5 Questions With Dan Schawbel Episode 89: Stacey Abrams
An interview with Stacey Abrams about inspiring people during this pandemic, how people can make a positive change, the importance of voter rights, why she wrote several romance novels, and her best career advice.
Welcome to the 89th episode of 5 Questions with Dan Schawbel. As your host, my goal is to curate the best advice from the world’s smartest and most interesting people by asking them just 5 questions.
This episodes guest:
My guest today is a politician, lawyer, entrepreneur, and author, Stacey Abrams. Born in Madison Wisconsin, Stacey grew up with five other siblings in Atlanta. As a teenager, she was hired as a typist for a congressional campaign and was then hired as a speechwriter. She studied political science and economics at Spelman College, public policy at the University of Texas at Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs, and received her Juris Doctor from Yale Law School. Upon graduation, Stacey was a tax attorney at Georgia law firm Sutherland Asbill & Brennan. Starting in 2007 she served in the Georgia House of Representatives before resigning in 2017 to run in the gubernatorial election where she became the first African-American female major-party gubernatorial nominee in the United States. Then in 2019, Stacey became the first African-American woman to deliver a response to the State of the Union address. More recently, she’s the founder of Fair Fight Action and Fair Count, which fight for fair elections and for a fair count in the U.S. Census. Stacey’s new book “Our Time is Now”, and her upcoming documentary, both focus on voter suppression, which is part of what we talk about in this podcast episode.
The 5 questions I ask in this episode:
- Can you offer any inspiration and advice to those who are struggling right now as they suffer from unemployment, illness, mental health issues, racism, or any other issues?
- Over the past month, we’ve witnessed the LGBTQ+ and African American communities protest systemic and perpetual social, political, and economic injustice, with some positive outcomes for both groups. What tangible actions can both institutions and individuals take to support these suppressed communities above and beyond posting activist content on social media?
- The right to vote is essential to America’s democracy. How did your loss during the 2018 Georgia election inspire you to be an advocate for voter protections and what steps will you take to ensure there’s election integrity for future races?
- What most people might not know about you is that aside from being a politician and a lawyer, you are also a novelist and entrepreneur as the author of 8 romance novels and founder of NOW Corp. and Nourish, Inc. What role have these pursuits played in your career and life goals?
- What is your best piece of career advice?
Follow Stacey’s journey: