WEBVTT - Governor Gretchen Whitmer: She Pivots Live from DC 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:02.759 I'm Gretchen Whitmer, the forty ninth Governor of the Great 0:00:02.759 --> 0:00:03.600 State of Michigan. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:17.360 Welcome back to She Pivots, the podcast where we talk 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:20.000 with women who dare to pivot out of one career 0:00:20.400 --> 0:00:24.640 and into something new and explore how their personal lives 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:33.839 impacts these decisions. I'm your host, Emily Tish Sussman. This 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:37.440 week we had a very special live episode with Michigan 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:41.120 Governor Gretchen Whitmer from our conversation at sixth to nine 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:44.839 in Washington, DC. When we began planning this season, I 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:46.760 knew I wanted to have someone on the show who 0:00:46.800 --> 0:00:49.360 could speak to the political climate that we're in while 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:54.240 also providing insight on how progress is possible. And Governor 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:58.520 Whitmer is no stranger to challenge. From navigating a plot 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:02.160 to kidnap and kill her to facing a global pandemic, 0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:06.200 the governor has led through difficult times. Now in the 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:09.240 midst of a mini plot twist, Governor Whitmer has taken 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:12.400 on a new title New York Times best selling author 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:15.959 with her book True Gretch and the new young adult edition. 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:20.240 During our conversation, she shares key pieces of wisdom from 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:23.480 the book that have shaped her trailblazing career, while merging 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:27.640 our favorite topic, the personal and the professional, as she 0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:31.240 shares her experience as part of the Sandwich generation taking 0:01:31.319 --> 0:01:33.959 care of her newborn and her own mother, all while 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:37.720 starting her political career in the Michigan legislature. Plus, she 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:42.720 answers one very important question, will she pivot again, perhaps 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:46.400 to one important office. This is an episode you don't 0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:49.440 want to miss. Thank you so much to sixth and I, 0:01:49.720 --> 0:01:53.320 a center for arts, entertainment, ideas and Jewish life in Washington, 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:57.320 d C, for hosting this amazing conversation. Let's jump right in. 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:08.480 Oh my god, Welcome Governor to d C. Thank you. 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:10.799 It's good to be here, the good people of d C. 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:13.960 Oh an Alliance fan there. Nice to see you. All right, 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:15.120 I have. 0:02:15.080 --> 0:02:17.119 To feel that we have more than one Lions fan 0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:19.360 in the room here, or at least a big Gretch 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:22.360 fans for sure. Okay, so we're gonna back it up. 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:24.359 We're gonna jump right in. All right, it's back it up, 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:27.120 little gretch. Give me, little gretch, what did you want 0:02:27.120 --> 0:02:27.920 to be when you grew up? 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:31.720 Little Gretch? Wanted to be a sports broadcaster. Actually, I 0:02:31.760 --> 0:02:34.600 could have met another life. Actually that would have been fun. 0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:37.120 But I'm glad to be here with you now that 0:02:37.280 --> 0:02:39.239 you know. When I went to Michigan State, I thought 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:41.760 I was going to be a sports broadcaster. All right, 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:45.080 go green, go white. I heard someone, and I see 0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:51.359 you go blue people out there too, And I went 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:53.919 to Michigan State. It was right down the street from 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:57.280 the state Capitol. And my dad, who saw that I 0:02:57.320 --> 0:02:59.640 was taking all my communications classes and a couple of 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:03.320 elect is like Bowling, suggested that I do an internship 0:03:03.320 --> 0:03:05.639 down at the capitol. And one of the things he 0:03:05.760 --> 0:03:08.359 said was, there's so few people. And I think it's 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:11.799 really true today, even more today, So a few people 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:16.040 understand how state government works or how government works, right civics. 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:19.440 They said, go down and do an internship at the capitol, 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:22.400 and maybe you hate it, maybe you love it, but 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:27.360 you'll you'll come away understanding state government better and it'll 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:31.080 carry you into wherever you go, put you on stronger footing. 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:34.200 And I fell in love with public policy. And that's 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:38.200 kind of when I when I pivoted the early pivot. 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:41.240 Do you think that you use anything from that early 0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:44.600 sports journalism passion in the work that you do today? 