In the trenches with NMP Partner Robbie Dodson:
5 Questions, 5 Answers.
1. How did you get your start in politics?
My brother got me started in politics. He was a campaign manager and he knew that if he asked me to do something, I would get it done. As it turns out, that’s an invaluable skill in political campaigns.
I’m a very empathetic person and I can talk to anyone. In 1996, on the first Joe Biden race I worked, my job was to interview people affected by domestic violence for an ad. We were doing interview spots at a time when no one was doing them. I spoke with a sheriff who, before the Violence Against Women Act, would put the women and children in the local jail and stay with them to protect them. I never fed lines, I didn’t write scripts, I didn’t even write down what I would asked the people. I just talked to them and listened. These were some of my favorite early spots – with photos from the legendary photographer, Jim Harrison, we told the real stories. Another early interview spot was with a woman in Texas who had lost her husband to a house fire and her daughter was about to be kicked off the children’s healthcare program and we re-elected Chet Edwards to Congress (with George Bush at the top of the ticket) in the Congressional district where President Bush himself had a residence.
2. What are some of your personal highlights?
My best highlights have been helping really amazing people get elected. Mike Duggan’s write-in election for Mayor of Detroit – after being thrown off the ballot twice – was huge. It was a very tough campaign, but watching the right person get elected and watch him turn around Detroit, a city I have always loved, made all the hours of work worth it.
I started in the business and was often the youngest person and one of the few if not the only woman in the room, whether it be a presidential race, the AT&T boardroom or T. Boone Pickens strategy sessions. I’m one of the more “seasoned” people in the room now and I love that every bit as much.
3. What is your approach to campaigning?
I have seen firsthand how what I do affects real people’s lives. You win some and lose some, but I won’t accept failure because I didn’t do my part. The deadlines are real and we don’t miss them; the stakes aren’t stakes – they are people and their kids and communities.
4. Do you have any favorite early memories on the trail?
I did campaigns and production before cell phones. Imagine going to a city you have never been to, and you have one week to find locations, crew, and volunteers. Then, imagine having to convince the campaign manager that everything you are asking for will become a powerful messaging tool for the campaign. That was my life for a number of years.
One of the first offices I walked into was that of Valerie Biden Owens. She was her brother’s U.S. Senate Campaign Manager at the time and I was a 27-year-old kid who wore a baseball hat and jean overalls shorts. She tells the story of that day and how difficult it was to take me seriously for the first 10 minutes, but she quickly knew she could count on me, and we have 30 years of business relationship and friendship to show for it.
5. What do you think sets the new firm apart from others?
Ben and I have philosophy, personality, vision and history in the business that makes a powerful alliance. 
We don’t live in DC. I like to joke that we live in America and have raised our families there. Me in Texas and him in Wisconsin. We met in 2010 while he was campaign manager for Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and I was Political Director at Joe Slade White and Company. Ben started working at Joe Slade White and Company the next year and I instantly knew how gifted he was politically and creatively.
We don’t live in DC. I like to joke that we live in America and have raised our families there. Me in Texas and him in Wisconsin. We met in 2010 while he was campaign manager for Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and I was Political Director at Joe Slade White and Company. Ben started working at Joe Slade White and Company the next year and I instantly knew how gifted he was politically and creatively. Together we have taken all the lessons we have learned, good and bad, from our former positions and created a firm with unmatched work ethic, winning record, creative and strategic abilities. We’ve worked on a lot of races and we’ve won some of the toughest races in the country.