Hoda Kotb’s mother has always been her biggest cheerleader. So it’s only fitting that Sameha Kotb wanted to share an inspiring message with her daughter on the final episode of Hoda & Jenna.

“When I turn on the TV and see Hodie, I see her smiling and I love that,” Sameha began. “I’ll check what she’s wearing. Is she wearing the dress I sent her – or something else?”

(In 2016, Hoda told TODAY.com that Sameha often picks out her clothes. “She’s so good. She’s better than anyone,” Hoda said at the time. “She knows exactly how bodies work.”)

As Sameha Hoda paid tribute on her final day at Studio 1A, she remembered how the TODAY co-anchor got her start.

“She was in school at Virginia Tech, she did a radio show and that’s when she knew she wanted to be on TV,” Sameha remembers. “And I said, ‘Of course. Do it!'”

As Hoda watched the moment, she wiped away tears while lip-singing along to her mother’s encouraging words from the past.

After Hoda graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism, she was determined to make a name for herself.

“She took my car and drove to many places to find a job and then knocked on doors,” Sameha said. Hoda was often met with rejection.

“She kept saying, ‘Oh, Mom, no one has said yes yet,’ and I said, ‘Go ahead!'” Sameha recalled.

Hoda moved on and landed an on-air role at WXVY in Greenville, Mississippi. She then worked for several television networks before joining NBC in 1998 as a Dateline correspondent.

When Hoda traveled to dangerous places for a story, Sameha urged her daughter to come home. Of course, Hoda always refused.

“She would say, ‘Mom, I love my job,'” Sameha said, laughing.

But Hoda loves her family more than anything, including daughters Haley and Hope.