The 10 Year Challenge – Meet the Gun Totin’, Political Activists Lea
Hi Friends,
Earlier today @joythewanderer and @evecab posted their 10 year challenge and I decided to jump onboard! It’s kind of fun to reminisce back to 10 years ago as I was in a pretty exciting whirlwind of different things. I honestly look back and I don’t even know how I did it all. Somehow I was doing all of these things at the exact same time:
Campaign Manager for a State House of Representatives Race
Store Manager of a coffee shop (working about 50 hours a week there)
In University for about 15 credits a quarter (considered full time)
The Chair of Budget and Finance for the Student Body at my College
Even though I look back and wonder how I didn’t go totally crazy… I have such fond memories of this period in my life.
The Power In Feeling Like You Kick Ass
I’ll dig into some fun memories from each of the topics above… but I think the reason I was able to do so much was because I was honestly kicking ass at each of them. My coffee shop was a top performer, my candidate was killing it in the election race and I had a lot of fun representing the student body. It was a surprisingly powerful feeling position. If the basketball team or the Spanish club wanted their funding – they literally had to impress me to get it because I wrote the budget. Okay I promise I’m not bragging… I’m just reflecting on how well this fits into my current view of time. Which is…
Time is measured in energy… not hours.
An hour spent doing things that fuel and excite you will leave you feeling very different than an hour spent doing something you dread. In the first example – I leave that hour feeling stoked and ready to take on the next thing. In the other example I’m ready to just Netflix and chill. This is why I really try to fill my day with as many things that spark joy as possible.
So here’s a little snapshot into a few of the things I was up to a decade ago.
Campaign Manager for State House Race
Random? Sure. To be honest… I never set out to become a campaign manager for such a high stakes race, it just kind of fell into my lap. The candidate was actually my ex and the week before his big campaign launch party (hundreds of people already RSVP’d), His campaign manager quit suddenly and let him know he had done nothing in terms of ordering food, planning the party or really doing anything except securing the venue.
He called me in a panic and asked If I would just plan this one party for him because he needed someone he could trust to actually pull this off in a week. The party ended up being such a huge fundraising success that he practically begged me to come on as his campaign manager. I know you’d think it would be weird working with your ex…but we actually made a pretty good team. I learned so much during that campaign cycle too. Everything from TV and radio advertisements, to fundraising, to coordinating volunteers, to planning events, to networking with politicians… you name it.
He was up against a 17 year incumbent and literally had no political experience… or even a college degree. The incumbent wouldn’t even acknowledge him or take him seriously because she thought it was a joke… until we beat her in the preliminaries. By then it was too late because our momentum just kept rolling all the way until election night – where we had a massive party.
Speaking of parties… yes, he was a Republican. I no longer buy into that philosophy and consider myself a libertarian/free thinker… but thought I’d get that detail out of the way.
So yeah… this is an accomplishment that I was really proud of from 10 year ago Lea. Here are a few photos.
Store Manager at a Coffee Shop
I promise to not write a novel on this one… but it was a lot of fun! (most of the time) Let’s face it … managing college students is kind of the pits, but our store was the top rated in terms of sales, drive through speeds, secret shopper reviews, labor cost ratios, food waste percentages and pretty much any stat the company used. It’s a local coffee chain that had about 15 stores at the time. Now I think they have closer to 30?
They really worked their managers to the bone though and heavily underpaid them. I was young… only 19/20 and so I don’t think I really realized how bad the working conditions were. You live and learn though! Now I’d demand a lot more for my time, but it was still a cool learning experience.
Chair of Budget and Finance for the Student Body
To be honest… I only campaigned for this position because it paid for 75% of my tuition and wasn’t that much work. I had to attend weekly student council meetings, and then I had about 1 month a year that was super busy and that’s it. Budget season is where I put my time in. I basically met with every single club and sports team so they could pitch their budget requests to me. After meeting with everyone, I would assemble a proposed budget based on who I thought was spending their money well and what would benefit the students most. I would then present my budget to the Board of Trustees for approval.
Wait… Where’s the Gun Totin’ Part?
So about 10 years ago is when I shot my first gun. I lived out in the county where people lived on farms, drove pickup trucks and a fun time with friends usually involved going out shooting. Here’s a couple shots from that. (pun intended)
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How Do I Feel About How My Body Has Changed?
Even though it was easier to keep a slim weight back then and I could eat as much pizza as I wanted… I actually like my body better now. I feel like the biggest difference I see is in my face. I had a rounder little baby face back then and in general, I feel like I look more confident and sure of myself now. Probably because I am. A lot has changed in the last decade, and even though I look back to 10 years ago with a sense of accomplishment… I’m even more proud of who I’ve become and the life I’ve crafted for myself.
I Challenge You All to Join Me!
I hope this sparks more of you to do your own 10 year challenge! If you decide to post one, let me know so I can check it out! I’d love to see some throwback photos and learn more about who you were 10 years ago too.
Xo, Lea
Whoa, I didn't know we had so much in common! I was in politics about 10 years ago as well. I worked on the presidential campaign for John McCain in 2008 and then ran and won precinct committeeman in 2010. I got burned out by it all though and ended up not pursuing politics! (But I still love to listen to podcasts haha) I was also going to school at the time, working at a deli, working on the painting team for the dorms on campus, and doing theatre.
Even with 3 kids and a full time job now, I still wonder how I juggled what I did back then. I too LOVED it though.
Are you still GOP? I have found that I have gone much more Libertarian since that time. Hence why I found myself here I guess!
It was good to catch up on some of your posts! I haven't been on much lately!
xx - Beth
I just caught the part where you said you were more of a libertarian now! Hahaha don't know how I missed that the first time!
Sounds like a hectic time; you're right about the energy though.
Our monthly meetups fly by. They take it out of me, but re-energise me at the same time.
This was just over 10 years ago.
Woah thanks for sharing! That's such a great picture - you look so happy!! Your monthly meetups always sound so fun. I think it's awesome that you guys take the energy and time to put them together every month.
how cool that we're creating a trend here on Steemit LOL. I love your post! Even though I don't like guns, I love the last pic...very artistic, and I like the hair too! Funny to see people's styles 10 years ago
I know, right?? We are such trend setters. Yeah I was a little hesitant to post the gun stuff because I wasn't sure how people would react... but it was definitely a part of my world back then. I still own guns, but I don't really go out shooting much anymore.
I loved reading through your 10 year post. You are just glowing now in comparison to that office picture you posted. So beautiful to see the transformation!
Wooah what a fun challenge, you created a beautiful story from it. Loving all the details! Fun to read about your coffee history, now I really want to drink some coffee with you. You must have some pretty cool stories from that time. But what an activities you did during those 10 years, and you didn’t even write about them all! 😮
Still remember from my time in Athens how big politics actually are in the States, fun to see you did work as a campaign manager. But the best part (although I don’t like guns in public and owning them, I do love the shooting range) is your countrylife. Wasn’t aware of that fact, same counts for being a model in a photoshoot. Fun to read those unexpected parts. 😎
ooooh I would LOVE to get coffee with you sometime. I definitely have some fun stories!
I'm glad you enjoyed all the little fun facts sprinkled throughout the post. :) I still do some modeling now - but it's just for fun. It's nice to get some free professional photos and then I often get to keep whatever I'm modeling such as jewelry etc. haha
Hehe, a girl has to earn here jewelry's isn't it?🤣 No think it's cool you are still doing the modeling work! What kind of shoots do you every now and then? You have a manager/bureau for that? Or how do they get in contact with you?
Ten years ago I just started my current job studying in Ohio, seems so long time ago already. I did even still work in a home for elderly people those days. That was my coffee job 😍 Drinking coffee with the lonely people and reading the newspapers with them and just talk about everything going on in the world and listen to their stories. Best student job ever!
Well, you have became more adoring and fabulous over the years,
Most people don't have the courage to fully express themselves for this challenge, no matter how much they claim to be largely expressive.
Kudos to you and more energetic years to come...
aww thank you my friend! <3 It was fun to reminisce back to 10 years ago and see all the changes. I'm so glad you enjoyed reading through it all. I definitely wasn't planning to write that much - but it all just came out! haha
I can see how your prior experiences have cultivated you for being such a great asset for our community here in the ecosystem. Diversity in not only people but experiences are keys to these types of borderless ventures we find ourselves in.
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I could not agree more!! Teams are stronger when they are diverse - and it's not just about gender or race. Diversity of experience, knowledge and experience can add so much to the dynamic of that team/group.
ohhh yeah people are bringing this challenge here! Finally we are getting the trends from all social media joining this place :D I love that so much.
And Your 10 years challenge it is amazing... I might upload tomorrow my photos but for sure I wont go to so much detail.... I blame it on the alcohol... I can't remember ehhehe :D 😁
hahah i hear ya there! ;) You should totally post for the 10 year challenge! Yeah no need to go into as much detail as me... hahah I wasn't even planning on it but it just all came out.
Ehehe I guess you got nostalgic eheheh 😊
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" I no longer buy into that philosophy and consider myself a libertarian/free thinker…"
Nice
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Knew you'd appreciate that line! :)
coruscate crips always appreciate
sadly you dont want to become a freethinker mama :'(
but i see, you got some virtual children to feed: steem onboarding, sss, openmic....
great old days photos :)
Thanks @cityofstars! Glad you enjoyed this throwback post.
my pleasure :)
I thought about how my life looked like 10 years ago. All I can say is, it was not as action packed and great as I thought it would of been...from graduating high school and trying to find my way in life.....
but there is a beauty in even just reading these types of posts and that "power" is that you can create your next 10 years to be even more amazing and jaw dropping than you ever imagined.
Thats my plan...... a 10 year challenge for the future me to look back on starting now. It should all be documented as well, since this is the first year of content creation for me....
thank you @coruscate for the post :)
stay you, stay safe.
ooooh I love that idea!!! Making this a year that you'd want to look back on in 10 years. :) Since you are not creating content - it should be easier for you to look back on and reflect more of your life and where you were at. :)
Im slowly creating content, using my iphone haha gotta start somewhere :P. One of my blog posts was what's something you used to do growing up and want to get back into?
or whats something you have always wanted to try but tell yourself "another day" my challenge to everyone was to start getting back into something they used to enjoy but life got in the way!
So i am going to challenge you to this :) something you used to love to do and have not done in a long time or try something new and report back to the steemit world how it all went!