One of the mantras Hoda Kotb has lived by for years is: “You’re the sum total of the five people you spend the most time with.” So who are Hoda’s five?

In the Jan. 8 episode of her “Making Space” podcast, Hoda shared that her friend Maria Shriver is one of those individuals.

“The thing I like about Maria so much is she’s a listener,” Hoda said. Maria has been an important influence in Hoda’s life..Nathan. Congleton / TODAY
Hoda opened up about the remaining four in an interview with TODAY.com prior to her farewell on Friday, Jan. 10.

In fact, Hoda’s circle actually expands beyond five.

She explains her family, which includes her kids, Haley and Hope, are a “given,” as is her sister, Hala, and mom Sami.

In addition to her givens, Hoda’s “core” group includes Maria; her fourth hour co-host, Jenna Bush Hager; her TODAY co-anchor, Savannah Guthrie; and her “besties” Karen Swensen and Jen Miller. Karen and Hoda became friends during their days in local news.Nathan Congleton / TODAY
Hoda says these people in her life make her better because they are “constantly exploring and growing.”

“You want to be with people who are expanding and curious and trying to kind of make the world better and who think beyond their own little world,” Hoda says. “And all of my five-plus do that. They make me less afraid. They make me believe I can do anything. They can see me in other spaces. They cheer me on.”

Hoda says they all said the same thing to her when she told them she was leaving TODAY. Hoda says she and Jenna played a song in the makeup room and were “weeping” together. Nathan Congleton / TODAY
“They all said, ‘Good for you,'” she recalls, adding, “except for Jenna, who was mad for a couple days, and then she came around. But they all said, ‘Good for you,’ and I think that that really told me the truth. It’s like they’re looking out for me, because I remember after I told Savannah, she said, ‘Wow.’ She goes, ‘I’m going to grieve for myself and for the show later, but today, I’m celebrating you. Wow, like, how cool you did that.'” Hoda describes Savannah as “a guiding light” for her in certain parts of her life.Nathan Congleton / TODAY
Hoda also has collected advice along the way as she makes these big life and career changes for herself.

She’s learned to not “fight the little voice inside that’s saying something to you, because you can quash it, and you can bury it, and you can be perfectly fine, but in terms of your life’s potential, you may not ever know it.”

“Say it out loud,” she continues, “whatever the whisper is.”

Hoda even shared words of wisdom her TODAY co-anchor gave her.

“As my friend Savannah has said, kind of framed it this way, but even if it’s just to yourself in the bathroom mirror — say it, to a trusted friend, say it, because once you say it, things start happening,” she explains.

Hoda encourages people not to keep their dreams quiet and to proudly say them out loud, because even if the dream doesn’t come true, “it wasn’t your dream,” she says.

“There’s another one, like, say it! Say it! You know? I think that’s important.”