406-SYB-Women-Candidates.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.
Carol Cox:
What is it like to be a woman running for public office and how to authenticity and storytelling fit into that? That’s what we’re talking about with my guest, Jennifer Adams and Sarah Henry on this episode of the Speaking Your Brand podcast. More and more women are making an impact by starting businesses, running for office, and speaking up for what matters. With my background as a TV political analyst, entrepreneur, and speaker, I interview and coach purpose driven women to shape their brands, grow their companies, and become recognized as influencers in their field. This is speaking your brand, your place to learn how to persuasively communicate your message to your audience. Hi there and welcome to the Speaking Your Brand podcast. I’m your host, Carol Cox. Today I am thrilled to bring to you two women who are running for office in the Central Florida Orlando area. We’re going to dive into what it’s like to run for office, what it’s like to run for office as a woman, the newfound energy and enthusiasm around Kamala Harris being the presumptive Democratic nominee. This episode is airing just as a Democratic National Convention is kicking off.
Carol Cox:
So really, the entire country is going to be reintroduced to Kamala Harris this week. And I know so many of us are excited about that. So let me tell you about the two women I have joining us today. Jennifer Adams is running for the US Congress in Florida’s District seven. She’s a Florida native who grew up in Central Florida. She’s a mom and a small business owner, and she has a very specific story about what happened to her and her family that really drove her decision to run for Congress. And she’ll share some of that here today. Sarah Henry is running for the state House in Florida’s District 38, also in the Central Florida Orlando area. Sarah has worked in nonprofits throughout her career in development, project management, communications, compliance, and marketing, and her passion for political advocacy was born at a young age. I love this part with an elementary school assignment about the laws she would change as the president of the United States. I was also that girl who thought, sure, I could grow up to be president one day. Why not? Welcome to the podcast, Jennifer and Sarah.
Sarah Henry:
Thank you so much.
Carol Cox:
All right, so, Sarah, let’s kick it off with you. Why did you decide to run for office? Sounds like the seed was planted at a very young age. But what prompted you to run more recently?
Sarah Henry:
First of all, thank you so much for having us. I know both Jennifer and I are really excited about kind of the work we’re doing here in Central Florida, and in my case, in Seminole County, to organize our communities. I think for me, I grew up in a very political and engaged family. I was going to the ballot box with my parents as soon as I could walk. And I think that’s a really critical piece as far as being engaged early on in the process of that kind of decision making inside your family unit, but also, you know, for your community and by extension, for your country. And then when I moved to Florida, I’m a transplant to the Sunshine State as our course. So many voters across Central Florida. I really was excited to continue that engagement. I volunteered on campaigns during undergrad, and then when I came to Seminole County, joined the Young Democrats of Seminole County, and eventually served as the president of that group, which was just a wonderful way to continue that advocacy with folks that I shared a lot of similarities with as far as being in the same communities and really further develop that advocacy and engagement, but one of the most critical pieces of making the decision to run for office was actually just being asked. I think that’s something we talk a lot about as women candidates as that often women have to be asked more times to. To run. And I think it is often that kind of abstract. Oh, that’s something I could do someday. And in my case, that someday really quickly turned into, oh, let’s think about next month, because it was an opportunity to really develop a seat that needed investment and a community that deserved representation in Tallahassee that did care very deeply about their neighbors and about their the needs of folks, which is unfortunately, something that that we don’t really see in the Florida legislature right now.
Carol Cox:
Sarah, I’d love to hear that someone asked you and encouraged you to run and that you said yes, because I always encourage women to run. And what do they say? Oh, now it’s not a good time. I’m like, it’s never a good time.
Sarah Henry:
That’s right. It certainly there’s always something else going on. I can tell you. I was brand, a brand new newlywed and came home and told my husband, somebody call the state. Someone at the state level had called and they’re interested and me and and think this seed is a really good opportunity. And I’m sure this is exactly what you plan to be doing for the first two years of our marriage. But you survived.
Carol Cox:
This. You’re good.
Sarah Henry:
Right? Yes, yes. Yeah.
Carol Cox:
All right. Jennifer, now, I know that you’ve also been involved in advocacy work and that your story and your experience very much led you into the decision to run for Congress. So can you tell us about that?
