"You have to Learn to Lobby on behalf of Yourself". Meet Suzanne Swink.

[00:00:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back to another episode of The Political Life. Today we come to you again from

[00:00:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Washington, D.C., and as usual we are not there, but our guest is Suzanne Swink. Suzanne

[00:00:26] [SPEAKER_00]: is, I mean I like to call her the professor. I don't know if she refers to herself that way.

[00:00:35] [SPEAKER_00]: She is an adjunct professor at Georgetown, which we're going to hear all about, I hope.

[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_00]: But she is the Vice President of Government Relations at Core Power. And most

[00:00:46] [SPEAKER_00]: excitingly, she is a guest on this political life. And of course Maggie is here with me.

[00:00:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Maggie Mick, multi-state who brought Suzanne on to the show. Suzanne, welcome.

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you again. Thank you Maggie. I am delighted to be here.

[00:01:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Well why don't you start off by just telling our guest a little bit about yourself and how you

[00:01:13] [SPEAKER_00]: how you got into politics and a little bit about your career?

[00:01:16] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I am happy to do that. It's wild to think that it was just over 20 years ago that I came

[00:01:22] [SPEAKER_02]: to D.C., so it was Jim said, so right now I'm Vice President of the Relations at Core Power,

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_02]: which is a US-based battery sold developer and energy storage manufacturer. We're based out in

[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_02]: quarterly in Idaho and have operations and both Vermont as well as Arizona. I joined Core

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_02]: about goodness. All those two years ago, maybe closer to a year and a half ago after the

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_02]: part of 12 years at BP. But you know, when I first came to D.C., 20 years ago, I thought that I was

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_02]: going to go to law school and then in cross-key war criminals at the hay, and then came to D.C.

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_02]: and realized that all the big fish in their small ponds come to D.C., and the first thing that

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_02]: I needed to do was get a job. So that's what I focused on. When I came to D.C. And I started off

[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_02]: the nonprofit world, I had previously worked in the nonprofit world during college and

[00:02:17] [SPEAKER_02]: continued to do that in D.C., and I was really happy there. I love the direct service aspect

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_02]: of that. And then I wanted to pivot to a policy role at the organization I was at. And I got

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_02]: shot down because I had worked on the pill and being the perhaps impetuous 20 something that I

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_02]: was, I directly went back to my desk and I typed up my resignation letter. And I put it

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_02]: to forget in with no job on capital Hill. So I do not recommend zero stars don't recommend.

[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_02]: I didn't follow my own follows advice, you know, it's easier to get a job when you have a job.

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_02]: But I was very dedicated that in order to do a policy if I had to go to the Hill,

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_02]: by that I would go to the Hill. So I turned in my resignation letter and luckily with a successful

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_02]: and in giving a role in capital Hill, when folks asked me, you know, for advice, I told them

[00:03:15] [SPEAKER_02]: don't do what I did. Because I had a very abnormal segue to capital Hill, but it's not normal.

[00:03:21] [SPEAKER_02]: I got the first job that I applied for on capital Hill. It just ended up being, you know,

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_02]: do a lot to see our activity the right place at the right time. I found the job through

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_02]: a lesser that I was a member of at the time an organization called the Women's Information Network.

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_02]: There are really certain they still exist here in DC, but I joined as a young woman in DC,

[00:03:43] [SPEAKER_02]: looking for networking opportunities and women's information that work was the first one that

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_02]: I found and saw this job for a legislative correspondent role. For a San Diego congressional member

[00:03:55] [SPEAKER_02]: and I thought, well, I live in San Diego, you know, for a little bit of my mom and little

[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_02]: in San Diego. It's like, I, you know, even though in Mississippi, I must know enough about San Diego to be

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_02]: a little past, right? And it turned out that she actually had a test to tell if you knew anything

[00:04:08] [SPEAKER_02]: about San Diego and I was able to pass the test. And I loved that most and it was wild. You know,

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_02]: it luckily wasn't anything about the history of San Diego. I definitely would have failed that,

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_02]: but it was things like, well, what's your favorite restaurant or what's your favorite neighborhood

[00:04:26] [SPEAKER_02]: in San Diego? So that worked out well and I was able to answer those and that's, you know,

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_02]: that's how I initially got into the political world, if you will and join the Capitol Hill,

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_01]: the legislative correspondent. And then you went to BP for a number of years. I did. I did.

