Both of your production company’s documentaries were nominated for Oscars this year. You now have a project on PBS called She Was First, with one episode focused on Misty Copeland, the first Black female principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre. Why this topic?
The sad thing is that we’re still finding firsts all the time. But I believe it’s important to mark that. With Misty, we talk about the things that she had to overcome because she was first. The journey is the story.

How personal is this series to you, especially since you became the first Afro-Cuban American to anchor a major national morning news program?
It is amazing to me the number of times young women of color come up to me and say, “Oh, there’s this person who kind of looks like me [who succeeded] and that means that I could do it.” Maybe that sounds like a cliché, but it is really true.

Why is storytelling important to you?
One of the things I loved about working at CNN was that we did many stories where you get on a plane, show up, talk to people and then go on TV and explain their situation to the rest of the country. If you could tell the story, people could understand loss, they could understand grief, they could understand opportunity, they could understand joy. If you have the ability to tell the story well, you can move people to get it, to understand it.

You left CNN in 2013 to start your own production company. Was that scary?
I’d been anchoring Starting Point when Jeff Zucker, then president of CNN Worldwide, wanted a couple to anchor the show. He liked “younger woman, older guy” teams [O’Brien was in her mid-40s at the time], and he told me, “You can stay. We’ll have you fill in.” I remember thinking, I have accomplished things.… I’m good at my job. I don’t think I have to be the fill-in. It felt more risky to pick staying and being a “fill-in.” I felt that would really kill my career.

What scares you now?
I’m so much less scared than I was at 30. It’s nice to wear what you want, do your hair as you want, go on vacation where you want. Still, as CEO of Soledad O’Brien Productions, I’ve got people’s livelihoods in my hands—that’s scary. And as a parent, I’m always afraid. [O’Brien has four children: Sofia Elizabeth, 25, Cecilia, 24, and twin sons Charlie and Jackson, 22.] I’m constantly anxious for them.

You’re about to turn 60. How is that for you?
I’m in better shape than I’ve ever been because I’m not doing a crazy job, traveling nonstop. I eat so much better. I exercise so much better.

What advice would you give to young Soledad?
The number one thing would be “You have very thick, curly hair. You cannot have a bob cut. Stop trying. It will never work. Grow your hair long.”

Your parents both died in 2019. How’d you handle that?
Grief is a funny thing. Some days it just hits you. The other day, someone did something that reminded me of my dad, and it just brought me right back. I never recorded them, so a lot of my first year was remembering things I didn’t do. I used to want to chase grief away. But at some point, you’ve got to make that turn. You just kind of sit with it, and then it passes until it happens again.

How would you like to be thought of by people?
I hope I’ve had an impact on people’s lives—not necessarily through journalism but through existing, being there for somebody, being helpful. I believe I’ve been a good parent. I believe I’ve been a good spouse—I’ve been married for 31 years. If I had to pick a thing I’d love people to say, it would be “Gosh, she just invested in me. She believed in me. She helped me get from point A to point B. She was a good friend. She knew when I was down and knew how to be helpful.”

What brings you joy?
I am nauseatingly optimistic. I feel so lucky all the time. I get up every morning and hop on two horses, one mine, one my daughter’s. That brings me so much joy. I’ve started taking ballroom dance classes. I’m very bad, which is unfortunate. Even when I go in in a bad mood, when I come out, I’m just so happy. All those things bring me joy.