Jennifer Adams:
Absolutely. Thanks very much for having me. I really appreciate it. And it’s always nice to be amongst other women talking about things like this that not a lot of women typically do. So I appreciate it very much. So I stepped up to run in Florida’s seventh Congressional District, which is actually one of the most flippable congressional seats in Florida. And I come at this from a little bit of a different space. I never thought I’d be in politics. That was not something that was on my radar. I was a sports broadcaster. And then I went into being a small business owner, owned my own store with with my sister and had kids. And then the policies and the legal system, though, impacted my life in a way that I wasn’t able to get equal protections like I had learned about. I was doing laundry one day. I went in, was looking in my husband at the times gym bag, came across pills that were in a envelope and went and googled them on the computer to find out what they were. And when I saw that they were synthetic heroin, OxyContin, that was the last straw had been going through abuse and domestic violence and kept getting the gamut of questions or statements from others will either surely can’t be that bad, or why don’t you just leave? Or and you try to work it out and all of these things.
Jennifer Adams:
And that was my breaking point, knowing that I had young children and wasn’t going to subject them to be around that or think that was a healthy relationship. And that’s something that’s not uncommon. I later came to find out that nearly 1 in 3 women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime, and so I knew that if it was happening to me, it was happening to others. And so I’m an action oriented person. I was I grew up being a competitive athlete, and that was something that I always wanted to turn pain or an activity into something purpose driven and having a greater goal. And I ended up joining the League of Women Voters and started doing advocacy work in that space, went back to school and got master’s degrees in policy and another in legal studies, became a Florida Supreme Court certified circuit court mediator and helped write and get passed a bill last year in Florida with bipartisan support called Grayson’s Law, that stemmed out of the unfortunate suicide and then death of a four year old little boy whose mother tried to get a protective order. And by the time she did, it was too late. And knowing that if we can get legislation passed here in Florida, we can do it anywhere, and looked at different things, have been asked to run for a couple of different seats.
Jennifer Adams:
And then when I looked into this congressional seat that used to be held by Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy, I looked at the data, looked at the person who was in this seat, and I was like, this is a winnable seat, and you have to have the right candidate. You have to a lot of things have to align. And when I took a look at that and then the incumbent, who’s this extremist who is not representative of this community, as somebody who’s a native Floridian, somebody who’s grown up here, somebody that doesn’t live in our state, somebody who is very extreme, not representing all of the people in this district, somebody who sells arms to foreign countries that he will not disclose. I was like, this is my congressperson. This is not okay. We deserve and can do so much better. I stepped up and here we are and I we’ve done a lot of work. We’ve been able to make a lot of progress. Recent polling shows were already within the margin of error to to win and beat this guy and take back this seat. And with abortion and reproductive healthcare and freedoms being on the ballot in Florida, it’s energized a lot of women and a lot of men who support women and believe in bodily autonomy and believe in equality for everybody. Just really, really thankful for the opportunity to have the platform, to be able to talk about things that are impacting all of us, to then really put forward some common sense, right? Be collaborative and to champion issues and solutions for the problems that that all of us face every day.
Carol Cox:
Jennifer. Well done. That was like your mini stump speech, which I have heard before because we did a workshop for you all and a debate prep session here in person in Orlando, which was a lot of fun. So let me dig into that a little bit about creating your stump speeches, because for the women who listen to this podcast, they’re not necessarily running for office, although you should if you’re listening, this is your ask. We have three. You have three women who are now tapping you on the shoulder to do. But even if you’re not running for office or running for office yet, you still have to work on your messaging, your storytelling, putting together a cohesive idea, and persuading your audience. Now, obviously, Sarah and Jennifer have to persuade them to vote for them and to donate to them. So let me go back to you, Sarah. When you think about creating your stump speech, your message, you obviously have to tailor it to different audiences and even in a way that those of us who are, say, doing business presentations, we don’t have to tailor them quite the way that you do. So how do you approach that? And tell me about the different audiences that you have spoken to?
Jennifer Adams:
Yeah, I think we had a fantastic opportunity to work together and hone some of these elements a little bit. I think when it comes to political speaking, there are so many unique audiences, even just within the same kind of groups. We could be speaking to donors more broadly, but that looks very different when it’s a one on one conversation with a donor, as opposed to when it’s speaking to an entire room of folks who could give versus with voters. When we’re speaking at a debate as opposed to showing up on someone’s door. I think really when we speak 1 to 1 with folks, for me, it’s important to tailor my message to what they care most deeply about. We know that there are so many issues facing Floridians and folks here in Seminole County every day, that it’s sometimes hard to narrow down what is going to be that number one issue that someone is most concerned about that day. And for me, I typically start the conversation by asking, I feel like there’s no way to really know until you’ve asked them. And certainly when you’re at someone’s store or having that kind of one on one phone call, being able to know what keeps them up at night lets us hone our message. And the reason giving or voting is so critical now and this November, respectively. It really allows us to build that conversation, and that does require keeping a lot of statistics in your head for every issue that they might come up with.
