Jenilee Jackson

This episode features Jenilee Jackson, Branch 849 President in Ft. Collins, Colorado.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Welcome to the History of Female Leadership in the NALC podcast. I'm Craig Schaefer. I'm a city carrier in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Branch 1015. And today I am very honored to have a sister from Colorado. If you don't mind, go ahead and introduce yourself.

SPEAKER_01 0:36

Hi, uh, thanks for having me. My name is Jenilee Jackson, and I am the branch president of Branch 849 in Fort Collins, Colorado.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

All right. And how long have you been with the NALC?

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Um, so I've been with the NALC. I was hired in September 2016 as a CCA, and I signed up during um Academy, and I've been with the NALC ever since then.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

All right. So you started in 2016. What brought you to the postal service in the first place?

SPEAKER_01 1:05

Um, so I was like, I talk about the time before the postal service a lot as like once upon a time, because it seems like it was an entirely different lifetime ago. Um, I I actually have a degree in music and English literature, which is super helpful. Um, and I used to teach piano lessons, and I played my major instrument for my major was the harp. And so I played with different orchestras and you know, weddings and memorial services and different things like that. But in 2016, um, I separated from my husband at the time, and we had two small kids. We had a we had two kids who are three and five at the time, and so overnight, um I went from you know, being a stay-at-home mom. I had been a stay-at-home mom for six years at that time to not being able to be a stay-at-home mom. Um, you know, I had when I went over to the house to get my things, uh, my my now ex-husband uh let me know that I had been removed from the bank accounts and I had been removed from the credit card. So I didn't have access to any of our money. So I had $96 in my bank account that I had for my piano lessons and was faced with okay, so no what? So I called a friend of mine who's my financial advisor, and that was exactly what he asked me. He goes, Okay, so here's your situation. Now what are we gonna do about it? And so he helped me apply for a whole bunch of different jobs. Um, you know, he helped me get signed up to donate plasma. I was donating plasma for a little while, and I was offered a couple of different positions, you know, including like a waitress position. I was offered a barista job at like a gaming store. Um, and we kind of sat down with the different offers, and he helped me kind of decide, okay, so the postal service is gonna be the one that you should probably take because it's gonna be a lot more stable for like a long-term job. Um, they're it's gonna have benefits, it's gonna have, you know, you get paid for your overtime, the schedule worked out better. I actually applied to be a PSC and an RCA and a CCA all at the same time, and they contacted me about the CCA position first. So I'm actually really glad that I got to join the city craft instead of the other crafts. Um but so you know, we picked I picked this job and started working here and just never looked back from there. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

Wow. That is quite a journey. That is yeah. All right. Uh well, um, I'm glad you got on, and it seems like it's turned out pretty well for you. And so um what usually there's something that that made you decide to kind of pursue a leadership role in the NALC. Is there anything that kind of sparked that for you?

SPEAKER_01 4:01

Uh yeah, so I I was an OJI, you know, while I was I started doing a little bit of OJI when I was a CCA, and then right after I made regular, I continued to do that. But when I made regular, I had been a CCA for two years, seven months and 23 days. Not that anybody was counting, but um, so when I made regular, I was super excited to finally be able to, you know, do my route and then go home and maybe have Sundays off or maybe have another day off during the week because we weren't guaranteed any days off at that point. And um a few months after I made regular, the we had a postmaster change and he notified us that everybody would be working all of their NS days for the foreseeable future because we just didn't have the people. And I was pretty frustrated about that, but then I kind of noticed that our shop steward was getting behind on filing the grievances for these mandates, and I was not okay with thinking that management was going to get away with what they were doing to us, basically. So I asked how I could help. Um, I had actually never been to a branch meeting before, so that was the first thing that I was told is you know, start coming to the meetings and we can see where we can plug you in. And then I became an alternate shop steward for a little while and then shop steward from there. And then um fast forward a couple of years, so that was in 2019, and then in 2022, um, our branch president, Danielle Fake Mormon, who you had on here a little while ago, uh, she was offered a position at headquarters. And the girl who was our vice president at the time told her that she didn't think that she could step into the president position, so she was resigning from the vice president position. And so Danielle asked me if I would be interested in potentially taking over for her once she left. And so I was appointed as vice president and then took over for her when she went to headquarters as president, and then I was elected um that fall for the position after that. So yeah, and and then everything else came after that.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

That is wild. That's a that's a quick ascent to the top. That's that's really cool. Well, and that my next question was what positions, but you went through them all. Uh, so now as president, what what are your duties as branch president?