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_02]: I was on Capitol Hill for about five years and I worked for a fabulous member of Congress,

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_02]: Congresswoman, student Davis from San Diego. And the great thing about working for a fabulous

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_02]: member of Congress is that it ruins you and you don't want to work for anybody else. And nobody

[00:05:04] [SPEAKER_02]: leaves. So I had been with her office for five years and, you know, just kind of figured out

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_02]: that it was time for me to find something else. It was time for me to figure out what my next steps were

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_02]: because again, the great thing about a great number is that, you know, we all stayed there,

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_02]: right for a long time. So there's pros and cons to that. But again, there's this thread of

[00:05:31] [SPEAKER_02]: the jobs that I've had in DC. I have gotten through some relationship with another woman in the

[00:05:39] [SPEAKER_02]: industry or a relationship with a networking organization for women in the industry. So for this one,

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_02]: I had joined the newly started Women's Congressional Staff Association and they had a mentorship

[00:05:55] [SPEAKER_02]: program. And the woman that I got connected to is she continues to be a very dear friend

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_02]: and mentor to me, a woman in Liz Wright, who is now at Solar Edge Technologies. But at the time,

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_02]: she was at BP. She's worked for GM and Siemens as well. But at the time, she worked at BP and

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_02]: she and I that connected through that mentoring program. So I knew her for a number of months before

[00:06:20] [SPEAKER_02]: there was ever even an opening at the company. You know, we talked a lot about what to look for

[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_02]: in other jobs and what kind of experiences I should be trying to have when I was on tap at a

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_02]: hill in order to kind of take the next step. And I decided that I did want to go private sector.

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_02]: I wanted to become a lobbyist as many of us do. And months later, when there was a junior

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_02]: lobby in the world, open up the company, she forwarded my way into saying, you know, I don't know if

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_02]: this is what you're into or not. But, you know, if you're interested, you should go ahead and apply.

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_02]: And she wasn't even the one hiring for this. It was one of her colleagues that was hiring,

[00:07:00] [SPEAKER_02]: but I ended up being successful and got that role. So again, there's all of these little connections.

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_02]: You don't know what's going to happen. Who with those connections living in the, you know,

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_02]: helping me take that next step when I came to my career and like I said, I spent the better part of

[00:07:15] [SPEAKER_02]: 12 years at B.P. and you know, how to really great time in my career there. That could be a lot

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_01]: of different things. And you need to give Liz a shout out. You said the woman at I do.

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_02]: I did. Did I not? I thought I didn't live right here. I did. The live records is fabulous.

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_02]: And I love her and you don't know her. She is wonderful. And my dad says it's been a very dear friend

[00:07:39] [SPEAKER_02]: and former colleague and been door to me throughout much of my time very busy. And I could say,

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_01]: I would not be where I am. We're not for her.

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_01]: And both went on to B.W.G.R. Presidents, which I think we will talk about in a little bit.

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Another organization that we've been deeply immersed in for years.

[00:07:58] [SPEAKER_01]: But I wanted, I want to pause on the B.P. because so much of our focus in this podcast is really

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_01]: about decision making and how you've made those critical moves in your career to where you are now.

[00:08:11] [SPEAKER_01]: And you and I met at the end of your time at B.P. I think in the final two years.

[00:08:18] [SPEAKER_01]: And we met, I could kind of tell you, we're wrestling with it. But how did you reach a decision

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_01]: to leave an organization or a company that you loved? It was very clear to you,

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_01]: love the company. But how did you decide to take a leap and go over to court?

[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I did B.P. that I wanted to be a B.P. retiree.