Jennifer Adams:
And for me, often it’s phone numbers, either to our current representative or to the school board, or folks who can take action today to help resolve the issues that folks are concerned about or start to address them, as well as encouraging and showing what we can do when we do bring new leadership to Tallahassee in order to address some of those issues. So I think that really taking the time to understand the specific driver that an individual donor or voter has to either pull out that checkbook or get to the polls, and really allows us to build a little bit of a puzzle to get to what they’re most most going to be motivated by. And that’s something our standard we try to keep. I try to keep a good understanding of 15 or 20 issues that my community is concerned about, and what the next steps could be if we had stronger leadership and then build from there, especially in kind of those larger group rooms, we pull the five issues that we think folks in that space are going to be the most concerned about and build our speech around those, but it’s definitely a lot of a lot of understanding and working hard to understand what folks are worried about.
Carol Cox:
And, Sarah, I remember that one of the workshops you had either a printout or a note cards where you had like different parts of your speech and you would pick and choose based on who the audience was, right? Yes.
Sarah Henry:
Yeah. So the intro and the clothes are remain very similar. Of course. I’ve been running for office is the second time I’ve run for this seat, and there are some rooms that are about sick and tired of my intro stories and sharing new stories from doors or experiences we’ve had on the campaign trail is is much appreciated. I think by some of my more frequent attendees. But yeah, as far as some of the policy issues, we do try to build from a robust understanding down to a couple of issues that are most critical that day. And often that comes, you know, with what the headlines are too.
Carol Cox:
Great. All right. And Jennifer, I remember that the storytelling workshop that we did, we had each of you deliver a mini version of your stump speech, and you did that similar to what you did for us here. But then we had you say, okay, like, I want to hear that one moment, that one day where you realized that the situation with your husband, where you had that breaking point where you said no more, and then that eventually led you to run for office. And I remember when you told us that story of finding that envelope in his gym bag, and you said it very similar to how you said it here today. You could hear a pin drop in the room of us as you shared that story. And we’re like, yes, that is it. That’s what you need to lead with, because that pulls us in and makes us understand you and relate to you and understand why this matters so much, not just to you and to your children, but for to so many other women and families out there. So how did it feel to tell that story, and how does it feel now to to make it front and center of when you do go and deliver it and talk to different audiences?
Jennifer Adams:
Yeah. So it’s liberating in the sense that things at a certain time and point where especially if you experience abuse, you feel ashamed, you feel like it was your fault. These are things that you know that people that experienced it are told over and over and over again, right? Especially if you have a legal system that really is enabling abuse, right, instead of protecting individuals.
Jennifer Adams:
So it’s liberating in that sense. It’s as a for somebody who’s so used to advocating for others or advocating for my children, not advocating for myself, it that has taken some time to get used to talking about myself, but trying to connect it to the bigger picture is something that is very powerful when it happens. But getting to that point, for me at least, wasn’t very easy, right? Because I am a self-professed policy nerd. I love talking about like, the numbers, the statistics, the research, all of that. But it takes that human connection, right? That part of it. And that’s something that is really important. I would say, within connecting with people, within developing that brand, within getting people to want to listen to you. And at the same time, it’s for me probably has been one of the most difficult things.
Carol Cox:
Um, I am so grateful that you’re doing it. I really do think you’re helping so many people out there when they hear your story. And they, like you said, they know that they’re not alone and not to feel shame about something like this. Now, I want us to talk about the importance of authenticity as a woman running for office, which has not always been easy for women like we think. If you say the word politician, what comes to mind in your head, right? A guy, a white guy in a suit, running for office, delivering his stump speech and his booming low voice.
