Samantha Hartwig

This episode features RWCA Samantha Hartwig, member of Branch 9, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:18

Welcome to the History of Female Leadership in the NALC podcast. My name is Craig Schaefer. I'm a city carrier in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Today I have a sister from up in Region 7 joining me tonight. If you don't mind, go ahead and introduce yourself.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Uh thanks, Craig. Thanks for asking me on. My name is Samantha Hartwig, and I'm currently uh the Regional Workers' Compensation Assistant for the NALC, and I cover regions three, five, and seven, and I work out of the Minneapolis uh Region 7 office.

SPEAKER_01 0:51

All right. And you are from branch nine, Minnesota, correct?

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Yep, branch nine, Minneapolis, Minnesota. And um, I love my branch.

SPEAKER_01 1:01

Awesome. And how long how long have you been with them in NALC?

SPEAKER_00 1:06

I've been with the NALC coming up on 23 years with the NALC and the Postal Service. So now I'm I'm sitting here looking back and realizing, wow, I'm one of the people that's been around. I remember just starting out, and it was like, oh, you couldn't believe how long people have been in the postal service. And it was hard to imagine being in that long when you're just starting. And now I look back and the time has gone really fast.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

It it seems to do that really. The older I get, I'm feeling the same thing. I mean, you're you're still a spring chicken. I'm an old guy, and uh it it does, it goes really, really fast. Um, so you've been with the post office for 23 years. What brought you to the post office in the first place?

SPEAKER_00 1:52

Well, I was a single mom. My son was just a little guy, a little peanut at the time. And I was doing okay breaking even, but I didn't have benefits. I didn't have health insurance. I didn't have extra money for anything. And so you're you're barely skating by. And financially, I was doing enough to survive. And I didn't want to just survive. And it just so happened, my old job before the postal service, I drove a school bus for seven years and I was trying to go to college at the same time. So it was great because I would work in the morning, and then I could take a couple colleges, college classes at the community college, and then work in the afternoon, and then go get my son from daycare. Um, my co-workers at the time, they found in the uh want abs an advertisement for the United States Postal Service to apply for it to take the battery test back then, uh, back in 2002. I went and took the test and I got hired in 2003, and I haven't looked back since. And it's been a great job. My son just turned 26 on April 21st. And so it's it's it's it's uh been a long journey, hasn't always been easy, but I wouldn't change it for anything.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

Nice, that's awesome. Um, so obviously you you're now in a pretty uh an extremely important position, but um what caused you initially to even pursue a a leadership role in the NALC?

SPEAKER_00 3:40

Yeah, and I was uh PTF just starting out, and I saw how management would pick on certain carriers. It seemed like they had one or two carriers that they were always picking on, and it wasn't right, and I don't like bullies, and so I thought, well, this is something that I would like to be able to help our members with because one of the things that I've been knowing for, knowing for is liking to argue, and I don't know if really saying I like to argue is the correct way to phrase it, but I wasn't afraid to argue and stand up for people, and so when the time came to run for union steward, um, I first became a union steward at the East Side Post Office over in northeast Minneapolis, and it just took off from there, helped out the carriers. Uh, it was a big station. We had over 50, 50 city letter carriers there, so it was big enough for us to have two stewards, but my carriers were like, No, you're doing just fine. Nobody else wanted to be the second steward, so I was flying solo in a big station, and that let me tell you, that was a lot of work, and especially so, yeah, and especially too. Um, one of the things, and I know we're gonna kind of get into it, some of the experiences you have as a female in the NELC, especially as a female steward. One thing that stood out for me when I was a steward, there was a moment I had three men who were all supervisors, one was a station manager, and I remember this to this day, and all three of them are about six feet tall. And I can't remember what happened, but one of the supervisors was kind of getting mad at me about something, and then the other supervisor and manager came over and they kind of surrounded me like they were intimidating me with their size and me being the lone female, and unfortunately for them, that backfired because it just pissed me off, and then I just kind of unleashed on them and I did it on the workroom floor because I didn't care. I was in my job as a steward at the time, and then they all backed down, but I thought, you know, that was so rude, the way they were trying to intimidate me by using their size and trying to kind of gang up on you. And I thought, you know, they want to be bullies, I'm just gonna have to be the bigger bully to management. And the carriers, at least the carriers I worked with at East Side, they all appreciated it, and they uh they couldn't wait. Like if I had a day off or I went on vacation, as soon as I came back, they were snitching management off left and right. They were they couldn't wait to snitch them off. It was great.