[00:08:42] [SPEAKER_02]: I am very much a company girl that kind of archetype when it comes to an employee. I like going somewhere

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_02]: and staying and sitting there and that's what I did at B.P. And I'm very grateful for all the

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_02]: opportunities that I had. You know, handling anything from your traditional oil and gas issues to

[00:09:01] [SPEAKER_02]: trading issues to tax issues, sanctions issues, etc. renewables issues. It was kind of a great place

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_02]: to grow up as a lobbyist in the globe because there were just so many things to manage and so many

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_02]: opportunities to learn about new issues. And that's one of the benefits of working for a giant

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_02]: B.P. that's company like B.P. So it was a wonderful time. My last two years at B.P. I did a little

[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_02]: bit of a pivot internally and I went over and left the federal lobbying team and joined the

[00:09:36] [SPEAKER_02]: communication side of the house. So the company had just gotten the new CEO, we had refreshed our corporate

[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_02]: strategy and as part of that there was a reorganization throughout the company and there were some

[00:09:50] [SPEAKER_02]: limitations folks that got pulled into the government affairs side and some government affairs folks,

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_02]: they got pulled into the integration side. And rightfully so I know we'll talk about this later

[00:09:59] [SPEAKER_02]: I think it's so crucial for communicators to have a political antenna. So I think it was very smart

[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_02]: for the company to be doing that. But I came over to the calm side and led the content and creative

[00:10:11] [SPEAKER_02]: team at B.P. For the last two years and it was a wonderful experience and there are definitely

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_02]: some strategic reasons that I wanted to do that and go through that. But in the end I just knew

[00:10:24] [SPEAKER_02]: that my heart was still with lobbying and I wanted to find something where it would both be,

[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_02]: you know I say upward mobility but I don't think of careers as ladders. It's more of a spider web

[00:10:36] [SPEAKER_02]: right and I needed to kind of find my next part of the web to go to and the opportunity was

[00:10:43] [SPEAKER_02]: to work him up where I played those kind of get back into more traditional lobbying but also use a lot

[00:10:48] [SPEAKER_02]: of the strategic communications skills that I could be learning at B.P. So while it was a really

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_02]: hard decision to get to you I was very fortunate that I ended up with a company that allowed me to

[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_02]: bring together all of the skills that I could be able to hone while I at B.P.

[00:11:05] [SPEAKER_00]: And what are all the different things you could have done, what attracted you to wanting

[00:11:10] [SPEAKER_02]: to get into lobbying? Oh my goodness, from Capitol Hill I was talking to my class about this last

[00:11:18] [SPEAKER_02]: night because you know they one of my students asked a question saying you know we know that

[00:11:25] [SPEAKER_02]: lobbying gets a bad wrap you talked about the scarlet letter you know the scarlet L that lobbies

[00:11:30] [SPEAKER_02]: and the flaring like why do you think you have this great gig like why why are you so excited

[00:11:36] [SPEAKER_02]: about what you do and I said there's three things is one I get to learn and really really learn

[00:11:44] [SPEAKER_02]: deeply lots of fascinating things so I love incredibly complex and incredibly regular industries

[00:11:52] [SPEAKER_02]: and that's where I fortunately ended up and those were the opportunities that I like to see

[00:11:55] [SPEAKER_02]: so I like I like the learning aspect and I like the people aspect you're always working with

[00:12:01] [SPEAKER_02]: incredibly smart savvy people and the third one is I like to talk. It's luckily lucky that you have

[00:12:09] [SPEAKER_02]: me on here because I love talking and I love connecting with people I have a true curiosity

[00:12:15] [SPEAKER_02]: about what makes people tick and that just happens to I think also be what makes somebody a good

[00:12:22] [SPEAKER_02]: lobbyist is to figure out you know where people are coming from even if it's not you know from

[00:12:28] [SPEAKER_02]: position or the same values that you have maybe you can find things that you agree I mean

[00:12:33] [SPEAKER_02]: you can always find a connection with someone so that's one of the most fun things that I find about

[00:12:37] [SPEAKER_00]: the role that I play and what what difference do you see lobbying for core power as

[00:12:46] [SPEAKER_02]: post to BP if any yeah yeah no I definitely think some differences and I mean one is everyone

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER_02]: at the MPP is a hundred plus year old multi-national British company right and I work for

[00:13:02] [SPEAKER_02]: core power which I think we're at about 160 people and we're based on Idaho. We're in the energy

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_02]: value chain but a different part of the value chain right we're not a startup we're a small

[00:13:14] [SPEAKER_02]: company we're growing company we've definitely got some um startup vibes I guess I would call them

[00:13:21] [SPEAKER_02]: right in terms of the entrepreneurial side of it and honestly that's what really attracted me

[00:13:26] [SPEAKER_02]: to the company because not every company especially um or companies

[00:13:33] [SPEAKER_02]: give everyone the freedom to be as entrepreneurial as I wanted to be and when core actually need