Carol Cox:
Right. That is the image that we have. And obviously we’re seeing more and more women run for office, which I think is changing that default image that we have. And of course, as I mentioned in the introduction, we have Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the presumptive about to be, I would assume, this week that this airs the Democratic nominee for president. And I number one, I feel like we’ve come a long way, even since 2016, when Hillary Clinton ran for office as the first woman to run on a major party ticket as a nominee. But really, what I have seen in since Kamala Harris became the presumptive nominee is the surge of energy enthusiasm. Over $200 million donated from people, many of them first time donors. In the first week that this happened, tens of thousands of people coming out to volunteer to organize for her. And then, of course, there’s the memes, right? The coconut tree story, the brat song, all those things thinking about you, Sarah and Jennifer as a woman running for office, having a very public presence, having a very public voice. What have you what have been maybe some of the the advantages that you have had, and have there been any challenges that you have also faced? And, Sarah, I’ll start with you.
Sarah Henry:
Yeah. I think for one, it’s harder to raise money as a woman. That’s just like the way the name of the game, unfortunately in politics, is that running for office costs a lot of money, and statistically it’s harder to raise that kind of money as a female candidate. That doesn’t mean we don’t work exceptionally hard to combat that statistic. And certainly we do. And I know Jennifer and I could regale you with tales of miserable and never ending call time hours to raise those dollars, but we’ll spare you the pain by association. I think that when it comes to being authentic, like I said, I have run for the seat twice in 2022. I ran and lost by just 3000 votes. So very close in a year. That was pretty rough for challengers in Florida, and in that time, I feel like I spent a lot of time on my last campaign trying to build an image that I thought the average Seminole County voter would resonate with in terms of trying to appear a little bit older. I’m very young to be a candidate for public office in terms of trying to just present in a way that that I thought more people would resonate with. And this time around, we’ve really stepped that back and leaned into a lot more about who I am.
Sarah Henry:
Right? I am a young person, I am a newlywed. I am someone who has a fair number of tattoos and a pierced nose, who did move to Florida because I was 18 and thought I was smarter than anybody else who had ever walked the planet. And so I think that has been really helpful in terms of not just building those relationships with voters, because voters are smart folks understand they can see right through you when you stand at their door and they know if they’re talking to the real you or a sham. And so I think that has been one kind of key piece of why our voter outreach strategy this cycle has been so successful. And that and hard work. We’ve actually knocked on the doors of over 7500 voters already. Um, so that is one key piece of that conversation. But I also think even with donors, it resonates. People want to feel like they can trust you with their money and trust that it’s going to be invested in a way that’s meaningful for the community, in a way that builds power in Tallahassee and in Washington, DC, and being able to be very authentic with donors, I think, does help those conversations.
Sarah Henry:
And I think we’re seeing it on the national level, too, folks. Even just like the relationship between Vice President Harris and Doug, the relationship she has with her stepkids, I think like seeing that kind of helps us build a full picture of who she is, not just as a candidate, but as a woman and a loved one, and someone who is that fearless. And I think that we’re seeing that in it when it comes to voter and volunteer mobilization. Of course, the money is incredible, but I actually think the more interesting statistics are the numbers of new volunteers. We saw 11,000 folks express interest in volunteering here in the state of Florida alone since since President Biden withdrew from the nomination. So I think that is really exciting. I know even just in our own races, we’ve had a couple of new volunteers show up in the last couple of weeks, and the Seminole County Democratic Party has seen the same thing. Our office is like bursting at the seams when it comes to folks looking to phonebank and get involved with the campaign in some way, and I think that we’re just seeing that continued build of local power supported by that kind of national shift in energy.
Carol Cox:
And what a valuable lesson, Sarah, because you have the contrast between when you ran in 2022 versus when you’re running now, and how you felt like you had to be a certain type of, yeah, of person running for office versus who you are now. And the difference that has made?
Sarah Henry:
I think, yeah, it is a real difference. And I think part of that is that I didn’t see folks who had that experience running for office. So it was a lot of a lot of older, retired, wealthy folks, especially in Florida. Being in the legislature is a full time job with a part time salary. And so you end up with folks who have the financial resources to do that, which is not usually someone who’s 26 years old. And so I think that is part of it. But definitely it was a mental shift to say, okay, yeah, maybe there aren’t people who look like me in the legislature, but that doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be. That doesn’t mean that I need to change it. It means that the landscape of the legislature needs to change.
