“…You find yourself managing other people’s grief because particularly with somebody like [our] mom that was in her own right amazingly – after all these years – she was a famous person…”

Michelle Obama continued, “She meant a lot to so many people – people who knew her well, friends who grew up with us when we were little kids to… I got letters from heads of state and ambassadors. She became a world figure. That’s a pretty amazing thing.”

Michelle Obama Reveals How Therapy Helped Her In This Stage Of Her Life

Michelle Obama is taking her mental health seriously.

Appearing on the podcast On Purpose with Jay Shetty, with her brother Craig Robinson, her co-hosts on the IMO podcast, the former First Lady revealed that she needed therapy as a “tune-up” as she moves through the next phase of her life.

“At this phase of my life, I’m in therapy right now because I’m transitioning,” Obama said.

Obama went on to acknowledge that she completed “a really hard thing” by keeping her family “intact,” as President Barack Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha have been in the public eye for almost two decades. For the first time in years, she can make decisions just for herself.

“I’m an empty nester, my girls are in…you know, they’ve been launched,” Michelle Obama said. “And now, for the first time, as I’ve said before, every choice that I’m making is completely mine.”

On October 3, he posted a charming photo of the two beaming at what appeared to be an art museum with a touching caption that quickly went viral.

“Happy anniversary, @MichelleObama! 32 years together, and I couldn’t have asked for a better partner and friend to go through life with,” Obama wrote. 

Within hours, the post garnered 22.7 million views, sparking an outpouring of love from fans. One admirer commented, “Happy anniversary to two beautiful souls. Thank you for all you do!”

Another declared, “Happy anniversary to one of the greatest First Couples in American history!” A third chimed in, “Congrats to everyone’s favorite President and First Lady.”

Michelle Obama shared her own anniversary tribute on X, reflecting on their journey together. “32 action-packed years with my honey! Through it all, thank you for always having my back, being by my side, and finding ways to make me smile. I love you, @BarackObama,” she wrote.

Barack Obama married his wife Michelle in 1992. The couple has made a tradition of sharing these affectionate messages online each year, much to the delight of their followers. Their public displays of love have become a cherished ritual, celebrated by millions. 

Together, the Obamas are the proud parents of two daughters, Malia and Sasha. The sisters have trailblazed their own paths in entertainment. 

Kamala Harris was publicly endorsed by the Obamas in July. At the time, they shared a video of a phone conversation with Harris on social media.

“Earlier this week, Michelle and I called our friend @KamalaHarris,” they wrote in the caption. “We told her we think she’ll make a fantastic President of the United States and that she has our full support. At this critical moment for our country, we’re going to do everything we can to make sure she wins in November. We hope you’ll join us.”

Co-hosted with her brother, Craig Robinson, the show blends personal reflection, humor, and candid conversation. While it avoids deep political discourse, IMO provides a rare glimpse into Michelle’s world—her marriage to former President Barack Obama, family memories, and life lessons shaped by experience.

The debut episode has already made waves. It touches on deeply personal subjects, including the pain of losing loved ones and the quirks of living with Barack. With humor and warmth, Michelle shares anecdotes that resonate with listeners, making IMO an engaging extension of the connection she’s built with fans through her books, public speeches, and Netflix documentary.

Unlike traditional celebrity podcasts, IMO leans into personal storytelling. Michelle and Craig’s sibling dynamic brings a relaxed, natural chemistry that feels like a conversation between old friends. Their discussions weave between personal milestones and universal themes of growth, relationships, and resilience, offering insight into how their upbringing shaped them.

The first episode sets the tone for what’s to come—heartfelt storytelling, unfiltered moments, and the wisdom Michelle has gathered from navigating life in and out of the public eye. She speaks candidly about grief, explaining how loss has shaped her perspective as a mother, wife, and individual.

She also lightheartedly reveals Barack’s “bad habits,” providing an endearing glimpse into their marriage. This mix of depth and levity makes IMO a refreshing departure from the often-polished narratives of public figures.

Future episodes promise a broader range of discussions, from family traditions to personal growth, with guest appearances spanning entertainment, politics, and activism. IMO isn’t just about Michelle’s experiences—it’s about shared human moments that inspire reflection and connection. The podcast’s conversational tone makes it an inviting space for listeners seeking authenticity rather than scripted dialogue.

With IMO, Michelle Obama once again proves her ability to engage audiences through meaningful storytelling. Whether exploring childhood memories with Craig or delving into the joys and challenges of marriage, she brings an honesty that keeps listeners coming back.

As the episodes unfold, IMO is poised to be more than just another celebrity podcast—it’s an extension of Michelle’s mission to inspire, uplift, and connect through real, relatable experiences.

During the latest episode of her IMO With Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson podcast, which she co-hosts with her brother, the Former First Lady detailed why she chose not to be a part of the festivities in conversation with Taraji P. Henson.

“My decision to skip the inauguration — or my decision to make choices at the beginning of this year that suited me — were met with such ridicule and criticism,” Obama explained. “People couldn’t believe that I was saying no for any other reason. They had to assume that my marriage was falling apart.”

