“I wake up excited”: Sophie Grégoire Trudeau on her career as an author and mental health advocate

“To me, true success means having expressed your authentic self. It means that you haven’t changed your behaviour or performed differently to please other people.”

Jul 15, 2026

My conversation with Sophie on the new chapter unfolding in her fifties, her daily practice of tracking micro-successes, the difference between breaking and being broken open, why she always keeps books of poetry on her bedside table, the accomplishment she’s most proud of achieving, finding wisdom in the middle ground between being attached to the past and afraid of the future, how she decides which opportunities to pursue and which to pass on, the day she first met her longtime friend and mentor Gabor Maté, how she thinks about social media, why the biggest risk she’s taken recently felt like jumping through “this huge circle of fire,” the thriving portfolio career she’s building now, & so much more.

*Eugène Delacroix, “Still life with dahlias, zinnias, hollyhocks and plums” (c. 1835)*

The trajectory of Sophie’s career reads like a sustained masterclass in moving from strength to strength.

Today, she is the bestselling author of the runaway success Closer Together, a pioneering mental health advocate of 25 years, and a widely in-demand public speaker. It’s a path she’s forged on the foundations of her professional background in media and journalism, together with a nearly decade-long tenure spent in public service to a G7 country on the copolitical path as the unofficial First Lady of Canada.

What’s striking isn’t just how much she’s already accomplished, but also how thoughtfully she’s positioned herself for what comes next—and, as we discuss, she’s just getting started. It was a privilege to connect with her over this interview.

Jana M. Perkins, PhD
Host, Women of Letters

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau is a Canadian-born bestselling author, public speaker, mental health advocate, television host, and certified yoga teacher for both adults and children. Her work for gender equality and empowering women and youth has been recognized by multiple organizations including the United Nations. Her instant national bestseller and Best on Audible (2024) book Closer Together: Knowing Ourselves, Loving Each Other has inspired readers across North America and beyond. Throughout her career, Sophie has met and interviewed some of the world’s most inspiring public figures who are shaping a fairer and more compassionate world—including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai and trauma expert Dr. Gabor Maté—deepening her lifelong exploration of justice, healing, and human connection. In 2025, she was named a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, recognizing her enduring commitment to education, exploration, and the preservation of Canada’s natural and cultural heritage.

How did your childhood shape your ideas about what work looked like and what was possible for you?

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau: I had parents who raised me with a lot of love and cuddles, a lot of physical touch, a lot of contact with nature. I was born from zero to four in total nature. All my childhood pictures are like semi-naked, tousled hair all around, dirt all over my body. To me, that’s the beginning of our hero’s journey. I think that our lack of connection to nature really, really is at the root of so many of our mental health problems and lack of connection to who we are: our capacity to sit in solitude, to accept silence without feeling overwhelmed.

So I had a very free childhood. And then as I grew older, my parents had a lot of tension in their relationship. They were both great human beings, but they come from that generation where they never looked at their trauma. I think little Sophie kind of wore the cape of wanting to save my mom from my dad, my dad from himself, my mom from herself. Every kid picks up on the energetics of the family. When we think that we can hide stuff from our kids, beware—they pick up on everything. Especially during pre-verbal years, the tensions in the house are picked up by the baby’s nervous system. My childhood had its ups and downs like every other childhood.

I was close to my parents. My mom became kind of like my symbiotic parent with whom I was very, very close, and my dad was like a mentor, a philosopher, and he pushed my physical limits. He would tell me to like jump off rocks, to jump off airplanes. He taught me how to barefoot when I was like seven years old. I would pull logs out of the lake with him; I would chop wood. So very in contact with my physicality, and to be honest I think that was part of how I developed a solid sense of my capacity, my capability in life.

I lost him two years ago. I can still hear him in French say, “Go, Sophie: t’es capable.” It means, “Go, Soph: you can do it.” He raised me like that. My mom was super open to culture and languages, and she was very romantic, and so was my dad. I think I fell in love with life so early because they were in love with life.

One of the things we have in common is that we both started out in business school. What was it that initially drew you to that?

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau: I wanted to follow daddy’s footsteps. My father was in finance; he was a stockbroker. I thought that was the coolest thing in the world, so I had to go into business because it would open all my horizons.

