Working on Political Campaign in the Thumb of Michigan

Everyone should help on a political campaign to get the experience.

The most fun I’ve had in the last 10 years is helping my friend run his political campaign. Giving all that I’ve done, you wouldn’t think that, would’ya? You hear,’ Politics is evil. Politics is slimy. Politics is a unnerving.

So let me ask you a few questions. 

1. What can be more purposeful than speaking to people, understanding their problems and working with them to develop solutions to solve them? 
2. What can be more pleasurable than running to local events, eating local foods, and joining local festivities? 
3. What can be more prideful than making a superstar out of yourself by outdoor advertising in your local district, making social media videos, or speaking on radio? 

For me, this is the combination of a great job: something this purposeful, pleasurable and prideful.

Are you interested to learn more?

Over the last few weeks we spent on the campaign trail, we heard about local problems in the thumb of Michigan in D-10 and how they were not be represented by their local congressman. These problems included the opioid crisis, mental health, tariffs affecting jobs in michigan, and healthcare. As an entrepreneur or problem solver, your ears perk up. We have problems to solve! We spent hours brainstorming ways to fix the problems and develop solutions. It is no different than working on your next startup. We even made our slogan “Fix It!”

Our schedule was packed. Jeremy would wake up early for a session with other lawmakers, visit schools, and attend small speaking engagements. On the weekend we would attend local festivals such as Blake cider farms where there were 10’s of thousands of people attending. We also kicked off my trip at the Blue Water StartupSchool. There is no better way to learn about a community than joining local events and festivities. It was super fun!

The other part of the day we – more Kian than I – spent working on making our candidate famous. Now what can be more fun for anyone than this?!  We made radio ads, blog posts, and videos. We gathered videos from when he was a kid and made new videos on his farm. Storytelling is certainly a skill! We outsourced animated videos and created voice overs – now we have an idea how Pixar does this. Creating radio ads was like taking voice lessons in a day. Jeremy even fixed-up a 1956 GM bus and put his face right in the middle. It was like driving a moving billboard around town – this was instant fame! 

We learned a lot and had so much fun.  

I hope many read this and can understand why i’m writing this. Being a politician is purposeful, prideful, and pleasurable. Don’t just turn your head and scoff at it. Maybe you just don’t know how exciting it can be.