[00:13:39] [SPEAKER_02]: to come in and help build their government affairs function I just had to leave at the opportunity

[00:13:45] [SPEAKER_02]: because when you get to make something from scratch right like I was I was employees

[00:13:50] [SPEAKER_02]: zero for government affairs and got to bring in you know a couple a couple folks onto my team we

[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_02]: are small but mighty team um I will grow in the future but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity

[00:14:00] [SPEAKER_02]: to take again all of the wordings that I had both in my time on Capitol Hill and during my time at

[00:14:08] [SPEAKER_02]: BP and bringing them in you know use those lessons learned to have though the best government

[00:14:14] [SPEAKER_01]: there's something that I've been for core speaking of lessons or at the beginning of the school year

[00:14:22] [SPEAKER_01]: we are you already mentioned your class once what's the syllabus for teaching the future generation

[00:14:29] [SPEAKER_01]: of lobbyists? oh man you know everybody asked me like well how how do I look at a lobbyist is there

[00:14:35] [SPEAKER_02]: of course I can take my life not there's kind of courses you can take but I honestly learned how to be

[00:14:46] [SPEAKER_02]: on Capitol Hill I remember the people that I tried to emulate when I left Capitol Hill because I

[00:14:52] [SPEAKER_02]: respected them they always gave me you know accurate information and a timely fashion they were

[00:14:57] [SPEAKER_02]: always polite even to my staff assisted in my interns right those things matter especially in a

[00:15:03] [SPEAKER_02]: small town like DC with a long memory and I remember lobbyists that you know I didn't really feel

[00:15:09] [SPEAKER_02]: comfortable chatting with and they were rather rude either to me or to my interns and maybe

[00:15:16] [SPEAKER_02]: they didn't give me all of the information that I wanted so the class that I teach at Georgetown

[00:15:25] [SPEAKER_02]: is focused on public relations and corporate communications students so I'm actually in a

[00:15:32] [SPEAKER_02]: long of the program as where I went to grad school at the Georgetown PR and corporate comms program

[00:15:38] [SPEAKER_02]: it's just in downtown DC at the school of usually laying the studies campus it was extremely

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_02]: convenient for me to go and during my time there I kept thinking this kind of strange or in DC but

[00:15:50] [SPEAKER_02]: you know there's no like political antenna course that people should be taking and I haven't

[00:15:56] [SPEAKER_02]: really had it because I was a lobbyist while I was taking this you know that these graduate classes

[00:16:01] [SPEAKER_02]: and in corporate communications but nobody else had them right and I I saw this a gap in the

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_02]: program I remember mentioning to mention it to the pro lay director at the time and then now

[00:16:12] [SPEAKER_02]: years later they were looking for someone to come in and create a course so I got to create the

[00:16:18] [SPEAKER_02]: course and scratch again there's yeah there's some themes here you know creating the course

[00:16:22] [SPEAKER_02]: and scratching and pulling together the syllabus was really fun because I cut thinking what what

[00:16:27] [SPEAKER_02]: people need to know to understand right the people in my class may never be lobbyists themselves maybe they

[00:16:33] [SPEAKER_02]: will but at the very least a number of them were in that supporting the government affairs team

[00:16:38] [SPEAKER_02]: right we we we talked about this before many we've seen the trend of government affairs and public affairs

[00:16:45] [SPEAKER_02]: and communications teams coming together under the same umbrella and it's really important to be able

[00:16:50] [SPEAKER_02]: to break down the silos and have everyone understand each other's audiences so that there are no

[00:16:56] [SPEAKER_02]: prizes the last thing you want is for you know for your government affairs folks to hear about

[00:17:04] [SPEAKER_02]: news from your own press release right there should be much more coordinate and so one of the

[00:17:09] [SPEAKER_02]: goals that I have for the classes to really hope these young communicators get a foundation on what

[00:17:16] [SPEAKER_02]: lobby and their relations is but they don't understand it I know we're going to talk about what

[00:17:22] [SPEAKER_02]: the relations later so I'll hold up on that but I went through numerous congressional procedure

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_02]: classes with a woman and beauty shnider who recently passed away this year and many people

[00:17:38] [SPEAKER_02]: that are probably listening to that she is a legend in DC and among many other things was the

