Ivanka Trump: I Learned What Most People Never Do at 9 Years Old!

She was extraordinary.

Um, my mother taught me a lot about just like bringing intention to what you do.

Bringing sorry and being the child of accomplished parents. Most people thought that I

parents. Most people thought that I would lack the ambition, the preparedness, but my mother taught me that being underestimated is not a bad thing. It's very powerful thing actually

thing. It's very powerful thing actually and it almost always worked to the detriment of the person who underestimated me.

From real estate to her own multi-million dollar fashion line, Ivanka Trump continues to carve her own path into the business world, succeeding at every turn.

And then you learn 2 weeks before he announces your father decides he wants to be president of the United States.

Did you have any sense that this was at all on the horizon?

Not really. And then when he pulled the trigger, it was full steam. Well, most

people wouldn't give up an $800 million annual business to go into government.

Why did you?

He asked us for help. He's like, "But I have to warn you. They're going to come at you hard. They're probably going to hate you." But one of the things I've

hate you." But one of the things I've learned in moments of tremendous pressure and scrutiny where any slip up is completely weaponized against you is to find the signal in the noise. I just

don't get distracted by the outside noise. That's probably the thing that

noise. That's probably the thing that has been most helpful to me in terms of performance and success because you have a choice only in how you respond.

You've said politics is a pretty dark world. This is quite a difficult

world. This is quite a difficult question to ask, but when you heard the news that there was an assassination attempt on your father's life, do you remember where you were and like what's that like as a daughter?

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Ivanka, you um you don't do many interviews, do you?

Not really. No.

Why don't you do much media stuff or podcasting or interviews?

I actually don't know. I think I'm I get sort of really locked in and heads down on what I'm working on that I tend to kind of put on blinders and

just go, but I like to have conversations in longer form with people that I admire.

I think the reason why I um I do this is because I see I naturally see everybody as like a jigsaw puzzle.

And you've lived an extraordinary life.

you've lived an extraordinary atypical life that I mean it's safe to say almost nobody on planet earth has has ever experienced and so I think I asked that question just to be completely honest at

the top because the life you've lived that we'll get into is is one that would have shaped you in a number of ways and one of them is I think from what I read

things that you had said and different experiences you had as a child is just like trusting people you know it's interesting I I grew up

the child of wealthy and accomplished parents.

And so I do think there's like um a natural barrier that goes up. You're

you're worried about people, especially when you're a kid, um liking you for the wrong reasons. I see this now with my

wrong reasons. I see this now with my son. You know, he wants to be loved by

son. You know, he wants to be loved by his friends, and I appreciate that.

That's that's good for who he is, not for who we are, and certainly not for what we have. So I do think being the child of of of famous um parents and

living such a privileged life, I had this guard and um that guard served me really well for a long time. Like I I didn't

have any friends despite the really tumultuous life that I've had, ups and downs, who really disappointed me. meaning close

close close friends who who didn't show up for me or or who changed because of my circumstances or what was happening around me and I've learned for me I mean you were saying the purpose of life for me it's you know

the expansion and not contraction of the heart and that's hard as you get older you know how do you live a life of of service and rooted in and love and

connection and I've learned more and more that those walls they don't serve you and the only way to

have connection which is so fundamental to the human experience is to um is to build it and that requires trust.

So I have to trust people. Now I have a good radar. I'm not foolish. I'm

good radar. I'm not foolish. I'm

I think I'm a very good read of people and I think it's one of um my strengths and I think it's why I haven't been

surprised by a lot of people. Um, so I read pretty quickly, but I also have had to teach myself rather than grow sort of cynical as one tends to as they get

older. I've really actually taught

older. I've really actually taught myself to be more trusting. And to the extent that means periodically I'll be burned like that's I'm okay with that trade-off because I think it will lead

to more meaningful connections in my life.

Probably nets out better right in the long term.

I think so. I have this photo here of a very smaller and so funny. I look at this and I see my

so funny. I look at this and I see my daughter.

Really?

That was like the first thing when I saw that photo.

At what age did you realize that life for you was slightly different from the average person? Like when does a child

average person? Like when does a child realize that?

H I think there was always a lot of media attention and scrutiny. You see

it, you experience it very early on. And

I think my parents did a really good job trying to shelter us from it. And it was different then without social media. You

know, not everyone I think the experience our children have where anywhere they go people have a recording device in their hands, their iPhone um

and can take pictures of them and you know it's so um you're so exposed during um during your formative years and thankfully I did not have that growing up but there were times I felt it. I

remember I wanted to be a dancer, a ballet dancer. And you know, my mom um was an

dancer. And you know, my mom um was an incredible skier. She skied on the

incredible skier. She skied on the national team for then Czechoslovakia, now Czech Republic. And so she really believed in the importance of of sport

for cultivating discipline and um so she really encouraged this. And I was dancing at Giuliard, the school of American Ballet here in New York. I was

in the Nutcracker and I remember I was probably eight and I was, you know, like some small role in the Nutcracker. I was

a party girl and an angel. Those were

like the entry roles where you like dance at the party, uh, where the the man with the Nutcracker arrives and then you're in that angel scene. And I

remember being so excited and was my first Nutcracker.

And, um, Michael Jackson had just moved into Trump Tower and was literally our neighbor in Trump Tower. And my father sees him one day, you know, passing in the lobby. I'm with him. I said, 'You

the lobby. I'm with him. I said, 'You know, my daughter's in the Nutcracker.

You should come. You should come see a performance. So, he comes to the

performance. So, he comes to the Nutcracker with my father at the height of his fame to watch me dance. And now

this in retrospect could be like, wow, what a cool experience. But I was horrified. I'm like, this is I was so

horrified. I'm like, this is I was so embarrassed. I thought we had ruined the

embarrassed. I thought we had ruined the Nutcracker. Everyone was dancing with

Nutcracker. Everyone was dancing with one glove. people who produced the show

one glove. people who produced the show were, you know, hysterical that everyone was dancing with one glove. I thought it was all my fault and this was like just a wild childhood experience. I had

things like that happen that were so far from normal that it's actually like comical in retrospect, but I think the the dayto-day was like really grounded.

My grandmother and uh and grandfather before he passed on my mother's side really raised us. My grandmother cooked every meal we ate for, you know, most of my childhood.

And uh Bubby Bubby Bubby.

Yeah. So she taught me um a type of unconditional love and tenderness and um I think more than anything she was just

this un that's her. She's um

unbelievably nurturing. I'd come home from school and, you know, before I'd be out of the shower, she would have laundered my clothes and folded them and put them back on my bed. She was always

feeding me and food for her was very much like an expression of love. I

remember when I became a teenager and I'd sleep later and later, she'd wake me up for lunch, you know, just like, god forbid I wasn't being fed at all at all hours. But

hours. But I can see she means the world to you.

She does. She's 98 years old and um you know her health has suffered and you know it's it's been a little bit of a difficult time for her but I I feel so

strongly for for me and my children to have the experience to be there for her in just like a small fraction of the way that she was there for me is such an extraordinary privilege. and for them to

extraordinary privilege. and for them to grow up with her at our table every single meal um each night and her telling her stories and stories of my mother who they sadly didn't get to

know. Um

know. Um are you okay? I can see No, I'm Yes, I'm great. I I have a lot

of um I have a lot of love for this woman. So,

woman. So, This doesn't happen to me often.

What is that um mixture of emotions that you're experiencing?

Um she taught me so much just about love and we were talking before about connection. Um,

connection. Um, and uh, you know, it's it's been hard to see her now as she as she struggles, but um,

but she's uh, it's a blessing to have her in our home and living with us and very special person.

Maybe I'll have a tissue.

Thank you.

It's a real credit to her.

Yeah.

It's often a testament um to the person and the value that they've added to your life and how they were there for you that you would feel feel the way you do about her and that's so like visible in your face. You know,

she must have been quite formative.

Oh, for sure. Um for sure.

So, she's been she's an amazing person.

You said that she she was really taking care of you and and sort of at the age of 10. Mother

and father, I'm assuming very very busy.

Yeah.

Explain that to me.

You know, my mother was an incredible trailblazer. Um an amazing example for

trailblazer. Um an amazing example for me of strength and resilience and glamour and

um determination and ambition. And she

was a great mother, too.

