From Touchdowns to Town Halls: Breaking Barriers with Josh Bidnda

We're going to get to that at another time , but today , what we do have in store for you is a special guest , an elected official from Linwood Washington , josh Benda .

We had Tara Dublin on the podcast a couple of weeks ago and I kept on like almost calling her Tara all the time . That's because I have an ex named Tara . Thanks for thanks for pointing out where I'm slipping , Josh . I don't , I don't have any ex's name , josh , so you know how to get in that regard .

But yes , you are one of the few members of , I guess , the Democratic Party and its entirety , even at a local level , that's able to do the shirtless thirst trap photo .

I would say this is probably one of my least provocative photos I have . Okay , it's totally fine .

You know , it was really cool as a dope experience and how I got involved in politics , man , I tell . I tell people all the time I really never , I never saw myself as a politician ever . It wasn't something on my agenda , it wasn't something I thought that was even I was capable of doing .

Before politics I was an athlete , you know , I was a football player and I was a track athlete and that was kind of my thing throughout high school and all that a little bit of college . But after , when I realized that wasn't going to be my full long path , I kind of went through a little bit of identity like Christ .

I'm like okay , who am I without all this ? What am I passionate about ? What do I care about ? You know where I'm not . You know if it's not sports , if it's not these other things .

And I think where my stem into activism really came because I was an activist before the politician that was kind of my thing and where that really stemmed from is a little bit about . After kind of go back to my family background . Both my parents were originally from the West African country called Liberia . They were born and raised there .

My dad was literally born in a village , like you were talking about huts and stuff like that .

That's where my dad was like like really like like wait , like pot , like poverty you know and and so both my parents came from , came from that area , and in the late in the late 1990s we had a pretty I guess there was a pretty corrupt president at that time in our country called Charles Taylor and there's a huge civil war going on in our country .

They're like they were slaughtering people left and right and like there's a huge battle kind of thing going on .

Whatever the Negro version of a program is in America , I try to go at all costs .

He happened at that time he played an international lottery , and they still do it to this day . This is lottery . You can play around the globe where , if you win this lottery it's like one of these one million things that you get this visa that you could , if you get sponsored from another country , you can migrate to another country .

And so my dad happened to play this international lottery visa during the war , just like a ditch effort to see if he could get , get , get like our family , out of there . And he happened to win .

And so my dad was able to win this international lottery visa and through that he had a family member in Rhode Island which is where we came to that was willing to sponsor him so they could .

They could come here and escape the war , and so they were able to leave our country as refugees and were able to migrate after the family from the East Coast that we had here , bought them tickets to come out to the United States and they literally came here at that time with my one year old older brother I wasn't born yet with my one year old older brother

and my mom and him came to the United States , came here with nothing but the clothes on their backs and just left everything they knew and came and I went to Rhode Island to stay with our family out there and then about a year and a half later in 1999 , I was born . So I'm a first generation .

I made it past all of that , luckily by the grace of God . But yeah , I was born about a year and a half later and that's kind of a little bit of my upbringing . I would say my dad and my mom had split in the early 2000s .

My dad kind of went off to go do school in Texas so my mom ended up raising me and my three other siblings she was a single mom before by herself .

In the projects where we were at there's definitely a lot of gang violence , a lot of drug dealers and all that kind of stuff in our environment and so naturally growing up I was a little bit of a troublemaker .

I was in school I was the class clown , I was doing my own thing and I was always very bright and smart , but kind of where we're from , like education and stuff like that just didn't seem feasible for a lot of us . I remember thinking like what's the point of this ? Because my parents can't afford college .

We're in an environment where not many of us make it out of here , so I'm just going to play sports and that's going to be my ticket out of here . And and so during that time period definitely was , like I said , causing trouble , getting the fights in school and all that kind of stuff like that .