SPEAKER_01 6:34

I I have a feeling that they were very happy to have you there because uh especially the ones that were getting bullied, you know. That that's ridiculous. I I I think that's it seems to be everywhere you go. They management just has this where they find somebody, and I don't know why, but they just ride them and and it's it's like, come on, chill out. But it's good that that's where you came in and that's took care of some business.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

And that's kind of where it started, just being a little mouthy and and not afraid to stand up for my carriers, and it helped knowing that the full-time officers at that time, uh, I knew that if I ran into problems, they would also have my back. So that helped too, and knowing that I had people that would be there if I needed them.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

Yeah. All right, well, you kind of uh led me into my next question. What positions have you held, whether from your branch all the way to where you're at now?

SPEAKER_00 7:31

I've been a steward, I've been a formal A representative for my branch, a trustee financial secretary, I was executive vice president, and then I was president of branch nine up until I became the RWCA in July of 2022.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

All right. And now, um, in your current role as RWCA, what are your duties?

SPEAKER_00 8:00

So, right now I assist carriers out of regions three, five, and seven. If they have a workers' compensation claim that's denied, I try to help them get it appealed or a termination of benefits. Sometimes I give advice, I'll get calls, even stewards from all three regions every now and then will reach out with a question on a grievance, or sometimes they just want to get my opinion on how I would handle it or any suggestions I would have for them that would help them build a better grievance package. So I I do give advice on that and and just generally trying to help people out. And sometimes, sometimes the carriers that are injured, they just need somebody to listen to them. They just need to know that there's one person out there that is trying to help them and cares. I find that a lot of carriers in our smaller stations don't have as many resources as like our bigger branches, our Minneapolis is Milwaukee, you know, Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, the lot of smaller places don't have the same access or the same people with the same knowledge. And so I try to help them out. One of my other duties, which I find very important, is education to try and teach or excuse me, try to teach and help our other members understand work comp a little better. So if somebody does get hurt, they can help out at their level and get quicker help and not have to wait for me to call them back in like a day. They can get that help now and help empower our members to stand up for themselves a little bit when dealing with management. Management likes to lie to carriers a lot, especially carriers injured on the job. If it's not something your station deals with, the steward might not be as familiar with it either. And so sometimes the carriers just need a little, um, they just need a little positive reassurance that what they're saying or what they're doing is the correct thing, and that they're not going to get in trouble if they have to have like an eight-hour day medical restriction. Or sometimes a carrier has surgery after their case is accepted. And I've had management try to push carriers back to work too soon. And I said, no, that's that's that is between you and your doctor. And I don't want carriers to push themselves back to work too soon, especially if the doctor doesn't want it. So just knowing that they can get additional advice, I think it's very helpful. And I do try to make sure every question gets answered. If I don't know an answer, because I'm always learning too, and that's it's amazing how much there is to learn with workers comp, it never ends, and so I'm always learning. So if I don't know an answer, I'm gonna go find the answer and I will get back to you and let you know what it is.

SPEAKER_01 11:10

Yeah, well, I I will say um week two of leadership, Kobe came in and did his presentation, and I'll be totally honest here. I saw that in our like in the packet or on the agenda, and I thought, oh no, this is gonna be torture. And it was really, really good. He put on a really interesting presentation, and I learned a lot of stuff, and I have I I it it a lot of that stuff comes across as almost like a foreign language to me. But you know, I've talked to you some, and actually one of our guys in our branch came to uh advanced OWCP training uh one and I believe it was Kansas City six months or a year ago, I don't know when it was, but um man, you put on that class and he's brought back so much knowledge and it's just so nice having that in our branch. And we are a smaller branch, we you know, it's not yeah it's definitely not big, but it's nice having that in our branch. So I would suggest that if anyone's listening to this thinking about going to that training for your branch, highly, highly recommend because it it it is very handy to have someone that knows what they're doing in in the office, you know. And you know, we've um we've reached out to you before and you've always got back to us no problem. But if we can not bother you, because you're dealing with bigger issues, if we can deal with it in our office, it's just better for everybody. So yeah, that it it really isn't. It's not as scary as it looks at sometimes because I was like I said, I was like, uh, but it it was good. Um so you know, you kind of alluded to when you first became a steward, and you know, you were kind of getting bullied by some of the trying well, they were attempting to bully you. Yeah. Um you know, what do you have any other experiences with you know, and I mean that's pretty pretty clear that they were doing that because you were a female and they thought they could push you around. Have you had any other experiences like that? And how did you deal with it? And do you feel like the situation was resolved?

SPEAKER_00 13:20

Yeah, um, there's been a few different experiences. So when I became the president of Branch and I into Minneapolis, unfortunately, it was the day after our union office burnt down. And because our current president, Mike, he was retiring in the middle of his term. And so one of the things I needed was to appoint an executive vice president to work with me. And so I appointed uh Joanne Gilbaugh as my executive vice president, and and I didn't appoint her because she was female, I appointed her because she was really good and she did really well writing grievances. She was a phenomenal writer, and she understood how to put a grievance together and how we can win the cases, and we were on a similar um thought process when it came to how to put a case together and how to win the cases and how to best represent our management. So I made I appointed Joanne as my EVP when I first became president, and that was the first time in the history of our branch where you had both full-time officers as women, it's never happened before. And there were some people in the branch that were upset that there were two women running branch nine. Um, and and and it upset them. So when we would go out and do station visits, and of course, this happened in March of 2020, so it was right when COVID was starting. We didn't have an office, the state shut down, you couldn't go to a restaurant, there was nowhere for us to go. We couldn't even go to the regional office because the regional office was getting shut down. And so I think the first week Joanne and I worked out of our cars. That first week, you know, at the site where the building happened and dealing with carrier phone calls because all we had was our cell phones, and we couldn't even go to like Best Buy to buy new laptops. We we you couldn't go into the store to buy things, and so with the help of our executive board, we were able to figure things out, get things moving. We kept the grievance procedure rolling. We had formalize working from home, processing grievances, we figured out a process on how to handle that. So the grievance procedure kept moving, it moved a little slower. We got extensions with management, they worked with us, but even still going out and doing station visits, there were some people that just couldn't stand the thought of two women running the brand. And so I just made sure that whenever I did a station visit, whenever I walked into a station, I walked in like I own the place. And I always had the answer. I wanted management to know that I was the smartest person in the room when dealing with management. And I think eventually people calmed down, but every now and then people still had a hard time. And so I just treat them all the same, the way I would treat them, give them the same answers, the same advice. And I think eventually people started to see that we knew what we were doing. We did, of course, you're always gonna have your doubters no matter who you are. Um, and I think after we got our new office, um, we worked with the board, and that was a lot of work looking all over the Minneapolis area to try and find a new building location because you couldn't go in and view anything because of COVID. There was no buildings for sale. Um, it was a lot of work, and there was a lot of people involved. Previous officers helped us out and things like that. But we got in our new office and the phone rang, and it was the widow of a retired member of our branch, and I wasn't really familiar with her husband, but she called because she wanted she had some questions about the survivor's benefits, and so the call came to me and she's like, Well, I want to talk to the president of the branch, and I said, Well, yeah, I'm the president of the branch, and she was so confused. She was like, What? She's like, You're the president. Well, I said, Well, yeah, you're the president. I said, You seem really confused about that, and she was like, Yeah, you're a woman. I was like, Well, yeah, well, are you sure you're tough enough to be the president? Because my husband was tough, and you have to be tough. And I was I was kind of taken aback because I was thinking, in this day and age, a woman questioning whether another woman is capable of being the president of a branch, it just caught me off guard. I really wasn't prepared for that. And and I basically had to defend myself and reassure her that I was giving her the correct advice. You know, I'm like, here, let me send you some stuff that you can look at. You have questions, just call us back, help us out, you know, and she was okay by the end of our phone conversation. But I was I couldn't believe that I had to explain to another woman that it's okay for a woman to be the president of a branch to have that level of success. So that that really I think caught me off guard more so than that coming from a man because I was prepared for that from men. I was prepared and ready for that, but not prepared for a woman to be like that. It just was shocking to me.

