IN PURSUIT from Glassdoor - Valerie Jarrett

Valerie Jarrett’s great grandfather was the first African-American to go to MIT. His father had been born into slavery. So it is with a sense of history and purpose that Valerie Jarrett pursues her life’s work. But that doesn’t mean her path has been a straight line. There have been detours and there have been hard decisions, especially when she was in the Obama White House. She has always looked for balance. As she put it on the podcast, “All of us in life have to find what grounds us. And it might be religion. It might be family. It might be a stranger. But you have to center yourself.” Valerie talks about finding her center and what it’s meant to her and to her daughter to be a working parent. She is working with President Obama on the Obama Foundation, with Michelle Obama on the voting initiative When We All Vote, and on the United State of Women.

“When you're doing what you enjoy, then you don't really view it as work. I used to say in the White House, I would pay to do this. They don't have to give me a dime. I would just for the privilege of doing this kind of work that's exciting and interesting and purposeful,” she says.

IN PURSUIT is hosted by Amy Elisa Jackson and is an original podcast from Glassdoor.

Click to listen now. Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Through honest and candid conversations, guests share how they navigate their careers through achievements, hurdles and heartbreaks encountered along the way. If you have a question or feedback for us, message us on Twitter (@glassdoor using the hashtag #InPursuitPod).