Long before Karine Jean-Pierre became the voice of the most powerful man in the world, she was a volunteer firefighter for Hose Co. 2 in Hempstead, a village in New York.
“Here I am, this 5′2″ little, tiny person—a Black woman. All the firefighters were middle-aged, older white men, at least 10 years older than me,” she says. “There were no women, but I was like, ‘No, I can do this.’ ”
It’s a sunny afternoon in mid-April, and Karine and I are walking around a circular path on the mall behind the White House. I’m in D.C. to see how the U.S. press secretary navigates such an intense, pressure-filled job. And it has been a very busy, very long day.
That morning, President Biden signed a new aid package for Ukraine. Prep for the famed White House Correspondents’ dinner, which is just a few days away, is in full swing. And Karine’s daily press briefing involved a laundry list of heavy topics that are banned from most family dinner tables: abortion law and the Supreme Court, bird flu, immigration, free speech on college campuses and anti-Semitism, divestment from TikTok. After volleying back and forth with the press corps for an hour, she spent her late afternoon in more meetings. Finally, around 5:30 p.m., she has the chance to step away from her desk and take a deep breath.
“I think what it says about me, honestly, is that I just take chances,” she says of her decision to join the volunteer corps while in college. The unique detail about her past doesn’t really tell a larger story or hold some deep meaning, she says. But it does mean Karine didn’t take no for an answer. It means she runs toward chaos, ready and willing to help, and is comfortable being the only woman—and often the only Black, queer woman—in the room. And that’s a theme that has continued throughout her life and career.
At this point in her story, back on our walk, Karine is interrupted by an excited 14-year-old boy from Kentucky, who is grinning ear to ear and practically hopping up and down at his great luck in running into the U.S. press secretary outside of the White House. “Are you Karine?” he asks. The boy is there with Make-A-Wish. He wears a T-shirt with all the presidents’ names on it in the shape of an American flag. Karine stops, warmly greets him, and after snapping a pic, gives the boy’s mother her email, telling them to contact her to arrange a tour of the White House. This is not the first time—or the last—she’s stopped on her walk. (A homeschool mom from Ohio chased us down for three blocks for a breathless “hi” and a photo.)
To be fair, it’s hard not to notice Karine. She’s striking—petite, with luminous curls, a big smile, and kind eyes that are often framed by light, glimmering eye shadow. She’s usually wearing bright, colorful outfits—vibrant reds, strong blues, sprightly yellows. Today, she’s opted for a sky-blue dress with black trim and New Balance sneakers. Energy radiates from her.
Two years have passed since former U.S. press secretary Jen Psaki handed the reins over to Karine, in May of 2022, but the constant, immediate recognition still seems like something she quietly grapples with. “It’s very hard for me to go out in public now,” Karine says.
Her face is constantly plastered all over the cable news networks. But she’s also recognized because she’s a “first”—the first Black woman and first openly gay person to hold the role. It resonates with folks. No one who looks like Karine has ever stood where she stands. It affects her life in small, casual ways, and in other, more intense capacities: While she adores running outside—a vestige from her high school cross-country days—she now has to hit the trail or pavement super early to avoid being stopped. It also makes her worry—a lot—about her 9-year-old daughter whom she shares with ex-partner Suzanne Malveaux.
While there are baby pictures, drawings, Mother’s Day cards, and old letters in her daughter’s wobbly handwriting framed throughout Karine’s office, there are no recent photos of the girl. Karine consciously keeps her daughter’s face off social media. “I’m very, very careful,” she says. “Very, very, very, very careful.”
The daily stressors of Karine’s job are not for the faint of heart, but she tackles them head-on.
The pressure to do and say and react the right way—on behalf of the president of the United States—paired with the impressive superlatives attached to her name, would crush most people, but they don’t seem to weigh too heavily on her shoulders. In fact, Karine is very matter-of-fact about the whole thing. “All I can do is bring my best self into the role, and hopefully, that will bring progress,” she says. “I try to honor the people that came before me and respect the fact that I didn’t get here on my own. I got here because doors were opened.”
President Joe Biden, who tells Women’s Health via email that Karine is his “trusted advisor, who represents my administration with grace,” knows that she deals with a lot of tough questions every day. “I’m proud to have her play an integral role on my team and to represent the United States to all those watching across the nation and around the world,” he says.
After immigrating to New York from France, Karine watched her parents work long, hard hours to provide for their three kids—her mom was a home health aide, and her dad, previously an engineer in Haiti, became a taxi driver and worked in factories. It’s a story she has told time and again during interviews. And it’s not lost on Karine that her job is exactly what her parents dreamed of when they came home late or left at dawn for a work shift. Karine never forgets where she came from, or the values her parents instilled in her.
In fact, her office reflects that deep respect for her roots and for those who helped pave her path. It’s filled with photos of famous leaders—Obama, John Lewis, Ruth Bader Ginsburg—candids with President Biden and Dr. Jill Biden, books like Adam Grant’s Originals and Indra Nooyi’s My Life In Full, and a newspaper clipping celebrating her new position. Four framed prints hang behind her desk. Karine tells me she spent a great deal of time planning the wall with an interior designer friend.