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:48.120 Oh that's a good that's a good question. Yeah. I 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:52.520 think teams. I think team sports is really a great way, 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:57.920 especially for women, to learn about leadership and teamwork and 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:00.840 how to take a loss and dust yourself off. And 0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:05.760 so definitely the sports background I think informs a lot 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:07.440 of how I show up today. Yeah. 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:10.280 Well, since I'm now dying to wade into this Michigan 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:12.080 State University of Mission, now I will tell you both 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:16.240 my mother went to DUM and my grandparents met there. Wow, 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:18.320 so we actually have some deep Michigan ties. 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:20.120 And I was just on this side. He asked a 0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:22.880 couple of questions. Everyone's got some link back to Michigan. 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:26.360 I think I am a Spartan who spawned Wolverine. So 0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:28.599 my one of my daughters is right there, and she's 0:04:28.640 --> 0:04:31.039 graduating in a few months from University of Michigan. 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:37.760 So look, nothing creates unity like a good rivalry. So 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:39.640 we're going to get the audience up here in it. Anyway. 0:04:39.680 --> 0:04:42.239 Yeah, I mean, how was that basketball game the other night, Sydney. 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:48.159 So once you decided politics, I mean, you you did 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:51.400 the internship, you got into it was that it you said, 0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:53.600 okay now I'm in Or did you ever even consider 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:54.200 anything else. 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:56.760 At that point, you know, I fell in love with 0:04:56.800 --> 0:04:59.640 it because I saw the difference. So I was as 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:02.960 a junior, your staffer, you do the hard work of 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:07.559 the community, the constituent work, and so I learned about 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:10.160 so much about the people of Michigan who were reaching 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:12.440 into state government, who needed help with this or that. 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:15.719 And I was someone who was able to help connect 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:18.760 people at times or give them, you know, information that 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:21.960 they were seeking. And it was really about people. It's 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:24.640 why I love this work. Even on the hardest day, 0:05:24.640 --> 0:05:26.640 and Lord knows, I've had more than my share of 0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:29.520 hard days in this job the last seven years. But 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:33.560 even on the hardest day there I get joy out 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:36.000 of knowing that I'm helping people or I'm doing something 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:38.520 that makes a difference in people's lives. So that part 0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:40.960 of the job I really, I really love and I 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:43.520 learned that early on that that was public service. That's 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:44.239 what it's all about. 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:47.919 Yeah, you had an early formative experience at the beginning 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:50.520 of it something that so many people of our generation 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:55.040 are dealing with. The Sandwich generation of caring for your mother, 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:58.960 your newborn, and in a new job all at the 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:03.640 same time. I mean, how what were your coping mechanisms 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:06.760 and what was your decision making look like at that point. 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:09.240 So you know, in the year two thousand, I was 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:11.800 running for the State House, was the first office that 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:15.640 I had run for. I was elected, got married, and 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:20.479 my mother had fallen ill with glioblastoma multiform, which is 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:23.600 the worst kind of brain cancer you can get, and 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:26.479 she was told she'd have maybe four to six months 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:29.800 to live. I was pregnant with my first child and 0:06:29.960 --> 0:06:33.039 a new member of the Michigan Legislature. They say the 0:06:33.080 --> 0:06:35.039 five hardest things that you'll do in the course of 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:37.680 your life is to have a child, the death of 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:42.360 a loved one, a new job, moving your home. All 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:45.320 of these things happened to me in that first that 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:47.600 first year I was in the legislature. 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:48.800 And yet I. 