“Our daughters are 26 and 23 now — young adult women. But during their teen years, they went through what I call a ‘push away’ phase,” Michelle explained. “They’re still doing that. It’s something kids of famous parents often go through — trying to distinguish themselves and prove their own worth.”

“They don’t want people to think they’re just handed things or don’t work hard,” she said. “They’re very sensitive to that. They want to be their own people.”

The former first lady also touched on Malia’s choice to drop the Obama surname professionally. At last year’s Sundance Film Festival, Malia debuted a short film credited simply to “Malia Ann,” using her first and middle names.

“We knew people would still recognize her,” Michelle said. “But we respected her wish to make her own way.”