And by the time I was age 13 , my dad had moved up to Washington state and he got a job up here at Boeing and stuff like that what she's still at right now . And so my mom thought my mom had discussions with my dad thought that it would be best for me to get out of there and get a change of scenery , because she thought that I was going down .

There's only two other things that's gonna happen I was either gonna be dead or in prison one of the two , with the people I was surrounded by and the things I was doing at the time . And so my mom gave me the option and she didn't force me Like she gave me an option . She was like hey , josh , I think you should go live with your dad .

I think it'd be a good change of scenery and all that for you . And I remember thinking to myself at the time I was like man , why would I leave , like I don't ? First of all , I used to be . I harbored ill-will feelings towards my dad at that point because I felt like he abandoned us and he left and did his own thing .

So I was like I don't know if I wanna go out there and live with him and all this and that , and I just wanna . I have all my friends here , my family here , where I'm gonna leave . But I just remember I don't know what it was I just felt a nudge and just felt like I kind of made the decision on the whim .

I was like you know what , like maybe I should go out there and see what's out there and see what's about and all that , and basically up and left my mom and my sisters and stuff that flew out here To the West Coast , stay with my dad and go to school . And I would say that really completely shifted and changed my entire life .

Honestly , that one decision I may really change the entire outcome of everything for me , just from going from the environment I was from like underfunded schools and this and that and like just all these like things , that these environments that were not unpositive to all of a sudden going in this predominantly white area with all like with these , you know , high

end schools and all the resources and all this , and that it was a huge cultural shock for me .

So I completely turned my life over . But once I kind of got through that phase where that was done , I was just like okay , like who am I , what am I without this ?

And you know , I think I found my passion for activism because I think through my lived experience I saw how people where I were from the students that I grew up with and all that how the difference between the resources I had access to that changed my life compared to what they had access to , you know , and things that they grew up with .

And I remember a lot of my friends that I grew up with in Rhode Island and stuff like that . They were just as smart as me , just as gifted , had just as many skills , some of them even more smarter than me .

But then after , like , catching up with them after high school , you know they're doing their back slinging dope in the streets or they're doing some gangs . They're in the gangs and do all this and that . And it's not because that's who they were , but that's because those are the cards that were dealt and the opportunities they felt they had .

And so I became a huge activist for social and racial justice especially , and for making sure , trying to find ways where people from different demographics in different areas have the same access to the same equitable resources as anyone else , because I know what that was like to not have those things and I know what that difference I made in my life , you know .

And so I became a huge advocate in that . And then I started slowly getting towards seeing what was happening in my local community . So I remember going to my city council meeting for the first time ever in my life and seeing a bunch of . When I went up there , I saw seven old white people sitting up there and I'm like , okay , so this is the people .

I didn't know . I didn't know any of their names , I didn't know who they were , I didn't know what they were about . I just remember sitting there and I was listening on the meeting what they were talking about and I was just kind of hearing the things they cared about and all . I'm like man , this I'm like my community don't give a damn about this .

We were struggling with this . We have this going on .

They're talking about you know , like keeping everything , like you know , for how are we gonna change things for their homeowners and what resources we're gonna help to make sure they want to keep things exactly the same the status quo and they weren't talking about you know how they're gonna represent people that are renters or that are underfunded or don't have the

same background . So I was just hearing these conversations . I'm like man , these people don't understand . There's a whole demographic of people in our community that they're just not like that , that that are having needs too . You know what I'm saying .

I led probably about a dozen protests all across the state and I remember feeling empowered through that . I remember like I kind of build the name as an activist through that , you know , through interviews and all that kind of stuff . But then I remember , like walking away and thinking I'm like , all right , this isn't going to last forever .

I'm like , all right , this is great . We're out here vocalizing what we want to change , we're out here talking about it , but I'm like , you know , at the end of the day , the truth changed and it comes from legislation , it comes from reform , it comes from policy . You know , things that are implemented .