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:51.640 Think I learned that during that period of time really 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:56.440 forged who I am today. They have no patience for bs, 0:06:57.160 --> 0:06:59.200 and I don't have time to try to be something 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:01.280 I'm not. I don't have energy or time to do that, 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:05.080 and so it's helped me show up I think as 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:07.280 I am, and certainly a lot of women who came 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:09.440 before me made that easier for me, and women in 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:13.480 my generation to be our authentic selves and to feel 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:16.200 like we can show up as we are. But I think, 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:18.800 you know, I often talk in sports analogies, now you 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:21.840 know why, But you know, instead of looking at the 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:24.640 one hundred yards down the field, looking at the next ten, 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:28.000 And I think that's how I manage through that time. 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:31.000 What do I need to do today or this week 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:34.440 or this month to get through all of the pressures 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:37.360 that I'm navigating as a member of the Sandwich generation, 0:07:37.480 --> 0:07:38.440 a new legislator. 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:41.240 Yeah, Otherwise it would just feel overwhelming. 0:07:41.600 --> 0:07:44.400 Yeah, I mean when you think about how where am 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:46.240 I going to be? You know, how do I get 0:07:46.280 --> 0:07:48.880 that full one hundred yards? And you should always have 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:52.360 a plan, but you got to focus on the now, 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:54.560 and that's that you can take small bites and that's 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:57.000 the easiest way to do it. And I think I 0:07:57.080 --> 0:08:01.520 definitely tapped into those that skillut the pandemic, especially when 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:04.960 everything felt so overwhelming, but to do the next right thing. 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:07.280 And I talk a little bit about doing the next 0:08:07.320 --> 0:08:07.960 right thing in the. 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:11.600 Book Oh Don't Why We're definitely the pandemic. That topic 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:14.960 we will cover. So a large part of this show 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:17.920 and the way we tell stories is the intersection of 0:08:17.960 --> 0:08:21.560 the personal and professional, So trying to open up how 0:08:21.680 --> 0:08:24.120 these personal things that happen in our lives end up 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:28.680 impacting our professional decision making. So at that time, how 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:32.079 did your version of success change or was it the same? 0:08:33.000 --> 0:08:35.920 Yeah, it's interesting. People often ask you, know what, when 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:39.760 you had kids, did your opinions change? Did you change 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:41.920 your values at all? And I would say no, not 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:46.679 at all. My patients did I have zero patients for boloney? 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:49.800 I because I don't have time to wait for someone 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:51.520 else to fix an issue. I want to do it 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:53.480 because I think about the world that my kids are 0:08:53.480 --> 0:08:55.880 growing up in, and that people their age are growing 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:59.360 up in, and so so as I as I think 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:03.319 about how we are navigating, you know, the chaos today 0:09:03.520 --> 0:09:07.040 or the crises of the last few years, Centering on 0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:10.320 that is what helps me stay true to who I 0:09:10.360 --> 0:09:14.400 am and why I'm doing this job, but also to 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:18.440 keep me grounded. And nothing keeps you more grounded than 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:21.040 kids who do not think you're cool, even when other 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:21.640 people might. 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:30.079 I mean impressive that you even got her to come 0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:30.319 with you. 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:35.880 I begged her. We were at the White House for 0:09:35.960 --> 0:09:38.680 dinner last night, so she was my date and I 0:09:38.720 --> 0:09:39.880 begged her to come right. 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:43.200 Care to elaborate on that dinner. 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:57.199 No, we'll leave it at that. 0:09:57.240 --> 0:09:59.839 You went on to become the first woman to be 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:04.120 chosen a Senate minority leader in your state's history. Were 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:06.480 there moments during that time you thought, I mean there 0:10:06.520 --> 0:10:09.960 must have been we were like, Okay, I'm super good 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:13.000 at this, like I'm nailing this. Like what were those 0:10:13.040 --> 0:10:13.720 moments for. 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:15.520 You when I felt like I was nailing ass? 0:10:15.840 --> 0:10:18.600 Yeah, like I am amazing at being the state SENI 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:23.360 majority of the never you know, I remember my mom, 0:10:23.600 --> 0:10:25.120 who I talk a lot about in the book. 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:30.120 She was really a glass ceiling breaker. She was this blonde, 0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:34.439 blue eyed like little woman with this big personality, this 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:39.400 large laugh. She just exuded such confidence and she was 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:41.880 one of the she wrote all the book awards in 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:44.199 her year. She graduated law school while she was raising 0:10:44.280 --> 0:10:46.959 us three. Like, she was just this powerhouse of a person. 