The images ground her. The first is a colorful painting of Haiti in 2009. The second, a Paul Gaugin print of the shore of Martinique—where Karine was born—from 1887. The third is a print of Harlem Renaissance artist Charles Henry Alston’s iconic piece The Family, to honor her New York roots, Karine says. And finally, there’s a black-and-white photograph of an athlete competing in the University of Pennsylvania hurdle relays (Karine ran 400-meter hurdles in high school).
The wall reminds Karine of who she is. And, quite literally, of the hurdles she faces every day. She created the wall for a purpose: “If I was ever having a hard time, I could look [at the wall].”
There are fun, soul-filling days, and there are painful, difficult ones. Karine had to kick off her first ever press briefing by addressing the Buffalo shooting. The school shooting in Uvalde—which killed 19 students and 2 teachers—happened just 10 days later. “One of the things that really hits me hard that I talk about is gun violence,” she says. “And it’s something that moves the president as well.”
As a parent, those moments feel very personal to Karine, and to the president and first lady, who also know what it’s like to lose a child. “They’re seared into my brain,” Karine says.
Karine, who recently recovered from a broken toe, usually pounds the pavement for roughly 3.5 to 4 miles, and then adds on some strength training that her brother, a personal trainer, curates for her.
Exercise has been—and continues to be—super important for Karine.
A recently broken toe has prevented her from regular morning jogs, but otherwise, she’s been running since she was 14 years old. “It’s hard for me not to hit like 10,000 steps, even with my broken toe, because I have to be physically active.” She’s even trying to find a sleek walking pad to fit under her desk.
In high school sports, Karine found confidence, friendship, and family. After a friend’s older brother recruited his sister and Karine for cross-country their freshman year, Karine realized she was actually pretty good at the whole running thing. The coach nurtured and encouraged her. She went on to join the indoor and outdoor track teams, and never looked back. “It was a game changer. And I think it helped me in my growth. It helped me become the person that I am,” she says. “I think that’s one of the reasons I am healthy today—because it started when I was so young.”
Indeed, the 49-year-old U.S. press secretary has run half-marathons, 10-Ks, and 5-Ks, and she still works out almost every morning, logging 3.5 to 4 miles at a time. “I’m a runner. That’s what I do. That’s what I love to do,” she says.
She’s not the only high-powered woman at the White House who uses running to keep her mind clear and her body strong. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden famously jogs up and down the White House driveway with her secret service team. “I tell Dr. Biden all the time, I’m like, ‘When are we gonna run together?’” Karine says, laughing.
Karine’s younger brother, a personal trainer, also curates strength workouts for her—a series of pushups and situps that she completes before hopping on the treadmill at the gym in her building. If you look back far enough, you can find COVID-era videos of the two Jean-Pierre siblings doing Instagram workouts together to encourage people to stay moving during the dark days of early lockdown.
Right now, running is off the table, thanks to that broken middle toe on her right foot, which is a first for the press secretary. “I’ve never broken anything. Never,” she says, and this physical setback has been “really rough.” For the past two months, Karine has had to wear sneakers and boots instead of her usual heels to press briefings. She has stuck with the situps and pushups, and has gotten creative with cardio. But the biking workouts and walks just aren’t the same.
Before the chaos of each day begins, Karine leans into the serenity of a morning meditation.
Texts, news alerts, and emails detailing plans for the day ahead will come later. But that time before the sun comes up—which she tries to fill with gratitude and positive thinking—is just for her.
Around 4:45 a.m., Karine makes her way to a special window in her apartment and gazes up at the stars, or the first rays of sun, or, on rainy mornings, the gathering clouds as she starts her mantra. It’s almost always the same. Karine goes through all the things she’s grateful for. She prays for her mom, her daughter, the president and first lady. And at the end, she always gives thanks for making it through the day before and asks for help getting through the day ahead.
“I want to make sure that I have a clear mind,” she says. “I just go, stand, and just kind of find my center.”
Karine started her practice, which she explains is a mix of prayer and meditation, in November of last year. “It’s been incredibly powerful,” she says.
That moment of zen passes. Quickly. She starts her workout, turns on the TV, and grabs her phone. By 6:45 a.m., Karine has to be out the door.
If Karine’s workday is complex and ever-changing, her meals, in contrast, are simple and predictable. She fuels herself with healthy foods and drinks lots of water. She is a staunch vegetarian (she just “never liked” meat) and isn’t a breakfast person (“I grew up eating breakfast; I don’t know why now I don’t”), she says. Karine doesn’t do soda or juice. She doesn’t do sweets. And despite crack-of-dawn wake-up calls and late nights at the White House, Karine swears off coffee and alcohol. But she most certainly does do salty, savory snacks. “I love barbecue chips. I love truffle fries,” she says.
Each morning, Karine sips a chai tea and concocts a matcha smoothie using oat milk, banana, agave, nondairy yogurt, and matcha powder. She eats lunch—which she says is “whatever vegetarian entree” is at the White House Mess dining hall—during her daily national security briefing, around 11:30 a.m. Later, after her official press briefing is over, around 2 or 3 p.m., she’ll have another snack, followed by an early dinner. Today, she was hankering for a salad from Sweetgreen.