Little did I know, a year later—after microeconomics, statistics, accounting—I was like, “No way am I doing this for three years.” So I switched, and I went into communications at the University of Montreal. That was more of my forte: I’m a communicator, I’m a speaker, I’m a connector. I love literature; I love writing. When somebody doesn’t know how to write, I’m like, “Oh, my god. What have we done with this generation?”

So I started finding my path. But to be honest with you—I’ve been a mental health advocate now for, what: 25 years or more? Sometimes, I still wonder, “What is it that I’m doing? What is my career?” I’m a freelancer. I founded a company. I do workshops. I teach yoga. I do conferences. And believe this or not, I kind of want to go into business now. So we’ll see how that serves.

Jana M. Perkins: It’s such a full-circle moment of like, “Actually, it would have been useful to pay some more attention in accounting.”

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau: Exactly. I just remember the balance sheet—accounts payable, accounts receivable.

Did you have any mentors along the way?

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau: When I started in communications, I had the head of the newsroom where I started as like a reporter. He was a mentor to me; we’re still friends. I worked for this woman in public relations; she was a mentor, and I knew that I didn’t want to do her job, so that was clear to me.

I think I’ve had mentors along the way. Some of them I kept a friendship with; some of them were just a passage. Mentors have to see in you a quality of humanhood that makes you different from other people. These people made me feel seen; they made me feel validated. So when a young person comes to me these days and says, “Could you do this for us?” I’m like, “Yes, because that was me.” I can’t believe I’m saying this now, because I still feel like I’m in my twenties, but that was me.

I really, truly believe that as adults, and as even elders, we’ve lost a magical, necessary, visceral bond between young and old that is very reassuring to the nervous system as human beings. With the industrial revolution—going way back—when we fragmented communities, we fragmented the individual, and since then we feel like we’re all in pieces. We’re trying to put the pieces back together. We crumbled from the inside, and we’re living too fast, and our nervous systems are just trying to catch up from everything that we’ve built. But we’re going to have to be self-regulated because, without that, I’m not sure we’ll be able to adapt to the changes that are coming.

This is why I find that my work as a mental health advocate—to give the tools to people to develop their inherent human, basic right—is self-knowledge. How do I function? How do I have control and power over my own self? Because we have to redefine leadership these days. It’s not dominance anymore. Dominance brings people down; it doesn’t lift them up. In systems, whether it’s governments or schools or communities, I think it’s so important that we raise a new generation who is so much more emotionally literate.

How do you get your work in each day? What does that process look like, and what are the conditions that help you perform at your best?

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau: Oh my god, it’s so different every day. So different. Like right now, nobody knows but I’m in my sweatpants; I’m wearing my 6’5”, 19-year-old’s hoodie because I was cold. I went for a power walk this morning, then I had phone calls, then I had to pack my home because I’m moving in a month to go to another city. So I’m overwhelmed in boxes. Then I’m going to have to write my newsletter.

Every day is different. And sometimes I’m travelling for work, so I’m away from the house. It’s very, very diverse when it comes to my job; I’m a freelancer, so there’s lots of uncertainty in my job, as well. That’s something that I’m trying to work on, which is not fun. The human brain doesn’t like uncertainty. At 51, separated, moving into a new home—I’m trying to work on creating certainty inside of myself, despite the circumstances, which is a lot of very demanding work. Anyway, it is for me, so I’m trying to work on that.

I’m a creative. I love to paint. I love to sing. I have visions of what my business could look like. So I feel like there’s a new chapter unfolding in my fifties right now, and it’s going to be fire. Fire from rising from the ashes, to be honest.

From the time I’ve spent on your Instagram, I was really struck by how personal and connected you make that space feel with what you share. It’s something I’ve found to be rare, in what’s more often such a depersonalized and disconnected space on social media. I’d love to hear: how have you thought about the creation of that approach, and what is kind of going through your mind as you’re making a video or sharing a post?

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau: You’re going to be disappointed, because there’s no real strategy behind it. A lot of my colleagues will say, “You have to strategize.” I produce content from a place of integrity, from a place of love, from a place of, “What do people need, and what do I need?”

