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The Democratic National Convention is being held in Chicago this week and many Americans will be re-introduced to V.P. Kamala Harris when she delivers her speech on Thursday night. I have a background in local Democratic politics and have always been...
The Democratic National Convention is being held in Chicago this week and many Americans will be re-introduced to V.P. Kamala Harris when she delivers her speech on Thursday night.
I have a background in local Democratic politics and have always been a strong supporter of women running for office.
Earlier this summer, we held in-person workshops for women who are running in the Central Florida area where we helped them with their public speaking and storytelling.
It was a lot of fun and it showed me once again how powerful someone’s personal story is!
In this episode, I’m joined by two of those women, Jennifer Adams, who’s running for U.S. Congress in Florida’s District 7, and Sarah Henry, who’s running for Florida State House in District 38.
We talk about:
Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/406/
Jennifer Adams for U.S. Congress: https://www.jenniferadamsforcongress.com/
Sarah Henry for Florida State House: https://sarahforfl.com/
Discover your Speaker Archetype by taking our free quiz at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/quiz/
Attend our 1-day Speaking for Impact in-person workshop in Orlando: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/workshop/
Enroll in our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/
Connect on LinkedIn:
Related Podcast Episodes:
It's time to escape the expert trap and become an in-demand speaker and thought leader through compelling and memorable business presentations, keynotes, workshops, and TEDx talks. If you want to level up your public speaking to get more and better, including paid, speaking engagements, you've come to the right place! Thousands of entrepreneurs and leaders have learned from Speaking Your Brand and now you can too through our episodes that will help you with storytelling, audience engagement, building confidence, handling nerves, pitching to speak, getting paid, and more. Hosted by Carol Cox, entrepreneur, speaker, and TV political analyst. This is your place to learn how to persuasively communicate your message to your audience.
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
guests, 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.
Before we get into today's episode, I want to
let you know about our brand new in-person
speaking workshop we're holding in Orlando,
Florida on October 10th, 2020 for early
bird. Pricing is on right now.
If you want to ten x your speaking skills,
both your storytelling and your delivery,
this event is exactly the one you've been
waiting for. If you want to learn how to
lessen those butterflies, those nerves that
sometimes get the best of you before a
speaking engagement.
If you want to learn how to speak
comfortably without notes and without a
script, if you want to develop your
storytelling skills so that you can tell
stories in a compelling way to your
audiences, as well as know how to activate
your storytelling with body movement,
strategic pausing, and vocal variation in
your delivery. And if you want to boost your
confidence and your stage presence, this is
what you're going to do. At our full day
in-person workshop, you'll get personalized
hands on coaching instruction and feedback.
You'll get to practice on our stage.
We're going to help you develop your key
stories and your talk segments and then, of
course give you feedback as you're
practicing them in a supportive environment
with other women entrepreneurs and leaders.
You also get professional photography of you
speaking that you can use on your website
and on your social media.
Get all of the details and register today as
speaking your brand.com/workshop.
Again, that's speaking your
brand.com/workshop. Now let's get on with
the show. 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 the
Democratic National Convention is kicking
off. 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 and 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.
Thank you so much.
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? First of all.
Sarah Henry:
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 are, of 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, is 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 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, no, 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 called the state.
Someone at the state level had called, and
they're interested in me and think this seat
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.
Carol Cox:
Survived this. You're good.
Right? Yes.
Sarah Henry:
Yes. Yeah.
Carol Cox:
All right, Jennifer, now, I know that you've
also been involved in advocacy work, and
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 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 and was looking, and 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 it can't be that bad?
Or why don't you just leave?
Or can you try to work it out and all of
these things? 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 inactivity 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
that have been asked to run for a couple of
different seats. 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 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 we're 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 ass.
We have three. You have three women who are
now tapping you on the shoulder to do so.
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?
Sarah Henry:
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.
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, um,
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 pulled 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 great.
Carol Cox:
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, like, 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 just 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 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 and talk to different
audiences?
Jennifer Adams:
Yeah. So it's liberating in the sense that
things that 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.
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:
Mhm. 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.
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 of 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. Right?
I am a young person.
I am a newlywed.
I am someone who has a fair number of
tattoos and a pierced nose.
We 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.
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 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 is seeing the same
thing. Our office is like bursting at the
seams when it comes to folks looking to
phone, bank 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 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 I'll just do a 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 is not.
And people surprise me all the time, both
good and bad, honestly.
And 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 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%
moms with school age children serving.
There's less than 25% women 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 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.
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 it is everything, whether it's running
for office or developing a relationship or a
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.
And so being able to like take the time to
be like, okay, what?
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.
And 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 or written out, so I'll
include a link to that in the show notes.
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, 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 are in our lives growing up donating
to candidates, period, much less donating to
women. 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 is 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 events, down to folks who
are saying, I can't do much for the
campaign, but I know you're really busy.
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 moms 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. As somebody who has done a lot of work
in 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 I'm
able to be somebody who's been in a lot of
spaces and has built relationships with
different organizations, with different
elected officials and, and have worked
through the process. Right.
I've 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 a 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.
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 large down
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. And so that's why there have been
things like ghost candidates in the past in
Florida and these other races.
Does it 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 at
speaking your brand.com/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 of those details as
speaking your brand.com/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.
Carol Cox:
Until next time.
Thanks for listening.