Karine Jean-Pierre Shares An Exclusive Look At How She Manages One Of America’s Most Stressful Jobs

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.