Election 2024: Hear My Story, Vote XX

2024 Election, Motivation, Inspiration for Women

I never joined a debate team. I didn’t enjoy discussing opposing views with other people. I liked believing what I believed. I didn’t have an agenda to change anyone’s mind. I didn’t keep my thoughts to myself but didn’t argue with them. I lived true to my beliefs and how those beliefs grew from experience.

I came from a divorced household where fighting could be a norm some days. I also experienced multiple parental divorces after the first one. There isn’t a way to leave a love relationship without fighting and breaking the original tie. Yelling, harsh words, sadness, and loss were part of my parental experience for over fifty years. I don’t like to fight. I don’t like it when others fight.

This does not mean I don’t share my opinion when it is important. I am not asking anyone to agree or disagree with me. I’m stating what I know, the wisdom I have as a 59-year-old woman with many life experiences including being a #MeToo survivor.

I registered as a Republican as an 18-year-old because I was a business major in college and because business people backed Republicans. I voted for Ronald Regan. Only after being sexually harassed at an influential stock market company at the age of 21 years old, where my boss told me “To treat his high paying client the right way” it disgusted me, rose the feminist spirit in me, and made me leave the world of businessmen.

My next job was in Institutional Advancement in an organization with five other women where we treated each other fairly. I was promoted because I was sharp and mature becoming the youngest board member of the organization. After becoming a mother, I started a business and led a women’s only business group giving me more time and leadership in surrounding myself and promoting women. I thrived in the role.

Ten years later, I opened a company dedicated primarily to women supporting women in business, sports, and equality issues while also taking 120 women to the March on Washington to show the new Trump administration we had numbers and weren’t going anywhere. The year was 2017. We marched peacefully. It was another feminist moment in my career and personal growth although I lost two best friends because of the decision.

I became a Democrat after meeting Hillary Clinton in Syracuse. I wanted a female president to represent businesswomen, #MeToo survivors, and my nieces in the future. I believe that only women can bring forth the right platform for women. After her loss, I became dedicated to supporting other women running for office or any male candidate who truly supported women’s causes.

As the 2024 election approaches with all the horrible negativity and fighting associated with it, I don’t want to fight with people who want to vote the way they want to vote but rather lend my personal opinion to any individual woman still undecided in the race. I ask you to not elect a convicted rapist.

From my personal experience, this could be the worst decision made for women today and in the future. Women make up 52% of the population. Vote with XX in mind.   Thank you.