Kimberly Guilfoyle : ‘Don’t Ever Be Afraid of the No’

Fiercely successful, Kimberly Guilfoyle has taken an inspiring path on her way to becoming the woman she is today, finding out at the age of nine that her mother was dying of leukemia and losing her at 11-years-old.

In the years ahead, Guilfoyle’s father would instill in her the ability to use her own resources to excel in the world. Guilfoyle, co-host of popular Fox News show The Five, joined Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon for Breitbart’s Sunday radio program, sharing some the life lessons included in her engaging new book Making the Case: How to Be Your Own Best Advocate.

How important was the experience of taking care of your ailing mother, her passing away, and her father’s role when you were so young, Bannon asked Guilfoyle.

“It defines me in every way possible, it’s who I am, it’s who I’ve become,” Guilfoyle said. Her mother was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, her father in the southern part of Ireland. They immigrated to the United States, met in San Francisco, became and were very much in love. “In that portion of time where my parents were together, I got to see great love, great loyalty and teamwork. My father said the one thing he wanted was for me not to be destroyed by this experience, but to become powerful out of it.”

“He was the greatest coach I ever had in my life,” Guilfoyle said of her father. When she came to him as a child, wanting to do something, he would tell her to get her case all together and make her case to him. “Don’t ever be afraid of the no,” he would tell her.

Guilfoyle touched on how often people don’t do things in life because they are afraid,  and she uses her story in the hopes that she can inspire others to have courage, to not be afraid, and to make their own case. She said:

Nobody was like, ‘Kimberly, we’re going to let you anchor general news or host a show or do any of that.’ I at first started out doing legal analysis, but I had to make the case to my bosses… give me a shot, give me a chance, and I was able to do that, say let me fill in, let me show you my range, nothing to lose here, it’s the holidays. So when other people were taking off, I would work so that I could get the opportunity. That’s what you gotta do. God helps those who help themselves. You have blessings, you have gifts, you have passion, you have drive, get after it, go in there and do something, try and make every day count.

Guilfoyle lost her dad about five years ago. She said with each loss of a parent she realized how short and precious life is and how important it is to make every day count.

Bannon joined in agreement that “You’ve got to be your own salesperson to do that, but you’ve got to be fearless, you’ve got to leave it all on the playing field.” Guilfoyle responded:

You’re so right. I’m so happy to hear you said that. That is what I am trying to beat the drum about.” Don’t live a life that you’ll look back on with regret, she emphasized, “Put it all on the field, get after it, hundred percent and then you know you gave it all you had, and I did that with my parents. I talk about it in the book as well caring for aging parents, and I know as I sit here today that I did everything possible to help save my mother’s and my father’s life.

Bannon turned to ask Guilfoyle about one of the most engaging parts of the book, in which Guilfoyle talks about coming out of law school and starting out as a prosecutor against horrific crimes in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

“When I went to bed at night and when I got up in the morning, I felt powerful, I felt victorious, I felt that I was engaging in a cause that was noble,” Guilfoyle explained of that time in her life. She described her resolve as one of, “I’m going to fight passionately for justice, I’m going to try to help these people… because I understand great, heart wrenching loss. When you feel like everything has been taken from you and you have no control over it.”

“It was really just an example of my mother’s devotion to public service, the way my father raised to be my own best advocate, to be able to make the case, and now I was taking all those tools, and I was doing it for other people. There’s nothing more pure than that.”

Guilfoyle’s new book Making the Case: How to Be Your Own Best Advocate is currently available for purchase online and in bookstores.

Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana