The son of a Firefighter and Social Worker, Adam Hollier grew up understanding what it means to be a servant leader. As a Senator from Detroit's second district and an Army Reserve Officer he walks the walk. Listen as Senator Hollier talks about his childhood, being a leader and what made him pursue a lifetime of public service.
The son of a Firefighter and Social Worker, Adam Hollier grew up understanding what it means to be a servant leader. As a Senator from Detroit's second district and an Army Reserve Officer he walks the walk. Listen as Senator Hollier talks about his childhood, being a leader and what made him pursue a lifetime of public service.
Bill Krieger (Host)
Hello everyone and welcome to Me You Us a wellbeing podcast. It's another wellbeing Wednesday here at Consumers Energy and I'm your host bill Krieger. Today, my guest is senator Adam Hollier from Detroit's second district. So Senator Hollier, if you would introduce yourself, we'll get the conversation started. Awesome. Well,
Senator Hollier
thanks for having me. And to all of the people from Consumers Energy. Thanks for tuning in. And thanks for all the support that you've been able to provide them the incredible, really important work that you do across the state. I'm Adam Hollier, I represent the second senate district in Detroit. I have all five gross points, Hamtramck Highland Park, Harper woods, about a quarter of the city Detroit and I live in the neighborhood I was born and raised in I mean, and when I say that I live spitting distance from just about the rest of my family. Every person in my immediate family lives in my district, my older sister being the farthest out in Grosse Pointe. But my parents literally two blocks away. It was a little bit of a convincing when I convinced my wife to move here, and we bought our first house. But now that we have little people, it's been great because we can drop off to babysitter's aplenty. So we have two little kids. My daughter will be four in December, my son turns one in November, and we just celebrated our 10 year anniversary. So we're very excited about that. I've been serving in the Michigan Senate for a little over two years, a little over two years going on three, I won a special election, and so immediately started serving in 2018. And it's just been, you know, a really a real blessing. I was the chief of staff to my predecessor, almost a decade ago, worked in the mayor's office for Mayor being then worked at hands farms. And that's been really cool as we look out and think about urban agriculture and some of the neighborhoods returning to the vibrancy that we needed. And then immediately before, this was over at the Michigan fitness Foundation, where I did government and Community Affairs, which was just a blast, got to work on the iron Bell trail, and those kinds of things. But additionally, I'm a first time in the United States Army Reserve, civil affairs team leader, the 412 civil affairs battalion in Columbus, Ohio. It's an airborne unit. So I get the pleasure of exiting aircrafts, although I haven't been able to do so in a full year since everyone's cool, you know, with it's almost more than four year with COVID. It seems like time has never stopped or move forward from COVID. It's like, yeah, there was things that happened before COVID. And then, oh, they're still not happening. Because COVID Okay, well, maybe next time. So, you know, that's kind of me and a little bit of a nutshell.
Bill Krieger (Host)
You know, I feel like, there's gonna be this point in time where we refer to things pre or post COVID. Yeah,
Senator Hollier
I think and I wonder, the thing that's, that's interesting for me is how long it'll take to fade. Right? So humans are uniquely talented at forgetting things, my wife would say that I am especially so but you know, people are going to, there's going to be some moment where people don't remember it. And I think as we talk about September 11, and the 20th 20 year anniversary, everyone who was alive during September 11, it's like this flashbulb of like, you remember exactly where you were when the Twin Towers fell. You remember that whole day you remember everything. And because it was just this one moment, but COVID seems to be this kind of what seems like never ending slog of, well, I remember when we got shut down, but we've been shut, what are we gonna, you know, and how that's going to change how people live in this moment and do some of those kinds of things compared to some of those kind of immediate events like Hurricane Katrina, or things like that?
Bill Krieger (Host)
Well, it's an interesting point, I was talking with my daughter this weekend, she is She graduated Michigan State University, just this past summer. And she is doing her student teaching. And they were talking about 911, during her student teaching in the children that she teaches, many of them didn't know the significance of the day at all. And then when they found out that she was alive when it happened, and that she remembers it. They she kind of got that look that I I'm very familiar with now that my goodness, you must be old that you remember that. Um, but I think that while we don't want to dwell on the past, we certainly don't want to forget it because that the past is really our teacher.
