Four years ago on this day I cried tears of fear and apprehension.

Today I cried tears of hope, relief, and awe (Hey Kamala)

Four years ago I wrote that we needed to give Trump a chance. Today I’m asking that everyone who is upset that their man didn’t win the presidency, do the same for Biden. Yes he’s flawed and was not my first choice, but he Will Meet This Moment. He has been preparing for this job his entire professional career and I truly believe he can do great things for a lot of people if we ALL just give him a shot.

Give him a chance to unify this country. Give him a chance to get us out of this pandemic and get millions of our friends and neighbors back on their feet. Give him a chance to put a real dent in the climate crisis. Give him a chance to restore our relationships with our allies around the globe. (If you really want to fall in love with him, I’ll tell you the story of when I met him and he called my friend’s mom).

The best part is, if you give him a shot and don’t like it, you can fight like hell to get him out in 2024.

And give yourself a chance too. This is an opportunity for a re-birth. One of my favorite thought leaders likes to say let’s be chronically curious. If you come across someone or something you disagree with, take a second to try to understand why they might think/feel that way and have a conversation about it. Maybe you’ll change your mind! Or you’ll change theirs! For the next four years let’s be curious first, empathetic second, and sticking to our preconceived notions last.

Let’s start a new chapter where you can disagree with someone and don’t need to hate them because of it. Leave behind the divisiveness and vitriol of the last four years and let’s work together to make this a better country for everyone. Every day, each of us has a new opportunity to be better.

To quote the incredible Amanda Gorman from today’s inaugural ceremony:
“For there is always light,
If only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.”

Let’s get to work.

I attended a local marketing conference this week and one of the keynote speakers said something about Des Moines that stuck with me “If we don’t tell the story, no one is going to tell it for us”. So today I wanted to share my story of why I love Des Moines.

When I first moved from the Twin Cities to DSM for college I hated it. I thought there was nothing to do, it smelled weird, and everyone was always shouting Go Hawks – which was very traumatic for someone who grew up a Gophers fan. Once I got out of the Drake bubble though, I fell in love with this city. SO in love that I focused my job search here after college and last summer I purchased a home! A home in Des Moines proper, so I’m a true-blue Des Moines transplant over here.

Des Moines is the perfect blend of small town meets big city. I love that everywhere I go I pretty much see someone I know whether that’s at Hy-Vee on Sunday morning or a random Tuesday Nitefall on the River concert. I love country music and we get better shows (at all levels) than the Twin Cities do – I saw Maren Morris in a fewer than 1000 people venue in 2017. Don’t even get me started on the amazing opportunities we have to shape national politics with all the presidential candidates that come to town! A big part of the reason that I decided to stay in DSM after graduation was because many of my friends were as well. I made some of the best friends in college and these people are still my support system and lifelong pals which is awesome. 90% of us are Des Moines transplants so I think it’s pretty cool that we are all starting our lives here and putting down roots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other big reason I stayed here after graduation were the job prospects. While a Drake degree should mean a lot anywhere (Hello #2 college in the Midwest), it means a little bit more in Des Moines. I immediately got a job in my field with a Fortune 250 company. While I am not in a marketing role at the moment, I have leadership around me that knows my passions and not only lets me participate in marketing activities, they actively seek them out for me! The department recently planned a homecoming-esque celebration and leadership tapped me to all of the communication for that event – to include meeting with the VP and working on his remarks. In my spare time I work on other marketing initiatives. I’m the Marketing Director for a charity 5K, service on a Marketing Committee for the Boys and Girls Club and I helped a local entrepreneur launch his home remodeling business last year. I’m convinced that those kinds of opportunities don’t just present themselves in bigger cities.

Recently I was up in Minnesota visiting family while Des Moines was hosting March Madness. We were watching the game on TV and the announcer started talking about how Des Moines had been a “tremendous” site. I got so excited and my family was dumbfounded as to why. I didn’t help plan the event so why should I be happy they love DSM? Because while I, myself, did not help to plan the event it was something the whole city got behind! The atmosphere in town that week was so amazing – like when the Twin Cities hosted the Super Bowl I would bet. Everyone was excited to have the NCAA there and wanted the event to be a success. Like my family, I think most of the country thinks that Iowa is just one big corn field and us residents are working to change that perception every day. I’d invite anyone to come check out our Farmers Market or spend a Saturday brewery hopping with me.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Minnesota (ask me about my tattoo) but there is just something special about Des Moines! So I’ll continue to help share the Des Moines story loud, bold, and broad!

 

I think New Year’s resolutions are dumb for a myriad of reasons the top of which being that if society is pressuring you into making a goal it’s probably not very meaningful and you’re probably not going to keep it. Instead, I like to make resolutions on my birthday. For me, this is a good time to re-assess where I am and what I should be working on. I’m hopeful that if I share these resolutions with you all I will be held accountable to what I’m committing to here.

1. Say no

I am terrible at saying no. Nine times out of ten if I get asked to work an extra shift on a weekend, you’ll find me whipping mochas the Bou. This also happens in my personal life, so even though I enjoy spending time with my friends that sometimes means spending time and money on things I’m not exactly thrilled about. So, this year I resolve to be better about saying no to things, and being selfish with my time. (However, my fellow introverts, there’s a difference between being selfish with your time and being a Netflix binging shut-in)

 

2. Reach out

I’m friends with a lot of people. Which is a blessing! But I’m also not a great friend to a lot of them. With only so many hours in a week, it’s difficult for me to prioritize certain people over others and I’ve definitely let some friendships fall to the wayside. This year I’m making a commitment to work harder to bring those friendships that have drifted back into my circle, and keeping them there.

 

3. Be present

This is something that I think we can all work on. How many times have you been out to dinner and seen a whole table full of people staring at their phones? I’m guilty of it. If not scrolling Facebook, I’m often thinking about work or the errands I need to run when I’m spending time with others. This world has been getting increasingly crazy lately and I think now, more than ever it’s important that we actually listen to each other and COMPREHEND what others are going through. Since my intention this year is to only go to things that I truly want to be at, I better be present during them!

 

What do you think, folks? Anything else you think I should add to the list?

I cried today. Never did I think I would cry over the results of an election. Maybe that’s because I so wrongly assumed that America would never elect someone like Donald Trump. Everyone says oh don’t worry there’s three branches of government; he’ll never get anything done. But it’s so much more than that. With the results last night, Americans showed each other and the world that we don’t value women’s rights or LGBT rights or immigrant’s rights or the rights of pretty much anyone who’s not a rich white man. I woke up this morning fearing for my future. It’s not lost on me that as a white woman, I am so privileged to have never felt this fear before.

I’m incredibly disappointed that instead of taking a giant leap forward as a society and electing the first female president last night, we elected a misogynistic, xenophobic, homophobic, zero political experience business man who also doesn’t believe in climate change. We learned that you can be the most qualified person for a job [ever] and still lose because you’re a woman. I’m not saying that Hillary was a perfect candidate, far from it actually but I do firmly believe that her emails pale in comparison to all the terrible things Trump has done. (Think: “Grab her by the p**sy”)

So what do we do now? I don’t love Donald Trump, I don’t even like him. But I love America. I love that I have just as many white friends as I do non-white, I love that the Pride Parade in Chicago is one of the biggest events of the year, and I love that last week when two police officers in my community were killed thousands of people came together to lift each other up. Now, we need to come together and help him succeed. If Donald Trump doesn’t succeed, America doesn’t succeed. We must unite as a nation and show him what we expect him to do. Write letters, call your senators, send Trump a tweet, and make your voice heard. Now is the time to double down on America and make sure the rights we’ve fought so hard to achieve hold strong – that the values we hold so dearly ring true. It brings me hope that last night Minnesota elected the first Somali-American to a legislature. Even in the midst of the most divisive election ever we were still able to make some good change and advance hope.