But she would also say like she couldn't do it alone and she wasn't pretending she could. So she surrounded us with

she could. So she surrounded us with people who loved us. We had um two amazing nannies. One of them worked for

amazing nannies. One of them worked for my mother until the day she died. The

other um is worked for my mother until the day my mother died um and still works with us today. She worked as after we grew up she worked as my mother's personal assistant. So they were very

personal assistant. So they were very much part of our lives and and part of our extended family and of course my grandmother who she trusted completely with us. So so she showed me a lot at a

with us. So so she showed me a lot at a time when you know not many women were doing what my mother was doing um inside the

boardroom and on the construction sites all the time by the way with 5-in heels and like perfectly caught hair. So she

made it look incredibly easy, but it was and continues to be very challenging to balance work and life like that, especially at a time where what she was

doing was so singular. So she she really and my mother served as an unbelievable role model for me for what is possible.

How to be an amazing mother who is loving and nurturing and fun and provides for her children and and also to be unadashedly

um and doggedly pursuing one's goals in in a professional capacity. So

she did that when she was married to my father. she did that um following their

father. she did that um following their divorce and um and really was just an amazing an amazing mentor for me. You're

growing up in a context where your family are privileged, they have um they have no notoriety and the both parents are quite absent by way of them being so

busy and they're also kind of I wouldn't say absent but you know my mother wasn't home cooking us meals. my grandmother was.

us meals. my grandmother was.

Mhm.

But my mother was home when we ate them and then she'd go out again. You know,

her and my father were actively building their life and pursuing their passions.

And for my mom, much like me today, you know, one of her creative expressions came in the form of design and architecture. She wasn't absent and and

architecture. She wasn't absent and and you know, neither was my father. So, he

was filled more typical of that generation male role where he was less like present. But there was never a

like present. But there was never a doubt in my mind that I was his top priority and that he was available to me. So I used to call him from the pay

me. So I used to call him from the pay phone at uh at Chapen. It was in a broom closet and never once did he not pick up and sometimes his office would be filled

with people of um you know he'd be in the middle of a deal or a negotiation or some politician or whatever it was and he'd always put me on speaker phone and then start the conversation by telling

everyone how I got great grades and I'd start to blush. Um but he always picked up.

They weren't absent. Did I what?

Miss him?

No, because I didn't feel like they I didn't feel like he was absent. it was

just different like he wasn't attending all of our sports games but by the way few parents were um you know four decades ago there's a lot more sort of

active participation like the way I am in my kids' life the way my husband is I I think it is you know a little different especially um for fathers today than than 30 years ago

if I sat Avana your mother here next to us at the same age you are now what would be the the the fundamental differences in in those individuals

You know, it's funny. I think back now and um my mother and I are both incredibly similar and very different. So, she had like

very different. So, she had like over-the-top style and glamour, you know, and I think in some ways it was a reaction to the austerity and the

control of growing up in a communist country in in then Czechoslovakia.

Like, nobody was going to tell her what to do. nobody was going to tell her what

to do. nobody was going to tell her what to say. So, she actually would make my

to say. So, she actually would make my father look pissy and was hysterical. I

mean, I spent much of my childhood being like, "Oh, mom, please stop." You know, it was really interesting. Um, I feel

like today because my mother passed away um unexpectedly um from a fall a few years ago,

there were just like I had a lot of questions and um and I really dug into her story and her history and

um and really studied her almost in a way that I wish I had done when she was living and I could speak to her directly. And I think I understand her a

directly. And I think I understand her a because I'm at a level of maturity and I've have some of the same issues, you know, having young children. And I think

I understand her though better today than I did in some ways in in her life.

Like I see her more fully.

And what did you understand more about her that you didn't understand while she was here after she passed? She wrote a book in the final years of her life that

talked a lot more about her childhood and I think not uncommon um for people who have experienced you know a lot of hardship sometimes they compartmentalize

and it's like forward only and this whole part of her life she never talked about and I think when you're younger you ask a lot less questions like now I would tell everyone who's listening like

really ask the questions especially if people are a bit of a vault and are less inclined to to look back in the past because I you know all of her life

experience very much shaped her.

This was a beautiful photo that I found of of you and I.

That was in uh in Mara Lago on my uh childhood bed. Very uh ornate.

childhood bed. Very uh ornate.

Um, yeah, she was really I mean she was impossibly glamorous.

Yeah, I couldn't find a photo where she didn't like incredible photos.

9 years old, your mother and father split up, divorced.

It was quite well publicized. Um, that

your father had an affair with somebody.

And this is actually where the quote that I referenced earlier about trust comes in because quite remarkably reporters were waiting outside of your school to take photos of

you and ask questions about your your father's affair. And the quote that I

father's affair. And the quote that I read in GQ said this is a quote from you. If I didn't have that lesson, I

you. If I didn't have that lesson, I don't know that I'd be tough. It taught

me not to trust anybody. You can never let your guard down. And I never really have since that time.

So that's probably the 25year-old version of me as as you know there's a lot of truth in it and I think certain defense mechanisms we create for ourselves are

actually healthy because it was healthy for me not to be trusting before I had honed my own instincts and had learn to understand

people and read people. So I think there was nothing wrong with a 25 or 27year-old with my lived experience answering that way. But um but I do like

way. But um but I do like I completely understand though like every part of me completely understands that reaction to that event at like 9 years old.

Yeah.

I mean reporters being at your school or just generally you know how that must have been as as a kid in school. Well,

there was a level of aggression that like even today wouldn't exist with the paparazzi then, like to be shouting things and like reading um quotes from

from tabloids to me as I'm leaving school. To put this in context, this

school. To put this in context, this divorce apparently garnered more headlines than the OJ Simpson trial. So,

that was a lot. The difference is that once I stepped into my home, it was a safe place. you know, unless the TVs

safe place. you know, unless the TVs were blaring, which obviously they weren't during that period of time. So,

I think the difference today for parents and that I think about a lot with my kids is you just can't protect them in the same way. Like social media amplifies everything. So, while that

amplifies everything. So, while that experience with those reporters was extremely combative and aggressive and like totally unacceptable in a way that

I don't think society would allow today, today it's very much more in children's faces. you know, they can acquire the

faces. you know, they can acquire the information they need. And obviously,

when you're young, you're curious.

Again, I'm trying to like world build in my head because I think understanding that early context helps us understand everybody. And if that was my early

everybody. And if that was my early context, I think you'd be you'd see the fingerprints on me today, you know?

Well, I think we're all, you know, I think about it with my own children.

like I I grew up with a lot of privilege and um and I've lived an extraordinary life and you know I never worried where my next

meal came from. I never worried about being able to pay for the best school that I was able to get into. And so by so many metrics my life was extremely

comfortable and easy. And I do think back like some of the challenges the the moments that were disgusting or uncomfortable or you know even just the

fact of um my parents' marriage being to torn apart.

I think those create the pressure that turns you into who you become.

Did you know what it meant at 9 years old? Cuz I again I transport myself

old? Cuz I again I transport myself back.

I probably then you couldn't look things up as easily. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

Newspaper, you know, I I don't know what I thought.

I I think I was probably more scared than anything of like the mob and the lights and um the surprise of it all. Um

do you know what them separating me?

Like did they have a conversation with you and say, you know, we're we're splitting up or was it They did. And I think the experience I

They did. And I think the experience I had albeit it was televised. Um, but it was very much like any other child who's dying whose parents are separating. You start

to wonder, you know, will I be loved? Will I be forgotten? What does this mean? Um, you

forgotten? What does this mean? Um, you

want them to get back together. You're

hoping. You're trying to create peace between them. Um, rekindle the love. All

between them. Um, rekindle the love. All

the things that I think are like deeply normal and and human. And you found out about the divorce by seeing a newspaper on your way to school one day.

Um, yes.

That wasn't the plan. Um, they used to have uh the big news boxes with the newspaper. So,

newspaper. So, what did it say?

My parents had sat me down that afternoon. That's when they had intended

afternoon. That's when they had intended to, but it had it had come out in the morning.

What did the newspaper say?

I don't remember. I remember the photo.

There was a picture of them with a rip down the middle. It was not an easy situation for a child. But um that experience I always look for like what

is the positive in any situation and you know the positive for me and my siblings were we really like bonded in a different type of way because we were going through it together.

It must be so interesting being in your shoes because you look me and you're both aware that people they want to drive a a wedge between you and your father. They want a headline. They want

father. They want a headline. They want

you to say something. I can see it within you that you have a real desire to be like open and transparent, but if I was in your shoes, I'd be thinking like everyone's trying to trip me out.

Everyone's trying to make a headline um on on me and my life. They want to drive a wedge between me and my father. It's

difficult. It must be difficult. Like

even I think about it as a podcast. The

podcast, you know, the podcast gets big.

I say the wrong line, you know. You know, I think one of the

you know. You know, I think one of the things I've learned under moments in my life of tremendous sort of pressure and scrutiny is um to like find the signal

in the noise. And that's probably the thing that has been most helpful to me.

It can become quite turbulent. I find

myself sometimes literally like dancing in the eye of the hurricane. It's been

many years of my life, but there's a lot of like peace within me. So I just don't get distracted by by the outside noise and um and I think if you know what you

stand for then it really is just noise.

When did you have to learn this? Because

am I right in thinking you this is the first time that I saw the Trump family during the apprentice. So obviously you know growing up as a kid big fan of business we had the UK apprentice but the US one was much more interesting in my in my opinion.

So this is when I first understand who your father is and who you are. What was

the sentiment around you as a family at this point? Because again, people can't

this point? Because again, people can't remember pre vortex.

It was the biggest show in the world at one point. Um, it was this massive

one point. Um, it was this massive phenomenon. you know, he had been very

phenomenon. you know, he had been very famous in sort of New York and in real estate and in business circles, but this kind of like expanded awareness of him

beyond those New York circles onto um a global stage. So, there was a lot of attention and a lot of excitement.

You know, he was very similar to how he is now. He said exactly what he was

is now. He said exactly what he was thinking, which could be polarizing at times, but it's part of what people loved about him. I think the thing about my father and my mother is they're like

deeply authentic. So you can disagree,

deeply authentic. So you can disagree, but there's a certain amount of like respect for the cander of it. Um, and

the lack of fear to say what you're thinking because so many people are sort of afraid to be them true, their true selves.

You're more delicate with your words.

Yeah, but I know exactly who I am.

That's why the noise doesn't affect me.

I'm really proud of the fact that, you know, I've lived through some incredibly intense times where people are taking cheap shots and swinging and I don't

punch back because I don't believe in sort of spending my time and focus like being combative like jumping into that

particular arena and like the nasty swirl of social media. It's just it's not for me and I've been consistent in that my whole life and I feel like that sets an amazing example to my children.

Where did you learn that? What is it that you've read? What are the sort of you just have to be yourself and you have to be true to yourself and like I don't allow that noise to distract me.

We were talking um earlier about stoicism. I think like Marcus Aurelius's

stoicism. I think like Marcus Aurelius's meditations is so informative on so many levels. I mean here you have somebody

levels. I mean here you have somebody who was literally an emperor and he's writing this journal in a tent in a battlefield. So his perspective is

battlefield. So his perspective is amazing and he once wrote that the soul becomes dyed the color of its thoughts

and I think about that all the time. The

cost to me of living in a way that's inconsistent and not aligned with what feels right, what models the right thing

for my children, what feels inherently true to me. It's too expensive. it's too

expensive for for my soul, so I won't do it. So, you know, there there have been

it. So, you know, there there have been times when the incoming and I say, well, but that isn't right or this isn't right or I want to correct it. And then I say like, what's the cost of doing it? Theo

has another great quote. It's something

paraphrasing to the effect of, you know, the cost of anything is the amount of your life you're willing to exchange for it. I focus on those things that like

it. I focus on those things that like elevate my soul, um my my joy, my happiness, my connection to the people I love and care about.

Have you always been there? Because you

seem more stoic now, but you know, I have like I'm much more naturally like this. Like I feel things like a lot of

this. Like I feel things like a lot of things.

You're a bit of an empath, right?

Oh, for sure.

Okay. Yeah, that makes sense.

Uh so I have not always been like this.

It's like I had to work to be like this and I had to I think mature and I had to gain like confidence and it took me a while to really let people in. And I

think it was after my children were born that I really experienced a different type of love. It like cracks you open and you're never the same, you know, and

and you want more of that feeling. Like

I I'm very intentional about everything that I do. even sitting here today like I I have zero interest in spending two hours having a conversation with somebody I think is like a bully um

because they get good podcast you know like I I like having conversations with people I think are interesting and curious but in business as well like I'm I'm you know I do less things and I do

them with a lot more focus and intention. You've lived an extraordinary

intention. You've lived an extraordinary life and it's a very anomalous one. But

actually the lesson there about being intentional in every sense of the word, not just with what you do every day, but also what you let occupy your mind is one

that I think everybody listening might derive a lot of value from because we live everybody lives on a spectrum of the world clawing at them to deviate from who they are. um some

you know one end of the spectrum if I take myself back to when I was I don't know 16 years old the world you know other than my mother telling me she wanted me to go be doctor lawyer whatever the world wasn't really pulling me away from myself but then on the

other end of the spectrum you know I'm 33 now you know every time I have a podcast guest on someone's mad at me and everything I say can be spun in whatever so you also on this side of the

spectrum you have to get really really clear as you said on like who you are and what matters well I think that's key like if if you don't know who you are the mob wins.

Oh, 100%.

Because they tell you who you are and then you start to believe it.

Once you know who you are, you feel sorry for the people who are like screaming at each other on on social media. It takes like a beat to

social media. It takes like a beat to get there. Like I think it it takes a

get there. Like I think it it takes a lot of work to to really understand yourself. And I think sometimes

yourself. And I think sometimes modern society it praises sort of speed and fast pace and um you know accessibility and being available and

responding quickly then people wonder like why don't they know themselves like why aren't they connected to something bigger and they're not taking the time.

I take time to shut down and like really go inward and ask myself every time I have a big decision like what feels right and even if it's hard to make a

decision like whether it's a no or a yes if it feels aligned with your values and who you are like it never is a mistake ever.

You grew up in the uh you know with a with a family and a father that are very prominent. at some point do you have to

prominent. at some point do you have to make the decision to become your own person like because I was wondering if in that context you there's a there's a pressure to kind of like be the same person in every regard

to believe all the same things to live the same life to go the same path is there some point in your journey where you where you go do you know what I've actually got to like figure out I can see a little smirk in the corner of your mouth well no I think about it with my own

children because as a parent it's very easy to see them as you know a lot of parents they they view their children as extens ions of themselves and I really try not to do

that. Like they are their own people

that. Like they are their own people just like I'm my own person sometimes in the context of a broader public narrative.

Everything's sort of comingled and related. But we're all our own people.

related. But we're all our own people.

We obviously have conditioning. We have

learned behaviors. We have um some of which are great. Some of which we spend part of our adulthood um unwinding.

But we're all like fundamentally unique and special. And I work really hard to

and special. And I work really hard to make sure my kids see themselves, each of them individually, that they know how much I love them as like perfect,

complete human beings, not I love you because of this accomplishment or because of this sort of external validation that you've received because

you're sort of perfect as as you are and like in your essence. So, so my parents taught me a lot a lot. I love them so much. I'm like them in some ways. I'm

much. I'm like them in some ways. I'm

very dissimilar to them in other ways.

But even though I was like the peacemaker in our house, I was also like very like true to myself. And they

created and I give them credit for this, they created an environment where like disscent was okay. And so I could agree or disagree and share it with each of

them and um do so respectfully and and privately. and that was our home.

privately. and that was our home.

Um, you started off in real estate. You

you worked in a It sounded like to me you were basically an intern at a a a different real estate company before moving into the the family business and in the family business, you know, heavily male-dominated space. I heard

you talk about how actually being a woman in that context proved to be in your mind an advantage of sorts. What is

the the context there? And I'm in 2026 right now, so I don't have the perspective of what it was like to be a young woman in the real estate industry, presuming in New York. Yeah.

Some sort of 20 years ago.

Well, I think I was like underestimated twice. First, being the child of

twice. First, being the child of accomplished parents. There was an

accomplished parents. There was an expectation that I on one hand some people thought I was like a savant because I was their child but most people

thought they would be um that I would phone it in that I would lack sort of the thought process, the ambition, the preparedness. So, I I always worked like

preparedness. So, I I always worked like twice as hard as everyone else to sort of prove my worth and prove um my ability to to be in these rooms where

truthfully often times I was in them before I was prepared to be in them. So,

that was, you know, on my mind. But I

think being underestimated is is not a bad thing. I think it's like a very

bad thing. I think it's like a very powerful thing actually. And it almost always worked to the detriment of the person who underestimated me. So, I

think if you're somebody who's prepared and somebody underestimates you, well, guess what? They're not. So, when you're

guess what? They're not. So, when you're dealing with people who are extremely accomplished, like do the work. Like,

know what you're doing because probably they haven't done the work when they know they're dealing with you. And I

think as a young woman in real estate especially, you know, there were there were women in sales and there were women in marketing, but there were very few women in development and construction

and finance and acquisitions.

And I think um I harnessed both the belief some of it may be stemming from my own insecurity but the belief that the

people would underestimate me. I

harnessed that like sort of fear, that sentiment and I used it to sort of propel me and I used it to give me motivation and and drive and then I also

would use it against the people who underestimated me just because I I was always prepared. I was overprepared. I I

always prepared. I was overprepared. I I

always did the work. I heard you described as um from people that worked with you at the time a naturalb born deal maker. And this kind of overlays

deal maker. And this kind of overlays with what you're saying there that if someone underestimates you, they're actually setting themselves up to be surprised or Well, I'd prefer to be underestimated

than overestimated any day of the week.

Give me specifics on what what environment that creates for you to then win in a deal. I think in in negotiation it's like incredibly important to

know what the other person wants.

Sometimes you can learn that through research. Very infrequently though, like

research. Very infrequently though, like you have to listen. Like you're probably a great negotiator because you're an incredible listener. Silence can also be

incredible listener. Silence can also be a weapon. People get very uncomfortable

a weapon. People get very uncomfortable in moments of silence and then they start talking. And I think the more you

start talking. And I think the more you can get a person to share with you what they consider to be a win, the more you can potentially accomplish something

where you give where you really have like a mutual win-win. Like I've seen negotiations

win-win. Like I've seen negotiations where you give up very little, but the person feels incredibly happy because it's what they wanted.

Yeah.

Right. Now, when you're dealing with like a negotiation that's purely price, that's kind of different. That's like a very simple transaction. It's, you know, but very few negotiations are purely

that, you know, one of first and foremost in a negotiation like like make sure you understand what the other person wants because you may be able to give it to them at at very little cost

and then everyone's happy. And I also think there's a lot of value in like authentically building relationships.

though, you know, some of the the best deals I ever did were uh derivatives of really like getting to know someone like authentically and genuinely. And um they

want you to win, you want them to win.

And those are are like really beautiful types of transactions. And you know, I believe in you know, a lot of the projects I'm working on now are about like creating things. Like I like

building tangible things. I like

creating things that um that uplift. to

like solving challenging problems and um and you don't do that alone. You do that through partnership. You do that through

through partnership. You do that through coalitions of people who share your passion and interest and um and that's very rewarding.

When you hire people, what are you looking for for your businesses? Are

there I mean, everyone's got their own hiring bias and it often stems from their past experiences who's burnt them in the past. when you're looking to hire someone for one of your organizations or for some of the projects we'll talk about in a second, what what are the

like the key characteristics?

I think first and foremost, you want someone with a strong sense of self and a strong like orientation towards like agency, like somebody who has agency.

It's very hard to teach people, you know, you could have a brilliant person, but if they don't have like good judgment or if they're not like a self-starter, it's very hard to give them that. It's very hard to sort of

them that. It's very hard to sort of give them good judgment. And some of it's like street smarts, right? We

talked before about, you know, how can you both be trustworthy and not be disappointed or burn too often? You have an instinct about a

often? You have an instinct about a person and you can read a room and and that's like EQ skills and those are those are a little bit harder to teach. So, I look for that.

I look for good people at the end of the day. like I don't want to do a deal with

day. like I don't want to do a deal with I don't want to work with people I don't enjoy that I don't think are like good people um because I don't want to spend my time with somebody who I don't trust

or who I don't respect. So that's like really core and fundamental for me. you

know, for somebody who's working with me, I actually tell my kids this all the time because I think so much of the outside world is like, "Impress me by what you do." Like, "Impress me by what

you accomplish. The grades, the

you accomplish. The grades, the trophies, the the badges of like external validation and success." Like,

our whole life is oriented towards that, the validation that comes from the outside world. So like I always want my

outside world. So like I always want my kids to know like how I'm going to validate them is like be a good person.

Like you want to impress me like be a good person.

Was that the case for you? Cuz when I look at Probably not.

I look at the Trump family for me as an outsider looked like a competition between siblings and even when I think about your father I think because we're so competitive and

hard. Yeah. No, I think um I think it

hard. Yeah. No, I think um I think it all like worked out and we're all I I like to think you know my my siblings

and I grew up with um like good values and uh but no like we were in a more like I was like very competitive with my siblings like you know my mom was like a

disciplinarian there was like a high expectation of like performance and success um and when you're in that when you're calling collect your father he's reciting your great grades to the room

of people He's in. No, no, no. That was

That mattered. And And it matters to a lot of parents. And by the way, it's not bad like having an incredibly high standard. And to some degree,

standard. And to some degree, Yeah. And I think look, I I think it's

Yeah. And I think look, I I think it's a lot of parents like I think especially like my mom was an immigrant to this country, there's like a high standard.

Um and uh and she didn't like humor fools, right? One of the things I'm most

fools, right? One of the things I'm most proud of, I look at my daughter and there's no bar I could set for her that the bar she sets for herself isn't higher. So like I actually view my job

higher. So like I actually view my job as a parent with her is to like give her permission to not like strive for perfection.

You go on to build a business in the jewelry industry and fashion industry.

Um there was I was reading about there was a point in your career where you were you were offered a job by Anna Wintor. Yeah.

Wintor. Yeah.

At Vogue. And your I think your father did kind of want you to go in that direction, but you wanted to go in the real estate business direction.

She called me actually on the day I graduated from university. I went to Warden School of Business at University of Pennsylvania and she offered me a job

at Vogue and I was like incredibly honored and flattered and groggy because she called me at 8:00 in the morning which calling a college student at 8:00 in the morning, you might as well call them at 4:30 in the morning, you know?

like that was that I was like deeply aware from when I was a young girl that like I wanted to go into real estate.

Life has taken me in different directions and and interestingly now I'm returning with some amazing projects back to my real estate roots. But I love

architecture. I love design. I love it

architecture. I love design. I love it as an expression of self. If you look at a city skyline and it's an expression of like a vision for

um of hope and optimism and the amount of courage that took to build each of those buildings and it's it's extraordinary.

But you did go into the fine jewelry at 26 years old and then at 33 you launched Ivanka Trump.com and you were in a huge amount of major retailers including Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and that's

really also that's what I knew you first for. I knew you for running a fashion

for. I knew you for running a fashion business which was doing exceptionally well. I think from what I read it was

well. I think from what I read it was making hundreds of millions of dollars and then you shut it down.

Yeah. Yeah. It was kind of like lightning in a a bottle. I caught a moment. So, I was um still sort of

moment. So, I was um still sort of leading the charge at our family real estate business. I had young children at

estate business. I had young children at home um or was just starting to have uh children when when I first launched Fine Jewelry. Ultimately, we ended up having

Jewelry. Ultimately, we ended up having 11 different categories, apparel, footwear, sunglasses, fragrance. Um,

but we created an accessibly priced line that was feminine and beautiful, but for like a multi-dimensional woman. Like, at

the time when I was coming up, the outfits that women were buying for work were so far from aspirational and they couldn't transition with the woman to the date night. they would have that

evening or after work drinks with their girlfriends. It was like nobody was

girlfriends. It was like nobody was posting on Instagram like what they were wearing to work. And so we thought like let's bridge the gap and create something for a modern woman. And it

caught fire. And it was how big an amazing success. We were

doing um close to $800 million in sales annually um when I shut it down when I went into government. It was great. But

you were doing 800 million in sales annually when you shut it down.

Yeah.

Why did you shut it down?

I went into government and you always have to sort of be moving forward and I had built a team of women who were oriented towards forward momentum and I had to put it on ice and this was all

just part of the rules of complying with the office of government and ethics. So

they basically look at everything you have and they say sell this, put this into a trust, do this, do that, do this.

So you do that and and for my own business, they weren't allowed to use my image. They weren't allowed to grow the

image. They weren't allowed to grow the business in terms of new accounts or internationally. And that was fine for a

internationally. And that was fine for a moment, but at the end of the day, you need like growth. And so I thought it would be easier to end on a high note

than to um allow the business to sort of stagnate. And I also felt like for

stagnate. And I also felt like for myself, I'm always looking forward like I don't like to look back. And I feel the

experience of of this new experience, I mean, serving was so expanding.

Most people wouldn't give up an $800 million annual business to go into government.

Why did you, you know, I I It's your baby as well. You know, it's like Yeah. I, you know, I thought about the

Yeah. I, you know, I thought about the version of me in 40 years that when asked the question to serve by my father, who at the time knew no one in

in Washington DC at all, said no and just proceeded with life as usual. And

that didn't like sit right with me. So,

I had no intention of serving. And a few weeks after he won, he asked Jared and me to go with him and sort of help him navigate this new environment. And my

eyes grew big. And he joked with me.

He's like, "But I have to warn you, they're going to come at you hard.

They're probably going to hate you.

You're too young. You're too." And he like, I'm like, "Oh my god." I'm like, "What?" That was like the anti- sale.

"What?" That was like the anti- sale.

But, you know, he asked us for help. Um,

and I feel incredibly privileged that he gave us the opportunity to serve a country we love so much. We hadn't been expecting it. We

so much. We hadn't been expecting it. We

hadn't set up our lives for it. We were

loving the path we were on and and the work we were doing. But you also, you know, can't put your head in the sand and like life had changed. As much as I'd like to say like, oh, he wins

business as usual, there is no business as usual. Your life has changed.

as usual. Your life has changed.

You didn't choose this though. In fact,

you didn't choose most of these things.

I look at your life and I go that from a very young age you've not chosen the context which you've been thrust into because of your your father's ambitions and I mean I can see it in your face

that it kind of rings true but I think that's true for all of us right to some degree like our path is determined by our circumstance I not really not really in the same way

this is a little bit different with politics and the presidency but but even from 9 years old you know you're not choosing to leave school and have reporters uh treat you like that and you're not choosing these other

things along the way and then your father decides he wants to be president of the United States. It's not like he had a political career where he like built up slowly. It's like he woke up one day and was like was drinking water from a fire hose for

all of us. It was a lot. Normally you

cut your teeth on, you know, some local election as a family have the experience.

The first time he ever run for office was president and he won. So, it was a radical adjustment period for um for all of us. But

of us. But did you think you would Boy did it. Oh, yeah. I did.

I mean, it was it was hard to believe myself because everyone was saying that he wouldn't. And I'd say, "Well, these

he wouldn't. And I'd say, "Well, these people probably know what they're talking about, but it felt like he would." And, you know, so for me, that

would." And, you know, so for me, that time was extraordinary because I really believed, you know, I lived in New York City. I thought I was around surrounded

City. I thought I was around surrounded by diverse minds and opinions and perspectives and viewpoints and I really thought I had sort of a lot of exposure

to ideas and his campaign like ripped it open for me and that I realized like the bubble that I was in and suddenly I got out into the country and I heard from people who had

very divergent views on a number of issues. Some of it reinforced my

issues. Some of it reinforced my existing beliefs. Other times it

existing beliefs. Other times it completely changed my perspective and and orientation. So it was extremely

and orientation. So it was extremely mindexpanding. So when you ask like,

mindexpanding. So when you ask like, "Oh, why didn't I go back to what I was doing?" I think like, you know, you you

doing?" I think like, you know, you you get thrown into something and you learn and you grow and you change. And um and

I felt as challenging it was as that moment in my life to um to say yes when when my father asked us to to go help

him. I felt like it was an amazing

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I'll see you over there. I watched

interviews going back to the 1980s where it sounded like your father was playing with the idea. I remember that Oprah interview that's subsequently gone viral of him saying that um if it got so bad

in the US he would never rule it out totally. He thought he would win because

totally. He thought he would win because he's never gone into anything to lose as I think you said and even 1980 in an interview with Rona Beret can't

pronounce that name he said maybe I'd run for president I don't know. Did you

have any sense that this was at all on the horizon in Not really.

That's interesting.

No, it was, you know, it was actually where we discussed things that weren't sort of the normal how was your day at school. It was we spoke a lot about real

school. It was we spoke a lot about real estate and about um and about building and we were going to go into the family business and and I do think he sort of toyed with it in his

mind um for a while. I I do remember once thinking it was real. I was 16 and I was at boarding school and I called him up. I go, "Oh my god, I read that

him up. I go, "Oh my god, I read that you're going to run for president. This

is going to ruin my life."

I think I was like hysterical and he's like, "Don't worry about it. Not

happening." You know, I think he was he was thinking about the options he was given as a voter and he was dissatisfied and I think he was beginning to

formulate his perspective on what he would do differently. But it was not my childhood that was not an ambition of his that was at least articulated to to

us. You know some of the ideas you

us. You know some of the ideas you mentioned that Oprah interview he was talking about um trade policy being deeply unfair to American workers. you know, his

American workers. you know, his viewpoint remained consistent over time and remains consistent to this day on exactly that about trade policy and and

many of many of the things he articulated then are very true for him to this day.

And then in 2015 when you're 33, my age, you learn two weeks before he announces that he's going to announce that he wants to run for president

again. How do you receive that? is in

again. How do you receive that? is in

like an existential panic like you have we came together as a family in Bedminster. Um and he shared with us his

Bedminster. Um and he shared with us his intention and he asked me to introduce him and I said to him I'm like well are you really doing this

um are you really going to do this? He

was coming down the escalator and I'm trying to like introduce him and give this speech. I'm like, is he going to

this speech. I'm like, is he going to get up here and actually? It was so quick. But I think, you know, I think he

quick. But I think, you know, I think he had debated it in his mind for a long time and then when he pulled the trigger, it was full steam.

Life hasn't been the same since in many respects.

Mm- No, it hasn't. But it's been I mean, it's been an extraordinary ride. There

have been highs and there have been lows, but um we've done a lot of living.

So, a lot of living.

A lot of living.

Of which you spent four years working in the White House.

Mhm. Some of your sort of key headline achievements are doubling the child tax credit from $1,000 to $2,000, benefiting 40 million Americans with an average of $2.2,000 $2,000 per year, helping secure

paid family leave for federal workers, helping pass the Great American Outdoors Act, which is one of the largest Conservative bills since the National Park System was created, leading efforts to modernize career and technical

education, providing 1.3 billion annually to over 13 million students, and helping to pass nine pieces of legislation combating human trafficking and child exploitation.

And then it ended.

Were you happy it ended? cuz I saw it with Michelle Obama. She seemed happy.

I left it all on the field, you know? I

I don't look back and say like I I I don't have regrets. Like I

worked as hard as I could and I'm incredibly proud of what I was able to accomplish in in those four years. and um like I

don't regret it in any way, but it's you know it's a sacrifice um to my children and it's um and it's it's it's hard work

you know so I feel both incredibly privileged for the opportunity but also I don't have what they refer to as PTOIC fever you know there's some people that

once they have the experience of of being in those rooms and and close to that type of power they just like hang around the hoop constantly like cycling back in. I feel like I wasn't expecting

back in. I feel like I wasn't expecting to serve in this capacity, at least not at this stage of my life. My father

asked me to help him. We uprooted our lives and went and did just that and scored a lot of wins. I mean, you think about something like the child tax credit. 40 million American families

credit. 40 million American families benefited from that policy. An average

of $2,400 in their pockets.

That's extraordinarily meaningful and consequential and I'm so proud to have been able to do that. nine pieces of human trafficking legislation, the work

that I did around vocational education and skills training, which is all the more relevant as we sort of surf the oncoming tsunami that is AI. you know,

the fact that we were able to um get the private sector to commit to skilling or res-killing 16 million American workers, the fact that we were able to facilitate

the creation of a million apprenticeship opportunities in in the United States, like these are are deeply meaningful.

So I I'm so proud of my service. I I feel deeply honored that

he trusted me to pursue these different verticals and and to work alongside of him. And I also know that it's really

him. And I also know that it's really hard and for my children, you know, my first responsibility is to be their mom.

It was true then as well, of course. And

and I did the best I could every single day to be everywhere I needed to be. But

my kids are a different age now and there's a finite period of time before they leave our home. I think, you know, I look at at my teenage daughter, she's

14 and even if like a quarter of my interactions with her through her closed bedroom door, like I need to be present and I need to be there. It's not

theoretical for me because now I know the sacrifice that they would have to bear the cost to them of if I went back into service and

I'm not willing to let them pay that price. So for me it's like actually a

price. So for me it's like actually a rather easy decision. I made it immediately. You know that in this

immediately. You know that in this moment I'm where I need to be. It's also

a different time. You know, now my father has a deep bench of people raising their hand who want to help and participate. That wasn't true before.

participate. That wasn't true before.

He's really refined his policies, his beliefs, and has a lot of conviction in terms of what he wants to do. So, so I feel like for him, it's amazing. He's

got the team he needs and um and for me, I think, you know, my priorities are are my family, and that just feels really good and right for me.

