Kathie Lee Gifford, author of three New York Times best-selling books and three time Emmy-winning cohost of the fourth hour of NBC Today, stepped in front of the camera to declare herself “Second” in the newest film from I Am Second, a global storytelling organization.
In the film, available on iamsecond.com, Gifford shares about the ups and downs of her life, from her beginnings in the entertainment industry and her 29-year marriage to her husband Frank to the biggest struggle she currently faces and how she maintains her joy.
“I’ve been in the desert as many times as I’ve been on a mountaintop, but I’ve learned my deepest lessons from the deserts,” Gifford recalls.
Gifford only ever wanted to be an entertainer and has been in the business since she was 10 years old. Since then, she enjoyed a diverse and successful career, but it has not been without its challenges.
“To be a young woman in that industry is brutal because of the rejection and because it’s nonstop,” she says. “Spotlights are tough because some people die under them. I came to life under them.”
Throughout the film, Gifford opens up honestly about the times in her life when God took horrible situations and wove them into something beautiful, including overcoming rumors and wrong accusations, restoring her marriage after her husband’s infidelity and experiencing the death of the love of her life.
“My biggest struggle at this point in life is loneliness,” Gifford admits. “I’ve lost my parents, my husband is gone now, and my children live far away. I still live in same big house where we made a gazillion, million memories, and there are times when I am overwhelmed with loneliness. But I’ve discovered if I just keep thinking about what I’ve lost, I don’t pay attention to what I still have. I don’t want to live my life in hopelessness.”
Gifford shares in the I Am Second film how she found her unique purpose and joy in life and encourages others to do the same.
Janet Perez Eckles 
Shawn Akers 
Abby Trivett 