And so at this point , I was 21 and I was a junior in college , and so I remember like , after thinking this , I was like all right , I sat down with my parents , I sat down I think I had a girlfriend at the time and I talked to the people around me . Man , I think I want to run for office . And everyone laughed . Everyone laughed .

Everyone was like Josh , what the hell you think you go you be run for office ? I said , like they're like , are you kidding me ? I'm like , bro , you're still in college . Like what do you mean ? You're going to run for office ? You haven't gotten your degree yet . You don't know anything about politics , activism , politics at two different .

I heard all the no's I could possibly hear from so many different sides . But one thing about me and I mean I think that's one of my strongest powers is I'm someone that I'm very confident who I am and my purpose and what I want to do . So if I feel called to something , I don't care if I have 100 yeses or one yes , I'm still going to do it .

You know , that's what I feel needs to do Because , like I'm my own biggest believer , I learned at a young age I say young age , I'm not still young , but a younger than you .

And I told everyone I was like look , and I was like I don't know why , but it's not that I even want I have to do this . You know what I'm saying ? I told people I have to run , like I just feel like I have to , and so that year .

And then two like , if I didn't do it that year , I'd have to wait another two years for the cycle to the next cycle to come up for me to run for office , you know , and so it was like either that year or 2020 , 2024 , you know what I'm saying or , and so like , it was like one of those things like , and I'm someone like , like , if I feel something I

need to do , I don't want to wait two years because someone told me that I could like , like , and thank God I didn't listen , because now it was about to be 2024 , I'm going to my third year in office you know what I'm saying and so , like , it's one of those things that like and I think that's the sad thing about the way we live and sometimes it's some

people they never go after their full potential , their full dreams , because someone put doubt in their heart you know what I'm saying or because something happened where it made them question their journey . I mean the question their purpose . And I just happen to be blessed where I'm someone that I don't allow that to happen .

You know , I'm not like when I believe something , I'm a go for it . And so that year I put everything on hold . I took a gap year at UW and I said you know , I'm going to run for office and so I filed when are the boats when to commit ? Yeah , I put everything on hold . I said if I'm going to do this , I'm going to do this my whole heart .

I'm going to do this with everything I got . I put everything on hold and I said I filed to run for office and at that point in time I had no opponent , you know . And so like it was on the news everyone's talking about yeah , this 21 year old activist is running for office and some , ah , it was like all this hype was coming in . It was cool .

I was like , yeah , you know , I was thinking , you know it's going to be a shoe in baby . Like no one's going to challenge that . Like this is going to be cool . Like you know , I was running this race . I'm going to raise some funds and campaign and all that .

And so , as I'm campaigning , like for like a good half of my campaign , I didn't have a single opponent in my race . So like I'm like this is moving button .

And so I was like I'm going to get the seat . The incumbent didn't look like she was gonna run this and that . But then the last day , yeah , I got some dead almost at 5 pm and I remember checking . I looked at 4 pm no opponent . I'm like all right , we cool . Like this gonna be , it's gonna be cool , right . I checked right in 430 no opponent .

I'm like all right , like we're locked in now . You know like 455 it was 445 right back in the check in at 445 and I seen this dude His name is like James Brothersford , whatever like came my race and I'm like like , looking his name , I'm like James brotherford .

I'm not okay , like I don't know what to do is , and so I'm like , all right , but I got , I was like you know what , it probably better off that beat somebody . You know I'm saying so . I was like you know , maybe this is , maybe this is better for me .

And then , and I'm so like I remember checking it was 457 PM and another woman , a woman named Lisa utter , during the race as well . And Then so five of them , fuck , I remember this vivid . I'll never forget this day , man , five o'clock comes , you know , deadlines over .

I called the mayor , like , because at that time the current mayor was in my support and I remember talking to her . I was like , yeah , she's like , how'd it go ? I'm like , yeah , you know , like , you know , you know a few people join my race , but you know it's what it is . And I remember telling her so , yes , I'm guy named James Brothersford .