SPEAKER_01 6:24

Um, so I actually there are a couple of other things that I've done kind of along the line in there too. That's okay.

SPEAKER_00 6:30

Yeah, definitely throw them in there too.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

Yeah. So basically, when I became branch president, uh I went to my first national convention in Chicago, was the first time I'd been to a convention. And I it very quickly uh became very obvious to me how much I didn't know because, like you said, it was just a jump from shop steward to branch president, and there was so much information in there that I didn't know about. So I decided to sign up for every training that I could with the NALC. So um I signed up for Formal A and Beyond and Step B training and arbitration advocacy and leadership academy and all of those things. So uh that was kind of my 2023 was leadership academy at the beginning of the year with formal A kind of mixed in there, and then I went to advocacy training in August and then step B training in October that year. And so kind of went running with that step B stuff. I'm certified, but I'm like the backup for the backup because uh making me work in a room with a supervisor or with a manager uh all the time is my nightmare. And so please don't ever make me do that full time. But I wanted to understand how step B fits into the grievance process and all of that. Um I'm also a lickel for the Colorado State Association for Colorado District 2 with Joe McHughes. He's an awesome congressman to work with. He's a very good friend of letter carriers and to labor, and I'm our state vice president as well, um, which that happened last year. And then they let me teach classes sometimes at you know, trainings or rap sessions. Um, I help our RWCA down in Denver at the regional office every now and then. If he gets backed up, there's a whole lot going on with OWCP right now, and the RWCAs are having to work extra, extra hard. And so sometimes he just needs a little bit of help staying caught up with his projects with that. Um and then I got to be on the women's panel in Boston at the convention, which was really awesome. And I've done a couple of small projects at headquarters, like when we had the rallies last year um for the Fight Like Hell rallies, I was able to kind of help coordinate getting, you know, the signs and the t-shirts and the banners and all of that to the branches and getting the media information to them, which is a massive undertaking to try and get that arranged for you know 250 years, 300 branches putting on rallies and all of that. But so yeah, a little bit here and there.

SPEAKER_00 9:00

Yeah, I thought you had a full plate before you mentioned the other plate that you're doing. And uh ironically, I just interviewed Colleen Wood a uh a couple days ago, and she had went through leadership as well uh last year, I believe. And she did the same thing as you with doing the other trainings in between weeks of leadership, and I don't know how in the world you guys were able to pull that off. I mean, it's in I was the whole time in between, I was working on the project, so I have no clue how you guys pulled that off. I that that in itself is amazing. So uh yeah, that that's that blows my mind. And also, I wanted to mention that uh that ladies' panel in Boston. I went in there and I sat in the back corner on the floor because I didn't want to take any seats for any of the ladies, and that was so awesome, you know, to see some of the the leaders in the NALC, the female leaders up there on stage doing that, and we were lucky enough that our at our rap session this year for Region 5, um Larissa put it on, and we had um Nicole was there, Stephanie and um Andrea Molina from Nebraska. And I actually I they wanted me to talk about my podcast in that uh ladies' roundtable, and that was the most nervous I have ever been because my daughter, and I think I've said this before, but my youngest daughter, she when she found out that I was going to be just you know, just letting people know about my podcast, doing presenting my project is basically what I was doing. And uh she told me, she said, you better not go in there and start mansplaining. You you better not. So the whole time I'm trying to discuss my podcast, this is running through the back of my head, and I was a nervous wreck. And I've I've stood in front of hundreds of people talking. I I was beside myself nervous. It was it was wild, but I think it's very important, and I I love to see it, you know, and I uh you know I want to do everything I can to support the ladies because you guys, I I I you're you're killing it, basically. And I I just uh I think it's awesome. So anyway, didn't mean to interrupt there, but I just want to throw that stuff out.

SPEAKER_01 11:40

Um yeah, you've got some powerhouses in region five for sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:47

Yes, I am very fortunate to have some very strong mentors around here, and and Larissa is one of my closest uh out of the business agent's office. She's just an amazing lady. I I love her so much. Um so now I will ask you again now and and with this question, if you want to do, you know, you said you're the state vice president, I believe. Uh you are your branch president, you have a billion other jobs. Just whichever one you'd prefer to describe in that position, what are your duties?

SPEAKER_01 12:24

Um so probably mostly for branch president, but also so we have a really small branch as far as you know they go. We don't have any full-time officers or anything in our branch. And and so I, you know, I'm a steward, I'm the informal A, I'm one of the informal A's for my station, and then I'm the formal A for my station, and then obviously the chief steward over Fort Collins. Um, so I do spend a lot of time in the office on steward time because gotta file a lot of grievances. And um I still carry mail quite often. I carry mail today, carry mail on Saturday, which that's that's actually I really do love carrying mail. It's really nice, especially right now. It, you know, today was like 75 degrees and sunny and beautiful. But um, you know, a lot of answering people's questions, uh you know, we coordinate different things. I I'm trying to get better at delegating some of these tasks. And so, you know, I've delegated planning our picnic for this year, and you know, right now the collective bargaining conference is going on for the next few days in BC, and my vice president is out there because I actually have an arbitration hearing this Thursday and I wouldn't be able to do both of those things. So I don't know, most days as far as like day-to-day things, it's just spent with steward stuff. And then um, you know, I go every now and then I go, like I said, down to the Denver office to or to the NBA's office to help out with OWCP. And so I'll work down there for a few weeks and take calls and you know, research people's claims if they're having issues getting their claims approved or issues with their already approved claims, things like that. So um for state work, I guess I just we just had our state convention, so we did a little bit of, you know, it was just a small thing. No, it was great. We we had a really great state convention in Grand Junction this year, so I got to help out a little bit with that. Um I don't know, it's kind of just fitting in bits and pieces here and there each day as I need to.

SPEAKER_00 14:24

Yeah, you can just all over the place. That's it's good. I mean, you you are doing a little bit of everything, that's very helpful. I'm sure uh everybody appreciates having someone that can kind of jump in anywhere, so that's awesome. Um so this I I always hate to ask the question, but I also I think it's very important. Um, you know, I talked to I've talked to a bunch of ladies, whether on the podcast or just in passing, and you know, you guys in a male-dominated field, a lot of times you might get a little bit of discrimination, and it might be from management, it might be from union siblings. I, you know, you always hope it's not, but sometimes it is. Um, have you experienced any of that? And if so, uh, how did you deal with it and do you feel it was resolved?