[00:17:44] [SPEAKER_02]: woman for many of the top members of Congress how to be members of Congress right she kind of you know

[00:17:51] [SPEAKER_02]: taught everyone about congressional procedure from young staffers like me when I was on the hill

[00:17:55] [SPEAKER_02]: I remember being those in Thrall and terrified of this woman when I got from Capitol Hill

[00:18:01] [SPEAKER_02]: but ended up really bonding with her when I was a president of women down in

[00:18:05] [SPEAKER_02]: relation because actually it was one of our key supporters and she did session where she talked

[00:18:11] [SPEAKER_02]: everything through congressional procedure and she always talked about the three peas and I expanded

[00:18:17] [SPEAKER_02]: to four pea policy process people and politics right so those are the four peas that I focused

[00:18:28] [SPEAKER_02]: on on my syllabus to get back to your original question and through the course I bring them

[00:18:33] [SPEAKER_02]: guest speakers to talk about their experiences just last night I had Jason Matthews from

[00:18:39] [SPEAKER_02]: Bluewater Strategies and sat a letter from federal hall policy partners come in and talk about not just

[00:18:46] [SPEAKER_02]: their experiences as a lobbyists whether it's in-house or multi-client or trade association

[00:18:52] [SPEAKER_02]: but also their experiences on the hill and how that impacts how they do their work now so I

[00:18:57] [SPEAKER_02]: try to make it a pragmatic as possible for these communicators so that they leave the class

[00:19:02] [SPEAKER_02]: understanding why are being asked to create a one-pager a certain way or create talking points

[00:19:08] [SPEAKER_02]: in a certain way or to create a certain kind of infographic is because we're sticking to a different

[00:19:13] [SPEAKER_00]: audience than they may be just a see-how we interviewed someone on the podcast who added a fifth

[00:19:23] [SPEAKER_00]: pea to that framework. Oh, what is that? pea for personality. Oh, I like it!

[00:19:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah he said as he was John refili at Capital Council and he said that as he's building a team

[00:19:37] [SPEAKER_00]: and you're working on the hill he said you know one personality may work great with certain

[00:19:43] [SPEAKER_00]: people and not work great with other people and he said so when you're building a team you need to

[00:19:49] [SPEAKER_00]: think about that additional PE of personalities. I like that I may have to adapt that.

[00:19:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's great. Yeah, that's great. And do you find that most of your students go to Capital Hill

[00:20:10] [SPEAKER_00]: go to government relations and and I would imagine that most of them are working on Capital Hill

[00:20:16] [SPEAKER_00]: or will be working on or near Capital Hill if they're taking your class. Yeah, some of them have.

[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_02]: Some of them are in you know some of them had recently left the hill some had been

[00:20:30] [SPEAKER_02]: in terms recently somewhere looking for rules on the hill or thinking about what they would do

[00:20:35] [SPEAKER_02]: in our next school. So I probably say it's like half an hour for that but the focus really is

[00:20:41] [SPEAKER_02]: a kind of on those more traditional communicators you know folks that are used to

[00:20:46] [SPEAKER_02]: ready press releases and then you know I'm trying to get them into you know how do you

[00:20:49] [SPEAKER_02]: crack the one page or for a political audience and what are the things we need to think about

[00:20:53] [SPEAKER_02]: and what how do you phrase things and what kind of data do we mean for different offices? So

[00:21:01] [SPEAKER_02]: it's it's been really to teach the class. It's only my third semester teaching it so we'll see

[00:21:07] [SPEAKER_02]: how it goes in the future but the students have been engaged and and active and definitely

[00:21:14] [SPEAKER_02]: asking lots of lots of fascinating questions if I do a word cloud exercise during my first class

[00:21:20] [SPEAKER_02]: just to kind of you know level set and do a little bit of myth-busting

[00:21:24] [SPEAKER_02]: in terms of you know when you think a lot being a lobbyist what are the words that come to mind

[00:21:31] [SPEAKER_02]: and you can imagine the variety of terms that come out. Now naturally these students have chosen

[00:21:40] [SPEAKER_02]: to take a go in the affairs class so there are certainly things in there about

[00:21:45] [SPEAKER_02]: you know being savvy and being a great communicator and being smart and being educated