Carol Cox:
Yeah, I love that. And I also just to plug now and I’m going to do a plug again. Is that how important it is to donate to women who are running for office. So for those of you listening, donate to Sarah and Jennifer. You don’t have to live in their district to donate to them. Their links are in the show notes, so go to their websites and donate to them. But really find the women who are running for office in your area, whether it’s Congress, state House and State Senate, County Commission, school board, city commission. I can imagine I’ve helped women run for office before to just getting a $50 donation or a $100 donation, much less maxing out. I can only imagine how validating that feels as someone running for office, that someone believes in you enough, especially even a stranger who you’ve never even heard of before comes to your website and donates. So, Jennifer, let me ask you first about raising money. And then let’s go to this question of authenticity as a woman running for office.
Jennifer Adams:
Yes. So the money part is interesting. And it’s like you call a bunch of people, you send out text emails, and I never know who’s going to give and who’s not. That’s one thing I have pretty much as a certainty is I don’t know who is going to give and who was not. And people surprise me all the time, both good and bad, honestly.
Jennifer Adams:
And it people, it’s usually the people who I think that will give that don’t and vice versa a lot of the times. And it’s interesting to see how women can be very hard on other women. They can really scrutinize and be some of the more back on that, a little bit more than than I would have thought initially. It it costs money to run. It costs money to engage with people and to do it in a way that you will win. So that’s what’s so important because nobody can do this alone and be successful. It takes a team. And whether people volunteer their time or volunteer with a skill set that they have in kind, their whatever their craft is, whatever their area of expertise is, money is another way. But also the social media is another way that people are are gauging candidates. So it’s an interesting thing because so in Congress there’s less than 7%, uh, moms with school age children serving. There’s less than 25% women, period. Serving in Congress. Right. And this is the farthest we’ve come. Right. If we’re going to get equality, it’s I’m going to be long gone. We’re all going to be long gone before that. That ever happens if we continue at this rate. Right. But but the money part is really important, and our system as a whole is really not a very fair system in terms of running for office. Right? Other countries do it differently.
Jennifer Adams:
Everybody gets seed money, they get a certain amount. There’s lots of different ways that that some of the other countries do it. Our system is set up like it still is the same way. It’s for typically white men who whose jobs will help support them to run and who have the connections to to do that. I think social media and the internet and things like that have changed that to a certain degree. People can get their message out, but donating to good women candidates who empower other women is super, super important, particularly now more than ever in terms of the rights of women going backwards. So I think it’s super important. And then on the branding piece, the authenticity piece of being able to put that out there, it’s everything. It is everything, whether it’s running for office or developing a relationship or friendship or a client. If people don’t feel a connection, then they’re not going to want to really be around that person. Right. And so the authenticity, meaning having a deeper purpose, being okay, talking about your failures, because that’s what makes us human, right? Having that empathy for others and being willing to say sorry or I learned this or that’s not okay. And then also being firm in the beliefs that people have, right. Instead of waffling or trying to say yes and no at the same time, or whatever kind of thing. And so I think people really being introspective again, I know as a mom and as somebody who’s always has always been looking out for their my children’s best needs, mine, the majority of the time got put to the wayside.
Jennifer Adams:
And so being able to like take the time to be like, okay, what are what is this about? What who am I and have to reinvent myself? It’s so important. And women don’t do it enough. And and it’s okay within that authenticity to talk about what it’s like to be a woman doing these things. That’s one thing that really bothers me is when people are like, no, don’t talk about that being a woman, or you need to include everybody. And I’m like, I’m not everybody. So. So I think that authentic piece and pushing back in a way that makes people maybe go like shift in a little bit in that mentality. But at the same time, it’s about finding that common ground. Um, and showing things from other people’s perspectives, I think is very important. And being able to connect and find that common ground is super important within a campaign. It’s super important for women to do, and I think it’s probably one of the most critical components to a successful candidacy.
Carol Cox:
Yeah. So Jennifer, thank you for all that. Several nuggets that I’m taking away from what you just explained is first, I did an episode a couple of months ago on impromptu speaking, and I know that so many of us are scared to death of thinking about not having everything prepared and written out, so I’ll put a link to that in the show notes.
Carol Cox:
But one of the things that I explained in that episode was that when you’re really clear on your vision and your values, when you know what those are and you know who you are and what matters to you, and by extension, what may matter to your audience, you can do impromptu speaking. Now. Is it going to be as eloquent as writing it down with those flowery phrases that you want? No, but your audience doesn’t care about that. They just want to hear something real and authentic and relatable from you. So I love that you said about knowing your why, like knowing that. So understanding your vision and your values and your mission and then sharing that with your audience, I think is key. And you, clearly you and Sarah and Jennifer have that. The second thing that you mentioned about authenticity is about building trust with others. And I feel like we can as humans, we’re very good at having that kind of like we can sense incongruence with someone pretty much off the bat when we’re having a conversation with them. So I think that’s really key as well. And then the other thing is going back to women donating to women candidates. My belief is that as women, we don’t have the generational memory of our mothers and the women of our in our lives growing up donating to candidates, period, much less donating to women.
Carol Cox:
Whereas I feel like so many men in their business circles, like they were used to supporting each other, helping each other out, donating to each other, running for office. And of course, not as many women ran when my parents were growing up, much less my grandparents. So I am so I’m optimistic that as more women like you run for office and we see more women donating to office and donating publicly and supporting women publicly, that we’re like, we’re helping future generations build that muscle memory and it will get better. That’s my hope. Yeah. All right. So that’s my plug again for all of you listening to donate. Go find some women candidates to donate to Emily’s list is a national organization that supports pro-choice women who are running for office. I know they don’t support federal candidates like Jennifer, but they do support state and local candidates like Sarah. So go to Emily’s list. I’ll include a link to that in the show notes as well, because that can help you define some candidates besides Sarah and Jennifer, of course, to donate to. All right. So Sarah, you are on the ballot this November with your with the person who currently is the incumbent who was in the seat. What parting words do you have for those who are listening here? How can we most help you besides donating?
Sarah Henry:
Yeah, of course, that’s financial support is huge. You would never believe how much it costs to keep every volunteer in water and campaign t-shirts until you have to do it, so? So that’s key. But I also think it’s really about building a culture that empowers women to run for office. Women have to be asked seven times to run, and we know that men not often even need to be asked. They just believe that folks need their opinions. And really, what our communities need is members and legislators at every level, from county commission to even your city comptroller or clerk of the courts, all the way up to federal level in Congress and the Senate, who understand what their community’s needs are. And I think in many cases, the best people who do are the women leaders among us. So running for office is great. But also, you know, volunteering in any capacity you can, I think is really critical. Jennifer made a great point about giving kind of what you have and where, you know, giving from where you are and taking advantage of those skills. First of all, we always need more folks to knock on doors. Everybody always needs more folks to knock on doors. It is the most compelling way to bring a voter to the polls. And so finding a candidate that you believe in and asking how you can join their mission and really tap into that, why I think is such a great way to engage, not just with my campaign, but with so many others. We have folks who have volunteered their time to knock on doors, but also folks who have volunteered their skills as graphic designers or as event hosts who have a connection to an event down to folks who are, say, I can’t do much for the campaign, but I know you’re really busy.
Sarah Henry:
Can I meal prep some lasagna for you to keep in your freezer? There’s so many needs on a campaign that no matter what your skills are, you will be able to engage with a female candidate in your area who is really working to bring that change. Other than that, the most important thing folks can do is vote not just in November, but in all of their elections. I know Jennifer is going to speak to the importance of primary elections, but a lot of times city races are decided in that kind of primary time. It is the general election for your school board or your city council, and sometimes it’s not even in the fall. A lot of folks have elections in March or April or January. And so plugging in to when every election is happening in your community and making sure that you vote up and down the entire ballot, a lot of times those local races are decided by just a couple of votes. You and your friends and your neighborhood, or your mom’s group, or your walking club or your book club could really decide an election. And so just being plugged in and making sure that you’re engaged on every election is really how we continue to build power for women in all of these spaces.
Carol Cox:
So well said Sarah. And for and check also your local elections office to see what is available for either vote by mail as well as early voting here in Florida. We are very fortunate you can request a vote by mail ballot. There is no you don’t have to supply a reason like you used to have in the past. I always do that. I actually have my ballots over here on the desk for the August primary, because it just makes it easy. I can take my time. I can do research on the amendments or on the candidates and the judges, and I can fill it all out. And then once in a while, I’ll even take it and go to the polls and actually turn in the ballot, the absentee ballot, and then actually vote in the booth when I feel like it. But so do that. Also early voting, a lot of states now also have opportunities for you to vote in the days leading up to Election Day. So I know sometimes Election day you’re working, you have childcare, you have, well, intentions to go and vote and then something happens. So if you have an early voting opportunity in your area, definitely go and check that out. All right Jennifer, you are on the primary ballot, which in Florida is on August 20th. And so tell us a little bit about what it’s like to run in a primary, because I know you have to focus both on the primary but also on the general election at the same time.