SPEAKER_01 19:04

Yeah, yeah, that is uh and maybe it's uh a generational thing. I I would hope that's what it is, that she just was grew up in a generation where you know it was always the man was the president or whatever. Maybe I'm hoping because why else? I mean, uh, if you're giving the answers, but you know what that's one thing that I've learned uh uh from doing this podcast is talking to different ladies that are just killing it in the NALC, they always seem to have to do double duty to prove themselves like worthy of whatever position they're doing. And I'm like, I I I just don't get it. I I I don't understand it, but I hear it over and over again, and it's just crazy to me because you know uh the majority of the ladies that I have well, no, all of the ladies I've talked to have know a lot more than me. And but yet if like you were just saying though, it's like if uh they were to come up and me and you were standing there, someone that didn't know would probably look to me for an answer, and I'm like, you're do you want the correct answer or do you want my answer? Because if you're wanting the correct answer, you need to ask her, you know, and it it just it's very frustrating to me because you know, and and one of the reasons I say this all the time on the podcast, but you know, I have two daughters, and that's part of the reason one of the prongs of the reasons why I did this podcast in the first place was because I wanted my daughters to see all of these phenomenal ladies that have you know taken the ball and ran with it in my union. And you know, I want them to see that and we we have always taught them that there's nothing that they can't do that a man can do that they can't, you know. And so I I enjoy talking to you guys because I this is like uh reassuring. So if they listen to this, they're hearing these things and and know that there's ladies that are just they aren't scared, they're gonna go bust through that glass ceiling and keep on going. So thank you for that. And I appreciate your honesty on that, because uh it's crazy. I don't I don't get it, but what are you gonna do? Just keep proving yourself, I guess. Prove them wrong.

SPEAKER_00 21:19

And and that's the thing, you have to keep going. The one thing you don't want to do, and I think this would be advice for anybody, but don't quit. It's okay if you need to step back a little bit or maybe do a little bit less, but don't quit. I think if you quit, um, some momentum is lost. And I think especially for women, I find that sometimes if some women quit something, you know, instantly there's a negative connotation there. Um and you and it's hard, these jobs are not easy, and the higher up you Go, uh, you don't start out thinking necessarily that you want to do anything at the national level. Because for me coming up, um, and I'll be honest, and it was just my personal thought as I was doing things for the union as a steward, as an EVP. And I remember when I was the EVP of my branch, I remember somebody asked me, they were like, Well, do you ever think you'd work at the regional office? And I kind of laughed at them. And I said, No, I said, I don't see a woman working up there anytime soon. And I feel bad because I love my guys. Don't get me wrong, I love all the people at the regional office. And this was, you know, a while ago, and I didn't think it would ever happen, but I have noticed that at least in my region, they are trying to include more people. I see more women getting involved. So I'm glad that my initial thought was wrong, right? I just it was just I was experiencing some things where I saw some guys get opportunities and I was kind of overlooked, like people didn't realize I was still there. It was almost like you kind of felt like you were invisible, and and it was just easier. And I've seen some guys, they just got handed stuff, they didn't have to work as hard and they moved along the path a lot quicker, and they were just handed things where I had to prove every step of the way that yes, I am capable. Yes, I can do it. There was always there's always doubters. I mean, I still have doubters to this day, which is fine. Um, because I'm gonna prove them wrong. It motivates me to keep going to show you that I can do this, I know I can do it. Am I gonna be perfect? Have I made mistakes along the way? Absolutely. Have I learned from them? Definitely, and I figure as long as I don't make a same mistake twice and just keep moving forward and doing things, and I am glad to see more women in leadership positions throughout the whole NALC. So I do see things are starting to turn a little bit, although slow, but I do see more women coming up, and it's really exciting for me to see other women that I've met along the way moving on up, like uh Larissa and Keisha. And I just I get excited for everybody else's successes too. And and there are other women that that I have massive respect for that have helped along the way in some form or fashion, definitely.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

Yeah, yeah. I well, those two you named, I love them too. They're just phenomenal. So absolutely they they they are uh well well loved pretty much across the board. I'm um they're just awesome. And so yeah, I agree. Um, you kind of touched on, you know, you go into the regional office and ended up, you know, working for national um because of this position, you know. I know that obviously as a branch president of an off or a branch the size of yours, I'm sure it took some time away from your family, but this is kind of a step up from that, you know. This is even this is more. I know you are on the road a lot. So because of all the time that you've kind of had to leave home and go out on the road and and help all the members throughout the regions you serve, um, has that caused you any issues with like family or friends where you're just not able to be be places that you want to be?