[00:21:50] [SPEAKER_02]: understanding or policy issues but I ask them to freely associate and you know it's it's all anonymous

[00:21:57] [SPEAKER_02]: and so there have been times when things like you know scandal comes up or an ethical or

[00:22:05] [SPEAKER_02]: I think statehouse came up in one of them and I'm like you guys think that I just like eat

[00:22:09] [SPEAKER_02]: stakes and pass out checks all the time like that is you are watching way too many movies about

[00:22:15] [SPEAKER_02]: lobbyists because that is a much sexier life than a lot of us a lot of us have and one of the

[00:22:21] [SPEAKER_02]: assignments that I have them do for that reason why happened to sit in the committee hearing

[00:22:25] [SPEAKER_02]: them like this is actually what a lot of us do as we're watching committee hearings

[00:22:30] [SPEAKER_02]: come on many, many other things that we do but I try to give them you know a little bit of myth-busting

[00:22:36] [SPEAKER_02]: of understanding that lobbying is not just what you see portrayed and you know in movie

[00:22:43] [SPEAKER_02]: your interviews is the class in person. This semester isn't person yes last semester it was virtual

[00:22:51] [SPEAKER_02]: and how do you students you I have 12 students that's not lot lot better being in person.

[00:22:58] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh it's wonderful in person well it is everybody can tell about I make a student extra record

[00:23:05] [SPEAKER_02]: so I try in teaching in person my soul kind of weathered a little bit when I had to be everything

[00:23:11] [SPEAKER_02]: virtually over the summer it was still a great class but I I gained energy for being in person with

[00:23:16] [SPEAKER_02]: people so it's a lot fun there's a lot more fun to be back in the class in this year

[00:23:20] [SPEAKER_01]: well and taking the class in Washington DC the experiential nature like you said you're sitting in

[00:23:26] [SPEAKER_01]: them to go sit in a hearing rather than you know read and present a classroom it's just an incredible

[00:23:32] [SPEAKER_01]: opportunity for those students. So you your mom and your heading up federal and state local

[00:23:41] [SPEAKER_01]: all of it government relations it's the sustainability but that and then the language and the other

[00:23:46] [SPEAKER_01]: thing going on yeah um at a quickly growing company so you've got your plate full you've already

[00:23:54] [SPEAKER_01]: mentioned a number of organizations that you've been affiliated with over the years you and I first

[00:23:58] [SPEAKER_01]: met through the Institute at Public Affairs Council and went through the longest

[00:24:04] [SPEAKER_01]: serving class in the Institute's history thanks to COVID we got our own a year to bond us

[00:24:13] [SPEAKER_01]: but can you just share with folks the various organizations that you you dedicate a lot of your

[00:24:20] [SPEAKER_01]: capacity and a lot of your talents to serving the profession not only in your professor ship or

[00:24:27] [SPEAKER_01]: or the agge on for a pressure ship but just in terms of your time so just the different organizations

[00:24:33] [SPEAKER_01]: that you've been a leader in and who they are and what they do I think would be helpful for

[00:24:39] [SPEAKER_02]: this audience. Yeah I am happy to talk about that I am very proudly a lobbyist Pilateists um I

[00:24:46] [SPEAKER_02]: I try to reclaim that word everybody's like well you should call the river relations like no

[00:24:52] [SPEAKER_02]: like that's true but I'm going to call a lobbyist because I am reclaiming the word and yeah

[00:24:56] [SPEAKER_02]: slowly but surely trying to change the that reaction or need your reaction that a lot of folks have

[00:25:03] [SPEAKER_02]: um so you're right so I am involved with the public affairs council I sit on the board

[00:25:09] [SPEAKER_02]: for the public affairs council and quite often do public speaking for them a different

[00:25:14] [SPEAKER_02]: conferences in fact I'm just taking alongside public affairs council colleague at the

[00:25:22] [SPEAKER_02]: women there are relations conference which is another word as we should as we've mentioned

[00:25:27] [SPEAKER_02]: that I've been involved in so um I joined women there relations in WDR when I was still on

[00:25:33] [SPEAKER_02]: patho hill at the behest of Liz Ryker it's as previously mentioned who I believe at the time she

[00:25:40] [SPEAKER_02]: was either ending her presidential term or maybe she was immediate past president at the time I can't