She said , oh , james Brothersford . She's like , oh , don't worry about him , me , some old Republican do heroes every year . Ain't nobody paying attention to him . You good , I'm like , yeah , you know , that's cool , you know , james , all right , I was like , yeah , you know another person named Lisa she's like . We thought her .

And I was like , yeah , lisa utter , she's like . Oh , I was like I was like what you mean ? She's like , oh , lisa utter is the incumbent . We all thought she wasn't gonna run again . She's been in office for like 20 years and she hasn't lost the race . And I was like , so , what you like ? So she's running against me and she's like , looks like it .

And so I just remember at the time period Even though I'm a very confident person I was one of the few time periods I think my confidence and my like I remember just feeling defeated a little bit . I'm like , oh , my damn , like Like she's , this is a woman that's never lost a race . You obviously has all this name recognition , whatever .

And you know I'm a 21 year old college student and a pre in a 88% white old town . I'm going against a white , older lady . You know I'm saying I'm thinking my son man , I like driving , stand a chance like me and this and that . And I remember talking to a friend and I'm just saying , damn , I don't like , I don't know if I'm gonna do this .

You know I'm gonna pull this off . And she's like Josh , like you got to just trust in believing your gut instinct and what made you want to do it's in the first place and don't give up , you know .

And I just remember saying myself you know what , she's right , you know I'm like you know what , if I'm go out , I was like if I'm gonna lose this thing , I'm going out swinging . You know , like she's gonna have to beat me if this is gonna happen .

And so I'm like I'm not gonna just give up and lay in my back and like we're gonna run a campaign , we're gonna run a race . She's gonna have to earn this thing , you know , and I'm like me , I think , a lot of my mentality transfer from athletics . Like I was always someone that was very purposeful what I want to do and knew how to go after it .

And so I ran a strong campaign and I went after it and I , and , and , and I just remember like , yeah , I basically campaigned harder than ever I do , or not thousands of doors . I went to Many events and there's times , you know , I would go to endorsement meetings and they would . They would shut me out .

You know they wouldn't endorse her and not endorse me . And I go to doorsteps , door knocking . I get kicked off people's porches , you know , and so it's an uphill battle but overall I think what's my message started going out there and people started seeing the kind of person I was and the Grassroots kind of campaign I was running .

It got to the point where I was going out door knocking people like , oh yeah , I want to kid that people been seeing in the neighborhood door knock . Yeah , that's me .

That would do the work . Like put the time in , make the effort , like you can do amazing things if you put in the effort , in the sweat and the tears . It would not to make that that happened .

They were just trying to keep a brother out of that scene and you got to talk about .

Let them stay history . So it's one of those stories that nobody . I never probably got more phone calls in my life than my election day . Everybody's like bro , you really pulled that shit off , like what .

I actually do the work , you know , and so things for example , things I've been able to push forward so far I think I was able to get about $200,000 in funding approved for a tab mental health clinicians in all of our schools and all in our entire city .

So now we have two mental health clinicians in our schools helping our kids with mental health access , and all of that in our middle schools , elementary and high schools , and that was something I was able to push forward . I think I was able to also get about $2 million .

away from school and friends and like a regular schedule and like a functioning lifestyle , like that would be appropriate for the mental and emotional development of children , like they missed out on a whole year of growth and then , and not only that , like we just tossed them back in or like here you go , kids , it's day one , go to school , make that shit work

. And like we didn't offer them any kind of like there was no like national plan to like integrate kids back into schools , into like an educational curriculum and like the dealing with the emotional trauma being separated from friends and not such like . Anyway , it was just whole disaster .

Who does to you for taking some steps to like just make life easier and more bearable for these poor kids ?

Like that demographic , like there were kids that they were in eighth grade and they missed out their entire freshman year in person and then they came back at sophomores with no like you know what I'm saying .

Like that freshman year is so vital , I feel like to some of those kids like coming in , learning the structure of things , like building friendships and all that kind of stuff , and they were on Zoom with these people they never met , you know , coming in it was just a whole like . I think people don't understand .