SPEAKER_00 25:44

Yeah, I mean, I've I've missed out, I've missed out on some stuff. I'm not gonna lie. I've missed out on some stuff. One of the things is that um that I've missed out for the last few years, which is kind of a bummer, but this job's important, otherwise I wouldn't do it. Um, I'm from Anoka, Minnesota, the Halloween capital of the world. If I didn't throw that out there, I would be remiss. Um, and every year on Halloween, Enoka, we have the Halloween parade. And every year I want to take my little niece and nephew so they can check it out and see what it's like because they're just, you know, they're eight, they're young, you know, eight and five. But unfortunately, I'm usually traveling for work during that time. So that's something I'm missing out on. Maybe someday. Maybe I'll just take annual one of these years and and and take them before they get too old to go and appreciate it. But yeah, you miss out on family time. Uh, my son, I just alluded, he's 26. I think because he's not young, he's not living at home anymore. Um, I'm not missing that. Uh, when he was younger, I had my mom and dad at the time to help out. Like when I went to Leadership Academy in 2012, they helped watch him. Um, so I had I had family to help support and they supported me. And I think if you don't have a support system that believes in what you're doing, it makes it more difficult. Um, I've definitely lost touch with some friends over the years because you're like, sorry, I can't go, I have to travel for work. Sorry, I can't go, I'm going to work. Um, but I do have a core group of friends that aren't postal from when we were uh growing up, like middle school, elementary school. So I'm at the point where the friends I have, it's about the quality of the friends, not so much the quantity of the friends. So I still have several really close friends that I talk to. But yeah, there's a lot of people I've kind of just we've kind of drifted, lost touch. Um, so sometimes it's hard to maintain some of those relationships when you are traveling a lot. You do give up a lot to do a lot of these jobs. But again, I believe in it. I believe in the work. I believe our members need the help, especially with workers comp. Um, it's probably the one job in the NALC. I've always said if I ever had an opportunity to do it, because I like doing the work and I like being able to help people. And um, I couldn't believe the opportunity came. And so I said, Yeah, let's do it. And and I'm enjoying it, being able to help people, and and I think my family understands the value of it, but uh they are pretty happy when I do come home.

SPEAKER_01 28:48

I bet, yeah. Well, and and everybody I ask, you know, it pretty much no matter what position you do, you're gonna have miss things and you're gonna have to, you know, take calls during family time sometimes, things like that. But the one thing that I've noticed, I've not had anybody complain about it. It's not like they're mad about it. It's they know that this is they're they're on they're doing what they're supposed to be doing. This is their calling, they're doing what they you know were meant to be doing. And luckily, it seems like most of the time the families understand and you know you you may it makes the time that you are home even more special. So, you know, that's that's the main thing.

SPEAKER_00 29:30

Yeah, and sometimes I'll be honest with you, sometimes I find, especially at the workers' comp, a lot of people I've spent a lot of time helping people learn how to file, say, a CA7 and a CA7A form. Sometimes it's just easier for me and them, you know, I'll work within their schedules if I have to, which is fine because I want them to get the help they need. Sometimes it's easier for me just to be home at seven o'clock at night, open up that laptop and walk them through it. And it's easier for them. And I've done that quite a bit to help them out because seven o'clock at night, my phone's always not ringing off the hook. There's some days where my phone is nonstop, and so every once in a while, you know, they're like, I'm working, I can't take time off. Well, call me tonight this evening. Are you sure? Yeah, call me, don't worry about it, we'll figure it out. I've had people, well, I don't want to bug you on a Saturday. No, let's just do it, let's get it done because it needs to get done. It's not fair to you to let it sit and wait till Monday. Let's get this done. And so so if I have to work around somebody's schedule, I will.

SPEAKER_01 30:40

That's awesome. I mean, that that takes a special person, and I think that just personally, anyone that does anything work comp and is trying to help the membership out on that, you you're already a special person. You're you know, very caring and loving, and that shows through. I mean, that you you couldn't be in that position without having that. I mean, you've got to love your your fellow carriers to do that. And so we we down here really appreciate all you do and and appreciate your time that you do put into it. But when you do finally shut the laptop, turn off the phone, maybe set at least set it in the other room for a few minutes.