I truly believe that love can and will always be able to topple hate. In the next four years be extra moral. Extra kind. Extra understanding. Extra optimistic. Try to understand your neighbor before you decide that because they voted for Trump their opinions are garbage. It’s ok to cry today, and feel hopeless – to mourn what could have been our future. Tomorrow the work begins.

When I was in elementary school my goal was to be the four-square Queen by the time I hit 5th grade. In middle school I made it my mission to be on the 8th grade A team in softball. In high school I wanted to achieve a great score on the ACT and get into my top college choices. In college the goal was to come out of those four years with a job. My life has always been about accomplishing one goal so I could get to the next one – an endless string of checking boxes through 18 years of academia.

Well, I did it. I graduated and less than two weeks later was offered and accepted my job here at Principal. But now what? All of my goals in life have led up to this point. What kind of goals am I supposed to set now?

I went to a networking event recently that asked us to list out three goals we can accomplish by the end of 2015. The first thought that came to my mind when I saw the question was that I didn’t have any goals. The second was: does wanting to finish Gilmore Girls on Netflix count?

This event was a great excuse to sit down and think about setting some new goals for my postgrad life. I have a long term goal of owning my own business someday. Thus, an easy way to get started on some short term goals is to build off of that. For instance, I can take on projects and positions that will help me develop the skills necessary for owning a business. As for a short-term goal to accomplish in the next two months, I want to network more and get involved with things at work that force me outside of my comfort zone and allow me to both develop and help the business outside of my desk job. While the latter goal doesn’t necessarily follow the SMART Goals guidelines (measurable) it’s at least a start right?

I haven’t written anything all summer because I haven’t felt like I had anything important or interesting to say. That changed around 8:00 this morning when I learned about the shooting in Virginia. All day I struggled to get work done as I grappled with wrapping my head around yet another senseless shooting.

I wrote this letter which I am planning on sending to my three representatives in Congress. If you feel the same, I would encourage you to send this to your representatives as well! If you think I’m a crazy liberal who wants to take away your rights, that’s cool too, bring on the comments.

Senator Grassley,

When is enough going to be enough?

America has become a place where children aren’t safe in schools, Christians aren’t safe in churches and reporters in small town Virginia aren’t safe interviewing with the local Chamber of Commerce. With the frequency that senseless shootings occur in this country, I consider myself lucky that I don’t know anyone who’s been killed in a tragedy like today’s. The Sandy Hook massacre shook the nation two years ago, forcing a national conversation about guns, yet the politics of gun control have barely changed.

Gun control may not be the only answer, but I firmly believe it is the place to start. America has six times as many firearm homicides as Canada, and 15 times as many as Germany. The United States has the highest gun ownership rate in the world – an average of 88 per 100 people. That puts us first in the world for gun ownership. Socioeconomic and other crime statistics aside, research consistently shows that more guns in a community lead to more homicides in a community. It’s as simple as that: more guns mean more deaths.

While there is no piece of legislation that can end all violence in this country, there are some common sense things that only Congress can do that can have a real impact on reducing gun violence in this country, while not infringing upon Second Amendment rights. I urge you to sponsor a bill making it harder for people to get access to guns. The only time someone has to go through a background check when purchasing a firearm is when they do it at a store. Even then, denials are rare, occurring less than 1% of the time. Dylann Roof bought his .45-caliber Glock at a gun store in Charleston, where he would have been required to pass a background check. Though he had been arrested earlier this year for trespassing and drug possession, he apparently met the legal criteria. Gun buyers who make a purchase at a gun show don’t even have to go through a background check.

Today’s shooting gave citizens a chilling, up-close look at what gun violence looks like. It shouldn’t take video footage or a certain number of people killed or shot to realize that America has a problem with guns. Again, as your constituent, I urge you to sponsor legislation making it harder for people to obtain guns in this country. We can’t guarantee strict gun control laws will keep guns out of the hands of people like Bryce Williams. But it would help. Shouldn’t that be enough?

I just finished up working an unpaid internship this semester with the Des Moines Menace, a minor league soccer team. It has been an incredibly rewarding experience. Prior to this I worked three other paid internships during my time in college. I decided I wanted one more internship, just to cap off senior year and broaden my marketing experiences that much more.