Senator Hollier
And I think as you talk about 911 I think for me, that's probably like people who were alive during Pearl Harbor, right, like this moment where you saw this thing happen and it was unthinkable and it changed fundamentally, our you know, our narrative, right. So Pearl Harbor is the reason we entered World War Two 911 is 100%. The reason the War on Terrorism started and it's been The longest war it's had more folks engaged. And it's changed fundamentally how we fight. And it's changed all those kinds of things. I know, you got to, you know, had the opportunity to deploy it and be a part of those missions is it was life changing for you to
Bill Krieger (Host)
know it absolutely was from the from the moment it happened right up through. I mean, it impacts me still. So I definitely know what you're saying there. And it's, it's also interesting to note that each generation has that thing, right. Like, I remember my parents talking about the assassination of President Kennedy, everyone knew where they were. And while we remember that there's not a lot of people still that have that, that memory. And as we go through life, World War two World War One, the Vietnam War, there's always those moments that happen in our lifetime. And I think, for whatever reason human beings tend to think of, I'm the only person that that this sort of thing has ever happened to so it's on on the one hand, it's very comforting to know that every generation has had their 911 moment, if you will,
Senator Hollier
yeah. And thinking about those, I think that's so different than this moment with COVID. Because it hasn't been a moment, right, like COVID, you know, came to everyone differently in these spaces. But I remember, you know, reading and listening and watching all the news as it was coming out of China, and they were talking about, you know, those kind of things, and I remember those initial level of preparation. So you may not know this, but when I was in undergrad, I worked for the vice president Student Affairs, and one of my main Jobs was planning for pandemic flu at the time, it was avian flu. And so when this stuff kind of came up at you know, my ears kind of perked up, and I was like, Okay, I need to be thinking about these things. And my dad did disaster planning for the health department after he retired from our fire department. So in our family, you know, we're thinking, you know, we're leaning into Oh, well, what is how do we prepare for this emergency. But right, as everything were really taken off in Michigan, that last weekend, there was a Democratic primary or presidential primary. And so that Friday, had an event in Detroit. We don't police and pancakes, sitting with folks. And it was kind of that last breakfast or last thing I did. And then I drove from, you know, the east side of my district up to upstate New York to go talk to the football team for career. I play football at Cornell. And so I leave Detroit. Oh, I leave Detroit, I go to the kickoff for Joe Biden's campaign stuff. He's using my campaign office. And, you know, so saw governor Blanchard and lieutenant governor and some of your state reps. And so I see all these people. And I'm like, okay, cool, man, get on the road, drive through Canada, go out to New York, talk to the football team combat. And, you know, Joe Biden is here for his Michigan rally and the governor's here and vice president Harrison, you know, Cory Booker, and and all these folks. And I have my little baby, who at the time is, you know, two or three wishes to. And so we're holding on, you know, we get rope line, and we take the photos with Joe Biden, and then literally the next day, there's that thing, and then the day after, they're like, Alright, we're getting all these calls, Michigan's got his first COVID cases. And then, you know, within the week, you know, you kind of get that stay at home order. And I found out that one of the people I was sitting next to at that pancakes and police breakfast, got COVID-19, he was the first Detroit to die of COVID-19. And I was sitting there with him and his daughter, like right next to each other during, you know, for an hour during the whole event. And a number of people got COVID they're not and I was like, Oh my God, let me not be the one that gave Joe Biden Corona. But you know, like, it's just that moment of every time you pick up the phone, you start to see and hear all of the loss. And it just, it's so different than these instantaneous immediate things. were, you know, after 911 you're like, Okay, you send the Marines you send the army, you send everybody we have, we can go sin, but that's not what has happened with COVID. Because it's like, Alright, guys, everything you do, you have to sacrifice, you have to change how you live fundamentally, for this thing to happen. And, you know, for the first week or two people were like, okay, we're all and we'll do anything to save or make number. But by month, you know, one or two, you know, but I want my freedoms back. It's like, I don't know.
