This week, Lorie Jones sits down with Amber F. McReynolds, a leader who has redefined what it means to serve, from steering election reform to her pivotal role as the board chair of the U.S. Postal Service. Amber’s journey began in a small Illinois town, shaped by strong family values, a tireless work ethic, and her grandmothers who advocated for civic engagement and the right to vote.
Amber shares how dedication, resilience, and a spirit of service can lead to extraordinary impact. She opens up about facing career challenges, redefining success as a woman in leadership, using her voice for change, the investments that shaped her journey, and how she overcame adversity.
Join them for wisdom on balancing career and family, the importance of mentorship, and practical advice for young women poised to make their mark. You don’t have to be an elected official to make a difference. Let’s be fearless.
Show Highlights:
- How family roots and upbringing instill service and work ethic. [05:12]
- Civic potential from women’s voting legacies and non-elected citizens. [08:14]
- Driving service-oriented reform using diverse skills and data. [13:28]
- Discover areas of expertise required for election roles. [18:42]
- Invest in resilience in education, personal trials, and parenting. [21:16]
- Strategic ways to navigate biased advice as women leaders. [26:40]
- What’s your family motto that shapes your daily lives? [31:58]
- Takeaways on learning by doing and continuous improvement. [34:45]
- Tips for buying a suitable post-divorce family home. [40:05]
- The true civic and economic status of U.S. women with stats. [44:45]
- Can tech and AI solutions be built to assist working mothers? [48:45]
- Advice for young women on mentors, family, and goals. [53:40]
Connect with Amber F. McReynolds by visiting her website athttps://www.ambermcreynolds.com/. You can also contact Amber on LinkedIn athttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ambermcreynolds/.
00:00:01.96
Lorie Jones
Good morning, fearless females. I am so excited. We’ve got a conversation with Amber McReynolds today. She is CEO, author and board chair of the US Postal Service. So I’m so excited to get to chat with you today, Amber, and get all of your best tips and tricks.
00:00:20.23
amber
Oh, thanks. It’s great to be here, Lori.
00:00:23.37
Lorie Jones
So My first question is my favorite, except for the now my stack of books is like so big that I think I’m going to have to take a month long vacation to get through them. And I keep asking the question because I love it so much. What is your favorite book?
00:00:39.80
amber
So this is always such a hard question for me because I have favorites for ah depending on the ah situation. But one of my favorites that I’ve read now and in the entirety of my life is called Code Girls.
00:00:53.32
amber
And it’s the untold story of the American women code breakers during World War II. So um because a lot because of the men were off at there was a call made by the U.S.
00:01:00.10
Lorie Jones
Thank you.
00:01:07.06
amber
government into ah institutions like MIT to find women that could break code. And ultimately those women, they never have gotten fully recognized for their incredible work, frankly, probably solving and putting an end to the war, but um their incredible work during the war to keep the rest of us ah safe and to ensure freedom.
00:01:33.50
amber
um for all. And and so i I found the book to be extremely fascinating because it’s got a historical perspective in it. I think did a really good job of of yet again, showing how much women have impacted not only the history in the United States, but history around the world and are often ah sort of never get recognized for it or their stories are never told.
00:01:55.37
amber
So that one’s really cool. um I will just mention another one that I’m actually reading now. It’s called The NVIDIA Way, and it’s about Jensen. He’s the CEO of NVIDIA, and it’s one of the incredible companies right now in in in our, ah in in frankly, affecting the entire world in terms of technology. And so i’ve been it’s been fascinating to read about um his rise and in running NVIDIA, founding the company, and then And then now running the company and just the visionary perspective that he brings to everything. So those are two that I would share and mention that that I um really enjoy for different reasons.
00:02:35.96
Lorie Jones
I’m going to have to, going have to, I can see this. I’m going have to do audio books in order to get through these.
00:02:43.13
amber
Yeah, that’s great. Audiobooks are great.
00:02:44.54
Lorie Jones
and
00:02:45.71
amber
I’ve listened to a number of them when you’re riding bike or walking or, know,
00:02:49.33
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Commuting to work. Yeah, I know. I just, there’s not enough hours in the day to get through all these great books. Thank you for those suggestions. I love it.
00:02:57.56
amber
Sure.
00:02:58.27
Lorie Jones
So tell me a little bit about your journey. Like, how did you get started? how did you move to where you are today? What do you do? Like, tell me just a little bit about you.
00:03:08.09
amber
Yeah, well, um I grew up in a really small town in Illinois, a rural part of Western Illinois, um modest means I my grandparents lived in town. i was very close to both my grandma’s.
00:03:23.75
amber
Um, and then my parents, my mom was a school teacher and then she stayed home with us when, uh, when, when we were born for a number of years and then went back to teach. And then my dad, um, was a lawyer, had his own law firm in this, again, small town lawyer, not big time law firm and in a big city, but a small town lawyer that, you know, ah frankly, everyone in the community knew because he was often helping so many different people and he served as public defender for a long time.
00:03:52.07
amber
And then he was appointed a judge and he handled a lot of juvenile cases. i’ Sorry, i felt the dog barking. um And so I grew up in ah in a small town environment really close to my grandparents. We would, you know, we go see our, you want me to pause a minute?
00:04:10.81
Lorie Jones
hey Yeah, that’ll work.
00:04:11.77
amber
Hold on a second. I’m just going to have my mom get her down. I’m going to tell her.
00:04:15.15
Lorie Jones
All right. That works great.
00:04:16.25
amber
One second. Annie? Annie?
00:04:52.20
amber
Okay. Hopefully she’ll stay here. Sorry, my mom came in and she heard her and barked.
00:04:57.28
Lorie Jones
Yeah, yeah, of course.
00:04:58.29
amber
um So, yeah so I grew up in a small town and, you know, just the the life of growing up in a small town, and I and i regularly talk to people that had similar experiences,
00:05:10.73
amber
um is is book is on the one hand really incredible. On the other, there’s a complete lack of opportunities. Like I had very quickly maxed out. classes in high school. i signed up for everything. I mean, we all had to play every sport and be a part of every club because otherwise there wouldn’t be enough people um to fulfill all the things. So on the one hand, you sort of have all these really close relationships.
00:05:39.68
amber
You know, we would um get on our bikes and go over to our friends’ houses and kind of be told to be home by dark. um riding across town and things like like that.
00:05:50.03
amber
I look at my kids’ experience now and that’s not, you know, the the experience that most kids are going to have anymore because technologies change things, safety is different, all those things.
00:05:58.47
Lorie Jones
Thank you.
