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Music.

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Hi, welcome to the Capital Coffee Connection, and I'm Liz Hershnoff-Tolley,

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and today I'm really excited because I have Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett from Dallas, Texas,

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and this is one of the people that I've never met before, but I have admired and watched.

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And so today, and really it's a funny story because my friend Ellen,

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a few months back, she said, oh, you have to meet Congresswoman Crockett.

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She would be perfect for your podcast. So here we are today. Thank you, Ellen.

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And thank you, Congresswoman, for joining me today.

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Absolutely, Liz. I look forward to the conversation. Well, great.

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So we are going to talk mostly about heart and humanity. We really do not delve

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into politics and policy, although you are a leader, so it can jump in here.

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But really, the goal here is just to get to know who you are,

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because I believe that a lot of people just don't get to know who our elected

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leaders are and really why they serve,

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and that it is because they have heart and they have humanity and they bring

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that to the work each day, as difficult sometimes as it can be.

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And this is an opportunity for people in a short period of time to really get

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to know who you are. Yeah, absolutely.

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So one of the things, I'm going to change up what I usually do and I'm just

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going to, I was reading about you and watching and you are fearless and you're forceful.

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And one of the things that I was so respectful of is that you really know your

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W's, why, when, where, who, about your story.

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And I thought that I would just start by asking you a few things that you had

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said and just your thoughts on them, because you are a powerful woman, powerful leader.

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And you say these things that I think are just amazing. And I'd love to know where they come from.

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Okay. So one of the things you said was, I speak truth to power.

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Work. It's interesting coming out of the courtroom and going into committee rooms.

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The things that I've said or the things that I've seen coming out of the courtroom, I think.

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Has allowed me to have a very realistic view of what's really happening with

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real people every single day, whether we're talking about a criminal case,

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which in the criminal cases, is we get everything.

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It's interesting. I was talking to another colleague who used to be a prosecutor

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and she said, you really are a criminal defense attorney.

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And I said, why do you say that? And she said, because y'all have to be social workers too.

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And I just see it all over you. And it's true because we are always trying to

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get to the heart of like what brought us here today.

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Like I don't necessarily believe that.

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People are just born bad or born to get in trouble, I believe that situations arise and happen.

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And so for me, the courtroom is really where we were always supposed to seek the truth.

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For me, knowing what I know and knowing the stories of very real people,

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the only reason I would leave the courtroom and go into a committee room is

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so that we literally could speak some truth to power and make sure that real

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stories are getting out there because the power really belongs to the people in and of itself anyway.

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And it's important that we never lose focus of that.

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And so I keep the people at the center of everything I do.

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Right. And you also said about your role that you said the seats are not ours.

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They belong to the people. They do. They do.

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The seat will never be Congresswoman Crockett's. Now, when we look at the House

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or when we look at the U.S. Senate, you may believe that the seats have become the members because they

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sit at them for quite some time with us not having term limits.

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But I think so long as I keep that perspective, which is the real perspective,

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which it doesn't belong to me, I think that it allows me to center my focus

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on who my boss is. And my boss is the the people.

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And the moment that I start to get so cushy that I believe that this seat has

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my name on it, that's when I lose focus of what I'm really supposed to be doing, which is serving.

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We are public servants and I take it really seriously.

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And I think even sometimes the people get to the point that they believe that

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they don't have the power to change who's in the seat because somebody has been there so long.

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But I never, ever want to get that comfortable that I believe that the sea belongs to me.

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And you also said just as an adding to that, which was like you made a reference

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of between the kings and the queens versus public servants.

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Yeah, absolutely. You know, there tends to be an...

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And I hate to be this way, but there are definitely older members.

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And when I say older, I mean people that have been in the institution for longer.

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You can tell like they walk into like rooms and it's like it's like they're elevated.

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And I walk into rooms and I always introduce myself as Jasmine.

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Even when we run my campaigns, we run on my first name.

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And definitely there are people that are like, listen, you went through a lot.

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You're one of less than 60 Black women to ever walk in the halls of Congress.

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And so we will use the title that you have fought for and you have earned.

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And I absolutely appreciate that.

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But I never, ever want anyone to feel like I'm not their hired gun because that's what I am.

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I'm their hired gun. And it's not about the people serving me.

