Most of the women featured on the Happy Black Woman podcast are businesswomen; entrepreneurs who are building their dreams through a successful company. Today’s guest is a bit different. Rebecca Thompson is fulfilling her life-calling by championing a cause: black women in politics. Rebecca’s determination and spirit are a powerful demonstration of what can happen when black woman get energized toward public office. You will be inspired and encouraged – possibly even motivated to get involved in your community’s politics – by listening to this episode of the podcast.

The face of power tends to be male and it tends to be white.

If you haven’t noticed how things are in this world, the faces of power tend to be male and they tend to be white. There’s nothing wrong with that – anyone can be an elected leader in the United States if they truly have the heart to serve the people. But those two facts do show us that the black community, and black women in particular, are underrepresented among the elected officials who have so much power in determining the course of our communities and nation. Rebecca’s realization of that fact is part of what motivated her to run for office and help other black women learn the skills needed to run for office in their jurisdictions.

If you want to run for office you need to be clear about WHY you are doing it.

There are many reasons you may want to run for office. But if you’re going to put yourself and your family into the public eye in that way you need to be clear on exactly WHY you are doing it. Rebecca Thompson says it’s essential because you will run into moments where it doesn’t seem that what you’re doing is worth it. Opponents will falsely accuse you. You will be slandered. The press will have unreasonable questions and demands. How are you going to persevere if that’s the case? You’ll do it by having a clear sense of WHY. Rebecca Thompson is Rosetta’s guest on this episode of Happy Black Woman.

You don’t have to know how you’re going to raise the money.

One of the major hurdles you’ll have to get past if you are going to run for elected office is the issue of money. You will need money to run a successful campaign – a LOT of it. How are you going to raise money if you don’t feel that you have a public persona already? Rebecca Thompson was in those exact shoes when she decided to run for office and her approach was much more successful than you might think it would be for a first-time candidate. Rebecca shares her fundraising strategy and tells the results of her demanding and powerful campaign, on this episode.

What is your freedom worth to you?

When Rosetta asked Rebecca Thompson about the ways she keeps herself on track in the midst of a busy life Rebecca said that she has to remind herself first of all that she’s working to maintain her own freedom. When that’s clear in her mind she has to ask herself a simple question and give an honest answer. “What is my freedom worth?” Is it worth missing a favorite TV show because she needs to work on an important project? Is it worth going to bed late or rising early? Those are the kinds of questions anyone has to ask themselves if they want a better life than they have – or if they want to make an impact like Rebecca does by encouraging black women in politics. You can hear Rebecca’s inspiring story on this episode.

Outline of this great episode

• [0:30] Rosetta’s introduction to Rebecca Thompson, host of the Changing the Face of Power podcast.
• [3:32] Why Rebecca is so passionate about encouraging black women to run for office.
• [9:11] The first steps for a women who are interested in running for office.
• [14:18] The impact of reaching out to people she knew when running for office.
• [20:43] What is needed to step into the public ring?
• [24:47] How Rebecca stays on track.
• [28:15] Books Rebecca values.
• [29:38] How you can connect with Rebecca.

Resources & Links mentioned in this episode

• http://www.rebeccamthompson.com
• Rebecca on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/candicacycoach/
• Rebecca on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CandidacyCoach
• BOOK: Think And Grow Rich

About REBECCA THOMPSON

Rebecca Thompson is a nationally renowned speaker, trainer, and candidacy coach; a former candidate for state representative, and host of the “Changing the Face of Power Podcast”.Rebecca’s mission (and life’s work) is to change the face of power by informing, inspiring, and supporting black women to run for office at the state and local level so they can fulfill their purpose and change the world.She has traveled the world training candidates to run for elected office and is a graduate of the Women’s Campaign School at Yale, EMILY’S List, The White House Project and numerous other leadership programs. Rebecca is a national trainer for VoteRunLead and ElectHer, which trains young women to run for elected office. She also serves on the National Leadership Team of Political Parity, a bipartisan group of national women’s organizations dedicated to getting more women elected to office.Rebecca was inspired to create – Changing the Face of Power – the first and only podcast in the country dedicated to inspiring black women to run for office –after losing her election for state representative by just 6 votes on Election Day. She wants to teach women candidates everything she learned the hard way so they can run and win the first time.

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