00:06:00.44
amber
So um it was an incredible experience growing up and it shaped um not only who I am, but also also my work ethic because I worked as soon as I could.
00:06:13.76
amber
I got a work permit to be a lifeguard and worked you know three jobs in college, waitress, bartended for a while, worked at ah a few different stores, volunteered.
00:06:25.11
amber
you know I i um didn’t have a cell phone until way after college. So I worked really, really, really hard. I don’t remember the last time i wasn’t working actually.
00:06:39.19
Lorie Jones
And
00:06:40.36
amber
baby sat even before I got a work permit, you know, did work for my grandparents around their homes, worked at one of my friend’s farms, detasseling corn. That was a big thing in the Midwest. um so So my work ethic is very much shaped by that sort of early upbringing. And I think just the needs of small town and rural communities is very different than what you hear about in the larger cities.
00:07:07.19
amber
And so that really shapes now me today when I think about my work in election administration or even think about my work with the Postal Service and in really everything else I do, I’m rooted in things that um often get overlooked in rural communities and a lot of it is my upbringing.
00:07:25.36
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
00:07:25.43
amber
um The second, you know, part of my upbringing, I mentioned this, uh, I was very close to my grandmother’s and my life in service started really early.
00:07:36.57
amber
And um my grandmothers, both of them were extremely active in encouraging ah civic engagement, participation in elections, participation in women’s groups that, you know, one of them was a member of the Republican women’s group.
00:07:54.54
amber
And another one was a member of the League of Women Voters.
00:07:56.16
Lorie Jones
Hello.
00:07:56.86
amber
And, you know, there was different, different ways they provided service. And um my grandmother, um both of them actually would always talk about their grandmothers and their, even their mothers not being able to participate ah because it’s really not that long ago that women got the right to vote in the United States. And so, you know, listening to that, listening to my great aunt who actually was in high school with Ronald Reagan in Sterling, Illinois, ah you know, listening to the stories of all these women and how ah the lack of
00:08:29.02
amber
that you know, their inability or or relatives of theirs inability to participate really shaped ah their energy around it growing up. And so both grandmothers served as poll workers. You know, we would go visit them. We’d be able to walk over to the polling place and take cookies to them. My other grandma would have a um She was very active in encouraging just civics and she’d always have flyers.
00:08:53.41
amber
ah During the 4th of July parade that she would host, we’d drop off flyers about how to register to vote or how to get involved. um I had them in my little buggy with my dolls walking in the parade and would hand those out.
00:09:05.77
amber
So, you know, I just, with my parents, my grandparents, um both my grandpas were, ah we served in the military.
00:09:13.44
Lorie Jones
Thank
00:09:15.02
amber
You know, we, my life in service really started early and I knew that it, that I wanted to serve to make the world a better place. I didn’t know exactly what that was. I didn’t know, you know, watching my dad be a lawyer, you know, i was like, Oh, maybe it’s politics. And you sort of immediately think, okay, political science and law school and all these things.
00:09:37.38
amber
um But what, you know, and then I look at my mom as a teacher What I think I, what, what life has taught me is goodness sakes, there’s so many ways to serve. And I have so much admiration for, um teachers, for instance, that are shaping the future of our youth. And I have so much admiration for, you know, people that build companies to solve problems in the healthcare care system or or, find cures for, for different ailments that people face. Um,
00:10:11.41
amber
And i there’s just so many ways to serve. And I think we often, at least the there’s the attention is always on kind of the politicians and the elected officials. And goodness, I think Americans are just inherently rooted in service. And there are so many of us out there serving that aren’t elected or making a huge difference that are not elected. And so I i think that, um you know, that that really is what has led me. I’ve never been an elected official, but I have served throughout my career, um got into election administration um more than 20 years ago now, ah civic engagement a little more than that a ways ago, but, you know, did my undergrad at University of Illinois,
00:11:00.03
amber
um Then I went and did grad school right away out of Illinois and lived in London, England ah for two years and actually um left on the first day of international flights after 9-11.
00:11:05.39
Lorie Jones
Oh, and
00:11:12.67
amber
So 9-11 at home, couldn’t believe my eyes.
00:11:13.60
Lorie Jones
oh, wow.
00:11:17.91
amber
um I had just graduated college that year and i was set to leave and fly to London and move there for ah for grad school. And so it was nerve wracking to say the least and couldn’t believe that that tragedy happened in our country and you know left on the first day of flights. And um I’ll never forget that plane ride because there were maybe 25 people on the plane, which is very eerie.
00:11:48.35
amber
um And you know so my my then my experience in grad school was in an international setting with people from all over the world. I mean, there was a student that was being paid for by the Russian government that was in my class. there was There were students from different Asian countries. There were students that were from Arabic countries.
00:12:07.51
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
00:12:07.65
amber
um And so after the world saw this horrendous tragedy of 9-11 and then additional conflicts came from that and all that, I was studying comparative politics and international space. And so um when I came back to the United States, you know, I…
00:12:27.93
amber
continue to sort of um try to focus, like, what where can I have the greatest and the biggest impact in service that’s also not partisan? Because I had never been a member of a party.
00:12:40.68
amber
I had different family members that felt strongly one way or another. And i I’ve always been a registered, unaffiliated, and an independent. And so I saw election administration kind of as an opportunity to leverage that strength as an unaffiliated or an independent person, because in my view, election officials have to be independent and unaffiliated in their role, regardless of their personal persuasions.
00:13:08.59
amber
So then I went on to work for the city and county of Denver. um It was a horrible office when I started there. It was like one of the worst run agencies Denver.
00:13:20.12
amber
certainly in Colorado, maybe the country, and had a lot of inefficiencies. Voters were not served well.
00:13:25.07
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
00:13:26.41
amber
The laws were not written right in Colorado to best serve voters. So we set out to do a lot of things. We did a complete reorganization of of the office hired far more and wide-ranging diverse ah backgrounds and perspectives and you know I was one of the youngest when I came into the office I but think I was the youngest and I started trying to find talent right out of college that were different types of you know whether it was technology or communications or or others you know How can we make our our team ah more diverse in experience and perspectives? and um And then we really started working on the so data points because my I think data, whether it be voting data or any other business data, consumer data, customer data,
00:14:17.10
amber
that drive That should drive our decision making about how best to serve people. And so we started applying that service orientated data analytical approach to everything we did.
00:14:29.71
amber
um if If we were not making our elections faster, that was my acronym, fair, accurate, secure, transparent, equitable, and reliable. If we were if if our objectives were not accomplishing all of those things in a balanced way, then it wasn’t something we were going to pursue. And so we we applied that value stream ah to everything we did.
