Today Show Weekend Anchor Laura Jarrett's Head-Turning Transformation

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Laura Jarrett's transformation is not only head-turning, it's seriously impressive. This TV star isn't just a Harvard Law School graduate and one of "Today"'s most beloved anchors, she's also an author and a busy mom of two. She hasn't shied away from being honest about how difficult having it all can be either. "My position is there is no balance. Instead, you do the best you can every single day, and make sure you hug your kids and they know that you love them dearly," she told People.

Laura Jarrett was born in Chicago in 1983 to parents in high places. Her mom, Valerie Jarrett, is a former White House adviser to Barack Obama and was friends with the former president and former first lady, Michelle Obama, years before they moved to the White House. Jarrett's dad, Dr. William Robert Jarrett, had an an impressive career too, as he served as director of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Jackson Park Hospital. With such inspiring examples, it's little surprise Jarrett had big dreams she worked seriously hard to make a reality.

Around 2004, Laura Jarrett embarked on making her dreams of becoming a lawyer a reality. The star studied hard, initially attending Massachusetts' Amherst College. She graduated in 2007 and then took her smarts to Harvard Law School. It was there where she met her then future husband, Tony Balkissoon. In 2009, Vanity Fair asked the third year Harvard law student about her life ambitions, to which Laura Jarrett replied, "Write a book and work as a TV-news legal analyst." She sweetly added, "One day I hope to: Have the wisdom and grace of my mother."

Jarrett's mom Valerie Jarrett opened up about how much it meant to her to see her talented daughter graduate Harvard in 2010 during a touching joint interview for the HuffPost series "Talk To Me." [3:00] "You spend your whole time just hoping your children get through school, get to adulthood. And by the time you were in law school you were engaged, practically. I just felt like, 'Phew,' I could exhale," Valerie Jarrett told her daughter, admitting she felt she did a good job as a mom.

In 2012, Laura Jarrett and Tony Balkissoon tied the knot in her home city of Chicago in front of some very high-profile guests. Then president Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama attended the event with their daughters Sasha Obama and Malia Obama (who's had a stunning transformation since leaving the White House), while U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was also in attendance. In 2024, Laura Jarrett celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary on Instagram with multiple photos from their many years together. "12 years today, love then, now, and everything in between," she wrote.

Around the same time though, Jarrett started to realize her future may not be as a lawyer. "I was a six-year law associate at my law firm, and starting to think about whether I wanted to try and make partner. And I realized there was no path for me that I was going to enjoy long term," she told Today, admitting she wanted to change her career path while she still had the freedom to. And that bravery would majorly pay off.

Laura Jarrett realized her future career lay in TV, and she visited local news stations in the hopes of landing a new gig as an on-air legal expert. Despite having no experience on screen, CNN believed in her and gave her a slot on the news network in 2017. Albeit at 4 a.m. She soon began covering president Donald Trump's moves closely amid his first inauguration. "I was basically holed up in a bunker in the Justice Department since January 2017, which was the best possible training ground for somebody like myself," Jarrett told The Hollywood Reporter. "It was a great way to get my feet wet, a great way to learn how to be a reporter from the ground up," she added. In 2020, she was promoted to an anchor position on CNN's morning show "Early Start"– the perfect starting point for her career on morning TV.

As Laura Jarrett found her footing in the studio, her personal life was also thriving. She told Today she and Tony Balkissoon purposefully waited to become parents (and there are plenty of options for having kids for those who want to wait). "Which I think was super valuable because we just got to have fun. We had a ball just the two of us for a long time and I think that really set us up for success," she said. The happy couple decided they were ready to welcome children in 2020 though, and Jarrett gave birth to a son, James. In 2022, they welcomed a daughter named June.

Laura Jarrett made more than one major career move in 2024. She left CNN and, that January, landed a new gig at NBC News as senior legal correspondent. She clearly impressed, as just 10 months after joining NBC, she was announced as "Today"'s new Saturday co-host. "When I got the news, I was stunned! It is such a huge honor, and I am so excited about the opportunity," she told Today. She also told People she was excited for viewers to see a new side of her away from the legal stories she'd previously covered. It was confirmed Jarrett would continue her work with NBC News alongside her new gig, making her a very busy woman.

She opened up to The Local Mom's Network Miami about her jam-packed work days, sharing she didn't always get time to see her kids off to school. "The day is filled with a number of different things — writing scripts for 'Nightly News,' working on getting interviews, doing research, reading through mountains of legal filings, etc.," she said. "I leave the office around 6:45 p.m. if I'm lucky and I dash home to make it in time for bath, bed, books, songs," she added. Because of the star's very early starts, she revealed she likes to be in bed by 9:30 p.m.

But the "Today" star, who's stunning without makeup, wasn't too busy to continue chasing her dreams. In 2024, she made good on the future plan she shared with Vanity Fair 15 years earlier. The rising TV star teamed up with fellow journalist Poppy Harlow on the book "The Color of Love."

Laura Jarrett had been with "Today" for almost three years by 2026, and it didn't seem she was going anywhere. In fact, she was only getting more comfortable. That January, she appeared on the main weekday show alongside her co-anchor Peter Alexander, as the two temporarily replaced Craig Melvin and Savannah Guthrie (who's so much more than just an accomplished news anchor). That wasn't the first time Jarrett had taken on anchor duties on the weekday edition either, as she sat alongside the Sunday "Today" anchor Willie Geist in October 2025.

The star also found herself in the market for a new co-anchor that March after Alexander announced his departure from the Saturday instalment of "Today." Laura Jarrett shared several photos with Alexander on Instagram after the news broke, writing, "This guy. So grateful to get to work alongside you, laugh with you, and now call you a friend for life. Can't wait to watch you continue to do what you do best." NBC hasn't confirmed who will be sitting alongside Laura Jarrett at the time of writing, but whoever lands the prestigious position is sure to be in good hands.

Whatever's next for this ever-evolving and ever-busy lawyer turned journalist, it seems she'll continue chasing her dreams and taking things one day at a time. "I try to remember that it doesn't all have to get done today. I might have a zillion things on my to-do list, and I like keeping lists because it helps keep me organized, but I try not to be too hard on myself," Laura Jarrett told The Local Mom's Network Miami. "It's not necessarily a mantra, but I try to remember there will always be tomorrow."