Sometimes, what I need is exactly what people need, because we’re not so different from each other. People might think because I was a First Lady or whatever that we’re so different, but no. So I try to really tackle subjects, and concerns, or doubts that really resonate on a universal level, but on a personal level, as well. Because, again: our universal common denominator is our well-being and how we take care of ourselves.

I want my tips to be useful. I want them to be substantial. Sometimes I’ll be silly, as you know, and I’ll share a video of when I fell over, like during winter on a patch of ice or whatever. Just to remind ourselves, “Please: all of this is so serious. We don’t have to take ourselves so seriously.”

One of the things I love so much about your book, Closer Together, is all of the expert interviews you’ve woven into it, and in every single case the incredibly rich conversations that resulted from that. From one interviewer to another, I wanted to ask you: how did you prepare for those conversations in a way that allowed for that kind of end result, especially when so much of what you were discussing were often these very charged and difficult topics?

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau: I go back to my book often, and it’s becoming more relevant every year, because I had the privilege to reach out to the world’s best experts. I was learning about their work because I’m interested in it, because I’m a mental health advocate, but I’m like, “Wait a second—everybody should have access to them. How do I write a book where I tell my story, plus I integrate deep, in-depth, accessible conversations, science-backed, with the best experts out there, to explain to us how we form our personality, how we understand human behaviour better, and how we can affect our lives in a more positive way and with more agency overall?”

So there’s a little backstory to this. I’ve been a very, very big fan of Dr. Gabor Maté’s work for years, like 15 years. I think I started reading In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, and I learned about his work in downtown Eastside Vancouver working with people who were living on the streets. I was like, “Who is this guy?” I started reading his work. I’m like, “Oh my god. He’s extraordinary.”

About 15 years later, I’m on the copolitical path, and my husband then, Justin, was Prime Minister of Canada. A friend of mine had told me that Gabor was coming to town. I was like, “Oh my god—I’m such a fan of his work, blah, blah, blah.” She’s like, “Well, why don’t you connect?” And I’m like, “No, no, no; he’s going to think the First Lady wants to meet him, and it’s going to look, you know.” I was like, “Nah, I’m not sure.” She’s like, “Sophie, you’re a mental health advocate. Please: I’m going to put you in touch. I know him.” I’m like, “Okay.”

And I met someone who became a great friend of mine. I remember we met on a fall morning, and it was beautiful outside. I picked him up at the train station, and we looked at each other, and I was like, “What kind of creature am I looking at right now?” He’s a quirky little fellow when you meet him, and I’m a wild lioness, so we were like, “Whoa.” We started talking, and we went deep quick. I think we saw each other’s souls. You know when you meet people, and you just know? You just know.

He asked me what I was up to, because he knew about my mental health advocacy. I’m like, “Oh my god. Gabor Maté knows about my mental health advocacy.” And he said, “Of course. I’ve been watching; great work.” He’s like, “What are you doing?” I’m like, “Well, I’m writing a book on mental health.” And he’s like, “What? Can I see the chapter outline?” And I’m like, “Oh my god.” I wanted to die on the spot. I went to get it, and he read it, and there were a couple of minutes of silence. He looked up at me, and he said, “I’m going to help you. This is going to be a success.” And I started crying. We’ve been friends ever since.

I prepared for each interview very diligently. These interviews were like two hours long, and then we had to edit so much to get to the core of the conversation for the book, so it was a great learning curve. I interviewed dehumanization experts, social media experts, nutrition experts, sleep experts, trauma experts—name it. I was learning along the way, and the main thing I was focusing on is, “How do I condense this information so that it’s easily chewable for the reader?” I think we succeeded at that, and that’s why the book was such a success and is still a success.

I’m still trying to push my book. When people come up to me and they have their book in their hand, and it’s filled with post-its, and they’re like, “We go back here”—it makes me so happy, because the book is not just a book, it’s a tool. Closer Together is a tool, and it’s going to serve for a long time, because that information in there is still very relevant, very scientifically-based from incredible studies and research. I hope it still has a long life.

Jana M. Perkins: I do, too. I do, too.

What do you typically like to read, and what are you reading now?

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau: I read for work. It’s really bad—I’m going to be super honest: I have three kids. I’m menopausal. I have a concussion. So this past year has been jumping from one book to the other, trying to find the info that I need in it for work.

