After eight trailblazing years in the White House, Michelle Obama has some words of wisdom she'd like to impart to young girls around the world as her time at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue draws to a close.
In her recent interview with Oprah, the first lady begins by saying that women have a tendency to underestimate their abilities. "Maybe it's something that we as women, we as minorities sort of take—we underestimate ourselves," Michelle says. "I'm pretty smart. I work pretty hard. I'm good at what I do. I have really good instincts. I have great ideas. And I can execute. And I say that out loud because we as women don't, like, pat ourselves on the back. We're always sort of deferring. We cede our power so easily."
The first lady goes on to explain that this, above all, is the message she wants young girls to know. "Live out loud," she says, "and understand that what's in your brain is really useful. Do not hide it. Don't dumb it down. Don't apologize for it. Just put it on the table and let people deal with it."
Michelle says she's proud of her team for executing so many "high-wire acts" around the globe. "I'm just proud of the ability of my team, many of whom are young, many of them are women, but many of them are so young. And I just remind them, you did this. You were able to come into this house on that day, that day in 2008, knowing nothing, knowing nothing about what this would be or what would be required of all of us. And we did it. And we did it well. And we did it with high standards. And we didn't compromise our values."
Published 12/15/2016
