Passion Struck with John R. Miles
Joan Lunden: Reinvention, Identity, & Life Beyond the Script | EP 736
03 Mar 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Coming up next on Passion Struck. I think people often hear things that are opportunities and they immediately think, oh, now that would be great for someone.
Chapter 2: What does Joan Lunden mean by the 'Just Say Yes' philosophy?
Why not for you? And I don't think that people just let ideas and opportunities like pass them by, like just float right by them. Because they don't take that moment to consider, maybe I can do that. You don't have to see, as one of the quotes in my book is, you don't have to see the whole staircase. You just have to take the first step. Welcome to Passion Struck. I'm your host, John Miles.
This is the show where we explore the art of human flourishing and what it truly means to live like it matters. Each week, I sit down with changemakers, creators, scientists, and everyday heroes to decode the human experience and uncover the tools that help us lead with meaning, heal what hurts, and pursue the fullest expression of who we're capable of becoming.
Whether you're designing your future, developing as a leader, or seeking deeper alignment in your life, this show is your invitation to grow with purpose and act with intention. Because the secret to a life of deep purpose, connection, and impact is choosing to live like you matter. Hey friends, and welcome back to episode 736 of Passion Struck.
Before we dive in, I want to take a moment to thank you. Over the past two weeks, Passion Struck was recognized by Interview Valet as one of the top podcasts for conversations and also one of the best podcasts for business and mindset.
that recognition is because of you your support your sharing and the community we're building together over the past month we've been exploring what it means to matter why it's essential how it's formed and what happens when that feeling is missing but life doesn't stay fixed roles change identities shift and at some point every one of us faces the same question Who am I now?
This episode marks the beginning of a new series that I'm calling Life Beyond the Script, a series about what happens when the version of life you've been living, the role, the identity, the path, no longer fits, and you're asked to write something new. Because a fulfilling life isn't built once. It's rewritten. often in moments you didn't choose.
My guest today is Joan Lunden, journalist, author, and former co-host of Good Morning America. We're discussing her new memoir, which launches today, Joan, Life Beyond the Script, a deeply personal reflection on the transitions that shaped her life from her decades-long career in broadcast journalism to caregiving, advocacy, and reinvention. In this conversation, what stood out most is this,
Reinvention isn't a single decision. It's a series of moments where you choose to step forward before you feel ready. From stepping into a role she initially doubted she could hold, to leaving behind an identity that defined her for decades, to advocating for caregivers and redefining purpose later in life, Joan's story reflects something we all encounter, the need to evolve.
And today we're going to discuss how confidence is built through action. why caregiving becomes one of the most defining roles later in life, and how to stay open to change even when it disrupts your identity. Before we begin the conversation, a quick ask. If this episode resonates with you, share it with someone who may need to hear it. You can also watch the full conversation on YouTube.
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Chapter 3: How did Joan Lunden break barriers as a working mother on Good Morning America?
independent, strong women necessarily. That was still at a time. I remember I had to ask my agent to go to the network. I just had my first baby. And I said, ask him if I can bring my baby with me because I'm breastfeeding. He said, you can't even say breastfeeding on television. which was true, which is almost hard to believe.
But I made him go have that conversation and damn if they didn't say yes. And then there was that worrisome, are my colleagues going to take me seriously? If I do this, how can I be a mommy and a working independent journalist that people are going to expect that I'm there and I'm prepared and I'm ready and I'm going to ask the questions that needed to be asked?
It was just like this tightrope that you had to walk. And we didn't have any of the lean in yet. I wouldn't even have thought to try to go into that corner yet.
meeting with the executives and the producers after the show and they were doing that how did we do today what do we want to do tomorrow so you didn't have a chance to toot your own horn you didn't really have an opportunity to show up with ideas because frankly i didn't really have bullets or whatever, to walk into that meeting. And it took many years. But it's interesting, John.
I don't remember how long it was after I started the show, but it wasn't too long after I started the show that Barbara Walters was on one day. And she was on to talk about one of her primetime specials, interviewing some celebrity. And I don't remember what her show was, but I just remember that during the commercial break, she said, computer. And she said, I may give you some advice.