Bill Krieger (Host)
It was it was definitely It was definitely a tough time and you think you're really captured? Well, they're in. I remember that right before, everything was sort of locked down, taking a trip to Chicago to visit my in laws. And we actually had purchased a car for work, because I was going to be doing driving for work. And then we got home and then to two days, three days later, everything was shut down due to COVID. It was a very strange time and it's still like you said it's not that instantaneous thing. It's still kind of going on. We're still trying to work our way through it. I want to go back, though you mentioned your dad. And he did some work after he retired from the fire department. But you know, full disclosure to the audience. I did a little research on the senator. And one of the common themes, whether I watched you talk, or listen to your podcast, or even just some of the things I read about you, is this, this common theme of public service, whether it was your parents and the work they did, or the work that you've done. So could you talk a little bit about that how community service has really been a part of your family for it seems like a long time.
Senator Hollier
Yeah. And my dad was a paramedic, and then he became a firefighter in Detroit, the two are separate, and a lot of places. They're all the same. But he was one of the my mom's a social worker, but my dad was, you know, my best friend, like we had all the plans and all the fun. And he's one of those people that everyone likes not mean. Yep, yep, pretty much everyone. Like I've never met anyone who had something bad to say about my dad. And it's one of those rare things. And it's always because he's looking out for other people, right. And when I was a really little kid, during that, that little I was about nine, my dad sat me down and told me that I could never be a firefighter, which is not the normal conversations you have with your children. But he'd always say, Adam, you don't have that healthy bit of fear that brings you home. And he'd say that every day, he goes into, you know, he go in, and he'd fight fires, but he was coming home, you know, he would go as long as he could he do as much as he could put, he was coming home every night. And that sometimes you had to decide and make the decision that there were some people you couldn't say. And it always he told me, I couldn't tell me, I didn't have it in me to make that decision. And as a result, that was not the business for me. And so I promised myself that from that moment on, I would take care of the people who ran in people like my dad, because we'd sit around the dinner table, and him and my mom would talk about how they had this person that they were trying to help that they could have helped that they should have been able to do something for, but they didn't have the money, right? Like they didn't have the support, they didn't have the resources. People were not investing in the programs my mom was working on, you know, they didn't make sure that my dad had the right equipment that people had the appropriate amount of training that they had, what they needed to make sure that we were safe. And that that was a financial decision. Right? It was not a, hey, we can't do this thing. It was we won't because we're not willing to spend the money, right? Like, it's kind of like the intro to the $64 million. Man. It's like, you know, we have the technology to fix them, right. But people were unwilling. And I see that time and time again, you know, my dad was on fire prevention, and once the training academy and say, hey, these guys who got into this accident, or these folks who got hurt, they didn't have the training to do the thing that they were doing. Right. Like if they had if we had more folks who had high angle rescue, if we have more folks who were trained to drive to do these kinds of things, than some of these issues would not have happened. But to send people to training, you'd have to put you know someone else on overtime and and those kinds of things, or it was all these moments where people said money was more important than lives. And so I said, Hey, I'm gonna make sure that people like my parents have the resources that they need. And that's how I got into government stuff. Because you'd also at the same time, and I think this is probably more true now than it was when I was a kid. But people don't trust their elected officials, or guess more accurately, they don't trust other people's elected officials. By and large, you like your person, but everyone else's person, you're like, they're an idiot. I can't believe that that you know, and so it just didn't make sense to me. Right. So we have this huge section of our lives that are led by people that we think are crazy. Kooks, fanatics, liars, cheats, corrupt. But those are the people who decide where your tax money goes. They're the ones who decide if your schools are adequate or not, if you have policing fire if you have all of these things, and they just say no. And so I was like, This is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna do this. And I think it's just, you know, that that part of me every opportunity, I get to do something, I do it because I'm able, I've always believed that if you believe stuff should be done, and you're able, you should be willing, and I've always been able, so I've always been willing.
Bill Krieger (Host)
Well, interestingly enough, you actually did become a firefighter.
