That One Time, When Tarrah Got Involved in Politics, During a Pandemic…..

You are not going to believe what happened during our stay at home order?! I have never been one to enjoy politics at all! (Please don’t tell my HS government teacher! She was amazing! No reflection on her! LOL!) Politics are so important, and the fact that I have the right to vote, as a US citizen, but also as a woman! I will not take that for granted! BUT! When it comes to talking politics, I tend to stay incredibly neutral! There are many reasons for that, but honestly, if you really get to know me, I tend to keep a very neutral position in most things of life! I love to look at both sides of the coin, and decide what fits where, at what time. (Please don’t judge me for that! Haha!) My point I am trying to make, is that I don’t “rub elbows” or donate to anything politically charged, and the thought of getting involved quite frankly intimidates me!

And then, COVID-19 came into our lives. In a matter of moments, it literally stopped the world. After weeks of being shut down, my neutral and empathetic heart was really starting to hurt. Trying to find ways to educate my children at home, knowing their teachers and our school district does an amazing job all the time (and now they are stuck with poor mom! Haha!), making dinner (legit. That like never happens!), watching my community start dividing and arguing, hearing of our local businesses that were going to have to close their doors as a result of this terrible disease, questioning if I was doing enough and being supportive enough for my team and our clients! Sheesh! Was anyone else feeling these waves of emotion, or was it just me?!

At nearly 7 weeks in, I heard an opportunity during one of our Governor’s daily press conferences, and without fear or hesitation, I acted on it! I picked up my phone (OK. I’ll be honest, I wrestled it away from my 8 year old!), found the phone number to our elected Representative, and I called. Holy cow. For anyone that knows my neutral, non-political ways, that was huge and super scary for me! (By the way, he was super nice, and if your elected official is not there to hear you out and try to be a voice of logic and reason, you may want to find a new one! But I am very proud of Rep. Brian Baldridge and I am happy that he represents our area! Thank you, sir!) Are you ready for what happened next……….

 I had another phone call within 36 hours, and BAM! My wishful thinking, coupled with my willingness to take action, landed me a spot on our industry’s Advisory Board for our state! Now! My next wave of fear was that “Oh no. I’m going to be so out of my league!” And then, when I saw some of the powerhouse names on our Board, I knew I was out of my league! But you know what was so beyond amazing? There were 30 of us, almost all licensed professionals at one point in our career, along with a handful of various government employees, each one bringing our own unique working situations, experiences, and representing EVERY facet of our industry. With a group of 30 individuals, who do not know each other, and knowing we had a major responsibility, to speak up for our pieces of the industry, the industry as a whole, but primarily, to recommend ways that we could keep ourselves, our employees, and especially our clients SAFE felt like an enormous task! But those few days of phone conferences, document submissions, review, sharing of viewpoints, and revisiting each agenda item, were nothing short of amazing and empowering. No arguing. No bullying. No short sidedness. Just genuine love for our professional community in its entirety and especially love for our clients and consideration of safety for our communities!

Building and growing my team of 16 has been so rewarding to watch! Witnessing a client step into their new found confidence is a similar feeling to when I saw my children take their first steps! (Seriously! I LOVE watching anyone finally succeed at what they have been working on!) And I feel not only honored to have represented my industry, as well as our amazing local community of professionals, but to be a part of a swift moving, yet thoughtful collaboration?! My internal mission for our industry has always been to elevate the level of professionalism, so that we too can have a seat at the table and be taken serious as professionals! After this privilege of serving our industry, I’m happy to say, that Ohio professionals definitely deserve to keep a seat at that table!