Do not try to fight for equality. That time has not come, not just here at the show. That time has not come socially in our country. And if you do it, and women are going to try to goad you into doing it, don't do it. Because if you do, you will end up where your predecessors ended up, which is out the door. And in order to get that job, I had to go be interviewed by David Hartman's agent.
Now, I don't know if listeners would realize how ludicrous that is. You don't usually have to go get interviewed by the other talent's agent to get the job. And he said, I need to know, are you willing to be second banana? Like you're going to be Ed McMahon to Johnny Carson for people who are old enough to have that analogy. And I was like, yeah, absolutely.
I understand what the job is, but I know it's one of the best jobs in the world. And I'm coming in with eyes open. And as time goes on, if there's an opportunity to grow my role a little, then so be it. I will say that his first question was the startling question. The first question literally when I sat down in the chair across from him was, would I change my hair color? I was like, What?
I said, may I just ask you, why would you ask that? And he said, well, you look young. I was young. I was like 29, just almost turning 30. And he said, we don't want David. We don't want you to make David look older. that blonde hair might make you look young.
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Chapter 4: What challenges did Joan face when leaving GMA after 20 years?
The moment before you got this role on Good Morning America, I understand laryngitis of some other host might have prompted a decision that you had to make to get out of bed that actually led down the path for you actually getting the opportunity. And I was hoping you weren't talking about that.
I think I use the analogy in the book of Shirley MacLaine, who is I forget the Broadway show she was in. That she was like an understudy and but she was ready to walk into the starring role. She knew it by heart and the star broke her leg and boom, she walked in that night and there was a. big television producer in the audience. And she became a movie star.
It's called being ready in the wings and being open to opportunity. These are the things you got. You got to be open to opportunity. And I got a call one morning and I don't know, it was like maybe six thirties or so in the morning. And when the phone rang, I like looked at my clock, like I'm not due in today to the newsroom until eight o'clock.
But it was the control room calling me from Good Morning America. Day Department had called in sick. And the co-host at the time was Sandy Hill. And she had come in thinking she could pull it off. And she just had such bad laryngitis that the producer said, this is just not going to work. Called to London. She lives right across the street. And I did. I lived like right down the block. And...
He said, I need you to come in today. And I said, to do what on the show? To do the whole show. Okay. And like I threw on clothes and ran up the block and walked in and they like got me ready really quickly as much as they could. And I went on and hosted the whole show. And by saying yes to that opportunity,
That was the first time those network producers had an opportunity to see me as a potential host and that I had walked in and pretty seamlessly pulled off the whole, anchoring the whole show that day. And that catapulted my career. So I have this motto. I'm sure you know it by now, but you've read my book.
Whenever anyone asks you to do something, just say yes, and then go figure out how to do it. I have people all the time say to me, oh my God, you've just done so many things in your life. It's just unbelievable, especially with all my behind closed doors shows, jumping out of planes and flying in F-16s and F-18s and landing on aircraft carriers.
And do they think I was completely like not nervous when I was driving out of my driveway with yet another uniform packed in my suitcase? going to have to go through the training to do this, to be allowed to do something like this? No, I was nervous. Again, it's because I just have continually said yes that has afforded me this truly unbelievable life.
The hardest part of doing a legacy memoir, in my case, was how are you going to boil this down to 100,000 words? It was like a task. I hear you.
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Chapter 5: How did Joan Lunden turn her breast cancer diagnosis into advocacy?
This is, I'm going to show what I can do. I didn't have time to think that. I just, and a good thing is I didn't really have enough time to get too nervous. That's probably the good thing. It was like, as soon as I walked in the door, they're saying, okay, you're going to start with this interview, then this interview. And I'm like listening because I wasn't prepared for any of those interviews.
And I'm like taking it all in a little sponge. You're just saying, okay, I got it, got it, I got it. But it was actually good because you didn't have too much of an opportunity to get nervous. But that was like really, like you're picking out an example of my life. from the very early stage, like when I was young, all the way through, saying, you want this opportunity? Sure, yeah.
Let's try that on. And then going and doing it. And every time I did one of those, it gives you self-confidence. It grows. your self-confidence and your own self-image, your own self-identity, and you start thinking of yourself as someone who can accomplish that. Where the day before you would have said, I don't know if I could do that. And so those are really important.