Senator Hollier
I did. So unlike most people, my rebellion wasn't smoking pot or like doing you know, like doing weird things. Like, yep, I'm gonna go be a firefighter and my dad was proud of me and you know, did all of those kinds of things. But yeah, when I was in college, I volunteered, became a member of the chi behind Fire Department while I was in college. And it was great, right, but the kind of very funny moment was my first day. Some things happened and I I responded immediately. And they were like, how did you know how to do that? I was like, I'm doing this since I was six years old. My dad, you know, like grabbing hose, lifting ladders and doing those kinds of things. And it was just one of those funny moments of my body knew what it was supposed to be doing, because my dad had been training me to do it. My whole life, even, you know, even though that was not what he wanted for me. He was preparing us and I think that's what good parents do. They prepare us for the things that we'll see on our journey and something I've tried to do with the space. But my siblings have also done that, right. So my older brother was a Detroit firefighter, he got injured on the job and had a duty retirement. My older sister was a Detroit police officer for six or seven years. And now she's a Postal Inspector, a federal agent, and my little sister works in schools, a school administrator, so and kind of the whole family has done this kind of space. But that's probably just because my parents taught us that way. And that's all the people in family have always done.
Bill Krieger (Host)
So at what point did you decide to join the Army Reserve? And what did that look like? I have a feeling it's gonna be a good story, judging from your laugh.
Senator Hollier
So my wife and I, my wife's a clinical psychologist. And every year we vision board, right? And so the thing that I had sitting out on there was military service, right? It was the one thing that I hadn't done, but I've flirted with it for years. So I'm 36. I graduated from high school in 2003. And so 911 was a very precious moment to be thinking about military service, right? So I was thinking about going to the Naval Academy, I had been talking to an admiral and doing all those kinds of things. But it was also a different time as far as technology goes. So if you're about my age or older, you'll remember that when schools were doing things they sent you mail right, they sent you letters and envelopes. And they called you on the house phone. Those were all things that my mom had control over. Right so I went from talking to this Admiral and you know, Captain regularly to never heard back from him. And when you're a 17 year or a time 1617 year old high school kid, things happen fast and you lose track of them. Fast forward a number of years and I had to have surgery my senior from a thing and so I wasn't able to my physical and so things got a little bit delayed.
But my mom is telling this story about how this Admiral and Captain came to the house in their trust wykes and have she just shooed them away. It was like she gave them the star talk she was like you know never come back don't talk to my son like cuz she had that moment of just wiped me and your son or daughter, you know, died military. She grew up in that that Vietnam age. And so my entire time through undergrad, I would be up kind of late nights talking to a recruiter online. Hey, what, you know, what would that commitment be, you know, what does that look like? And I wanted to fly and they're like, well, it's probably 12 years but with the way the mount you know, the way the military is going, you know, if you get in and you're good pilot, like the whole job another six. So it's really be 16. Because they don't have to let you out. And you know, it's like, oh, that's, and when you're 2016 years seems like a long time, you know, when they tell you that it's a four year commitment that really more like a 12 year commitment, but could probably be 16. That seems like a very long, long time. And so I didn't do it. And my senior year, I needed one credit to graduate. So I was taking all these ROTC classes, I took mountaineering, I took marksmanship, I took military history, and like, you know what, I think I'm gonna think I'm gonna go ahead and do this. dating my, my girlfriend at the time, my wife today, it was like, yeah, if you do that, we probably won't stay together. And I was like, but she's the one and grad schools already. I had a scholarship to Michigan for grad school and I was like, wow, I do already have this thing. I guess maybe not. Right. So cuz I graduated from college in 2007. That was right as the you know, Warren rack was was really kicking up gears, and I was like, I probably just won't work out and I was like, Oh, I don't want to I don't want to do that. So you know, I had this decades long exposure, you know, more than a multiple decades long, you know, experience of like waiting, you know, will I want I will I won't I and my wife was vehemently opposed. And then she finally is like, you know what, I understand that this is something you really want to do, you can do it. And I was like, cool. And so of course, I had already been talking to a recruiter because I'm always, you know, just right on the cusp, and I'm like, hey, she said, Yes. And he's like, Okay, come in, you know, so then we immediately get going. I have a As your soldier so you understand what it means to fill out military paperwork. I am too honest. Right so I, you know i on the NFL my medical history is like, have you ever used an inhaler? Yes, I used an inhaler one time. Well, like three times, I had an upper respiratory infection in college while I was playing football and running track I was to calculate. And so during track season, you know, the team doctor prescribes an inhaler. I used it a handful of times, right. But I did use it. So I checked Yes, it's six months after my 18th birthday. If it had been before my 18th birthday, it would not have counted at all. But I'm like, you know, they're like unexplained. I was like, used handful of times had upper respiratory infection. You know, while playing to sports, not an issue, you know, didn't miss practice, yada, yada, yada. They're like, no, that's a permanent disqualifier. And I was like, What? And they're like, yeah, cuz you have asked him, I was like, No, I did not have asthma. I used medicine. And like, well, you can go if you really want to, you can go have a doctor give you a pulmonary function test. So I did that. And it predicts what your long lung value lung values and capacity should be. My read 140% of what they predicted. The doctor laughed me out of the room. He's like, why are you here? This is silly. Obviously, you're fine. I was like, Okay, well, you got a Navy. They go back. They're like, Yeah, that looks good. But we need our doctors to say the same thing. Go to their doctor, their doctor. At this time. It's like 150% of capacity is like this is insane. Why are you here, you're obviously fit. Send it up to the Medical Review Board. You know, have all my interviews or whatever. And they're like, no permit permit disqualifier. Now answer? No, it's like, what? I my wife is like, yep, see, told you just wasn't meant to be. And I was like, ah, I called the army. They're like, Yeah, no, you're fine. Come on, come on. And it was really the best decision, right? So if I had known that the reserves or the National Guard were an option, when I was 21, I would have done it right then. And I think that's one of the things that the reserve component doesn't do a great job of is explaining that it's an option for folks who want to serve, but aren't, you know, aren't able for family reasons, or for the, you know, whatever reason to make it there all the time thing, but are willing and able. And it's been a great, great opportunity for me, like, I love it, it's been a huge part. It is a huge part of who I am and how I've been able to operate. As my wife would say, though, it is a quarter of every weekend, which, you know, on the commercials, when they say one weekend, a month, two weeks in the summer, it doesn't seem like a lot, but to your wife and your kids, it feels like forever.
Bill Krieger (Host)
It always it always seemed at the time, I was a National Guard, and I would not trade my time for anything. I absolutely loved it. But it always seemed like drill weekend or summer camp, as we used to call it always happens when someone's getting married, or there's some function going on with her. I never failed. It always seemed like that. But you're absolutely right in in, in today's world that two weeks in the summer, in one weekend, a month is kind of a misnomer. Because Because our reserve and guard folks do a lot more than just that.
Senator Hollier
Yeah, I mean, I haven't had a single year where that said, I mean, I had at least a month long training that I had to do earlier this year. And I've had you know, two or three of those over the last couple of years. So it certainly has been longer than that. And those you know, my unit does a lot of long weekend so we can jump the weather's not always great. So sometimes we do a lot of long weekends with a plan to Joe Mayo last year. So over the last year my unit is jumped a number of times but somehow I have missed every single one of them. So I had a class that I had to go to my cabbage career course so I missed our annual training which was at Cape Cod where they jumped like six times you know
Bill Krieger (Host)
That's the whole reason you went to airborne school right just to jump on a plane
Senator Hollier
it's the whole reason I drive down to Columbus is to jump although a lot of people think that you know the army we do static line jumps versus you know, in movies where you're watching you know, people skydiving is not the same, right? Like there is no pause, it's like you jump out you're counting to form by time you get to for your shoot better be open, and it really is not that exciting or exhilarating. It's just like I liken it to riding a ferris wheel like to the ground it's like that's what it feels like.
Bill Krieger (Host)
Well, that really kind of yeah cuz when you when you see how we jump out of planes in the Army, right? Yeah, it's not it's not like Point Break or whatever the the movie was. Really, we're all doing the skydiving, so totally get it. You know, the other thing you brought up. And this was this was something that I didn't know until I had been in the National Guard for a few years, and actually met people who had never served in active duty. I always thought the reserves in the guard were for people who, you know, were served an active duty, but wanted to finish out their time and still serve in the military. And I never realized that you could just join the guard, you could just join the reserves. It was eye opening to me.
Senator Hollier
And, and one of the things that I think people don't also realize is that during the Global War on Terrorism over the last one years, the Army Reserve, particularly has deployed more than a lot of active component, because the majority of the logistics are in the Guard and Reserve. And so I had folks who I went to basic and OCS with who went active duty, who have deployed less than folks who are, you know, in the reserves, and when we talk about civil affairs, I mean, civil affairs guys get deployed all day in a month of Sundays. I mean, there's a mission at all times, like I just finished my captain's career course and now qualify, but I can go deploy tomorrow, yesterday, like they are always looking for as qualified civil affairs, folks. And because they just burn them out Tom Barrett, who serves in the senate with me, we were talking about that issue with pilots. He's like, they can't keep enough pilots. Like, if you fly a Chinook, like they were like, yeah, you're going to Afghanistan again, buddy. Like, it just, it's all these moments where we think about the garden reserve as these different things or Let's name it. And, you know, I think a generation ago, you know, post Vietnam, it was those kinds of things, right of like, you know, Guard Reserve, you know, your weekend warriors, like you see in the first Rambo, it's like, these guys want to know, our guard and reservists have all deployed, they've all been engaged. And they've all been engaged in missions, whether they were, you know, conus, or Oh, conus support and folks.
Bill Krieger (Host)
Well, and if you think back to World War Two is a great example of the use of the National Guard and Reserve, the very first unit to hit the beach, right on D day was a National Guard unit. You know, and you think throughout history, we have really utilized our National Guard and our reserves. As a component of our military, I feel like there's these times when things start to slow down, and we forget, but but when when we when we are needed. We raise our hands, just just like everybody else who has served. You know, we talk about service. And I don't want to lose this point, because I remember hearing you talk about Colin Powell. And I remember when my son was very young, Colin Powell spoke at Jackson college. And I took him to see Copenhagen's composite amazing person. But you said something about him that I hadn't heard before. And I want to know how you apply this to your time in the military, and also your work as a senator. And really all the work that the great work that you do, you said that colin powell made space. Like he was a first at a lot of things, but he always made space for other people, to bring them along. And how did that one thing shape you in what you do in your military career and in your career in the senate?
Senator Hollier
Yeah. So you'll, you'll appreciate this. I'm not a big reader, right. Like, I'm not a voracious reader. I've always had issues reading, I will destroy an audio book. But when I was in sixth grade, my aunt who was a principal and just recently passed, gave me this book, but you know, column pals autobiography, my main concern, and when it's a thick book, right for a sixth grader, and in there, he talks about his life and his development. And he talks about being a servant leader. And it was the first time I kind of heard this, this phrase, but he was talking about it from an enlisted men's perspective, he was talking about nccos can hear you have this, you know, this book written by the first you know, commit, you know, like, he ran the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and he was a four star general and did all these kinds of things. And he said, the most important thing he ever learned was to listen to his sergeants. And that, at every juncture,
because they were looking for a black man, he had an opportunity to move forward. It's not that he was the most qualified or that he wasn't as qualified or whatever. But for the first time, they were looking for someone like him, and he understood how important that was to his development. Now at every juncture, he had to deliver, right, he had to be the best and to do all those other kinds of things. And as an officer in the army, you know, your army does a great job of weeding out people who are not good, especially as you go up But getting a look is really important. And people were looking for him. And what he did that I think a lot of folks don't do is he did not focus solely on himself. He said, Hey, I'm in this position, because someone gave me an opportunity. And as long as he continued to give people opportunities, he was better suited, right? He wasn't just like, oh, you went to West Point? Yeah, okay, cool. You're my guy. He was like, hey, sir, who do people sergeants respect the most? Who do people value? You know, who should be promoted? Who am I grooming to replace me, who maybe needs me to lean in so that they can be even better than they thought that they could be? And so I always try and do a similar thing, because there are 100 moments in my life, where someone decided that I was their person or not, right. So Kathy Wilson, who runs your government affairs space, is on the board of Michigan Youth in Government with me. And Michigan Youth in Government was a program that made a tremendous impact in my life, because it really helped position me in this space, right? Like, my dad was a firefighter, mom's social worker, I didn't grow up knowing governors and senators and folks like that. But I did this program where I got to, I got to meet with them. And I had went to a breakfast and former senator bus Thomas just happened to be who I was assigned to sit next to, right. And he gave me my first job, you know, let me run his district office when I was a silly college student. He invites us over Christmas Eve, he is the Godfather to my son, he made space for me, when he had no reason to, I was not the most qualified person to do that job. But he knew I had potential and I needed a job. And we developed this relationship. And he has always continued to do that. And so that's why I try and hire younger folks. That's why I try and hire folks who are maybe changing careers, right? So you did 20 years doing this other thing, and don't have the same relationships or space, but you have something to bring to bear in this space you are earlier in your you know, in this career, but you have a lot of potential. And that's really been important and impactful for me. Because I know there was a spacing table for me. And especially when you're the first person, I think there is it's easy for people to say, Okay, well, that is the one seat that we hold for women, or that is the one seat we hold for Blackboard, maybe people lower, you know, queer people or insert, group or Latino like that is the one seat we hold for that person versus saying, Oh, I said in that one seat, now I'm gonna go get one of the seats, that is not say, and someone else of this group can sit in the seat, right. And that is the space that I think really needs to happen. That I think, you know, as a former enlisted soldier, yo, yo, get right, like, NCO is do a really good job of saying, hey, specialist, you need to step up, because you're gonna be a sergeant one day, you're going to be a team leader one day. And so as an officer, I always try and recruit my, you know, NGOs and enlisted soldiers, like, Hey, you can be an officer, you should be an officer, you can do this, like, you know what I mean? That's the dark side. It's like, you have to say, where you make more money and work less hard. But most importantly, it's the side where you get to make sure that other young soldiers like yourselves are taken care of, because that's my job. And I think people start to recognize those things. And, you know, General Powell talked about that sector. Powell talked about those things. He made that a priority in his space and in every command he's ever had. And when you look at the senior leaders over the last decade, you will hear every one of them say similar things about General Powell.
Bill Krieger (Host)
Well, so for audience members who are not military NCO, or noncommissioned officers, those are enlisted folks. So to make sure people understood that, but you're so right. And when you talk about our NCO is you know, I grew up I mean, listen side of the house for 14 years of my 21 years of service, but when I became a First Lieutenant, Second Lieutenant actually in, took over a platoon with the 1776. Military Police Company shout out to my very first platoon there. I had Sergeant First Class Lucas, never forget this guy. He's amazing. I talked to him till this day. But you know, what he used to do for me was if I was about to make a stupid decision, which as a second lieutenant, I made quite a few of those. He would always say, hey, Sir, why don't we talk about that? He would never call me out in front of people. But I always knew that was my cue to slow down, pump the brakes, and then go have a chat. And then we would talk about what we were going to do. And then we would come to a decision and we'd show it a unified front. But what really, what that really brings me to an end you set it without saying is that none of us are here, because of the magic that we perform. We are Hear because of the people who came before us and the people who helped us along the way. Everyone needs that mentor that person that I sat down to next to at a breakfast, who gave me that job to run their office, even though I wasn't qualified, you know, we all need that person in. And I think that we are sorely mistaken if we don't, if we don't recognize that, and then do that for others. So I just love what you had to say there.
Senator Hollier
You know, it's funny that you mentioned that Kathy Wilson is a good friend. And I did not know her well, when I was running for office. But when I told her I did Michigan, you can government, she was immediately interested. And so when you're running for office, you have all these meetings, right? You talk to folks, and you're like, Hey, I'm the person you should invest in me. And they're like, well, we looked at this poll, maybe we should, maybe we shouldn't, you know, what does this thing look like? Because I think people get caught up of like, they want to support the winner. They are not thinking about the impact that they play in making a winner and creating a winner. And so I'm sitting with Kathy, you know, give her my pitch. And I'm like, Look, and she's like, well, the poll says that you're down and says, you know that someone's always gonna win. I was like, maybe it does. Maybe it says, and I'm down today, but with your help with, you know, the pack that you know, your employees contribute to and help support, I was like, it'll make a difference. And here's how it makes a difference. Here's what it will allow me to do over the next, you know, two months. And that's how I'm going to close this gap. That's where it's going to be, but I need these resources. I need this to happen. And so I'm grateful that you know, you and your folks were able to do that. But it was this investment. Because we had this shared relationship. And because there was this idea of like, hey, bet on the person you want, not necessarily just the person you think's going to win, right? Like, elections are not horse races, you don't pick the person who you think is going to win. That's not why you invest in someone, right? If that's what you're going to be right to people checks at the end of the thing, what we should be doing is investing in people who we want to be successful. And I think that's what, that's how our political spaces have kind of changed. But it's also the way that we should be living our lives, right. So when we talk about, you know, Secretary Powell, Jerome Powell, like, that was the thing he was like, you might not be you might not have been here if I didn't invest in you. And so as a result, I will invest in you. And you will be able to do that because you're going to reach your potential. And those are kind of that space that we don't think about, it's why you train your employees and build them up. That's why you know, in the army, we have this kind of dual system of your nccos and your officers. And they have both, you know, sets of training, right? You got to start first class probably been in the army 1015 years, you're day one, it makes a big difference.