And then seniors that missed out on their senior year , missed out on prom , missed out on all these other things Like you know what I'm saying , things you supposed to go graduation , like it's just a lot of things that I feel like it was very harmful towards our kids .

And so I really one of my biggest champions and I'm definitely a champion for the youth and I care a lot about their causes and their voices and I really care about bringing their voices to the table because I see how empowering that is . During my campaign , most of my campaign staff were high school students literally , you know what I'm saying .

Like my campaign volunteers , my majority of my staff were high school students . I think my campaign manager was 21 . The only like a grown , grown adult , as it was a consultant and that was it was him and he was in his early , like mid to early 30s .

So we were a young team and I think through my journey I just seen how powerful the youth can be when they feel passionate about something , when they care about something , when they wanna fight for something . You know their voices and their implementation matters too .

But I think that the older generation has a hard time giving them a platform to vocalize those things and to have a voice , to have a say .

And I think that's what's so important to be able to give the youth not just say we care about youth issues , but in trying to be the ones to change it , giving them the voice and the platform to be the change themselves .

You know , that's what we need and I think that's why they really support what I do and who I am , because I'm always someone that's all about youth empowerment and giving them that platform . So I think that was one of my big things I was focused on and if I wasn't on the council , something like that wouldn't have ever been done . You know what I'm saying .

Like they wanna care about the mental health of students and all that . If I wasn't , you know what I'm saying , and so the stuff like that I was also able to get done .

Like I got $25,000 in scholarships for our youth and seniors to have access to the recreation center that we have , and so they were able to go in there , have access to the classes and be able to go there and stuff like that .

And I think a big part of that was it came from my lived experience when I was growing up I remember I couldn't afford to go to the YMCA and my mom couldn't afford the membership and stuff like that . But it was because of scholarships like that .

When I remember my mom applied for the scholarships , I was able to go to the YMCA and kept me out of the streets , kept me out of trouble . I was in there in the gym Instead of being out on the streets with the gangbangers . I was in the gym working now , playing basketball and stuff like that .

That's why it's so important to have people with different perspectives and different lived experiences at the table , because they see needs and niches that maybe someone else wouldn't be able to see . You know or understand how important that is , and so stuff like that .

They think people just want and they're in the reason , and I understand why there's some frustration , because there are people that all they are is just a face card diversity , equity , inclusion not really the implementation of change and those people ruin it for the actual people that are actually doing the work .

Like where you like have these fake or fake interviews with you know a diverse racial potential hire , when you already picked a white guy to take the job and you in like but the eventuality of that is , you do .

You do eventually come to the conclusion or at least some people do when they are presented with the opportunity to put a person of color in a position of power , it is actually not only the right decision , but a better decision than they would have made otherwise without having that opportunity .

Well , you know , in the case of the NFL , forced on them , but yeah , it's not quite the same way in this regard . But , like , the value that you bring to the table isn't just the fact that your face is a different color than the other person who might have been in a similar position .

It is the lived experience that they can't remotely equate to because they didn't have a similar set of experiences . And that doesn't make you better or make it doesn't make you better or worse than anyone else . It just like the opportunities that you see someone else might not have because they didn't have the similar experiences .

I go up there , I talk my talk , I walk my walk and I am who I am and that authenticity is refreshing to people that see a lot of performative politics . You know a lot of performances , a lot of it , and I'm there .

I know it is like the ribbon cutting and all this little BS , I don't matter , and all these little , you know , like resolutions that don't matter and like it's just all to make themselves feel good .

I'm like , but the real changes that happen , you know , and just my representation there's a young people of color , white people , young people like people older or that see me .

I think what's been the , why I've been the target I've been and why it's so fresh in some of these other white people is because I'm a representation . The more I excel , it exposes their white mediocrity .

I'm like , yeah , carol Jewish , she doesn't count as a white person .