And those are all the things that I really wanted to convey. I tell my story, but I'm sure you saw that in it, even the usage of quotes at the beginning of each chapter. I'm a person who really loves quotes. When I see them and they impact me, I save them. I've got my list of quotes. So when I do a book like this, I can cull through that list.
And it was so important to me to find the right quote that would set the scene, that would make you read this quote and say, oh, what's coming in this chapter? That's all part of building the anticipation and then letting those moments unfold and letting them say, oh God, that's how she did that.
I find this funny because as I told you before we got on the interview, I just turned in my manuscript and I had gone through painstakingly and attributed quotes at the beginning of every single chapter to do exactly what you're suggesting. Set the tone through someone people would recognize in some cases more famous than others. But my
editor, the first thing she did is she said, I hate quotes at the top of chapters. So the first thing you need to do is remove all of them. Something they, at one point they came to me. Now I've done it in every single book. And I don't know if you're, this is my 11th book and there was no way I was going to do it in this book, but it's gotten more difficult in the publishing industry.
And you really have to be able to, my editor just drilled down and made me really painstakingly identify where a quote came from. And I would say it came from somewhere and they would come back and say, actually, no, that person got it from somewhere else.
And like the research we had to do into every one of these quotes, and I don't know, 40 chapters, that's 40 quotes, took so much time and effort on our part, but I didn't care. They were too important to me. So I'm sorry you can't use them because I love the usage of the quote at the top of the chapter. The title, and I love chapter titles.
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Chapter 6: What practical tips does Joan offer for the sandwich generation of caregivers?
And I think people let themselves think themselves out of opportunities before they even hit the starting line. Is that what you have found in your own experience? One hundred percent. And I resonated this thought, I think, probably in a number of the books I've written.
And I keep resonating it again and again because it needs to be is that I think people often hear things that are opportunities and they immediately think about now that would be great for someone. Why not for you? And I don't think that people just let.
ideas and opportunities like pass them by like just float right by them because they don't take that moment to consider maybe I can do that and it's you don't have to see as one of the quotes in my book is you don't have to see the whole staircase you just have to take the first step and as you start down I when I was in
In the very beginning, 23 years old, KCRA TV, an affiliate in Sacramento, California, my hometown, before I ever got to national. And I had just gone in because someone said, you ought to consider this. There were no women on news back then. There was Barbara Walters. That was almost like it.
And so I called and I got this appointment to go in and I asked them all these questions about what the possibilities were. And after five minutes, he said, well, Clearly, you know how to write an interview. You have the look. You have that it factor. Let me take you down and audition you. It was like...
okay he put me on this new set that i saw every night on tv and he auditioned me and he said i think you have something but i don't have a job like he just walked in here out of the blue but we're going to start this new early news show and i'll keep you in mind but then weatherman at the station was back behind the set saw the audition and followed me out into the parking lot and said a few stations around the country are hiring weather girls
I'd like to make you Sacramento's first weather girl. And that sounded absolutely, totally uninteresting to me. But thank God I was a smart little whippersnapper who knew an opportunity when I heard it. So I said, okay. He said, okay, you'll be here Monday morning at 5 a.m. It's 5 a.m. ?
because he went on the air and did all this morning drive time weather on the radio that was very important to the Sacramento Agricultural Valley, all these farmers. And I guess that was the start of my early morning career right out of the box. But then a few months later, the news director called me in and said, remember when I told you we were going to start an early show?
Well, we're going to do something that just a few stations around the country are doing. They're having consumer reports, and this had never been done before. do you think you could come up with some consumer reports for us? I was like, okay. So I lived in Sacramento, that's the capital of California.
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Chapter 7: How does Joan Lunden define identity after the spotlight?
And there was no teleprompter, so you went by the script in front of you on the desk. And every time I would look down at the script, you would see tomatoes or lettuce. or meat, like through my eyes.
And needless to say, all of the other reporters up in the newsroom who wondered how in the world this girl just walked in here off the street and got this job, they didn't exactly welcome me with open arms. And they thought it was the funniest thing in the world and didn't tell me for weeks because they just wanted it to keep happening.