SPEAKER_00 31:21

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:21

Um, what do you what do you like to do to kind of unlock unwind, relax? Do you have hobbies? What do you like to do when you're not at work?

SPEAKER_00 31:29

Well, one of the things now that winter has come to an end, it is now grilling season. So I enjoy grilling outside, it's nice. I don't care what anybody says, Minnesota has the best summers around. If you don't count the mosquitoes, so I really do like just grilling out and cooking for people, or um, my brothers will come over and maybe I'll try my hand at a brisket. I'm still learning how to perfect doing a brisket on the grill. Uh, we'll get there. But I like to do that, like like make food and have family come over. So we do workless family, and we'll come over and we'll play games, or um, my little my little niece, she loves to come over. I went and bought uh Nintendo Wii, and there's a game on there called Just Dance, and she loves to dance, so she'll come over and we'll play a little bit, you know. She's five, so she's still learning the controllers. I'm still learning the controllers because it's confusing for me too, and I'm not five, but uh, because you have to like shake them and move them. But oh, she just giggles and has the best time. So really I like to spend time with my family whenever I can, and and that's you know, maybe growing out. Um, I've got my two kitty cats, so I'll put Lord Grimm on a leash. He's he's he's a great cat, he's full of energy. Um, sometimes he likes to bring me presents I don't want like baby bunnies. So uh I'll put him on the leash, and so we'll go outside and hang out and just being outside, family, friends. We'll get together with friends, go out and and just relax, you know, shut the phone off, um, and just relax. Uh, because I'll even at a certain point I'll put the work phone away at night. I don't have it next to my bed. I've got my personal phone next to my bed, but usually in the morning, first thing I do is check the work phone, make sure everything's okay. But I make sure I put the phone away at night, usually between 10 and 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. You know, try to get some sleep and some rest for the next day.

SPEAKER_01 33:54

Yeah, that's that's fair. I mean, taking seven hours off, I think I think you're that's that's fair. I mean, uh, I uh you could probably give yourself a little extra time, but yeah, that comes into the uh you you just care about your fellow carrier so much, so that that shows through there as well. And I will say I was fortunate enough to come up to Minnesota for a state convention a few years ago with my uh my my mentor, Anthony, and um it was absolutely beautiful up there. But I also spoke to some of the carriers up there, and in fact, uh one of my classmates in Leadership Academy, Linda Johnson, um she we were discussing the weather up there during the winter. Yeah, and I still stand behind that is not meant for human living in those that environment. I am sorry, that is too cold. I was speaking to a couple of them from Duluth, and I I just asked them, I was like, so what is what do you guys consider cold in the winter? And I don't know, they said probably about 20, and I was like, Well, 20 is not that bad, and they go, Well, I meant 20 below, and I'm like, No, that's that that's not normal to say 20 and mean 20 below, and to have protocols for different negative temperatures. I'm like, Yeah, no, I'm yeah, it's beautiful during the summer, though, don't get me wrong. And and I was there kind of in the it was it was kind of fall, and it was it was stunning. It was just beautiful. Up there, uh, was that Craigens, I believe, is where it was at.

SPEAKER_00 35:31

Okay, yep. Yeah, sometimes Craigens, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:34

Yeah, it was it was absolutely just it was stunning up there, it was just beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 35:37

But yes, I'll tell you what, I'll deliver mail and 30 below any day. You give me 120, nope, that's too hot, that's too much. Because when it's hot out, you can only take off so many layers. People, you know, you can only go so far before you cut before you got problems. Whereas 30 below, if you need to put on a layer, you put on an extra layer, but you know, usually that's not a problem when it's delivering mail, it'd be 30 below, and I'd be like, Oh no, I feel like I'm starting to sweat because you don't want to sweat when it's 30 below. I'd be standing at my mail chuck, take off my parka, take off a layer, and people would be standing there watching you as you're taking off a layer, you put the parka back on because you had to cool down because you're starting to get too warm. 30 below, I that does not phase me at all. I I I can deliver in 30 below easily.