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:50.760 And I'll never forget her telling me that sometimes she 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:53.000 was as one of the top people in the Attorney 0:10:53.000 --> 0:10:56.360 General's office in Michigan, she sometimes would sit there and think, 0:10:56.440 --> 0:10:58.280 I wonder if they're going to figure out that I'm 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:00.960 not supposed to belong here. You know, that kind of 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:04.320 imposter syndrome thing that that I think we all feel 0:11:04.360 --> 0:11:05.480 at certain points. 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:07.280 In time, and we done it right now. 0:11:09.480 --> 0:11:11.960 I mean, we don't come out of the womb thinking 0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:14.920 that we deserve to be, you know, the leader of 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:15.600 the free world. 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:15.920 Right. 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:19.880 We all put these criteria on ourselves. And that's not 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:23.400 necessarily a bad thing. It keeps you humble. But it also, 0:11:23.760 --> 0:11:26.280 I think, is why I never during the time did 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:29.120 I still marvel and people like governor. You know, it's 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:32.640 just I feel really lucky to be where I'm at, 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:35.040 and I know I'm not better than anyone else. And 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:38.040 I talk a little bit about my dad. When I 0:11:38.080 --> 0:11:41.400 first got elected. He did an interview and he said, 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:47.040 you know, Gretchen knows she's not special. And I saw that, 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:49.120 and Brent, I thought, oh my god, people must think 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:52.520 my dad hates me or something, or I have really 0:11:52.640 --> 0:11:56.840 low self esteem, or but he raised us to so 0:11:56.880 --> 0:11:58.960 that we didn't think we were better than anyone else. 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:02.160 That's what he meant, and we don't. And I think 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:05.040 I never felt like, Okay, I'm really killing it. I 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:07.000 saw a job that needed to be done. I didn't 0:12:07.040 --> 0:12:10.120 see anyone stepping forward who wanted to take it on 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:12.800 or who was going to be, you know, able to 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:15.360 jump in and do what I thought needed to be done. So, 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:18.240 like a lot of women, I think I just rolled 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:19.760 up my sleeve and said, all right, there's a job 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:21.560 that needs to be done, I'm going to do it. Yeah. 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:23.480 I do want to ask about your decision to run 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:25.600 for governor at the time that you did, because you 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:27.960 had passed on it in twenty fourteen and then you 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:30.960 decided to run. So what was that timing decision for you? 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:33.920 And again, like, what was your decision making process. 0:12:34.360 --> 0:12:37.240 Well, in twenty fourteen, you know, I was in the 0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:41.120 state Senate and some had asked if I might consider 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:43.920 running for governor, and it just wasn't the right time 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:45.839 for me. I was, you know, I was already the 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:49.720 Senate Minority leader. I have two little kids at home 0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:52.440 as a divorce at that time, and I knew that 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:54.240 it wasn't the right time. I had a big job 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:55.920 and I wanted to see a focus on that. I 0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:58.720 left the legislature in twenty sixteen. We have term limits 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:01.200 in Michigan. I served three two year terms in the 0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:03.280 House and then two four year terms in the Senate, 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:06.800 and I was term limited out. It's lifetime ban, so 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:09.320 you can't go back. And I really thought I was 0:13:09.360 --> 0:13:12.160 going to go into the private sector. And I taught 0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:14.640 both at the University of Michigan and Michigan State, which 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:18.000 tells you I can bridge some divides or the biggest 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:23.079 the biggest divide. And the Flint water crisis became public 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:29.400 what had happened in Flint, decisions of government that had 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:33.360 catastrophic impacts on people. And I was looking at the 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:36.839 field of folks that were considering running and I thought, 0:13:36.960 --> 0:13:38.680 you know, none of them have been in state government. 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:41.680 I know how to do this, and this needs to 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:45.080 be fixed. And so that's really kind of what inspired 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:48.480 me to run. But then Donald Trump won the state 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:52.679 of Michigan in twenty sixteen, and I looked, you know, 0:13:52.760 --> 0:13:56.040 I couldn't believe that my state was played a pivotal 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:59.040 role in that, and I thought, I got to get organized. 