Throughout the book, and you've been giving us some great examples, you describe moments where being unflappable became part of the job. But I wanted to ask this in a different way. What do you think being unflappable cost you internally? There are plenty of times I can think of a million different kind of things that
You needed to remain unflappable, even though people were writing things about you in tabloids. First of all, back then we didn't have social media. They would write letters, but they'd still write letters. I don't like the dress you wore, or the big one for women. Hasn't she gained a little too much weight? That was the big one. You were supposed to be thin if you were on TV.
And by the way, I had three babies while doing Good Morning America. And they would write things in the tabloids. And you can say, I don't read that, but that's not true. And if you don't read it, a friend of yours reads it and tells you. And... You get dressed down every now and then by the boss who says, I don't like the interview you did yesterday.
And no matter what it is, you do have to just... There's a saying that's better to stay even than get even. You couldn't get mad about it. You had to just take it as constructive criticism, whether it was coming from a viewer or it was coming from your producer, and always remain unflappable. And certainly live on television, no matter what happened, you had to...
And sometimes there was a lot of chaos going on that we might hear in our earpiece, and you had to remain on that level. You were never to let the audience know there was something going on. The next satellite interview is off. We don't have it. We're going to get something else. We're going to put something else in its place. Okay, so I won't go to that.
You really have to just remain cool and calm and collected. And I don't think most people ever necessarily think about that while watching live news on television. And I know one of the things that I learned through reading the book is that you were quietly rewriting the rules through the course of your career.
And one of the first starts of this is you would bring your daughter to work and it was framed as activism at the time. But little things like that started, I think, to give you permission to expand. But did you feel like that at the time? I was not a flag-waving, bra-birding feminist at all.
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Chapter 8: What insights does Joan have about navigating change in life?
How are you going to do that? Again, I had to answer, well, actually, ABC has contractually given me permission to take the baby with me wherever I need to go for as long as I'm breastfeeding or throughout the first year. Oops, I said breastfeeding. And it clearly became very obvious to everyone within the first five minutes of that press conference that ABC
The breaking news story of the day wasn't who, what female was the new co-host of Good Morning America. That was a little story. The breaking news that day was that a major media corporate corporation had given a woman permission to bring a baby to work. It was in every paper.
And by the way, before the press conference was over, that PR guy went up, scooped my little seven-week-old baby out of the crib. And all of a sudden, I saw him walking in with my little baby Jamie in his arms. And he's like, I brought her to you. He walks right up the center aisle through all the different news reporters, puts her in my arms, and every camera is flashing.
And that was the picture on the cover of everything. And I still don't know if ABC really clearly understood at that point what the reaction was going to be by our audience, which was an incredible I think that I bonded with the audience so much more quickly because they knew I was showing up.
They knew I was prepared for the interviews, but they also know I was dealing with dirty diapers and spit up. So there was like a, like an interlocutor there that just created fun on our ratings sword. And I'm going to tell you a little something that didn't make the book. And it's because I only found this out six months ago.
I'd set my galley off to a couple of producers of GMA and the executive producer at the time I started. I just wanted him to fact check everything. And he got back to me, he said, I'm gonna tell you something. He said, when you started really showing, The head of entertainment called me and said, you got to get John Lennon off the air. I said, why?
He said, she's showing nobody wants to see a pregnant woman walking down the street, let alone on television in the morning when they get up. And he said, well, that's not really the reaction that we're getting from our audience. Our audience is absolute. All of them are crazy. reacting favorably.
And he said, I got together with David Parkman and the vice president in charge at the time, and we pow-wowed and we decided we just can't do this. It would go against what's, our audience would get upset. So they went against him and the guy eventually acquiesced and dropped it. And they let me stay in the air until, I don't know, two weeks, three weeks before delivery.
And back then they didn't have all the cute little maternity clothes that they have now. It was like tents. And I said and he said, we opted not to tell you. I said, oh, my God, I'm so glad you did not tell me that back then, because it would have. I think it would have just thrown me for a loop if I knew I would have destroyed you out of here. And I'm so glad they didn't tell me.
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