I want to change what , the what , the viewpoint of a politics supposed to be , because it's not , like I feel like this whole is just a little too bland for me . It's a little too . It's like I think we need to make it more milk , toast , milk , like , yeah , the cookie kind of a little too .

Politics is a little too vanilla wafer-ish but no , but no way for it , you know , and I think we need to like , have , like spice it up a little bit , making more real to the community . And I think the younger generation back is what they thought to me so much .

They see like it's able to reach them and they're able to care about it more , like nobody cared , like nobody around my district or in that the young people didn't care about city council until I got in . They saw me doing it by having the swag and it's relatable .

You know what I'm saying and they see it and they care about the importance of it because it's it's , it's coming to them in a way where they can relate to it .

Then if I'm , if I'm doing this is because I'm here to make a difference . You know I'm saying that I'm not giving up my early 20s to come in here and be stale . I'm here to change the game . You know I'm saying and make it and make the difference . That's needed to be changed , to bring change to our communities . You know , because that's what's needed .

We need enforcers , we need real change makers , not people just getting in these positions holding the seat and just make and just keeping everything the same . You know that's not that's where progress happens . You know , I think we need more progress and so that's that's . That's kind of .

I think my community , they see me , they know that kind of personality , how do they see that fighter and they and they love it , you know , and I think they want more of that and it's inspiring to other people .

Because the rest , they don't do that . They haven't done that and they hate you for it . They hate on you and they're hating on you for it , period .

You know , I'm trying , I get discouraged , but it's really encouraging like I spent , not just because , as a young person , you're doing it for me .

My purpose in this was I'm someone that believes , and there's no point in me getting to where I'm at if it's just gonna only be me to get here . And not only that .

I think in the title of this book I named this book it's called Breaking Barriers , and so the last two years I've been writing this book about kind of a little bit about my journey , but also about the barriers I had to break to even become the person I was , to even accomplish the goals I wanted to accomplish .

And I think that the whole reason of this book being called Breaking Barriers because I think we all have barriers in our lives that we need to break through in order to live up to our potential , in order to be who we're meant to be , you know , whether that's things like depression , anxiety , you know , trauma , you know , and all these things that could be

inhibiting us from living up to our full potential I think this book is a way to . It was meant to help people by my experience , but my lens of what I see how to break certain barriers work on breaking through their own barriers . So this book it's a 94 page book I wrote it mostly .

I wrote it all by myself , it's self-published , it's gonna be self-published coming out next week and it's also a self-help workbook . So the cool thing about this book is there's a chapter in it . There's nine chapters and each chapter there's gonna be a chapter about a certain topic . For example , I'll give you an example here .

Chapter one is called Turning Trauma to Trauma , and so the whole chapter is gonna be about I'm gonna talk a little about my experience and the traumas I've gone through and some traumas and what trauma is and how to utilize your trauma instead of letting that hindering you , to allow that to actually propel you to succeed in your life , and so the chapter is

gonna be about that . And then each chapter , what happens is there's five steps in each chapter that talks about ways you can work on that chapter . So I write this written down five steps you can take to improving that chapter , and then also there's five questions on each chapter . I'm trying to give you guys a look here .

I know the audience won't be able to see , but basically there's five questions in each chapter that you're gonna be able to I'm gonna .

It's questions meant to help you break through that part of it yourself and answer and kind of work on ways where you and your lens want to work on that , how you can work on it , and it's supposed to be able to create a way where because I think a lot of us we have these things and these things we wanna work on , but sometimes we don't know where to

start and we don't know how to break it down . And so these questions are meant to get you , to get your mind thinking and to answer them yourselves , from your perspective , your lens . How do you feel you need to work on some of these things to be able to overcome that ? And it's supposed to get your mind going .