Here’s the kicker: I didn’t know the Menace internship was unpaid until the interview when I was offered the gig. It was 100 percent my fault that I didn’t know. I had interviewed for a full-time paid internship with them the summer before so I assumed that the internships during the school year were paid as well. I saw the job posting, knew that I had a history with the organization and liked my would-be boss (Adam) so I hit the button to apply. I wanted to work with the organization but I could not afford to take a 15-20 hour a week unpaid position. We talked it out, I took the weekend to think about it and we decided that since I already had my Fridays free for a potential internship I would work a full day on Fridays and they would hire another intern and split all the work between us.

On the first day I was extremely apprehensive. The summer after my freshman year I had accepted an unpaid internship with a minor league sports team in St. Paul. It was an awful experience and I ended up quitting after two weeks because the amount of time and travel required was not worth it. The first day with the Menace though, was awesome. Adam and I sat down and we mapped out a plan for my internship. We discussed specific things I wanted to learn about, specific projects I could complete for them that would be portfolio pieces for me, and short-term/long-term goals for the internship. For the Menace it was as much about me getting what I need out of an internship as it was getting done the work that they need completed.

The Menace only has a full-time staff of three people. The team depends on interns in order to simply function. Part of the reason I liked working there was that I was given real responsibilities that would not be completed if I was not there to do them. In addition to working on their social media and websites, my one main project was to create the 2015 Media Guide. This is a 40 page document that I created largely from scratch. In the process of creating the Media Guide I had to reformat excel spreadsheets upon excel spreadsheets of game results and season histories, turning them into documents that can be used to keep records for years to come.

While I’m incredibly proud of the work that I did for the Menace, the relationship that I developed with Adam was what really made the internship more valuable that I could have ever anticipated. He knew what a sacrifice it was for me to take an unpaid internship and did everything he could to make it worth my while. In addition to thanking me for being there every opportunity he got, he has become a mentor to me and someone I will continue to keep in contact with for years to come. We had many meetings where we would just sit and talk about my job search and strategies/tactics surrounding that. He tolerated me pestering him with questions about getting jobs via email at all hours of the day and provided a much needed sounding board. Most importantly, he challenged me and gave me needed shoves in the right professional direction. Just developing that professional relationship made the entire experience more than worthwhile for me and I am so thankful for it.

In an effort to stop their worst slump in decades, McDonalds hired a new CEO at the beginning of March. Unlike his predecessor, who knew that McDonalds had a perception issue but chose to pursue a strategy which attempted to convince customers that their impressions of the company and its Big Macs and McNuggets were wrong, this new guy realizes that in order to change perceptions, McDonalds actually has to change.

What McDonalds really needs to do is appeal to millennial tastes. Millennials represent one-third of the total U.S. population and command a huge amount of buying power. Increasingly, younger diners are seeking out fresher, healthier food and chains that offer customizable menu options for little more than the price of a combo meal. The percentage of people age 19 to 21 in the U.S. who visited McDonald’s monthly has fallen by 12.9 percentage points since the beginning of 2011, according to Technomic, while the percentage of customers age 22 to 37 visiting monthly during that period has been flat. Part of this problem is that the millennial generation has an abundance of choice in the market, and they’re picky with their loyalty.

McDonalds recently announced they are launching a clothing line. While well intended, I don’t think that is the most effective way to reach Gen Y – it is McDonalds once again trying to change consumers’s perceptions without actually changing. What McDonalds needs to do is completely overhaul their menu and being using fresher, healthier ingredients because millennials are currently passing up the Big Macs for more wholesome options like Chipotle and Panera. These restaurants have also worked to cultivate images of social responsibility that appeals to many young people, such as by offering organic ingredients and pork from “naturally raised” pigs.

Their March announcement that within the next two year they will stop sourcing chickens raised with antibiotics is a great first step, but MacDons still has a ways to go to re-brand and reintroduce themselves to millennials.