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It's about me pleasing them and

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me making them feel like they have the representation that they deserve.

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I was at a high school this week in my district, or actually last week.

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I was at this high school. And I was just going to learn more about what this specific school did because

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it's a little different than traditional schools. And one of the students that

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was taking me around, it's an all-boy school, public.

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And one of the students that was taking me around, we entered into choir class

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and he almost was in tears. And I was like, what's up?

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And he was like, I just got to tell you, I love you.

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You're my hero. And this is a kid that can't even vote yet.

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It's a high school kid. And I'm like, what? And he's like, oh,

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I've watched so many of your videos. And I'm like, really?

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Because when I was in high school, I was not watching politicians at all.

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And so he said, for once, I feel like there's somebody that is fighting for me.

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And I was like, I am so happy to hear that.

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I am so relieved to hear that. that because if there's anybody that I'm fighting for, it's you.

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And a lot of people don't think about y'all because y'all can't vote.

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One day you'll be able to vote, but I really do believe in this next generation.

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I believe obviously in my seniors as well.

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But when I think about what will your legacy be, what will people think that you fought for?

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I want to make sure that there's a democracy that survives for these amazing

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kids that are coming up right now. I want to make sure that there's actually

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clean air and clean water for them to have.

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Like, I want them to have so many more opportunities than I ever did.

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I hate the fact that Roe has been rolled back and that this happened in my generation. Right.

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Like, I don't think that there should be a world where young women don't have

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access to the health care that they deserve. I don't think that women should

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ever be considered second rate citizens.

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These are the things that I care about that I fight for every single day.

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And to have a kid who can't even vote that can recognize that,

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that to me is the pat on the back that I need that tells me that I am doing the real work.

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Because not only am I getting it done, but for you to recognize and feel like

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you're being represented when so many people feel as if the people in D.C.

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Are so disconnected from them, it really made my entire day.

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Well, I think it basically, just hearing the story makes my day.

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And I think it's like that you believe in the people that you serve and they believe in you.

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And what you're saying is that you've been able to actually touch a young person's

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life and that that is most meaningful because like you said,

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he doesn't vote yet, but he will be. So it's all, it's, it's, it's important. Tell me a little bit more about what

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your district is, where you represent in Texas.

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I know it's in Dallas and you know, one of the, some of the things that are

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special about the people that you represent just overall in Dallas, Texas.

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So I actually get the largest portion of the city of Dallas,

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but my district is the most, it's actually the most compact district in the state.

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So it takes maybe about 30 minutes to get from the northernmost point to the southern tip.

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So I'm really blessed in that way because not everybody can get across their district in 30 minutes.

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Before redistricting, I wasn't even going outside of Dallas County.

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So it was wholly contained in Dallas County.

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I now go into Tarrant County a little bit. And the only reason anybody probably

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knows about Tarrant County is because the Dallas Cowboys do not play in Dallas.

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They play in Tarrant County. So most people know about out the Dallas Cowboys. So yeah, so they play in the

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other county that I now represent. I don't have the stadium, but I do have some precincts in the city that they play in.

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But my district, besides being the most compact in the state of Texas,

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it's also the most African-American densely populated district in the state, naturally occurring.

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But we are approximately 48% citizen voting age population, African-American.

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And then I am close to 30% Latino citizen voting age population.

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So it is a majority minority district by far.

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I think they told me the average age was in the thirties, which is wild to me

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because I feel like it's a pretty senior district, but that's probably because

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I get like downtown Dallas, uptown Dallas.

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I get the Oak Lawn area, which we affectionately refer to as the Gabor Hood.

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And then I also get Dallas Love Field along with about three regional airports as well.

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So I actually have a ton of aviation, probably more aviation in my district

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than any other district in the state. Southwest Airlines is based in my district, along with JSX Airlines,

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along with two of the largest manufacturers of helicopters.

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Saffron and Airbus actually are also in my district, along with having the four total airports.

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So tons of aviation happens in my district and we actually do lots of distribution.

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So there's a ton of distribution centers in my district.

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So lots of warehouses. I have more Home Depot distribution centers than any

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other district in the country. We've got two in my district, but I've, of course, got the biggies of Amazon.

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I've got JCPenney. I've got everybody in my district. So your neighborhoods

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are busy. You've got a lot of people working.

