Valerie Jarrett has spent much of her life near the center of American political power, but she insists that the people closest to her — including former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama — are exactly who they appear to be. During an appearance on Good Morning America, the longtime senior adviser opened up about her years in the White House, her personal relationship with the Obamas, and the lessons that shaped her life story, now documented in her memoir Finding My Voice.

When asked the question so many want answered — What are the Obamas really like? — Jarrett didn’t hesitate.

“They are what you see,” she said with a smile. “You actually know them very well, and that’s part of their magic.”

Her relationship with the couple goes back far before national politics entered their lives. In 1991, Jarrett hired a young Michelle Robinson to work in Chicago’s City Hall — a job that Michelle’s then-fiancé, Barack Obama, reportedly thought she should turn down. But a dinner meeting between the three changed everything.

“That dinner forged the beginning of what has turned into a lifelong friendship,” Jarrett recalled.

Serving a president she had known personally for more than a decade was a rare privilege — and, she admitted, a deeply emotional experience. As Michelle Obama once said, “Being president hasn’t changed who he is, it’s revealed who he is.” Jarrett agrees wholeheartedly. “What you see is what you get,” she said.

Jarrett’s new book explores not only her time in Washington but the winding path that led her there. She has learned to embrace the long and uncertain road, even when it means leaving comfort behind.

“Sometimes the shortest distance to where you want to go is the longest way around,” she told GMA. “Life gets exciting and the magic happens when you’re off the beaten track.”

Jarrett credits many of her most formative lessons to pivotal moments — some triumphant, others painful — during her personal and professional life.

One of the most powerful experiences of her life came on the night of Barack Obama’s historic victory in 2008. Jarrett celebrated not only as a senior adviser but also as a friend who had spent years helping make that moment possible. Sharing Election Day with her daughter, Laura, made it even more unforgettable.

“There were probably a hundred times that day where I had a pinch-me moment,” she said. “I told myself, ‘Remember this always. Treasure the moment.’”

Jarrett’s father, a respected doctor and scientist, struggled early in his career to find equal opportunities in the United States. After completing his Army service, he couldn’t find a job that paid him the same as his white peers, so he moved the family to Iran. That’s where Jarrett was born, before they returned to the U.S. when she was six.

Reflecting on a photo of her late father, Jarrett became emotional. “He taught me to have the confidence to swirl,” she said — to push forward even when challenges seemed unfair or the outcome uncertain. It wasn’t a mindset she naturally possessed, but one she learned by his example.

Jarrett also spoke openly about her first marriage, which ended in divorce after four years. At the time, she believed she had her life perfectly mapped out: career success, love, and a baby before turning 30 — the classic “happily ever after.”

But reality didn’t match the story she imagined.

“I’ve never felt lonelier than in an unhappy marriage,” she admitted. “You have to be whole on your own. You can’t look for someone else to complete you.”

It was a painful lesson, but one that helped her grow into the strong and independent leader she is today.

Transparency, she said, is a hallmark of the Obamas’ leadership — and part of why so many people connected with them.

“They’re not afraid to show people who they are,” she explained, describing an emotional moment she shared with them at Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address. “They’ve developed a real relationship with the American people and with people around the world.”

Jarrett shared a favorite photo from early in Obama’s presidency: she and the president sitting on a staircase backstage, talking quietly amid the chaos of a busy day.

“We just sat and kicked back,” she said. “It didn’t feel like a president and adviser — it felt like friends.”

To her, true friendship is about being present in ordinary moments, not just the big ones.

In Finding My Voice, Jarrett describes a career that many might see as unconventional — a “zigzag,” not a straight shot to the top. She worked in city government, led major civic organizations, and eventually became the longest-serving senior adviser to any U.S. president in history. All while raising her daughter as a single mother.

People often assume she always knew where she was going, she said. “The truth is, I knew neither — not the destination nor the path.”

What she discovered along the way was her own voice — once quiet and uncertain, now strong enough to create change and inspire others to speak up too.

“My journey has been exhilarating, challenging, sometimes painful,” Jarrett reflected. “But what an adventure.”