0:13:59.040 --> 0:14:00.960 I got to get out into this state and talk 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:03.240 to people and find out what's on their minds, because 0:14:04.080 --> 0:14:06.319 it just was so hard to believe at the time, 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:10.360 here we are. And so I got out. I got 0:14:10.360 --> 0:14:13.280 all across Michigan. Michigan's a big state, all right, I'm 0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:18.080 gonna get out my Michigan map. You're ready, Okay. So 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:21.600 Michigan has two hands, and this is the lower Peninsula, 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:24.400 this is the Upper Peninsula. I know people in Michigan 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:27.080 or in Ohio who don't realize we have an upper Peninsula. 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:30.840 It's not Canada, the fifty first state. It's still a 0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:33.000 part of Michigan. Okay, So I see we're really writing 0:14:33.040 --> 0:14:38.480 off Ohio anywaytisicadding. But when you're in Lansing, Michigan, the 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:42.680 state capital, you're as close to Washington, d c. As 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:45.360 you are to the western end of the Upper Peninsula. 0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:49.280 It's a big state. And so I figured I just 0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:52.040 got to get across the state and talk to people. 0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:55.440 And so my favorite thing to ask people was, if 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:58.320 I'm fortunate enough to get elected governor, what could I 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:00.800 do that'll make your life better? And the thing is 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:04.320 when you ask people, they'll tell you you just got 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:06.760 to listen. I don't think enough people do that, not 0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:10.800 just in political life, but anywhere, and over and over 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:13.520 again people would say, I need you to fix the 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:17.240 damn roads. Whether I was in the Upper Peninsula or 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:21.000 downtown Detroit or on the West Side. That was the refrain, 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:24.000 and I heard it over and over again, and so 0:15:24.080 --> 0:15:26.760 I started talking about the roads that way, and we're 0:15:26.800 --> 0:15:29.800 still working on fixing the damn roads in Michigan. But 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:33.440 it was a conversation with a woman from Flint of 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:36.880 actually I'm talking about Flint again. She I met her 0:15:36.920 --> 0:15:40.240 at the Detroit Children's Hospital, and you know, I was 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:43.160 there and it's awkward to be a politician in a 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:45.960 place where people don't expect you, and I wasn't sure 0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:47.640 people would want to talk to me at all. But 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:50.200 this woman seemed, you know, friendly, and so I said, 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:51.840 I got to ask you a question. So I asked 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:54.280 her my question. If I'm fortunate enough to get elected, 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:55.160 what could I do that I'll. 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:55.800 Make your life better? 0:15:56.480 --> 0:15:57.960 And she looked me there and she said, I just 0:15:58.000 --> 0:16:03.440 need you to fix the damn road. And I was 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:06.840 taken aback a little bit, like we're going to children's hospital. 0:16:06.840 --> 0:16:12.040 I thought we're going to talk about healthcare or childcare education. 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:15.240 So I said, okay, tell me more. I wanted to 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:17.600 find out why is this the number one issue for you? 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:22.440 And she explained she's three kids, driving back and forth 0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:25.080 from Detroit and Flint to see her one child in 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:28.160 the hospital, hit a pothole, It damaged the room on 0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:29.960 her car. It took her off the road for a 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:32.320 whole day, took a ton of money out of her 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:35.120 rent and childcare that she wasn't planning to spend fixing 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:38.040 her car. She missed the day with her son in Detroit, 0:16:38.320 --> 0:16:40.200 had to pay for childcare for the others who were 0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:44.600 at home. And so it was for me crystallized why 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:47.360 the fundamentals are the most important thing, Because anyone who's 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:50.520 on the margin gets failed if they can't drink the 0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:53.200 water coming out of their tap, or they have to 0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:55.560 be sidelined for a day because their car's not work, 0:16:56.080 --> 0:16:58.440 or have to find a new school or a tutor 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:00.560 for a child if the schools aren't work. And that's 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:04.400 why the fundamentals, the kitchen table issues, is what I've 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:07.200 tried to stay focused on. And that's what I learned 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:09.080 from the people in Michigan, getting all across the state 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:11.080 and asking that question, well do. 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:15.200 You think that concept of fixed the damn roads? How 0:17:15.240 --> 0:17:18.200 did you have success with that as a fundamental? I mean, 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:20.360 to your point, we still need to fix the roads, 0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:23.920 something that I think that Democrats have really struggled with 0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:26.959 is owning success in a way they can talk about it. 0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:30.120 How have you been able to own that success when 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:32.720 dens acknowledgment there's still more work to be done. 