Jenna Bush Hager Had A Surprisingly Normal Job Before Today Show Fame

Stars working regular jobs before getting their big break is a pretty common tale. For many celebrities, it was a way to make ends meet while pursuing their dream career, as was the case for Madonna, who worked at a Dunkin' Donuts in the '70s. Others, such as Chris Pratt, were discovered by directors and talent agents while working their 9-to-5s and never looked back. However, in some special cases, like Jenna Bush Hager's, it was simply a matter of trading a job they were passionate about for another they also loved.

Bush Hager made a stunning transformation from first daughter to "Today" show co-host, but before becoming a familiar face on morning television, she was more at home in the four walls of a classroom than on a set. She worked as a public school teacher in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, from 2005 until 2009, when she accepted an offer to be correspondent on the "Today" show.

Bush Hager admitted to Parade in 2023 that she was initially hesitant to leave her teaching job but ultimately realized she didn't have to give up her passion for education, kickstarting one of the most head-turning morning show host transformations. "As a little kid, I dreamed of being a teacher, like it was something I knew I was going to do. And so even when I was a teacher and the 'Today' show came to me because I was on the show for several books that I wrote, and asked if I would want to come work here, I was like, 'No way. Teaching was my plan. It's what I've always wanted to do. No,'" she recalled. "And then obviously, I love my job here and I do feel like working on television allows a different type of teaching."

Jenna Bush Hager lives a wildly lavish life thanks to her lucrative gig co-hosting the fourth hour of the "Today" show, but she's never forgotten her original passion. After kicking off her career as a journalist by covering topics revolving around education, she went on to promote literacy through her reading initiatives and shine the spotlight on inspiring educators — which she described as one of the best perks of her morning television show job. "One of the things that keeps me even able to do this, is that I get to visit principals and teachers throughout my work on the 'Today' show... Hoda [Kotb] said it once when she watched a piece. She's like, 'It feels like you're going home when you're returning to school, to different schools to tell stories of teachers and librarians,' and I'm like, that's how I feel," Bush Hager told Parade in 2023. And if there's one person who could definitely tell the stories of teachers effectively, it's someone who knows firsthand the struggles they face.

Speaking to the magazine in a separate interview in 2024, the television personality got candid about her experience as an elementary school teacher while recalling her reaction to someone attempting to downplay her job. "My kids are cute, but my job is not cute. It's demanding, it's intellectually stimulating, it's hard," Bush Hager responded at the time. She suggested that one of the things that make the job demanding is that teachers often take on more responsibilities than what they're paid to do, adding: "...Teachers are educators, of course, but they are also counselors and they are mediators, they are love givers."