And so there's five questions in each chapter and then at the end of every chapter there's also a reflection page , and so it's a reflection page where you just reflect from your point of view , from everything , everything you gain from the chapter what you think , what you think you need to work on , how you think you need to work on things , and it's supposed

to be , in a way , your own accountability book , and so I wanted to write this book because I didn't want to just get through this journey and break these barriers and do all these things and just be here . Now that I'm here , I wanna help people navigate how to break certain barriers in their lives , and it doesn't have to be politics .

This is something that's just our lives in general , you know , like the things we're going through and things we do . And I think this is a book . It's timeless , I think it's ageless , I think it goes from the young generation to the old generation . I think we all every one of us have barriers and things are inhibiting us .

You know , whether it's from self-inhibited barriers or things that are externally challenging us from us to get to where we wanna be in life , and so this book's meant to help us break through those things and navigate what those things are and not letting those barriers inhibit us from being where we're meant to be .

And if you want , I can read you the back verbage of the verb , like the verb of what you're doing . I can read it too . Yeah , so like there's a blurb of what the book is , and there's a personal statement I wrote on the back here , so I'll kind of read the blurb here first .

So it says in his groundbreaking debut book Breaking Barriers , josh Pindah invites readers on an inspiring journey towards unlocking their true potential and shattering their limitations , holding them back in life with captivating storytelling and profound insights .

Vindah shares his own personal triumphs and challenges , offering invaluable wisdom and practical strategies for overcoming adversity and achieving greatness . A must read for those who refuse to settle for mediocrity , breaking Barriers inspires readers to embrace their individuality , challenge societal norms and dare to dream big .

Whether you're an inspiring entrepreneur , a career driven professional or simply someone in search of personal growth , vindah's book is a game changer that will propel you towards achieving your goals and breaking barriers that stand in your way .

So that's the blurb of it , and then I have a personal statement that I wrote here that says that , after spending the last two years writing this book , I'm honored and humbled to get the opportunity to share with this with the public .

Breaking Barriers is never easy and requires a level of vulnerability , authenticity and honesty that is hard to put out there for the world to see . As someone who considers myself a leader and a public servant .

I hope I can lead by example for those to follow that it's okay not to be perfect , struggle and not have it all figured out , and how that shouldn't stop you from succeeding . Hopefully , this book can help you get one step closer to the lifelong journey of self discovery and growth . You need to become a better version of yourself . Signed gosh Vindah Sassler .

A couple of copies it's gonna be in all the libraries in our district . And I'm also partnering with a nonprofit in my city called Close for Kids , and so they're a nonprofit that's dedicated towards giving out free clothes to kids that can afford it and choosing it . And I've seen , you guys , that growing up I didn't have clothes .

You know , I grew up in poverty , I didn't have these things . So when I got in touch with this nonprofit , I wanted to find a way so I could support and so basically for the first month while this book is out , 25% of all book proceeds is gonna go towards donating towards Close for Kids nonprofit to support them . So that's something I'm doing .

So it's gonna be out on Amazon and so I'll send you guys a link once that comes out officially so Google will be able to buy for Amazon . It's gonna be selling for $24.99 . And so I'm looking forward to it being there . But yeah , I think Amazon's gonna be the biggest platform to be selling on here . I would say here .

For anyone who's listening to the podcast , you know people may not necessarily feel the impetus to run for office the same way you do , but for someone who wants to make a difference in their community or in the political landscape outside of running for office , like what's one bit of advice you would give them . What would you tell them to do ?

Man , I know I dropped a heavy one on no , no , no , no , no .

I think everyone has a purpose in life that they want to accomplish and things , dreams that they have and things they want to do to make a difference , whether that's office , whether that's just even being someone that is a game changer in their family , whether that's someone that just makes a difference in the corporate realm . We all have different purposes .

You know , and I think you know , I was just having this conversation with a friend last night and I was talking to them . It was just kind of you know , remember , this is a friend that knew me for a little bit before I even got into this now , and it was just a real cool conversation to be able to talk about how far I came in .