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Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And we are always trying to get more and more people

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working. I love it. But it's just a great district.

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We also have 20% of my district live at or below poverty.

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And I also have the highest rate of incarceration of any district in the entire state.

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So lots of challenges economically, which ties back to so many other things,

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housing, education, all the of things to kind of tie in with the economics of it.

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So there's still more jobs that we can always get more good paying jobs is a

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fight that I'm always waging. And one of the things that I read about that I think is, again,

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really special is that you have relationships with leaders in Texas that are Republican.

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And that could you talk just for a minute about your the work you've done with Senator Cornyn?

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And I know that you are put together the Strip Act and that it's something that

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really it's not political. It's really something that is human and really the needs for people to have

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leadership that works together to help the people. ball. Yeah, absolutely.

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So it's so interesting because I am definitely a Democrat through and through.

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I was a founding member of the Progressive Caucus. I'm a member in the Texas

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House. I'm a member of the Progressive Caucus in the U.S. House.

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But as someone who has always been the go-to for solving people's problems,

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because that's what lawyers are supposed to do, I approach lawmaking making the same way.

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I have people that have elected me and they elected me to solve some of the

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most difficult issues that they're facing in their lives.

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And it doesn't matter how I get there, but I got to get there.

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I got to solve it for my people. And so when I was in the state house, before people really started talking about

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fentanyl, as someone who had done criminal defense work, we were seeing a spike.

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We were seeing the problems. And this is something that I started working on, which was to decriminalize

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fentanyl testing strips, because there's always been kind of this one approach to drugs and crime.

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It's just a matter of, oh, they're on drugs. You know what? We need to increase

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the sentences and that's going to fix the drug problem.

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And somehow the United States still hasn't fixed their drug problem.

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But as someone who better understands addiction, and as I used to talk to my

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mental health clients, as well as my drug addicted clients.

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I would say, right now you're hurting for whatever reason. There's something that is hurting you.

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For my mental health clients, I'd say your mind.

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Is hurting you right now. And normally when you're hurting, we will put you

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in a hospital, but the way things are set up a lot of times here, we take people to jail.

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And so I don't think that there is one fix for drugs, but I approach it in a multifaceted way.

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And so one of the things for me is mitigation.

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I want to save lives. It can't just be, you know, people are ODing on fentanyl.

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And so So now we're just going to say everybody that's crossing the border is

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bringing in fentanyl when that's not true. But instead, it's obviously making sure that we increase the detection at the

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border so that we can stop all types of drugs because all drugs come through

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the border, as well as making sure that we're saving lives.

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And so that means that when somebody is addicted, most of these people are struggling

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with an opioid addiction. They actually don't know that their drugs are laced with fentanyl.

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Most people don't say, hey, I need fentanyl. They really are struggling because

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they're addicted to opioids. And so they're buying what they believe is to be opioids off the street.

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But fentanyl is colorless and it's tasteless.

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And so I was able to get a bill passed out of the state house.

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It didn't make it to or actually get it passed out of committee.

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It didn't make it to a house vote when I was there, but I was not going to give

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up. up and I thought, this is great because now I've got a bigger platform.

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By the time I got to the U.S. House, now everyone was talking about fentanyl

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and the dangers and the deaths. I could have said, let me go find a Democrat in the Senate that will hopefully carry this.

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But Senator Cornyn from day one has actually been very helpful to me.

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I'm sure most people will remember that I didn't get to swear in like normal

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people get to swear into the House because we didn't have a speaker when we were supposed to.

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And because of that, there was no house.

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And one of the first people that called us was Cornyn's office.

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And they said, hey, we know you're probably getting phone calls because people

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are looking for their member to do stuff, but you can't do anything.

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We didn't have login access. We didn't have anything. I was not official until

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I could get sworn in. And so they said, we're here to help you.

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And that was literally the first step that he took that made me feel like,

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well, let me at least try to talk to him.

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And then once we got sworn in, he set up a meeting for he and I to sit down

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and be able to talk face to face. And he told me that he wanted to be a partner, which again, is something that

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I don't see happening very often in politics nowadays.

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And I can appreciate, it doesn't mean that he's going to be my champion being on repro.

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And I would never believe him to be that. But his point is that I am one of his members.