I always have poetry on my bedside table: John O’Donohue, David Whyte, Rumi, Mary Oliver. It varies. I love poetry, so that’s always close to my soul. I dance with it, and it just churns my soul—I feel touched by it. I think it’s John O’Donohue who talks about these “pastures of wonder” within us.

And David Whyte says, “Innocence is one’s ability to be found by the world.” We must work on developing our ability to fall in love with life and ourselves over and over and over again in order to regain the innocence of the child within us—and, finally, be the best parent to that child.

What are you most proud of achieving?

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau: Definitely the human beings that I put on this earth. That’s for sure.

I have a 12-year-old boy, Hadrien. I have a daughter, Ella-Grace, who’s 17, and another boy who’s 18 years old, Xavier. Recently, it was my birthday, on April 24th, and I had all the people I loved around me. Well, most of the people that I love around me. And my son spoke, and my children shared words with my friends about me. I’m gonna cry.

I’m a very honest mom; I’m a no-bullshit kind of mom. There’s no topic that can’t be discussed. I love my cubs as if I’m like the lioness. I’m very protective, but I want them to go experience the world, so I push them: “Go, go, go.” And I think I did something right. I have to say, I think we did something right; Justin is a good father. We both are adventurers, and we both from the get-go took care of our babies with a lot of care, presence, kisses, proximity, but also a lot of adventure.

So our kids—in French we say, “ Ils n’ont pas froid aux yeux.” It’s like, “Nothing scares them.” They’re quite fierce creatures. So I’m very, very, very proud of the human beings that they’re becoming. That’s definitely my proudest achievement.

What’s a commonly shared piece of advice that you disagree with, and why?

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau: It’s an expression: “I’m a one-man show; I’m a one-woman show.” I disagree with that completely.

I think we’ve defined success as a zone of competition, comparison. One-woman show, one-man show—“Oh, I did this on my own. I created my own success.” I think every human being that you meet on your path, whether it’s professional or personal, contributes to your unfolding. And that can be positive or negative encounters. All of them contribute. So when people say, “I’m a one-man show,” or stuff like that, I’m like, “I think that that can sound very condescending and very disconnected.” Because that’s not how life unfolds. It’s just not.

There is a beautiful—again, from poetry—saying from Rainer Maria Rilke, that says, “I want to unfold. Let there be no space inside me hold itself closed, for where I am closed I am false.” That one is like, “Boom.” This is the unfolding of every individual. Our main task is to check in with ourselves to see if we have parts that are closed. Sometimes they’re called shadow parts; sometimes they’re called protection mechanisms, refuge. We all have them, but as long as we know how to soften, how to understand. Gabor says, “Understand all parts of the trap, or else you are stuck in the trap.”

How has your definition of success evolved over time?

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau: I like to call it the ‘ship of success.’ Like a relationship: a ‘succesship,’ in a way, because of all the contributors and the lessons that are integrated in one’s success.

What is one’s success? You could live in a 22-bedroom house with all the cars and diamonds that you want—which is not my dream, but it’s some people’s dreams. But what impact have you had on people’s lives? What impact have you had on your own life? Are you connected, or disconnected? Do you live close to other human beings, or in your own tower?

To me, true success means having expressed your authentic self. It really is the definition of success, because what it means is that you haven’t changed your behaviour or performed differently to please other people, and to please the gaze of the world. Which we all do, by the way: we do it as kids to get our parents’ love, and we do it as adults to be seen by the world. But it takes a rebellious spirit to be able to sit with your truth and have a positive impact on people’s lives. Whether it’s through technology, humanhood, psychology, selling music—it doesn’t matter how, but somehow you bring connection or joy or more humanness to people’s lives. And maybe it’s not what comes out of what you do; it’s how you do it. That counts, as well. That’s success to me.

Tell us about a time when you had to take a big risk in order to move forward. What did that experience teach you about how to navigate difficult circumstances?

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau: The most recent would be…

My conversation with Sophie continues on the podcast. I’d love for you to hear this one in full—over the course of an hour, we dive deeper into the questions above and explore an entirely new set of topics we haven’t yet covered here.
You can listen to the full episode for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

I am so excited to be able to gift two copies of Sophie’s amazing book, Closer Together. 📚

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