SPEAKER_01 15:20

Um, so I don't know, you know, as far as like discrimination, if I would necessarily call it quite that. Um I've heard it mentioned several times throughout the episodes on your podcast that there are a lot of times where there's assumptions that are made about being offered opportunities that maybe it wasn't based on the merits of my work or you know, the things that I can do or given to me for other nefarious reasons that people would like to assign to me. Um, which obviously that's gonna just, I mean, it happens all the time. It's unfortunate and it's not okay. Um, but I think more than more than that though is the thing that I deal with. And I don't know if it's because I'm a female or if it's because I'm friendly and I'm bubbly and I smile a lot and I try to be really nice and all of that. But I I feel that people um are very quick to underestimate what I can do. And so, and that has happened, you know, when when local management found out that I was gonna take over for Danielle for branch president. And I mean, you know, she was branch president for 16 years or something, and then we had another female president before her, so it wasn't a new idea. But for me, um, you know, they were saying that I'm not all that in a bag of potato chips, is I think what they said, and they thought they were just gonna be able to walk all over me. You know, she's gonna be really easy to run over, um, or you know, dealing with district managers or cooms as you know, things happen, or area heads, you know, for advocacy type stuff. Um, I think they have a tendency to underestimate me. And again, I don't know if it's because I'm a girl or because I'm super nice, but in advocacy training, um, my facility, my facilitator was Sean Boyd, and he actually said something that um a lot of people tend to underestimate him because he is from East Texas and he's got that little bit of an accent. And, you know, so people underestimate him. They think that maybe he's not as intelligent as he actually is, or that he doesn't really know what he's talking about, but like he's he's actually a very good advocate and he knows what he's doing. And so, and he kind of said that he doesn't hate it when people underestimate them or underestimate him because it allows him to surprise them. And so there's actually, and maybe this isn't great to admit, there are times when I kind of lean into it a little bit where it's like, Oh, do you think maybe you could explain that to little old me? You know, could you just go over this and would you just read this for me right here? Because I'm pretty sure this says exactly what I just told you it says, and so then it kind of flips to where they go from, oh, she doesn't know anything to, oh no, she actually does know what she's talking about a little bit. Um, and that's that's not to say that I'm always right. I'm actually very, very often wrong about things, but it's all a learning process. But I just think, you know, I'm not a very assertive person. Um, and I think that that's what people look for sometimes or what they expect in a leader is somebody who's very assertive. But you know, one of my daughter's favorite movies is World War Z, and there's a quote from this movie that he's talking about how you know those guys over there, they're hammers, and to a hammer, every problem is a nail. And that's not how I see every problem. I like to try and think, you know, around the problem or like try and come up with different ways instead of just brute force. I just don't think that brute force is is the answer every time. There's gotta be other answers sometimes, and so that's what I enjoy doing is just trying to find the other ways to solve the problems.

SPEAKER_00 19:06

So yeah. Yeah, I mean, you're right. It it sometimes it's better to kind of go into it and try to be a little more friendly and see if you can work something out. Then if you have to bring out the hammer, you can bring out the hammer, but go into it, you know, trying. And yeah, Sean is uh he he he he's uh he's such a goofball when he's you know out of work. And then when he but I've sat through some of his trainings before and man, he knows his stuff. He is he's a and he's just a nice guy too. So it it is an added bonus. So yeah, I mean yeah, it it is exactly like he said. It doesn't you don't have to just go in screaming and yelling to get your point across every time. Sometimes it you sometimes you have to though, but say that for a life.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

I try to reserve it. And you know, another thing is I feel like it's more effective if you reserve it for those times when it's really necessary. And so, you know, if if every single tiny problem comes up, my reaction is to yell and scream and you know, throw papers across the room or whatever else, then it means nothing when I yell and scream and throw papers across the room. But like people know that if if I lose my cool on something and if I start yelling or if I get angry about something, like something really bad has happened, somebody has stepped way over the line, and so I don't know, I think it's just more effective when it's not overused.

SPEAKER_00 20:28

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah. Well, uh another kind of um personal question, I guess you'd say, is, you know, you just listed off all of your duties, and you know, a lot of that stuff takes you away from home, um, whether it's conventions, rap sessions, uh, down in, you know, going working for OWCP or going to national and working up there for a little bit. Um, has the time that you've had to be away from family and friends, has that cost you any or caused you any issues uh relationship-wise?