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Democrat or Republican, I am one of his members and he serves the entire state of Texas.

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And he said, where we can work together for the benefit of Texans, I want to do it.

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And he's actually proven to be true on that point.

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And as we've had a very chaotic house, he has actually gone out on the road

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and he sold the Strip Act and really been telling a lot of people about it.

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And so So I'm I'm proud to say that I can work in a bicameral,

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bipartisan way so that people know that politics really can work.

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It really can work in this country.

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You know, I know that there are some people that don't want to work across the

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aisle, but I believe in good governance.

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I believe in getting to the bottom line of helping people and anybody that wants to help people.

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I really don't care which side of the aisle you come from. If you want to help

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people, then I am ready and willing to work.

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And he has been actually a great partner.

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Well, it's a beautiful story. And this is what he said. He said,

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I think she's been very approachable. It's not easy to get things done or bills passed in either of the two houses,

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especially if you don't have a dance partner. So I offered to be her dance partner, which I thought was beautiful.

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Yeah, he did. He did. And he really has been. So we've got other things that

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we're working on, food insecurity things and everything. things.

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So I'm proud of the work that we can do. Unfortunately, I don't have the same

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working relationship with the other Senator from my state.

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So I don't usually have very much to say about him, but I like to be honest

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in my politics and I don't take people down just because they aren't from my party.

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I take people down because they're bad. And that's what you see in the viral several videos.

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But I've not had a bad thing to say about Cornyn. Obviously,

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I'm a very big repro girl. But at least you know what you're getting.

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You know that that's not an area of agreement.

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We don't talk about it. We don't deal with it. But almost anything else we can

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actually talk through and work through. I love that. It's a nice story. And I think it's an important one.

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So thank you for sharing. So now I'm going to just switch a little bit and go down to go back to like

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where you come from and just a little bit about your family.

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I know your father was a preacher. I don't know what your mom, what she did, but I know that she she said that

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she knew you'd be something when you were young because you were very articulate as a young person.

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Could you tell us just a little bit about what it was like to grow up and what your family gave to you?

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Yes. So I grew up as an only child in St. Louis, Missouri.

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I usually don't talk about my education very much because for for politics is

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not necessarily the best thing, but, you know, pretty transparent. parent.

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So the deal is my parents worked multiple jobs and I went to public school until the sixth grade.

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And then there were some problems with like the junior high and they were very concerned.

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So they got additional jobs and they worked to put me into private school.

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So I was in private school until I graduated high school.

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And it's interesting that my mom says that because she was one of those people

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that I didn't get to rest, right?

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Like it wasn't a matter of go to school and maybe play some video games and maybe go outside.

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It was, you know, you've got to do delteens. You've got to be active in inroads.

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You've got to do upward bound. You've got to do my, like the list goes on and on and on junior achievement

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of all the things that she had me doing.

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And I'm so so appreciative to her now. I was very tired when I was young,

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but very appreciative because she believed in exposing me to as many things

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as possible and also keeping me out of trouble.

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That was another way of her keeping me out of trouble, but it allowed me to

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gain leadership skills. I became a national officer in top teens of America and I consistently kind of held offices,

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offices but funny enough I never wanted to

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like be in politics like so right so even throughout high school and everything

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I held so many different offices but politics was never on the radar and my

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parents were voters but they weren't like political activists in any way so

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they didn't push me that way and. Growing up in St. Louis, it's not like I ever saw a Black congresswoman.

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Missouri didn't get a Black congresswoman until they got Cori Bush.

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I didn't see it, so it just wasn't even part of my mindset, really,

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which is why I do think it's really important that I exist in the way that I do.

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Is because there are those that say, I can be that too. And I didn't have that for me.

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As I got older, obviously, and I studied a little bit and I became the biggest

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fan of my sorority sisters that were kind of leading the way for somebody like

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me, Barbara Jordan being the first black woman to go to Congress from Texas.

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And then obviously Shirley Chisholm being the first black woman ever to enter

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Congress. And they're both my sorority sisters. And so it was definitely like later on in life I was like, huh, who knew?

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But I still wasn't like, that's going to be me because I was studying about them.

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I wasn't looking kind of in present day at them and seeing myself.

