It’s her mission to turn knowledge into power. Campbell Brown has been a White House correspondent, a prime time news anchor, and an award-winning journalist who earned an Emmy for her in-depth coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Now the Vice President of News Partnerships at Facebook, the 52-year-old is on the frontlines of clickbait and clear data, fighting to ensure that accuracy and free expression benefit all women online. We spoke with Campbell at Diane von Furstenberg’s InCharge summit about her current job, her career journey, and why you should be really psyched to turn 50.

You’ve had so many career highlights. When did you first feel empowered in your job?
Believe it or not, I first felt empowered when I realized I was pursuing the wrong thing!

Really?!
It took me a little while to know that news was going to be my career path. I was about 24 years old. I was interning on Capitol Hill. I thought politics would be the path I pursued. I was invited to visit a newsroom in Washington, D.C. by a friend. And I remember walking in and thinking, “Wait, this is where I belong. These are my people. This is my purpose.” I quit my internship the next day to pursue a career in journalism. That was it for me.

How did you navigate making a pivot like that? What would be your advice to women looking to do something similar?
Every single job I’ve ever had, I started the role feeling incredibly unqualified to do the job. I felt insecure and I felt like a loser going in, to the point, early on, where I debated early on whether I should even take the job, because what if I wasn’t good enough? I think that’s something that women do a lot. I’ve never heard of a man doing it. And so in my career, I pursued the tactic that I think you’ve heard a million times: “Fake it ‘til you make it.” Pretend like you know and you’ll figure it out. And again, it gets easier the older you get with the more experience you have. But it’s being willing to jump off the high dive and not be afraid to try something you may not even be qualified for, but you can figure it out if you know your core skills and you believe in yourself.

What’s a “bad” quality that you’ve turned into an asset?
Being bossy! Which Sheryl Sandberg, my boss [at Facebook], talks about a lot. If you’re a woman who knows what she wants and has ambition and wants to achieve things, you’re often called bossy, demanding, diva, b-i-t-c-h. And you know, at a certain point—and I do think age helps—you just embrace it. You say, “You know what, I am the boss! And at times, bosses are bossy, and certainly demanding, within reason. And that’s okay. That’s great.”

What do you wish you’d known when you first started your career?
I’ve always been very goal oriented. When I first got into journalism, Andrea Mitchell was White House Correspondent for NBC News. She was my hero; I wanted to be Andrea Mitchell. And I eventually got that job. But when I did, I ended up feeling a little bit lost! When you’re so focused for such a long time on achieving a given goal, what do you do when you finally achieve it? It’s an unusual thing. Those moments have always been driven for the most part by goals I’ve set by myself. And I wish I’d known that you have to be open to surprises.

Was Facebook a surprise?
Yes! Be open to surprises. (Like an opportunity to work in tech when you don’t even really know how to turn your computer on!) Don’t close yourself off to things that may not have been in your plan. Think of what you’ll learn.

What should young women know about the news right now?
You need to be discerning about what you read. There are so many sources of news and information today, most of which didn’t exist when I was a young woman… I was one of a few broadcasters working for one of a few broadcast networks. Today, you have news organizations that are hyper-partisan. You have news organizations with a very tabloid bent. And you really have to be smart about the news you consume and know the sources you can trust. You can’t just go on the internet and search something and think it’s a fact, just because it comes up first. You really have to be discerning. What we’re trying to do at Facebook is to create a destination for people to have a place to go to find reliable sources of news.

How do we do that?
There are lots of news destinations. But I still believe in supporting the big mainstream news outlets. The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal… These big newspapers have invested their money in real reporting… It’s important to go to the source. Read the reporters who are getting on the planes and going to Syria, going to Wuhan, going live from New York City. Trust the journalists who are digging through data files to fact-check them. The ones that are doing the work are the ones to pay attention to.

What do you wish Millennial women knew about getting older?
I think any woman in any career starting out has this experience where you realize, “Oh my gosh, it feels so much better now that I’m older.” I’ll be 52 this summer and I love being over 50. Because so much of the stuff I thought was so important I realize today is total bulls***… The things I worried about and got insecure about. I was so eager to please people. Criticism upset me. It’s a confidence we should all try to develop, but with age and experience, it comes naturally. You’ll feel better in your skin. Think of everything you’re obsessing over and trying to prove yourself—it will get so much easier! The fear and stigma surrounding [aging]… it’s just wrong.