[00:25:48] [SPEAKER_02]: can't remember the years exactly but she strongly suggested that I joined the word in her as

[00:25:54] [SPEAKER_02]: and it has probably been the most impactful organization in terms of my career during my time

[00:26:00] [SPEAKER_02]: of DR and DC so I have made um those professional and personal relationships that you know have

[00:26:07] [SPEAKER_02]: seen me through good times and bad times through last um you know decade or two um I would not be

[00:26:15] [SPEAKER_02]: where I am now without that organization but um when I joined I was you know involved in the tough

[00:26:22] [SPEAKER_02]: courses I joined the energy environment task force as a co-chair to help put on events on those

[00:26:30] [SPEAKER_02]: topics because I worked obviously in environment and energy issues for DP and then I moved on to the

[00:26:36] [SPEAKER_02]: board and eventually became president so um now I'm in the leadership circle I've had to

[00:26:43] [SPEAKER_02]: totally call it the the dead presidents club um this where all of the former presidents kind of come

[00:26:48] [SPEAKER_02]: together and we continue to support the organizations I'm very proud to be a member both of the

[00:26:53] [SPEAKER_02]: executive council for WDR but also the leadership council um where you know those of us who have

[00:26:58] [SPEAKER_02]: gone through all of our terms can still sit and support the organization so those are a couple

[00:27:03] [SPEAKER_02]: so there's WGR there's public affairs council and then as you know I also sit on the board of trustees

[00:27:09] [SPEAKER_02]: for the American Council of Young political leaders um which is an organization that

[00:27:14] [SPEAKER_02]: fosters both inbound and outbound political and cultural exchanges for better understanding amongst

[00:27:21] [SPEAKER_02]: exactly that young political leaders I was very fortunate to uh be nominated and asked to join

[00:27:28] [SPEAKER_02]: a delegation to to Misa and Marapo in 2016 um and again it's one of those both once in a lifetime

[00:27:38] [SPEAKER_02]: but also by changing experiences I am still very close with the other folks that were on that trip

[00:27:43] [SPEAKER_02]: with me um we were you know a small group of six and this really bonded during our you know our

[00:27:51] [SPEAKER_02]: 10 or 12 days in Tunisia and Marapo and um I was so grateful for my experience that when I came

[00:27:59] [SPEAKER_02]: back I joined the Alumni Council and now I've been able to join the board of trustees so it's

[00:28:04] [SPEAKER_02]: supporting that organization or something that's um I'm very important to me. Did you take a

[00:28:12] [SPEAKER_02]: camel ride out into the desert? I did in fact yes and we did I have pictures like a charity yes we

[00:28:20] [SPEAKER_02]: we definitely wrote camels we lots of delicious food we met just really incredible welcoming people

[00:28:27] [SPEAKER_02]: the unique thing about the experiences these trips are that um we met with a number of different political

[00:28:35] [SPEAKER_02]: parties that we would have never had the opportunity to meet with just those you know random young

[00:28:40] [SPEAKER_02]: 20 30 something you know coming into Tunisia and Marapo but we got to you know really meet with folks

[00:28:46] [SPEAKER_02]: at the highest level of government and worried about how things were working and how they were

[00:28:52] [SPEAKER_02]: trying to improve things you know in their political processes and it makes you both expand your mind

[00:28:58] [SPEAKER_02]: and in terms of understanding where other cultures and countries are coming from but also you know

[00:29:05] [SPEAKER_02]: feel really grateful for some of the things we have here in the United States.

[00:29:09] [SPEAKER_01]: So if I'm beginning my career in government affairs or I'm midstream in my career in government affairs

[00:29:19] [SPEAKER_01]: or am I and I'm or I'm a leader in my career in government affairs where do I participate and why?

[00:29:28] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh my goodness in terms of organizations in DC yeah I am always always going to say women

[00:29:34] [SPEAKER_02]: that are relations if you if you are a woman here in DC that is or not in DC because there's

[00:29:43] [SPEAKER_02]: you don't have to be in DC the participate so that's one of my number ones. I think public affairs

[00:29:48] [SPEAKER_02]: council is key and it spans the gamut of you know public affairs so there's there's the lobbying

[00:29:54] [SPEAKER_02]: side there's the flood of their suicide um so if you're interested in packs and politics there's that

[00:29:59] [SPEAKER_02]: part of it it's there's strategic communications you can learn about anything and everything

[00:30:03] [SPEAKER_02]: you can public affairs council and policy council and policy council.