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But I grew up as an only child who stayed really, really busy and never thought

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that there was anything that I couldn't do. I just didn't necessarily think about all that I could do, if that makes sense.

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Yeah, no, it makes sense. I mean, when I grew up, I didn't know that women could be a president or a vice president.

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Now you think about it, we have a female vice president.

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But when I was growing up, we didn't have that. So I can understand.

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And I think that if a child can see it, then it's easier to believe it.

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And that's why the people that represent should be like the people that are

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in our country. And, you know, and that's an important part of people's experience

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in America, which is seeing people that look like them or seeing the potential for what they can be.

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Did you have a teacher or somebody in school that really inspired you?

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I will say that my favorite teacher in life was always Miss Taylor from elementary.

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I don't know what it was about her, especially thinking back that far,

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but it was just a matter of love that I always felt from her.

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But then if we fast forward to college,

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the person that pushed me to law school was my mock trial coach,

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which I wasn't supposed to do mock trial, but he recruited me for it as I was

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performing in Little Shop of Horrors on campus at Rhodes. codes.

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And so, and it was interesting because he, he reached out to me here recently.

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It was probably about a month ago and was just, he sent me an email talking

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about how proud he was of me, but he was the one that really told me,

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he was like, you need to come do mock trial. And I was like, no, no, no, I'm not going to law school.

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And he was like, no, you need to come do mock trial. So of course he asked me to try out.

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And of course I was going to make the team because he asked me to,

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but ultimately I became an all American at mock trial.

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And he was the one that told me you should apply to law school.

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And I was like, I'm a business major. I'm going to become a CPA. I'm not applying to law school. And he's like,

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just apply. And I got a full ride with a stipend,

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And I was like, well, if I don't like it, I'll quit. But I never would have

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been in law school, in my opinion, but for his nudging along with being the

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victim of a series of hate crimes on campus. It was kind of the combination of the two.

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And I always tell people that God never whispers at me. He always yells at me.

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And so it's always like coming from every kind of angle where it's like,

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all right, I get it. Fine. You know, and yeah, but Jasmine, you listened. You know, there's a lot of people

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that get yelled at and they don't listen. They just, you know, you like listen, you're like, whoa, there's something here for me.

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That is, you're absolutely right. I mean, it's, it's wild because,

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you know, I'm like when they write my life story, it's not, it's not what you would think of.

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It's not traditional in any way when it comes to kind of entering politics.

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But, you know, it's, it's the work that I did in the law that drove me to actually

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want to write legislation. I never would have been on this trajectory,

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but for kind of those many steps.

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And then there were just amazing professors in law school that always had my

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back and always just were like, you're going to be amazing.

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And so and they still check on me, some of them, which is wild.

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One literally just passed away at the end of last year.

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But she was like my research professor and she would check in.

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She would send me messages on Facebook and she would tell me how proud she was

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and that kind of stuff. And so, you know, those are the people that you always want in the classroom.

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Those are the people that you want in whatever profession they're doing,

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because those are the people that are doing it because they actually love it.

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She wasn't there just to get a check because I graduated law school almost 20

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years ago and she still was keeping up with me. Right.

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That's that's the type of love that she poured into her students.

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So Professor Spearman will always be one of my forever loves.

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But yeah, so many people along the way. Yeah. And what advice would you,

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like when you speak with young people, and I mean, I know this young man was

26:05

really inspired, but like what would you say to them as like...

26:09

To encourage them to seek their dreams, but also maybe public service,

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which is a place that is sometimes daunting and not feeling like,

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you know, oh, I have a place here. When I speak to so many young people, I try to speak in a language that they can understand.

26:27

Right. I think it's a skill set that comes with being a trial attorney.

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You always want to know who your audience is. You never want to speak over a

26:35

jury's head. You always want to assess kind of who your jurors are, that kind of stuff.

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And so with them, number one, I always try to make sure I meet them at their level.

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Number two, I tell them about how much further ahead in life they already are than I ever was.

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Because you may see me here and you may believe, oh, she obviously,

26:57

you know, was this poli-sci girl and she interned on the Hill and she did all

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these things and I did none of them. And somehow I ended up here.

27:07

But the fact that they even are communicating with a member of Congress,

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right, if they're talking to me, they're light years ahead of where I was.