Jennifer Adams:
Yeah, somebody who has done a lot of work and somebody who’s like the only person who is from here and who lives in the district, who’s running, It’s been that’s been a plus in terms of people. If they don’t know me, they can look and see the other advisory boards or other spaces that I have already given back in and able to be somebody who’s been in a lot of spaces and has built relationships with different organizations, with different elected officials and have worked through the process right, have led statewide advocacy and things like that. And you have to engage with all of the voters. But if you’ve already shown to be competent and to already have been able to accomplish a lot of the things that you would as an elected official without having been an elected official, that’s obviously a bonus and a plus as well. And and I think being able to find candidates who are especially in this district because it’s like third in terms of voter registration, to be able to find somebody who is able to connect with and speak with a lot of those different groups is really important to be able to win. And we’ve been messaging a lot of this as a campaign for the general. Right, in the sense that talking to all of the voters, because that’s what this district has been lacking with the current representative. Right. And so people are tired of extremism on both sides in this district.
Jennifer Adams:
And I think in the country, and I think it’s a breath of fresh air to find somebody who has been able to help put together a legislation that does get support and does pass, and is able to navigate those different lanes and provide common sense solutions and be able to communicate those, because childcare and caregiving is a big thing for me, and it’s something that in our country, we’re like the only developed nation that doesn’t have a federal infrastructure to support small businesses, to support working families, to support the elderly population, which is going to double here right in the next 20 to 30 years. And so being able to be thinking largely on the road as well as short term to something that we should have, there is no excuse for us to not. But having looked at who the people are that are in office, I’m like, you know what? It’s going to be easier for me to run for Congress than it is to get a bill passed. So that’s like where I’m at in this. And yeah, we have a primary election. And a lot of times the way that that, that a lot of these parties work, it’s archaic in the sense that, okay, there’s a primary, we stay out of it and wait, Florida we have such a late primary, we only have a couple of months between the primary and the general. So it’s very difficult to get to gain and keep up momentum in such a short period of time.
Jennifer Adams:
And so that’s why there have been things like ghost candidates in the past in Florida and these other races. Doesn’t matter if it’s a federal or state or local, more so on the state and federal sides, because they are usually more of the party races. But but I think it’s really important for people to engage as early as they can to get the word out as early as they can, and to be able to gain and continue to to pick up the, the momentum. And, and it’s nice that more women are doing that and coming together and supporting one another. And we have some amazing female candidates right now who are like, so sick and tired of just the draconian laws that have been passed and are not helping our communities. And like, I’m a mom on a mission, like I’m like, I am so fed up with these things that are really the majority of our poverty. The biggest sector are single moms and kids. We have like almost 50% of the children in America live in poverty. That is so unacceptable. That’s our future generation. And it just really ticks me off because that’s what we should all be about, right? That’s what makes us stronger. That’s what makes us have a brighter future. And so we have to get like these self-serving, performative politicians out. And so I’ll get off my soapbox now, but I am like, so fired up about this aspect of it that this is why I stepped up to run, because it’s because of my kids that I stepped up to run. It’s not because of my kids that I don’t run.
Carol Cox:
All right, Jennifer preach it, get on your soapbox. I tell clients all the time when I’m asking them questions, I’m like, what gets you fired up? What do you want to shout from your soapbox? And so clearly you know what that is Jennifer and I love it and I couldn’t agree with you more. So for those of you listening, go to Jennifer Adams for Congress com. Also go to Sarah for FL as in Florida, Sarah for FL com to find out more about Jennifer and Sarah and to donate to their campaigns. If you would like to work with us here at Speaking Your Brand, we have our online program called the Thought Leader Academy. You can get all the details about that as speaking your brand comm slash Academy. We also have a one day in-person workshop that we’re holding here in Orlando, Florida, coming up on October 10th, where we’re going to help you with your storytelling for your presentations and your delivery on our practice stage. It’s going to be a lot of fun. You can get all those details of speaking your brand comm slash workshop. Thank you Sarah and Jennifer, so much for coming on the podcast. It was such a pleasure to talk to you.
Jennifer Adams:
Thanks so much. Appreciate it. Until next time. Thanks for listening.
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