00:14:52.10
amber
and it was all about how do we improve service for every single voter, regardless of their party persuasion. And that really um went along with what has now become my life mission. It was sort of, it was there all along. It just, you know, it was hard to put it into words, but, you know, I believe our democracy works best when every single American can meaningful part to meaningfully participate um and and and have their voice heard and have their vote counted and not have it be difficult, make sure they have the information they need and make sure the security and the transparency is built into the system so people trust it.
00:15:25.86
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
00:15:33.38
amber
you know, that is that is what I’ve worked my whole life to do. and And that has transcended into other things, including some of the work I’ve done on other boards and in other entities. And now as I continue in my, with my current company and my current role, um helping a lot of different constituents and customers and and clients.
00:15:52.92
Lorie Jones
So you were how old when you went to um kind of be in charge of the voting process in Denver?
00:16:02.19
amber
um So I started in an operational role and I was, i think I was 25, maybe 25, 26. twenty six i I think I had just turned 26 or was very close.
00:16:15.59
amber
um But I had already ran an organization. So when i went to grad school, I actually worked in parliament while I was full-time at London School of Economics. I worked as a research aid in the United Kingdom parliament.
00:16:30.04
amber
ah Did a whole bunch of projects there. Had worked in that environment for two years. Then I moved back to the United States, ran. ah was hired to run an organization that was focused on how to improve the sir efficiency of the judicial process in dealing with family violence cases, elder abuse, domestic violence, child abuse.
00:16:48.12
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:16:50.08
amber
Ran that for like two years and frankly realized that on the one hand, I was having a positive impact. On the other, it was a really tough subject matter ah that was a very stressful thing to work on.
00:17:03.29
amber
And so um I you know started looking for other opportunities, worked on a project in 2004 that brought me to Denver, Colorado, which is where I kind of, you know, at the time I was thinking, oh, should I move to Chicago, Washington, D.C.?
00:17:18.67
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
00:17:18.99
amber
Where should i ah go next and came to Denver for the first time when I was working for New Voters Project. And I, and I, the minute I landed, I went on a long walk, ended up walking, gosh, five, six, seven hours just around the city. And the the mountains were just breathtaking.
00:17:37.38
amber
And I thought, this is the environment I want to be in. Like, this is, this is aspirational. There’s mountains, it’s pioneer spirit. It’s, you know, it’s all these things. And so I applied for an operational management role at Denver Elections, flew out, interviewed for it. i was hired and in that role, served in that kind manager role for first two years. And then I was ah ah um ah promoted to be deputy director. And then I was appointed as director of elections in 2011. So over a period, i
00:18:10.58
amber
had various roles that that ah led to me um earning the director of election spot.
00:18:19.35
Lorie Jones
And it’s, if I understand right, there’s really not like a, a college degree, you go, you’re like, I want to be in elections. So I need to study like such and such there.
00:18:31.01
Lorie Jones
It’s just a, it’s political science or like, what is, what’s
00:18:34.68
amber
Well, I think that people probably used to suggest political science, but when you’re an election director, you have to be an expert in technology and cybersecurity and process improvement and data analytics, administration of very large budgets.
00:18:51.02
amber
we hire you know We scale up to if the 2008 election when I was running that, we scaled up to almost 3,000 people that worked for the office. It’s a very large logistical operation, so there’s logistics.
00:19:04.35
amber
um There’s a lot of legal and regulatory environments. It’s highly regulated industry. So you you sort of have to be a jack of all trades.
00:19:14.90
amber
And luckily, i had done a lot of the data analytics, project management. A lot of that stuff was in my background. um Policy ah analytics as it relates to legislation, all of that was there. But then I had a whole bunch to learn, too, especially logistics related things.
00:19:30.88
amber
ah matters, some of the technology you know changes, and and frankly, the speed at which a lot of this stuff changes, especially on the technology front, means that election officials and that industry have to be extremely resilient, and you build that resilience up over time.
00:19:45.80
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
00:19:47.86
amber
ah Luckily, now there’s a couple of universities, including the University of Minnesota, um that they’ve now started to build certificates in election administration. And a lot of the current election officials go through those programs or people that are aspiring to work in the field are are starting to leverage some of those you know training programs that are being built in institutions.
00:20:08.36
amber
And I think you know certainly in the last five years, there’s been far more attention paid to who runs our elections for sure. And so there’s, there definitely seems to be more interest, good and bad.
00:20:19.68
amber
and it could be discouraging a lot of people too, from ah wanting to get in that stressful of a role.
00:20:25.81
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
00:20:26.78
amber
But, but it’s, a you know, it’s an incredibly important and awesome way to serve your community, ah to ah serve in that way.
00:20:35.22
Lorie Jones
yeah Yeah. I actually didn’t even know that was a thing that you could do. Like I didn’t even know that you could be an election at LA as that’s a job that you have. I think that’s really awesome.
00:20:46.31
Lorie Jones
I think that’s, it’s cool that, that you, that your formative experience or those, those younger years and your grandma’s kind of,
00:20:47.30
amber
Yeah.
00:20:56.34
Lorie Jones
examples really led you into wanting to take a place in, in making our elections more, um operationally well-run and fair. So I think that’s great.
00:21:09.42
Lorie Jones
What, um, what Amber is the best investment you’ve made in yourself? Is there something you can look back on and be like, Oh, I’m so glad I did that. It just really changed my life.
00:21:22.10
amber
I, you know, I keep thinking I should um take some of my my journals and… ah put put pen to paper because there’s been a number of moments, um, milestones, uh, just kind of transformational for me that, that have, have deeply shaped, um, my thinking, my approach to things, uh, attending the London School of Economics was one of them. So, um, that experience living in London, England, ah during that time in my life, um, was,
00:22:01.72
amber
i i you know I can’t say enough about how deeply positive, but also how tremendously difficult.
00:22:13.38
amber
I think it made me more resilient. um you know I was away from my family really for the longest period of time than I had ever been away from my family. um it was you know I was working full time and going to school, really hard school. It there was not a cakewalk.
00:22:30.51
amber
It was very difficult.
00:22:30.82
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
00:22:32.43
amber
um But I had, i mean, goodness, I had, you know, just in my class, Kofi Annan, who was the UN n Secretary General at the time, came and spoke to r um our cohort in in the political science and comparative politics wing.
00:22:48.84
amber
ah Bill Clinton, former President Clinton, came and spoke to us. um It you know, we had former prime ministers. Like, I look back at that and think, gosh, I don’t think I would have had that experience in in most other places.
00:23:03.29
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
00:23:05.46
amber
And so that definitely is one, I think, um, ah Also, just the experience of being in a different government environment um has pro probably had a lot to do with my um you know work outside of, well, related to elections, but outside of it on making sure that all unaffiliated voters can participate. So if you choose not to be a member of the party, you should still have the same access and same rights.
00:23:35.44
amber
that people who want to be affiliated with either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party do. um Unfortunately, our laws are not structured to be fair to you if you are not affiliated with one of the two major parties.
00:23:47.72
amber
ah In the UK, it was different. you know They have multi-party kind of systems. And so um you do actually have representation If you’re not a member of one of the two majors and there’s, you know, more there. So I think, I think, I think that experience was deeply moving to me in a lot of positive ways. Also a lot of ways that,
00:24:12.71
amber
and I had to become way more resilient about a lot of things, just, you know, not having my mom and dad on a call phone call to say, hey, i you know, need help with this or um or or whatnot.
00:24:25.09
amber
So it was it was definitely jumping in the deep end. And I can say that I was a lifeguard growing up, so I can, you know, i understand what that means.
00:24:31.19
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
00:24:33.36
amber
So that one, i think the other investment, ah i I really believe in continuous learning. um So I’ve done a number of leadership programs.
00:24:45.71
amber
um I won in Denver at the Metro Chamber of Commerce called Leadership Denver. Years ago, 2017, was part that program. 2016 into 2017. And I met some that are now my lifelong friends.
00:24:57.23
amber
And I was through divorce of awful, horrible people. and i have not i met some people that are now my lifelong friends and i was going through a divorce of really awful horrible um something I wouldn’t wish on anybody kind of divorce that year. And i I do think that the people that I was in that program with and just the ability to go to that program once a month and, you know, be able to kind of put myself outside of the difficult personal things, but also
00:25:31.42
amber
I was running a presidential election them for work at the time.
00:25:33.95
Lorie Jones
Thank you.
00:25:35.00
amber
So the whole year of 2016 and 2017 were really difficult. and so that Leadership Denver program gave me grounding in perspective and an ability to keep growing, even though things were really challenging.
00:25:50.58
amber
So I think those two stand out. COVID is another one that I, you know, I think it impacted everybody in really hard ways. And then, you know, i think the best investment I can make as a mom of of two incredible children is is the investment I make in them every day.
00:26:08.98
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
00:26:09.14
amber
And, you know, I’m, I, you know, everything I do um for, for work is an investment in their future. And then, you know, I’m, I am, I spend every extra dime I have trying to, you know, make sure that they can achieve and accomplish all the dreams they want. So that’s, that’s a, that’s the third, you know, very big investment I make on a daily basis.
00:26:34.21
Lorie Jones
Yeah, that’s true. I’ve got ah five kids of my own and investing in them is something that we do a lot of.
00:26:42.63
amber
Yeah.
00:26:42.78
Lorie Jones
i can i see that.
00:26:44.62
amber
And we don’t talk about it a lot.
00:26:44.71
Lorie Jones
um
00:26:46.02
amber
Like we do. And like we, you know, this is, you know, our most important investment in the future. So.
00:26:53.32
Lorie Jones
And how interesting and nice that you can kind of see that direct correlation between what you do and work and how that’s going to affect your kids and their future.
00:27:04.17
Lorie Jones
it’s I think that’s a ah really important correlation to see and have.
00:27:09.44
amber
Mm
00:27:11.75
Lorie Jones
um Did anyone ever give you any really bad advice? And did you take the advice or did you not?
00:27:20.28
amber
Yeah, I, um
00:27:24.24
amber
you know, it’s hard to reflect on some of these things. It’s even hard to repeat some of the advice that was bad that that you, and I, you know, I think that, you know,
00:27:39.12
amber
I think bad advice can come from anyone. it can it can be delivered to anyone. um But I do think that as women, um especially in leadership roles, it you know and I’ve had to experience this a lot with
00:27:59.18
amber
in the workplace, even in government, early on in my career, you know, I, in the interview that I had with Denver Elections, ah the guy that would eventually become my boss said, aren’t you a little young to be applying for this job?
00:28:12.93
amber
And on the first day of work, he asked me why i hadn’t, i I wasn’t married yet, and why I didn’t have kids yet, and don’t I want kids?
00:28:18.19
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
00:28:20.09
amber
And I was 25 or six at the time with my master’s degree, and I was starting off in my career, and you know, I think those kinds of questions, um not only are they questions, but they imply um kind of a um demeaning tone that’s sort of like we, you know, putting us in our place um immediately, right? and And then, you know, i I, you know, you get the advice a lot of, you know, just, just
00:28:53.22
amber
if you just lay low and don’t, don’t
00:28:56.28
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
00:28:56.38
amber
create waves and, you know, you’ll be fine. And I got that a lot, a lot growing up um through, you know, the different early work engagements I had.
00:29:07.43
amber
And i think that on the one hand, some of those folks were probably trying to like maybe they were passing along what they were told. I think there’s sort of a, ah ah you sort of have a vicious cycle of bad advice sometimes.
00:29:21.73
Lorie Jones
yeah
00:29:23.66
amber
I also think that, you know, we had um the the way generations, you know, look in the country, like I was born in 1979. Most states didn’t allow women to serve on juries prior to 1975. Women couldn’t get a loan for a home by themselves.
00:29:41.35
amber
um
00:29:41.42
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
00:29:42.59
amber
So, we i I grew up at a time when women didn’t have and still don’t don’t have the same access and same ability and same opportunity, which is the biggest um part of it.
00:29:58.27
amber
So I think that all those ah ah points where I got bad advice, it was really because of a vicious cycle of what other people had been told to them. And sometimes i I took it. Other times I found a different way to approach the thing.
00:30:13.34
amber
Most of the time that was the case, but you know, a lot of navigation of a lot of people’s egos and, um and, and some bad advice thrown in there for sure.
00:30:25.20
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I think that’s, it’s so interesting because you do, you see that this is the way it’s always been done. And so this is the way that it’s supposed to be done. And a lot of times that’s the advice that, that comes to you. And, and sometimes it,
00:30:43.46
Lorie Jones
behooves us to kind of ask, well, should it always be done this way then? Like.
00:30:50.02
amber
Yeah. Yeah. And I think, I think too, that we’re told, you know, and I i was told this a lot, um, figure it out.
00:30:54.61
Lorie Jones
Mm
00:30:58.55
amber
And so like, I, that’s how I approach everything I do now, you know, there’s a lot of resilience and all of that, but I also, it’s also it been hard for me to learn how to ask for help, uh, when I need especially when I had little kids and had big job and, you know, I’m not one I’m, I’m one to just figure it out because,
00:31:09.74
Lorie Jones
hmm.
00:31:19.55
amber
That’s how I learned, right, to navigate a lot of this. And um so I think I always try, I’m mean like an internal optimist, courageously optimistic, I guess is a good way to say it.
00:31:31.13
amber
ah But i I always try to look for, if someone’s giving me advice that doesn’t quite fit or doesn’t sound right. I’m like, you know, why are they, I always go to the why, like, where is this coming from?
00:31:44.29
amber
Why would they be um offering that? um And, you know, a lot of it is, this is the way it’s been done, or this is the the path of least resistance, or this will create the least amount of drama, you know, whatever it might be.
00:31:47.76
Lorie Jones
hmm.
00:31:58.90
amber
So I think I think always paying attention to the why behind whatever advice is being given is really, really important for anybody i kind of going into. and And you don’t have to constantly disrupt either.
00:32:10.74
Lorie Jones
yeah
00:32:11.12
amber
Like, ah you know, you don’t want to be in a constant cycle of just causing massive disruption all the time. You want to be very strategic about, you know, what battles, where do I push back? How do I push back?
00:32:24.40
amber
ah You know, does this advance my goals? vision or mission or what I’m working on, or does it actually wreak havoc for, you know, what I’m trying to accomplish? And, you know, I do think we have to be, and I, that would be, that’s always my advice to anybody I mentor, um now is look like, be really thoughtful and strategic about, um, you know, how you approach conversations where you might not agree with the advice you’re getting or Or it might, you know, face that adversity of what what do I really do here in this circumstance? Because constant disruption isn’t good either.
00:33:01.80
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I think that’s really valuable to remember too, that that that you do need to kind of think about why, why the advice is being given and do you agree with that or do you want to disrupt and then pick your battles.
00:33:22.21
Lorie Jones
I always tell my kids that, right?
00:33:23.05
amber
yeah
00:33:23.69
Lorie Jones
Pick your battles. Like if it isn’t going to
00:33:26.59
amber
Yeah.
00:33:27.69
Lorie Jones
if it isn’t going to serve you in the end, maybe don’t fight that battle. Maybe fight a different one. So…
00:33:33.70
amber
Yeah. Yeah. And I, my, um, I don’t know if this is one of the questions later, but I, uh, my, the motto I’ve had with my kids, we, we early on, um, they started going to school at an early age, a Montessori school.
00:33:49.37
amber
And, you know, we sat down, it was actually around the divorce time. You know, i I, had said to the kids, you know, ah how, how, um, we should have, you know, a family motto was, and they, well, what’s a motto. So then, ah you know, it explained what that is.
00:34:06.79
amber
And, and, you know, I said, i remember like we, we had a whole conversation about, um, and in a simple way, but, uh, cause they were little three and five at the time. Um, but we, our our family model still to this day is have courage and be kind.
00:34:24.22
amber
And I’m convinced that if you approach everything you do every day then all will be well with with those fairly simple um pieces. and it’s And it’s hard to do that sometimes, especially the be kind part to people who are not kind to you um But, you know, and my kids, like my daughter would get in the car when she was five, I’d pick her up from school. Mommy, I was kind today.
00:34:52.17
amber
with this and she’d tell me about something or she would say so-and-so so was courageous because of this and it it really became a thing and now they’re ah high school and middle school and um you know it’s still a thing it’s still something we talk about ah they know exactly what courage looks like they know exactly what kindness looks like they know how to be kind they know how to approach conversations in a kind way and you know so I think that’s a that is you know the way
00:35:04.51
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
00:35:22.67
amber
to try to approach some of these these things too and just the decision making of what advice to take or what decision to make as you as you go forward.
00:35:32.99
Lorie Jones
That’s, that’s great. You ground yourself in your motto, whatever your motto is, and then say, does this advice or direction, does it help align and move me forward in this, in this, what my core beliefs or core values, or is it taking me off the path?
00:35:49.29
Lorie Jones
I like that. That’s a really simple way of looking at things too, huh?
00:35:52.92
amber
Yeah, I think it’s, I think, I think adults overcomplicate things. So I sort of, i try to go back. i’m like, what are me and the kids talking about these days?
00:36:03.34
amber
But, you know, because I do think that, that adults tend to, especially in politics or, you know, some business, even it just really ugly finance can get really ugly, really quick.
00:36:11.85
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Finance. are yeah
00:36:17.19
amber
Yeah.
00:36:17.86
Lorie Jones
What about um a situation? I can think of like 20 in my life where I’m like, oh my gosh, if I knew then what I know now, i would totally do that differently. Is there a situation that you can think of like a learning situation where you’re like,
00:36:33.26
Lorie Jones
If I went back and did that with my knowledge, i would do it differently and and how.
00:36:39.99
amber
Yeah, I you know i think as we as we progress in our lives as professionals, we we if we’re continuously learning every day, we’re going to learn a lot really quick about um things that we could have done better. And you know so I’ve always tried to keep myself, even though it’s kind of overwhelming sometimes and exhausting, ah you keep yourself in a continuous learning environment.
00:37:07.25
amber
um And be open to that, because it’s also possible circumstances change, and what you thought worked doesn’t work suddenly. And that COVID is a good example of that.
00:37:18.90
amber
You know, there, lot of the work i do A lot of states found themselves ah in a very difficult situation trying to run elections simply because of the policies and laws that were on the books or the model that they had that relied heavily on in-person voting in small spaces at churches and schools and things like that. so um I think that if you can try to keep yourself in a fairly continuous learning environment, think about the worst possible case for either your business or your you know organization you may be running or policy thing that you’re working on, um whatever it might be, you know constantly reevaluating things.
00:38:01.65
amber
um is is a good way to avoid um regretting things or you know wishing you would have done things differently.
00:38:07.57
Lorie Jones
Thank you.
00:38:10.38
amber
um i I am the first one to say, look, I’ve never been perfect, never will be perfect. No one’s perfect. And also no one has all the answers to to solve every problem or to solve every challenge.
00:38:23.84
amber
And i i I think it’s um always really important for leaders to look even, be you know, oftentimes in the workplace, you have people that love to voice their opinions really quickly, and they’ll give you all their ideas on solutions and all that.
00:38:40.51
amber
I tend to look for the ones that aren’t saying much or want to go think about it some more. and, and, and, and make sure I go back to them to say, Hey, after you thought about this, what do you think? You know?
00:38:52.00
amber
And i think when we don’t do that, that’s when we have far more regrets because a lot of times we end up identifying answers or missing answers that, you know, could have presented themselves earlier.
00:38:56.42
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
00:39:04.11
amber
Um, you know, when I look back over, over my work, um, I think that, the regrets are a complicated thing for me because, um, I think on the one hand, when you make mistakes, you learn from them and you become more resilient.
00:39:23.25
amber
Um, and, and it’s hard to regret things because I think you can fall in a negative cycle for ah doing that. But, um, but I think in terms of doing things differently, um professionally, um,
00:39:37.15
amber
um you know, i served in government for 13 years. I, you know, often think, should I have stayed longer? Cause I left like two years right before the pandemic. Um, I sometimes think, should I have left earlier to go into the business world? Um, I, ah partly cause my mother reminds me of this all the time. I didn’t go to law school. So almost every holiday she brings that up. And so, that is often, um,
00:40:08.92
amber
on my mind once a year.
00:40:09.68
Lorie Jones
Okay. he wrote grant
00:40:12.52
amber
I think about you know whether or not i i should have in a lot of ways, I feel like I did. i bet there’s so much in the the legal space with the work I do.
00:40:22.64
amber
But um you know I think there’s all these moments, right, of of you know should I have children earlier? Should I have taken more time off when i you know had my kids?
00:40:33.53
amber
um Professionally, i often think about ah decisions that we made on the team. So, you know, one of the one of the things we did was that we implemented a flex work schedule pretty early compared to other organizations.
00:40:55.94
amber
And our sick time, like, just fell to the ground, because people were making their appointments on Fridays or Mondays when they, you know, and they loved being able to do 10 for four days at 10 hours, especially in the off election cycles. And so I often think like, goodness, why didn’t we do this sooner?
00:41:13.46
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
00:41:14.14
amber
know, we would have, gosh, we could have positively impacted our employees’ lives earlier, right? um So I think, like, it’s all those little things that you think, wow, this really worked out great. Why didn’t we do this earlier?
00:41:25.74
amber
um And then some of the negative things, you know, I think you you can – always look back and you know we used to do what we called SWAT. um you know We do a ah a big analysis after every election and literally comb through and find every little tiny thing that didn’t have any impact on the outcome or like but whether votes were counted, but like could we have made this process better? Could we have done the envelope design differently? how do we We’re constantly improving for the next time.
00:41:55.11
amber
is is all those lessons you learn from each instance and so that’s why I think it’s so important to be in that continuous improvement mode which most people are not in most of the time it you know it’s like once you get in a routine you keep going and I I just I think it’s so important to continuously improve and and look for ways to improve um because nothing’s ever perfect
00:42:05.09
Lorie Jones
no
00:42:18.46
Lorie Jones
Yeah, that’s, I think that is really valuable too, is to to do an after action, like, Hey, what happened? What went well? What didn’t go so well? Can we fix that?
00:42:29.13
amber
yeah
00:42:30.81
Lorie Jones
Um, If you could high five yourself for any past financial decision, what would that be?
00:42:37.77
amber
ah Well, I, so I mentioned I got divorced. We had owned a home. We sold that. And then I rented for a number of years as I went through the divorce and just kind of tried to decide where the kids and I would best be suited and wanted, was so worried about making the right decision for schools and, and all of that. So two years ago now I bought the house that we live in now and i chose it because it has a ah really nice space for my parents on the first floor. They have their own like suite and lots of space in it.
00:43:14.09
amber
So they’re spending a lot of time here, which, which means that I can help them. But I would say that it at least in um most recent times, the investment in this home, because it’s dramatically improved the lives for my children, for my parents, for me.
00:43:31.76
amber
My kids are right by school. we have access to tennis and golf, two things that they love deeply. um So our light, like just in the last two years, um our life has just gotten so much dramatically better because because of the investment in the home and and some of the things we have around us now in our community, incredible neighbors, all those things.
00:43:58.02
amber
So I just, you know, a lot of times we talk about real estate as just investments, but it when it’s your primary, you know, when it’s your home, um and for me, it’s primary, it’s all, I don’t have any other, like, work government nonprofits a lot.
00:44:11.40
Lorie Jones
yes Yeah.
00:44:13.24
amber
I don’t have a lot of homes.
00:44:13.57
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
00:44:14.83
amber
This is the only one. um I am you know proud. I was able to work so hard to make it happen. And just ah life the life that it has brought um and given to my kids and and and us as a family is um just something I’m really proud of.
00:44:34.31
Lorie Jones
think that I think it’s important that you mention that like a good financial decision for you was also a good values-based decision. It was yeah also had connotations of being in a good place for your family and and leading to a better quality of life.
00:44:41.90
amber
Yeah.
00:44:49.32
Lorie Jones
So I think that’s important that, you know as a financial advisor, I think it’s important that you look at what your values are telling you as well as what the finances are telling you and And make sure you’re living both.
00:45:01.57
Lorie Jones
that’s I’m excited for you that you have a cool house that ah brings you joy and your family joy.
00:45:05.48
amber
yeah
00:45:08.62
Lorie Jones
That’s great.
00:45:08.72
amber
Yeah, it’s great. And I have a really long list of the things that I’ve got to still get done on it. But that’s, you know, that’s probably going to be there for a while. I’m just, you know, but it’s, it’s, it felt really good to be able to do that.
00:45:15.69
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
00:45:20.50
amber
And I’m still really proud that I’m, I’m able to make this happen for my family.
00:45:26.98
Lorie Jones
What scared you the most when you started out on your journey? And does it still scare you?
00:45:34.51
amber
um I would say um failure is really, especially being a young person, you know, you, um and growing up in an environment, like I mentioned, where um
00:45:53.93
amber
the the perspective about what women’s role is or isn’t was front and center. Yeah. growing up when I was in high school and when I was in middle school. and um And, ah you know, that all of what I saw and learned and understood growing up has been challenged throughout my life for a variety of things.
00:46:19.34
amber
um You know, I never ever dreamed I would um or ever expected to go through a horrific divorce. I, uh, very, very painful situation. I, you know, um, I, I, you know, just really difficult. I never, something I would never, um, expect, you know, to deal with.
00:46:45.62
amber
Um, I think,
00:46:52.87
amber
uh, I think those kinds of moments put us in a place of, look, you either that you survive or you don’t. and certainly, what I went through has made me a far more resilient person, um, on a multitude of things.
00:47:09.87
amber
And, you know, so I think, I think, um,
00:47:10.03
Lorie Jones
Thank you.
00:47:14.88
amber
i I keep wanting to make things better for my kids. I want to leave the world in a better place than the way I found it. um I will work every day to do that.
00:47:26.63
amber
And i hope that my daughter… won’t face some of the comments, won’t face some of the threats, won’t face the same kind of harassment, won’t face the same vicious cycle of um of opinions about what women are or are not. Like we should let women choose the path they want to want to take.