What weren't you prepared for? I asked

the same question to Michelle when she was here about, you know, you get that phone call from your dad and he says, "Come, come help. One has a vision of what that might look like, but there's surprises." Michelle talked to me about

surprises." Michelle talked to me about so many of the things she had no idea would be the case.

I wasn't prepared for you're not prepared for any of it. There's nothing

that trains you for the experience. And

I think one of the things you realize pretty quickly is like power, just like money, makes people more of what they already are. And you see that very much

already are. And you see that very much in playing out in in politics and and in life, right? I also think you realize

life, right? I also think you realize people are just people. Like you look at and I'm you know I had exposure to some of the great leaders of business and now

I was being exposed to um to leaders on a global stage of countries. Um,

sometimes they were monarchies, other times they were elected democracies and then all sorts of varants of of that, you know, were and and you realize at

the end of the day like people are people, you know, some of them their their kids don't speak to them. They got

in a fight with their wife that morning.

They're, you know, they're just people.

And now some of them feel extraordinarily historic. You meet a

extraordinarily historic. You meet a person and say, "This person feels consequential." others of them you leave

consequential." others of them you leave and say, "I wonder how this person ever got elected to to this, you know, high office." But, um, but I think it it

office." But, um, but I think it it removes the veil and and the mystery and I think it removed for me a lot of any of like intimidation I may have in like

interacting with another human being.

Your security situation must have changed quite considerably. So,

it did. Yeah.

You know, and because politics is a dangerous game. I think I I heard

dangerous game. I think I I heard something that said being president is the most dangerous job in the world when you look at the fatality rate and obviously we've seen political assassinations in this country even in

recent times but your father was also shot at hit in the ear when he was on the campaign trail more recently.

What's that been like and what does it actually can you give me any specifics on what that actually like means when you become involved in politics? How

does life change from a security perspective?

Yeah, I think well it changes radically. Now we're

protected by US Secret Service and I'm so grateful to to the men and women who who take care of my family um took care of my father, protected him and uh

risking their own lives to do so and now do so for for me and and my children. So

very grateful uh to all of them. But

it's it's it's scary. We live in um very troubling times and like you know the fact that there is a correlation between

service and violence is um is uh terrible in and of itself. But but

that's the the world we live in. So, you

know, I have to acknowledge that reality and defend my family as as best I can and make sure they're protected. And I'm

very fortunate. The the Secret Service are the best in the world at doing that.

Where were you in 2024 in July when you when you heard the news that your father had been shot in the ear? There was an assassination attempt on his life. Do

you remember where you were? Like what's

that like as as a daughter? What are all the feelings and thoughts?

I was in Bedminster, New Jersey, and um there was a lot of commotion and um the televisions were on so I saw it almost immediately. Not in my house. I actually

immediately. Not in my house. I actually

don't love watching television.

Um but out by the pool in the beastro and um it was almost real time. It was

before he had stood back up that I had seen um what was transpiring and um two of my children were there. Um

so you know my first reaction was to turn them away. Um,

but it was incredibly difficult.

Interestingly, I knew real time in that moment that he was fine. Like, I had I just knew that

like it wasn't his time. So, I was horrified and I was scared and I was protective of my children, but I also

I didn't believe like the worst possible outcome had transpired. Thank God. And

um and thank God it it hadn't.

And then I saw him that night when he came home from the hospital because he was also staying. That morning he had left from Bedminster. And that evening he he returned after he left the

hospital and um it's late 1 2:00 in the morning and Jared and I stayed up and we met his his car as he was pulling in and

um I just feel feel like just incredibly lucky that he was protected on that day. But it's, you know when

you can't take things for granted in life, and I've learned that in numerous ways, that being one of them. Um, when

my mom passed prematurely, when my husband had a scare with cancer, you know, all of these challenges that

remind you how finite and how precious every moment of this life we live are.

make you realize you just can't take anything for granted. And I think as you move through them and you know, God willing, you're able to. And we were so

fortunate that day that that this was a failed attempt to take his life. Um, not a realized one. But

his life. Um, not a realized one. But

you just I think you you recommmit to sort of love and connection and to

a recognition of um how short our time here on earth is and how you have to value it.

Someone shooting at your dad um and trying to kill your dad. This is quite a difficult question to ask, but it's like if if um most of us will never be able

to relate to the fact that members of the public want our parents to be deceased and that's the reality of the the situation for your father is

someone shot at him was trying to execute him publicly. And um I wonder how that again doesn't make you negative

to the world because I don't allow it to.

What does that accomplish being negative towards the world? I think that brings more negativity into the world. Even for

the person that shot at your father, there's a lot of sickness there. And

I, you know, I think that forgiveness is a difficult thing in in this regard, but I think you have to

um his living was a blessing.

So I could look at what happened and be rightfully traumatized by the experience and nobody could really argue with that.

But you have to you have to move through it.

And and on the opposite side of that is the fact that he's with us today, that he didn't die, that my father is alive.

And that is an extraordinary blessing for me as his as his daughter. In life,

you have a choice only in how you respond. And I choose to

respond. And I choose to see the positive outcome that that transpired and dwell there.

The mind plays out scenarios, right? The

mind plays out the scenario that where he he didn't make it, where the he turned his head in the other direction, the bullet hit him and you presumably played out that scenario of what how different life

would have been. Well, seeing it on repeat for months on television on the news was certainly like not the easiest thing and you know that's part of why I

just even before I didn't I never loved watching the news. I'll read the news but but no I mean he's here you know really felt like um a miracle and a

blessing and and that's what I focus on.

I can see the emotion again in you which is again it's fascinating to me because I've you know I've heard you know people around you speak about it but the the emotional toll seems to be more still sort of present in you about that

incident than it does about other people that I've heard speak about this well he's my father he's my father and he almost lost his life that day but he

didn't and I feel truly grateful for that and in this second season of his presidential career you decide that you want to pursue um many other things, many other things, many other business

developments and um real estate developments. You step away from

developments. You step away from politics in 2022, I believe. You

announced that you would not be returning for the third election campaign. Uh you said, "This time

campaign. Uh you said, "This time around, I'm choosing to prioritize my young children and the private life we're creating as a family. I do not plan to be involved in politics." You

also said on Lex Lex's podcast, "Politics is a pretty dark world.

There's a lot of darkness, a lot of negativity, and it's just really at odds with what feels good to me as a human being. I was thinking this earlier on

being. I was thinking this earlier on about 30 minutes ago. I was thinking, your nature, as I've known you, seems to be the antithesis of this type of world, like fame.

Totally true. You know,

there's this like gladatorial aspect of it that's just like not for me. I care

deeply about policy, about helping people, and I think there's all sorts of ways to do that. and and and I'm doing that now in in the private sector, but I

don't like politics, but I I do care about policy um quite deeply and I've tried to focus on on that element of service.

And do you feel the need to express you never do because you don't punch back at the world publicly, which is I think something to be admired. And I I've learned actually quite a lot from

everything you said there about not feeling the need to like punch back at the world.

It takes training.

It like takes real training. I was

actually reading uh recently uh about the crow and I thought it was like a great metaphor for life. So crow is

like a highly intelligent animal, extraordinarily so in some cases, but it can get aggressive and territorial and it's one of the only animals that will

actually attack an eagle. Like a crow will go and just sometimes because it's being territorial and other times for fun. And the crow will actually like mob

fun. And the crow will actually like mob the eagle and it will land on its back and it will start pecking it. And the

eagle's response to this, which naturally the eagle's many times over larger than the crow, isn't to like twist and turn and knock the crow off or um defend itself and and

and then go on the offense. It's just to fly up. And it flies up while the crow

fly up. And it flies up while the crow continues to like just peck at its at its back. It flies up and up. And the

its back. It flies up and up. And the

crow is not built for high altitude flight. So at a certain point as the

flight. So at a certain point as the eagle flies up, not expending any energy in the counterattack, the crow just falls off.

It can't sustain the altitude.

So I and I kind of love that analogy for life because you have a choice. You

know, you can turn around, you can fight back, probably the eagle would win or you can just, you know, play the game on your own terms. And I I think about that sometimes and I thought it was like a

brilliant metaphor for dealing with the noise.

And you trained that muscle for sure.

So there was a time when you did care.

For sure. Because I there was a time when I was just like confused. I'm like

well but I didn't even do that. Like

what are you talking about? Like I don't even know what you're and and then there's a sense of well that's unfair.

Like that's an unfair attack. And then

you realize like a lot of it's unfair especially in politics. It's like it's just like a team sport and people attack and you know and and people also, you

know, put you up on a pedestal and you just can't get distracted by either. You

just have to be yourself and uh you have to fly up, let the crows fall off and um and that's it. That's all you can do.

Do any of you remember a conversation I had on this podcast with anthropologist Dr. Daniel Lieberman? It was one of the most viewed conversations of all time on the Diary of a CEO. And interestingly,

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Enjoy. We have finally caved in. So many

of you have asked us if we could bundle the conversation cards with the 1% diary. For those of you that don't know,

diary. For those of you that don't know, every single time a guest sits here with me in the chair, they leave a question in the diary of a CEO and then I ask that question to the next guest. We

don't release those questions in any environment other than on these incredible conversation cards. These

have become a fantastic tool for people in relationships, people in teams, in big corporations, and also family members to connect with each other. With

that, we also have the 1% diary, which is this incredible tool to change habits in your life. So many of you have asked if it was possible to buy both at the same time, especially people in big

companies. So, what we've done is we've

companies. So, what we've done is we've bundled them together and you can buy both at the same time. And if you want to drive connection and instill habit change in your company, head to the diary.com to inquire and our team will

be in touch. You are very different from your father. Now listen, I know you you

your father. Now listen, I know you you know you love your father deeply and I've watched you in every interview you've ever done to talk to that love and I have zero exactly zero desire to

to ask you any questions or ask anything that's going to try and drive a a wedge or get you to say something that I think you know is is is not fair. But the

thing I find interesting is that like how you make your way in the world and like become your own person when you do have this derivative noise that's trying to define you through things that you have never even actually done.

Yeah.

And I just find that fascinating like how and life has clearly made you a stoic for this very reason because you have to deal with I guess to some degree being characterized in a certain way for actions that you yourself haven't taken.

So one has to become a stoic or else how could one possibly survive like we all deal I think on microscopic levels with like the eye of the hurricane.

Yeah.

I think but like I I sometimes like feel a lot of gratitude for it because I I think sometimes you keep being taught a lesson until you

learn it. And I think as somebody who

learn it. And I think as somebody who always wanted peace and harmony and I think I needed to like maybe it took this level of intensity to be like okay

you know like peace and harmony within the context that I can help facilitate you know like I can't control something so much um bigger than that. So so

sometimes like maybe that was my medicine you know.

Did you go to therapy?

not in my childhood in actually as an adult I um I I have a lot of um friends

who are unbelievable either teachers, professors, therapists and um and I have like a very growthoriented mindset as you could probably tell like I'm always

looking to learn about myself and about the world and uh so they've provided unbelievable perspective for me over the years. I asked that because I imagine

years. I asked that because I imagine there's lots of people watching now who contend with their own struggles. Yeah.

Similar to that, dealing with the outside world or I think therapy can be amazing. Um I

think you have to have the right therapist. Um and somebody who helps you

therapist. Um and somebody who helps you sort of process and move through. I

don't think it's like healthy to linger too long. Um like I think you have to

too long. Um like I think you have to move forward.

When did you decide to start seeing a therapist?

um in my adulthood like as an adult and it was more just as like another tool for me in the same way that I meditate you

know I view it as as an opportunity to like to do an internal inventory was there a catalyst there's often a catalyst when I interview people something happened they realized that

they needed more tools you know I I think um some of the challenges es around um Jared's health.

I just left Washington. Our life was in flux. Jared um was diagnosed with

flux. Jared um was diagnosed with thyroid cancer for a second time. Um and

uh and then my mother passed and I wanted to make sure I'm I'm really good at like being tough and I'm really good

at kind of compartmentalizing. So it was more just like a check with myself that I was also taking time to like you know sort of like look inward and uh and like

nurture myself. So it was not it was not

nurture myself. So it was not it was not particularly like formal um but it was more you know and I think when you can

speak to people you trust who are knowledgeable and just make sure you're like taking time to like really heal and not just move forward. You strike me as someone that spent a lot of time being tough

on the outside.

Um because I like tough and super soft at the same time.

But I see that.

But I' I've kind of But that's like where you know I have to like watch myself from because my life has always had such intensity like I can like move

through things like I sometimes have to pull myself back and say like process because I don't believe that you ever put something in a box. I think that thing that you're hiding from yourself

is with you every time you make a bad decision and like driving the bus, you know, like it's you may not be like fully conscious of it, but it's it's like there so you better unpack it um

and as close to real time as possible, I think the better.

Yeah. And in your context, I imagine as well, you can't just offload like the average person does in every context like Yeah. because there's consequences

like Yeah. because there's consequences to that. Whether it's trusting people,

to that. Whether it's trusting people, whether it's the media trying to get something on you, what, you know, whoever it might be. So, and then, you know, you're in a family where, you know, it's important to keep a

straight face, especially in public a lot. And I was watching the footage from

lot. And I was watching the footage from Yeah. people think I'm like have like

Yeah. people think I'm like have like sort of like a stoic look in public. I'm

very like, but I but I spent time with you behind the scenes. You do you have this sort of

the scenes. You do you have this sort of bit of a dichotomy in the sense that you're there's a real like pure

um soft empathetic soul. And then it appears to me that

soul. And then it appears to me that life is demanded for the survival in the context you've been in that you pop a mask on in front of that to keep a straight face

and a tough demeanor and to not punch back and to to suppress that in certain contexts because frankly you kind of have to if you're in the shoes that

you've had to fill. And I guess one can keep that that mask that tough exterior on too long.

Yeah. Yeah. To the point.

Well, I think you actually see it with a lot of politicians.

They feel inauthentic because they are, you know, they've experienced so much that they they never allow the mass to slip.

Yeah.

I think one of the things that makes my father so unique is how is he so authentic in a world where so few people are like in that profession, that realm?

And they're like almost like you look at they feel like they're robots. the way

they speak, the way they interact, the way they engage. Oftentimes you see that when you're with them one-on-one as as you do as it comes across like on a

debate on a television set. Um, so I think there's a balance. Like I I don't think you need to be

like your most vulnerable self in the public. Like why? like what is I think

public. Like why? like what is I think you want to be authentic but I think like you should like you have to guard things about yourself about your family and I think that's like healthy and and

good and I do think there is a part of me that's like there's never been like uh there's no room for error you know like even as a child like growing up in the public eye was always nervous about

doing something and embarrassing my parents and then politics and you have to be perfect and any slip up is completely weaponized against you so you

become very careful publicly. I think

the mistake though is people get confused and they lose a sense of themselves and they bring that into their relationships

like off um the public stage and and I think that's really unfortunate.

You mentioned um one of the catalyst moments for you seeking out some sort of more professional support was the death of your mother. 2022.

Another beautiful photo of her wonderful hair as well.

Try not to cry again.

It's okay.

She's extraordinary.

She was extraordinary.

It's okay.

She lived a good life though. You know,

I tell myself with my mom, she like really lived she had fun. Um, so she taught me a lot about just like, you know, the presence I talk about about

just like bringing intention to what you do.

Bringing Sorry.

Um she uh she was very herself and she was very joyful and she loved to dance and she

loved to play and so um she lived uh she lived a good life.

It's a really it's a unbelievably tragic way to lose a parent is suddenly and unexpected when they are sure strong. I mean it says a lot that your

strong. I mean it says a lot that your grandmother which is her mother still alive still alive almost 100 years old and she lost her life at 70 to falling down the stairs in her her

By the way I said my grandmother was 98 she's 99.

Wow. Okay.

Crazy. It's amazing.

Yeah. No, it's it very challenging and you know grief is just losing a parent. It's it like hits

different you know um especially unexpectedly especially sort of postco which like kind of robbed so many of us of so many years you know some for some

people they sort of sheltered together um and it actually created connection between generations and you know unfortunately I was she was in New York and I was in

Washington so um there was the there was distance there just

geographically. Um

geographically. Um but um but you know I I really like we really I was telling you before we really keep her memory alive like I

really took the time to think about her not through the eyes of the child who idolized her fully but through the eyes

of an adult who saw her clearly.

her strengths, her challenges, and like I think about like my role as a parent to my own children is

to sort of stand guard against like to to make sure they're exposed to all the elements of her that were amazing and and share the stories and remind them.

Um, and also to like kind of like a lionist and guard against the passing on of of

you know challenges she had and and struggles and um and so I try to do that with my own family.

Have you grieved properly?

Yeah, because you're very busy.

I think it's no I think it's super important and that's part of the reason I really got introspective. I think

wherever there's discomfort, that's where you have to go.