27:15

I honestly don't remember the first member of Congress that I spoke to,

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but I was fully, fully grown. on.

27:23

Like this was, you know, most likely, I don't even know if I talked to any before I entered the house.

27:28

I did. Yeah. I talked to my predecessor before I entered the house,

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but she may have been the first member of Congress that I ever had a conversation with.

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And I was in my thirties, right. Before I ever did.

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And so, you know, for them to hear these stories, these real life stories of

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my life and recognize if I got here, you definitely can get here because you're

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already so much further ahead of me.

27:54

And I also just tell them that you really shouldn't go after money.

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And maybe an older version of me will say you should have went after money,

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but I'm still my bleeding heart level right now because I've always said that

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the money will come so long as you walk in your purpose that God has for you.

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And so there are those that were like, you'll never make money as a criminal

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defense attorney. Criminal defense attorneys do not make like a lot of money. But.

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I really love what I did. And it was my love and my frustration in that work,

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as well as the civil rights work that made me say, I've got to do more.

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And I've never missed anything that I needed.

28:35

Right. And so I think that it's important that you focus on your purpose because,

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when you're like walking in it, like when I talk about Professor Spearman,

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literally you'll never feel like you're doing work.

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I mean, it doesn't mean it's going to be easy. That's for sure. You will still get tired, but you'll feel fulfilled because

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you'll know that what you're doing is making a difference,

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whatever it is, whether it's music or whether it's accounting or whether it's

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being a lawyer or a doctor, you'll feel fulfilled in what you're doing.

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And so I really try to encourage them in that way.

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And I'll also tell them, do not be freaked out if you don't have your life figured out.

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Because by the time you're 18, your parents are on your back and they're like,

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where are you going to college? What are you majoring in? And I tell them, listen, I changed my major.

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I changed where I was going for grad school. And I give them license to literally

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explore and know that they can still have an amazing career,

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even if they don't have it all figured out at 18.

29:38

Yeah, I think it's absolutely correct.

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And nobody ever is happy when all their goal is to make money.

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And that's just something that also young people have to realize and to follow

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your passion, follow whatever and try things is really the best advice.

29:53

Okay. So I could speak to you for a lot longer, but I'm going to ask you a handful

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of questions now just for people to get to know you and you can answer however

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you wish, but they're easy. They're kind of softballs. What is your favorite sound?

30:07

Music of some sort, for sure. What's on your playlist?

30:11

Oh, it's Beyonce. I'm a Texan. yeah so Beyonce I mean she dropped an album for

30:17

me on my birthday so absolutely a couple weeks back yeah it's a great one yes

30:22

it is yeah what is your favorite color black and purple,

30:27

it was purple when I was growing up but I've become I'm obsessed with black

30:32

and what is your favorite smell okay so this is gonna sound weird but just roll

30:38

with me I love when I walk into a a fancy hotel and whatever fragrances, it's always the best.

30:46

It's like when you walk into the fancy hotel and they never tell you what it

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is, but it's always the good stuff. I like that smell.

30:56

I don't know how to, it's the fancy hotel smell. I get it. No,

30:59

I like that. I like that. I've never heard it, but I totally understand what you're saying.

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Who is your biggest cheerleader? That's a tough one, but I'm going to have to go with my mama.

31:09

I'm going to have to go with my mama. If my granny was alive, it'd probably be my granny, but I'm going to have to

31:15

go with my mom. I think that's beautiful.

31:18

Okay. This is a hard one. If you were on a desert island and you had one meal

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you could choose to have be on that island, what would it be? Chinese.

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I am obsessed with all Asian food, but specifically Chinese.

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Anything specific in Chinese food that is your favorite? Nope. I just love it all.

31:36

Okay. Okay. What is your favorite household chore?

31:39

I don't like household Okay.

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So the one that I least despise is washing clothes.

31:49

Okay. Well, you're too busy anyways, so it's all good. It's all good.

31:52

What is your superpower? I mean, I think I've heard it throughout this, but what do you feel is your superpower?

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What do you possess that you think gives you each day something special to go

32:03

out and do the work you do? I think my ability to connect with people authentically is my superpower. power.

32:09

Where in the world have you dreamed to travel that you have yet to go?

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I've dreamed and I've yet to go. I'm going to say Ghana.