They were asking me man , like what kept you like who you were , what kept you focused on doing what you were doing ? And like what kept you wanting to be this and like knowing , like how'd you know this ? You're ours and I didn't know this is my route , but I think the biggest thing that helped me and like what's what's that ? I just became fearless .

You know , I really became fearless . I think it's a hard thing to do because you kind of have to almost get to a point where truly no one else's opinion of you and what you're meant to be matters .

But you , you know , and you have to get to a point where you know that at the end of the day , you know there's always going to be opinions and there's going to be this and that , but you are the shock caller , you know . And so I think getting involved and doing what you want to do , it just really comes from you .

First of all , confidence is believing yourself . You know you got to have that confidence . You got to believe in yourself . You got to be . You want to go through whatever you want , like , whatever it takes to be where you want to be . So there's many ways you can do that . You know there's many ways you can get involved . For me , I think from like .

I started off like I said , it was activism . I started getting involved in like community events I started . I was a chair of my diversity , equity , inclusion . There's so many different routes and politics . I would say you can start off that want to make a difference in all that you want , like it doesn't have to be the face or politics .

It can be so many different avenues to it that are just as you know . You can be someone that helps people get elected .

You can be someone like that , like there's so many different routes you can take in order to it's just all about staying yes and finding out what your purpose is in it and what you want to bring to the world , what change you want to bring to the world , and then having the guts you know to go after that , no matter what someone says , no matter what

someone like . I think it just it takes a certain level of having no fear to truly pursue that purpose that you want . You know what you take and what it takes , and it's hard . It's hard , I would say , for me .

Sometimes , the people that love me the most , sometimes that almost held me back from what I was wanting to do and what I was meant to be , and so it's getting to a point where you are , you're operating in a sense of conviction . You know it's not about you know what you necessarily like . It's something that you feel convicted about .

Where it's in conviction such a strong word because it's something that it's so strong and what you feel , what you're doing , what you want to do , that there's almost nothing that's going to stop you from doing it , because you're convicted , you feel like it's just what you're meant to be and what you're meant to do .

And so I think it's finding out in terms of getting involved , finding out what brings that conviction out of you , what brings that passion out of you , what you want to do . Like I tell people this all the time . You know I have people my age all the time like we're all about you know the money , we're all chasing money . Like we're all you know we're .

My few minds were broke , college kids , you know . So it's for the us , is about the bag , is about this and that you know . And I tell people , yes , that's important and all that .

But you want to find out what you're passionate about , what you want to , what you want to bring to the world , and all that because , if you like , I know people that made that , make money , that rich , whatever , and there's some of the most miserable people I ever met . Sometimes .

I know some people that make it happen what they are , but because they're doing something they really care about and they're passionate about . They actually look like they're living fulfilled lives .

And so I tell people all the time go after what you're passionate about , go after what , what brings conviction , because at the end of the day , you know you're going to do that to your fullest capability , you're going to be so good at that that the money is going to come at some point , you know , and so there's .

I think there's many ways that people could get involved and should get involved , and I think it's take it , whether that's activism , whether that's actually running for office , whether that's just , you know , helping people , volunteering , or just being aware of social issues and aware of what's going on in the world and using your platform to spread awareness of what's

going on . I think that , like there's no , I think they're all just valuable and then all just is important . I don't . I tell people all the time when I , when I do speeches and do all this , and that I think , for the end , honestly , me being a city council member is just a title to me . I see it as just a title .

I don't think the power is within the time . Some people think that it is , but there really isn't . I think the power is with the people .

I always think that , I've always thought that , and I think that , at the end of the day , I was just as powerful I would say maybe I was even more powerful as before I was elected , as I am now , or just as , and that doesn't change . Being a leader doesn't change whether you have a title or not .

I know people that have this title and aren't leaders , for for jack crap , you know . And so it's just all about finding your purpose , finding your passion , what drives you , and being willing to go after it and step up and make a difference , whatever that looks like .