Question 1: Random: You wake up and discover you’re a man! What’s the 1st thing you do?

Cry. Being a man is too hard, especially if I’m still gonna be black. There’s too many rules and man laws. There are rules about what you can say, how you move your arms, how you dress…being a man is too much pressure. Then to top it off, it would be my luck that I would fall in love with a woman like me who expects me to work while she stays at home with the kids. I’m getting stressed out just thinking about it! NO THANKS.

I like being a girl a lot despite all the pitfalls.

Question 2: You write two blogs, a tumblr and work. How do you successfully manage your time?

Speechwriting is always deadline driven and unpredictable. There are some days when I barely have time to do my work and so I sort of disappear all day. Other days, I may be doing administrative work or have only 1 speech due or a couple briefing books.

I maximize my time by doing all my reading during the day on those slow days. This helps me kill two birds with one stone. It helps me find blog topics as well as keeps me informed about what’s going on in politics and media. I can find quotes, historical references, even pick up some good analogies for use in speeches.

I write my football blog mostly on Sundays when I’m already watching football anyway. I can do about 6 posts without blinking. Media Strut is a little different. I can get a few bullets done about what a post will be about during the day but I have to wait until leaving work to write. I tried writing on my lunch break but by the time I get a rhythm going…yeah it’s just doesn’t work.

My Tumblr is only updated with the mood hits me.

We should probably revisit this question later when my schedule picks up. The spring and summer are always busier than fall/winter for me. I go out more, I network more, travel more…and now that I have two blogs and the traffic is picking up I’ll have to spend more time on the business aspect of blogging in addition to posting.

I also have ADD so I do everything faster than the average person. That’s one of the few advantages to that condition.

Question 3: I’m interested in lobbying but am not in the DMV. Do you know of any successful lobbyists that aren’t in the DC area? In other words, is this possible?

It IS possible but honestly if you’re talking about a traditional lobbying role e.g. working primarily with Congress, their staff, and political appointees it will be tough to find that sort of job outside of Washington.

That being said, I mentioned in my last Q&A post that there are lots of ways to be involved with advocacy and many corporations, especially larger ones, have head quarters in TX, CA, and the midwest, and though they may have lobbyists that live in DC, other employees who support those efforts are located elsewhere. So again, it’s all in what role you want to play.