[00:30:09] [SPEAKER_02]: Student policy council says a new act that of exactly they have to the policy council

[00:30:14] [SPEAKER_02]: if you are given your career advocate for yourself and get your employee your employer to help

[00:30:21] [SPEAKER_02]: support you and that if that's one of the rules they should be playing.

[00:30:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Well you have had some incredible mentors and you have also mentored others

[00:30:32] [SPEAKER_01]: if you had to give yourself advice to Suzanne who's leaving the hill 14 years ago

[00:30:41] [SPEAKER_02]: what would you tell them for? Oh goodness I would say the lobbyist who herself you know if you don't

[00:30:51] [SPEAKER_02]: ask for things the answer is always going to be no right I haven't opened a lot in my life and

[00:30:57] [SPEAKER_02]: that's okay right the the know that I got for working on policy is what ended up you know helping

[00:31:03] [SPEAKER_02]: me put it to working on capital hell right so don't be afraid of that rejection you know

[00:31:08] [SPEAKER_02]: logging itself can feel sister feeling really rolling the border up the hill for at the fall back

[00:31:12] [SPEAKER_02]: on you so there's you know there's a need for resilience and you can start building that resilience

[00:31:17] [SPEAKER_02]: you know pretty young but just asking and advocating for yourself I wish I had done it more

[00:31:24] [SPEAKER_02]: when I was I would be on earth but you know once once this once the switch went the other way

[00:31:33] [SPEAKER_02]: I am definitely on on the much more tenacious side now. Well Jim do you have any other questions

[00:31:42] [SPEAKER_01]: or do you want me to throw our capstone questions at her? I would throw the capstone questions at her

[00:31:48] [SPEAKER_01]: and let's see let's try to see if we can trip her up. Oh no. So all of our guests tend to be road warriors

[00:31:59] [SPEAKER_01]: and we ask the question where were you last and what was the best meal or restaurant that you

[00:32:06] [SPEAKER_01]: ventured into and where are you headed to next so if someone wants to connect with you on like

[00:32:12] [SPEAKER_02]: in and start a friendship they can give you a restaurant tip. Oh I love that that makes me so happy

[00:32:19] [SPEAKER_02]: because every hour they's not spent working or doing travel baseball with my child is usually

[00:32:26] [SPEAKER_02]: spent either traveling or playing for travel so this was awesome. I went to Panama

[00:32:33] [SPEAKER_02]: over the August break with my best friend and I feel like the entire world is sleeping on

[00:32:40] [SPEAKER_02]: if you've not been in a Panama I could absolutely go I have one of the best meals of my life

[00:32:45] [SPEAKER_02]: at a restaurant and I'm trying to renew the name. I think it was low-key I

[00:32:51] [SPEAKER_02]: and it was delicious so if you're going to Panama you're gonna be in Panama saidy let me know

[00:32:57] [SPEAKER_02]: and I will send you all of the information about where I ate and the true the tour guides that we use

[00:33:01] [SPEAKER_02]: because it was magical and magnificent and not only gonna be able to have a great food but I also

[00:33:07] [SPEAKER_02]: got to feed and you know monkeys that was even time. And where I'm going next I almost embarrassed to say

[00:33:15] [SPEAKER_02]: that this morning I booked a trip to Savannah for right before Christmas to enjoy the Savannah

[00:33:21] [SPEAKER_02]: Christmas market so if you have recommendations for restaurants in Savannah I am all years.

[00:33:29] [SPEAKER_01]: I love Savannah I've had it there next week I've never been there from the South I've never been a

[00:33:39] [SPEAKER_01]: successful you're in love it. Well thank you Suzanne for joining us today and bringing forth your

[00:33:46] [SPEAKER_01]: knowledge of both the industry and just sharing the lessons of your career so helpful to so many

[00:33:53] [SPEAKER_02]: people we appreciate you. Thank you for having me it was always fun to talk about this and as you

[00:33:58] [SPEAKER_02]: can see I'm very passionate about lobbying and it's just it's been a great time chatting with you

[00:34:05] [SPEAKER_01]: we will charge forward and change how people feel about the word lobbyist 100% or on your team on that one.