SPEAKER_01 21:04

Um, so I think my family is really pretty understanding about the time that I need to spend on things. Obviously, they would rather me be around more often. I definitely have missed, you know, some baseball games for my son or field hockey games for my daughter, or you know, I've missed a couple of birthdays as well, um, different things like that. My husband is very understanding. My husband now uh also works for the post office. So he kind of understands what is needed at the branch level, but also, you know, some of the stuff that I have to do outside of the branch. Um, so they're very understanding, but it definitely takes a lot of time away. And to the point where, you know, I only have my kids for my custody agreement with my ex husband. I only have my kids the first half of every week, and then they're with their dad the second half of every week. And so my time with them is essentially cut in half. And with them being now 13 and 15, you know, they were three and five when I started, but now they're 13. And 15, I'm really on the back end of my time with them being here at home with me. And so I really don't want to miss quite so many things. Um, and so I did actually announce at our Christmas party in December that I won't be running for the position of branch president again this fall, and that I was interested in if anybody else wanted to do the job, um, I would love to take this year to kind of mentor them, teach them about some of the things that go into the position that I didn't maybe necessarily know or understand when I took over. And um so I'm super excited. There's actually somebody in the branch who did say that he was interested in doing it. And I'm I'm very excited that it's him. We have some very, very knowledgeable and capable people in our branch, and we have a lot of involvement lately in the last few years. You know, our branch is a total of like 162 members, including like almost 60 retirees, but our branch meetings consistently have 20 or 25 people show up at them. And so we've got a lot of involvement, which is really great. And so I'm excited for them to, you know, to have somebody new come in and and take over the president role and you know, bring in some of their new ideas and things that they want to see from the branch. So it'll be good for that. It'll be good for me to take a little bit of a step back from this role, which I don't necessarily feel has been the perfect fit for me. You know, I I'm definitely willing to do it and it I've learned a ton doing it, but you know, there's there's different fit fits for different people in different places in the union. And I think that um there are other people in our branch who would really, really thrive with this position. And so I'm really excited about the guy who is you know interested in taking over. So trying to show him a few things and putting together a little booklet, kind of like a branch president's guide to branch 849. You know, these are the contacts that we have for the food drive, or you know, we don't have a branch hall, so we rent out a room at our senior center. Here's who you talk to about that, here's deadlines for our labor forms and our tax forms, and when you have to send notices out for elections, all that kind of stuff, trying to put all of that together so that he has kind of a step-by-step for when he takes over. So yeah, that'll give me a little bit more time at home and a little bit more ability to focus on some of the other things that that I'm really interested in, like like OWCP or state association or those kinds of things.

SPEAKER_00 24:35

Yeah, yeah. Well, that you're doing it the right way. You're you you're setting up somebody so that you know they they know what they're doing. And then plus, I'm sure that you'll still be there to help out any way along the way. So that that that's a lot right there, because I've I know certain people that are have just basically had stuff dropped in their lap, and it's it it doesn't end well. It it makes it really rough. And so if you have somebody that's kind of helping along the way, it really, really makes it the transition a lot easier. So that's awesome. Um well, you know, when you I guess you have time when you turn your phone off and uh close your laptop. I don't know when it would be, but if you when you do, um, what do you like to do to unwind and relax? Do you have hobbies?

SPEAKER_01 25:26

Um, so I actually do have a lot of hobbies. I'm a super nerdy person. Um, so I still I still like to play piano and harp kind of just to unwind. That really helps me have something to focus on that I don't know, kind of calms me down a little bit. So I still try and do that as often as I can. I just don't play for anybody else, I just play for myself. Um, I'm also a super huge space nerd, so I have like a big old telescope that um, you know, I haven't taken it out for a little while, but I like to, you know, you can see some really cool stuff out there, like the Orion Nebula, or I have a goal of mapping out the moon and all of its craters and all of its different phases. When I say it out loud, it sounds so nerdy. But like I just I love that kind of thing, and so you know, getting into that, um obviously I love hanging out with my family as much as I can. I took my kiddos to the fan expo, which is basically like the Denver Comic-Con yesterday, which was really fun. And then um, you know, when we're watching TV or whatever, I always have I feel like I have to have something to do with my hands, and so um my nerdy old lady hobby is that I do cross stitching, which is kind of like needlepoint, it's just basically making pictures pixel by pixel with a needle and thread, and I absolutely love it.