SPEAKER_01 36:33

I'm glad you warriors are up there because I would not do well. So I I I when it gets down to like in the even the 20s, little the real 20s, not the negative 20s, but the real 20s and the tens here, it's like this is I I'm done with winter, I'm ready for the heat and the humidity. I uh I it it's coming, I know, but but uh yeah, I can't do the winters. I I can't do that. That is wild. But hey, like I said, that's why I'm glad you guys are up there because you guys are beasts for fighting through that. I I admire you and I honor you, but I don't want to be part of it. So I'm just gonna stay down here. Um so you know, you've been around for 23 years, you've done a little bit of everything, you got thrown into, I mean, somewhat literally into the fire when you took over your branch. Um what would be I know you kind of gave a little bit of advice earlier, but do you have any more advice you would give to someone that is kind of starting out um, you know, thinking about you know taking some sort of leadership role in the NALC? Do you have any advice you would give somebody like that?

SPEAKER_00 37:47

Yeah, uh don't be afraid to ask questions, don't be afraid to reach out. And even I can't remember where I was um or who I was talking to. It might even been in region five when I was there. Um there was a younger carrier just starting out, she's just starting out her union career and everything. I think she was a brand new to being a steward, and she was talking to a couple of guys, and I was just sitting there, just listening a little bit, and then I just kind of started talking to her a little bit, um, you know, kind of more of a female perspective, you know, do good, you know, gave her some advice and and you know, and and she thanked me for it. And then after she went on her way, the guys that were there were like, I we really appreciated you talking to her. We think she really needed to hear something from another female, so thank you for doing that. So I guess my advice is find one or two people that you're comfortable with, and sometimes some people are more comfortable talking to a female than they are a male, and that's okay. I just want everybody to know that even if I'm not in your branch, even if I'm not in your state, if you need somebody to talk to, like from a female perspective, I'm here. You can reach out. I know that's not technically my job, but I want to help bring women up because other women pulling up other women is gonna help us too. Because right now you have to wait for somebody to give you an opportunity, and I've seen some branches where the men just will not give the women the opportunities, or they put them in what is deemed more of a female role, so to speak, and not really let them do formal ays or things like that. And I've seen that, I've seen it throughout the years. You know, I'm not gonna call out anybody on that or anything like that, it's just things you notice as you go, and then you start women wondering why aren't they trying to promote more women? It's probably because that's the demographic they're comfortable with, and sometimes we also need to get out of our comfort zone and help give other people opportunities because if they don't see it, they may not think it's possible. Because I told you early on, I thought there's no way I'm gonna see a female at the regional office anytime soon. And here I am, and I'm glad it's happened. And I would just hope that other people realize okay, maybe someday I can be up there if that's something you're interested in, something to work on. But find somebody that you can ask questions that you trust that's gonna give you good advice, hopefully not bad advice, but have a couple people and don't be afraid to ask the questions. Get your answer, get your assistance. And I think this is important. And I've told people this too. I said, don't be afraid to make mistakes because you are gonna make mistakes. If you don't realize you're gonna make a mistake, then uh you're just kind of sticking your head in the sand. And it's okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from it. Learning from it is the biggest thing, and I think I've learned more from where I realize, oh, maybe I should have handled something different, or maybe I could have said this instead of that. I I learn more from those things than I do from anything else, and none of us is perfect, and that's okay too.

SPEAKER_01 41:39

Yeah. Well, and like you said, uh especially, you know, maybe young ladies that are looking to start, they I I think it's super important, I'm with you. I think it's super important to find a mentor or two or three or however many you can get, but I think that it's good to reach out to, you know, like you here in Region 5. We have Larissa, obviously, and then you know, not trying to not trying to region brag, but I mean we do have Nicole and Jane and and Stephanie and then, you know, uh all the rest of them that are uh with us as well. But you know, I I know for a fact I I look at Larissa as a mentor. I ask her, I talk to her and ask her silly questions all the time, and she always is so, you know, just kind, I guess is the best word for it, and and realizes that, you know, I'm not coming because I'm trying to be dumb. I really am dumb. And so she she uh you know she she's and and I've I've talked to you before and you're the same way, you're just a very kind person that uh always is uh a smiling face, someone that you know you you're you're just kind. And so uh I would I would second that if any lady or anyone, but any lady, especially on my podcast here, anyone that is needing someone to talk to, you are definitely uh a great resource because you are just uh you've done a little bit of everything and you're just someone that is always there for your fellow carriers, and we we appreciate that so much. Um I all my questions are done. I was just gonna ask you, do you have anything you want to throw out? Anything you gotta add?