Karine grew up running cross-country and prefers to run outside whenever possible. In this photo, she hits her stride on a morning run before heading to work at the White House on April 29.
These carefully constructed routines allow her to dive headfirst into long, hard days.
At 9:30 a.m. on a Wednesday, Karine sits at her expansive, curved wooden desk, thinking through the hurdles ahead. She leans forward, hands clasped together, silver sparkly nail polish flashing (“That’s what happens when you have a 9-year-old!” she laughs). Beneath her double computer screens, a small angel figurine kneels in prayer.
Karine’s eyes are zeroed in on an aide who is helping her prep for the afternoon press briefing. Every so often, her eyes quickly flick to the four screens above my head, each tuned to a different channel: CNN, MSNBC, Fox, and CNBC. Once in a while, she’ll react to the images on the screen before seamlessly pivoting back into the conversation. She highlights sections of the papers in front of her and jots down a few notes. And she never drops the conversation thread.
As her morning continues, and more aides are brought in to help prepare for that day’s briefing, it becomes clear that humor is a buoy in the vast sea of her intense, serious job. Karine infuses meetings with a gentle warmth and laughter. She asks hard, thoughtful questions but leaves space for moments of levity—poking fun at herself, doing a friendly check-in about someone’s weekend. It brings necessary lightness to the Very Serious Room where America’s historical record is crafted.
Indeed, joy and self-confidence are two of her most powerful weapons. “Confidence actually helps me tremendously in delivering at the podium,” she says. “In this job, I think it’s very, very important to make sure you have that confidence to get it done and move forward.”
She wasn’t born that way, though. Karine had to work at it. “I was an incredibly shy kid who sat in the corner and kept her mouth shut,” she says. “I had to work on it.” Initially, running track helped to build that confidence in a big way: She found success and physical strength in sport, and she forged new friendships. Nowadays, she is able to tap into that confidence more easily. It’s putting together an outfit she loves or getting a really good night’s sleep.
In the rare moment Karine feels anxious about work-related things, she will pause and go back through her brain to see what might be causing that little bit of angst.
Sometimes, Karine has to pump herself up before a big day. Her team knows the secret keys to getting her into the right headspace. Before heading into the briefing room, Karine follows the same ritual. First, she takes five minutes alone to collect herself, reading through top-line notes and “zhuzhing up” her hair and makeup. She grabs a mint. Her watch comes off (it bangs against the lectern, Karine says); the security guards wish her good luck as she skirts around their post. Just before the small door to the press conference room slides open, Karine makes sure to tap back into that joy that keeps her so grounded, with a little help from her favorite songs.
It’s been tradition for a while now. Before her very first press briefing, in 2022, when she was deputy press secretary, then–press secretary Jen Psaki played “Run the World (Girls),” by Beyoncé, before Karine walked out to face the horde of reporters. Now, behind-the-scenes, pre-podium music has become the norm. “It’s always a woman. It’s either Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, or Rihanna. I love Missy Elliott, as well,” Karine says of the songs. “And then I’ll do a little dance—I love to dance.”
At the top of her playlist? Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ’Em,” “Break My Soul,” and “Energy,” and Swift’s “Lavender Haze.”
When the door connecting the briefing room to the rest of the White House wing slides open, Karine practically bounces onto the small stage.
Her voice is quiet, firm, and focused. Gone is the relaxed, smiling woman from the office. She owns the podium, emphasizing and illustrating her points with her hands, and leaning her arms against the Dunnigan-Payne lectern, named for the first Black White House journalists, Alice Dunnigan and Ethel Payne. Her relaxed demeanor and firm grasp on the wooden frame convey a quiet strength and ownership.
“It was built for me,” she later tells me. (The podium was literally built to her exact specs, complete with side mics and a special bar for her briefing book to rest on.)
As questions are leveled at her from the 49 White House reporters in the room, Karine remains unruffled. When she’s asked a surprise question about a bit of breaking news, she takes a moment to flip through the catalog of information in her brain to see how she should answer the question. When she does answer, she knows that whatever she says will be officially on the record for President Biden and the White House. And she knows the weight those words carry.
But she doesn’t hold room for regrets about what she did—or didn’t—say during her briefings. She just keeps moving forward. “I have to,” she says. “I have to, or else it would just live in my head rent-free.”
When she’s at the podium, she represents something much larger than her 5′2″ self. “She has been an inspiration to young women, as well as a mentor to many at the White House,” President Biden says.
And Karine knows this. “I have to change the perspective of what a White House press secretary looks like,” she says. “I try to honor the past but also know that every time I step to that podium, I am hopefully changing hearts and minds, and hopefully making something look more normal, and hopefully making progress for the generation that comes after me.”
Currie Engel is the news and features editor at Women’s Health. She loves working on zeitgeisty news, culture, mental health, and reproductive rights stories. When she’s not editing stories, she’s writing them. Currie previously worked as an award-winning local reporter specializing in health investigations and features, and as a researcher at Time magazine.