funding that our business needed,” Harris said. “We were starting from scratch and we needed to find the right people to take the business to the next level.”
       Then Brzezinski offered to do just that. “I would be delighted to invite you both — I will give you tickets to be my guests at the 30/50 summit in Abu Dhabi,” Brzezinski said. “So you can join me to network, to network, to share ideas, and to help improve the status of women around the world.”
       To top it all off, The Kelly Clarkson Show and Forbes teamed up to pay for their airfare and accommodations for the life-changing event.
       The 30/50 Summit, now in its second year, will take place in Abu Dhabi from March 7 to 10, International Women’s Day. Hosted by Brzezinski, Harris, Greene, and other attendees will hear from and interact with a host of women’s rights leaders and business pioneers, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska, tennis legend Billie Jean King, actress and businesswoman Jessica Alba, education activist Malala Yousafzai, journalist and activist Gloria Steinem, pioneering ballerina Misty Copeland, businesswoman Ayesha Curry, actress Catherine O’Hara, and many others.
       This year's summit will focus on building intergenerational alliances, providing guidance and ideas to women at every stage of their careers, and offering diverse perspectives and deep cultural immersion.
       However, in his show, Brzezinski emphasized that it all started with a mission to encourage women of all ages to stand up for their rights and celebrate their achievements.
       “I started the Know Your Worth campaign about 12 years ago, doing events all over the country to teach women how to know their worth, how to verbalize their worth, which is something women have a hard time doing, they tend to apologize and laugh at themselves,” she said. “We teach them how to collect their own data, and also techniques — eye contact, posture, delivery, clothing — all the things that can make your message coherent and effectively communicate your value.”
       Clarkson admits to often resorting to self-deprecation. “We’re trained, especially coming from the South, to just do nothing,” she said. “It’s innate, you don’t even realize you’re doing it.” Paisley added that she wishes she’d known better how to deal with stress as a child, including “how to deal with it and know your worth.”
       Finding solutions to these problems led Brzezinska to collaborate with Forbes to create the original 50 Over 50 list. The annual list features women who have achieved success in adulthood and defied age and gender norms.
       “But this is actually an important message to young women — I would say to myself, we still have a long way to go,” Brzezinski said. “When we were putting together this list of women over 50, we found that … many women are still incredibly powerful and making a lot of money well into their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.”
       She added: "My message to young women is that you have a long way to go - we have paved the way for you - so relax, enjoy the moment, take your time. Try to do the right thing, make mistakes, gain experience so you can learn from each other."