Bill Krieger (Host)
It really it does. And, you know, even if we if we looked at politics as an example, as a horse race, right? Sometimes when you bet on the horse that you want to win, that you know, isn't gonna win, and that horse wins. Look at the payout. Oh, right. I mean, to me, that's politics, right? If I bet on the person that I know is going to do the job. We don't know it goes back to that do do I trust this person? Do I think they're doing the right thing? Or do I think they're crazy? If I'm betting on the person, even though they're down in the polls, right, look at the payoff that happens when they win. Yeah, you get fundamental change in how we how we operate as a country.
Senator Hollier
It moves the needle with people that you know, right? So if you're like, Well, I think so and so's gonna win. Well, you're enforcing that you're supporting that. And if you're like, I'm working because I want this person to win, right? Like, this is my person, they're gonna win. And that's, that's how I won. Right? Like I was. My last name is Ollie, it looks like hollier. Right? Like, it's spelled h o l Li er, and people are like, what is that? What I go vote for me is like, vote for AP, he's, you know, that, like those moments and people are like, I don't know, like, I'm like, you got to do it. And it's like, you have to work all day for these things. And I think growing up in the kind of family I grew up in, we believed in causes, right? why we believe in the, hey, we're gonna make that thing work, we're gonna do whatever we can to make the impact. And if it works, great, if it doesn't work, we're gonna keep working.
Bill Krieger (Host)
And you know what? This this really you talked about vision boards early on in this conversation, I want to go back to that just for a minute. Because it really speaks to everything that you just said, is, if I, if I have the right mindset, I have the right attitude. And I and I say, I'm going to win this or my person is going to win this, then I think things happen to make that happen. Whereas if like you said, If I just say, Well, I think they're gonna win or I'm not sure what's going to happen, that can help dictate that outcome too. I'm a big believer in vision boards and positive mental attitude when it comes to getting things done. So I think that that's also important. I'm glad that you brought that up in that you said that
Senator Hollier
They were big With my wife even created this crazy planner to organize everything around kind of a law of attraction and this idea of envisioning the things that you believe in and you want, and it makes, it absolutely makes a difference.
Bill Krieger (Host)
It really does. It really does when we can, we can manifest the things that we want in life that help us and help others. Well, Senator, I hate to say this, because I've had a great time talking with you. But we are running up against time on the podcast. But before we go, I just wanted to let you share whatever you would like with the audience kind of leave whatever your parting thoughts are, what you would like them to remember about this discussion?
Senator Hollier
Well, that's, that's a good question. And I appreciate you giving me that opportunity. First, I'd like to say thank you, right. So the the folks at consumers have always been good friends have always been very helpful from a policy standpoint supporting me, I told you, they were one of those people who took the long bet on me early. And I really appreciate that. It has certainly made a difference in my life. But as we think about it, just thank you, right. And thank you very much for having me as folks think about this year. And as we think about all the spaces, I think it's really important to think that and remember that we make a difference. And our world is better or worse, because of the work that we're doing. And so every day, I've tried to make it a little bit better to do my part to make those impacts. But you all are on the front lines of doing that. And you do really important work. And and so I'm just grateful that you're doing it. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to talk to you about it. And looking forward to doing it again.
Bill Krieger (Host)
All right, we'd love to have you back on. Thanks again, Senator. Yeah. And thank you to the audience for tuning in today. Remember, you can subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcasting platform. And be sure to take a few minutes and fill out our survey to let us know how we're doing that can be found at HTTP, colon slash slash bi T dot L y slash me, dash y o u dash us and remember to tune in every Wednesday when we talk about the things that impact your personal well being