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:36.359 Yeah, so I ended up having to do a bond 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:39.160 so that we could keep fixing roads. I'm still working 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:41.400 on getting my legislature to help me get a real 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:44.359 long term plane over the finish line. The thing about 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:48.760 roads is that you have billboards everywhere because they're called 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:52.680 orange barrels, and so when you're fixing roads, people see 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:54.600 the orange barrels and they know that the work is 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:57.639 being done, and that helps kind of advertise itself. But 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:03.080 to your point about Democrats failing on the messaging front, 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:05.159 I think that that's one of the big takeaways from 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:08.920 this last cycle, and I think that that's getting away 0:18:08.960 --> 0:18:11.639 from taking ownership of the things that we did get done. 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:13.960 I think it was a real you know, we did 0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:15.679 allows your job of that in this last cycle. 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:18.359 Yeah, I'm going to give that. 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:22.399 At I think that's a great one. 0:18:22.760 --> 0:18:25.520 How do you think, how do you think it could 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:26.400 have been done differently? 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:29.760 You can't tell people how to feel, you know, and 0:18:29.840 --> 0:18:33.600 so I think around the economy, we can't tell people Okay, 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:36.560 look at what's going on, and you know, in the market, 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:39.600 look at the how much better our inflation is than 0:18:39.880 --> 0:18:43.560 European countries. You know, that doesn't fix the problem that 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:47.439 people are having when they see their prices up and 0:18:47.480 --> 0:18:51.679 guess what prices are still up? Everybody right. I know 0:18:51.720 --> 0:18:54.640 we're talking about Greenland, but we should still be talking 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:58.480 about groceries because that's that's where the rubber hits the road. 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:03.760 And so it's peers that there's a disconnect between what 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:07.080 people are really feeling and need and how we're talking 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:09.919 about it. It's not that we have to change our values. 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:12.040 It's not that we have to change you know, what 0:19:12.080 --> 0:19:14.879 we have been able to do, but how we've talked 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:18.480 about it has been completely missing the mark. And I 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:21.720 think it's being disconnected from people and spending time with 0:19:21.800 --> 0:19:25.280 real people and asking them what's going on in your life? 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:27.280 What can I do that'll make your life better, and 0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:27.840 then doing it. 0:19:32.240 --> 0:19:34.520 After the break, we dive into what pivoting on the 0:19:34.560 --> 0:19:37.919 spot is all about. As Governor Whitmer recounts one of 0:19:37.960 --> 0:19:42.280 the most difficult and formative years twenty twenty. She dealt 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:46.679 with a global pandemic, catastrophic flooding, a racial reckoning, and 0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:50.720 a plot to kidnap and kill her more after the break. 0:20:08.119 --> 0:20:11.359 So the show's all about pivoting, meeting the moment where 0:20:11.400 --> 0:20:14.800 you are, how you change, what changes in yourself to 0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:18.720 rise to that occasion and adapt in that moment. Twenty 0:20:18.760 --> 0:20:22.080 twenty was a real year for you, So can you 0:20:22.119 --> 0:20:25.320 tell us about your mindset, like how you worked through it, 0:20:25.359 --> 0:20:28.119 how your work shifted through the ups and quite frankly 0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:29.560 mostly downs of twenty twenty. 0:20:30.480 --> 0:20:35.480 Remind me what happened in twenty twenty. You know, when 0:20:35.480 --> 0:20:38.520 I had my kids, they're like eighteen months apart, and 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:41.120 when I realized, oh my gosh, one's going to graduate 0:20:41.119 --> 0:20:43.119 in twenty twenty and the other's going to be the 0:20:43.119 --> 0:20:46.080 class of twenty twenty one. What great classes to graduate 0:20:46.520 --> 0:20:49.159 literally the worst two classes to graduate from high school 0:20:50.080 --> 0:20:55.800 for their whole generation. You know. As the pandemic hit Michigan, 0:20:56.520 --> 0:21:00.600 we were one of the earlier places. Detroit, New York, 0:21:00.840 --> 0:21:05.520 Chicago and New Orleans were kind of the hot spots 0:21:05.600 --> 0:21:08.240 for a long time. Had just an incredible amount of 0:21:08.400 --> 0:21:13.520 loss of life, overwhelmed hospitals. It was really, really hard, 0:21:13.560 --> 0:21:15.199 and I know none of us wants to relive it, 0:21:15.280 --> 0:21:17.840 but just to kind of remember what was happening. We 0:21:17.880 --> 0:21:21.560 had refrigerated trucks outside of our hospitals because there were 0:21:21.600 --> 0:21:24.600 so many corpses, you know, people that lost the battle 0:21:24.600 --> 0:21:27.880 to COVID that couldn't be buried or cremated right away, 0:21:27.960 --> 0:21:32.880 but it had to be you know, refrigerating. It was awful, 0:21:33.119 --> 0:21:37.120 and it was really challenging because we did not have 0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:41.920