00:47:49.94
amber
um So, you know, I think all of all of it ah had a reason to, you know, occur.
00:48:00.41
Lorie Jones
We’ve talked a little bit about some of the the challenges you faced, but is there anything that you can think of that were just unique challenges that you faced because you were a woman?
00:48:12.62
amber
Yeah, I think that, I mean, so I think the, um I was paid less. I saw it, knew it, was told it directly.
00:48:22.98
amber
so I, you know, like a, like a lot of us, right. We’ve, we’ve, I have no, what that feels like.
00:48:25.91
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
00:48:28.58
amber
um ah Women, women, ah women run companies get far less investment from private equity or wherever else than male run companies. That’s clear as day.
00:48:39.90
amber
ah The United States Senate,
00:48:40.03
Lorie Jones
Thank you.
00:48:43.07
amber
not I think 20, a little slightly over 20% are now women. Congress, around the same. ah Women are 51% of the population in the United States, and the United States is 71 in the world ranked in terms of women’s representation. We’re 71st in the world.
00:48:58.36
amber
We’re behind a whole bunch of developing nations. We’re behind most of the top, i mean all the top economies in the world. we’re
00:49:08.73
amber
it It’s, you know, I think that that’s, that certainly, um it It is a challenge. And, you know, I was told by both my grandmas, my mom, you’re going have to work 10 times harder, at least maybe more. i think it’s more.
00:49:27.43
amber
think it’s more like 100% more.
00:49:29.99
Lorie Jones
there
00:49:30.09
amber
um i think that we, ah women are often told you can do all. If you want to work, you can work and have kids, no problem. That’s not true. The systems are designed like the, even just you look at the school day, right?
00:49:47.16
amber
I don’t know many people that can run a company and work and and drop their kids off at 830 and pick them up at three o’clock because that’s not what the workday looks like. So the work, you know, the school day is never aligned with what a professional workday might look like.
00:50:03.03
amber
And frankly, there’s all kinds of shifts and things outside of that. Nurses, doctors, people that work overnight shifts, people work in industrial sectors, technology. I mean, we are in a 24 by 7 world.
00:50:13.63
amber
And yet, um you know, we kind of continue to tell women, yeah, you can you can both have kids and and which look, I have done it, but it’s really hard.
00:50:24.15
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
00:50:24.81
amber
And I’m a, I’m a, I’ve been a single mom for a long time now um without any, you know, I don’t, I don’t have a, a normal parenting time split. So I’m full time on this.
00:50:37.87
amber
And um it is, yeah it is far more difficult than anyone thinks when we kind of make these overtures. Oh, anything is possible. It is, except the systems are problematic to make that happen. And,
00:50:53.42
amber
You do need help. You do need help either that good child care systems, good setups. You have to pay for a lot of that. It’s not covered in the United States. ah We do very little here in the United States to support women and children and families.
00:51:08.26
amber
um And it isn’t just women. There’s, you know, I know a number of dads that struggle with this exact same thing. um So, you know, I think we really need to be thoughtful about how we think about the impacts of policies and regulations and,
00:51:23.36
amber
even just the school day schedule on working parents, um ah because it’s, it’s, it, you know, it feels impossible sometimes. And, you know, those are all the things that you you have to kind of learn over time, but then we also shouldn’t be accepting of it just because it’s always been that way.
00:51:44.20
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I like that. I like that thought. And and it does, I mean, i i listen to some of my clients who are dealing with um daycare and I’m like, oh my goodness gracious, how much are you paying for that?
00:51:58.83
Lorie Jones
It’s sometimes for two kids, it’s more than a house payment a lot of times. And that is just, yeah, yeah.
00:52:03.30
amber
At least, yeah.
00:52:05.29
Lorie Jones
And it’s just, it’s really hard to, like you said, you know, be a working
00:52:05.31
amber
Mm-hmm.
00:52:12.08
Lorie Jones
working parent, whether mom or dad, um and have that, that’s, it’s a really hard, you’ve got to make some compromises sometimes, and that’s, and that’s hard to do. So I love that, um and hope that that next generation will be, have a little bit of a leg up from us and maybe solve some of those problems for the ones that are following them.
00:52:36.56
amber
Well, and I always say, if we can make the lives of working moms easier, just that if you just focus on kind of that client base. And so I’ve been joking with a lot of the parents at school.
00:52:53.24
Lorie Jones
Thank you.
00:52:53.28
amber
Gosh, when is someone going to create an AI tool that can read all of the emails and texts and notices and newsletters and everything from school and all the sports stuff and and put it all together and summarize it um so that it doesn’t take so long to just go through all the information?
00:53:08.56
amber
And, you know, I’d really think if if when you think about when you build either systems, technology, what have you, and I always used to think about this for elections, know,
00:53:19.29
amber
If we build something that works for someone in the most with the most difficult circumstances, whether that be transportation, accessibility, um work challenges, whatever it might be, whatever we design that that addresses the needs of someone in the most difficult circumstances, everyone else is going to benefit from that opportunity.
00:53:38.63
amber
design. And so I think, you know, the same kind of thing applies here that if we built more to support and design more to support those that um have the longest schedules each day, ah her balancing a lot of things each day, everyone’s going to benefit from it. And, you know, that’s why I’m I’m excited on the one hand for ai and all the advancements, nervous on the other, because what what is the design of everything going to be like? How is it going impact everybody? But, you know, there’s a lot of promising technology that could solve a lot of stressful situations for a lot of us that work every day right now.
00:54:19.51
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
00:54:21.87
Lorie Jones
um What is the thing, Amber, that you are most proud of?
00:54:29.10
amber
I am most proud of my daughter and my son. Full stop. um i um It was always a dream to be a mom.
00:54:41.11
amber
They are kind, courageous, thoughtful, smart, loving kids. i i’m I just could not be prouder to be their mom.
00:54:52.58
amber
Yeah. yeah
00:54:56.12
Lorie Jones
And it sounds like you’ve um worked your life to make their lives better. Like um you, as you, as you’ve taken these different positions, these different board positions and different companies positions and stuff like that, it’s always in the forefront of your mind. Like, how is this going to impact my posterity, the, you know, the kids of those that I know?
00:55:21.22
amber
Yeah, it’s it’s really, you know, when you have a when you’re a parent and you’re thinking about the future for your own children, and then when you do work that has tremendous impact on the everyday lives of the American people, whether that be, you know, on the election administration side and a lot of the work I’ve done there,
00:55:41.43
amber
or it be in technology, or it be, ah you know, now I’m on the board of governors for the Postal Service, and we we are the only entity in the entire world that goes to every door in every community in the United States every day, and six, seven days a week.
