Everything Prepared Me for This w/ State Rep. Brandy Fluker-Reid

In this episode, Ashley sits down with Massachusetts State Representative Brandy Fluker-Reid for a deeply personal and wide-ranging conversation about purpose, leadership, and the long road to becoming who you’re meant to be. 

From organizing her first protest in third grade to stepping into elected office years later, Rep. Fluker- Reid shares how advocacy was always part of her story—even when she couldn’t fully see it herself. They explore the role of mentors, the quiet impact of limiting beliefs, and what it means to answer a call that disrupts comfort but aligns with purpose.

The conversation shifts between the personal and the political, navigating grief, caring for family, maintaining wellness in high-pressure work, and staying grounded while serving the community. Rep. Fluker- Reid also breaks down the real issues she’s fighting for—from education and economic justice to transportation and reentry systems—and what it looks like to build a world where people are truly supported.

If you’ve ever felt the tension between who you are and who you could be, this conversation will meet you there.

About the Rep: 

Brandy Fluker-Reid, Esq. is the Massachusetts State Representative for the 12th Suffolk District serving parts of Dorchester, Hyde Park, Mattapan, Roslindale and Milton. Representative Fluker-Reid holds the esteemed position of Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary as well as being a member of the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy and the House Committee on Operations, Facilities and Security. She proudly serves on the Women’s Caucus executive board as Treasurer and is an active member of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus. Prior to her work in public service, Representative Fluker-Reid worked as a defense attorney and a public school teacher. In addition to being a practicing attorney, she is the founder and president of Delighting in God Ministries (D.I.G.), a life member of the NAACP, a member of both the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association and the Women’s Bar Association, and an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

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Further Forward: Honest Conversations on the Art of Becoming, is hosted by Ashley Mitchell. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

State Representative Brandy Fluker Reed, welcome to the Further Forward Podcast.

SPEAKER_02 0:09

Thank you so much, Ashley. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be with you today.

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Oh, same, same, same. I've been such a fan for such a long time. Um, I think, I think through Jesse Colbert and and her work with Mass PPD Fund. And um, I'm just so grateful of how uh small Boston is, so that someone like you could be someone that I really get to look up to and admire and watch. It's just, it's uh it's a blessing.

SPEAKER_02 0:42

Well, it's definitely a mutual love fest because I feel like I was following you on social before, and then someone else like, oh my gosh. And I just thank you for it. It is a mutual love fest. That's all I'm gonna say. So thank you for being you and your leadership and just your honesty and vulnerability and how you show up. Um, it's certainly an inspiration, even a safe space for me. So it's it's mutual love.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

That's all I can say. I appreciate that so much. I really do. Um, I started this podcast the same way with every single guest. Who are you and how are you?

SPEAKER_02 1:14

Who am I? I am here. So uh that that's who I am. I am here. How am I? I'm I'm doing okay. Um, I'm just thankful to see another day and thankful to spend some time with you because this is like work, but the fun side of my my job. Um, and yeah, that's all I got.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

I love it. Perfect. Talk to me about like we'll we'll talk plenty about your actual job, what you do, what's important to you in that world. But talk to me about you. Who did you want to be when you were growing up?

SPEAKER_02 1:50

Oh my goodness. Um, believe it or not, I wanted to be a housewife and not in the traditional sense. This is before housewives got lambmed with like peaches and Brabo TV shows. Like I am I am too old to have grown up with that uh in my formative years. But I grew up an only child, and I do have a big family, but we're spread out. And so I always felt alone as a as a kid, if that makes sense. And so I would always host sleepovers and stuff, and thankfully, like my mom's house and my mom was viewed as a safe place. You know, we always had good fun together in the house, and I always would use my MBTA card, which back then the student pass expired at 8 p.m. to just travel to other parts of the city of Boston to see my friends after school, before coming home. I had to have my homework done, all those things, the rules that my mom established. And so I just always wanted to be married and to have children, and um, that was that was like my goal in in life. I was like, I just want to nurture my family, take care of some kids, and like be good to go. But I think what did they say? If you want to make God laugh, make plans, because that was not my trajectory.

SPEAKER_01 2:59

Yeah, not at all. Not in the least. Oh my goodness. And how like when did that start to change? What age were you when things started to when you uh started to imagine another future?

SPEAKER_02 3:15

Um, I don't think I ever started to imagine another future. It was just one of those moments, you know, I identify as a person of faith that I was like, okay, God, well, I don't see this happening in the near future. So what else am I gonna do with myself in in the meantime? And, you know, the thing is, as you know, two things can be true at the same time. So this position of advocacy, of leadership, when you talk to people who have known me since childhood or undergrad or law school, they are not surprised by this whatsoever. It was probably more of a surprise for me. My mom will say, I've been an advocate from the time I could talk. I organized my first protest in third grade, my second and fifth grade. By middle school, they're still stopping me. So the like change making, making things better was always a part of who I was, even though my heart's desire was um to be a homemaker.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

Wow. Hold on though. So, like, what were you advocating for at that time? What was going on?