SPEAKER_00 26:47

So hey, there's nothing wrong with any of that. Uh I'm if you can see behind me, I'm a big Cardinals fan, and I have all this memorabilia and baseball cards. I'm I'm basically the same person I was when I was like 12 years old. You know, uh I got my VR headset over here. I'm you know, I'm I'm a I'm a I'm a kid, so anything you said sounded a lot more uh adult than anything I'm doing. So no, you you're good. And I I love I'm I'm not really like I I listen to all kinds of music, but I absolutely love listening to somebody playing the harp. I think it's just so relaxing. It's just and so when you said that, I was like, oh wow, I've never actually talked to somebody that plays the harp. So that is so cool. Um well um, you know, you've been around and you've done a ton of things, and you know, in in relatively a short period of time, 10 years, and the list of things that you rattled off, wow. Um, but you know, with all of that, you've obviously seen a lot of stuff, done a lot of stuff. Um, you know, if someone is listening to this and thinking, you know what, I might want to, you know, step up and and get involved in the union, um, what would be a piece of advice that you would give that person?

SPEAKER_01 28:14

I think my biggest piece of advice is that no matter what you end up doing, whether you know it's being an officer or being a steward or working with OWCP or training, you know, being a trainer for you know anything that you end up doing, um is like build everything on the foundation of the language that we have contract language, constitution language, legal language, all of that, because it's really easy for management or anybody to argue with me, right? They can argue with me until they're blue in the face, but if I know that I have that foundation to stand on of, but this is what the language says, I don't care how much they argue with me because it doesn't change what the language says. That it says what it says, and this is what needs to happen. And so again, whether it's the constitution or you know, OWCP, the the you know, the defect manual or anything like that, or the contract, like just always, always lean on the language and let the language guide you. And you can't go wrong at that point. So there's gonna be people that you don't get along with, there's gonna be situations that come up where maybe you don't know what to do with them, but like having that language, and then also just um build a network of support that you can reach out to when you inevitably don't know something because there is so much, so much, so much, so much to learn in the NALC. Like no one person can know all of it at all. And so, you know, I have people that if I have questions about you know route counts and adjustments, I'm I'm trying to learn that, you know, or I can ask those people, or if I have questions about branch administration and finances, I have people that I can go to for that. You know, I don't have to have all of the information readily available in my brain, I just have to know how to find the answers. And so Leon language, like, don't be afraid to admit when you don't know something. If you don't know it, don't give them the wrong answer. Tell them that you can get back to them when you find the right answer. Um and I just think that if you kind of follow those two things, like you can't really go wrong.

SPEAKER_00 30:30

So that's perfect. And uh a couple things that I listened to you saying, um, you know, the importance of getting getting good mentors, like you were saying, so that you know, and and that comes from networking. And a lot of people, I that's uh I have a couple people in my branch, and that's one thing that I tell them when we go to a state convention or go to the rap session, I don't care who it is, it's all letter carriers there. Go up there and just, you know, don't be rude, but if some if there's a group of them talking, just kind of walk up there and and just kind of start listening, and next thing you know, you might be able to interject. Next thing you know, you've met a new person from somewhere else, and they can help you with something. And I mean, that's what we're there for, you know. It's it's a networking, it's uh getting your good mentors and everything. And one other thing that I you you kind of you know kind of glazed over, but I think it's super important is the fact that you are the president, you have, you know, you're the at the pinnacle of your branch, and you're like, you know what, this really isn't what I'm built for. I'm built for uh like OWCP or something like that. And I think a lot of people sometimes think that you know everybody, that's the goal is becoming the president, and don't realize that there are so many other jobs that are just as important as the executive board and I mean OWCP and you know, you could even get into like the food drive coordinators, MDA coordinators, all of these jobs. Um, and you gotta find that niche and and go with it. And so I I don't even think that you realized when you said that, but I really wanted to highlight that because it was so important that you you're saying, you know, it's not that's not the end of that's not the end goal for everybody. There's other jobs and they're just everything is as important as everything, you know. So I I appreciate you saying that. And and you know, it it is very important because a lot of people do think that, you know, if you're not uh an officer, then you really aren't that important, and anybody in the branch is as important as the next.