00:55:58.70
amber
um And, you know, when you think about the building and founding of the United States, connectivity between constituents across this vast land, from business to so customers, from customers to business, from government to, you know, and but and vice versa.
00:56:16.26
amber
That is how our country was built. It was built on this this incredible institution that that’s connecting the nation. And so it’s everything I’ve done is sort of it almost kind of ends up being with a purpose of universal service, whether that be in the mail for, for the postal service or whether that be in the voting space.
00:56:36.46
amber
um i you know, it it has been my um professional goal and and mission to make the world a better place. And I’ve done that through the service we that that really is rooted in this belief that everyone deserves um exceptional service ah in in what they’re trying to get either, you know, in this instance for me, the mail or in elections and voting. But the same applies if you think about businesses, like,
00:57:10.29
amber
you know, i exceptional companies and businesses think deeply and plan deeply around exceptional service for their customers. And, um you know, that’s that’s certainly where my energy lies is is is how you build better systems, regardless of what you’re, you know, working on.
00:57:30.99
Lorie Jones
yeah it kind of goes back to your motto too right you talk about um courageous and kind like you know
00:57:38.03
amber
Sure.
00:57:38.90
Lorie Jones
Courageous and kind service, um that kindness, that idea of being of service to people in all the different areas and facets of your life. So I think that it’s really well aligned with your core belief too.
00:57:53.45
amber
Yep, absolutely.
00:57:55.80
Lorie Jones
Any advice for a young lady who’s just kind of starting down this path that you’re so successful at that would help her be where you are one day?
00:58:06.14
amber
I think first, um, really think deeply about your personal mission, you know, and,
00:58:12.38
Lorie Jones
Thank you.
00:58:15.71
amber
and And set some goals, like early, often. um Really think about what impact you want to have. And and and and and then start identifying mentors who can bring light.
00:58:35.52
amber
Maybe challenge some of your assumptions. um Bring positive advice. um Maybe some that have, you know, if you’re if you want to have a family and also run a company.
00:58:49.03
amber
Seek a mentor who’s doing that very thing. i think often we sort of set goals and, or a lot of people will set goals and mission and and never test the assumptions or test, is it possible? Can I can i actually get there through this? And really aligning with with expertise, mentors, voices, even just personal friends, family, anybody that can,
00:59:19.51
amber
help challenge your assumptions around your goals, I think is really important. um i I was not always effective of that. I had some really great um really great mentors that I’m, again, still really deep deeply grateful for.
00:59:36.19
amber
But I wasn’t always vocal with all the goals I had in mind for myself and and asking for their perspective. A lot of times I would be you know, talking to mentors about things that were right in front of me, not necessarily long-term ah goals I had in my mind about ah family and how you balance that.
00:59:55.46
amber
And like, you know, would you be able to, you know, do all of these things?
00:59:56.23
Lorie Jones
Thank you.
00:59:59.01
amber
or And what are the real challenges you’re going to face? Like the cost of childcare, like the school day schedule, like the lack of access to sports and activities that exist in a lot of the public school systems, you know, whatever it might be.
01:00:12.86
amber
um I think developing and thinking deeply about what kind of life do you want? um what is What are the ways you get there? And then who can help you with um you know the realities around that and navigating a path to to achieve what you want?
01:00:32.95
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I like that. So that you, you kind of have this idea, but, but you’re right, a lot of the questions that, you know, you ask mentors are like, what do I do in this situation? Or what do I do right now?
01:00:46.08
Lorie Jones
And, and finding someone that can kind of help you along the larger path. Like, hey, what does it look like to be to balance home and family?
01:00:57.81
Lorie Jones
Like, what does that look like in your life?
01:00:58.23
amber
Yeah.
01:00:59.61
Lorie Jones
What have you found that’s helpful? Are there things that I’m not thinking of? Sometimes around those bigger goals, we we forget to ask those questions and mentors and um have examples of having done that successfully in their life as well.
01:01:15.08
Lorie Jones
So they can be very helpful there.
01:01:16.25
amber
yes
01:01:17.68
Lorie Jones
I like that.
01:01:18.72
amber
Yeah. And ask for help. You know, I think so many people like don’t take the initiative to ask for help. Um, and, um, um And that’s really important to do because, or advice, whatever, you know, help advice, whatever it might be, I think is is really, really important um as you build that mission statement.
01:01:42.74
amber
and then And then like a vision board, you know, visit like vision out. My daughter actually just built a vision board ahead of school starting because we always do goal setting. And, you know, she she wanted to do kind of pictorials of, of what she’s, you know, what her primary goals are. And I think that’s always a great thing too, because it starts to bring to life what you might write down as goals or what, what’s on paper. Like, what does it actually look like for you?
01:02:11.20
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I have one. um that I’m not very good at keeping up, but it’s a pin cushion, you know, one of the ah bulletin boards there. So I take my pins out and put new things up when they become important and take things down when they become less important.
01:02:27.23
Lorie Jones
um So it’s kind of a ah vision board in action there. So I love that. I love that idea of like just thinking thoughtfully.
01:02:33.29
amber
Yeah.
01:02:34.96
Lorie Jones
i think there has to be, there’s time to work in your business. There’s time to work on your business. I think you have to have time to work on you too, to or else you’re never going to make those goals and visions that you have for yourself, right?
01:02:48.89
amber
Yeah, that’s right. That’s exactly right.
01:02:51.84
Lorie Jones
Well, thank you so much, Amber, for your time today. I really appreciate it. I appreciate you giving us all this insight. And if I have a young lady who wants to ask some questions, how does she get in touch with you?
01:03:04.33
amber
Well, couple ways. So I actually have a website that talks about, it’s sort of a profile website. it has a lot of the projects I’ve worked on and and different things like that. And that’s always a great way to to get in touch. There’s a contact page on that. And then my um i can share my email with you as well, Lori. I think you’ve got my email and you can certainly pass that on. Another one is LinkedIn. like i I actually read the messages on LinkedIn that people send me, even and if they’re like cold calls. And I respond and and try to, you know, help and engage where I can. So um in fact, I’ve had a number of people that went to students at University of Illinois reach out to me through LinkedIn.
01:03:45.21
amber
So that’s always a good one because it’s pretty pretty accessible and easy to ah reply there.
01:03:51.53
Lorie Jones
Perfect. Well, I will add those resources to our show notes. And thank you again so much for your time. I appreciate it.
01:03:58.21
amber
Thanks, Lori. Take care.