“I’m here really trying to own my life and intentionally practice making the choice that was right for me, and it took everything in my power to not do the thing that ‘was right,’ or was perceived as right, but do the things that was right for me,” she added.

Although she’s known as a fashionista, Obama said she couldn’t decide on the right outfit.

“It started with not having anything to wear,” she said. “I was like, ‘If I’m not going to do this thing, I got to tell my team, I don’t even want to have a dress ready,’ right? Because it’s so easy to just say ‘let me do the right thing.'”

Obama also revealed that going to therapy allowed her to make decisions to put herself first.

We made it through. We got out alive. I hope we made the country proud. My girls, thank God, are whole,” Obama said.”But what happened to me? And going through therapy is getting me to look at the fact that maybe, finally, I’m good enough.

During the conversation, the former First Lady said the Obamas still have the same holiday traditions. For Thanksgiving, she spends it with her family “on the mainland.” For the Chrsitamas, they spend it in Hawaii.

“You know my husband grew up in Hawaii—one of the reasons why I married him,” Michelle said. “My in-laws, I was like, ‘Okay, is this where Christmas is going to be?’”

“Since the girls were little, we’ve been going to Hawaii for Christmas,” she continued. “Barack’s family is there, and now it’s his sister, my nieces, and a bunch of friends who’ve been joining us for years. We head to the island for a little sun.”

When Michelle found out that Barack was from Hawaii, it sealed the deal in their relationship.

“That’s why you got to pick your husband right. He got a lot cuter when I found out he was from Hawaii,” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh okay.’”

When Hudson asked which Obama was the hardest person to shop for. Michelle noted that her husband presents a challenge. 

“I mean, he just doesn’t do much. He golfs, and there’s only so many golf balls you can get a dude,” she added. “I already got the clubs. I can’t get him another golf shirt. He’s really hard, and he doesn’t want anything,” she continued.

“He’s one of these sort of ‘Just a nice letter.’ And he means it. So he’s really hard to shop for,” Michelle said. She would love for him to buy a new wardrobe but he won’t because “he’s also cheap.”

“Why’d you spend this much on a jacket?’ and she replied, “That’s what a gift is!”

When the holidays roll around, Michelle said she leads the charge.

“I’m the one who organizes all the gift-giving. I make sure that all the kids we know are covered,” she said. “I’ve got my list… I’m the one that makes Christmas happen.”

Released on December 3, Overcoming: A Workbook is a complimentary book to The Light We Carry, a No. 1 New York Times bestseller.

On Thursday (Apr.3), Barack Obama sat down with a group of students at Hamilton College in New York. During the chat, Obama admitted that while he did his best to handle the country’s fate with the utmost care as the nation’s leader, he fell short when it came to being a husband. “I was in a deep deficit with my wife,” Obama told the group of students.

On the other hand, Barack Obama noted he’s been doing his best to make up for the past with fun and engaging activities the couple can do together. “So I have been trying to dig myself out of that hole by doing occasionally fun things.”

“Being married to the president of the United States is a thing that none of us kind of banked on,” Michelle Obama said on her IMO podcast

In March, Michelle opened up about the difficulties she and Barack’s marriage faced amid his presidency during an episode of her IMO podcast with her brother Craig Robinson. “Being married to the president of the United States is a thing that none of us kind of banked on,” she said.

The former first lady revealed that she knew her husband was “smart and ambitious,” but she wasn’t too thrilled with the idea of him running for president. However, her brother was able to convince her otherwise. “You talked me into supporting his run cause I was definitely like, nope, nope, this is crazy, we’ve done enough crazy stuff.”

Craig responded, saying, “I did. Barack came to me and he’s like, ‘I can’t convince your sister to go along with this,’ and I’m like, ‘woah, woah, go along with what?’ and he’s like, ‘I think I’m going to run for president.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ I wouldn’t go along with it.”

On the bright side, Michelle noted that Obama has been working since the end of his second term to correct the mistakes of the past. “He’s improved over 30 years of marriage, but that was a ‘you must adjust.'”

Despite her fierceness, Tina Knowles reveals to the former first lady she had second thoughts about the reception of her memoir, Matriarch. Knowles is famously known as the mother of Beyoncé and Solange Knowles. “It was scary,” she says. However, she feels it was important to learn about her family’s roots so she could pass their stories on to her children.

Knowles also touched on things that she learned about motherhood from her mother. “I took the good from my mom, which was so many great things, but I also learned from the things that I felt like [sic] she didn’t do such a great job on, and that [sic] was to protect my children.

” I would speak up…I would fight with people,” Knowles recalls.

Knowles, who could be referred to as the “ultimate” matriarch of the entertainment industry makes it clear she has no problem speaking up for her children: ” I would speak up…I would fight with people,” Knowles recalls. “… I remember having to go and fight with the light people…the music people…”

Knowles adds, “…Here I was this country woman from Texas with this big hair and this thick, thick [sic] accent and people didn’t really [sic] respect me…I wasn’t aggressive…I wasn’t loud…and I protected them.”

In 2015, Beyoncé talked to Entertainment Tonight about how Tina Knowles “led by example.” The multi-hyphenate recalls thinking her mother was “so fly.”

The singer added, “She had her own business and I admired her so much [sic]. So I just always wanna [sic] make her proud. And now she makes me proud every day.

Check out the full interview below.

The Obamas shared a video of a phone conversation with Harris on social media. It’s captioned, “Earlier this week, Michelle and I called our friend @KamalaHarris. We told her we think she’ll make a fantastic President of the United States, and that she has our full support. At this critical moment for our country, we’re going to do everything we can to make sure she wins in November. We hope you’ll join us.”

Michelle Obama adds in the one-minute video, “I can’t have this phone call without saying to my girl Kamala: I am proud of you. This is going to be historic.”

Obama, the first Black president, and Kamala Harris, who could become the first female president, have maintained close contact since she announced her candidacy. He has been privately supportive, according to four sources familiar with their discussions, as reported by NBC News.

Obama had supported Biden’s re-election effort but had concerns about Biden’s prospects in November following a weak debate performance in late June.

Biden endorsed Harris for president moments after he announced his withdrawal from the race on Sunday, leading Democrats to quickly rally around her. Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also endorsed Harris in a joint statement.

In 2010, Obama endorsed Harris for attorney general, a position she held for six years. In 2016, he endorsed her Senate run and appeared in a TV ad supporting her.

Obama also nominated Harris’ brother-in-law, Tony West, to lead the Justice Department’s Civil Division in 2009. West later became an associate attorney general in the Obama administration.

Obama’s endorsement follows Beyonce’s approval of Kamala Harris’s use of her hit song, “Freedom,” featuring Kendrick Lamar.

Appearing on the podcast On Purpose with Jay Shetty, with her brother Craig Robinson, her co-hosts on the IMO podcast, the former First Lady revealed that she needed therapy as a “tune-up” as she moves through the next phase of her life.

“At this phase of my life, I’m in therapy right now because I’m transitioning,” Obama said.

Obama went on to acknowledge that she completed “a really hard thing” by keeping her family “intact,” as President Barack Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha have been in the public eye for almost two decades. For the first time in years, she can make decisions just for herself.

“I’m an empty nester, my girls are in…you know, they’ve been launched,” Obama said. “And now, for the first time, as I’ve said before, every choice that I’m making is completely mine.”

“I  now don’t have the excuse of, ‘Well, my kids need this’ or ‘My husband needs that’ or ‘The country needs that,'” she said.”So, how do I think about this next phase? And let me get some help. Let me unwind some old habits. Let me sort through some old guilt that I’ve been carrying around. Let me talk about how my relationship with my mother has affected how I think about things.”

She’s also grieving the loss of her mother, Marian Robinson, who passed away last May at 86 years old.

“So I’m getting that tuneup for this next phase because I believe this is a whole other phase in life for me,” Mrs. Obama said, adding that she considers therapy “coaching” and that she’s an “advocate” for it.

“I grieve the things that I thought would be and that are not,” she said quietly. “I’m not married. I don’t have children… and I think I grieve that at times.” The confession marked a poignant turn in the discussion—one that reverberated far beyond the studio walls. Ross wasn’t lamenting a lack of success or fulfillment. Instead, she was naming a quieter sorrow, one many carry but rarely speak aloud.

Obama, herself no stranger to the complexities of identity and expectation, met Ross’s words with empathy. “That’s the pain of being a liberated woman,” she replied. “The choice doesn’t mean the grief isn’t there.” Their emotional exchange struck a nerve, especially among Black women navigating their own nontraditional paths. Within hours, the hashtag #TraceeEllisRoss began trending as thousands shared stories of private grief and hard-won freedom.

Ross has often challenged narrow definitions of womanhood. In a 2020 Marie Claire interview, she reflected on her mother Diana Ross’s legacy: “I am the result of what my mom dreamed for herself.”

Though born into stardom, Tracee carved her own lane through comedy, advocacy, and radical self-expression. Her 2021 TED Talk pushed that narrative further, as she described unhooking her self-worth from the idea of romantic partnership. “I used to dream about my wedding day,” she said. “Now I dream about peace.”

But even peace has its shadows. On the podcast, she admitted to questioning her sense of worth. “Why is that the thing that makes me worthy? I do know that I’m worthy. And yet, I still have these dreams.”

That paradox—knowing you are enough, yet grieving the fantasy—gave her truth its power.

Psychologists call this disenfranchised grief: sorrow unacknowledged by society because it doesn’t fit its narrow expectations. Ross gave it visibility and a voice. She didn’t frame her life as lacking. Instead, she invited space for complexity—where freedom and sadness coexist.

Her words resonated not because they offered a solution, but because they offered solidarity. “I love my freedom. But yeah, I cry sometimes,” one listener posted. “Tracee just spoke my truth.”

In an age of curated perfection and silent struggle, Ross reminds us that fulfillment isn’t binary. You can hold joy in one hand and grief in the other—and still be whole.

Her truth broke a silence many didn’t realize they’d been keeping. And in doing so, she helped redefine what strength can sound like.