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AA: As we look to the future, what would you encourage the industry to continue doing in your absence? What do you hope will continue?
JG: We have a very tough regulatory and fiscal environment right now. Looking forward, we have a lot of challenges, and I would encourage the industry to maintain the focus they've had over the past decade and more on remaining solutions oriented.
Things are tough, right? When we hit rough environments, it is easy to try to insulate yourselves or move backwards. Continue to stay focused on the long term, because this is hopefully just a short-term blip in the regulatory and political environment.
As we evolve, there's a lot of technology and changes in the grassroots world. Funny story: When I first started as an assistant in the Government Affairs department, we used to fax action alerts.
We had to prepare an email and then we also had to prepare a fax version for our members who didn't have e-mail. I was just thinking about that—how far we've come in terms of technology.
Now we can text our members and they're able to respond to calls-to-action with their smartphone or on their computer. We will continue to look for routes that make it easier for our members to engage with their elected officials.
AA: Do you believe there's hope for Washington politically for small business and what can we build on to try to make Washington a better place?
JG: My observation over the past 18 years working in state politics on behalf of the industry is whether lawmakers identify as a Republican or a Democrat or an independent they all are trying to solve a problem.
They get into politics and legislating because they are trying to solve a problem and there may be disagreement about the solution. But at the end of the day, they're all folks who are trying to solve a problem coming from a different ideology or a different world perspective. If we are able to stay in that spot of being helpful and trying to offer solutions, I think we're going to get wins even in difficult environments.
AA: What do you think you'll miss most?
JG: I love our industry. I love the passion that our operators have. I love the mission. What they're trying to do overwhelmingly is serve their community, be a part of their community, be a place for folks to connect with neighbors, friends, strangers. I think my longevity with the association has been entirely based on our industry and our members, so I appreciate my time here and hope to continue the conversations, friendships and family that I built in the industry.
AA: Well, Julia, on behalf of the whole industry, thank you. You really have been incredible on our behalf, and we appreciate you and look forward to continuing to work with you in a different role in the future as you stay involved in Washington politics.
And to our members, it’s an honor to serve you. |