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So they do a big New Year's celebration. So I've always wanted to do New Year's in Ghana.

32:25

My mom and I did New Year's in Australia, which is a huge thing as well.

32:31

But I really want to experience New Year's in Ghana.

32:34

It looks like a great time. Do you have like a mantra that you live by?

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Something that like when you're just down or you're just frustrated that you

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repeat to yourself? Everything happens for a reason.

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I believe that. So even when it's the bad things, I'm looking for what is the reason?

32:52

What am I supposed to get out of this? What is the lesson? What is the good that's going to come?

32:57

Everything happens for a reason. I ask all of the elected leaders,

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and very, very diverse, the same question at the end.

33:05

What does joy mean to you? What brings you joy?

33:09

And how do you share joy with others?

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Hmm. What does joy mean to me? It means the opposite of stress,

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that's for sure, even though I live a very stressful life.

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So for me to be joyful means that I'm probably the lightest that I ever am because

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I'm not weighed down with worry and stress or overcome with,

33:32

you know, worry about either that moment or even the future,

33:39

but I'm kind of just able to literally be as light as possible.

33:44

And life for me is pretty heavy at most times. What brings me joy is there's a couple of things.

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I'm an only child, so I love to be at home and Netflix and chill by myself.

33:59

But honestly, seeing the pride in my mom's eyes is probably one of the most joyful things ever.

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Ever because when you're growing up and growing up with my parents,

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you know, I could have straight A's and I still felt like it was never enough.

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I never thought that, you know, and it was just because they pushed me so hard.

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It's amazing because now it's like we're on the other side and,

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you know, she tears up because I think that she does a better job of taking

34:31

in the fact that the reality is that her daughter is in Congress.

34:36

I think sometimes I have to slow down and just say, wait a minute,

34:41

this is kind of a big deal because I'll run, run, run, run, run.

34:46

And I have friends that are in elected office. One of my mentors from the state

34:50

house, he would say to me, even when we were in the state house,

34:54

he's like, your existence here is nothing like normal.

34:59

And when I ascended to Congress, he said, please try to like,

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just take it in every once in a while that you literally are in Congress.

35:09

And every time that I get to see the pride in my mom's eyes,

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it gives me that moment to slow down and, and recognize that it really is a big deal.

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But because I'm like, this is my job and my people want me to deliver.

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Like, I just end up in that mode and I really fail to recognize how big of a deal it is. The fact that,

35:36

I've had dinner multiple times with the vice president in a small setting where

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we're just talking and it's like, you're sitting with the vice president of

35:46

the United States and it's a black woman. I'm sure one day I'll look back, but I'm usually going, going, going.

35:53

So that's another thing that gives me joy. And then honestly going home and

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talking to constituents, whether it's kids like the one that I got to talk to

36:02

or just my older constituents that are just so proud

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and so thankful because they know that I'm working hard and they feel it and they approve of it.

36:14

And just them being so prideful that I am their representative gives me joy.

36:20

So those are my joys. And then the last one, I forgot the last one.

36:24

You pretty much said it, which is sharing your joy, which I think you share

36:27

with your constituents, young and old and- Absolutely. With your mom. Yeah.

36:33

And, you know, I, I, I, when you talked about your mom, I, I kind of teared

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up because just imagining what she, you know, how much she pushed.

36:41

And by the way, also knowing that, you know, raising kids isn't easy and kids

36:46

push back and you still have to be their North star so much because they're

36:50

kids and we need to give them the direction.

36:53

And your mom obviously really believed in you and loved you and pushed you,

36:57

but knew who you were and what you could accomplish.

37:02

And through that, she's given so many people you, and that is a blessing.

37:09

And I just say, thank you. And I have nothing else to say, but I'm really impressed.

37:12

And I look forward to meeting your mom one day.

37:16

She would love it. Lord have mercy. She's loving this ride. But Liz, you're phenomenal. Thank you so much for taking

37:23

the time out to give me a break from just doing interviews that are completely

37:28

political and being able to share a little bit more of myself.

37:32

Well, thank you, Jasmine. And I look forward to meeting you in person one day real soon. Absolutely.

37:39

Hi, it's Liz. Please join me every Tuesday for coffee to talk about heart and

37:45

humanity with our elected. Music.