SPEAKER_01 32:42

So well, and I you know, I just don't I don't know, it's not a power thing for me at all. Like I don't necessarily care about having power over the branch or being the boss of something like that. Like I just want I just want to help out wherever I can best help out. And it's been really neat to kind of see how many, you know, because it takes it takes so many different kinds of people. Like it, you know, like I was talking about earlier. We have like not every hammer problem can be solved with a hammer, but we still need those people. And you know, it's like it's important more to think of it like a Swiss Army knife. You have to have like a wide variety of people with various talents and interests and motivations, and so trying to you know, plug people in or plug yourself in with stuff that gets you excited. I think I think that that's important, and I think that that helps to avoid burnout too, is finding the place where where you're excited to be there. And if you're in a spot where you just are dreading every day of filling that spot, like maybe that's not the spot for you. Maybe maybe find something different that that you're more passionate about, that you know it's the thing that you're thinking about as you're falling asleep at night, or you know, maybe not that much, but you know, something that you're excited about. And I think it just it will help to create like a longer term um involvement with the union without you know dealing with quite so much burnout.

SPEAKER_00 34:13

So yeah. Well, uh obviously from talking to you, you don't need a title to to be the lady, you know, be that person because you you you know so much, you you you're very knowledgeable. You don't need that title to make you your person. You you make you, and that's super important. And uh just listening to all the stuff you've done, I I'm blown away. It it really is wild that in 10 years you've done all of this stuff, and you aren't done. You got a you got a lot to do still yet.

SPEAKER_01 34:51

So yeah, I've still got another 23 years until I retire, so which is depressing sometimes to think about. But it's okay, we're gonna get there.

SPEAKER_00 35:01

Yeah, it it they say it goes by pretty fast, and it it truly does. I I'm I'm shocked that this month I'll have been at the post office for 30 years, and it just does not seem that it doesn't seem possible, but it is, and so you know, but yeah, I I I am just super impressed with you. I I what for what it's worth, I'm I'm blown away. Um you you really have done so much. And uh so now I'm out of questions, and so I'm just gonna turn it back over to you and say, is there anything that you wanna that I missed, anything else you want to throw out? It the floor is yours.

SPEAKER_01 35:39

Um I think other than just like saying thank you so much for having me on here, and it's a huge, huge honor to to be on here, especially um, like I said, some of the powerhouses that you have interviewed are just women that I absolutely fangirl over. And so, you know, to to also be able to be on here is a huge honor. But I think just like a huge thing that my parents always instilled in us growing up is that it's not always what you say, it's how you say it. And so I just want to encourage people that like whether you have disagreements within your branch or with members or with people from other branches or officers or whatever your opinions are, like it is very possible to voice your discontent with something in a kind way and in a respectful way. And like, especially as stewards and officers and people who represent our members, like we preach dignity and respect all the time. And you know, these are our union brothers and sisters, and I know that families fight, but also like my kids are nice to each other, they fight sometimes, and then they apologize, and then they get over it, and you know, so like I just think that finding ways to express yourself that are kind and that foster the the union brotherhood sisterhood that we should be having. Um I think is important because we have especially like right now, it feels like there's so much against us from the outside, whether it's you know, from the current political administration or you know, economics or whatever else, you know, whatever other problems there are out there, like we're facing a lot, and it would be way better if we could just face it together and enjoy some of that brotherhood and sisterhood that that we should be enjoying.

SPEAKER_00 37:41

So kind of there's nothing I can add to that that was perfect. So thank you, Ginally, for uh joining me. I know you've had a long day at work. I really appreciate you jumping on here with me. Um once again, your story blows me away from the get-go, uh, from when you started at the post office. Your your your situation there to where you are now is uh it's very inspirational, honestly. And uh thank you for sharing it. And I I I can't thank you enough. And uh thank you to everyone else for listening and be safe and be kind.