And you know, I would talk about her and start to cry just like I'm still doing um but in a different kind of way, you know, like I I was avoiding for a moment, a very short moment

because I recognized in myself like the discomfort and like you have to like unlock that and you have to really make the time to think about and talk about

and and process. On the business side of things, you have started in 2023, I believe, at 41 years old, you co-founded Planet Harvest with one of your friends,

Melissa Akerman, inspired by your experiences creating the USDA's farmers to families food box program during COVID 19. When I look at all that you

COVID 19. When I look at all that you do, you know, there's you're doing this incredible project in Albania to develop the land there. You are investing in

technology companies. you you've got

technology companies. you you've got this planet harvest project with which is incredible and then you've got you know um a family which you know you talk about standing in guard in front of them

and so on and so forth.

How how do you balance all of this stuff? How does one balance it?

stuff? How does one balance it?

You don't like balance is elusive. Like

I think of balance it's like a scale.

It's going to tip. You're one child's flu away from like complete imbalance, right? where you get the call from the

right? where you get the call from the school nurse and your son has to come home unexpectedly or um or there's like a roadblock in a project you're working

on or you know you can't striving for balance is not like a practical pursuit. I think what I

strive for is to live a life that aligns with my priorities and to have more days than not that I feel like I've done just

that. And I think if you get that right,

that. And I think if you get that right, most of the time you're doing pretty well because balance doesn't work. It's

just like our lives are too hectic and there's too much outside of our control to to maintain that equilibrium.

I'm so curious as to where you've um you know I know you've read a lot of stoicism and you read a lot of books and you've you've been to therapy but you know you've you contend with a lot

businesses investing the real estate projects all the family stuff the broader noise.

Yeah.

Um and you've really much of what I've learned about you is that you've really managed to center yourself on yourself.

You've managed to sort of pull yourself inwards in a world that pulls all of us outwardly. And is is there a particular

outwardly. And is is there a particular book you might advise people to read about this or is there or they just have to have life hit them?

Well, I think you know religion for many people provides a beautiful framework um whether it's the Bible, the Torah, the

you know of of like be a good person like really um live a purpose- driven meaningful life. Um, so I I think

meaningful life. Um, so I I think there's so much wisdom there and I I think, you know, we talked about the Stoics. I think they're some of the

Stoics. I think they're some of the great guides. I also love some of the

great guides. I also love some of the Eastern philosophies. Like I love lu and

Eastern philosophies. Like I love lu and the taq ching is an amazing it kind of reminds me of like the it was like similar to the philosophy of of jiujitsu

around just sort of presence and and not sort of fighting what is you know so much of suffering comes from a rejection

of like what is um like fighting something that it just is fact um as opposed to sort of that which is within our control. So I I'm actually very

our control. So I I'm actually very drawn to sort of Buddhism and Dowoism and um I personally feel um like very alive. Like I think

alive. Like I think you look at if you if you think back over the last week and I don't know what this is for you but you think back over the last week maybe even the last month

or the last day like when you were in like a flow state when you fel felt most alive like that's your medicine like that's like you in your essence. But so

I try to also like put myself in those situations as much as possible and and um and make sure to like bring that into my life.

I'm fascinated by Planet Harvest because you could have done so much with the leverage and and experience that you have and you chose to build a business called Planet Harvest, which you can

find at planeth harvest.com that is helping to reduce food waste and creating change for farmers across the country. why of all the things that you

country. why of all the things that you could have aimed at um and I know you're aiming at many at once, but why is Planet Harvest so central to your mission at the moment?

Thank you. I mean, this is truly like a missiondriven um passion and and pursuit of mine and um I think I told you before that like there's nothing better than

being obvious by being contrarian. And

and that's sort of how Planet Harvest was born. saw through the co pandemic.

was born. saw through the co pandemic.

Um, I got really close to the farmers because I created this farmertof family food box program that created grants that would enable farmers to sell their

perishable produce um to third parties, distributors, NOS's, churches who would then get it to the last mile of needs, ensuring that when people needed food,

the food in the fields wasn't going to waste by being tilled under as we saw in the early days of the pandemic. You

know, the supply chain shut down. So the

restaurants were closed, the airlines, the hotels. Um, so the farmers had no

the hotels. Um, so the farmers had no place to to send their food and couldn't afford to take it out of the fields. So

we created a grant program to enable that connection. But it really got me um

that connection. But it really got me um very close at a at a farm level to to the farmer and and and their experience.

And obviously that was a catastrophic time when there was just zero demand.

But but I started seeing even in a normalized situation the amount of waste that happens on a food on a on a field level and the amount of food beautiful

nutritious perfect food that's left to rot in the fields while so many communities want for for that form of

nutrition. and um and I I met a woman um

nutrition. and um and I I met a woman um who's uh CEO of the company and we decided to co-found an effort together to utilize this excess and create demand

for it and and get it into the ecosystem supporting the environment, supporting um these great American farmers. Like

I'll just give you one example. I mean,

strawberries, 400 million pounds of strawberries every year get left in the fields, not even taken out and and given. Not because

they're imperfect. They're just don't meet a really rigid cosmetic specification that's defined by retailers oftent times 20, 30, 40 years ago so that everything's very

standardized. It's just a great way to

standardized. It's just a great way to solve a problem, provide incremental revenue for farmers, which is so needed in such a tough business. So, we're

really proud of of the work we're doing there.

It's a beautiful, beautiful cause. I'm

going to link link below if anyone wants to learn more um as many details as they can about the project and ways others can get involved, whether they're retailers or farmers or anyone that's interested in getting involved. Um,

Avanka, we have a closing tradition where the last guest leaves a question for the next guest, not knowing who they're leaving it for. And the question that has been left for you, it assumes you are a parent, so thankfully you are,

um, is if your oldest child came to you and said they wanted to follow in your footsteps, what are the three pieces of advice you would give them that would

increase their probability of happiness and success?

Oh, that's a great question. Um,

I think first and foremost, that's your eldest.

Yes.

Arabella, is it?

Arabella.

So what would you say to Arabella? She

says she wants to be an entrepreneur and an investor. And

an investor. And I think first you have to love it.

I think especially if you want to be an entrepreneur like the amount of work and dedication and grind, the challenges, um the responsibility as you build a

business for other people's livelihoods.

Um it's it's enormous and it's you know this I mean it's it's it can be very heavy um to carry and I have never seen

someone at the peak of their game who doesn't absolutely love what they do and I've seen a lot of brilliant people I went to school with many of them who were way smarter

than anyone else in the class who flamed out by going in a direction that they were capable and proficient but not passionate about. So, it has to

you have to want it because if you don't, somebody who's less um perhaps less capable, perhaps less smart, they'll work twice as hard and like you can't compete with that.

Mhm.

So, that's number one. I think number two is um you can't imitate anyone. You have to be yourself. And we've talked a lot about

yourself. And we've talked a lot about like knowing thyself, but um actually uh Naval who's a friend of mine who's who's

great um he talks about like as an entrepreneur the importance of authenticity and how

it's like it's the key like when you're copying you're losing like you have to be yourself and then nobody can compete with you. Um, and so I think you you

with you. Um, and so I think you you have to sort of find yourself, be yourself. You can't be derivative of

yourself. You can't be derivative of anything else. Of course, you can learn

anything else. Of course, you can learn from others, but um, but you have to blaze your own course and um, and as an entrepreneur building something new, you have to have also like a tremendous

amount of resilience through that process.

And you know it's um that's nuanced in and of itself because that doesn't mean like you have to wear blinders and go when you know it's right but you have to also

I mean they talk about the famous pivot right like in like you also have to pivot sometimes right so it's not not like a fault you have to still be

receptive to um to sort of incoming information but for the most part like you have to go and um and I think for a young person I would tell my daughter, you know, you're going to have to

believe in yourself before the world believes in you. Like, you can't wait for the world to believe in you because if you haven't believed in yourself, you'll never get there. So,

you have to start. And that's why like I love talking like one of the things I've I've been doing a lot of is investing in technology businesses, AI, robotics, um,

incredible founders and entrepreneurs doing building generationally defining products.

um and and developing these amazing ideas and I love seeing the belief and the conviction they have in themselves and sometimes like it's like their experience doesn't match like their

confidence but like you have to start somewhere and if you don't like believe in yourself you'll never get out of the gate. So, so believe in yourself,

gate. So, so believe in yourself, charge forward, and um and then when you start putting up some W's and getting some wins, like the rest of the world

may or may not um start to believe in you as well, thank you.

Thank you.

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