SPEAKER_00 43:30

Well, I think I I want to thank you, Craig, for doing this because I think this is important because your podcast is getting out there. I've heard people comment, hey, have you seen Craig's podcast? Yeah, I've listened to some of the interviews, and I think it's great because now other people are hearing maybe other names they haven't heard before. Oh, maybe this is somebody I could reach out, and all those wonderful ladies you named out of region five, they're all wonderful. I know them all. And anytime I've had a question, they've been very helpful. And so I am glad that you branched out of region five, reached up to region seven, came a little north to say hey. But so I appreciate that too. But I think it's a great way for other members to realize that there's other women getting involved all over everywhere. And maybe region seven doesn't have as many women at the national level as region five does, but we've had a few, a few. Um I would like to see more. And I think I think we're moving in the right direction. And I definitely thank you, Craig, for taking the time to do this. And I'm sure it's getting you out of your comfort zone too, meeting a whole group of other members of the NALC you never thought about before.

SPEAKER_01 44:54

No, I and I've told people that before. If it wasn't for the NALC, I wouldn't obviously be doing this. I wouldn't be talking to people, uh sisters from all over the place. I I I I am so fortunate, in my opinion, that I have this union because without it, I I've met the most phenomenal people in my life through the NALC, both female and male. Um, you know, and it's all because of this. It's, you know, if it was if I just hired on at the post office or if I work somewhere else, you know, and didn't do anything, didn't get involved, I would know the carriers in my office, and that would be the end of it. But because of the NALC, it's provided me the chance to meet so many just awesome people, and I am so fortunate to do that. And I will say, Region 7, for I know once again, I know the summers are nice, spring, summer, fall is nice. That winter, I couldn't do it. And I don't understand how you guys up there, everybody is so nice. I would be just a bear all the time because as soon as summer or as soon as winter was over, I'd be mad thinking about next winter. So everybody is always so welcoming. And uh I've I've been able to get up there a few different times helping Anthony out, and it's just uh I love it. I love coming up there, I love meeting people up there. Everybody, like I said, is so welcoming, and uh so I I appreciate you for coming on here, you know, and I know that you are super, super busy, and yet you were willing to take some time off with me here and uh waste a waste your time on me. So I appreciate that. Um, but thank you for coming on and sharing your story seriously. Um I think it's super important, and and once again, you're you're just an awesome lady to begin with, so I appreciate everything you do.

SPEAKER_00 46:53

Well, thanks, Trey. I appreciate that. And if I could just add a little thing, yes, ma'am. You another reason I love the Minnesota winners, you know what we don't have in the majority of the state. I think there's like a a little corner in maybe southwestern Minnesota, but we don't have poisonous snakes that are gonna try and kill you.

SPEAKER_01 47:15

Okay, now you're trying to get me to move up there because I hate snakes. So now now you're now the the scales are tipping a little bit. Um I'm like, maybe the winters I could do them if it meant no no no snakes at all is perfect, but poisonous ones getting rid of the chances of the cotton mouse, water moccasins, the rattlesnakes around here. Uh, I stay out of the woods as much as possible. So I'm not really trying to invite myself into their territory, but frankly, uh a little baby garter snake is just as scary to me as like a cobra. So I'll just be honest with you. I I I do not do snakes at all. It's it's it's it's yeah, the phobia is real. Um, but yeah, so hopefully I can uh get back up there with you guys sometime soon. And uh if not, I will definitely see you in uh Los Angeles, I hope, in August. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 48:12

Uh I'll be there with all the other RWCAs. Um so a little plug for the RWCAs. Come see us in Los Angeles. We'll have a booth if you need help with your workers' comp claim, or if your person who needs help can't be there, you know, come give us our information if you can't get hold of your RWCA before Los Angeles, come and see us.

SPEAKER_01 48:38

Perfect. Well, once again, thank you, Sam, for uh joining me and thank you everyone for listening. Be safe and be kind of a good idea.