SPEAKER_02 4:17

So um, there were some school policies that I disagreed with at my elementary school. Um, my mom worked very hard. Uh, she's a single mother, and uh, she still had to work full-time to support me and herself. And so I was always the last kid picked up from the after-school program. I don't know if anyone out there has that story where it's like 6 p.m. calling my mom, ma'am, come get your child. Like, we need to close. Like, like, where are you type situation? Because she was always working and working late. Um, and so we had this after-school program, and it was a very small school, and there was a vending machine there, and the rule was that only teachers could utilize the vending machine. And being at the school as often as I was, I would just see the vending machine at the time of man come and just like throw away all these snacks that essentially spoiled because there just wasn't enough demand of the staff to keep up with it. So I remember I asked the school administrator, like, oh, can we as students use the vending machine if it's like after school hours? The answer was no. So I remember I came home, I told my mom that story, and my mom's originally from rural Alabama. So she grew up in the segregated South. Um, she's done quite a bunch of advocacy in Alabama when she was growing up, then even here in Boston when she moved up here at the age of 20. And so she said, Oh, you should start a petition. And I was like, What's that? So she's like giving me all the tools and strategies of like organizing in power as an eight-year-old. So I started this petition and I have like all the students in the after school program sign it. Then I present it, you know, to the principal, like, here's our petition. Can you let us use the vending machine? As long as our homework's done is after school hours. The um principal still said no. So I go home, like defeat it, tell my mom. I was like, oh, the petition, like we have like 75 signatures or whatever the number was. And I was like, but it still wasn't enough. And my mom was like, Well, who who pays the school tuition? I was like, the parents. And she's like, well, maybe get the parents to sign the petition too. So then she's like giving me a lesson in power, right? And like, who who does the power that be listened to? It was it was amazing. And I didn't have this language. I'm just an eight-year-old trying to get access to the candy. Let's be very clear, right? Like this is technique in the moment. Um, but looking back in hindsight, I can kind of see what my mom was showing me and modeling me. So since I was always one of the last students uh who'd be picked up from school, it was myself, Ethan, and Candy. We were always the last three children at the after school program. Um, when the parents would come to, you know, sign out their child and they got a token just to verify it was like the right guardian with the right child, um, I would say, Hey, Mrs. So-and-so, hey, Mr. So-and-so, um, are you okay if your child uses the vending machine after school as long as they've done their homework? And most parents were like, Yeah, that's fine. So they signed the petition too. And then I presented that to the principal, and finally they changed the policy. So that was my in the meantime, though, after the first no or the second no was a digital student-only petition, we did organize a little protest where we like marched around our multi-purpose room saying no justice, no peace. Might have been a little dramatic, but we didn't really know. Oh my gosh. And so that was that was the third grade um first protest and policy change that that I worked towards. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:32

I, oh my gosh, that's so funny that you did all that, but still weren't, I mean, I know third grade, you're young, but still weren't like, oh, this feels good. Like, I'm gonna go do this. Like, you know, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02 7:49

I do know what you're saying. And it's interesting because I think about, you know, when they asked you when you're in elementary school, what do you want to do when you grow up? I remember one time saying I wanted to be president of the United States. And then I feel like I also remember later in that year being like, and literally thinking this, like, oh, but I'm black and a woman, maybe Supreme Court justice, and kind of like modifying the goal. So I just, and again, that's like no shade to anyone, but I think it just goes to how we are messaged, um, the messages we receive, how we're socialized in society, and how even subliminally, like children can pick up on things that they can or cannot be just based on what's happening in the world in and around them, if that makes sense, which is why when President Obama became President Obama, I had just finished teaching third grade for a few years before being in law school. And I thought to myself, this is so great because now there's gonna be a whole generation of little brown children who can actually say, Oh, I think I can be president because they see themselves in it. And that's just such a huge, huge game changer. So I will say I didn't have thoughts of it. They were just easily diminished, if you will, to the point that I completely forgot that that's what I said I wanted to do with my life.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

Yeah, I think like that's that's something that I've been coming back to now, which is like really trying to get rid of all of those limiting beliefs about what I can be. I mean, I just turned 39 this year, so I'm like still in that work of one, I had to get through not or not not, but I had to get through all of the blaming and shaming of my parents and their style of parenting and everything that I felt like they did wrong and every little injustice throughout my childhood. So I had that was like my first hurdle. Yeah. And then it was like, okay, the past was what it was. What are you gonna do now? Because you're no longer a little girl with no agency. Now you get to fix it, now you get to change it. And then it's like gathering all the courage and like everything else to keep moving forward. But it does very much feel like you you can narrow your whole point of view about what you can be, or like how many different things you can be over the course of a lifetime. Everything is so different now where our parents might have had one job forever. Yep. And now you can have several acts up until up until the end. So so many things change. It's it's like really, it's really wild. But yeah, those first kind of like models and and all that kind of stuff, it really does like lodges into your psyche. Oh yeah, for sure. Crazy, crazy, crazy. So who were like besides your mom, who were the people that pushed you forward, that mentored you, that said you could do more, you could be bigger, uh, you you could be president. Like, who were those people?

SPEAKER_02 10:50

Um, this is such a great question because there were a variety of people at different stages of life. And I'm so blessed by that because I think whether you have done the work of mastering and eradicating your limiting beliefs or whether you're still operating in them or somewhere in between, I do think that there is this value in other people seeing gifts inside yourself that you might not see. And so I think as much as yes, I know myself, yes, I know the things I'm good at, doesn't necessarily mean I would have connected the dots to elected office. But over the years, as I had a variety of different internships, employment opportunities, starting like even in undergrad, there was this nonprofit, I think they still exist called the Boston Lawyers Group, which was all about how do we diversify the legal profession. So as long as you didn't identify as a white male, you were able to participate in this program for a summer. You were in a law firm. I was at what was then Fleet Bank at the time, which later got bought out by Bank of America, um, doing a corporate internship. And part of the program, we had to do a mock trial. And there was this kid who he was away for part of the summer. So he missed like all the trial prep, but you know, it was more like inclusive. We still want people to participate, but he was basically like sending our case down the drain. And I just like interjected. I'm a little competitive. I don't really like to lose, though. I have lost before in life. And I like jumped in and was just like, no, your honor, and just like took over because he had, he was away, he didn't know.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

Like he was, he got to practice a little bit, but I was like, you're gonna cost us the case.

SPEAKER_02 12:32

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And um, this this uh guy who's an Irish American out of Charlestown who is still a mentor to me to this day, and this was back in 2003, uh, when I finally decided to go to law school and was looking for a recommendation letter, he wrote that moment in his recommendation for me. And it was like a good five to seven years later. But he's just like, I'll never forget you like interjecting and you make sure. And he just loved like the tenacity of it all, the leadership, the like advocacy for my client, what have you. And even then, he was like, You should consider office. And I'm like, oh no, like I don't, I don't want to be in the public light like that. I don't want people in my business. I'm a very private person, like all the reasons why I did not want to do elected office. And fast forward, I graduate law school, um, I become a public defender, and I leave the traditional practice of law to do some education advocacy. And my boss at the time, who identifies as a as a black woman, she's like, you really should think about some organizing advocacy work because she saw how I would always try to make like the organization better, which has its place, but she just thought, given my background, having been a third-grade teacher and public defender, that there's probably more change in the world that I could do as well. And then I did actually leave that role for an organizing position, which allowed me my first chop at policy and advocacy space. And then in that world, there were other folks who knew the campaign and electoral world really well. One of my co-workers, she said, Brandy, you're gonna run for office. And this is like 2013 now. And she's like, and when you do, I'm gonna be your campaign manager. And I'm like, girl, I'm not. Anybody think I'm gonna run for office? Like, what do you mean? Uh and then even an elected official who I had done some work with said to me, I think you'd be really great. But at this time, House of Cards has just come out. I was a big fan of the show, and I'm like, oh my gosh. You know, and I have my first like political role, which is in education, which can get kind of like House of Cards minus the murder. So I was like, ooh, I don't know. Again, I don't think this is the life that I want for myself, you know? So I kind of just had a lot of reasons why not. Um, and what's ironic is the seat I have now came open in 2013. And the same person in 2013 is the same person in 2020 who told me I should run for this seat. In 2013, I wasn't ready for it. Like I said, House of Cards, like, ah, that's not what I want. I'm a really proud person. But in 2020, I said, wait a minute, let me let me pray about this. Like, give me a weekend and I'll get back to you. But I just used that to say there were plenty of people along the way who uh some were relatively strangers um to some degree, and others who had seen my work and just said, no, I think you'd be really great in in elected office. You should, you should consider it. And then the timing lined up and I threw my hat in the ring, and here we are.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

Are you a representative in the same district that you grew up in, or did you grow up somewhere totally different? Wow, so you're home.

SPEAKER_02 15:25

I'm home, home. It's insane. It's so because I never actually when I say you I did not contemplate this for my for myself, like I I I did not know that I would have this opportunity. It truly has been like an honor and privilege of a lifetime. Like I don't say that lightly or loosely. Like it's like, wow, like this is this is where I this is where I grew up, and here I am in this role. Yeah, it's really cool.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Okay. Did you say yes because it was home? Like if it were something different, do you think you would have wanted to do it? Oh, that's such a great question.

SPEAKER_02 16:02

I think I think I said yes because I felt like it was what I was supposed to do at that moment in time, which is really hard to explain to people. Like, I just had a feeling, you know. But I remember I got the call. I was actually um on vacation with my uh kindergarten best friend, um, celebrating her birthday early, and I'm overseas. I get this call. It was like, I'm trying, I want to paint the picture. So this is like my since '88 best friend, okay. Like known each other since kindergarten. Her birthday is in April, and she wanted to go to Amsterdam in Belgium for her birthday. I have a job where I'm flying all the time. I'm like, girl, I have so many miles, I have so many hotel points. Like, we can we can make this happen. When do you want to go? So she looks at her calendar, and based on scheduling, even though her birthday is in April, February worked out better for her schedule, worked with mine. I said, great, like we take the time off. It was one of those moments, actually, I was like, I'm just gonna unplug from the world. I delete an email off my, you know, I delete the email app, the news app. I'm just like living my best European life with my bestie, you know. And so we do Amsterdam first, then we take the train to Belgium, then we come back to Amsterdam because there's a direct flight uh from Boston. And this is also when like the pandemic is a thing, but it's more like, oh, COVID's in this country or that country. So like more isolated, but it's like it's bubbling up. And I remember I met my best friend at the airport and her mom had bought us masks. Before masks became the recommended thing, just like more common sense, like you might want to have a mask. So we were wearing the mask. We go over to Europe. It's the last night there. Um, we took the train back to Amsterdam before I fly out the next day. I had hotel points for that. So we're there, and we just like raid the like executive, you know, suite or whatever to get like some snacks and goodies. We're in the hotel room, just like kee hee hee keepsing, like as if we're like our eight-year-old selves all over again, like not a care in the world. And you know how they're your friends who are like your, you have like your text message friends, your phone friends, your DM friends, like everyone, there's a certain mode of communication you tend to have with certain people. Yeah. So this person is definitely like, we talk, but it's always text, right? Nine times out of 10. So they called me, and I'm like, why are they never called me? Yeah, why? They never call. Yes. I'm like, hold on, girl, this person never calls me. Let me see what let me see what's going on. I'm like, hello, launches into this tirade of how my predecessor's not seeking re-election. I should seek re-election. It's 2020, so they cite 2018 as the year of women with Ayana Presley, Liz Miranda, Nika Elicardo, and how I have to run for office. I'm like, whoa. I was like, oh, your horses. Like, I'm I'm in Europe right now. And they're like, oh, I'm hoping it ruined your vacation. And I said, no, you just gave me a lot to think about on my six-hour plane ride home tomorrow. Like, give give me a week and I'll get back to you. And my best friend's like, what's that? I was like, I don't know, someone just actually run for office. I have a bundle of energy. I gotta go run on the elliptical. I'm like, I gotta like shred this energy that like I just absorbed. So I change clothes, I head down to the gym. Um, running on the elliptical in the hotel room. I'm like talking to God as I'm like running. I have like fast-paced gospel playing in my ears. And I just felt in that moment that I should, I should go for it. But I still wanted to seek more input and talk to other people. And I think what really sealed the deal. So I just want to paint the picture, actually, to get me to yes, is my mom had to have like, I don't know, maybe cataract, some eye surgery. And I told her, I said, mommy, don't schedule it for this week because I'm gonna be in Europe and you're gonna need someone to get you to her from the hotel or from the hospital. Of course, she schedules it because she's spiritually independent. And I'm like, ma'am, she's like, I'll take an Uber. It's like they're not gonna let you take an Uber back from the hospital. So my oldest sister, who's my dad's firstborn, um, and her partner, they they were living in Connecticut at the time. They came up for that weekend just to be there with my mom since I was out of town. I text them and I'm like, hey, y'all, I'm on the plane, about to take off. Family meeting when I get when I get back home, because they're all at my mom's house uh in Boston. And so I catch the cab home and I'm like, okay, y'all, so somebody's left around for office. Like, I don't know what to do. What let's talk about it, you know? And so my sister gets this smirk on her face. Uh, my brother-in-law, he's like, oh shoot, you know, like, okay, like he's like the wheels are turning. And my mom, who grew up, like I said, in the deep south, woman of very few words, but when she does speak, you want to make sure that you're listening. Not the type of family, like I we I did not grow up with participation trophies, like not a lot of like accolades or verbal praise. And my mother just simply looks at me and she says, Everything you've done has primed you for this moment. And hearing that from her, I said, okay, we're we're going for it. Like, and that that for me is what really sealed sealed the deal. Um, and the rest is history.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

Uh some of the most important things, like you just know. The body knows, the brain knows, things sync together, right? Like that phrase from your mom, like things just they're it they're like these moments, right? Where two paths are presenting themselves, and and you know, it's not like one's better than the other per se, but it's just like do you do you answer the call? Do you rise to the occasion? That's exactly what it is. Or do you continue going down the path that you're sort of like already already building?

SPEAKER_02 21:40

Yeah. And it's so interesting too because I loved my job. The job that I had um while I was running for office that I ultimately let go to pursue the selected office full time. I loved my job. I I I had so much fun in that role, but I was also comfortable. Like I said, I was diamond on Delta, I'm platinum at Marriott, I'm living my Best life, like, oh, this is so great. And I'm still helping people. I'm still using some of my great facilitation skills, presentation, public speaking skills, all of that was present. But I think there's also something that I have found too that when you get comfortable is oftentimes when you get that like crossroads choice of do you stay on this path of comfortability or do you try something different and new and kind of put yourself out there? And what I'm realizing is like I got comfortable. And I know for me and my faith tradition, like God always moves people when they get comfortable. And like that has been my testimony testimony. So looking back, I'm like, oh, I was comfortable. And God was like, I have something greater. And not that that job was less than, but just for, you know, my purpose, my calling, the things that have been deposited into me and what I was designed to do while I'm here on this earth. So it was like I said, unexpected, quite the journey. Um, and I'm I'm glad that I did it.

SPEAKER_01 22:56

What are some of the things that you knew immediately you wanted to try to fight for in your district? What did people need? Because you're clearly you were you were dialed in. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:10

So I would say at this point, when I say, yep, I'm gonna run, two weeks later, we got the like shutdown that was only supposed to last two weeks, and then a year and change later, right? Like everyone was there. We know how all of our world shifted and changed. And I think for me, the COVID-19 pandemic only highlighted and exacerbated the inequ inequities that people in my community have seen and known for far too long, whether related to healthcare, food scarcity, transportation, housing, like all of the things just magnified. And so I think for me, the issues that I wanted to focus on were the ones that were most eminent in the community at that time. 2020 was also the big year of Black Lives Matter, when um we had Brianna Taylor and Ahmad Arbrey and George Floyd, amongst others. And so certainly thinking about what does accountability with law enforcement looks like, examining the force that is used or not used um in any given situation was a topic that I cared deeply about. Uh, I also cared deeply just being on the campaign trail and did a lot of phone banking because person-to-person contact just really wasn't available to me.

unknown 24:26

Right.

SPEAKER_02 24:26

But talking to people, there were so many folks that I ended up phone banking who had been formerly incarcerated and when they got released, didn't have access to a state ID. They're often just released with like a prison card, which let's say they're fortunate enough to have a job. You can't open up a bank account with a prison card, so then you have the check cash in place, which takes more money. So it kind of just like helps to get people back into incarceration, which is not the goal that we were hoping for. So I filed a bill just to make sure that when folks come home from incarceration, they have a state ID to help set them up for success and really reduce recidivism. And that's a bill that um has seen some really great progress. It hasn't been passed into law, but with the Haley Driscoll administration, they did a pilot program that continues to expand to really provide folks with those IDs. Um, still fighting for the legislation, but I'm just grateful for the progress there, thinking about how we can set people up for success. So that's an issue that I care deeply about. Um, another issue that I care deeply about was just our education system, generally speaking, because that's when we all had to switch to the digital learning and what that meant for students and families and educators as well. And so um the bills that I've worked on in the state house may not all focus directly on academic achievement per se, but really how can we support our students? So, for example, black women are more likely to be suspended for out of school time for dress code violations than other people. Studies show that when students don't have in school time and are suspended, they're more likely to enter our criminal justice system or criminal legal system, I should say. So, how is it that we can protect these girls to make sure that school districts and schools know that they can't actually suspend someone out of school time for dress code violations, which really just is a bill around equity to make sure that our students, particularly our black women and girls, are protected while they're in their schools. I've also filed some bills around funding for our local school districts just to make sure that they have the resources they need in order to educate our children. Um another, well, this is a current bill. This isn't while I was running, but the headline is anything related to equity, economic justice. I um have always been a big advocate and writer of transit. I told you when I had my tea pass uh when I was as a kid and how I utilized that. And so um I was glad when we got the Fairmount line, but I always believed in electrification of that line because Matapan has some of the highest asthma rates throughout the city of Boston. And when you think about this diesel train we have running through our neighborhoods, so really electrifying the Fairmount line was something that I cared deeply about as soon as I got into office and was able to work on that, and that became a success as well. So those are some of the issues when I first came into office that I I cared about and started to work on.

SPEAKER_01 27:15

And how do you care for you? I know you were running. I don't think I've seen any more running things. Oh she balled up. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 27:26

Listen, so Ashley was like my unofficial trainer because you know she's such a gee. And um, I was running. I was I had a whole season of running, and then I got the balls actually giving these stretches because things were getting tight, because I'm no spring chicken anymore. It was great, it was lovely. I had supporters cheering me on, and then I think I had like a glute sack, a hamstring, something happened, and that slowed me down. But then I fractured my collarbone in 2025. And um, when you break bones over 40, it's and I've never broken a bone before, but it just took a really long time. Yeah, and then I finally like bounced back, but then winter came and I was like, oh, I'm not really a winter runner. Um so yeah, no, you have not seen me run yet. But the weather is finally breaking. Yes. So, and I want you to hold me accountable. I didn't mean to call you out.

SPEAKER_00 28:16

I was just like, it was a call in. No, no, no. It was the call in. It was a call in, actually. It's a call in, it's a call in. It's like I haven't seen you run.

SPEAKER_01 28:24

You were pretty fast, too. Like when I was looking at your when you were posting on Instagram, I was like, oh no, she's moving. Like, yeah, it is not no shade to anybody, but you kept almost like positioning yourself as like not a runner, but it's not like you were running 25 minute miles. Like you were a runner for real.

SPEAKER_02 28:46

And which I didn't even realize until you would comment and again see people who see things in you you don't see yourself. You're like, you should really compete. These are fast ups.

SPEAKER_00 28:54

I'm like, are they? Like, I'm just running. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:58

Yes. Yes. So we'll trade up. Okay, good. Um I'm gonna, I really am gonna hold you accountable because I think it's gonna be 70 this week. So maybe a light jog. A light dog. Yes. Um so what are you doing for yourself then if running is not on the table right now? Because the work that you do, it's stressful, it could be heavy. There's also life, you know, what how do you keep yourself grounded and like literally your health and wellness practices?

SPEAKER_02 29:30

Yeah. No, that's such a great question. And it's something that I try to get better at every single day because this job can really eat someone alive if they let it, just because there's so much to do. Most of us, and I'm in this number, my heart is so committed to my community that I want to do whatever I can whenever I can. And I have to keep reminding myself something that I told people for years, that you have to give from your overflow. So it's like if I don't fill my cup first, I'm not gonna be anything for my community. Or let's say I fail to fill my cup, so I'm giving from my reserve. Once that hits E and I'm emptied, like I am no good to anyone. Like, I have to replenish and renew. So I'm trying to get better at holding to some self-care models. One of the things that I did pick up when it was really cold in the dead of winter is we had a new Pilates studio open in district and it's also woman-owned. Um, Vito and Dorchester. I gotta give them a shout out because I love them in Victoria. The owner, the community that they've created there is so amazing. And so I was doing Pilates for a season. Um, I ended up having a small medical procedure that I couldn't work out for a month. So like that is now over. So now I'm I'm going back this week, which I can't wait. Um, the other thing is I try to do uh some form of like prayer reflection because that really helps me just to like release everything. I absorb a lot of information, energy. By the time someone's coming to my office for help, they have headed up to here. They've tried everything. You know, they're often stressed or feeling very um less than hopeful about their circumstances or what's happening. So we just absorb a lot as well. And for me, praying about it or journaling certain things just really helps to kind of free up some space for me. So that way I'm not carrying it all in my body or in the inside. I also think I am blessed with like the world's amazing, most amazing friends. I know everyone feels that way about their friends because you know, friends, unlike family, they like choose you, right? Whereas like family's kind of stuck with you by blood, you know, relation. But like friends, they like choose you no matter like your flaws, your glows, your gross, all the icky and beautiful stuff in between. And they they decide, yes, I I am committed to being your friend. I I am riding with you. And because I've lived several places, I went away for undergrad, then I moved to Maryland to teach, then I went down south for law school before coming back home. My close friends are kind of spread out throughout the the country. And so my phone time with them, or if we send voice notes to each other, um, or one friend that I think we just um love bomb with memes throughout throughout the day, like connecting to my friends is so vitally important because they truly just like light my world and fill me up. And then, of course, along those lines, thinking about folks who choose me, my husband chose me, right? Um, and we're still, I don't know, I guess we're still technically newlyweds. It's only been a year, three months and 30 days. I'm only counting because it was New Year's Eve, so it's very easy to say how far I was like, what's the date on the calendar? I can't, I can't there. Easy, easy. Just spending time with him as well. Like, um, and you know, most people know that I'm I'm my mom's only child, and she's now in the need of a caregiver. Thankfully, her mind is there, but her body's been feeling her, so she just needs more support of day-to-day activities, and I'm the one who kind of stands in the gap of of all of that. Um, so that's how that's how I try to fill my cup and reading. I got back to reading again. That was a goal I set for myself for this year. It has been the best thing that I didn't realize how much I missed it. Granted, I read a lot, right? For like work, emails, bills, legislation, policy briefs, but just like good old-fashioned leisure reading. Oh my goodness, I I forgot how much I missed it. And that's been a good godsend for me too.

SPEAKER_01 33:27

Well, first of all, that I'm you brought that up, and I'm like, oh my goodness, because I always set reading goals for myself at the beginning of the year because Mark bought me this reading journal where I can, you know, kind of like write down every book that I read and you can like rate them and stuff like that. You can write down books that you want to read, so it just helps me keep track. I love this. And I mean, you can see the bookshelf behind me. I just like it. I love reading books. I was an early reader. I always went to the library. I always had my own collection of books. It was very important to me. Yes. Um, yeah, yeah, it's like never gone away. But I'm gonna, I'm gonna put myself out there publicly. I've only read seven books this year. I I prefer sitting and reading an actual book. So I slow my body down and I slow my brain down versus listening, and then I'm doing dishes and I'm driving. Yeah. That's right. So what that tells me is that I'm not sitting and relaxing enough, which is really the thing. It's like not the number of books, but it's the fact that like I'm not slowing down enough to read the books.

SPEAKER_02 34:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:34

So I gotta fix that. And I gotta do something. What are you reading? I need to know. What do you like?

SPEAKER_02 34:41

Oh my gosh. Oh, I like I like everything. So I'll read fiction, nonfiction, um autobiographies, memoirs, and quotes, because there are a lot of people my age writing memoirs. I'm like, y'all, we're too young, but yes, you can call it your memoir. It's fine. Um, I I read I love a good mystery or thriller. So, like mysteries and thrillers are amongst my favorite genre. Um, right now I'm reading this book called The Midnight Library. It's so good. It's actually a book that one of my colleagues he started reading a couple years ago. We're supposed to read it together. I bought the book, Ashley, but life got in the way. I never read it. He's like, you, he's like 35 books later now. I finally started it um in February because I had one book I wanted to finish reading. I my goal, y'all. I'm no Ashley, it's just been a book a month. If I can do a book a month, we're gonna count on a win because I'm just no I used to read all the time, but I'm like, I need a book a month. Um and this one's taking a book. You have a big job.

SPEAKER_00 35:36

You have a big job.

SPEAKER_02 35:38

A lot going on. It's called The Midnight Library. I started reading it in um early February, like late January, early February. It is so good, and it ended up being irrelevant. So again, I'm a person of faith and I feel like things always work out how they're supposed to. And it's basically a book about grief, which I didn't know when I started reading it. And at the time that I started reading it, I was sharing. Um, some people know I lost my dad in in February. He passed February 10th. A month before that, I lost my godfather on January 12th, who was my dad's first cousin. And then we got back. My dad was living in Virginia. We had those services the 28th. My godfather's services were back here in Boston on the 7th, and then the 9th, my husband lost his sister. Um, and we were not expecting that. So this whole year has been like a year of grief. And I was like, oh God, what are the odds that now I'm reading this book? I already started this book on grief and it's seeing me through. And the reason why I love it so, so much, um, even though people are like, are you really still reading it with all of those life transitions? So it's about, I'm not gonna give too much away. It's about a a woman um who, for whatever reason, decides that she no longer wants to be on this earth. And so she thinks she's transitioning, but she goes to this place called the Midnight Library, which is basically a book of all her lives that could have been. Because you know, with deaf, there's always this feeling of regret, right? Like, well, what if I did this, or what if I did this choice, or what if I did this, or what if I hadn't done this, or what if, you know, blah, blah, blah. Fill in the blank with like whatever regret we as humans often carry. And so she has the opportunity to experience her life without that regret, whatever it is. So it is a library of all these different versions of her lives that could be. And it is just so fascinating. And the moment she, whenever she like pops into a new version or a new version of her life, um, the moment she feels a sense of regret, she goes back to the midnight library. So like it's like just like that. So it's just so fascinating that she goes to these lives that she thought may have been better for her or not better for her, and then to see her response and reaction in them. And it's just so well written. And I know particularly, you know, no relationships are perfect. So my dad, I loved him, but we had such a complicated relationship. So there's tons of regrets there, and then it's like, oh, and I haven't gotten to the end yet. So I don't know if the message is gonna be, it doesn't matter, you know, regrets happen all the time or things we're gonna. So I don't know what the end message is, but it has been such like a place of refuge and peace to see her try to find the life she thinks is the best for her. Um, it's it's been so fascinating. I love, I love the Midnight Library. It's so good.

SPEAKER_01 38:29

I will I'm gonna, I'm gonna add that to my list. I'm gonna read that because that sounds like something that would really resonate with me, having lived so many lives at the young age of 39. Like, how am I still here? There's stuff that it's there's so much that clearly needs to be done because you know. Um thank you for sharing. Thank you for sharing that. And and also sorry again for your losses. Thank you. That's it's always hard in general, but when there's like a succession of losses, especially close together, it really hits really hard. Yeah. Um thank you for sharing that with us. Yeah. Um, starting to wrap up, unfortunately, because I just want to hang out with you for the rest of the day. What kind of world are you building? Oh, Ashley, that's so deep.

SPEAKER_02 39:23

I know, right? I love that question. Um, okay. The ideal world that I would like to see is truly like representative government, where government um is truly advocating for the people that it represents, and that folks just aren't quick to accept a status quo. Um, and when I ran for office in 2020, like part of what I said was we as community members know the solutions. Like we know what needs to be improved in the lives around us. It's navigating the systems that can often be the hardest thing uh to do. And there's also a piece where, particularly for many of my community members in Matipan, which is what I consider to be my hometown, we often feel like left behind, left out, not thought of, forgotten, you know, fill fill in the blank. We don't always feel like we're a part of the government systems and power structures that that be. And I think when I think of my role, I try to be as present as possible, just so even with visibility, my community knows that like you matter, your opinion matters, like your perspective matters. And I think because going back to the opening around limiting beliefs, I do also think that change is hard for anybody, any human being, any community. And I think sometimes subconsciously, folks can buy into the narrative that we don't deserve nice things. Whereas I think we in Mattipan deserve the nicest of the nicest in all of the things, like all of the things. Um, and I think about, for example, Mattipan doesn't have a sit-down uh restaurant.

unknown 41:09

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 41:10

So we end up spending our resources in other neighboring towns, which isn't a problem, but why can't we have that here? You know, I think about uh road safety, and um we don't have the safest roads here in this in this part of town because either the lanes are out of control or we're not thinking about pedestrian safety as they're trying to cross it, across, get across the street. So I just think there are things that we sometimes limit ourselves on because we're like, oh, that's the way it's always been, which is fine. And what would you in your ideal world, right? Like if you could just like have a blank canvas open slate, paint the picture of what you would want for your community, what would it be? And I feel like then it's my charge to try to make that vision happen, as opposed to I think not accepting the status quo goes goes both ways, right? So not just accepting what always is because it always has been that way, but also not just um accepting the bare, the bare minimum without thinking more globally around like what could it be beyond like no, we don't want that. Like then what would you want in kind of advocating and fighting for that? That's what we're gonna do. I just want to help people. That's actually at the end of the day, I'm just trying to help people. Just a government and world job.

SPEAKER_00 42:26

We help people. That's it. That's all I want to do. Like it shouldn't be this hard.

SPEAKER_03 42:33

True.

SPEAKER_01 42:35

Leave us, leave us with like a piece of advice, a quote, a something, a scripture, anything that you live by.

SPEAKER_02 42:50

So many came came to mind, and you know, I I'm thinking, which which one do I share? And I think I'm gonna share three, but they're short, they're quick, I promise. Um so one is work hard, play hard. That was always my motto in college. I stand by that. We work hard. I know I work hard and I deserve to have rest, peace, fill, fill in the blank of what the definition of play is now. It may have evolved over the years, but like work hard, play hard. I feel I feel very deeply about about that one. Um, I often tell people that I'm faking it till I make it. And I say that not as like a woe is me, but in some ways, it's like I show up because I have to, right? Like that's part of my role, part of my responsibility. And there are some times, especially with this like season of briefs, like I don't necessarily have it inside of me, but I'm gonna show up and I'm gonna quote unquote fake it until I get through or till I get to until I make it. And some people say that's not healthy. And I don't disagree with that, but I also think for me, it's a way that I try to live out my. Faith too, where it's like I'm not feeling this, but I'm gonna like step out on faith and like just get the movement started with the hope that by the end of it I'll have whatever grace or abundance or you know help I need to get through and to actually have really made it, even though I may have started off faking it. So that's that's the other one. And then the other one that I often tell people is I'll say, I'm exhausted but grateful, and because it's true. In both can be true. And I think sometimes, especially like as professional women or like women who may have roles more in the public sphere or outward facing, there's this expectation that we hold it all together. And I know I'm at a point where I'm kind of tired of holding it all together, but that's just what I was trained to know how to do. So I'm doing it. And it can be exhausting. And I am so grateful. Like, how cool that like our worlds collided because I happened to run for elected office. Like, and now I'm doing this podcast. And like, I mean, taking care of my mom can be a lot, but I'm so grateful that I get to take care of her, that she's still here, that she can still deposit into me whatever wisdom she has, you know. Like, so it's just like, yes, I'm exhausted. Like, y'all, I am tired, but I'm still so grateful, you know, for all that I'm able to do and and experience. And um, it's it's not a binary, both, both, both can be true.

SPEAKER_01 45:22

So those are the three I'm gonna leave with you. Thank you. Thank you, thank you. And finally, just tell people where they can follow you, where they can keep up with your work, where they can, I don't know, whatever you want them to do. Like tell them what to do.

SPEAKER_02 45:38

I love this. Okay, so um my handles are team brandy B-R-A-N-D-Y 617. I found out my mom actually works really hard to make sure people know it's spelled with the Y. She never likes it with the I or IE, which I didn't know she has such strong feelings, but for two months ago, um, she was, I think I turned her someone's spell money with an I. She's like, oh, I tried so hard not to make that happen. So Brandy with a Y. Um, and then I have a website, electbrandy.com, where you can learn more about my policies. If you do electbrandy.com slash wins, you can see like what I've accomplished in the time I've been in office. I am on LinkedIn. I don't check it as regularly because the same guy who wrote my lawsuit recommendation, Nerve just 2003, and he said, there's this new thing called LinkedIn. You all should join. And like I've been on LinkedIn since 2003, and it just started to become a thing, you know, in like the last five to ten years. So I don't go in there often, but I am on LinkedIn as well. And I think those are, yeah, Team Brandy617. That's Facebook, Instagram, which we use primarily. I don't really use X anymore, um personal preference reasons. Uh and then I'm on threads, but I'm not on threads regularly either, but they're all Team Brandy 616.

unknown 46:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 46:53

Thank you for keeping it real.

SPEAKER_01 46:57

Well, I am Team Brandy. I like Team Brandy for life. Thank you so much for coming on this podcast, for saying yes, for giving me the space and time, and for allowing other people in my community to get to know you as well. It's such a pleasure and an honor.

SPEAKER_02 47:16

This was my privilege, Ashley. Thank you for thinking of me. And I we should continue this conversation at some point. Coffee, wine, tea, something. Yes, please, all of it. We're overdue. All the things, all the things. And best of luck with the rest of your podcast and all of your endeavors. You truly are a gym, and I'm just grateful you share yourself with us because you don't have to, and we appreciate it. I know I do. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_01 47:39

I I well then I will just be speaking to you then.

SPEAKER_00 47:44

I'll be like, uh this message is for no one else. Everyone else just click through. Just grow, just scroll past. I love it. I'll take it. Oh, thank you. Thank you. All right, everybody, we will see you next time.