Two weeks ago today...
My moment with Madam Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi
Last year, on my 39th birthday, someone asked me what I wanted for the year for myself. Without hesitation I said, “Before my 40th birthday, I will interview Nancy Pelosi.” And two weeks ago today, I did.
Growing up in the Bay Area, there has not been a time where the name Nancy Pelosi wasn’t on the news or in my childhood home. She was a force just across the Bay Bridge. Long before she was Madam Speaker, she was Rep. Pelosi who was taking on China and fighting for AIDS funding. She was small in stature but even as a kid, I knew she was fierce.
By the time she became Speaker, I was a young adult. My Pops and I were watching W Bush’s State of the Union and for the first time ever, a woman was sitting behind the President. My Pops looked at me and pointed at her and said “She’s showing you, you can do or be anything you want.” And over the 39 years of my life, I’ve held onto her as a guiding force.
When rumors were swirling in 2016, that she was going to retire if Hillary Clinton won, I felt such a bag of mixed emotions. I wanted nothing more than for Hillary to be the first woman President, she too had been a guiding force, but DC without Pelosi? By the time Election Day came, I was prepared, beyond prepared for Hillary and slightly prepared to let Pelosi go. After all, she had lead us to the Holy Land, she broke the marble ceiling, she had conquered the villans, she deserved to retire and enjoy her life. But we all know how that chapter ended…
And so in 2017, as Pelosi battled the dragon that is Trump, forced him to own the goverment shutdown, met him at every move while walking out of the White House going viral. And led us to victory in 2018, I held onto her like I had never held onto her before. She was like oxygen after holding your breath underwater for too long. And I began to cover her on social media more than ever before. Every press conference, every trip, every move (in a non stalker way). When she went to Taiwan, I woke up at 4am to cover her. When she went to a fundrasier, covered. Her pantsuits and heel matching combo, covered. Mostly it was to make myself feel safe at an unsafe time but I also wanted Americans to see that this extrmely polarizng politician was showing us how to overcome over and over again.
Over time, my social media followers gave me the title of “The Unauthorized Expert on All Things Nancy Pelosi.” Simply because, they could rely on me to give them the true Pelosi breakdown. I became the go-to source for all things Pelosi. I was dedicated to understanding and sharing her story.
And so last year, I made the decision that I was going to interview her. Not because I wanted to meet this woman I respected greatly or because I wanted take a photo with her and say look at me but rather because I wanted to hear directly from her. I wanted to soak in as much information she was willing to share. I wanted to say “I had an amazing conversation with this brillant woman. I worked hard, dedicated myself and look at that, it paid off.”
And after rounds of back and forth with her (truly amazing and kind) team, it happened! Last mintue, last day in DC, ready or not, but it happened. She walked in the room and I was shockingly calm. No fears, worries, just me and this woman I had “known” my entire life.
She was kind, funny and allowed me to be me. She had a calmness to her but you could sense the power running through her veins. When she started to answer the first question, I realized I just needed to be present and stand back. Let her do what she does best. And she did.
Everyone kept asking me if it felt like a dream and it didn’t, it felt real because she was real and apprecative. It’s almost as if she was saying to me without saying it, “You’ve had my back all these years, now I have yours.”
One of the best parts of this journey was so many of my social media followers who were over the moon for me. I realized, they had been on this journey with me this entire time. They had seen my dedication and got to see it come full circle. The comments, the exciement and the love, I felt and appreciated it all.
I know Pelosi’s days in Congress are drawing to a close, for the record, not because shes lost her edge, she’s still sharp and powerful. And she will forever know more then almost anyone in any room at any given time and fyi she had heels on when I interviewed her but rather, because all good things must come to an end. She’s served America with all she has and I am beyond grateful that I grew up in the Pelosi Era to enjoy the ride. I didn’t have to read about it in books or watch YouTube clips, I had a front row seat.
Madam Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi has given me everything I need and as I was standing right next to her listening to her talk, I realized, I made this happen for myself because she showed me how. She taught me how to swim in the deep end.
That lesson is more powerful than anyone can understand.